bendecker

Thanks for the tip! Now the search starts :-) -Ben

Anyone know where to buy new chrome strips that go in the windshield gasket on a Gen 1 Brat? Mine's looking pretty nasty. I'm hoping that if the real stuff isn't available, that someone might know of replacement that will work from some other application. Thanks! -Ben

I just found one in my garage as well that I forgot I had. I haven't had time to really look it over, but hope to do so in the next couple of days. (Work always gets the way of the truly important things in life...)

Based on my recent successes with molding, I'm thinking of taking this on. How hard is it to remove the strut mount? Do I have to remove the whole strut from the bottom, or does the mount just pop off the top with the two obvious bolts? Anyone...? -Ben

I have a buddy of mine that had a 1979 Brat for years (before it was side-swiped and ulitimately sold as a parts car -- sad story). He had swapped a 5-speed into it, but it also no longer worked as a 4wd. Don't know the full story, but if you like, I can give him a call and find out. So, in short, there was at least one gen1 with a 5-speed in it Frankensteined together that I know of. Don't know if this helps or not...

Our local feed store broke one of mine off with a miss-tossed bale of hay. It was a pain to find a replacement. I thought about doing another style as well, but finally came across an original in good shape. Re-purposing parts from other cars has a lot of appeal. Gen1 parts get really hard to find in Southern California.

I put them on the Brat and realized that I would have preferred a less obvious hole on the bottom for water (live and learn), so I'm molding a new set today. If anyone needs a set, let me know. -Ben

The plastic gaskets between my mirrors and the doors were badly cracked after all these years, so I created some reproductions from cast urethane rubber! You can see all the pics here: 1981 Subaru Brat Restoration Tips and Tricks And a picture of the final product: I'm now looking into reproducing the front parking light gaskets, but my originals are in horrible shape (anyone have some decent ones...?). These will be a beast and may require having an injection mold machined. If so, anyone up for a group buy, or should I just squirt in some urethane caulking and call it a day? (shudder the thought...) On the easier end, I'm doing a reproduction of the shift knob for the 4wd. Mine broke a long time ago and, after a ton of searching, I got a pretty good one off of Ebay to use as a model. It's not perfect (threads are stripped out), but that's easily fixed when making the mold. I'll post pics when it's done as well. For some reason, Subaru molded the knobs hollow (I'm going to make the new one a solid piece) and it's amazing mine held up as long as it did. As always, I hope this helps someone. -Ben

Consider me in for my 1981 Brat. I have a right-side one that is still on the car and looks definitely good enough to make a mold from. Left side? Not so much... Can't tell for sure if they are interchangeable. Anyone...? -Ben

Many years years back, my heater control valve went bad in my 1981. The dealer wanted 85 bucks for one and this was back in the days when I had far more time than money. I searched high and low in junkyards and in parts stores for any semblance of a substitute. No luck. I finally got around to going back to the dealer to get it. They raised the price to $115! On the bright side, it's still holding up. Wish I could say the same for the air conditioning compressor I had put in at the same time :-)

You are my new idol! Dang... I actually got a bit choked up reading the whole thread and seeing the progress. A beautiful job. I'm trying to do somewhat the same on my 1981, though my budget is a bit more constrained. I'd love any and all tips as to where to get some of the more difficult little parts. I just posted a thread on how I made under hood bump stops for my Brat ('cause I couldn't find them anywhere and my local dealer is not exactly helpful). Phenomenal work...! -Ben

Hi All -- I'm working on restoring my 1981 Brat which I purchased in 1983 with only 26k miles on it. Now it has 190k miles on it and needs some TLC. I started a picture gallery on Google of tips and tricks that I find that took a lot of running around and research. The first is hood bumper stops. I made some out of rubber stoppers and stainless steel screws. The complete picture set is here: Ben's Tips and Tricks - Under Hood Bump Stops I hope this helps someone. I'm also looking for solutions for light gaskets and rubber pieces around the tailgate. -Ben

A couple of other thoughts -- would it be possible for anyone with a good set could photocopy them and transfer that photocopy into a life-sized pdf...? That way, we could post the file and it could just be downloaded and printed. Also, I've had a bit of experience with die-cutting. That may be an option as well if the right material is available, a template is available, and enough people are interested. Might as well go whole-hog in that case and make dies for the side lights, running lights, etc. The molded gaskets like on the mirrors, etc. could be molded pretty easily with some rtv mold-making. Again, a good model would be needed. I have the mirrors and part of the light moldings. -Ben

I would definitely be interested! I'm looking into the idea of making a mold for the front running light gaskets as well. For the rear, side running light gaskets, I got some neoprene-like material from a local craft store, but the fronts will need some molded rubber to make them sit properly, I think. Anyone...? -Ben