Subaru ea81 SC12 supercharger in trike

Was so impressed with our member Joel and his SC12 Toyota supercharger thread that I have bitten the bullet and purchased a sC12. A dellorto 40mm side draught carbie (same as Joels) has also been purchased and the seller sold me a second one for $60 as well for spares.

The build might be a little slow at the moment (minus 3 here at night in the victorian hills) so bare with me and any advice or comments wlecome.

Received my SC12 Toyota supercharger today in the mail.

Impressed. It appears internally to be very sound. No slop at all in the bearings. fair bit of dust on the rotors so am wondering what to clean them with as dont want to take any teflon off. ???



and the end casing was clean ready for some new oil. 2x (100ml) Holden supercharger oil will be ample.



Dellorto carbie will be here soon.

All I did to clean out mine was spin it with the electric drill and spray carby cleaner in the intake side and let it blow any crap out the otherside.

I not sure if you been following Joel
post,
but he learnt by his mistakes 😊and opted for a newer more reliable & more powerful Subaru motor and I think the old stuff is still sitting around in his shed:🙅
having said that, I could be wrong🤪

There are positives in the ea81 believe it or not. There are some that just simply like OHV engines and not timing belts, shims, EMU's and kilometres or wiring and engineering worries in a trike.

Yes, I am a little tired of the EJ thing.

If you think it is a mistake Ian.mezz then thats your call. Means there shouldnt be a ea81 on the road. They should all have eJ's. I actually love my ea81. And I like being different which feeds my quirkiness. Been down the path of DOHC's, timing belts, twin carbs and so on. But I'm of middle age and things change, desires change.

Joel- a supercharged electric drill eh.

Ea81's are a early, simple, great engine. I will be going ej22 in the near future in baja but I will never bag anyone with a Ea81 because it has been super reliable for me. IMO a stock ea81 is better than a stock type2 stock 1800cc.
Generally people people that rubbish subi conversions Just Cant Do It themselves so stay air cooled.

good luck with what your doing .😊after all its your hobby/ trike.

yeh thanks Ian.Mezz.

Not that I need to explain but I will anyway.

I owned Lotus's when in my 20's. DOHC's, twin webers, timing chains etc. that was too complicated for me and removing cams to replace valve shims among other issues. Then there were more cars owned that I found difficulty in repairing myself. Many embarrassing moments taking boxes of engines to mechanics. I know my limits now.

Now I live in remote strathbogie Victoria and getting emchanical help is not possible- have to rely on your knowledge. I also wanted to maintain the engine myself totally apart form any rebuild.

My previous engine was a 1916 VW. I wanted to replace it and I had many choices with the sherman adapters. Including EJ. But I knew I'd be capable of maintaining the ea but not the EJ. The EJ needs engine mounts and on the Panther monocque chassis this is an issue.
I run a small business so maintaining two other vehicles by dealers was enough. I'm also in a time warp with my preference to the older engines. This will happen to you guys. you'll stick with eJ instead of some new hybrid system a younger guy recommends to you that becomes common.

Finally I traded in my camper trailer (240kgms) for a Guppy caravan. Weight 500kgms loaded. The ea81 tows it ok but would like a bit more torque for the hills. And I'm quirky.

I dynoes the ea81 to find 75 hp at the fly. sadly 60hp at the wheels, my only error was that the auto zaps a little too much out of it. the Sc will fix that.




Hence my choice of ea81. Offence not taken. Passing thru Central Vic and I'll give you the handlebars....😎

Today got hold of some alloy plate and tube. made up my first anifold the one that exits the SC. Have to get it welded up by someone that knows how...

Amazing what you find in a shed when you're looking.

This had to come off my ea81 when I stripped the external stuff off it.

And the bearing is in good nick. Likely it came from a past A/C belt system. I'll get my engineer to turn it so it can rest against the back flat of the V-belt.

Make a good idler pulley for the supercharger. I'll hinge it and make a slot adjuster bar.

What I'm planning now is have a good look at pulley sizes I have on the crank when I get my trike back from the engineer this week and settle on a pulley size for the SC. then take it to a pulley joint to find out if I can get a pulley fitted that can be interchangable. Dont want complications alter down the track because I'm reaching 10-12 psi and not the desired 5-6 psi

Not happy with the alloy manifold. reject!

Too thin and soft metal.

Found some steel pipe and 3mm steel. tomorrow will be attacking it.


This is the Datsun 1600-2L intake manifold I have purchased on ebay.

I'll cut off one half to use my delorto carbie on the SC. and have one half left over. Note how the tubes go towards each other to get up close which I need so it is directd into the square gap intake of the SC12.

You're setting a cracking pace on this.

I'll be watching this space to see what you come up with. You have been very innovative with your trike so far.



Smiley 🙂

Thanks Smliey.

Busy day today on the project. Cut some slots to make the opening more sqaure like for the exit of the SC. and my Dellorto carb + a spare carb came in the mail today.
Then after cutting out the 3mm steel plate I tack welded the pipe to it. I'll get my engineer to weld it fully. and can anyone tell me what this hole is for and what I do with it? and in this pic there is the throttle on the left. I assume the level on the right hand side of the picture is the choke???

Third time lucky or was it fourth try? to make a manifold?

Anyway got it this time.





the 4mm gal pipe was too heavy. 1.6mm steel pipe from where I got my exhausts done. Tested my welding as it was easy to blow holes through it. but got there in the end.

Got the manifold and cut it in two.

Didnt count on it having a designed bend in it. either I lean the Sc over a little or make the 5mm-10mm adapter plate from the manifold to the sc on an angle. Think the former will be easier.



