Ever Victorious

Target car: 1982 BRAT (EA-81 body) Donor car: 1991 Mazda Protege I was amazed at how easy this is, as the width between the seat track mounts are identical between the Mazda and the EA-81. Only slight modifications needed to be made to the passenger seat rails. Mark or note which side of the EA81 rails are the front, then remove the seat rails from the EA81 seats. Discard the screws that held them in. Remove the seat rails from the Mazda's seats. Retain the bolts that held them in. On the passenger side rails from the EA, use a dremel or drill to slot the FRONT holes that mount the seat to the rail TOWARDS the rear of the rails approximately 1/4" on both rails. Bolt the rails to the underside of the Mazda passenger seat, then bolt the seat in position in the car. On the driver's side seat out of the donor car I used, there was a weird "springy" adjustment on all 4 of the rail bolt mounts on the seat. These allowed the bolt holes to move slightly. It was enough that no modifications needed to be made to the seat. Just bolt the rails on and bolt the seat to the floor. IF your donor seat does not have this (i.e. the bolt holes are fixed), repeat the same steps for the driver's seat as you did for the passenger seat. Enjoy!

Ok, I've started this thread so that people who have swapped different seats into their respective Subarus can post their write-ups. Hopefully we can get enough info in here to get this USRM-worthy. If you've done a seat swap, please post what the target car (and style) was, what the donor car was, and then post your write-up. Pics would be great if you have them. I'll start.

Just in case anyone is wondering, this antenna cost a whopping $10 brand new from Schucks/O'Reilly. It doesn't QUITE fit in the existing antenna hole, but a little "Coaxing" of the sheetmetal using a philips screwdriver and a rubber mallet did the trick.

Posted to my want ad for the crossmember... Is this true?

Multi. Predominantly maroon with a tan interior. Tailgate is obviously not original, and hood was pretty badly dented (I visited late last night in hopes that the hood was decent, but it's not). Front seats are a joke, I wouldn't touch em. Back seat looked decent. Door panels are hit-and-miss. Good dash, though. Drivetrain still intact as of closing last night.

Hey, I didn't write those last two! Leave me out of this!

After the pain I went through to get the stereo installed and the damn antenna replaced, I am NOT taking the radio console off... EVER again...

Thank you, GD... I can always rely on you to get right to the point of what I need. So looks like I need to find a crossmember. Should be easy enough. Will the lower (rubber) boot from the 4 speed's shifter work with the FWD 5-speed, or am I also going to have to source a shift boot? I already know I'm going to need to find the cover panel for where the 4WD selector is.

I'd like confirmation on this from more than one source, if anyoe else knows for sure. The 4WD is significantly enough different between the 81 and 82 to warrant modifications, writeups, etc... But if it IS the same unit, I know where two of them are. *snip the rest of the quote* Now if everyone could please skip questioning my motives and just stick to the mechanical aspects of the questions, please? I seem to recall asking HOW to do something, not WHY I would/would not want to do somethng. 1) Seems to be the most readily available 5-speed FWD. 2) As I understand, the EA71 has a narrower bellhousing, and thus the trans/motors cannot be swapped between the two.

There should be no difference in the trans tunnel between a 2WD and 4WD EA81. And I'm sure someone in the EJ22 conversion list has a 5-speed EJ AWD on an EA81 body.

Ok... we've thoroughly covered the various routes of what to/not to do with the rear end stuff, but what of the other question? Other than Jerry's EA82 conversion kit, what else would be necessary to hook up an EA82 FWD trans behind the EA81?

Ok... yeah, removing the fender liner did the trick. Old antenna out, new antenna in.

It means this car is not my daily driver. It may serve as one in the short term, but if I have to give up the Kia, you can rest assured I will buy a cheap Legacy to drive around for the winter rather than risking some other idiot hitting the BRAT. Hence it will never see snow. I have a number of reasons for looking into this, many of which the 4x4/offroad enthusiasts here would not understand. That's ok... I shrug at people who lift their Subarus and put 28" tires under them... Fine for them, not for me.

