tallwelder81

barbara steisand and bette midler. if im feeling really hardcore, celine dion, for her heavy guitar riffs!!!! maybe some justin bieber, just for variety. gotta have my bieb. lol...... naw, like a few have said, classic rock is good, something with a good beat. lyrics are pretty meaningless when banging and grinding and running compressor. all you hear is the beat anyhow. i prefer the albums that all run together, like pink floyd. its really just an 75 minute song. i get kinda retro when im doing quieter car work, like wiring, etc.... new wave. heck i even listen to the old pre WW2 stuff, like al jolson and off the wall stuff like that. johnny cash. bluegrass, maybe. i have a heard time keeping my eyes and hands in the slow electrical-work gear, if my ears are in that fast punkrock and techno and death metal gear. Tool works cuz its loud and heavy but slower tempo. same as some system of a down. im a diehard fan of rage against the machine. i just dont feel like it flows well with my mindset when wrenching. and the main buddy who helps me in the garage a lot is into gangster rap. he is polite and pretends he is okay with the metal and hard rock, but i know deep down he wishes it was Dre or easy-e or something like that.

hey, bump...... anyone interested in hanging out, playing under the hood? just got a nice new slide hammer, with some cool accesories like a hub-puller.

shut up kody. 85 and 87 brats are way better. lol..... 86 is the worst brat ever made!!! <sorry newsoobdude, just messing with my buddy, i am NOT anti 86-brat.>

heck, how about just the front strut blocks? 2" ea81. i think that looks like the part id have the most headache getting done. i will take my chances with the rear. does the shifter needs alteration with just a 2" lift?> what does that involve? dantesinferno said he had a bunch of free parts for me. 5 speed DRtrans, extended linkage, etc etc etc "Ive got assorted subaru parts. I might even have 6" front strut lift blocks. Dual range drive shafts, 5 spd d/r trans, x member. The interior parts for dual range, ill see if I have the shifter / linkages. OEM headlight guards.". he was selling those 15" pugs with chinese street tires, toyo or somesuch. now he is M.I.A, and doesnt answer his regular emails either. maybe he didnt want to sell it as cheap as he agreed to..... hmmmmmm....

steel is ok, but do you ever make them out of aluminum or alloy anymore? i know you used to. were they just questionable strength, or sumthin? lightweight is great. but if they are only steel, i still want an 2" full-setup. steering, lines hoses and shocks i can manage on my own. id want new shocks anyhow. just because. y'know. thanks scott~!!!

by the way, SJR SCOTT!!! you never gave me a price on the 2" lift kit???? how about a killer deal on just the 2" front strut blocks? ea81 style. and why do you specify in your post "not complete kits"? are you easing away from making kits? or am i just clueless? lol..... if there was a group buy on a short ea81 lift, id DEFINATELY jump on that in a heartbeat.

if anyone needs a steering-shaft welded, hit me up. i have good clamps and can hold a piece like that very straight and even, and weld it up easy. welding em aint hard. im not bragging about my skills. they are really just easy to weld up. if i am extra careful and take my time, setting it up and preparing the surface to get premium penetration, it will take maaaaybe 30 minutes, maybe 45 minutes at most. i wont take it out or put it in. thats all on you. all im offering is to clamp it down, weld it strong and straight, and unclamp it. SJR has the skills to do it, i guarantee. he just has enough work already on his hands without dealing with this high-school stuff.

i want the same package, with a pickup bed, dangit!! it'd be like a bigger beefier brat, circa 2012. but NOT a tiny bed, ala baja, ridgeline, or any of those other useless beds. its gotta be big enough for being practical. 5'6" or so. like a brat. any thoughts on the possibility of that ever happening?

low mode? isnt that the whole point of the CVT? the fact that it has high and low and EVERY possible gear in between? its like having a hundred speed automatic transmission.

looks cool. maybe a bit "rounder/softer" and a hair bigger than id have liked. kinda has that CLOSET-MINIVAN thing going like a chrysler pacifica or the newest durangos and grand cherokees. too..... uhhhh soft. cant think of the word i want. androgynous, maybe. i like definition. angles. lean and mean, not these shapeless blobs. maybe the soft continuos curve of the roofline was just to make a stronger "egg" frame. a long swept curve is always stronger than a dozen sharp angles. at least pound for pound. 80s volvos may be strong frames, but they also weigh more than a greyhound bus.

and THEY supply the gas, electricity, and very nice machines/equipment, and the actual steel sheets, plates, bars, tubes whatever. that stuff ADDS UP FAST in costs. i calculated it once in my head. the cost of it all, INCLUDING the cost of my gasoline to commute to school, really honestly came up even with the material costs. class was about 550-700 per quater. depending what time of year the quarter was, some are longer, i think winter quarter is almost 12 hours longer. the whole quarter was only 48 hours in the summer class. 60hours in winter. and i bet i used up at LEAST 300 dollars just in metal. too hard to calculate all the electricity and electrode and shielding gas, etc etc etc...... its a lot. trust me.

