bratman2

I replaced the twin electric fans on my Brat with a single larger after market fan and have had no trouble with overheating. Been like this for several years. With the twin electric factory fans both came on at the same time always when the temperature had risen such as a stop light etc. One fan stayed on all the time if the AC was on. I have had this Brat for over 11 years and it has always been that way with the factory twin fans. I think I have a Hayden 14" fan on it now but the AC I had disconnected years ago. I believe the factory twin fans pulled more air as the temperature gauge would come down quicker when they came on compared to the single Hayden. I have operated this Brat in temps up to 100 degrees with no problem idling with the single fan. You might need to wire a switch in to have the fan come on with the AC or it will not cool at idle. This could be a simple flip switch that is dash mounted.

I have ordered EA81 parts from them in the past and recieved EA82 parts that would not fit. Seems like it was a set of bearings. Sent them back and checked several weeks later and they still listed the wrong set, had made no corrections. Not to mention what has already been said there shipping is on the very high side.

I have had NGK IX iriduims in my Brat for a couple of years now with no problem. The IX were like $4 when I got them, not $12. In my 1200 Suzuki I run Autolite as that is what Dale Walker recommends and he is considered an expert in high performance bikes. But that is apples to oranges. Never heard of a Subaru having a problem with NGK. I did slip Bosch in few years back and the little Sub developed a miss right then. They went in the trash.

If you can find some way to spray it in there used motor oil would slow the rust. If you run it through a paint strainer a pump up garden sprayer would probably work. I have used CRC myself, dump half can inside every crack and hole twice a year. That has worked for me the past 11 years on my 87 Brat.

I agree with Daniel, if you are going to switch seats why not try for the newest you can get. I installed 03 Impreza RS seats, major improvement in comfort and looks. Wish I could have found leather for that price!

I did something similar with my middle daughter's 93 Legacy. Changed w/ M1 10w30 every 10k. Car was driven mainly in the country so once started it might go 20-30 miles before being cut off. She hit a bear with it and it would have cost more than it was worth to fix the cosmetic damage so my wife insisted I sell it off. Bought with 114k, first change to M1 @ 115k with another @120k. After that it was every 10k with a pint added every 3k to top off for usage. Saw no need to change filter myself unless changing oil. Sold car w/ 193k to a coworker to drive back and forth to work. Belt broke and car overheated w/ 218k but that overheating ended it's useful life. Now if we lived in the city I wouldn't have consider these intervals. According to the last owner it ran fine to the end and he had continued with the 10k changes.

ChuckPT, daughter lives in Denver. Probably still getting winter fuel there. We use to have a little 92 Loyale 3 spd auto front wheel drive. You might easily weigh a couple of hundred more lbs. We averaged around 26mpg highway and 27mpg local. We do live in the sticks so not much stop and go traffic local, highway back then include children in the backseat and a full trunk. Also ours was FI! I think a good going over would see an increase in mileage. Filters, plugs, check your plug wires,PCV valve, a little Seafoam and maybe a distributor cap/rotor button change. I don't see why you couldn't average in the low 20's worse case.

Grossgary, one of the main reasons I feel there has been a decent torque increase in my little brat was when I first bought it 10 years ago you have to turn about 110 degrees to enter my driveway and then it raises up a little. At first turning in I would try to go to first which it didn't really care to do unless you were about stopped. Second acted as if it was just a little to tall for the speed to make the turn. For years now I make the turn easily in second gear and it pulls it without hesistation. It was a noticable difference even though it might only amounted to a foot lb or 3 gain. Top end doesn't show me much but with almost 210k miles I can't remember the last time I took it past 4k rpm. Okay top end hasn't ever showed me anything that I can remember but that isn't why I bought the brat.

Don't take me the wrong way please as I didn't intend to offend. I have owned a 1997 F150 and a 2000 F150 both fairly heavy trucks with the large V6. I did alot of work to the 2000 and saw major improvements in lower and midrange driveabililty even though many claimed I was wasting my time. Many also claimed most anything I did would hurt lower rpm torque which actually seemed to increase right much. I base this on transversing hills in cruise were the truck use to kick out of overdrive and then never did again even carring heavier loads. I am not implying that True2blue can expect knock your socks off gains but can increase the driveability in the range that he wants. I have the EA81 and really am not totally sure of the differences between the two if he has the EA82. If he could gain 3-4 ft lbs. of torque at 2k would he be able to tell, I think so. I listed the largest part of what I have done to my Brat and it does have good lower range torque, better than stock when I bought it 10 years ago. Some people will claim free flowing exhaust will reduce lower rpm power but if done correctly it will not. Two inches is not excessive in these little 4 cyl. engines with a good baffled muffler such as Magnaflow. Increasing timing and compression will give more power and a lower grind cam also. I have increased the timing on my Brat and installed the 180 degree thermostat many years ago, still can use regular 87 with 3 degree advance. Not shaved any heads or installed new pistons on the Brat but do know that compression generally makes good power, of course to a lesser degree on a 1.8l. I removed the AC comprssor because of the extra 3/4-inch I had to push the petal to maintain 55-60 mph when I turned it on. Had the comprerssor pulley cut off the crank pully which dropped about 20 ozs. of spinning mass. I have the dreaded Superstock coil installed for the last 9 years with no trouble but nobody knows what tomorrow brings, mine is the older version before out sourcing came along. Can't say if it really made a difference but it still works. I bought a Accell racing wire V8 universal set the same 9 years ago and made them up and installed them. Checking with an ohm meter years ago seems like half the resistance or so of the wires that were on the Brat, can't really remember. Any excess weight that can be removed will also a bonus. Every vehicle I have messed with over the years I did so with a single purpose, not raw power but increased drivability in the rpm range I tended to be in the most. Any top end gains I personnally never used much.

