Seahag1978

Syrinx has one with the louvers... I'm not sure if he's sold it yet or not. I was going to snag it, but I couldn't use it with the rollbar

The wheel bearings are usually billed out at 2 hours which is a crazy long time, but it seems to be the going rate. Not more than an hour for the tie rod end.

I got my first '78 Brat in late '79 as a birthday gift... I drove it until the early 90's when the frame rusted so badly that it was dangerous. I cried. I have had my "new" '78 since April of 2004.

We picked up the so-called "parts" Brat. Big problem is... I was expecting to strip it and get all my stuff for the '86, but it's beautiful and was always dealer maintained. Starts right up and sounds great. The interior is all present and everything works. It's way too nice to part out. I was shocked at the perfect paint... still has a high gloss in spite of the fact that it hasn't been washed in forever. There are black streaks running down from the black trim and rubber, like all white cars get and it washes right off. There's even moss growing around the trim (it wipes right off too). The decals are original and unfaded. Soooo... bottom line, I'll be restoring this one too. Everything is there, but rust repair will be needed below decks. Nothing really major... simple fixable stuff. The outriggers have almost rusted through. We chained it down to the trailer by that rear thing that's curved and hooks into the frame and holds the rear end. It broke its moorings on the passenger side while bouncing up the highway on these lousy roads. The inner wheel wells are rusted through but the shock towers are ok. The tailpipe blew off somewhere on I-78 and we found the rest of the exhaust lying on the bottom of the trailer. Despite all the little boo-boos, it was a super good find, and definitely not a parts car as advertised!

Good deal! It's a lot of fun hunting down parts and the satisfaction of seeing it all come together. Welcome!

Down and back... we left at 5:45 am and returned at 10:10 pm... long ride. No incidents except when some bonehead didn't realize we were towing and wedged himself between our trailer and a Jersey barrier on the GW Bridge... never touched either us or the barrier... he was rather stuck in time trying to decide how to get out of the situation... Tim brought him back to reality as only Tim can do... ya gotta love him for his candor. The "parts" Brat I thought I was getting isn't at all a parts Brat... it's a beautiful, dealer maintained Brat and won't be parted out. So... I'm in the same boat I was in before... I appreciate all your offers to step up in case of problems... thanks!

LOL! Skip... in this case... LOL = Li'l Old Lady... no arrests... they just smile, giggle and wave me on. and it will be THE.... USMB = Ultimate Subaru Menopause Brat... (oops, can I say that here? I'm sure I can... they say it on TV during primetime after all.) Had to say it

Thanks! This is so exciting... it's been a long time coming... lots and lots of work, stripping, sanding. There are still a few bumps and bruises but I can live with them. The pictures don't do the color justice... it's a real eye catcher. I have a black roll bar, 2 good bumpers, mud flaps, rear seats, all the trim and white lettered tires coming from the parts Brat. Long weekend next week... time to get her all back together. Can't wait!

No... really Connie??? That is WILD! Small world. Paul... I think the Tapanzee is part of the route... we're turning right back around and coming home. No we're getting one there... cheaper to buy the whole thing with shipping like it is. It has everything I need to finish the '86. See the pics in my gallery.

Here is the progress on the '86. I just bought the black decals and stripes from Mick. Follow the link on the bottom to my gallery.What do you think?

We're headed to Lebanon, PA to pick up a parts Brat. If you see a silver Ford F-350 towing a Ya'l-haul with a 2nd Gen Brat atop... give us a beep and a wave!

Yikes! That mile and a half to get to the exit must have felt like a hundred miles away. The noise must have been worse than running your nails down a chalkboard! Jeeez, I can't even stick around while they cut a key for me... screeecchhh!

I do! In fact, I sent a message to you last night via email... we finally got the body work done and will shoot it again wth primer tomorrow, then paint! Whoohoo! This will be one hot Brat!