Now I'll start making templates for the plates.

Wish I hadnt move my photos to another album in photobucket!!

Today was interesting.

Most SC12's and sC14's come with a clutched pulley. add 12 volts to the two leads and you have lock on. But they can slip and besides you cannot use a clutch pulley on a draw through set up. After all, fuel and air mix cant get through the vanes in the sC if the lobes arent turning. Different with a blow through because those systems have a bypass when you turn off the clutched pulley.

I had planned to use a v-belt set up. Thats because I have a triple v-belt crank pulley already on the engine. But my engineer rang today to tell me it would be quite difficult to fit a fixed v-pulley in lieu of the clutched 5 ribbed one on the SC. But quite easy to fix the clutched pulley solid. So be it. means a 5 ribbed belt is going to be fitted. so off to the wreckers where I found 1/ a 5 ribbed 135mm pulley for the crank and 2/ a ribbed tensioner pulley and a flat pulley interchangeable. Which do I use- flat or ribbed tensioner?

The flat pulley runs on the back of the ribbed belt and tensions up to make more footprint on the belt around the crank and SC pulleys. It also makes the belt bend opposite to how it travels around the other pulleys possibly causing more wear.. The ribbed pulley tugs at the belt = less belt on the pulleys. but it allows the belt to onlt bend the one way.???? ideas/opinions?

Found a 5 ribbed pulley for the crank. I have a standard single crank pulley. My engineer is welding/fixing the ribbed pulley to this. But it is 135mm diameter. The Sc pulley is 115mm. meaning not 1 to 1, the figure I sought. this means more boost than anticipated. maybe 8psi. vrooooom!!!

Might start the install next week. But we are going on a 3 day holiday soon so a bit of a delay.

How did you get your supercharger so shiny?
I'm just finishing my 2nd instal of an sc12
Will post pics soon

aintgotitmusthavit

I used a steel brush in a drill. then alloy engine paint. looks more perfect than what it is haha baking soda and a little water helped a lot.

yeh pics please.

My SC12 is at the engineers. am eager to get it back to locate its mounting position. whether I can mount it on the same pivot point as the alternator (cast iron strong mount there) or have to move it over to above the left hand head past the dizzy which may look lop sided and as there are no engine mounts balance might be an issue. all depends on the intake manifold I'm yet to make but I think the sC will be high enough above the intake to get clearance.

pics are good.

Almost completed the adapter plate from carbie manifold to supercharger inlet.

Blow off valve in position. had to get a collar lathed up in steel to get it braised onto the steel tube.

I have a concern with adequte fuel supply to the carbie. I run a electric fuel pump that gives 3-5 psi. There is no return feed to the fuel tank. Hence this has worked well as it has low pressure.

If I find a pump with higher pressure I'm afraid it will cause other issues like overflow. This unit below might be an answer?????


Mallory Fuel Pressure Regulator

This mallory fuel pressure regulator is our most popular regulator
for several reasons. Its good price, readily available, and can be
used in a wide variety of applications! It also it has a 1-1 boost reference
for turbo charged, or supercharged applications to prevent fuel starvation
common with a static (non rising) fuel pressure regulator. This regulator
is designed for carbureted fuel systems and is adjustable from 4 psi to 40 psi
fuel pressure, and with the boost reference line hooked up the fuel pressure
will raise 1 pound (fuel pressure) for every pound of boost to prevent fuel
starvation by keeping the correct pressure in the carburetor at all times.

Price $95.00




what do you think guys? will the standard pump suffice???

Got advice on this fuel regulator and seems I dont need one.


I'm close to the instal now. My engineer is welding the pulleys together, fixing the clutch pulley solid and I've mounted the tensioner pulley in place.

The SC will be mounted between the alternator and the intake on about 20 degree angle as to allow for the bend in the Datsun manifold to allow for the dellorto to be level. It might even use the same pivot point as the Alternator.

I'm hoping the manifold form the sc to the intake will be as short as possible.

All advice I have received tells me I dont need a fuel regulating valve witha draw through set up.

Dropped off my Dell'orto carbie today in Shepparton to a carbie joint. They are to rpelace the jets, and there are several, with ones suitable for the project.

Get the SC with its pulley fixed and a welded up crank pulley hoping tomorrow.

Sort brass fitting for the 3 vacuum points, PCV, auto kickdown and dizzy.

Got 5 days off next week. might be making up the last of the Sc mount and manifolds.

Interesting at the carbie cente the owner has a green Gemini with a Holden 3.8 V6 in it and 3...3...superchargers. two sC14's one on each bank ans an eaton in the V (centre). hope to get a pic soon.

Here is a Gemini I saw this week. Three superchargers. 1x eaton in the centre, and two Toyota SC14's one on each side. the SC14 is the big brother of the SC I am isntalling the SC12. In a lightweight car. Yesteday I got the sC and pulleys back from my engineer. Today I made a mount that sits between the alternator and the intake (ignor the bird crap welding.) here it is in place Tomorrow a big job, the manifold form the sc to the intake. It will only be 240mm long but it will be like a plumbing job.

interesting gemini, is that a buick V6 hiding under there?

Holden.

14 sec's quarter mile when it wasnt running 100%. and the sound is something else Pete.

Took my manifold to my engineer. He was in two minds to oxy the unit to ensure the leaks in my bird dropping wleds were sealed. But he did supply me with DEVRON, the original plastic steel epoxy.

Mixed up the dark grey putty with hardener. This material is not much different to body filler to use.

