The Beast I Drive

To start, my brother has never really liked any Subaru other than my old Brat that Earl now has, but he has driven a couple others. Both of his mishaps occured just days after I had done some kind of signifigant work to the rigs. The first Subaru he owned was a '79 Brat I sold him. It ran great for the first few days, then on his way back to the Tri-Cities the motor crapped out on him, so he gave it back to me. Just Yesterday, he did this to my Mom's formerly gorgeous '86 4wd wagon: It used to look like this: Then just on Thursday I installed a 2" lift on it: This just sucks because it was such a beautiful car! Hopefully I can come up with a parts car that was in equally good shape on the outside at least, so I can bring it back to its former glory. Just figured I'd share some pics with ya'll:burnout: -Bill

I never ran into that problem on the Beast, and I drove it on the street as a daily driver, welded rear and 31" mud tires.... Welding it all solid though should make it a lot more sturdy -Bill

I know Im real late to the party here, but I should be there this year. Been off for a while but my buddy wants to go again for a tree this time, so I hope to see you guys there. Still know internet at my house so if anyone wants to get ahold of me just call. Hope to see everyone there! -Bill

Hey everyone, I realize it has been a loooong time since I was last on here. I have no internet right now, and wont for quite some time into the forseeable future, so it will be very rare when I am on here for some time. I apologize for the inconvenience this may cause to some of you, but theres not much I can do about it. For anyone trying to get ahold of me, please call my cell phone, (509) 391-5903. If I dont answer please leave a message and I will get back to you. Once again I apologize for the inconvenience, and I will let you all know when I am back online. Thanks, -Bill

There should be remnants of the old jumpseat brackets still in the bed of the Brat, all Brats from 77-84 or 85 came to the U.S. with the jumpseat frame welded to the bed in 12 places, and if yours were removed then someone had to cut them out, and usually there is bits of the old mounting brackets left behind from the cut job. If they were cleaned up too good though, just mount it so the seat backs have about 3" or so of clearance from the headrest bars, or so the front edge of the mounting bracket lines up with the carpet hold down strip in the bed. -Bill

It wont lower it 3" from stock, if you cut a piece of 1/8" steel and bolt it to one of the bolts that attaches the front part of the front block on the rear subframe to the body, not to the long bolt that goes to the subframe. Then it stays right up in its stock location. But, for what you are doing, I would recomend mounting it inside. If it's a stock pump, it probably wont make much noticable noise. -Bill

With the stock rear coilovers he is using there is no where near enough up travel to break any axles under compression. Plus with the 2" of extra lift, the axles will be almost straight level at full compression. Ea81's with torsion bar rears are the ones that have uber uptravel -Bill

I just grab used OEM axles as long as the boots are in good shape, the rears dont fail nearly as much as the fronts... -Bill

Destroyed my JDM EA81 driving home from the mud bogs... Extreme overheating from no air flow at all in the radiator... I know, dumb************ move on my part for not checking it... Engine still runs, with 2 blown headgaskets and severe rod knock, and who know's what else... It's all good, it's getting replaced with a built Hi-Po EA81 soon I had a great time and the Beast did pretty awesome in the mud this time, only had to get pulled out 1 time and beat 2 rigs in heads-up mud racing Here I got stuck for a minute when the motor sucked a lot of water, but I was able to limp it out without a tow I didn't get much for pictures, as I was driving, but my buddy did get some vids and they will be up soon. Here's what my car looked like this morning Clogged radiator My engine bay, even though I had my hood on, it STILL got completely mud drenched. I am devising some mods to fix this though, and it should be all better by next year -Bill

I run my rear axles at that angle and I've never had a problem, but I am running OEM axles, so can't say how the remans will take it... I don't anticipate any problems with it though. -Bill

Looks damn good man, and right at home on the trails! -Bill

Fixed the front camber on the Beast with new front lift blocks, so now I see just how bad the negative camber in the rear really is But that will get fixed with the striaght axle swap. Swapped to 6-lug, got rid of some of the vibration at speed, but I need an alignment and a re-balance for the tires. Fixed the mufflers again so they don't hit the carrier bearing drop block, and moved my wiper fluid container to the inner strut tower instead of inside the fender so it's out of harm's way Next is to go get it dirty at the mud bog! -Bill

The fuel return line from the carburetor should run back to the top of the gas tank. The vent line should run from the top of the gas tank to the evap charcoal canister. Fuel pump pressure should be no more than 5 psi, and I have no clue what those little things are on your pic, I imagine some kind of vaccum solenoid or something for the carb... You are running a stock Hitachi 2bbl carb, correct? -Bill

Have you found where the spray is coming from? That will really help narrow it down... -Bill

Check all the hoses for the fuel sytem (pressure line from pump to carb, return line, vent line) for any damage or signs of a leak. Is the fuel pump stock or a stock replacement? If it's not, check it to make sure it's not putting out more than 5 psi. Check the gaskets at the base of the carb, and look over the carb real good. It could be that the vent line or return line is clogged or plugged off, causing pressure to build in the gas tank and pressurizing the lines in the engine bay, I've had problems kinda like this on a couple cars I did Weber swaps on and it was because I capped the fuel vent line... -Bill

Im interested... Im sure some kind of arrangement can be arranged -Bill

Actually, it wasnt... I can't recall who it was by ATM, but I am certain the one I came across was not Brian's. However, had it not been for Brian, I would never have had the initiative to try it I saw him mod a pair in person at his house one of the times I visited... I have a part number around here somewhere... -Bill

Here's a cheap and super easy mod I did to my 87 GL. Stock, the windshield washer tank is in the passenger front fender, right behind the turn signal. This is fine for most everyone, but with large tires sometimes they will rub on this container, and (as I have discovered) the fluid can freeze in the winter if you don't use anti-freezing wiper fluid. My solution to get it out of harm's way was to install a wiper fluid container from an EA81 bodystyle car (80-84 Wagon, Sedan, Coupe, 80-89 Hatchback, 82-87 Brat) which mounts to the passenger side inner fender. This way, it can't be punctured by anything off-road, and my Windex (streak free shine FTW) won't freeze next time I drive over the pass in the dead of winter. What you will need: -Wiper fluid container from an EA81 body car -The bracket it mounts to and the 2 bolts -about 10" of red and black small guage (12 or 14) wire Here's the best part: The mounting holes with weld nuts are already there on the passenger side strut tower, like it was made for it! You simply bolt the bracket to the strut tower, slip the container onto the bracker, hook up the wiper squirter hose, and extend the 2 wires to the fluid pump. Then remove the old container and toss it! Here's the bracket mounted to the existing mounting points on the passenger side strut tower: And here's the tank mounted. Note the extension harness I made to go from the stock EA82 wiring to the EA81 washer fluid pump, it's about 10" long. This mod will work on stock or lifted rigs, EJ swaps, EA81 swaps, power steering, and you can still keep the spare under the hood if you want. -Bill

I will post details on the Superbeetle struts when I get around to that part, but there is a couple threads with some info on them here somewhere, I ran across one inadvertently just a few days ago, but cannot remember where or how I came to find it... -Bill

EA81 strut towers dont have the same clearance inside them that the EA82's do. Bashing is required on EA81 lift installs. -Bill

Im glad to hear it passed smog, Im ready to see some pics of it off-road! -Bill

Read the FAQ and search the off-road section. 2" strut lift is not advised on ea81's, you are advised to use 2" blocks on the body as well or you will more likely than not be replacing front axles every month. -Bill

Upon doing some research, it turns out the Isuzu Rodeo axle is a Dana 44 1.31" diameter 30-spline axle shafts, and lockers from several manufacturers are readily available! -Bill