tallwelder81

should i NOT keep the sway bar? why wouldnt i want a swaybar? i dont do much crawling. just, you know, 30mph logging road rally. and the occasional curb hop, or 2'x2' ditch crossing. nothing extreme. i do about 90 miles of street driving for every 10 miles of gravel or dirt or mud or snow.

i have my brat mostly lifted. 2 in rear, 2.5 in front. but i cant figure out how the radius rod lift works out? do i need 2 blocks, 1 per side? with 1 bolt per block? cuz that is what i was given with my kit. but it seems like i must need more blocks. can anyone send me a clear pic of that area, on a lifted brat? alos, if i am lifting my front body 2.5 inches, does my steering shaft need extension? or will it work fine stock? pics of front chassis area on lifted brat, please??? the swaybar/radius rod/tranny area. or ANYTHING.

no, thats my bad. i meant i heard i didnt need any changes in the steering COLUMN. not the undercarriage/chassis. but does anyone have an actual PICTURE of the underbody, that shows a lift kit being installed? or a before and after? or anything useful of the chassis? plenty of pics on here of peoples rigs driving in the mud with a lift kit, showing off big tires, etc... but a pic of the actual lift kit going in would be mucho helpful. pics of rigs crawling over logs and jumping over ditches, not so useful at the moment. lol....

steering lengthened? i was aware of that parts existence, yes. was under the impression that it wasnt necessary for a 2.5 inch lift in the struts. but whatever, i can do it if need be, not a big deal at all. i was told by the guy who built and sold me the kit, and also scott sjr, that a lift of the height im installing didnt require any steering changes.

bump. HELP me

i guess i should clarify. i got the torsion bar, mustache bar, shocks.... all lifted. now its time for FRONT half.

i laid under my car awhile, kinda gettin re-familiar with the flavor and the smell. and i couldnt figure out how to lift the steering. where does my 2" spacer block actually GO??

okay, i FOUND good shocks. they are monroe. and they are OEM for a late 90s GMC Jimmy. the bottom mount was a HAIR too loose. but i hammered in some bronze sleeves. they fit a 12mm bolt perfectly now. i havent actually DRIVEN on the shocks yet, but they seem to work great. they are a little bit beefier than the OEM brat shocks. fatness-wise. and they are maybe 4 inches longer. they are just $26-dollar monroes. but they look decent. they should hold up, im hoping. my factory OEM KYBs were STILL useable, after 210,000 miles!! if these last even 30,000 i will be satisfied, with my purchase.

i scored some really cool used shocks, just the right size and amount of beef. but the bottom piece was way too wide. so i ground it down, SLOWLY, so i didnt overheat the steel or the rubber bushing. looks good now, fits the bottom shock mount just fine and solid. but the TOP shock mount, the crossbar piece. i couldnt get it to hammer out, and i WASNt gentle. i tried hammering it out with a 16oz claw hammer. didnt budge. and even if it HAD come out easy, the other shocks i have, use a STEEL sleeve INSIDE the rubber bushing. so there is no forgiveness. it either fits or it doesnt. well, surprise surprise... it DOESNT. what is a good shock to use for a mildly lifted, casual rally brat? i dont crawl. i just like to explore old logging roads, with a lot of windy, pitted, loose gravel and shallow mud. you know, pretty softcore driving compared to what some guys on here do with brats. let me put it another way, 215-65-15s with a/t tread are great for the terrain i deal with. the main guy at shucks/oreillys said that rancho 5000s are nothing special, and i may as well just get 25 dollar monroes instead. but the problem there is that with a 2 inch lift, and OEM shocks, i will only have a 3 inbch travel. so why even bother lifting it? it will be LESS capable offroad with a 2 inch lift, than it was factory stock original. screw that.... i know you guys have found good shocks for a 2" lift. what is everyone using, that fits up clean and easy?

it looks good. regardless of what the last guy paid, 2,600 isnt a bad price. thats about what i paid. and mine was a bit rougher. but like yours, there were a few goodies. i didnt get a canopy with mine. but i got it with the weber conversion. a nice cd deck, and some good 6x9s, and there was a custom fit box between the seats, with some 2-way 4" mids. im not one to be steered towards an otherwise garbage car, just because of a loud stereo. but if i already want the car itself, a cleanly installed stereo is some tasty icing on the cake. congrats on the score, buddy. as far as 4" lift, i went with a 2". it looks great, and seems stable. rock steady. but a lot of guys prefer a 4" and i have heard great responses. so whatever. one perk of the 2" lift, the steering, the shifter, and the brake lines can all stay original. 4", they MUST be changed or altered. the other thing for me, is, if my pumpkin and exhaust and oil pan were at the same clearance, i didnt see a point in going higher. you may be able to score an extra half inch, though. and 1/2 an inch can actually be VERY helpful sometimes. ask around, there is a TON of lift info on here. every detail imaginable. i got mine custom made. but everyone on here that does em full time has a loyal and satisfied following.

