The AUSubaru.com.au Forums

gday. im just speculating (i like to learn) the cost and effort of an EA82 turbo into an MY station wagon. i have a little knowledge, but then again the key word is LITTLE. i know that the chassis rails will need to be cut and reshaped, and the crossmember cut to accommodate for the turbo pipe, and the exhaust will need to be custom-made. what i dont know is:

how much an EA82T with a loom would cost?
how i would install the loom?
if the standard 4spd manual would be sufficient? if not what gearbox and how would i fit it?
to what extent and how i would cut the chassis rails?
if the standard crossmember could be used still?
if the entire conversion could happen if the car is not lifted?
if it would be reliable?

Any info would be good, I'm really just gaining knowledge of what i can and can't do, so opinions of your own would be great also.

Cheers,

Jason

Not sure on how much the EA82T with loom would cost but I can offer some answers...

The 4spd will work but you'll be using a smaller clutch.
The chassis rails will need extensive cutting, way more than they would for a DOHC EJ. Basically you need to accomodate for the entire cam cover length and on the passenger side this does include the extra length for the distributor.
You will need the scollop for the turbo up-pipe in the crossmember. I doubt you'll be able to find a factory turbo MY crossmember, more than likely you will need to modify an NA one. Same deal as with the EJ20 turbo conversion.
I found with my carby EA82 motor I had to modify the engine mounting plates to bring the mounts inwards, the alternative is to widen the mounting slots on the crossmember. I'd assume this would be the same for the turbo motor too.
The conversion should be possible in a non lifted car. Can't speak from experience though, as my EA82 conversion was in an already lifted car. My EJ20G was a tad tall for the MY engine bay though, however spacing the engine crossmember down by 1" fixed this and had other benefits too.
Reliability is something I don't think anyone will be able to give a straight answer on. There are so many contributing factors that its too hard to judge, that said if its a good motor and a well done conversion there shouldn't be a forseeable problem. It is the small gremlins that hurt the most though.

My honest opinion is to save the money and go for an EJ20G conversion. The wiring's not really hard in hindsight and it couldn't be any harder than an EA82T. The chassis rails cop less of the grinder which is a good thing and the rest of the conversion is very similar if not the same.

i aggree with tim

i got an L series wagon that has had the EA82T conversion and 5sp Dual rang box done, and i shall be changin that to an EJ20G in the very very near future, because the engine is getting old im finding some minor reliability issues with it, and its comparable with the EJ22 power figures anywho...depending on how quick u want one of these engines, i may be floggin mine off within the next couple of months, depending on when i can acquire an rs lib front cut

i cant however part with my turbo crossmember or any other parts as im gonna make use of them with the EJ20G

I think the other contributing factor is that the conversion in my wagon was not the best...and im starting to uncover issues in that as well.....

go the ej,

dave

thats certainly cleared that idea. so no EA82.

i was actually going to do two conversions to my MY - from EA81 to EA82T/EJ20 sohc, and then from there the EJ20G to get used to the power. its clear than the SOHC will be first now, so most of the info is cleared up in the other thread. again, if the adaptor plate was purchased for the EJ engine, the standard 4spd would bolt straight up to it yeh?

the only things that daunt me about conversions are the cutting parts, and the efi system installation (in regards to this conversion anyhow) so im trying to get as much info as possible.

Having read what Tim says, and respect his experience, and what many others have said in here over time, I have recently seen EA82T in an MY, or Brumby anyway.

I was amused to see no rails cut to fit motor. It may have been a tight fit but the clearance at the rear of rocker covers to chassis rails was about 5 or 6 mm.With good mounts all round this looks to be enough to prevent any touching,vibrating during demanding times.

And, no lift on unit.

I am yet to try this myself....

Personally I would do an EJ22 conversion.
Similar performance overall to the EA82turbo but more balls offroad, more reliable, and no cutting of chassis rails required.
It's even similar price to get a motor.

might be weird for an MY wagon owner, but i wasnt planning on taking it serious offroading like you guys do (which by the way look effing awesome... the cars, not you). Eventually an EJ20G will be used, but until then the EA will do.

do EA81 mpfi non turbo's exist? are they any good?

how many kW do EA82 mpfi NA engines cost roughly? would the modification be just about right for the EJ conversion along the track in regards to crossmembers chassis rails etc?

Yes NA EA82 MPFI engines are around and not too hard to come by.

Personally, speaking from my experience with EA82s, I don't like them as much as EA81s and EJ series engines. I think they are underpowered, they seem to lack the torque of the EA81 and I've found their reliability to be average.

A SOHC EJ series engine is the preferable alternative from my perspective, but it will probably cost you more to do the conversion than the EA82 turbo.

I think this all comes down to taste, cost and effort.
I think in an MY the EJ22 would have to be the best fit and combo with a 5 speed D/R.

I contemplated all this and more - and now over it, time to move on!

I found a converted EA82T L-Series Wagon and now that it runs sweetly, is a far better body to convert into, as the chassis rails are 100mm wider than an MY, so going EJ will never be a problem maybe later. But I am more than happy with the EA82T . But they are getting rarer by the day, and costing heaps more now. The combined extra hassles with "more top go wrong" at the end of the day with a turbo engine etc will always cost more to repair etc. The L rides heaps better then the MY and bit more room inside too.
As I said, it comes down to ......

Oh, the other thing is in NSW you'll need an engineer's report if you go more than 15% larger capacity. Just keep that in mind if contemplating an EJ22.

thanks for the info guys. i have made a decision though. EJ20G in a year n a bit (just to save for the entire conversion). ea82 sounds like too much hassle (for what its worth) with the chassis rails (more so than the EJ20 apparently).

MUDRAT: From 1.8 to 2L ill probably need one in WA aswell. cheers tho.

Dude! Great to hear!

You're in Northam right? Might swing out there one day in my highway testing of my soon to be completed EJ20G wagon if you're interested...

hahaha that would be awesome. got just the place for you mate

ill send a map of how to get to the place if you want? used to go 4wd-ing there all the time (navara WOOO)

I know how to get to Northam, my uncle used to live there.

I'll hit you up for directions once my car's on the road (3 weeks or so).

nah i meant the place where the 4wd track is. you know were SECWA is?

for the drive system - instead of making custom inner splines or using L splines or whatever you people do, could using an entire MY brumby subframe with Liberty front axles work (given that AWD is the preferred end result)? What would need to be used from the donor brumby?

cant help but think that question was overlooked

Sorry mate, yes it was. Must've missed it in my board-trawling.

The custom inner CV is the best workaround I can see. You take the Liberty CV cup and MY 2WD axles, replace the inner MY CV cup with the Lib iterm.
The alternates to this are:

1) Replace the gearbox output stubs with 23 spline L series units, allows the use of stock MY inner joints
2) Dodgy USMB style cut and sleeve option - cut Lib and MY axles in half, weld the two together (MY outer and Lib inner) weld, sleeve, weld.

Option 1 is the best (and in my eyes the only) alternative to the custom inner joint. My reason for not doing this myself is that you have to split the gearbox to do it. Option 2 is ridiculous.

Splitting the box was a bit of a pain, nothing major. But it may save hassle in the future as you can just whack on new brumby driveshafts.

so i cant use brumby driveline and liberty front drive shafts?