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ok here is my story for those who love brumbys brought my 88 brumby about 4 years ago de-registered and a night a week for a couple years done up slowly (done everything except pull engine apart) when i got my P plates registered it and always at idle had a slight miss fire but as soon as you got to about 1000 rrm all was good so never worried me but has go worse over last few months and finally had a good look and bugger all compression on cylinder 4 spewing because a month earlier got offered $4500 and should have taken it !

anyway ! it doesn't use oil or coolant and i suspected a valve problem so hopefully not a big deal. next day pulled heads off and they looked fine and held petrol so maybe not a valve problem so today i pulled engine out pretty simple job really, took me a few hours and old man to help me lift out.

so yeah im going to do the full number on the engine with help from my dad and exhaust as they are only things that haven't been done yet and hopefully get a couple hundred thousand km trouble free ! i will uplode pics if people are interested ? but just have a couple questions if anyone can help me out

- what can i do to upgrade exhaust ? cat back is easy just give it to local shop and get bit bigger
-any ideas where i can get a a gasket set ? with all gaskets
-overflow tank for radiator ? something that looks factory, as mine doesnt have one for some reason

oh and if anyone has any tips/tricks or advice on what to do when i split the block on my ea81

cheers Sam ( ps sorry if i don't use correct terminology im only 18 )

Sorry guys! new to this site and didn't realise i have posted this in the wrong classification i think :/

Nah this is the right place, unless you wanted to introduce yourself more in the new members section. Welcome to Ausubaru, there's heaps and heaps of information you'll find really useful if you know how to find it (search function )

I think the usual exhaust upgrade is a 2 inch system from the Y pipe back, "hot dog" thingy in the middle and a higher flow muffler. You can get a complete gasket kit from places like Auto pro or repco etc they can order one in for you. I bought a complete set that even included oil pump O rings and new valve stem oil seals. If you can find a way to mount one, an overflow bottle from an L series does the trick, better than just leaving it to drip into the atmosphere as they are.

Have a look at my thread where I rebuilt an EA81 showthread.php?t=19634&highlight=ea81+overhaul

Plenty of pics and input from a few members. It's a piece of cake but some things you need to be careful of. The engine in that thread ended up failing a main bearing I think because the torque wrench was so old, or they sold me the wrong bearing size.

Welcome to the forum I look forward to seeing some pics!

thanks for reply and will post some photos Monday of progress. yes i was defiantly going to go cat back with 2 inch just wanted to upgrade y pipe if possible. ive spent some coin on this brumbys so want the best of best any other quick easy performance mods on ea81 without getting cops attention ?

G'day Sam, welcome to AUSubaru

Parni_Brah wrote: i will uplode pics if people are interested ?

We sure are

cheers Sam ( ps sorry if i don't use correct terminology im only 18 )

You're doing very well for 18 mate, good onya

If you go much bigger on the y pipe I think you may lose low end torque but gain high end power. I wonder if others can comment on this.

I've heard others say you should go genuine when doing Subaru gaskets...if you can afford it I would for peace of mind.

Have you got a workshop manual yet?

thanks mate, ok yes i didn't think about it like that but now you say that it does make sense, i guess bigger isn't always better haha !
no i don't have a w/s manual although am looking on getting one because i don't know how to do anything more that what i have already done ( i have only taken heads off and engine out).

Hey mate I'm on the run home with my ea81. I don't believe the over flow bottles came stock on the ea81. I too will be fitting an Lseries one. I got my genuine subaru gasket set off frog on this forum at trade price. He is very helpful and would post them out to you. Alot of people have told me that ya gaskets from auto shops are fine but I didn't want to take that risk and would prefer to pay the extra coin. I don't want to be pulling it apart again.
I got my heads shaved and pressure tested. The heads where fine but if your going to change ya head gaskets than it would be highly recommended that they were cleaned up. It cost me $240 for that. I never split the block so I don't know how far you will be going with this but don't rush and enjoy it. I know I did.

Hi and Welcome Parni_Brah

Very good car to start your driving skills with. These are simple and reliable, so you should ge some good years out of it.

Parni_Brah wrote:what can i do to upgrade exhaust ? cat back is easy just give it to local shop and get bit bigger

You could try Jonno's (steptoe) big claim of better performance using the EA82 (L.Series) front Y pipes. Otherwise there are some original upgraded designed ones on ebay. You could also get a quote from an exhaust place to build you a system from the heads back. These days the can do them fairly cheap. I'd suggest no more that 1-1/2" front to the collector, then 2" all the way to the back. You'll need a cat and nice flow through muffler.

Parni_Brah wrote:any ideas where i can get a a gasket set ? with all gaskets

Are you talking full engine gasket kit? then I'd get one from ebay.

Parni_Brah wrote:overflow tank for radiator ? something that looks factory, as mine doesnt have one for some reason

They don't require one as the system must allow for expansion inside the radiator. If you look inside the radiator you'll see a small tab piece sticking out, this is the level indicator, any higher than this and it will cause the system to over pressurize and could blow your water pump seal or other parts.

Parni_Brah wrote:oh and if anyone has any tips/tricks or advice on what to do when i split the block on my ea81

Make sure you remove the gudgeon pins before splitting the block. To remove these pins, you'll need to remove the plugs in the block. These plugs are usually fairly tight and I recommend using a small amount of heat before trying to turn them.

Parni_Brah wrote:ok here is my story for those who love brumbys brought my 88 brumby about 4 years ago de-registered and a night a week for a couple years done up slowly (done everything except pull engine apart) when i got my P plates registered it and always at idle had a slight miss fire but as soon as you got to about 1000 rrm all was good so never worried me but has go worse over last few months and finally had a good look and bugger all compression on cylinder 4 spewing because a month earlier got offered $4500 and should have taken it !

anyway ! it doesn't use oil or coolant and i suspected a valve problem so hopefully not a big deal. next day pulled heads off and they looked fine and held petrol so maybe not a valve problem so today i pulled engine out pretty simple job really, took me a few hours and old man to help me lift out.

so yeah im going to do the full number on the engine with help from my dad and exhaust as they are only things that haven't been done yet and hopefully get a couple hundred thousand km trouble free ! i will uplode pics if people are interested ? but just have a couple questions if anyone can help me out

- what can i do to upgrade exhaust ? cat back is easy just give it to local shop and get bit bigger
-any ideas where i can get a a gasket set ? with all gaskets
-overflow tank for radiator ? something that looks factory, as mine doesnt have one for some reason

oh and if anyone has any tips/tricks or advice on what to do when i split the block on my ea81

cheers Sam ( ps sorry if i don't use correct terminology im only 18 )

Did you check the valve clearances first, might have had a "riding" (tight clearance) valve.

When splitting the block, don't forget the hidden crankcase bolt.

14mm 1/2 drive male hex socket key for the front gudgeon plugs.
The LH plug behind the water pump can get corroded in.

Thanks for the tips guys will keep yous posted !

And to what Gary littlewhiteute says, some heat from a basic gas flame helps undo the plug behind the water pump - I heat its alloy surrounds before cracking it with a hex socket

Sorry guys have been quite lazy with photo updates ! When I am finished i will post everything