jmoss5723

Saw PM. Am sad.

i sandblasted and painted all of the parts of that linkage, greased up that pocket, put blue loctite on all of the bolts and put it back together. Everything works and looks good! Then i realized i forgot to put that stupid little rubber boot on it I didn't have the heart (or time) to tear it all apart again to put it on. Maybe tonight.

I have a set. Missing one center cap, though. Let me know if Matt gives you that set of Jackmans. Let's make a trade

I also have a PS headlight trim. A few probably. I can bring one out with me if you need it.

Sounds like this is the plan. I'll put it together tonight.

Timoha - that's exactly what I was picturing in my mind. I'll drill it and bolt it tonight. Now to chase down my electrical issue. There's always something...

Anything in particular? New rust? Is that beautiful interior still beautiful? Mechanical stuff? For the price, I can't really go wrong, but I am starting to feel a little let down that it sounds like its not quite what it was a year or two ago. Matt - Any input is appreciated. Maybe some updated pics? I figure others might want to see it, too.

Gloyal - That was my first thought as well. Probably the quickest/cheapest/best solution. Anybody else have a clever idea before I just bolt it? I'm wondering now if there are any other little rubber blocks like this that might need to be repaired somewhere in the linkage. I guess I'll peek back under there tomorrow.

My 84 BRAT has a D/R 5 speed swapped in. I bought it swapped so I don't know what is from the 5 speed and what is from the stock D/R 4 speed. I was having an issue on a related portion of the shift linkage and pulled this piece to fix it. When I pulled it out, I saw where this rubber vibration dampener was coming apart and I figured I should fix it before I reinstall. The only question is HOW? It is peeling from both pieces of metal that it is in between and the whole thing is pretty dry and cracked. This is the part while still on the car: Here it is pulled out: Here is the problem:

So I crawled under the Brat tonight for long enough to find the problem. The ball on the end of the shift lever popped out of the socket in the linkage. I tried to stuff it back in there without taking anything apart. It didn't work (big surprise). And I found another issue that I'm not totally sure what to do with while I was under there. The linkage problem is in this piece here. The shifter popped out of the the half sphere that is in the middle of the picture. The circular spot at the top of the part is where the shifter goes in. Notice how the plate there is lifted up? I'm missing a nut here. I think this is where the problem started. The plan from here is take it all apart, clean it up and paint it, then put it back together and replace the missing nut. Hopefully that solves the problem. BUT... I found another problem. The cube-ish block of rubber near the end of this piece is coming off! It is all cracked and peeling off of the metal. Anyone have a good idea on how to fix it? I'm afraid that if I just use some epoxy, it'll just crack further in. Should I just drill through it and put in a bolt to hold stuff together?

What is so much different now than when you got rid of it? From what Matt said, it sounds like not much has changed...?

Tom - thanks for clearing those things up. Tranny issues are known and I plan on swapping it anyway. For my curiosity, why did you change your mind about buying the car back? I'm buying it pretty much no matter what, but I'm wondering what was the deal breaker for you? Matt - what's going on with the exhaust studs? Anything to be concerned about?

Matt - As the car sits now, it is missing the back half of the exhaust, and the front half that is there is the one that Tom pieced together like 2 years ago? When we spoke the other day about getting an exhaust from cali, was that the whole exhaust, or just the back half? I finished reading through the whole thread, and I am unclear on 2 parts: Tom talked about a few different seat and steering wheel swaps, I never saw anything definitive. Is the interior stock, or swapped currently? Did the headlights ever get sorted out so that the outers are low beams and the inners are high beams, or do all 4 still come on?

I guess before I do much else, I should fix the intermittent short that makes it need a jump or rolling start about 50% of the time. Oh and yesterday while driving I popped apart some portion of the shift linkage trying to cram it into 1st gear from 2nd before I came to a complete stop. I think I have some part of the linkage over-extended. When I did the lift, I used spacers to drop all of the front crossmembers, but I only dropped the shifter 1 inch. It never gave me any issues before now, but who knows. I've only put maybe 75-100 miles on it since finishing the lift. Fortunately, I was about block from the house and despite my shifter flopping around I managed to find 4th, which is better than neutral, but just barely. I've never taken the turn into my uphill driveway so fast in my life! And the clutch was not really happy with my efforts to balance the excessive speed and not stall the car out. I parked it and haven't had time to crawl under it yet. We'll see what I find this weekend, probably.

