dfoyl

I've always used satin black rather than flat black - it looks more factory to me. Dean.

I've seen Mazda MX5 (I think you guys call them Miata's) fit in a Brat, and they look great - plus give a bit more room to stretch out due to the back shape. From memory the holes have to be elongated to fit... Dean.

What on a brat and ea 81 subs are interchangable, as far as interior goes. Things I know I will need. -Both front fenders - common to all EA81s (BRATs, wagons, sedans, coupes, hatches) -Ignition and key - ditto. A lot of ignition barrels are worn out... -Both front seats - common to all EA81's. Some models have lumbar support (not sure if this applies to LHD or not, I know our sedans have lumbar for the driver but not passenger). -Lower dash panels - common to all EA81s - not sure if common across coupe dash and BRAT dash (again, might be US-specific). -Steering column plastic - as above -Guage cluster - depends on dash type Dean.

Black EA81T Brat, with L-series 5-speed behind it... They're going to keep climbing in value... Dean.

Nevermind, just found the info on another thread on page 2... Dean.

>>the swap may be a better all-around option It IS a better all-around option. It loses that big hole between 3rd and 4th, and makes highway driving so much quieter. Also worth looking at RX/Turbo rear discs if you do a lot of stop/start traffic - they come up pretty regularly on the FS page for about $100 a set... I've had my Brat for about a year, and my changes were : ditch the stock wheels to 14" steel pugs (much better handling, I'll probably step up to redrilled 6-stud 15" rims though), slanted console for the CD player, EA82 5-speed box, Turbo rear discs, install A/C, and am now working on SPFI... Dean.

The BYB-designed 5 lug setup for EA81s is now being produced again...not cheap but a lot better than making axles Dean.

XT6 = 5 lug. More torque, already set up for a bigger/heavier engine. Wins all round.

On my Brat I've just changed out the original rear muffler (rusted to bits) with a stainless "Turbo Tuf" ($24 from the wreckers from a EA81 sedan - I think the 2wd and 4wd muffler designs are the same) and it sounds stock at anything upto about 3000 rpm, then has a nice tone when under hard acceleration. For the front muffler I have a "hotdog" style that's about to be replaced (I can hear it bouncing around inside ), but I'm not sure if I can get away with anything much bigger without ending up with a WRX-type drone... I also fitted a MPFI EA82 y-pipe (so I get the 02 sensor bung for the SPFI install), which is basically a bolt-up operation (I had to do a slight bit of grinding to clear the LHS rail). There doesn't appear to be any change to the diameter of the pipes from the engine, but the pipe from the Y is definitely larger than the EA81. Dean.

Ed, Just sent you a PM on Colcannon. Randomizer, Depends on what you want to see. If you're into the outback side of things, fly into Sydney and straight out to Alice Springs in the centre (center ). Climb Uluru (Ayer's Rock is the white man's name for it), then drive down into Cooper Pedy in northern South Australia. Then on to Adelaide (capital of SA), then drive across to Victoria along the Great Ocean Road (fairly similar to the south Oregon / northern California drive, but without the redwoods you guys have). Victoria has a zero-tolerance law on speeding, and fines are hefty - most are from fixed speed cameras rather than from police (police will only pull you up if you're doing 10-20km/h more than the limit, especially in town zones). We don't have 4-way stop signs, instead we use lots of roundabouts which I don't recall seeing much (if at all) in my trips to the US. Our highways are 3 lanes generally, which means peak time in larger cities are almost as bad as yours - much less cars but much less freeways. From the Great Ocean Road, follow it back to Melbourne (my town), and then fly up to Queensland for the Great Barrier Reef, and drive your way down to Sydney. This gets just about all of Australia covered (except Tasmania, WA and northern NT) and you see pretty much all the major sights. To do everything I listed would take 3 weeks, but I do travel fast... Oh, if you like Mexican food you are royally screwed here - no Taco Bell, no Mexican cantinas, if you're lucky we have a couple of mid-priced diners called Taco Bill around the place which make a few really nice mild dishes, but they are very Australianized. Our Thai and Italian restaurants beat yours, though If you make it to Melbourne I'll happily show you around. Dean.

