Seahag1978

http://www.burlingtonautoparts.com A-Burlington Used Auto Parts, Hazen Road, Shirley, Mass. a little over half way down the MassPike, about a 5 hr. drive for you. Nice people. There is also Borges, I forget where they are, but I seem to remember more on the South Shore of Mass. If you call Borges, he has the name of a place in Upstate NY, it's Doctor something, I called him and he referred me to A-Burlington for my Brat transmission. Kind of round about but successful in the end. Good luck!

Not the gold wagon... the screaming yellow and red Brat (not to be confused with a DHL Delivery or MassElectric truck). I'll keep an ear out for ya... if I can hear you over mine! LOL!

Oh cool! Another face in the NE... welcome! Glad you made this post...we thoroughly wash the salt from our boat and trailer but never thought to rinse the truck?! Der... Thanks!

Nah... a couple of hundred every few months won't equal a car payment, plus property/excise tax, insurance, interest on a loan... my $@#&^% 2004 Hyundai Elantra GT costs way more than that. Know your "enemy"... you know what's right with it and you can probably predict what's going next... the math is easy from that standpoint. Once I'm comfortable with the reconstruction of my Brat... the Hyundai is GONE! Whoooosh! No looking back!

Ahhh... It only goes in one way. Spin the spline part 180° and try again.

From everything I've read and been told, a used, low mileage tranny is a safer bet than a rebuilt any day. I followed the advice and got a used one. Look for a donor that met a premature demise... it was actually easy here in the rust zone... the frames got eaten before the serious mechanical parts failed. The donor I got mine from had only 69,000, about the same as my original that had a rusted-through frame and had to be retired:(

BRAT is actually a "backronym" ... a meaning made from a word. BRAT = Barely Recognizable As (a) Truck SUBARU = So U Bought A Raging Ulcer

I just ordered some for my '78 from http://www.lithiasubaruoregoncity.com The parts department has an email so you won't have LD charges to call. They'll ship too. GLCraigGT gave me the lead.

Arrrgggh! I'm trying... I'm trying... really hard... but you need to call me... I always pick the worst times...

Sorry to hear that Connie... I know you wanted it... something better will come along...

hmmm... what is that about men, women and car grease... Tim was a bit more frisky than normal while we were all gunky working on the Brat... and it wasn't the moon... LOL!

I agree... my Brat's a bit "dink-toed" \ / since the strut and shocks were replaced...it also raised it a couple of inches. It's going in as soon as we get the rest back together.

Hi Connie, Oh I know... a tranny swap isn't rocket science...just brute strength... now with a lift, tranny jack and every Snap-On tool known to man, it should have been a walk in the park. Alas... Good news though... Tim spent a few hours sorting out the "Charlie Fox" (thanks for that Skip, it's much nicer than my usual term) and got it together enough to take it around the block... the noise is GONE! There are some important parts missing, so I wouldn't want to drive it too far... Paul, I'll probably need a few things, small stuff. Sounds like you had your hands full with "rowd control" Connie was pretty wound up when I spoke to her, LOL! Sounds like fun. Please call me... thanks! Remember... sledding party here on my "4-man skid plate"! bajavwnsoobnut... you too! Heck, we could probably even send the soobs down the hill on it! Take care...

LOL... that's a laugh riot... Tim's picture was in the Salem News (our local paper) riding his ancient F-O-R-D tractor with plow (he refuses to shovel, always work smarter, nor harder)... it's a bitty thing but he did plow our whole street when the plows didn't show up for 2 days... up here the driveways are spit distance long and wide... so it was a novelty for the passing news reporter... now a Brat with a plow... whoa! Headlines!

A. The tow company, or their insurance company, should be paying for the damage to your car. Sorry, I didn't notice your state... in Mass. I would pay out of pocket... it would be cheaper B. Fight your insurance to pass the liability to their insurance, you were not at fault and remember, they were contracted to pay for YOUR indiscretions, not to absorb someone else's, if known... not "hit and run". The tow company was the offender, you hired them in good faith on the assumption that they knew the proper method for hauling your particular type of vehicle. C. Do not accept anything but a new transmission, to be installed with labor, and a rental for you while it's in the shop by the tow company's insurance, it was the tow company's ignorance that was the cause of this and ignorance is no excuse for the law. Your car is young enough to get a new transmission. DO NOT accept rebuilding it, even with a warranty, (the inconvenience factor). No judge in this land will disagree with this advice. Should all else fail, I would take a salvaged transmission over a rebuilt any day.... be sure it has been tested... most reputable yards will have the mileage and many will have the circumstances for the acquisition of the donor.

