RavenTBK

I'm just curious as to how often of an occurence this is in the offroading world. I was tooling around in the forest yesterday in FWD.. came upon one of the harsher sugar sand inclines. I decided to keep it in FWD and see how far I could go. Easy on the throttle.. wheelspin kept at a minimum to avoid being buried in the sand. About halfway up, I encountered some mad wheelhop that came up to severe pretty damn quick. I stopped and dropped it into 4low just to finish the rise. On the way out, 2nd and 4th would pop out on acceleration. I also noticed the shifter would rise and fall in its hole. I expected busted tranny mounts, but I found that I had bent my pitch stopper about 20* and tore through the upper bushing. This afternoon I'm going to try to bend it back straight with the vise, and just install a solid bushing up top. Has anyody else done something similar? I would've thought a suspension part or engine/tranny mount would've failed before the forces would get so bad it would cause the pitch stopper to fold up.

Hillholders are schweet.. especially in a town where theres 9-12% grades at some of the redlights downtown. Or when I'm in the forest playing on the trails.. its the absolute greatest invention. I just need to get another clutch fork so I can hook mine up again. That is an amusing description though.

Each state is different. In Florida, no you cant do that through the DHSMV. If you got a cop buddy you can, but thats not the "right" way. Washington is one state I've never set foot into, so I cannot answer with any certainty. Call your DMV and ask. Is the car on a highway.. ie: interstate/US federal numbered road? Then call the highway patrol and inquire. If its on a local road, call the local police for that jurisdiction. Mix and match.. DMV/State or DMV/Locals. You'll get at least something. I'd also walk up to the car and stick a note on it...or in it if a window is left cracked. HtH!

Pix of my setup.. I would email em to you, but I'd rather share with everyone who may be interested in doing something similar. Each is resized to 800x600, 90-150k each (15-25 seconds @ 56k, 25-42 seconds @ 28.8) http://www.fjeer.us/bushratimgs/imagedump-063.jpg http://www.fjeer.us/bushratimgs/imagedump-064.jpg http://www.fjeer.us/bushratimgs/imagedump-065.jpg http://www.fjeer.us/bushratimgs/imagedump-066.jpg http://www.fjeer.us/bushratimgs/imagedump-067.jpg http://www.fjeer.us/bushratimgs/imagedump-068.jpg http://www.fjeer.us/bushratimgs/imagedump-069.jpg 063 is an overall view. Laying on my back, starting with 064, panning from the passenger side to the drivers side, which is 068. 069 is there to show the minimal departure angle loss... I had Hop build the hitch to be inline with the tailpipe. The upper supports are 4" wide flat steel, simply welded onto the framerails under the bed. Crossbeam suport is 2" box steel, cut to width of the outer framerails. As you can see in 065, in the middle of the crossbeam is the actual receiver. 2" box steel, simply welded up at the end, with a 2" piece of channel steel welded in front as extra bracing. Then, just slap a couple holes in the end of the channel for the hitch pin, and call it a day. As a bonus, he took a piece of flat steel, cut two holes, heated it up and bent it down, and stuck it underneath the receiver to use as safety chain attachment points. Unless you crawl underneath to inspect it, it looks like a pre-made deal. Its successfully pulled 3700# when I had to pick up my Altima after my sister ran it out of gas. My Bronco was down, and I had no other alternative to get it home. 2900# for the car, and 770# for the race trailer. I wouldnt dare pull that much with a homemade hitch, but I had no other choice.. but it took it just fine. So, I'd say this design could easily pull the small utility trailer you've got oddcomp. Cheers.

Thats very much correct. I didnt even pay attention to that. Good catch chef. So.. thats when you do... USRM>Electrical>100Amp GM Alternator into EA series vehicles Problem solved. Winch all day at idle.

TTT.. Its now May. Where do these ongoing conversions currently stand? Its either a cheap EJ swap or I get freaky with a Mazda 13b... mmmm rotary...

I had a buddy fab one up for my Brat for $120 ($80metal+40labor). He did such a good job of it the weight it can handle is more than what the Brat is able to easily move. I went with his offer as the bolt on receiver for my Bronco ran me $150.. it seemed fair. Granted, its not an EA82, but its another price to add to the list to get an idea.

If its got the funny split halfway up windows, its an SVX. Easiest way to tell.

Waah. :-p dont need to steenking walking space! Just stack it all up in there.. and pretend you're in a quarry, climbing over big boulders and whatnot. It may seem strange for the first few days, and any friends you invite over might need transport to hospital for "climbing injuries", but you'll get used to it! I know Jess. The law says I cant have an assortment of RPGs.. as they're considered "assault weapons". Laws suck. :-p

Harbor Freight does some okay stuff. From my readings on other boards, that winch in the link is just a rebranded Mile Marker winch. Plenty of praise. For your Subie, it will exceed your needs... therefore, I say go for it.

To all those that want skidplates, here's some advice: If you need a skidplate, you're not lifted enough. Toss out everything else.. lockers are the way to go! Something like an OX locker would be the absolute greatest thing! (reference: http://www.tonsure.com/4x4/ox.htm and http://www.4wheeloffroad.com/brandpages/ford/131_0209_lock/) Some lower low range gears would also be beneficial. Oh yeah.. a 50 BMG (non-functional of course) and its accompanying mount would also be a welcome addition on my Brat. Hell, I'm already painted up for it.

