Uberoo

Do to a series of events I no longer have a place to work on my offroad 78 brat project so I need to sell it.The final plan was to run a tube front end that would hold the engine and hang the fenders off.Then after that it was gonna have a solid front axle with 4 links and 35" tires to start with.So right now everything forward of the firewall has been cut off leaving just enough of the original structure for one bolt to hold the fenders on.I welded in some tubes into the floor to give a strong place to mount suspension to.Out back the bed has been chopped 17" and currently a ea81 rear suspension is mounted and installed to give 7" of lift.The rear fenders are cut out enough for 31" to have full travel.The plan out back was also a solid axle with 4links.I know its not much to go off on but it also comes with a phase 1 EJ22+wireing harness, a suzuki samurai transfercase,a dana 30 HP front axle and a whole bunch of various subaru parts as well as a couple of extra doors. Pics are in the thread "lift block height" but I might be able to get more up to date pics on a lunchbreak or something. I just want someone who will finish the brat rather than scrap it.I dont want to see it scraped because I've worked on it in some way for the better part of 3 years and I dont want to see that all that hard work turn into $20 at the scrapyard.

So I went to the winter wonderland gambler 500 and got in a lot of trouble.Long story short my gambler is stuck on the side of a mountain and it will stay there until someone removes it with a piece of tracked equipment.I'm out $1200 for a tow bill that the only thing happened was they told me the truck would be impossible to get out,and in exchange for paying for this my mom told me my projects have to go out of the garage.So the brat is for sale to anyone who will continue my work on it.It will be on a trailer soon to go to its new home with one of you or the scrap yard by next week.It goes with a bunch of parts for it, couple extra doors, an ej22+ wiring harness,dr 5 speed transmission,dana 30 HP front axle.I dont have a title to the shell, but I do have the title to another 78 brat and its complete dash comes with the car.Not sure if its the same where you live but around here they just check the dash vin. It has a ea81 rear suspension under it set up for 7" of lift,and currently no front suspension.

yep.Snap ring at the bottom. rubber bearing cap up top. "some hammerage" blew the plastic shear pins.Ended up having to push out the lower bearing to get the shaft out with the collapsed shaft,and a deepwell socket on the steering wheel nut,and a hammer.Apparently the japanese engineers from mazda and subaru must have went to the same school because both steering shafts are almost identical even being made 10 years apart. only difference is the mazda shaft is a permanent piece of the steering box while the subaru is splined to go into the u joint. Now to go assemble the crossbreed steering column.So cross pollination between various japanese carmakers seems to be plug and play for some parts,but I'm pretty sure that when I introduce some american V6 DNA into the RX7 that I am gonna have to make sparks happen.

So I'm putting the front suspension from a 93 impreza under the front of an 83 mazda RX7. The stock rx7 suspension is relatively weak when rallied,Parts are hard to find, and it uses recirculating ball steering for the ultimate in imprecise steering.The impreza suspension on the other hand rally is its bread and butter,parts are cheap and plentiful,and it uses rack and pinion steering, in addition to that it is only 1/2" wider than the rx7 WMS. The RX7 uses the above mentioned recirulating ball steering box that has the steering shaft as part of it.Then a tube slides over the steering shaft to allow it to be mounted in the car.I would like to keep the interior of the RX7 looking relatively stock so I would like to use the RX7 steering wheel and combination switch.The easiest way to do that looks to be to take the steering shaft out of the impreza column and put it in the "column jacket" from the mazda. or at least use the lower part of the impreza steering shaft and connect it to the upper part of the mazda steering shaft.So I am wondering how to I get the steering shaft out of the impreza column without destroying it? I have the parts out and I can set them side by side but before I but out the cut off wheel and mangle the impreza column if just wondering if there is a quick way to remove the shaft for the column.

Just swap the entire EA82 front crossmber+ suspension in under the brat.EA82 axles do not fit in EA81 knuckles so they damn sure don't fit in EA71 knuckles.Then EA82 balljoints don't fit in ea81 control arms... then just swap the strut top hats from the EA71 stuff on the EA82 struts.

The EA81 has a 92 bore and a 67mm stroke,and I can personally attest to the fact that if spun up to 8500 RPM it sounds like it is about to scatter itself all over the road but it never did.I can also attest to fact that if you enter a mud hole at 8K+ and suck up the tiniest bit of water in the engine you will bend every pushrod in the engine.

Unless I am misunderstanding you,I need to remove the steering wheel,the turn signals,drop the column,undo the bolts holding the cast aluminum piece to the column,take off cast aluminum piece, rotated innards 180*,then reassemble the whole thing?