No hijack Paul.... best of luck Connie, I sure hope you get it! PUT IN NO MORE BIDS>>> let it sit... wait for the last few seconds... whooosh... snipe!!! I loved mine... it's an awesome comfy car... and thanks to all of you and your offer of help! You aren't off the hook... we'll go over it and see what's up... we'll know come Monday... you are all awesome! Moral support especially

Look up ^ I'm a 51 year old FEMALE. Had I been physically able to hoist a tranny lying on my back on up ... I'll say this, I damn well would have in my younger days... no problem... simple deal. No laughing at myself, not every job needs a "professional" ... get over yourself... it's not rocket science... just having access to a lift to make things feasible

Oh, what an ordeal... I'm over the shock... luckily, I was in the truck talking to my sister while they loaded the truck onto the trailer... I didn't see it until we got it home and unloaded it... I would have gone more than ballistic in front of God and all present (students included)... ... the truck WAS buffed, in its "Sunday best" and ready for the antique car show at Topsfield when it went in for the tranny replacement... when it came out, the car has many hours of rehab to bring it back... not to perfect, but more than acceptable... I spoke to the principal of the school and he asked "where we stood on the issue" in other words how bad was I going to hose him for the damage... and yes, BTW, the ORIGINAL signed waiver WAS in the front passenger seat along with the work order... (you called that one maximum BRAT! Great job!). There was no paper trail. Anyway, I could be a b***h and exercised my rights to the fact that they have no signed waiver... but I'm tired now and I gave it much thought... (as I duck for flying objects) I have decided that the monetary value is NOT an issue... it's the instructor's lack of teaching/supervisory ability that is the issue... and that needs to be addressed. He sucks... (can I say that without getting bleeped? I could have used waaaay worse words... I invented those words, in fact:) ) There were 2 other SERIOUS incidents that happened that day, Tim witnessed one, and one that the instructor told me about "while defending himself", like he had NO control over... I did disclose these 2 incidents to the principal... he freaked (or is a great actor). I have to submit some pictures to him... luckily, I have before and after. I also explained that the first instructor I spoke to rejected the job, for logical reasoning and this jacka** took it?! Ego, because it wasn't an oil change on a Taurus?? So it's now a moral issue between the principal, instructor and me.... it isn't over just yet... let's see... hmmmm, Meineke drop-out (was fired I heard)... nice resumé, huh? I can't see a reimbursement of more than a few bucks for seat covers and touch up paint... the spoke wheels will have to be sandblasted and repainted... I'll do that myself... but if I asked for a new paint job it would be through them ... I'll pass on that offer... no thanks... I'm a bit gun shy. At any rate, veinhmann (sorry, I KNOW I spelled it wrong). You have the right attitude and philosophy regarding what is good for your students, and the public, that places its trust in you, and your students' abilities... I have to believe that the first instructor that rejected me, apparently did too, and should qualm my fears of the paint job... I am not going to hold the whole school, or its administration accountable... only the instructor who failed to do his job... woe be unto him... The B***h is back! A woman scorned... ?! Yikes! j/k Oh, BTW the instructor says Joe is in "danger of failing" his shop class... man, this guy wouldn't know a failing grade if it bit him in the a**! That's another issue to deal with! Arrrggghhhh! It'll be fine. Mary

The parts in the bed with the exception of the very large skid plate are from MY car... they never put them back in... they just heaped them in the back. Sorry your experience was bad too... we were considering sending the '50 Ford F-1 Tim's restoring to them for paint... his gut told him no.

Hi Connie, I had an '84, looked just like that... very comfortable car to drive and I'm pretty tall. Drove it almost forever with no repairs until it developed a nasty habit of not starting... would start one second and not the next... hot or cold... didn't matter... garage couldn't figure out the reason... got tired of walking and missing appointments etc... finally donated it to the Kidney Foundation and bought a Mazda.

We rented a trailer this afternoon and got the Brat back... I AM SOOO SICK! The bed is full of parts... sway bar, driveshaft, numerous other pieces I can't identify. Including what looks like the skid plate off a Sherman tank, it's bloody obvious that it won't fit under the Brat and doesn't belong to it?! A rubber glove full of miscellaneous bushings, nuts and bolts that go God knows where. All the electrical and vacuum lines are disconnected. The shifter rods and boots are lying on the passenger floor. The seat covers are trashed... beautiful rings of grease where they laid down dirty parts. The truck is covered in grease from front to back. Including some seemingling artistic type doodling in grease on the hood. There are chips and scratches in the paint on every panel of the truck. My white spoke wheels are scratched and scuffed. They didn't even reinstall all the lug nuts! Hope they're in the glove! After I told the instructor that I had never seen such a lack of respect for someone else's property. I also asked if encouraging pride in your work was part of his teaching ethics, he said, "Yes, and I do teach pride." I said there was everything BUT pride that went into this job, and he should be ashamed to let a vehicle leave his shop in this condition. I went to the principal and told him what happened. He's supposed to talk to the instructor and get back to me tomorrow. He's going to get the other side of the story from the man that told us all that it needed was the ball joints and the leading rod bushings installed and it would be done and driveable. He's a blatant liar! Anyway, thanks for the advice to get it out... it was the right move. You may see it for sale listed as a Do-it-Yourself Brat... or a Box o' Brat. Mary

This is great! As the older parts become more and more impossible to find, it will be nice to have an archive when upgrading is the only option. I also hope that parts interchange list that a memeber is working on, comes to life... Thanks! Mary

I found them! Leading rod bushings are what Haynes calls them. I heard about Lithia Subaru in Oregon through a post by GLCraigGT and called them tonight, they had them on the shelf and they are shipping them tomorrow...

There's a little sticker on my 4WD that tells me not to engage it while cornering or over 50 mph. The dry pavement is good advice... but if you do drive on dry pavement, make sure your tires are matched for size.

Thank you... thank you... thank you! I just spoke to Paul at Lithia Subaru and he's got the leading rod bushings I need ready to ship tomorrow! No parts sellers around here even knew what they are?! Thanks again! Mary