That is what I figured. If you wanted a race car you would have bought something else. I disagree that all performance mods effect top end only and have seen increases in bottom end performance in many vehicles over the years. Have to pick and choose carefully and research.

Doesn't sound like he wants to go faster, just more bottom end. You could look for an EA81, seems like they produced more torque than the EA82 at lower RPM. My EA81 produces very good low speed driving torque. Or maybe have the heads shaved to raise compression ratio .5. Lowering your thermostat to a 180 probably will allow you to advance timing 2-3 degrees. May have to run premium gas if you do both though. If the grind on the cam was ground down it should build more torque at lower rpm. Contact them and ask them about a good torque grind. A turbo EA82 would also be a big boost! I went to a 2-inch exhaust from Y pipe back with a now Magnaflow muffler, 180 thermostat, Webber and from idle to 3k my little Brat feels like it has decent power.

I would think you would want the return line. May not have anything to do with your problem but when I converted my 87 brat to a Webber installing a regulator set for 2lbs. fuel pressure, sure helped things. The float does not have a lot of power to overide higher fuel pressure, also doesn't take a whole lot of fuel pressure to run a Webber. Maybe you should disconnect the hose at the filter at the pump, add a longer piece of hose and see what kind of flow you get into a jar.

Well if nothing else you see why the good intake systems for a Subaru cost so much money. They already engineered out the quirks.

I will agree without some exhaust modification you probably will not see much noticable gain besides noise increase. You could try a 2" Magnaflow muffler which are top notch without the raspy sound of some. There is no reason to seperate the filter from the engine bay. Once the vehicle gets moving it well keep the hot air pushed out. Makes no difference at idle if you are pulling in the hotter air. I have seen tested performed with temp sensors on a F150 that have shown this. I think somewhere around 15 mph and up was all it took.

The 93 Legacy that my daughter owned would take up to 10 miles to shift into 4th on cold mornings. Probably still took 5 on warm days. She put nearly 75k miles on it so I say normal.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

Dual Range. High and low like a regular truck style transfer case.

Shawn, funny you mentioned that as I just replaced my U joints a couple of months ago. Mine made an audible clicking noise at low speed, kind of like a rock in a hub cap type thing. Lucky me the driveshaft was about to fall out. Maybe it is good for another 20 years. Oh, my U joints caused no vibration that I felt at all, must have a very balanced driveshaft.

One other thing, on my left front wheel bearing it passed the jack the car up and shake the wheel back and forth test two times. Only after many months and a third try did it show any motion when jacked up that would indicate wheel bearing, and that roaring noise that had started up also.

Very nice looking Brat and the wheels really sit it off. I still have the Pugs on mine with Legacy hubcaps but am think about have my set powder coated when it is new tire time again. Go back to 185/80-13 so the speed ometer is a little closer to right.

I would switch tires from front to rear and rear to front. Start simple, then move on to the rest. If it is the DOJ it should be felt with a under the vehicle shake by hand. Everyone that went bad on me vibrated worse around 45 mph. Wheel bearingsare harder to figure but my last one was the left front and it vibrated worse at 50 and would almost disappear at 60mph. That has ben my experience of over 10 years with my Brat and hope it helps you.

Jacking the front end up will shorten front tire life span. As GD said this is only for temperary service and should be brought back down to normal as soon as possible. Also puts extra stress on DOJ boots.

I know this thread is getting old and long but I wanted to add that on my 87 Brat the resistor block is mounted on the duct above the gas pedal close to the firewall. Not the same as an EA82. My resistor still looks good with no broken coils and very little corrosion. I have no fans speeds at all, fan works when 12v is applied. No current at the switch and the only two relays that I have found identical to the picture in the beginning of the thread both supply current to the headlights. I have taken the fan control out, dropped the trim piece under the dash and pulled the tray on the passenger side looking for the third relay that would possibly power the fan to no avail. There is a tee shaped relay, I think it is a relay anyways, above the fuse box. It also has a 25 amp fuse pigtailed into it. Could this possible be the fan relay? I was thinking not being it had a 25amp fuse pigtailed into it and the fuse box only has a 15amp for the fan. If not can someone give me another location for this relay on a late model EA81.

A try at two better pictures!

I thank you guys, I hope to still be tooling around in it 10 more years from now. With only 206k miles I don't see why not as long as I can keep the rust at bay. Shes still just a baby! Glenn