What a difference. Use water on a spatular or use your finger( as long as you wash it off with hot soapy water). Am yet to decide to put another coat on it. Coats should be 1.6mm thick minimum. So I cant see the point because this stuff is so tough.

Specs on DEVRON:







this side bolts onto the supercharger



gotta pick up a bit for the electric drill, wire brush tool to get the imperfections off inside. Or is there an easier way?



Then paint and final asembly. I also purchased a hard plastic box from Middy's today to make a narrow unit at the carbie entrance. this will be modified to allow for the 75mm extendable filter hose. I need a narrow unit as the carbie is fairly close to the roof frame when the roof is retracted. pics when its done.

Close to start up.

Must admit, pretty proud of myself with this sculpture haha

It came up great with the use of Devron.



And the inside was also done making it really smooth for the fuel/air mix



This is with the blow off valve.



While it dries I'm onto the air box to connect the air filter.

I ordered it last Monday. Will be at Bursons Shepp. pick up tomorrow. The Corolla belt that broke was old off a wreckers shelf.

But the ensioner also needed a washer so that friction didnt help

video tomorrow.

and yes, it sounded better than Elvis.

Well I'm real happy now. Purchased a new Corolla 5 ribbed belt and fitted it. I thought the old belt broke due to it being used. But it was because the tensioner mount had a burr on it and it cut through it thereby shreading it. So with half a new belt hanging on I took this short video. As you'll see I needed to work the choke to get it start and it was real cold so looks like smoke out the exhausts. anyway I'm soon at the end of the project.

the sound at the beginning is heavy rain on the roof.




Special thanks to our member Joel. His PM's were informative and much needed during the project. thanks mate. ps...I owe you a Tweety ride!!

I do have a problem I have to work on.

Being hard mounted if the SC alignment is out then it doesnt give me any room to adjust it so I dont damage belts.

I can cut the manifold in two and use a silicone sleeve there this would mean I need a top sc mount to secure it as the manifold is currently holding it firm in position

Couple of days and it will all be done. Testosterone doesnt have patience!

So finally the manifold was modified. Got the engine up to operating temperature but still the engine wants to bog down with richness. I have a spare carbie so I’ll look at those main jets soon.
But first there is the test drive. I inched down the driveway careful not to flood it. Then stalled it. Restart ok will feather the throttle till I get some speed up. Carried out a u-turn at the Strathbogie CBD….and put the auto in first gear from drive. Feather the throttle till 2000 rpm then squeezed it more….woooooohhh!!!!!! wow!. Where’s that neckbrace!! Climbed a hill leaving bogie and slowed then it kicked down from 3rd to second and immediately for the very first time, the front wheel on tweety left the ground about 20mm. What amazed me was- it remained off the ground for about 5 metres. That’s what it felt like but likely 2 metres- dont matter it was a buzz. It has never been so responsive. I was going uphill but this is exactly what I was after. And that kick in the back is gradual and consistent till about 4000 rpm when it increases noticeably. And the noise? I don’t hardly hear it! Maybe the car guys hear it due to it being enclosed?

Gotta do the airbox now, clean up the garage, change the jets and get a tune. What a relief!.







The belt is now running true. The silicone tube idea failed due to no having enough "meat" on both ends of where I cut it. So wleded it again while in place and hard mounted the unit again.



This is an electricians wire box. will modifying it to make an airbox out of it. It has to enable a 75mm hose for the cone air filter. and a 38mm hose for the blow off valve.



I will connect the digital boost guage to seek the amount of boost I have. Video will come.

so do you think that you will save money on fuel compaired to the old vw motor and the the stock subaru with out charger ????? or have you change from saving money on fuel and now going for power.😊

Ian.mezz I stand by my original reason for going ea81, being simplicity and old school engine OHV, no EMU etc. I can work on this engine but what I see as complicated engines eg the EJ series engines I cannot work on them.

The ea81 as it was without the sC was adequate but not excessive. One mistake I suppose I cana dmit is the auto VW trans zapped too much power from it. Add a 500kgms caravan and you are ok at cruising until you hit some hills.

For anyone else in this situation an EJ20 would eb the way to go. As for me I'm glad I cans ervice this engine and trans and do the tappets etc and it is done in 15 minutes.

As for economy Joel found there is little difference. I exoect it to consume a little more. But it should also fly up the hills easier and use less fuel then. Time will tell.

I wished I had originally designed the manifold to accomodate a 50mm length of silicone hose. Now that its secure it doesnt matter but it cost me 3 days of work.

Had the trike not had the roof then air filter assemblys would be an issue either. As it is the SC plus the Datsun half manifold and Delorto end up beign so wide as an assembly that there is little room for an airbox at the end of the carbie. in fact the box will end up only 25mm at one end and 40mm at the other in thickness so the roof frame clears it when it tilts back. I couldnt mount the SC further to the left as the SC outlet would have gone past the intake hole. I want ed to avoid long silicone hoses from the SC to the intake and achieved that but this is the cost of that location.

It'll work out but as most of us know if there is any restriction in an airbox, in this case due to it being thin, then you lose power.

I totally respect the mechanical masterpiece you have built. It is Hot Rodding at it's best. Make the best of what you know, and what you have and what you can afford.

I have an EH Holden with 202 red motor 6 cylinder engine. Supercharged on straight gas. Hey it may only get the same power as a 3.8 V6 Commodore engine, but it is way cooler.

Like your engine. A stock EJ20 may have done the same power, but the journey of the build and tweaking (tweeting LOL) would have been missed.