Anybody? I need to fix this somehow.

What half circle piece?I tried looking but I didn't see anything that looked like a half circle.It has the tilt column.

If you do it enough to matter your cam timing will be advanced because the extra slack the tensioner would have to take up.Then you would need adjustable cam gears to dial out the advance so it runs right.Bump the compression up and run higher octane gas for all of 5-8hp. EA81/EA82 heads DO NOT FLOW.In fact they are so bad they could be used as an example on what not do do.If somehow you overcame that issue with cubic dollars or forced induction the cooling passageways in the block are far to small for the engine not to get hot,especially the coolant crossover in the block. Then the crank and connecting rods become weak... An EJ22 will make more power STOCK than an all out custom race ea82 NA or FI not to mention it will be way more reliable and get better mpg. You could do an EJ22 swap over a weekend IF you had a complete running and driving EJ22 donor.It needs to be running as good as a daily driver before you start pulling it apart so you only have to deal with issues related to the swap.You don't want to be chasing your tail and running over every inch of the wiring because something like a cam sensor or O2 sensor was bunk before you started. Then go and strip and label the wiring harness of the donor car and find and label all the wires you will need to tap into on your car ahead of time so your not burning up time in the weekend finding 12V switched power or the tach signal. It would be a good idea to get a spare flywheel EA82 flywheel to modify to fit the EJ22 before you start the swap to minimize downtime. After a bunch of prep work and internet research it will finally be time to do the swap.With all of the extensive prep work before hand everything will be more or less or plug and play affair, except that the engine mount holes on the crossmember will need to be slotted outwards by 1/2".You will also need a shim to correct the slight angle difference between EA mounts and the EJ mounts.After that a new exhaust will need to be made because trying to run that ej22 through EA sized exhaust pipe will kill all the power your gaining from the swap in the first place. After a long weekend swinging wrenches and a couple months of prep work you will have an EJ powered car,and its awesome.Like broil the tires off at 30 MPH by just standing on the gas pedal awesome.

True,More lift does get the body further from the ground.If you try to always place your tires on obstacles rather than straddling them more lift does get the body out of harms way, even if the center is still as low as ever.However, the transmission is protected by the body on something with low lift,while more lift exposes it to more possible damage.Eventually no matter what lines you take the center of the vehicle always gets kissed by rocks,trees,stumps,hills,etc.So in that case having the body help protect the drivetrain is a good thing.Besides its not like the rocker panels wont self clearance anyway. I will concede the point in mud however, in mud just getting the body up out of the mud helps with some of the drag that gets vehicles stuck.The less surface area that the mud can cling to and halt forward progress the better.

Just run your 2" lift and trim the fenders as needed.There is no benefit to lifting it 4-6" just to fit a 27-29" tire.More weight,more complexity,taller Center of Gravity,etc just to not have to trim your fenders a small amount?

So I'm working on a friends 85 brat and I was about to return it to him but now the steering column lock is messed up.It unlocks when the car is off and locks when its on.It first happened when I took the column apart because the ignition tumbler is so worn out that the little tab on the end came out of the electrical switch.I put everything back together and now it seems like the steering lock is in backwards or something.Normally I would just break the lock and remove all the pieces but this is a friends vehicle.So is there a way to recenter the steering lock? As is the norm for when I work on vehicles and get paid for doing so something always goes wrong, but if I work on my own stuff it usually doesn't go as sideways.On this particular brat I changed the rear wheel bearings,replaced the pads/shoes all around, Wired in a relay for the starter,and fixed the rotted exhaust. But I messed up the driver side wheel bearing more than it was before so now it thumps/vibrates pretty good.Problem is I have been so busy with work that its been in my driveway for 4 weeks when it should have done in a couple days max.So I was gonna return it to him and have him take it to a shop to fix it then I was gonna reimburse him and now the steering locks up so I can't even get it out of my driveway,.

box your lower control arms,and plate the control arm mount.

Go to the nearest pull and save,pick a part, self service yard and find some OEM(green cups) axles with good boots.take a set or two home,repack them,and run them.They are 10000% better than any of the crap you will find at a parts store new,remaned or otherwise.

are you running OEM or aftermarket axles?

