Twitch de la Brat

The BRAT's Rad is weepy, there's an exhaust leak again and I still have to swap on the Jackmans in addition to an early morning P&S run, but by golly I'm going to be there. Twitch

You might want to put the plastic clip back in just as a spacer, because as your wipers are now, they could bend over under heavy use. Having the spacer in there will spread out the load on the arm and make it less likely to fall over. As for my car, I got a ton of stuff put on, put in and modified in the BRAT and my phone isn't playing nicely with IMG code right now, so I'll get them posted up as soon as I get the pictures on Photobucket. Twitch

Registeered as well! Numero cincuenta! (#15) Twitch PS: Thanks Rob!

Ironically enough, I'm actually making my BRAT road legal again, today. Licensed, insured and drivable, just gotta drag it over to the muffler shop to have them put on my new dual glasspacks Lets do it, I just have to clear a spot from work, I usually get stuck working saturdays and rarely get 2 days off in a row. Twitch

Just fixed my pedal box. Welded some angle iron in there to fix it good. Well, I didn't, my dad wouldn't let me use his welder, but he tacked in some angle iron :-p I rattled it some weird shiny crap paint we had laying around. I'll post pix in the AM. Goodnight all! Twitch

Well, it has been Memorial Day weekend the last 2 years, so I thought we might be skipping it this year. If not, let me know, cuz I'm kinda out of the loop on this one. Twitch

So, no plans for a BRAT meet this year? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm? Twitch

Or, you know, you could find somebody with a Subaru key that looks similar to yours and have them unlock your car. Did that for a customer the other day. Freaked him out good, but got him into his car without having to call a locksmith Twitch PS: Don't use this trick to unlock cars you don't have permission to unlock. That's called burglary.

I'm in. And maybe Xandra will be up to snuff to go this year, otherwise, its that BRAT again, but with a new exhaust (that hopefully sounds good) and a new set of shoes for the pit... Twitch

Its not the first RWD Subaru JesZek Its the first front engine RWD Subaru, not the first RWD ever :-p Twitch

Duct taped my pass. side rear window on Xandra, as some idiot shot it out while I was driving down the road. Didn't find the guy (lucky for him) but now I have a duct taped window and have to replace it before the police get on my tail about it. Replaced a wheel bearing and its growling already, less than 3k later. Put a 12v 4 way splitter with switches in and it makes charging everybody's phones so much easier. That's about it for now. The BRAT will be getting a new exhaust and a new axle soon. Can't wait to be a roarin' down the road again. That reminds me. I need to fix the shift linkage before it gets too much worse. Twitch

The clicking is most likely the axle. I work for O'Reilly's and we have the same crappy reman brand (A1 Cardone) that everyone else carries. EMPI is better, or MWE over in Colorado. He's on here, or you can contact him through Shawn (Site Admin) as Shawn has his own Suby Shop (Retro-roo). Reman'd axles are infamous for being junk for Subarus. Manual Transmissions typically don't have issues with being overfull, as long as its not excessive (like a full quart+ over). Worst that will probably happen is it'll push some up and out the dipstick if it gets really hot. Twitch

General Disorder is a really good guy and knows most of these EA engines inside and out. He lives in the Portland area, so you might try contacting him and getting directions to his shop. Twitch

Its an 80's German car. A Ford at that. I'm expecting electrical issues If it starts to bug out I'll just rewire the circuits as they fail. Twitch

I was considering upgrading to the T-bird engine components, but that all depends on pricing and availability. It may sound like a good idea, but if it costs me $1500 just in parts, its not worth it. Or if I have to scour the countryside to find anything... I'm sure I can upgrade the rear drums somehow. Maybe retrofit EA front discs on there I'm not concerned about the tranny, I won't be racing it. And if it breaks, UPGRADE! :-p Twitch

I spy a sunshine yellow WRX wagon...

I have read up on these quite a bit. Plans are to put an intercooler in after the initial tune up and first impressions. I know that 2.3 is tough. I know Rousch ran one at 750hp for a racing series, so I have no doubt that sucker'll take a beating. I'm just looking to keep it as my luxury hooning car, if that makes any sense :-p Its a got the full luxury treatment inside, but is RWD and a 5sp If only it had been the Sierra XR4x4 they imported... JK. My AWD craving is solved by my Subarus. Twitch

With a Ford of all things :-/ I'm looking at working off a little Merkur XR4Ti. Its basically Ford's version of an Audi, albeit RWD. 2.3 I4 Turbo, 5 speed, 4 seater coupe, pretty much loaded... Its completely German built and designed. I haven't gotten to drive it, as it needs a tune up, but the previous owner (good friend) said it drives nice. Any opinions? I'll get pics next time I'm up there. It'll be a while since he's vacationing in Florida and its a 2 hour drive from my house. Twitch

Unless of course you use a larger drill bit ad bevel the holes. Then you can use standard self centering, tapered lugnuts. Anyone with a decent drill press skills and the right tools should be able to do it. Twitch

We're all too cheap! :-p Twitch

Just a gentle burble... Twitch

Congrats. Did you top up the system after the initial warmup? As long as the level is within 2 inches of the top I wouldn't worry too much, but it may have had to refill the heate core and a pocket or two, so rechecking your level would be a good idea before you really test it.

As Northguy said, some more details would make it easier to diagnose. Do all of your idiot lights shut off as well when it dies? Does everything just cut and you have nothing until it randomly decides to work again? If that's the case, try looking at your ignition wires under the dash, or your fusible links in the engine bay. either may be failing. The ignition wires run through the under side of the steering column. They should just be hanging after you pull the plasric cover off, make sure not to fubar your turn signal while you're in there. The fusible links are in a little box on the passenger side of the engine bay, right in front of the strut mount. The black one is main power, I think it's a 50 or 60 amp. That one should be your first suspect. The other 2 (or 3 if you have extra accesories) will be green and red. Those should be inspected while you're in there as well. Twitch

If you want to be absolutely sure, pull your thermostat, after installing the lower hose, and fill the block directly. After filling the block, put the thermostat back in, re-affix the housing, and finish filling the system via the radiator. It eliminates the need for any burping and any chance (negating freak occurences) of it air locking. Twitch

Ok, here's a list. My 83 Wagon. Disassembled the air cleaner and all associated vacuum hoses and decided to reorganize some of them. (Got to fix some of that in a dark rainy walmart parking lot after being carded to buy carb cleaner. WTF?) He used/misplaced almost all of the right bolts for the air cleaner assembly. Failed to replace several important vacuum hoses Pulled/cut out the center of the thermostat to hide a leaking HG Somehow killed an HG in an EA81 with less than 200k. I'm sure there's more I haven't discovered yet. Twitch