There may be some people that will see the entire package you have built, and out of sheer jealousy will diss it. Personally I would love to see Tweety one day and have a little squirt.

Thanks Hellbus. You are welcome for a ride if and when you come for a visit. Near Euroa Vic.

I dont blame some for querying my choice for the ea81. Lets face the facts, a half cut for a EJ20 is relatively cheap, adapters available etc etc.

But there are reasons. See I'm mid fifties. I burned myslef out totally in my 20's on high performance Lotus engines. Not being trained as a mechanic, always self taught with some advice from more knowledgable friends. But I recall one Lotus twin cam engine I pulled apart. After reassembly I ried to connec the connecting link in the cam chain and it fell down into the sump. Out it came again and this time I forgot to insert a rubber tube that is sandwiched between the head and the block. off came the head. Then finally I cranked it up and bent the four inlet valves. Cam timing was out one link.

From then on I always stuck with OHV engines. and never felt uncomfortable working them. the ea81 is such a simple engine. no cam chains, no OHC's, no shims, no timing belts, no tensioners (although I have one now with the SC), single intake and so on. 5 wires. no loom no EMU's. and to boot I have that extra boost now and still its simplistic. best of both worlds.

So EJ isnt always suitable and this engine is a delight. Dyno results will be interesting

Well today I nearly finished the airbox. The top cap on an angle has to be recut to make it look more presentable. But for $24, it was cheap for what I wanted it to do.



The box has 75mm plumbing to the vacuum style air hose to the cone filter further towards the front to get all that cool air. Ther is also a join for the blow off valve.



Replaced the 145 jets with 135, then 130 then 125. Not much change with the bogging down of the engine. So with the 125's in place took to it with the timing light. Bearing in mind the standard ea81 has its timing marks on the flywheel at the rear and I dont have a flywheel anymore being an adapter and auto trans from VW.

So the triple crank pulley originally on this engine has a mark on it, and was found from riding uphill slowly until the pinging ceased. A friend had his Brumby/brat here once and we compared markes and by chance I'd timed it to 8 degrees with that mark in the vertical position on the block halves...odd eh..

When I replaced that pulley with a standard single V belt pulley I copied that mark over. Then my engineer fixed a 5 ribbed pulley to that. Well I checked the timing and it was about 20 degrees. Dont know why. But I loosened off the dizzy and the timing light decided to go bush!!.

With the info I had though I could retard the timing quite a lot. I kept doing this until it revved cleanly. Until I get another timing light I dont know what degrees it is at idle or high revs for that matter. But I'm fairly happy I got the hesitation out. But was I now running lean?. Seemed I was because at medium revs it seemed to run out of fuel as it slowly died down.

I replaced the 125's with 145's. Smelt quite rich. Replaced them for 135's and it was the happiest its been. That'll do till a tune.

Wanted a test ride but its dark.....lol.

I didnt say nothing about a ej motor .🤪
I was refer to your vw and stock ea81 subaru . before sc added.

Yeh, see what you mean ian. no stress. The Vw engine was poor on economy but it was down on power I think about 20% and was ideal for the buyer to fiddle with for his beetle.

So the ea81 install I put the weber on straight away and new dizzy and get 10L/100kms compared to 13L/100kms.

Will be interesting with the SC. Power to weight changing and effortless hill climbing might just come out even. But I epect 10% increase in consumption.

Anyone contemplating adding a SC to their engine might want to consider the following:

there are a number of things I wouldnt do again.

1/ By far the mistake that cost me many hours was the one peice manifold joining the sc to the intake. Had my time again this would ahve been in two halves and made for a 1 inch section of silicone tube. This would have made mounting easier.

2/ Be aware that the entry and exit mounting bolts are 6mm and often can have worn threads. This might temp you to insert longer bolts for strength BUT....the holes go through to the spinning lobes meaning damaging them is easily done. I was lucky to realise this as I bolted a longer one up. In the end I retapped a few of them for larger stubbier bolts that did the trick.

3/ As a novice I didnt realise until later that the first thing to do is line up the pulleys both vertically and horizontally then secure the mount rather than thinking small amoutns of adjustment is easy.

4/ When purchasing a sC 12 or 14 try and get one with the manifolds. they could come in handy even for bolt hole templates for gaskets etc..

5/ I think the Dellorto 40 DHLA was a good chice. seemed to have no issues with it and can handle the 3-5 psi of my elecric fuel pump with no return to tank feed needed.

6/ I was happy that I got my engineer to fix the clutch pulley with three precision bolts and the crank pulley also. wasnt that costly and takes the guessing out. In hindsight the tensioner mount could have been on a better adjusting angle. Works fine but if its not 90 degrees from the belt adjustment suffers. Is located just above the water pump pulley.

7/ I was happy with the following decisions: location of the supercharger, utilising the cast iron alternator mount, Ford belt tensioner is a gem to use, carbie choice, supercharger size (didnt need the SC14), draw through rather than blow through, the digital boost gauge (cheap on ebay and easy to read), ribbed belt rather than V-belt which was my first choice, utilising a 5pr-0965 belt a common size.

looking at a dyno tune. 3rd test ride tomorrow and if all goes well will book it in and results will be scanned and put here.

I've allowed for the gasket goo to set.

At least I know there are no leaks there now on that custom manifold.

Fiddled with jets a bit ended up with 145 mains and 6 degrees timing close to standard timing. But there is still just a little hesitation and as I got rid of most of it then it has to be a tuning issue. Wont know how ridable it will be until the rain stops.

Click on the next pic for video.





And yet again while fiddling with timing the engine backfired and that BOV worked so well.