id just go with the original material. or maybe a gauge thicker. i think subaru bodys were 20 gauge in the 80s. 18 gauge is easier material to find as scrap. with the think stuff, the trick is to not go in a steady bead. think of how an amateur teenager tightens his wheels lugnuts. clockwise in a row. so it binds up and ends up a hair off-center. youre supposed to stagger the tightening, bit by bit, yea? same story with welding thin sheet. half inch of weld, skip a full inch, weld a half inch, skip a full inch, so on. when you are done with the length, and start over at beginning, it should have cooled sufficiently to hit it again, and after 3 passes, it will be continuosly welded. like THIS: - - - - - - - not like THIS: ----------------- handy trick to use. otherwise you will burn through. also, THORUOUGHLY cleaning the surface is 80% of a good weld. just like painting a car. the end results will only ever be as good as the initial prep work. most community college welding classes are perfectly okay with the average joe coming if for just one quarter, just to get a feel for it, with a certified guy looking over his shoulder now and then. my school had lots of guys with no interest in becoming a professional welder, they just wanted to take a crash course for their own general benefit. and the teacher was fine with that. just a thought......

bottle that UP, man!!! i loooove chocolate milk, its yummmy!!!!

NICE WORK MAN!!! its hreat to see someone on here really post a lot of detailed, clear pics of the whole process.... i just scored a real nice used tube bender. and an eastwood notcher, and a great eastwood 4" air-saw, so i can get into this type of thing professionally. clearly there is demand for it. how does it sound>???? your exhaust, i mean.

DUDE. IM DOING THE SAME THING, WITH THE SAME CAR, RIGHT NOW. lol...... i have an 83 brat, pretty much stock-ish. 2 inch lifts are apparently hard to find. the standard is 4 inch. i am in the process of getting mine MILDLY lifted. throw some 205/70-15s on her, and i got an ej18 in her now. the ej18 has great gas mileage, very efficient. and it is about ehhh.... 30% more power, all around. many people here will say just get an ej22. i went with the ej18 because i wanted the MOST possible gas mileage i could get, and i figured 110hp was plenty on a car that never had more than 85hp from the factory. most had 72hp. either way you go, ej series engines are MUCH easier to get parts for. they are as common as beach sand. lots of guys on here sell 4" lifts. there is a TON of info on usmb about lifting, so next time SEARCH. or people on here will get kinda pissy with ya. lol..... but yea, SJRlifts.com is a good one. but he is way up in bellingham, there are a couple near you, a guy in coburg makes stuff, HTI. and theres a place called mudrat fabrication, i think they are up near ummmmm south portland or something. really, we are lucky to be 80s subaru lovers, because western washington and western oregon are the world heart of subaru offroading. sjr used to list a 2" lift. now just 4 and 6 inch. but ive been talking to him recently about a 2, and he says he can still make them. they just arent listed. his are somewhat expensive, but very good quality. he makes them good. do us all a favor and harrass/prod him a bit about 2" lifts. i dont think he knows theres much demand for anything under 4 inch. he doesnt supply the steering extension. im not sure if anyone else does either. too much potential to be sued for a part like steering. i dont blame em. we ARE the "nothing is MY fault, sue em into the toilet" generation. listen to GD, he is one of the most knowledgeable and helpful people on here. strut lifting is FAMOUS for chewing up CV joints and axles. i wanted to do mine that way also. mostly because it lifts the WHOLE car, where a body lift leaves all your gear STILL dragging the rocks, just like stock. i have been researching and playing with these concepts very recently, and of everyone on here, i am probably the most recently familiar with your situation. a lot of guys on here go SKY HIGH with their brats. and i feel the same as you. 2 inches sounds perfect. balanced, steady, solid, still handles in the 40mph corners. to each their own. many guys dont CARE how it handles in a high speed corner, cuz thats just not their scene. they just want it to handle the deepest, hairiest terrain possible. i want to handle some rough stuff, AND the freeway. because after all, how many miles do we spend on a road, VS. how many miles crawling up the side of the himalayas? lol...... but whatever.... do me a favor and poke the bear a little with SJR, about making more 2 inch gear for brats. he is a cool guy, he just doesnt realize that more of us WANT a mild lift.

and by the way, sanding or sandblasting, and then repainting 4 wheels is WAY too easy to do, to ever tolerate ugly, oxidized wheels on any decent looking car. i guarantee if you have ANY handyman skills, you can have those wheels looking a MILLION times better, for 10 dollars and 2 hours of your own time. small price to pay. and anyhow it feels great to know you did it yourself. one VERY IMPORTANT TIP: anytime you spray paint, especially wheels, 2 very thin, light coats always beats one thick heavy coat. sand it with 180 grit first, to get rid of all that crud and oxidation. sand it with 220 grit to smooth it for paint. paint one light coat. sand it with VERY gentle pressure, 220 grit, or maybe 280 grit if youre picky. paint one more light coat. BAM, much better looking wheels. while you have them off the car, feel free to clean, sand, and paint the brake caliper also. looks very racy, cherry.

