Doug's EA81 Rebuild stuff.

Subydoug · Post by **Subydoug** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 7:52 pm

Yeah mate. Had a good think about it. Will probably strip down the old motor soon and measure up the bores in it. If they are ok Il grap a new set of rings and put it back together. May even take the heads down and shave them two, just because. That way Il have two motors and I can just keep one in the back, just in case

.

putting up a mezzanine in the new unit at the moment so I started early to miss the heat of the day. Knocked off early and got a few hours to do some stuff to the motor.

This was really annoying when I first put this motor back together. Now that I have a mig, I whipped up a new one.

Didnt have any steel tube for the smaller outlet so I havent welded that on yet. Il grab some tomorrow. Differences are I extended it out, welded a 90 deg bend in it which goes straight onto the water pump. The hose was kinking before. I also welded the outlet at an angle to direct it around the bell housing as it was really crap before. Now it should just push straight on.

Also set the tappet clearances. Nice and big. After I start it up and it runs for a bit Il recheck them and retorque the heads.

Probably going to change my front driveshafts too as it should be a walk in the park with the motor out (just swing the gearbox around to drop the shafts off

)

Regards

Doug

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 10:01 pm

Good idea to have the spare motor as a back up just in case.

Nice work on the water pipe

When engine is out, you'll just need to push the gearbox to one side to drop the drive shaft out, remember to loosen off both big nut first.

Subydoug · Post by **Subydoug** » Fri Nov 15, 2013 9:14 am

Ok, Engine is in, has been run. As per hastings break in procedure, run the engine for about 20 min's at a high idle. At least until she's fully warmed up. Il pop the rocker covers off now and retorque the heads and adjust the tappets. Then Hastings say to get on a HWY and do 10 pulls from 30mph to 50mph WOT. That concludes the break in but they also say to avoid long duration high rpm's for at least the first 200miles. Il swap out the oil at 200miles too.

Il do the pull's tonight down roe HWY late some time.

Didnt end up swapping out the front driveshafts. The old ones have good boots and dont click. And Im frightened that the ones I got to replace the olds ones are gonna be crap. Next time for the CV's I think. Probably when I do the 5 spd swap.

Engine sounded good after listening to my crappy sounding ea82 for the last 2 weeks. deadened sounding with good tappet noise.

Regards

Doug

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Fri Nov 15, 2013 9:41 am

Ok.. you got me on the edge of my seat now, so bring on tonight !!

Don't forget the video cameras

Subydoug · Post by **Subydoug** » Fri Nov 15, 2013 10:05 am

Hehe, wont see crap all with the video cam's. I can do an exhaust cam so you can hear the ea81 in all its glory though

.
Forgot to mention, water crossover pipe works a treat. Beats me why they didn't do something like that to start with. The coolant pipe I used before just wanted to kink.

Il do a compression test afterwards, see where it stands.

Doug

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Fri Nov 15, 2013 4:46 pm

Sounds good Doug. As for the pipe, nice work and did you get the small pipe in there too?

Subydoug · Post by **Subydoug** » Fri Nov 15, 2013 6:48 pm

Nah I didn't grab any smaller hose. That tap off seems like either a bleed off bypass for air or something to do with a coolant temp choke. I Went to plug the outlet on the manifold only to find it completely blocked anyway. Put a hose cap on it for good measure though and When I get some smaller tubing Il probably unblock it and reconnect it. Someone ran straight water in this car for a long time. When I got it the radiator was new and the heater core was completely choked off with brown sediment. All the hoses were crap too. Anyway, little wonder with all the bits of steel that have rusted away inside tubes like that bypass for the heater core.

Regards

Doug

Subydoug · Post by **Subydoug** » Fri Nov 15, 2013 11:02 pm

Just got back from a blat up Roe. Must have done around a dozen or more pulls from 50 to 80. Seems all good. Certainly seems to run good. Il do a compression test tomorrow and see where it stands. I gotta admit. Its soooo nice to drive around and not smell oil

.

Regards

Doug

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Fri Nov 15, 2013 11:11 pm

Good work mate! Could you come over here and rebuild my EA81 for me?

How much does it cost you to rebuild the EA81? And does this include a rebore and new pistons?

Cheers

Bennie

Subydoug · Post by **Subydoug** » Fri Nov 15, 2013 11:39 pm

I can bring my spare motor over next august, with shaved and ported heads

.

Total cost. Hmm, not sure to be honest,

In the process of doing this I got,

1 x gasket kit,

1 x big end bearing set

1 x crank bearing set

1 x piston set

1 x ring kit

Now having pulled it apart again, I had to get another,

1 x ring kit,

2 x head gaskets

2 x rocker cover gasket

1 x sump gasket

1 x intake gasket set.

I never rebored this engine. Probably not the best idea

but thats just what I did. All work on the engine I did myself, including shaving and polishing the heads. I used my new distributor from the old engine and my good oil pump and water pump too.

Id say Im in this motor around $800 - 1000. I did buy a few tools that I needed to do the job and all the parts probably came out at around 500 or 600 bucks. Then there's the oil and coolant I used, and the sealants and time...yeah Id say I had change from 1000. Yeah I overestimated prices but eh.

I am gonna pull my old motor apart too and have a peep inside that too.

Regards

Doug

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Sat Nov 16, 2013 12:17 pm

Subydoug wrote:Nah I didn't grab any smaller hose. That tap off seems like either a bleed off bypass for air or something to do with a coolant temp choke. I Went to plug the outlet on the manifold only to find it completely blocked anyway.

