Twitch de la Brat

Thanks Durania Mods, feel free to delete this post and the one above Durania's... Twitch

You might have a short in the wiring to your fuel pump. AFAIK, the fuel pump is run directly off the alternator, with only a fuse in between. I'm guessing you've checked all you fuses, so I would check the resistance between the small alternator wire(?) and the fuel pump power supply, when the engine cuts out. Also I would check the voltage at the pump when the car is running. It may be that you have some wire that expands when it gets hot enough and eventually shorts when it expands enough to touch a ground. Does anybody know if these old subes had aluminum wiring? Cuz that stuff was infamous for heat expansion. Twitch

I just replaced my blinker fluid with this aftermarket stuff that makes it blink brighter and quieter than ever! I can't mention the name because they are being threatened with lawsuits from all of the vehicle manufacutures. And I just had to put some new muffler bearings on to quiet my exhaust down. Twitch

I put 4x6's into my Brat's door panels... I haven't had to deal with EA82's yet...

A little silicone sealant? Just shop vac out the door, dry your inner panel and spray the metal with some WD40, to prevent rust. Squeeze some outdoor slicone in there and it should help seal up the leaky window. Just make sure the window is down when you silicone so as to not allow the silicone to stick to the window Twitch

Because I always wanted a 4x4 car. And because my dad told me not to I always thought it would be cool to have a car that had 4 wheel drive and was easier on the gas budget than a truck or suv. My first car was 90' lego with 280k on the clock. It runs like a champ at almost 285k, but is currently parked because of the 4EAT blunder. Then came along a brat... Need I say more? And another because I loved my brat and wanted another for parts. Little did I know at the time that there were more than one generation of brats... So I have a 1st gen and a 2nd gen brat and a first gen lego. And I loooooove my AWD/4WD. I couldn't live without it. Twitch

Its not all that hard, you just need to find all the panel screws and the mounting screws for the deck and remove them. Then go down to your local stereo installer and buy a stereo and an adapter for your model of car and the stereo you bought Then all you have to do is put it all back together and Voila! You have a new deck This is only if your current setup hasn't been butchered. Twitch

I agree with going with the old wagon, the only reason I have to go with the new wagon is if you need to seat 5 people, or have to have good a/c. And heyall yeah on the first gen lego's. Just avoid the 4EAT's with all your power and then some. I HATE my car because of the 4EAT in it. That tranny will soon be metal scrap. So yeah, uh, back to the point, get a first gen lego manual or an EA81 or EA82 wagon, can't go wrong. Twitch

Well when I worked at circuit city, we recommended the eclipse decks and the kenwoods, both are fairly high end products. If you want something a bit cheaper but still good, JVC or Dual are decent brands. Twitch

Have you seafoamed your oil and then changed it? If not, I would recommend pouring about half a can into the oil and the other half into the gas tank. Run it for 5-10 min with the seafoam oil, then drain it and fill with new oil of your choice. (My brat seems to do best with 10-40w) Hopefully this helps! Twitch

JesZek, You Are AWESOME!!! And much thanks to Skip for locating it in the first place. And thanks to slideshow for prompting the search! Skip, the original link no longer functions, I tried to just view the pdf and I had errors flying on every link, so it appears to no longer function. If I am wrong please correct me, so that I may not unintentionally decieve anyone. Twitch

There are an almost infinite number of ways to hook up the spark plug wires to the distributor. And as for the wife having you drive a 13hr trip to get a brat sounds unusual. My gf makes me drive an extra hour sometimes just to AVOID seeing any brats Nice find, even with the rust issue. If it makes you feel better, my 85' is a rust bucket and I paid 1300 for it. or to make you feel worse, my 80' was bought for $100 and has less rust than my 85! Twitch

Ditto to cougar, These old subs don't take much to run, so a bad alt but a fully charged battery can get you pretty far. (I should know ) I would replace the alt with something bigger... (100a GM alt swap anyone?) Or just do a standard alt if you want to stay stock. But it sounds just like a bad alt. But back to the main topic... I think it might be in the ignition, as you have suspected. I would go to a junkyard to find a new ignition, they're usually still good in there. Oh, and either have it rekeyed or get the key from the junkyard, if they still have it. (or just use your old one if it works! ) Twitch

