Seahag1978

This has a male end that goes into the hub and a female end that's on the transmission end. The factory mis-boxed one of the two parts, the parts seller called to ask the factory and they told him it calls for the one with the female end? I'm not sure... hope he kept the right one and shipped back the wrong one?

Yes, you did Mick! Guess it was the Ford Chrome Yellow with red decals and red roll bar that gave it away? Hey, who made those decals? He did an excellent job! Wasn't there a little plate that says "BRAT" in that lower right bump-in on the tailgate? One more question, I ordered 2 CV axles and one was boxed wrong. Is the transmission end female? It hasn't been to the shop yet, the guy was out sick yesterday. I need to be sure I have the right part. Also, are all parts from a '79 interchangeable with a '78? Thanks! I appreciate every bit of info you have all given me!

Yes, it is Ed's old Brat. I bought it from a guy in Florida. I read Ed's threads here, and I see he regretted the sale. The guy in Florida posted a rather deceitful ad, stating it was all restored, but after several conversations, he came clean on all its faults. I bought it for what I thought was a reasonable price. Ed can rest assured he did the right thing. There are several hundred dollars worth of repairs that are needed on it to keep it alive and I expected it when I bought it. I have spent countless hours finding parts. You come to a certain point in your life where you find something that's worth the money because it brings you plain enjoyment... and it's not something you need to survive, you just enjoy having it. (for example: see boat in the background) Well, that enjoyment for me is this Brat. It will be like having a car payment on a Mercedes to get it where it needs to be, but that's ok with me. Last week it developed a nasty noise... the brake caliper finally gave up completely and froze. It did some damage somewhere else, maybe. The outer cv joint is damaged too, not sure about the bearing. The exhaust let loose (we had it bandaged to get throuh inspection) In my city you are required to have any car kept on your property (for more than 30 days) properly licensed and insured. So, that's the rest of the story of where Ed's Brat ended up. I love the car and as long as I have it, it will be well taken care of

In Salem... you got that right... heck there aren't even any in the junkyards! The Rust Gods got 'em all! Yikes! My local Subaru dealership part department told me flat out that they couldn't get parts for me. I did find 2 parts sellers that are great... they are so helpful and nice. But... try and find a mechanic that'll work on them! They laugh at me! Most of them are just "parts changers" around here anyway. My boyfriend Tim, can build any American muscle car from the ground up, this little guy leaves him scratching his head... he's never seen anything like it... completely clueless about it's design logic. I did find a guy that agreed to work on it... my mother's best friend's son... and he's a real live mechanic... funny how persuasive a mother can be!

I would love to be there, but am in Massachusetts. I will be entering it in a show on Sept. 11-12. I don't expect to win anything... there are some real purists (every nut and bolt is original) around here that will enter. High, high dollar cars. One thing's for certain, you can bet she'll be the only Brat! Guaranteed! We also have a show every Wednesday for D.A.R.E. any condition car is admired at that one. Have a great time at the show! Mary

I used the Herculiner in a can first, you roll it on with a paint roller. I think it's too chunky for the scale of the Brat because it's so small, and it dried with shiny and dull spots. I went over it with spray-on Truck Bed Liner (blue can at Wal-Mart) I think it's Duplicolor brand. If I did it again, I would use only the spray-on but lots of it, several coats. It dries super fast so the next coat can be put on quickly. I also used it on my interior door panels and dash to give it a soft pebble texture again after repairing them. One word of caution: thin coats on the dash! Don't build it up! I have a spot where I went over it several times to hide a crack, it will bubble on realy hot days. I use a sunshade to solve that until I find a new dash or sand it back and respray. Duplicolor makes a good vinyl spray paint too, very durable. Use a silver paint marker (found in the crafts section of Wal-Mart) for the silver lines on the trim between the door and decal. Mother's Back-to-Black is a liquid product, great on the jump seats, headrests and other rubber... use lots of elbow grease and a terry towel, just work at it, it'll get the oxidization out of the rubber and plastic (any color, not just black). Have fun!

I just posted pictures of my 1978 BRAT. Check it out! She's getting new cv axles tomorrow. Thanks for the advice! Mary

I used the roll-on type and it looked a bit chunky... dried with shiny and dull spots... I sprayed the Walmart Truck Bed liner over it and it looks awesome, tough too. There is a picture of it in thegreatsubarubratclub@ yahoogroups.com Go to "Files" - "Seahag" Rhino told me it would be a LOT more than a larger truck because of the seat brackets etc. Quoted me around $600. and a month wait! Yikes!

I'm about ready to give up. I'm spending more on Tylenol than gas... my head hurts! We tried tightening the nut... the noise was still there. While it was apart, we checked the splines... all present and accounted for. The hub looks new. The CV looks ok. We checked the bearings they look ok. We tried driving it in 4WD, it drives fine... just the noise! I spent the day calling garages to repair the problem.... no one around here will touch it They all said "NO WAY!" One guy said, "I thought all those bad boys were gone!"

Thanks! I thought the hubs were new too. It's weird how the right doesn't match the left at all. The CV has a ripped boot and we thought that too... seems the CV is fine. something is definitely slipping somewhere. It's not the tranny... it shifts and responds fine, other than a sloppy shifter (that seemed normal to me, guess my other one was sloppy and I don't know better?!) It sounds like a baseball card in the spokes of a bicycle, while it's under load... it's constant... there is no loss of power, jerking, pulling or bucking... it's smooth, the noise is the only indication of a problem. The emergency brake holds the car while on.

I think that's the right track on this problem. This car belonged to a member of this board. On reading some archives here, I found a post where the previous owner said he changed wheel bearing and it was runnng hot. He was instructed to repack it with grease, I guess it didn't work and he said he was going to re-install it. Another odd thing, the nuts on the passenger side hub don't look anything like the driver's side hub? They kinda look jammed on. We are going to try your suggestion tonight and see. I think I understand the theory behind this test... by tightening it whatever tooth is left will grab? Now, does that mean a new axle? Where is a reliable source to get new... I understand rebuilts are not the greatest. I read some other archives that talked about a DOJ. It sounds like it could be it too?

My 1978 Brat is making a noise that sounds like a cross between a "jake brake", a card clothes pinned to the wheel of a bicycle (like you did as a little kid) and a machine-gun or a governor on a tractor. The noise is coming from the front end. It only does it under acceleration. It's quiet while coasting. The transmission shifts fine. Last night, we found the left front brake was seized, (prior to that the emergency brake was a tad sticky if left on for a while, but once it released it was ok). Today, I got two rebuilt calipers from King Kalipers in Peabody MA, (they had them on the shelf!?) Tonight we changed both front calipers and the brakes are fine now. The noise is still there. Could the seized brake cause some sort of damage to the axle? Does anyone know what could cause this type of noise? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Our local Subaru dealership has been totally useless.