When you put it on the dyno, you should tune it with the airbox open, then try it with the airbox sealed up. Coz I suspect that thin box will be quite restrictive. I know you're gonna say, "but the supercharger will overcome that". However, no point doing all the hard work on the blower, just to have the airbox steal 5 hp back.

Pete - you're dead right. Tune up was done with airbox off.


Today was more sweet than bitter but it could have easily turned horrible.

Took off at 6:30am bound for Croydon to my friends at VW performance Centre. Got to yea and broke down at the servo when Tweety's engine wouldn't restart.

Turned out much later that there was a lot of condensation in the electronic dizzy. Not the first time!

Eventually restarted and the engine broke a supercharger belt at Glenburn. Inspection revealed the belt had a tendency to move towards the engine. Later Daniel from VWPC found it was out iof alignment by about 3mm resulting in one of the 5 ribs on the belt to fray, break then the rest of the belt followed.

Luckily I had a spare and pushed on from Yea to Ringwood East where the second belt snapped. I heard it go. But pushed on regardless and found that indeed the engine can maintain power without the belt...no boost of course.

So Daniel took about 2 hours to make a spacer between the crank pulley and the SC ribbed pulley, plug weld it together etc. Then it was dyno time.

I had had 145's as a main jets in the 40 DHLA Dellorto,. In the end we had 225's so you can imagine how lean it was running. Air jets were matched. Accelerator "pump" jets had to go to greater sizes too. Initial runs were disappointing. Last years HP maximum was 60 hp at the wheels. These runs were 58. I asked Daniel to check the throttle. Yep...less that half effective throttle when squeezed tight- my fault. We spent some time remaking a better throttle set up with more throw and a better link.

82.2 hp at the wheels compared to 59.6 last year. a good jump of 32% in hp. I began to raise a smile.

Torque last year was 440lb this year 570. another substantial increase.

Here is the graph. The green is last years results after the weber carb was installed. Todays is in red. Power is the humped curve, torque the flatter lines.



That was at the wheels. last year the flywheel HP was 75. This year....well we got it way up toward 98 then we had an issue. The engine firstly wouldnt idle under 2500 rpm. Then it wouldnt start. The condensation was blown out with air. Then Daniel found a leak between the custom manifold and the base adapter plate. I recognised that spot. The gasket and hence the gasket goo area was less than 3mm wide between the intake neck and the mounting stud.

So we packe dup our box of tricks and decided I'd remake the manifold. Daniel supplied me with some 75mm pipe and a leice of 75mm silicome tube.

Homewood bound and the difference was- well extraordinary particularly acceleration between 80-110 kph. Truly quick by previous standards. Tackling hills is a breeze where previously I'd drop speed to say 80kph or even drop down to second the trike maintains 100 kph effortlessly. When the trike does hit a slower steeper incline and drop down to second the front of the trike lifts. Not off the ground at that speed say 60kph but you do get that sensation of the machine sitting on its haunches- nice.

Boost max indicated was 5psi. I think I'll be happy with that. I wont rule out at a later time changing the SC pulley to a slightly smaller one to get a bit more boost but I'll leave it alone for some time yet.

Now to rebuild that manifold and get the manifold between the Sc and the carbie shortened to make way for a wider air box

Its taken a while but am ready to install the new improved manifold each side of the SC12.

This is a pic of the original set up. You can see the grey airbox and how thin it had to be due to the roof frame coming very close to it as the roof was tilted back. The black manifold on the left mounts above the intake. It had an adapter/spacer alloy made by redline under it that had very littel meat to create a good seal- hence a leak.



This is the new set up. I used the spare lynx manifold half to get it shortened.. This allows for the new airbox. And I'll have one centimetre spare. The new manifold to the intake is made out of 4x2" steel tube for the top onto 75mm steel tube under to to the intake the latter being halved for the silicone tube.

Look close enough you might see the Devcon plastic steel lining insdie the lower mount to allow for smoothness for the fuel mix. Good stuff but not cheap.

Ok, have almost got it all sorted now.

I had serious air leaks between my custom made manifolds. And after much trouble have found that the SC exits are not fully flat...why? Because as standard they dont need to be!!

Standard manifolds in Toyota cars where these sC12 and SC14 SC's are fitted appear to have tin like material which would flex with the base. Its about 1mm but enough to cause and issue when using 5 or 8mm plate as a manifold face. I originally used 3mm and that warps when welding takes place.

I kept the 3mm manifold face but had it linished and used a far better gasket than paper. I picked up some rubber gasket with a strip of alloy in it. About 2mm thick it is THE stuff to use in this application.

A smear of gasket goo and assembly took place. Now I have an idle to die for. A test run ahve me 5psi and good idle. But it now runs rich- back tot he dyno machine. Update to come.

The rubber gasket. Superb stuff.



The now two peice custom manifold. Top ring is for the blow off valve. Silicone sleeve and clamps compelte the assembly. A top mount seen on the left hand side now braces the top of the SC. Note the tensioner is on the "slack" side of the ribbed belt. I plan to purchase two VW generator mesh shields to make the belts a safe place for fingers. Besides they are law here.



A test run and I'm reminded how effective this Supercharger is. It is more noticable at low revs. The throttle is more touchy and the front wheel gives me the sensation of lifting. Then there is a progressive acceleration at full throttle that is so much better than non sC. But ti is the speedo diference that is where the tell tale is. Adn the trike around corners under certain revs seems to sit on its haunches, more on the back wheel as you power on- a sensation that increases my testosterone...lol . Easily reaching 130kph (private property ok police!! if you are reading) before I backed off. Am not interested in what it does top speed. This trike is a cruiser and always will be. Dont want my sunroof to reach New Zealand.

