Ej20t Into Brumby

fat4 · Post by **fat4** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 7:13 pm

Firstly hello all and great forum, I would like to pick your brains for some direction regarding an engine transplant. I will be picking up a 91 model 4 speed brumby next week and i am trying to get info regarding the transplant of an ej20t into said beast. So far all i can glean is that it will bolt onto the engine mount's provided i scallop some clearance for the exhaust. Now does anyone know where i can find or a point of contact to get info on the rest, i am mainly concerned with weather or not it will bolt up to the standard gear box or not. any advice would be greatly appreciated.

stinky · Post by **stinky** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 7:21 pm

You'll also need to chop the chassis rails to fit it in there, along with crossmember mods and others. You can fit it to the standard EA gearbox with an adaptor, but it won't last long. Maybe a 5-spd L Series box, but you're gonna have major torque steer in FWD with that engine. Better to go with an AWD gearbox.

I'm sure there's many more things that will catch you unawares that others can fill you in on.

MUDRAT · Post by **MUDRAT** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 7:50 pm

Try the Conversions, Modifications and Performance area of this Forum as well, that basically outlines the scope of modification needed for that conversion.

tim_81coupe · Post by **tim_81coupe** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 8:28 pm

Welcome to the forums. Can I ask whereabouts you're from? There are converted cars dotted all over Australia, its really a lot easier to show than describe.

That said, you've come to the right place. As Muddy said, try the Conversions forum, and have a look at this thread to begin with:
showthread.php?t=980
Your Brumby is what we call an MY model, and everything conversion specific pertaining to the MY applies for your Brumby.

fat4 · Post by **fat4** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 10:24 pm

Thanks for the info i was wondering what MY stood for, i am in Nowra N.S.W and don't know anyone with subaru's down here

MUDRAT · Post by **MUDRAT** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 1:08 pm

BVCP is in Robertson.

fat4 · Post by **fat4** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 6:17 pm

Hey Mudrat, Who's Bvcp? Also Is The Ea82t A Straight Bolt In Apart From Ecu Of Course. And Does Anyone Know Of Performance Info Regarding Said Engine?

Brumby Boy · Post by **Brumby Boy** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 6:38 pm

i know that the engine bolts in afta the engine mount holes are sloted and the chassie railes are widened one way or the other. yea i believe the cross member needs to be modded for the exhaust and yea the awd box would be the best bet along with the matching rear diff.
plus alot of little things like the fuel pump needs to be changed to the efi one along with the fuel lines etc etc

Brumby Boy · Post by **Brumby Boy** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 6:40 pm

MY i believe stands for Make Year

PeeJay · Post by **PeeJay** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 7:09 pm

Apparently the EA82T is even wider than the EJ20T is. EA82T will still require EFI upgrade + wiring harness work.
I've got an EA82 gearbox behind my EJ20T and it's been there for a year now and not broken. I don't do launches though... Makes the conversion much easier. If/when you break it just upgrade to the lib gearbox.

From memory:
EA82T ~ 90 kw
EJ20T ~ +160 kw

MUDRAT · Post by **MUDRAT** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 8:03 pm

MY (when refering to pre-1985 sedans, wagons, coupes and all Brumbys) is a simple model designation, it doesn't stand for anything. In EJ series Subarus MY stands for Model Year. A more detailed explanation is available in the Tech Manual.

BVCP is BaronVonChickenPants. He lives in Robertson.

If you were converting to an EJ20 turbo you would upgrade to the all-wheel-drive gearbox as well. It is a big, labor-intensive job. Budget around $5000 for the whole thing (if you do the work yourself).

An EA82 turbo will bolt to the MY-series gearbox, but the engine is physically too wide to fit into the Brumby's small engine bay. In my humble opinion, the EA82 is a piece of crap suitable only for boat anchors or sculpture - I had one sitting at my back door for almost a year until I gave it away. It must be stated however that views and opinions on the subject of EA82s vary greatly on this board! One member got close to 200 kW from his.

As an owner of both an EJ-converted L-series and a stock standard MY-series coupe, I've gotta say . . . gimme the EA81. Put a Weber on it, a big lumpy cam and a fat exhaust and you've got yourself a fun car that (a) won't kill you or someone else; and (b) costs a packet less than a butchered classic.

tim_81coupe · Post by **tim_81coupe** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 9:16 pm

PeeJay and Mudrat are right. The EA82T is a wider motor than the DOHC EJ motors (all turbos are DOHC) and will take a lot of effort to fit.

As someone who replaced a dead EA81 with a warm EA82, I have to back up Muddy's opinion. EA82's are boat anchors, and I'd rather a warm EA81 any day.

Rule of thumb too - EA turbo motors will provide good accelleration, EJ turbo motors can bend your seat mounting brackets!

There is a world of difference in that ~50kw!

SuBaRiNo · Post by **SuBaRiNo** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 9:28 pm

Very well put Mudrat... you should be a Philosopher.

Dave

D3V1L · Post by **D3V1L** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 9:37 pm

tim_81coupe wrote:
Rule of thumb too - EA turbo motors will provide good accelleration, EJ turbo motors can bend your seat mounting brackets!

There is a world of difference in that ~50kw!

lol....and thats not the only thing that gets bent...hehe

BaronVonChickenPants · Post by **BaronVonChickenPants** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:02 pm

Gday, been glancing at this thread for a little bit but been too busy to reply until now, welcome to the board, generally we're all a great bunch of nutters.

I'm (slowly) putting a SOHC EJ18 + 5 speed AWD box into an MY touring wagon, later on I plan to give it bratgeebah's crossbred brake kit, but that's a way off yet.

I also agree with Muddy on the EA81 perspective, I love them for, if nothing else, their sheer simplicity of design, it takes a hell of a lot to kill one and theres not much that goes wrong that can't be fixed on the side of the road, at least enough to get you home, they're fairly easy and cheap to come by, should you need to replace one and you can give them a fairly considerable power increase (compared to what they start with) for under $500 with a few simple mods.

But if you do have your heart set on the EJ20 turbo it is possible and has been done, and this is definitely the right place to ask questions. Personally I'm not a fan of the chasis rail modification but this really comes down to a personal preference and how legal you want your car to be, I have seen EJ20T conversions done without modding the rails, there was next to no clearance, but it's still better than modding the rails.

SUBIIE, formerly Rubasu, is in Kangaroo Valley and he is also doing an EJ20T brumby, he's been a bit quiet of late though.

If you need a hand at all just give us a yell, I come down to Nowra fairly regularly, or if you need somewhere to work you can borrow some space in my garage, it's a little bigger than most

Keep us all updated as your project progress'

Jordan.

vincentvega · Post by **vincentvega** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 10:02 am

I disagree

An unlifted EA82T will fit within the rails WITHOUT chopping.

I have a mate with an EA82T auto brumby. He did a beautiful job chopping the rails (hes a panel beater) then once the engine was in we realised they didnt need to be chopped at all.

If you lift the car its a very different story, you definately need to chop the rails. In an unlifted car though, the covers sit above the rails