I can't imagine restoring my '78 Brat without the help of the members of this board. Parts, parts and more parts... the moral support and the knowledge held in this board is unsurpassed! No service manual could even compare with having an experienced member on the phone... live... walking you through a diagnosis or repair procedure. I thank you all for your efforts in keeping this Brat as healthy as it is... oh, oh... hang onto your hats... the '86 is next!

Don't limit the cause of her pain to the seats. Check your windshield for waves and distortion. I have had this happen to me 3 times. One was a brand new car... it gave me severe headaches after 10 minutes. In all 3 cases the glass in the windshields were distorted. I don't wear glasses while driving, and the effect was awful with me... I would even get car sick while driving! Things would shrink and grow as I drove past them. Tim wears glasses so he already has distortion and couldn't see it until he looked through it at a brick wall. The mortar joints got all wavy as he moved his head from side to side. I have found Subaru seats to be among the most comfortable ones out there... even my little Brat seats are comfy. No seats were better than my 1991 Mazda Protege...

Yay! The spacer was there. It's making some squeaky noises... probably just surface rust on stuff from sitting during all that rain we had. Cross your fingers that it all holds together for longer than it has been Thanks for all the offers of spacers. I really appreciate it!

And provided the last bonehead that worked on it actually put it back in It's in the shop now... I didn't get it down there til late this afternoon, so it's spending the night in their garage. I sure hope he finds the spacer in there.

Cool, at least we have the size now without ripping out the other side and trying to get the dimensions. I would imagine the wagon is the same... everythng from the driver's door up is.

Everyone fibs about the condition of things, when they sell them. Put the Brat decals on her, a little TLC and she'll be fine. Not to worry. It'll work.

I'm not sure if the spacer is missing yet. I'm just assuming that it is, because of the hacks that worked on this poor car previously and randomly left parts off. If he takes it apart and finds it gone. I would like to offer a substitute part for it.

I posted here because I really need help fast and the exposure is greater in this forum than historical. I am taking the '78 Brat in tomorrow to have the left bearings changed. The guy knows these cars and he will do it for next to nothing. Tim is spent now... he changed everything in this beast and if "the noise" doesn't leave after this... the gas can or dynamite comes out. Yikes! Sorry, I do digress. We found after 3 sets of bearings that the spacer was missing in the passenger side. (Sorry, Autozone and Timken for dissing your bearings). Now, I have had no luck locally finding the spacer. Is there an interchange spacer that I can maybe get readily? Heeeelp!

Yup, it's Paul/moosens.

I can attest to John's dedication to helping people... I have never met John... we're as far away, geographically, as possible without getting our feet wet. He has always helped me over the phone. This past weekend, he called at a most opportune time. I had an emergency situation where my African Grey decided to bite the toe off my cockatiel. No matter what I tried, I couldn't stop the bleeding. Direct pressure, flour, cornstarch. Birds have very little blood and die very quicky from blood loss. I was losing him. John suggested putting Super Glue on the toe. It worked immediately. The bird is just fine. Unfortunately, in the process of trying to hold one tiny toe away from other tiny toes, I glued two of my fingers together...

So Sunday was filled with disasters. Monday the hunt for outer tie rod ends began. I called my regular parts man, no-dice. So I called our local Subaru dealership... this is the wookie who refuses to look up old part numbers. Ha! I thought I'd fool him by only giving a part number... right off the bat he said, "That's a bad number." Then he said, "Hmmm, it's showing up. This is for an older car." Then he said, "I don't have any." I said, "There's one on Ebay." He asked how much... I told him $8.00 but he only has one and I need two. He said, "Well, I'll have to charge you $29.95 each. "Sooo, can you get me a pair?" He said, "Sure... um, nope... I'm showing that there aren't any in the country." A quick phone call to another place... I'll have them in hand tomorrow.

It's a straight shot into the tank... just use a siphon hose like in the old days. Catch it in a vented gas can. We had to drain mine when we thought there was a leak. If you're taking the tank out, it's a pain... most everything in the back has to be dropped out of the way. We cleaned out the tank and found that it was a $.69 piece of rubber tubing that vents out the top of the tank (that you can't see while it's in the car) and runs under the body to the passenger wheel well.