If it was at the top of 3rd I would have to agree with the rings being the issue. If it was on the wind down, I would lean slightly towards a bad pcv before I would go for the rings or the the valve seals. Did you use OEM or fram or something like that? I have seen pcv's bad from the box before... Twitch

Kind of... :-p I'll be getting another d/r from pull and save so as to have a 5 speed for the brat as well I just wanted to see what all it would take to put a d/r into my lego. And considering its going to be replacing an automatic, it won't be much more work than I already have to do. So yes, I will have the only first gen d/r in north Idaho All I need to do after I get the tranny installed is put some outback struts on and all terrains and YEE HAW!!! Twitch PS: I should have mentioned this by now, but I guess I just forgot. The car this is being looked at to have done to it is a 1990 lego wagon, 280k on the car 130k or so on the engine but only like 100 miles on the rebuilt heads and new head gaskets, 150k on the rebuilt but 4EAT.

Are you referring to EA82 or EA81? My brat I just turn the fan off and leave the temp dial cranked over to hot. I also put it onto defrost, if I don't need any fan directed airflow. I also have a vent lever that allows air directly from outside, quite literally. I've had pine neeedles blow through my vents because of it. That's about all that I've had to do... Open the vent if its too warm, close it if its too cold. I'll post pics when I get some time. Twitch

Does your phone have a memory card? or can you send to e-mails? What I do, is save all my pics to my memory card in my phone. Then I transfer them to the computer via an adapter. I usually upload them to photobucket. And as many people have said, photobucket is the way to go. That's about it. If you go the e-mail route, just save them to the comp then upload. I'm not sure if your e-mail provider will let you just link to the pictures. Hope it helps! This is the 85' beast itself. Oh, and Photobucket usually has IMG html for forums like this one Twitch Oh, and the 80'

Niceness. And count yourself among the lucky ones living without timing belts! I have an 85' brat that has the same engine, but the 4 speed d/r It has ballz. Gutless wonder all EA81's are but if you need to muscle through something... OH, and something I should mention, expect your EGR to crap out on you soon. They all do eventually, usually somewhere around the 200k-250k mark. Good luck with the wagon! (And should I say SWEET looking imp sitting behind it) Twitch

JesZek, I think having your sister sit there was smart. I bet you wife would've killed you if someone else had been sitting there. And All I have to say to ivantruckman is... MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA I would soooooo do that just to scare the crap out of them. Twitch

Ok, thanks for the insight into the diff issue. And as for the Imp axles, I believe I needed 93 manual fwd axles, but I'll double check my sources. And I used linkages as a broad term to cover speedo cable, clutch cable, etc. Thanks for all the advice and please, keep it coming. Twitch

Ok, I found out that its 93 imp fwd axles needed. Current parts list: 93 imp fwd axles EJ to EA adapter kit (SJR or others) EA crossmember* 5 sp d/r tranny* Pedal Box Linkages (cables and the like) and a custom driveshaft *is what I already have. Twitch ---------------- Now playing: Castle in the Sky - DJ Satomi via FoxyTunes

From your description it sounds like the car has been tortured. Run like a bat out of... Not to mention the 4EAT's (1990- who knows automatic tranny's) are a complete PITA to work on. And extremely temperamental with their fluid levels. I hated mine and it has finally kicked the bucket. Twitch

Same year brat and getting eerily the same gas mileage. Mine's almost completely stock, minus the 100a alt upgrade I highly recommend putting the midgrade (89 Octane) in your brat. Mine runs a heck of a lot better on it and my fuel mileage got a bump too Twitch

NOOOOOOO!!!!!! Please don't send such a fine example of engineering to the crusher! Please, please, PLEASE, just keep working at it! Twitch(ing)

So the axles tines would match up? 23 tines, right? or is it 25? Crossmember mount is easy, I can get the adaptor plate from you, jy has a ton of EA82's out there. But I'm concerned about the driveline. How would it need to be modified? I have torn apart an EA driveline but not an EJ... I know I'd need a different diff for the front end, I like my 4.11 final drive ratio, so I'd probably buy an lsd for it or pull the diff out of my current tranny. Anything else you can think of that I'll need? Other than bigger tires and a lift... Twitch