Good to know I'm not the only blasphemer then... hehe

Never having removed axles (or joints from axles) before, what unusual torture devices (tools) would I need to do this? I could for now, but 2nd gear is starting to go on the gearbox so it's not a permanent solution to just leave the 4 speed in there. I'm pretty sure I could find an EA81 5sp gearbox easy but with the possibility of going EJ, the EA82 FWD gearbox is a better choice, I'm guessing.

First, the usual preface: Not actually acting on anything yet, just collecting data at this point. The possibility of de-4WDing the BRAT. Am I using it off-road? I've made it clear that I'm not. Am I going to use it in the snow? If I'm not using it off-road, the answer to that is probably also a resounding "no". So... that said... the complexity of taking an EA82 FWD trans and putting it in the BRAT? Besides the need to modify the crossmembers A La Jerry, what else might be needed? And how much of the rear end stuff can be pulled and retired without causing functional issues?

Actually, my BRAT doesn't have any original speakers, and the door skins were out of a Hatch that didn't have front door speakers either. Clean look. I've got a pair of 6x9's in enclosures behind the front seats. I've discovered that the space between the back of my "new" low-rise console and the back wall could easily fit my pair of 4" speakers in a custom box, right on the hump. Much easier than my original plan, which was to hunt down someone who does fiberglass and build pods on the B-pillars. Just need to find grilles and some carpet now... already have the MDF and speakers. Head unit is a JVC Arsenal, forget which model. Single-disc MP3 player. About 3 years old, but was only used for about 6 months before my friend took it out of his old car... his new car ended up having a nicer stereo in it when he bought it, so that's how I came into possession of this one.

Would anyone be interested in a new/updated seat refit thread for the USRM? I could submit information on the EA81-Protege swap, Turbone might be able to write up the EA82-MX3 swap, and others who have done swaps could also write them up. What does everyone think?

I've got a universal whip-style mast antenna from Schucks/O'Reilly I'm going to try. If that doesn't work, I might switch to their in-glass style and, when the time comes, have the hole in the fender patched.

Will have to wait until after my PaP run tomorrow. My garage is so miniscule I can't even jack up a car in there. Besides, I ran out of daylight anyway.

Disassembly for the fender indicates I have to take the bumper off... not exactly "easy" by my definition of the word, at least at this moment. That's also assuming all of the bolts can actually be backed out of the fender, and won't need sawzalling (unlike the LAST fender I pulled). Hmmm...

HTKYSA doesn't even cover it, and my Haynes manual only cover '83-'84 antennaes (the passenger-fender mounted, threaded mast style). I need to know how to remove the antenna assembly on an '80-'82, driver-fender mounted, snap it off and never fix it again style antenna. I've got the gasket and plastic cover piece off of the antenna on the fender, but can't figure out how the actual antenna is attached. Hopefully I don't have to yank the whole god-forsaken fender?

A couple weeks ago i replaced the (barely) functional old CD deck that came in my BRAT with a much newer MP3 deck. Got everthing together and... no power. Today I got around to checking into why. Thought it was a bad connection between the wire that had been run from the batt for 12V constant and the memory lead wire, since someone had used (ahem) 12 gauge wire for the job... Had trouble splicing it. So after cutting apart the harness and splicing it all together.. nothing. GRR! Looked under the hood, and the fuse on said 12V constant wire had been blown. Someone long ago had put a 3A fuse there, and I guess the new deck was WAY too much for that. removed the old Buss fuse holder and put in a new 10A mini-blade fuse holder and voila! Tunes! Now to find somewhere to put the 2nd set of speakers... Anyway, moral of the story: Always check the easiest, dumbest thing first.

Same tap as would be used on an EA81, by chance?

I know it may sound crazy, but I wonder if someone should look into getting those repopped for the other Coupe owners. I mean, i've seen a company repop badges that existed for only 2 years on one specific model of Rambler before... But yes, droooolll