So this thread has been pretty quiet for a while. The car basically sat for about year while I moved 2 hours away, had a baby, and had no time to fix the few things it needed to pass a PA safety inspection. Since then I have: moved back, adjusted to fatherhood, and picked up a bunch of spare time. Recent work on the car in the last month includes the following: New rockers welded on to replace the old ones that had rotted off from the inside out. Minor camber adjustment on the lift and a wheel alignment. Rolls nicely and tires seem to be wearing well so far. New front brake rotors and pads I'll put some pics up in the next few days to show it off. The current to-do list includes New bed liner. The cheap crap I rolled on didn't last AT ALL. Install my cleaned up jump seats Install brushguard Finish a tiny bit of fiberglass work in front of the rear driver's side wheel Possibly swap in some seats from my brother's 99 OBW after we swap heated seats into his car.

I still need to finish reading through this thread in detail, so I don't know how much you've already said about the plan to convert the lights to turn signals, but I'll probably be asking for some insight on that. Electrical is my biggest weakness on cars, but I can sure follow directions well.

I definitely plan to keep up the thread. This car is way too interesting not to share! Besides, it'll be fun to actually contribute on the board. I've mostly lurked and asked stupid questions up to this point As of now, my to-do list includes the following: Pick the car up from 9.5 hours away Tune the carb so it'll run smoothly Fix any remaining rust/body issues Track down the parts needed to do the 5 speed D/R swap Swap the tranny once the current one dies or I can't wait any longer, whichever comes first. Also knock off the remaining items on the Brat's to-do list...

Bummer. Maybe I'll just have to figure out which newer seats look the least out of place. I know I can get a pair of 09 forester seats for $100, 98 forester for $40, or 04 Outback for $100. All are gray. I know I can rig up brackets to make any of them work. Anyone have a suggestion in terms of fit/appearance?

I was hoping to DIY it in the garage, but knowing that I COULD pay someone to do it if push comes to shove is nice.

Has anyone tried to slip the upholstery from a GL seat over a seat from different car? The seats in my Brat are shot, but the upholstery is in surprisingly decent shape. I'd like to keep that 80's blue plaid look, but also have seats that do not suck. I was thinking I'd buy some early impreza seats or something and slip my upholstery over them. Would this work? I've never messed with seat swapping or upholstery repair or anything, so if this is an obviously terrible idea, let me know.

Thanks for the very clear breakdown. I can definitely work with that!

Thanks everyone for the ideas. Certainly gives me some things to try. I think I'll try Wagonist's test and if it works I will add Jono's relay, though I might need that broken down into a little bit more detail. As I said, electrical work is my biggest weakness, but I CAN follow instructions well. The "86 and 85" talk kinda went over my head. I've already thought about cleaning up/beefing up my grounding points. Maybe now is the time just so that I can eliminate them as a source of the issue.

That seems like an easy enough place to start.

I did some searching, but I didn't come up with much and electrical issues are my biggest weakness. So if I'm asking dumb questions, please enlighten me with your ingenuity. The car: 1984 Brat with a replaced EA81. When the engine was replaced, some "extras" were removed and I definitely have some wires to nowhere. The issue: Recently, when I turn the key to start the car, 1 of 2 things happen. It either: 1. Starts right up. OR 2. The dash lights up, the battery gauge needle hits about 8-10V and the starter doesn't turn. If it starts and I drive it there are no issues. If I roll start it, jump it with the 50 amp setting on my batter charger, or jump it from another vehicle there are no issues running it and driving it. Once it is running the needle sits just above 12V and everything is great. I got my battery tested. It is supposedly fine. It seems that no matter what, if I drive the car then shut it off, it always starts back up if I try within a few minutes. The questions: Is my starting circuit grounding somewhere intermittently and killing my battery? I'm assuming an intermittent short to ground because sometimes the battery is fine and other times it gets drained very quickly. What should I look for? Edit: I'm not sure if it matters, but the car had been mostly sitting for a year while I worked on it off and on to finish the lift and do some rust repairs to pass inspection. I just started driving it again last week and that is when the issue started. Edited again for grammar.

Definitely IS a Justy. Don't let mister high-and-mighty/all-is-forgiven get you down. If it was an EA81 hatchback, it would not have 4 doors (plus hatch). Also, just look at the grill. Does that look like any EA81 that anyone has ever seen?