>>I have an EA82 y-pipe on my Brat - had to grind some on the cat's heat shield to make it fit but otherwise it's fine. Thanks GD! Dean.

I'm working on retrofitting SPFI to my EA81 Brumby (Brat), and one of the pre-requisites is hooking up the o2 sensor for feedback. Problem is, we didn't get any EA81 or EA82 vehicles down under with SPFI, only MPFI on late (1990+) 2wd sedans. Does anyone have a photo of where the factory position for the o2 sensor goes on a EA81 with the US-fitted feedback carb setup ? I don't believe I can fit a MPFI L-series exhaust setup to an Brat, but if anybody's done it I'd be glad to hear from them! TIA. Dean.

>> thought Shelby only did Editions for Ford? Kinda O/T here, but when Lee Iacocca (sp?) was fired from Ford he went to Chrysler and was still good friends with Carroll Shelby...hence the Shelby Daytona's, etc. Dean.

EA6x = about 6x hp (there's EA62, 63, 64, 65 with displacements between 1176 + 1361 cc) EA71 = about 71 hp (1595 cc) EA81 = about 81 hp (1781 cc) EA82 = Dean.

Given the OP's location, I'd say a full-time fan is a good option. We got a crank-driven fan down under standard, which is almost fail-proof but a definite drain on the EA81. My replacement thermo-fan comes on after about 5 minutes on a hot day (90+F) in traffic... Dean.

>>take a look at the actual linkage UNDER the car and you will see what I mean Duh, me bad! I didn't even think about re-using the EA81 linkage Thanks GD Dean.

GD, Our EA82 d/r level is completely different from the EA81 - the EA81 sits next to the handbrake and works in a similar method - horizontal = 2wd, 15 degrees up = 4wd hi and 30 degrees up = 4wd lo. The EA82 lever is more like the regular gearlever but sits to the left of the gearlever. I'm guessing the US lever system is different due to the RHD/LHD change and the 2wd/4wd lever would be in your way. Might have to hit one of you guys up for a US d/r lever linkage... Thanks for the info. Dean.

Just finishing the EA82 d/r into my Brat, and trying to work out the best combination of MY and L console options. I have the slanted angle (early EA81) CD console, so I don't want to touch that part, but would like some advise (and photos!) of what others have done to get a factory look with the different style of d/r lever please Dean.

>>Also, what kind of glue woud you use to fix one of those "1800" stickers on the tailgate on We use a very thin tack-adhesive film at work for similar material, it's a Tesa adhesive but there's a 3M equivalent. We buy it from a local company that does the badging for Toyota, HSV, etc - I could send you a small section of it if you want to try it. I'd assume that was what Subaru used in production. Dean.

>>What is brumble bee? Answer : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzzy_Bee

You have an EA81, there is a EA81T (turbo) variant out there but it's not just a bolt-on job. The standard (4 speed manual) transmission isn't really suited to much power (and has a horrible gap between 2nd and third gear), so the EA82 ("L" series) transmission (5 speed manual) is a good bolt-up option - there is a kit offered by a member here which makes it easier to install. You should fit the EA82 turbo rear discs at the same time - they must be off a 4wd turbo and not a 2wd turbo. A few member have them f/s for around the $100 mark. There are plenty of other options - EJ motor from later models (90s era), 5-stud bolt pattern swap from XT6, etc. Read through the retrofitting forum and you'll see plenty of upgrades and ideas. Dean.

Link to article below: http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_107768/article.html

15" Simmons - taken from a link from ausubaru.com (which linked to autospeed.com) :

>>The standard silverish steelies would work I believe. The ea82 cars had them and I don't think there was much variation from the earlier design. Didn't the offset change b/w EA81 and EA82 ? Dean.

I really just want it to run fine when cold An EJ swap is just too much work for me at the moment, and I like the EA81... Dean.