So I was at an offroad event this past weekend.It had rock crawling,mud,hill climbs,etc,I ended up taking my geo tracker to go play in the rocks.Its got a 2" spacer lift,a spooled rear diff,235/75/15 mud tires,and a STOUT front skidplate to protect the aluminum front diff.Just like last year it did pretty good,all weekend in the rocks with no breakages other than body damage.Last year just the rockers and rear bumper cover got mangled,this year the rockers,both side mirrors,RH taillight,rear bumper,front bumper cover,and passenger door got trail rash.The little tracker went everywhere,rocks the size of bowling balls where no match for it,but rocks the size of beach balls started to cause problems for it.The thing is though my tracker is supposed to be my offroad scouting vehicle, just something to check out an area and see if its worth hauling the subaru to.So with that in mind a friend planted the idea of solid axles under the brat, because while 31+ tires on IFS is cool,it still won't go over beach ball+ sized rocks, so he was saying get some toyota axles,4 link front and rear,and some 35" tires, then some 5.29's and lockers.For two reasons, capability and ease of setup.While I love the IFS, I'm having a hard time picturing it surviving with tires bigger than 33" and 12"+ of suspension travel.So what are your thoughts on all of this?Will toyota axles hold up to an EJ22+sammy T case+5.29's+lockers+35" tires or would I be better off going to something with a bit more beef to it like a dana 44 or even dana60? Looking for an axle setup that I can treat like a Las Vegas hooker rather than baby it.

The thing that would hurt you would be if you have any suspension lift because the CV's are running at a steeper angle on the highway they would fail even sooner.A welded rear diff also puts stress on parts.Beyond that if you lifted it so the suspension geometry is the same you could be running a lift tall enough that the top of the engine is below the body and it would still be fine.In that case it might have more body roll than normal because of the massive change in C.O.G. but if you drive 60 miles a day, why not pick up something like a geo metro and save the wear and tear on the vehicles that matter.

so have you reinforced where it mounts yet?But forget bulletproof,thats bombproof.

So another friend came by and we we talking about how best to proceed and damnit but my suspension mockup is not square.I dunno the relationship between the strut towers and the suspension crossmember must have shifted at some point but its skewed diagonally about 1/2". So new plan is to build something that holds the front diff,suspension,steering,and engine just like the factory crossmember but with the correct long travel geometry.Seeing my geometry is all sorts of screwed up I need a baseline.I need to know the stock caster angle for EA81 4wd vehicles,and I also need to know the distance from level ground to the center of the stub shafts that come out of the transmission for a stock height vehicle.Assuming your tires are the same size and your on a level pad of concrete measure one side than the other and average the two numbers. My plan is to set the front diff at the correct height then build the suspension around the axles and the long travel struts I made.With a known location for the diff and the upper and lower ends of the strut it should just be a matter of connecting the dots and building new lower A arms..

typically no,but like all mechanical things failures can and do happen.Just because a loaded gun has the safety on doesn't 100 percent guarantee that it wont go bang with the right circumstances. Me personally, I remove the air bag and its components.For two reasons, one I am 5'2" so I sit close to wheel, early 90's airbags are known killers of short people,and the second is weight reduction FTW.

KISS.Keep It Simple Stupid.A welded rear diff is a far more simple solution to you traction issues.Just run the rear tires over inflated on the street so they dont have too much grip to break things on the street, Or you can pull a rear cv axle on the pavement and put it back in when you think you might need full traction. Besides its the spider gears in the diff that blow up from abuse,Welding them up solves that problem.

The third option is to make one yourself.If you are even remotely handy with tools a 2-4" lift is very simple to make,The question is how much suspension lift do you want.Suspension lifts on IFS vehicles gains increased ground clearance with same sized tires at the expense of CV axle life. Although, if you are pressed for time, ordering something is much easier than figuring out something.Both of the shops mentioned above churn out excellent work.

So a friend came by and we set about getting the front suspension mocked up into place.Took us about 3 hours to get everything square and set exactly where I wanted it.Tacked up the strut towers back into place.I also cut off the front bumper so I can move it back 6" so it lines up with the new sheetmetal again. now the plan is to get the front bumper where it needs to be, and brace the crossmember so it can't move,then move the strut towers up 7" so the new longer struts can fit.Tack up the front diff and assemble the front suspension on one side without a spring and see how the suspension works with an axle installed. I feel like I I went one step forward and two steps back even if getting the front suspension crossmember sitting where it needs to is a big step. time for food,and maybe a lot of grinding later on,then find my spring compressors and see if EA81 top hats will fit on the EJ rear struts..

we had a 98 chrysler town and county minivan for a long time and the only things that ever needed fixed was an exhaust manifold gasket and the front lower facia because my mom and sisters had a habit of running over parking curbs with it.We also used it like a truck by using it to pick up aluminum cans on the road,deliver papers,hell we even did some mild offroading with it(unimproved forest roads).To the best of my knowledge its still running around,it was sold a couple years back with 2XXK miles on it.