Turbo cars lack the low end "grunt" thats usually most useful in offroading. As MSSLGECKO said.. it all depends on what you're wanting to do. If you're in a rallycross mood, you'll enjoy the turbo. If you're in a tactical rock crawing mood, you'll dislike the turbo. If you're in a hillclimbing mood, you'll enjoy the turbo. If you're on the road on your way to the pit, you'll enjoy the turbo. Basically, anything that usually relies on high revvs, you'll enjoy the turbo.

You put the dirt bike IN storage?!?!? Its springtime, not wintertime. The bike should be coming OUT of storage. or, you could give it to me.. and I'll "store" it fer yall.

Buy your axles from CVO (Constant Velocity of Ocala, aka http://www.cvaxles.com) for $55. I've met the owner, and his shop turns out some great work. Highly recommended. :cool: OTOH, the prices you've tossed out for having the shop "take care of it" are well within the average range. Theres usually ads/coupons in the paper for some shops to do it cheaper. So if price is your biggest selling point, look around some more. I've seen ads go as low as $75 per axle installed. However, my suggestion is to buy the axles yourself.. saving you a bit of overhead and markup, and just pay the labor for installation. Cheers.

Pics?

*hands out this months dose of Midol to both JWX and Skip*

All in all, I'd have to guess between 5-7000. I've seen three on the streets of Tallahassee, two in Panama City, and two more down here outside of Ocala. All <80. Of those, only one Brat. Rest were wagons. *shrug*

From my 1984 Owners Manual:Officially, the Brat never received a "tow" rating. Max loading is 4 passengers at 150# each, with an additional 250# in the bed. --- Related note, I have towed my 95 Altima on my race trailer with my Brat. I've got a customfab receiver hitch welded up under the tail end. Weights were 2900# for the car, and an additional 770# for the trailer. It was exceptionally slow and dangerous, but the Brat got the job done a heck of a lot better than I thought it would. Stopping was interesting, but predictable, and getting moving was okay in 4wd, sketchy in 2wd, and mildly acceptable in 4low. I never tow with the Brat unless I have to. Others tow with theirs quite regularly. Depends on how much you wanna pull with it.

I prefer to flaunt the fact that it a 2door sedan.. at least according to import records. That gets people really confused. My Florida title lists the Brat as a 2d sedan. Make for some interesting conversations/arguments. Its not a truck.. I dont know of any unibody trucks. They're all body-on-frame. Its not a car.. I dont know of many cars with a pickup style bed (save for the elCamino and Ranchero, but even those were built truck style body-on-frame). I dont care. Its a BRAT. :-p

..and on a side note, I've been seriously considering a propane conversion since LPGSuperchargedBrumby signed up and showed off his ride. http://www.gotpropane.com does conversions.. Theres also a place I know of in the Tampa FL area that does them as well. When I get the extra money that I can burn, I'm still thinking about going down there and having them come up with a solution. From my initial contacts with them, conversions are cheap.. its just the cost of the tank itself thats high. Either way.. 1.59/gl for propane is a helluva lot better than 2.30/gl for gasoline. :cool:

Propane BOILS (read: returns to gas from liquid) at -44F. I doubt theres a place in the world that gets cold enough to "freeze" propane. edit: found my info..to fill in the blanks i left before: if the tank/surrounding area falls below -44F, the propane will stay in liquid form and just wont come out of the tank. Wrap it up with a blanket when it gets down to -60F in January.

Okay.. after carefully going through HTKYSA, the Haynes, and Chiltons manuals for the Brat, I ran across these two diagrams.. both 1024x78@142k. ~30seconds @ 56k dialup http://www.fjeer.us/imagedump063.jpg http://www.fjeer.us/imagedump064.jpg Image 063 depicts how the Brat is currently setup, however instead of going to the aircleaner, the lines go below the carb into the intake...which is basically the same thing as being plugged into the aircleaner. Supposedly, according to Chiltons (where the diagram is sourced), this way of crankcase ventilation was how it was done with the EA61-EA63 series engines. Image 064 depicts how the Brat is supposed to be.. according to Chiltons... with a PCV and whatnot. The accompanying text described the PCV was first brought about with the EA71 and later models. Well, now I know what path things are *supposed* to take. There are no drivability issues. No mileage issues. It still runs fine. Is there any glaring reason why I should re-route the hoses again and install a new PCV? Such as.. without "positive" ventilation, the crankcase will fill with nasty flammable gases and explode? Will I die? I figure, since thats how it was with the older engines, and they survived, I dont see any reason to change things. Am I wrong?

84, EA81, Weberized. No measurable oil consumption.

Well, the turning event here, was the large backfire when I installed my plug wires incorrectly. Before that, I could remove the oil filler and whatever, and it would continue to run okay, but with an obvious sucking sound from the newly formed vacuum leak. Now, it just straight up dies. *shrug* The Brat lacks a PCV valve. The valvecovers are tied straight into intake vacuum. This is how its always been. Is this incorrect? (I'm gonna break out HTKYSA and read up some more on this) The remaining emissions devices have been removed and/or plugged. I mean.. theres no running issues here.. its just curiousity..

Yep.. here's todays random question. Is there a such thing as TOO MUCH engine vacuum? With newer vehicles, removing the oil filler cap should cause a stumble, but should continue to run. With the Brat, removing the filler cap is difficult, as theres soo much engine vacuum, its sucked on there real good. Once the cap seal is broken, the engine, stumbles then dies real quick like. Both breather lines from the valvecovers are tee'd into a source of intake vacuum. The engine runs sweetly (well, it did before the current distributor issues). I dont see anything wrong with how much vacuum its producing as theres no leaks and whatnot.. however, I figured I'd post up and ask anyways just to cure my curiousity. So, is there such a thing as too much vacuum?