There is a slight increase in noise, not loud but a course sound with the added sC spinning away. I'm happy, and happier when the dyno results come out with it jetted correctly this time.


The manifold face




The rubber gasket- good gaskets



Note the now two peice manifold. Top of SC is now braced see left hand side of pic






Devcon is "gold" both in price and material. but it helps when you line your manifolds with it to make them smooth and resist fuel "pooling"



Top brace needed as manifold is now 2 peice.



Electrical box from Middys for $24 make a reasonable airbox. make sure you place some devcon or araldite in the corners of the see through lid or the corners break with vibration. Units are sealed well.




This black adapter was founf at supercheap. fits ptretty well. again devcon was used for strength and seal.




Tensioner on the "slack" side of the ribbed belt. Alignment of the belt is important (I broke 3) Take tyour time aligning the SC pulley so the SC is in the right location.



I just cut down some trumpets so the redline red filters fit on. There is also a cold air intake up the fornt.



Now I'm off to the dyno for the last time

good work Tweety. looks like you have worked thru the main issues. I reckon you might get another lift in hp now that the air intake is sealed with no leaks. looking forward to seeing the new graphs.

You've got that 2 piece manifold nailed now, that joint will help allow for any movement as well as making it easier to assemble/dissasemble.

Yeh, iou0060 end next week hoping for Friday.

Yeh Joel, the number of times I pulled off manifolds were many. its far easier now. In fact If I had my time again 60mm tube would be used even 50mm. because the intake gullet is small anyway. That way mounting bolts/nut would be well out of the way.

That solid manifold I made didnt allow for any movement of the SC when the belt kept coming off. I've ordered 2x VW mesh genny shields to mate them to cover all belts.

the situation now is this: dyno tune with no airleaks took place Friday and main jets went down from 225 to 180 a heap less. the supercharger produces 4psi with the rare 5psi showing on the guage. Sadly I've lost any economy gain I had when going from the VW 1916cc engine to the ea81. Shame, I enjoyed the extra 100kms to a tank (50 litres). Dual fuel is still a thought. I need to investigate this- even if I have to use a different carbie to a single throat but LPG tank size (scuba size) and if I can fit them???(unlikely). 13-14 L/100kms is a bit hard to swallow especially when we want to ride 17,000 kms around Oz towing our van which will drink more.

We rode to Ballarat to see our new pup (mini foxy) through rain and freezing cold temp. The only issues with the engine was a very small leak (again) in the manifold area me thinks the silicone sleeve. The two halves of the tube it covers is oval shaped- not a good seal. easy fixed and fixed it will be.

The up side is the performance. Up hills it flies. Easily exceeding my expectations and this is with 1 or 2psi on a light throttle. As a comparison going up the Euroa to Strathbogie mountain Tweety with the VW engine would slow down to 60kph, into second for 300 metres before enough speed to go into top. The ea81 unblown would slow to 80kph into second also but enough revving ability to maintain 80. With the blower 105kph easily reached and maintained top gear likley more if full throttle used. You soon realsie that you rarely need full throttle. This is a big difference. Also overtaking is done in a blink of an eye - a safety feature.

The engine is noisier understandably. A few options. One is ear plugs, ipods whatever. The other is some soundproofing under the body of the trike fixed to the fiberglass. Its a gitsy sound but a bit of a drone after some time. When we got home and its idled I touched the SC and it wasnt hot. I was udner the belief it would be too hot to touch. So I'm thinking of making a jacket for it out of fireproof material, something I could slip over it and take off easily. However I'd assume this is going against logic as the sC needs to emit heat so I might go the other way with soundproofing.

What is a positive is the supercharger drivability with the VW 3 speed type 3 auto. The old 3 speed can be a durable unit but like all 3 speed autos- a slug really. With this extra power and torque with instant response from 32% more mower and 30% more torque you dont need those extra gears you long for. Its an impressive result for me. Just the economy and noise has to be looked at.

With a slight leak in the manifold I've decided to track down some good gasket material for the supercharger especially the seal between the SC and both sides entry and exit.

Clark rubber have a material called Nitrile. Available in black 3mm or white 1.5-6mm (I think white is for food contact) Its 3mm thick and resembles basic black rubber. It is a massive $120 per metre 150mm wide. ouch! So bought 300mm strip for $40. But you dont normally use a lot.

Temp range is about -30 to +90 C. Suitable for petrol and oils.
Furthermore it might be reusable. I'll try it.

The NITRILE rubber gaskets worked perfectly and now there are no leaks at all.

It means I'll need now a thrid dyno tune to get smaller jets but as I'm checking out water injection I'll wait till that is installed.

Can now concentrate of cosmetics. Two vW Scat belt guards protect fingers- a legal requirement in Victoria.



There are two belts now and too wide for a single guard.



3 wing nuts with welded bolts make detachement easy and quick.

Nice work Tweety 🙂
Is there a slight bearing rattle on one of the videos?

There has been a few rattles here and there. All gone now though.

One came from the dizzy before it was dismantled and retarded by the ingotion place. One came from a small bolt that I inserted into a stud hole in the SC and it was a little too long causing it to just touch the lobe. Took the tiniest bit of coating off but no real harm.

Once I fixed those it quietened down a lot but I could still hear a knock. That was before the dyno. Ignition set and since then had to retard it only 2 degrees or so to rid it of pinging altogether. Glad all those knocks were easily fixed.

