O.C.D.

I know of two Gen 1 Brats in Omaha that have good glass. That is if they haven't been crushed. Contact davebighia@yahoo.com and let him know Jon from Colorado told you about them. He is a really cool guy. Good luck.

Yep this little Brat is killing my bank every paycheck. Just the fenders cost 75% of what I paid for the car, lol. What can you do? I did just put my (hopefully) last order in for all the OEM seals for the entire drivetrain minus the front hubs and bearings. The amount I have spent on OEM parts is crazy to think of. But if you are going to do something ya gotta do it right. Once the fenders are done and she has all the body in primer I will pull the motor and rebuild the tranny too. That is going to be fun, seriously.

Hah, loved Dana Carvey back then.

X2 - I would rock that even if the Wife told me no, lol.

Again, nicely done mods. Love the Zerks being added. I am going to add that to my list.

We need pics but you already know that. I can't thank you enough again for locating those fenders for me! I really appreciate it. I started working on them last night.

Now that is a drive for a Brat, lol. Congrats on snagging a good one from way out here. Need more pics.

I primered the back side first so I could lay down a coat of chassis underliner. Then the front side after that. Was going perfectly well until a fly decided it liked the primer on the leading edge so I have to refinish that. The liner is taking forever to dry so I didn't mount it on the car yet. I am going to get some heavy weatherstriping today to replace the panel sealer that Subaru used from the factory. I want these to be removable if need be. Drivers side fender tonight and she will be put back together by Thursday when the cold comes. Supposed to snow here this weekend. Thanks for looking. Jon

So, fender time!!! The last part of my front end is coming together. I received the fenders and have been just dying to get them prepped for their final resting place on the Brat. They are Subaru OEM and almost perfect. I started on the passengers side last night and it took all night to get done. I sanded down the entire fender like I did the hood. There was a black primer on there and I wanted it bare. That black might offset the final color when she gets painted. I then hand sanded the turn signal buckets for a while to get all that surface rust out of there. I also sanded the top rail if you can call it that so the mating surface is rust free on both sides.

Thank you Owain, I appreciate the push. I am really having a great time with this old girl.

How many miles on the engine?

Oh, and I got my fenders within 48 hours! They are in fantastic condition and have Subaru decals on the inside. Gotta love factory OEM parts from 1979, lol. Will post pics tonight.

Haven't been online to post the success of my findings. That night I decided to redo a lot of the wiring in The Squirrel. I removed all the cabling for the grounds and positive to the alternator. I cleaned up the battery and all connections, made new grounds, re-terminated all ends and added new terminal bolts to the clamps. Damn thing started better then anything I have ever owned? She fires up before the starter even moves the flywheel 90 degrees?! Idles better as well. I am thinking that all of this corrosion in the cabling was cause for the poor running. So, that makes me happy. Now, since I did the wiring fixes I removed the hot that was wired from the windshield motor to the radiator fan. Basically the radiator fan runs when ignition is on. There is one wire from the fan to the sensor in the radiator and another black wire with a white stripe and a bullet connector just sitting there. That was connected to the washer hot. Was this wired to the harness? I think the sensor to be bad and that is why they did this but I am not sure. What would this misc. wire connect to?

Could it be complete irony that it happens now though? Could the battery be doing something I am unaware of? Are there fuseable links in a 1980 Brat? Thanks

So I have my first issue of noticeable merit. Go to start the Brat and she won't go and battery dies. No big deal I put a tender on the battery for a day. Well I come back and the battery is crackling and expelling air/gas I assume. Maybe the dead cells are getting too much too fast? I have 12.9 volts by the way. Go to start the Brat and the the key turns and I have lights and chime for a half second and nothing. Not a damn thing coming through. I check fuzes and all are good. She is completely not responding. So because I am learning an old car is it the starter solenoid? Could the battery have done this? Can you all lend an idea please. Thanks.

$150 is what I paid. $160 in fact. You gotta aim high, lol. I'd settle for $100 to get em out of here.

But where is the good source for the EMPI axles?

That was a really good read. Thanks to you both for posting that up and Stonefish for the update. How does she handle?

Man that sound good!

Kicking myself for not being able to see this car when I was in Burlington......Dang. Such a beautiful job.

Love the '05's. Savin up for a limited wagon. I hope that Impreza rear badge was the old pic, lol. That is ridiculous.

Sweet, that is the way the fate should have been for QS. Please do keep us posted.

Oh duh, just realized that the classic 5-spoke Cragar will never work as it is a 5-lug design. 6 holes will not work for that. Hmmmmmm.

Wow, I never saw this thread until today? Odd cause I basically live here. I am thinking 6-lug swap as well. Much more out there in the form of wheels. I did do a search at Summit based on the exact wheels I bought but looking for Cragar Classics and I found nothing? I would have thought that to be a common wheel for that bolt pattern? Anyway, here is what I found. That is the specs I went with though and that is with a pretty meaty tire - 205/50/R15. Awesome graphics by the way! Love the photographs as well. Makes it all look vintage.

Are the tolerances on that pilot really tight? Can that be hammered in with some wood or do you need a press? Was your shaft worn enough to need a Speedisleeve? If you can't tell I am trying to learn from your rebuild. Thanks again.