Seahag1978

edrach, nailed it. If the exhaust smells like normal exhaust, just kinda "wet"... not sweet like toasted marshmallows or like severe gas/exhaust smell (you can smell and feel "blow-by"... smell gas in the oil)... then not to worry. This sounds silly, but try to go up a big hill every morning to get the water (condensation) out of your exhaust system. It think it helps... I swear by it from experiences from long gone by. I still practice it.

Awwwww... the pretty red one doesn't qualify? I worked my butt off in blazing sun, driving rain, mosquitoes, I picked a shopping bag full of mouse nests out of the heater ducts (it has a kick-butt heater, YES!) and removed all kinds of nasties from other places (and upon closer inspection, more to come).... and it's only 19 years old AND IS EVEN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY... IT PASSED EMISSIONS!! Rats! I have to wait a year??!! It's just not fair, I tell you! As God is my witness it's just not fair... arrrrgh!

Ok... here's the tally: Total cost of the beautification of the '86 Brat = grey hulk... including new sheet metal (fender, cowl), door handles, mirrors. chemical stripper (to bare metal), sandpaper (a bazillion sheets), primer (3 coats), paint (5 coats), bondo, silver leaf, trim, upper trim (to come) wheel covers, and the 9 piece decal set... $600.00. LABOR, BEN GAY and HAND LOTION: PRICELESS!

LOL! My thoughts exactly... just drive it til something falls off... or it leaves you stuck in the cold! I just had a no start problem with the '86 at work. Yes, it was the battery cable not making contact... there were only a few strands connected and it wasn't recharging. Every single time I have gotten a used car, it has this condition? What's up with that?

That'll be sharp when you get it done... nice interior!

I agree. I have read zillions of posts related to different issues and very rarely got the final blessing on the actual fix. The suggestions at least get you going in the general direction to a solution.

Jerry (bratsrus1) just PM'd me about some parts I'm getting from him. He said it's a wire all by itself to the left of the steering column that's either green or pink. I paid attention in kinnygarden and I learned my colors, so I can maybe fix this one? I'll have plenty more questions about this Brat I'm sure! Thanks!

Oh, is the EGR light for the O2 sensor? I don't think there's a weber on it. I have no idea what's in this one... haven't gone into the bowels of it yet... I'm not feeling too adventurous with the cold weather setting in The '78 doesn't have any of these gizmos on it. I need pictures... I think I better get a book.

The '86 is all pretty now. I took it to the custom exhaust shop to have the front half of the exhaust re-done. All went well. Sometime, while I wasn't looking, Massachusetts raised the cut-off for emissions exemption to 20 years... it actually passed!!!! Whew! The EGR light was on before the exhaust leaks were fixed. It's still on now. Sooo... can someone please explain the function of this little device and why it deserves its very own idiot light? It's a pretty smart car this Gen 2... told me my stop light was out this morning... gave it a little smack up the side of it and it was good to go.

Very nice... there's great satisfaction in detailing a car... I always have to take it for a drive down a street with big glass window fronts afterwards

The wheels are 15" pugs. I got the cheapy hub caps until I find what I like to replace them, then the tires will change to white lettered chubby ones after the lift. So, there's more to come... like the roll bar with lights off the '84, and an A-bar. My others will stay pretty stockish... this is the toy.

The badges I had were a bit worn so I thought about how to restore them to their original look. Silver leaf. You can buy it at A.C. Moore in the picture frame department for less than $12. It includes 25 sheets of silver leaf, adhesive and sealer. Take a small artist's paint brush and paint on the adhesive. It's milky when wet and dries in an hour. The adhesive will dry clear but will still be tacky when dry (about 60 minutes). Don't be tempted to touch it with your fingers... just have faith... trust me... trust it... it's tacky, honest. Take a sheet of the leaf and either tear or cut it with a sharp ex-acto knife to fit the area. It's micro-thin and flops everywhere, so you'll probably mess up the first sheet. I did. Carefully lay it over the badge and take a soft brush to tamp it down... don't use your finger... especially if you have been polishing chrome and removing paint from places it shoudn't be for the past 2 days... your finger will scratch the leaf because your skin is like 200 grit sandpaper. Trust me... I know. Once you have it tamped down, brush away the excess. It will have the same luster as the original piece. I was pleased with the result. In addition to the sealer, I'm also going to spray it again with a clear coat enamel to protect it from the elements.