Tonight I started him up in the cold. choke, two throttle squirts, starts straight away. the tune is spot on except it is a little rich. Water inejction not far away.

Will be on dosplay at Melbourne motorcycle expo Novemebr 24th thereabouts. in the foyer.!!!

I'd still say that airbox was a little small.

How are the power figures now?

the pwoer figure didnt change. I realsied why and thats because even though nealry all the leakage was fixed, and the jets went from 225 down to 180 the jets were still a bit big due to the leak around the silicone rubber seal due to the tube being oval shape.

now that that is fixed fully and there are no leaks at all it is running still quite rich hence now change in output. Sure is running nicely though.

I have a starter and headlight issue ATM so am otherwise occupied. But soon I'll have water injection. Planning 25:1 ratio or 20:1. just enough to allow for 2 litres of water per 50 litre tankful. Hoping that is enough to allow for a little advance and better economy. Then a final dyno. If the water inj and all leaks fixed gets me more power I'll be wrapped. a few HP maybe.

But first the water injection. Getting a SNOW injection pump, commodore spray washer bottle, low elvel indicator switch, nozzles etc. The jets will be reduced after that.

I will say this pete. Never before has tweety raised its front wheel on take off so easily. I like to raise it say 50mm fo 5 metres or so for the sensation. And uphill kickdown from 3rd to 2nd give a feeling like it will lift. It is a reflection of the hp. Reckon it will tow nicely too but been too busy to hook up Sylvester (van) to try it. A humble ea81 now at 82hp pushing 550 kgms is quite a delight when blown. Uphills are a beeze. Everything Joel described with his blowing the bug thread is right on.

Will consider a larger airbox.There is another size. The same size as the original one I sliced down but now I have the room having cut down the lynx manifold carbie to SC I can consider it.

It could be that it's running rich coz it's not getting enough air. Sure, the supercharger is positive displacement, but anything that impedes the air supply also impedes the efficiency.

What you are feeling re lifting is torque. Supercharger gives you instantaneous torque.

Thanks Pete- makes sense. I'll change that box for the bigger one that about three times bigger. see how that goes. economy could improve also. will advise. thanks mate.

Yeh that torque increase is nice low down power. the standard ea81 has maz torque at 2400 rpm. reckon with it blown it is at a lower revs now and 30% more its like its added 2 cylinders.

Because the rootes pump is positive displacement, the extra power is literally the same as a bigger engine being filled at atmospheric pressure. Greedy's old baywindow had a 1600 with a blower. He did the maths and reckoned the pump made it equivalent of a 2.1L stroker. So yeah, for you it feels like extra engine capacity.

Cant wait to see this engine leaned out to where it should be.

The economy issue is getting clearer. My wife followed me up the freeway today. A black misty wet cloud came out of the exhaust on several occasions unbeknown to me. Seems accelerator jets or main are far too big maybe. Its running nice otherwise but very rich. At lights for the forst time I floored the throttle and boy....smiles...very quick off the mark.

So on with the water injection, replace the airbox with a larger one of similar shape (thanks) and back for a final dyno.

Water injection parts so far received:

VT-VY Commodore (black) washer bottle ebay $28.25 this with a long neck to reach up to the vent that gives access to the overflow bottle on the body. I found it has a 2.6 litre capacity. (from Carsareus) +postage.



Inline caravan carbon filter $47.95 free post

2x water atomising jets ($24 ea). part number B1/4TT+TX-4 (Assembly) 1mm oriface size. Think might need only one of these. as nozzle calculator suggests 0.60mm size but roots blowers take up to twice that amount.
Spraying Systems Co P/L 0393180511 (Vic)



Snow performance pump 150 psi is yet to arrive

Set up the pump and connected the nozzle assembly. This being the finest nozzle you can use for atomisation being 0.036 from Spraying Systems Australia. 220psi pump.



As you can see here the result is best described as "cold steam".



First run, pumped one litre in 8 minutes.

unscrewed the small screw at the pump and second run pumped one litre in 10 minutes.

Means if running the pump only on boost I could run boost say for 25 minutes a tank of fuel. Thats ok I think. If not I'll need to increase the water storage from 2.5 litres.

So am on the search for a system that will switch the pump on at low boost or at half throttle. I'm concerned that less than half throttle will hit boost say uphill and not turn the pump on. Gotta check this out.
Emailed Huson instruments for a 0.5-1 psi hobbs switchand they told me quote:

Tony,
I don’t believe that you will get an accurate switch point this low

03 94574755
Regards Rodger

Ho hum!!!!

So following this testing today I've found that Snow industries (maker of my 220psi pump) has a 60ml/min nozzle, half the flow of the Spraying Systems Company nozzle tested today. Furthermore you can screw it into your pre sC intake manifold.

Available from Rocket Industries NSW. A solonoid also available for when your nozzle is mounted at vacuum location to stop sucking water.

Baccara P/l have pressure switches. have emailed them for info.

Water injection.

It isnt easy finding a simple boost switch unless you want one to come on at 5 or 10 psi. I wanted one to come on at 0.5 psi.

Baccara sold me a pressure switch sales@baccara.com.au for $43 plus postage. This switch is made by a Chinese firm called LEFOO. Item number LF42. Not much info on the web except that its used for remote operation etc.

Hooked it up to a test light and blew into it to find it only came on every second time I blew into it??? So pulled it apart.

This is the switch



Note the two white items on the right.

When I pulled the switch off the diaphram housing it exposed these peices. One is a small rachet shaped like a hole saw and the other shaped like a space station lol. Anyway they were replaced with a small length of tube. reassembly and it works just as I wanted each time I blew into it.



