edrach

Miles thanks for the assistance. It appears the new water pump he installed is doing the job, but I will pass you number on to him. Regards, ---ed---

Last 'phonecall was at 8:30pm PDT and he was in Bismarck, ND watching a continuous lightning storm. He was awestruck; "never seen continuous lighting all around us, all 360 degrees; most of it in the clouds with some reaching the ground." He has a friend here in town and will stay a bit and hopes to make Minneapolis fairly early Monday morning. Car seems to be running fine now.

Thanks for the offer Noah; he won't be close to Detroit. He's hoping to be in Minneapolis tomorrow morning and then head north into Wisconsin and into the UP region of Michigan to Marquette and then head back. He's currently in Bismarck, ND as of 8:30pm our time.

7PM PDT: James just called in and he's doing okay it seems. Making better time now that he's come down to 2000 feet; he said at 5200 feet, he had to add water more often. I told him I had given him the wrong fill to point and there was long pause as that thought sunk in. Makes sense; at higher altitude the water will boil off at lower temps. He's currently about one hour west of Bismarck, ND and will call me again when he gets there.

See you can teach an old dog new tricks. I was always under the impression to fill to the base of the neck of the radiator. What you're suggesting leaves room for expansion of the water as the temp increases to operating temp. He's likely doing what I've incorrectly suggested to him and overfilling it.

Matt, thank you for the offer. I'll let James know. Can you PM me info to relay? I'm trying to convince Austin and James to perhaps do the trip from Twin Cities to Marquette in his Impreza with the trailer. It'll be much easier to spell the driver since there'd be room to sleep for two others if necessary. And it would give the Brat some much needed rest. If I remember correctly the time for that round trip is less than 8 hours but it's been a while since I was out there.

James has already removed the thermostat; he was so concerned with overheating after the water pump was replaced I don't think he waited long enough for the water temp to open the thermostat. He removed it figuring that if it's stuck closed it's a problem and with no thermostat in there, the worst that could happen would be it would run cooler. As a matter of fact the original engine always ran at 1/4 on the temp guage; when we installed the weber with a new manifold we found the thermostat missing. We installed a thermostat and the car ran at mid range on the temp guage ever since. Also, the analysis of the temp guage going to zero is correct; when the water pump dumped, air would make the sensor read low. The engine rebuilder installed overtemp telltales on the engine and they are still intact so I doubt any actual overheating occurred.

Engine temp has been normal the entire way other than when the water pump let go.....and then it suddenly went down to 0! and not up (no water next to sensor I guess).

Thanks for that offer to put him up. I doubt he needs an engine. It appeared by noon that the water pump was the source of all that. I'll PM you if you don't mind. Thanks.

Good call; he hasn't noticed where the leak is and it might just be going out the over flow. I'll let him know; he's in the flat-lands now so that might just work. Thanks.---ed---

It's an '84 Brat with 5 d/r speed tranny and a not quite stock EA81 engine (rebuilt from the crank up less than 12K miles ago with a weber and delta cam). Unfortunately I used my original water pump which crapped out last night. My son replaced the water pump this morning and left Bozeman just after 11 heading for Billings and then I-94. I got a call from him around 1:30 and he's losing coolent (about a quart every 60 miles). My suspicion is he didn't re-tighten one of the hoses or a slight gasket leak around the water pump or thermostat housing (he removed the thermostat). The temp indicators on the engine do not indicate he's overheated the engine and the temp guage confirms that. I haven't heard from him in the last three hours which is either very good news or bad news. Thanks for the offer of help, but aren't you quite a ways away from him in Bend? Oops I just re-read your post; possibly you will be passing him in the next day or so or if he's lucky, he'll be heading home about the same time as you're heading back.

Jrach is out of Bozeman and getting close to Billings. Car seems to be running okay but is slowly loosing water (not out the exhaust) but somewhere in the engine compartment. He's adding a quart of water about every 60 miles. I'm beginning to think he should pack it in in Billings. Crossing North Dakota to try to make it to Minneapolis seems pretty risky to me. Any Board members in Billings, MT?

Yea, it lives.....but. I had a chance to run it a bit more this morning (late morning....I like my neighbors) and check it out in the daylight (anyone else work on their cars in the dark?). Anyway, the good news is it runs; surprisingly well considering. The bad news is that the head gasket is blown; I suspected as much since I knew the water pump was shot; just needed to prove itself. This looks like a project car that will go to someone more ambitious and talented than myself. It'll be up for sale cheap shortly (likely early August).

Thanks John I'll check with him on that next time he calls in.

Last update for now; he's on the road again. He removed the thermostat to insure coolent flow. Car is running strong, no hideous white smoke out the tailpipe, temp guage is reading just a little below normal. I've got my fingers crossed. After Billings he will take I-94 east through North Dakota and onward. Thank you all for your help and assistance.

Just a comment, there's very little water circulation until the thermostat starts to open. I'm wondering if we're just being too cautious here.

There's hope; water pump has been replaced and things look promising since nothing bad is coming from the tail pipe. However, the car is not warming up as it should and it appears the water is not circulating. Stay tuned.

I heard from James this morning and it appears the water pump failed. Unfortunately, it likely took out a head gasket also; we'll see. I have a stash of parts that he took with him and there's a water pump in there. More information pending.

Makes you wonder why these cars got "stored" in the first place. I had more trouble getting my other son's Brat to run right after it had only been sitting for 6 months. Now I've got to find where the exhaust leak is; I couldn't let it run last night at 11pm....waaaaay too much noise.

They were heading for Marquette, MI. He had bought a motorcycle and was going to pick it up and bring it back to Washington.

Thanks a lot; James has his cell phone with him and his # is 360-510-1224; I think they're sleeping in the Brat tonight. Feel free to pass his number on to someone in Bozeman.

Thank you. Seems everyone in Bozeman is out for the weekend. Understandable if the weather was as nice there as here.

I'd suggest you try to find another centercap, but if you can't I have a set of the 4 spoke alloys from 1984. They are for sale and I can ship them out. I typically get $100 plus shipping for the older alloy wheels. If that works for you drop me a PM and I'll get you some more info.

I bought an '82 Brat a few months ago; pretty cheap (but I think I may have paid too much, but that's besides the point) but re-storable. I replaced the water pump, radiator, and one front axle for starters. When I put in a battery and tried to start it, it turned over okay but wouldn't fire. Easy solution, in amongst all the vacuum lines and junk the ignition wire from the coil and from #3 cylinder were missing! Went to PAP today and got a set of nice NGK wires for under $3 (gotta love that PAP) and installed them and turned over the key. It started right up!! This is a car that's been sitting for close to 5 years and other than badly needing an exhaust, looks like it could run down the road tomorrow! At least something went okay for me today.

Thanks a lot for the info; I think you're right about tailgatewagon. I'll send it off.