yes, all the power is in the GASOLINE. the additives <more octane=more additives> make your gas weaker, less horseradish. the only reason you should EVER use higher octane, is if your compression requires it. ea engines <non-turbo> have like 8.7:1 compression. my 67 bigblock buick was rated at 10.5 compression, factory. but i ran it on 89 octane, with a bottle of HEET per tank, to keep off the crud. and i suspect the compression was closer to 11:1, due to the pistons i used and my tinkering with the vacuum and mechanical advance. all i know is, it did just fine on 89 octane. i put about 12,000 miles on a 170,000 mile engine, on that 89 octane, and never had popping or pre-ignition. if you are into tinkering ANYHOW, one thing that helps a lot, is to get into your chambers and smooth off any ridges. dont forget the actual spark plug "bridge". it has those sharp square corners. you cant take a mile off of material. just, you know, be gentle. some 220 or 240 grit paper will give you a nice smooth shape. just be shy, not aggressive. detonation is caused by hot spots, and anything that extends out beyond the general shape will heat up fast. the smoother the chamber, the more compression you can run without upping the octane. but the flip side of that coin is that you gotta be very MINIMAL!!! with removing material. because it in itself can lower compression. but then again, a C.C. is quite a bit, when you think about it. and lowering your squeeze by one cubic centimeter wont affect overall compression THAT much. still, dont get too crazy with taking out material. just a gentle bit of massaging on the sharp points. and HEY, as long as you have the guts ripped open, maybe massage the port throats just a tad. ive done a fair amount of port work over the years on different american iron heads. but i was never quite sure how best to handle the siamese exhausts on my brat engine. bigger is NOT always better. and sometimes SMOOTHER isnt better either. but in exhaust, smooth is usually better. the intake with a carburetor style engine usually likes a bit of texture for turbulence. keeps the fuel mixed up in the air better.

your question is worded confusingly. a wood stove is very handy to have around in a workshop/garage. its much better than electric heat in many ways. electric is less mess, dust, ash, etc.... but wood stoves absorb moisture, so they keep the garage much dryer. less rust, and mold. and they run on anything. bust up some worn out pallets or whatever. those odd and inconvenient scraps when you cut those 8ft 2x4s down to 7'8"? burn em, heat the garage. order a pizza when you and your buddy worked too late on the car, and now its too late to start cooking dinner, and you also wanna thank your buddy for helping? order a pizza. throw the pizza box in the stove. more heat. i grew up with one. all my life everyone had them in the house and another in the garage. one tip, the stovepipe, the exhaust tube, its ALWAYS better to go straight up. an elbow going horizontal out the wall has lots of problems. more back pressure, causing the indoors to get smoky. harder to get the fire started because of less "draw". the horizontal exit is hard to seal up watertight, so when it rains hard, your wall starts to rot out. your garage will just be cleaner, all those random odds and ends that add up over a week of projects, they just get tossed in the stove. i dont like to burn plastic. but hey, some people do it. my grandpa always burned plastic. stinks like crap and very unhealthy. but thats your choice. oh and p.s. the smaller size woodstoves designed specifically for a garage are often made of thinner steel or iron. if you want it to last more then 3-4 years, make sure to throw about 2 inches of clean sand inside to cover the whole bottom. it protects the metal, and it also makes the heat output steadier, because of thermal mass. a.k.a. the density absorbs heat at the peak temperature, and when the fire goes out later on, it keeps radiating a bit of heat for another hour or two. if you are around seattle, i live outside of renton, i can weld up a small and crude stove, real quick, in maybe 4 hours. woodstoves are my specialty. also, i have a nicer one for sale, nice enough for your house, it has a 7x14 glass window in front. 200 dollars, if anyone is interested.

wow.... gotta love all those non-toxic substances... lol thanks dupont

how come i used a cuss word that was 4 letters, but when it censored it, there are like a dozen asterisks?> asterixes... however you spell that word.

something to do for fun? you work on your car. thats fun. but hey, if you have the budget of an arab sheik, get an adjoining harem, with hot steam bath and a bowling alley.

i dont mean to step on any toes here, and if you plan to SHIp it, my point is moot and irrelevent. and i havent seen him in here in awhile anyhow... but suberdave does the harnesses. i bought my ej18 from him, the engine and all that, and he did a good job of clearly labeling the useful wires, tearing out and tossing the unnecessary wires, etc,... i wont say that he is better than anyone else. ive just got the ONE ej18 in my brat. but thats my single experience and it was positive. if you need a hand with the GRUNT and dirt, i could help you, for a cheeseburger and fries. i will even pay my own gas. but yea. im a fool at wiring. but if you dont have a greasy garage buddy to scrape knuckles with you, i am willing. WARm garage preferred. i do all my stuff in a carport and i live in a very cold and wet bend of the river in the foothills. yea anyhow.....

lol ok..... im a dope at metric. those have GOTTA be stock measurements, though.... 30mm, thats just a hair past 1 inch, yea? one inch is around 25mm, if i recall?? everything i know about metric conversions, i learned from owning guns and buying ammo, growing up. 12.7 is .50 so 25.4 would be roughly one inch. hmmm,,,,, okay thanks again scott. mucho grassyass

ahhhh ************ man. you are a lifesaver, scott.... i cheaped out and bought my lift used, cuz i didnt want to drive to bellingham... you shouldnt be helping me, man,..,. thanks, you are a helluva guy, scott.

LIAR!! you have it!! you just wont give it to me!! its a conspiracy!! you probably shot JFK!! lol......

but they need to be for a 2 inch lift.... i just want the specs for the ORIGINAL factory bolts because i assumed that info would be more readily available. and i could just go from there.

bump. i just need to know the bolts for my torsion bar. my rear shocks. my crossmember, and my strut towers. the original factory specs, please!!!???? im sorry if this info is on here somewhere already. i looked some. didnt find anything???

so if that bumper was scaled for a stock body brat, it would look sumthin like THIS: yea?

bump.... he really wanted and already paid for these center caps. anyone contact him for me? get a number, or give him mine? 206-914-1246 i dont like getting paid for a part and then flaking the deal.