From memory, this hose is the preheat to the base of the carby to reduce icing. Probably not such a big worry in WA

Subydoug wrote:Just got back from a blat up Roe. Must have done around a dozen or more pulls from 50 to 80. Seems all good. Certainly seems to run good. Il do a compression test tomorrow and see where it stands. I gotta admit. Its soooo nice to drive around and not smell oil .

I bet it's nice not to smell oil fumes but what am I going to call her now?

Would be interested to see those compression figures

El_Freddo wrote:Good work mate! Could you come over here and rebuild my EA81 for me?

How about you come over here and you can help build it?

El_Freddo wrote:How much does it cost you to rebuild the EA81? And does this include a rebore and new pistons?

Cheapest is around $800 but if you're keeping the car for a while, I'd spend around the $1500 mark to ensure you get it to last.

We could build you one and bring it to SA for ya

trimonegrant · Post by **trimonegrant** » Sat Nov 16, 2013 12:24 pm

NachaLuva · Post by **NachaLuva** » Sat Nov 16, 2013 12:55 pm

Subydoug wrote:Ok, Engine is in, has been run

Woohoo!

:mrgreen::twisted:

A rebuilt engine for under $1000...awesome. Must feel great to know you did all the work yourself

Subydoug · Post by **Subydoug** » Sat Nov 16, 2013 6:43 pm

It wasnt preheating anything for a while Id say. That hose nipple is blocked well and truly.
Yeah cant er smokey if she aint smokin.....might have to call her Esmeralda now..That's what I used to call her.

Just did a comp test, didnt write down the numbers but 1, 3 and 4 were all around 155psi and 2 was around 160. Given it only has about 22km's on the rings il recheck it after a few hundred and see what it settles at. Im not expecting miracles, a worn bore is a worn bore and there is no way to get something from nothing so Il take what I get and be happy with it

.

Im up for an El freddo visit! Ruby scoo and the yellow beast together would make for some pretty formidable 4 wheelers

.

Deffinately dont be cheap like me and skimp on the rebore. And dont buy the no brand cheapo rings. Talking to a few other people, they point out that the car wasnt burning oil from the start so maybe the ring broke after installation. Who knows. All I know is comparing these hasting rings to the ones I put in it to start with, there much thicker, lots more tension and seem to fit the grooves of the piston better. I also like the oil ring setup on them better as the scraper rings sort of push against tabs on the spreader ring which tensions the whole lot up together and holds the scrapers "parallel" all the way around if that makes any sense at all

.

Yeah I do like the reward of tinkering with things. The little ea81 is great for it as its a pretty simple and forgiving engine to work with. It gives me something to mess around with when I feel the urge to try something different. Also I hear the mechanics around the joint are pretty sketchy. I hear nothing but bad things about some guy in Rockingham

. (joking off course

)

Looks like Im moving to rocko too Paul. Nice house. Shed out the back will fit 4 cars in it and it has a pit to work on cars. Better then your hoist because its in my garage

.

Anyway need to go clean Es,

Doug

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sat Nov 16, 2013 9:48 pm

then there are things like chrome rings and carbon rings, should use one in one case and not the other, and vice versa. I think I read you said chrome and one would think they are better, look sexy, recall I had to settle for carbon or was it cast ?? c word for sures.....

littlewhiteute · Post by **littlewhiteute** » Sun Nov 17, 2013 7:36 am

Subydoug wrote:Ok, Engine is in, has been run. As per hastings break in procedure, run the engine for about 20 min's at a high idle. At least until she's fully warmed up. Il pop the rocker covers off now and retorque the heads and adjust the tappets. Then Hastings say to get on a HWY and do 10 pulls from 30mph to 50mph WOT. That concludes the break in but they also say to avoid long duration high rpm's for at least the first 200miles. Il swap out the oil at 200miles too.

Il do the pull's tonight down roe HWY late some time.

Didnt end up swapping out the front driveshafts. The old ones have good boots and dont click. And Im frightened that the ones I got to replace the olds ones are gonna be crap. Next time for the CV's I think. Probably when I do the 5 spd swap.

Engine sounded good after listening to my crappy sounding ea82 for the last 2 weeks. deadened sounding with good tappet noise.

Regards

Doug

30 - 50 mph in top gear, decel to 30, repeat 10-12 times.

Subydoug · Post by **Subydoug** » Sun Nov 17, 2013 11:42 am

First ones I used were cast Jonno. These are Chrome. Donno much about different rings. Id assume its a bit like cast vs forged pistons. Both work fine but chrome will take more of a beating.

Regards

Doug

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Tue Nov 26, 2013 8:09 pm

Chrome Moly are the ring type you're referring to as Chrome - these are tough rings that will pretty much push mud out of the way to get the job done. Apparently spring cars use these rings...

The other one's I can't remember the name of, but they're softer for the fast acceleration/race scene - high performance for short life span in general.

Cheers

Bennie

Subydoug · Post by **Subydoug** » Wed Nov 27, 2013 3:01 pm

Yeah chrome moly is what I meant. No idea about different applications. Il see what my race buddy put in his lancer gsr.

Engine is running good. Using it daily at the moment. Getting really good economy and certainly more umph with all 4 pots working properly. Nice zzzzzzzzzzzz noise instead of glopglopglopglopglopglop

Regards

Doug

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Wed Nov 27, 2013 10:54 pm

Subydoug wrote:Also I hear the mechanics around the joint are pretty sketchy. I hear nothing but bad things about some guy in Rockingham . (joking off course )

Yeah that's what I hear too.. very dodgy mechanics in Rocko

Subydoug wrote:Looks like Im moving to rocko too Paul. Nice house. Shed out the back will fit 4 cars in it and it has a pit to work on cars. Better then your hoist because its in my garage .

Do tell more

Will make trips to the beach much quicker