my only input on this is that if you want a set of tires SPECIFICALLY for snow, low diameter is best. the taller the tire, the less effective torque you send to the road. the taller the tire, the higher top speed you can achieve, but at the price of losing low-end response/acceleration. ask yourself this: in heavy snow, or any other situation with very little traction, is top-speed a priority? or is merely getting going from zero your bigger concern? in heavy snow, you really just want to keep a nice steady speed. granted, in a good subaru, our "nice steady speed" tends to be double that of any other car, and triple that of a big heavy overrated superduty suburb truck. the problem with that steady speed, is that there are the OTHER GUYS, either overly cautious, going 5-mph down the freeway, or the guys who think their aforementioned glorified grocery-getter F350 is invincible, regardless of how clueless and inattentive the guy in the drivers seat happens to be. ive seen stock $250 dollar honda civics doing fine in heavy snowstorms, simply because the driver wasnt a cocky superman, and they were smooth and steady, and paid close attention to what they were doing, and what was around them. excuse me if that was off-topic. i felt it was relevant advice to the question asked in the thread. p.s. craigslist is flooded with great deals on subaru wheels/tires in good condition. fixing alloy wheels isnt worth the price, just replace them. alloy is cast. it was never designed to change shape <as in the case of a dented bead-rim>, and then once again, changed shape <when bending the dent back to original shape>. they are designed for that kind of treatment about as much as a potato chip. cast aluminum or cast alloy has NO tolerance for abuse. if youre going to drive them hard, and you MUST have anything other than steel, then get a fat tire, so the rubber can absorb the curbs and such. rubber is made to bend and suck up impacts. cast metal was DEFINATELY not.

they LOOK like a good, "balanced" tire. meaning, you know, pretty tough and durable, and trailworthy, but still smooth and comfortable on the freeway at around 65mph. is kenda a decent brand? theyre really not much cheaper than a cooper or a michelin. i dont want to cut corners on quality just to save 5-8% on initial retail price. i originally considered buying a wildcat. they are comparable in quality, i guess?

it didnt work. your image, i mean.

they HAVE done that, in small scale. keep in mind, not sure how familiar you are with cattle operations, but to do the methane collection, youd need them indoors. think of the actual costs of housing a thousand head of cattle?

yea exactly. the corn industry is EXTREMELY dependent on the oil industry anyhow. so how would that even make sense? itd be like using eggs to reduce our dependence on chickens. ???? Food Inc mentions it also.

its funny you mention pot, rooster, cause i bet hemp would be much more ideal for an ethanol source. it isnt very fatty or sugary like corn, so you wouldnt get much per pound of overall plant. but hemp is a much better crop. doesnt take hardly any pesticides, corn is famous for taking truckloads. it absorbs TONS of co2. and its practically a legume, in the sense that it ADDS nitrogen to the soil, versus corn being one of the worst plants known for stripping anything useful in the soil. cotton also. but as was pointed out, this was someones elses thread about something else entirely. what IS seafoam? ive heard either that its GREAT, or that its total crap. its like black licorice. nobody is "okay" with it. you love it or you hate it, no gray area in between. and, sorry to get back to the alcohol in gas subject for a second, but i wonder the same thing about seafoam as i wonder about HEET. it gets rid of things you dont want in your engine. <seafoam=solid deposits, HEET=water> if it gets rid of it, WHERE does it go? how does it just get out? same as they asked georgy porgy bush, "whats the exit strategy?" i know some fuel systems have a vent for unburned vapor. like a purge valve sorta design. does that let out moisture like unwanted h2o? is seafoam like a detergent type of thing? and sorry, but i have one last hijack. what do people on here think of lucas oil upper-cylinder lube? good/bad? helps/hurts/does nothing? ive used it here and there for a few years in high-mileage cars. my mexican buddy who is decent with older cars, he basically said it DOES what its supposed to do, RESTORES COMPRESSION IN LEAKY CHAMBERS/RINGS etc, but in doing so it wears them out even worse. kinda in the same logic as: if i put a new engine when my old one wears out, the equally worn out, but still functional tranny will be pushed over the edge, because its not fresh enough to tolerate all that fresh engine power. any thoughts? yes, i am still hijacking the thread in a sense, but at least im closer to intended topic than we were getting previously.

assuming that the corn DOESNT need to be shipped, its simply teleported to where its going, getting 20 units of NEW energy for every 100 invested/expended, thats really not worth the not-yet-pointed-out cost of swapping an entire country, the most oil-hungry country on earth, by far, to a totally new infrastructure. and nobody yet mentioned also that fertilizers are made of petroleum. try researching how much fertilizer is need for growing corn in a region that was stripped of any REAL topsoil almost a century ago?? which, incidentally, was a major cause of the great depression, and dust bowl. corn is one of the most inefficient, soil stripping, nutritionally void crops known to man. but alot of rich old turds were already invested in it in the turn of the century. so now the shove it down our throats in every dang product at the supermarket, and the gas station too now.

ethanol IS very high octane rating. its ALSO horrible for its tendency to attract water from thei air. apparently fuel doesnt like water in it. also, just for the record, more than the bare minimum octane is BAD. thehigher the octane, the slower the burn. low octane fuel actually has the most potential energy, or to look at it another way, the lower the octane, the more B.T.Us it is capable of achieving.