I was wondering when you were coming here to meet them.

Awww... no Brat is crappy looking. Just set up a lovely tarp hut... grab some sandpaper, compressor, spray gun, single stage paint, buffer and have at it... piece of cake. The polished aluminum comes up great with a lot of elbow grease. It's actually rather zen-like. Ohhhhhmmmmmm.

Send your email and I'll send some pics of the before and after of that Ford... she's a sweet looking truck, but she's actually purple.

That's a great compliment, thank you! Connie had my yellow one on her computer at work for a while... don't know if the consensus made her change it.

LOL! I'm catching up to you! 4 (including the Baja).

Very true... snow over the front bumper... hmmm, sometimes gets a bit dicey... all depends on the density... if it's light enough, you can make some cool rooster tails

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5798 We had a full 2 days to get to work on this project and are pretty pleased with the results. Winter is coming fast and a salamander heater just doesn't keep up in that drafty old tarp house. It served us well but will come down tomorrow. I can hear the neighbors' sighs of relief. The pictures don't do the color any favor... it looks very sharp. Oh, I got some cheapy hubcaps from PEP Boys until I can find something better suited. They look ok for now, but I want real metal. The badges aren't all on since some of them needed to be re-gilded.

Awesome! A Brat with a history. I don't have anything to offer to help the cause, I wish I did

He's doing very well with his English... he has a learning disability and apparently hasn't had the need to correct it for his day-to-day life... I seem to remember that he mentioned that he's also a farmer. Please be patient with him, I can spell almost anything, and know where to place a comma... but on the other hand, I have a black thumb (pun intended) I can't even grow a cactus

Tim buffed the paint to a soft shine... like an enamel type paint of days gone by. Not the hard shine like you get with clear coat. Looks so warm! Then, Tim and a friend (who has the patience of a saint) did the decals today... (I worked for a silk screen company that did decals and KNOW I am NOT good at application of said decals, no matter how small). All I can say is WOW! They did an awesome job! The black makes the red jump! Thanks McBrat! This is so exciting! In the meanwhile... I spent about 6 hours with "Pro" Aluminum wheel polish cleaning up the bed trim. It looks awesome! High shine and it got rid of all but the deepest the scratches and dents. I also discovered that the front bumper trim isn't the cheezy plasticized "chrome". It's polished aluminum that was painted black. It scrapes off fairly easily and I'll spend whatever time it takes to remove the paint and polish it back to a high shine. I'll post pics as soon as I can.

Paint is on... see my gallery. There still are a few bumps and bruises... nothing I'm going to worry about right now. I got the black decal set from McBrat... sweet! Exhaust goes on tomorrow... looking for a throaty growl... but no bite, even though there's no need to pass emissions. We got a parts Brat to strip and use the roll bar, bumpers, mud flaps, hood and doors for the '86... and when we got it, it has some rust issues below, but nothing that can't be fixed... body is cherry. It's another runner. So I'm back in the same place with the '86, but now we will be restoring the new one too... and baby makes 3. Any suggestions for the ugly pugs? Color? Center caps? I'm thinking about how to fabricate a center cap using the wagon wheel ones. The pugs just look yucky!

I thought the previous "mechanic" that worked on my car was "inventive"... ...let's crown this guy the "King of Cobble".

Kudos Ed! This one also has some rust issues in the undercarriage that can be repaired pretty simply. It's far from the negative ad he posted when selling it. I think it scared most people from bidding and that's why the low price. We had asked for more pictures, and he sent lots of the underside. It looked pretty scary without actually touching and tapping on it. We may find more than we've seen once we get to work, I hope not... I hate to hack into such a pretty car.