With the tube in place



The discarded internals.



This will be hooked up to the earth lead of the water injection pump and it will be mounted on the manifold with an extension piece. Rated at 80C temp. dont know the temp a manifold will get up to likely more than 80C but play it safe using a 180mm extension hose I suppose.????

Some progress after two days working on this trike.

I've taken some advice to make certain there is no impeding of the airflow into the carbie. Used the base of the previous smaller airbox and installed a larger outer case.



But this time air wont just enter from the front but enter at all sides.



This will prevent the foam trumpet filters from getting wet.


Intalled most of the water injection system except the injector and pressure switch.





injector line was purchased from a hose retailer. got the 600psi stuff instead of 250psi.

So now I have to take off the inlet manifold to install the single injector, get an adapter for the pressure switch to be mounted on the ea81 manifold, fit a relay to the pump and wire up the pressure switch, eventually fir a low water warning light, also a no flow light and get that last dyno tune.

pete wood wrote:interesting gemini, is that a buick V6 hiding under there?

Yup, I recon it is.

Ok, a lot has happened since my last post.

All airleaks were eliminated with new home cut nitrile gasket rubber from Clark rubber. 3mm thick it is the way to go with superchargers etc and can take heat well.

The final dyno didnt produce any more power. idle jets were way too large though. 52's in the dellorto went down to 40's but bogged down on take off so 45's did the trick. This made the engine a little more economical.

I had an issue with blow by. With a subie engine ea81 anyway the air should circulate dizzy side suck in air alt side valve cover exit air to pcv. oil would exit both mini air filters on each side. so I fitted a one way valve on the dizzy side so it can only suck air in and a catch can from Autobarn $90 on the other valve cover exit...then into the pcv. this will also drastically lower oil going back through the engine via the supercharger.

Water injection seems to be working well.

Future plans are going to be minimal now. Time for riding Tweety and not greasing up. But a 103mm ribbed pully to replace the 120mm one on the SC will raise boost to about 10psi. I've got the water injection so why not? Ive recalibrated the dizzy etc so it should be reliable. Recently I installed baffles in the 4 exhaust pipes to lower drine at cruise.

That's the end of this thread. hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Thankyou to Joel for our many PM'sfor advice.

👍

Now get out there and enjoy it, don't get bored like me and swap it for soemthing different.

yes I will enjoy it as soon as I replace both rear axles and hubs with new ones. one hub stripped recently. 45 year old they were.

The only thing I've done since last post was place a catch can on it. on the dizzy side of the engine on the valve cover I put a one way valve on the breather and a mini air filter so it can only suck air. the other side went to the catch can then to the pcv.

The draw through Sc12 set up on Tweety has been running almost fault free. I did start to get some blowby so fitted a catch can tank, with a hose from the oil filler pipe that fixed that. But for some time I've been disappointed with the economy of the SC draw through system. Furthermore I'm 57 and the ea81 I have in tweety is leaking oil and consuming it a little too. I desire a new engine rebuilt with new oversize pistons/new valve guides etc. I want the next engine to see me out!

I was tempted to go EJ20. But i've spent a fair bit on this drivetrain. The exhaust alone $1700. So retaining the ea81 will be reasonable in cost and the original reason for going ea81 was simplicity (no timing belts, easy tappet adjust etc). Most importantly the Panther trikes dont have engine moutns and are monocogue chassis- there is no place for mounts to be - mounted! So I want to stick with the ea81.









So I picked up a spare ea81 engine that will be totally rebuilt, painted etc. I also bought a Subaru ea81 SPFI system complete from a guy that imported it and ;lost interest.

The plan is to take off the SC12 and install the SPFI and get it running well. Then swap engines when the recoed one comes back. Later on down the track the SC12 will be installed in a blow through set up with pully on/off clutch. So the long term benefit will be- off boost the economy and efficiency of EFI on a new engine. On boost for uphills and towing. I'll run the same 5psi I have now- adequate boost without the reliability issues.

I have a mate that will help me with the SPFI install. the loom looks a nightmare in the box!!

'

by the way....I did for a time have water injection. This was for me a waste of time. Firstly at 5psi and a recalibrated dizzy the engine didnt ping at all, if it did the WI would have helped in that regard. I installed it to help with the economy but it didnt at all. Its just another add on that complicates things IMO.

will keep you all posted.

Nice 🙂 then you will have best of both worlds. I have a soft spot for the EA81's they are such a compact motor...

Thanks Doug.

Update. Next month I am to instal the SPFI to my EA81. I've familiarised myself with the loom and been reading up on the SPFI conversion by Snowman on the net. Pretty comprehensive write up there.

For those unfamiliar with the EA82 SPFI that we didnt get in Oz, the eA81 will accept the system. The main issues of work to do include- fitting an O2 Sensor to your exhaust, Fitting the high pressure electric fuel pump, fitting a return fuel line to the tank, different coolant outlet on the engine required different top hose, fitting the loom in situ, mounting the ECU under the dash or in Tweety's case in a cool place under the body.

With a kit (that is hard to get from the USA) you might be lucky and get the dizzy with it already modified on the bottom gear to fit the ea81 and a few other things to make it easy fitting. Like I said it isnt installed yet and hope to report when its running.

My current EA81 is stock so has probably 8.7:1 compression whereas the EA82 SPFI engine had 9.5:1. My next fully recoed engine will have the 9.5:1 and matched cam. So I dont expect full power output like the original eA82 SPFI engine which was 90hp. Maybe 85 or so figner crossed and bloody good fuel economy.