brat82

Pickup up tube in tank could also be clogged. I've had a problem with gas delivery, and had to hook up a hose so I could blow back into tank. Remember if you do this to remove the gas cap.

I have 2, 82 brats, and both of em, the rear is higher than the front. It levels out when I load up with firewood or all my rafting gear, like 1000lbs.

Wolfhound, did this problem get fixed to your satisfaction?

I just finished a ea81 rebuild. Had nice oil pressure, then I drove to the end of my driveway to get the mail and the oil pres. dropped to 0. I had to rev up to 5grand to get 25lbs. Drove it back to the house, and found that the New Oil Filter was still empty, and the oil in the crankcase smelled like Gas. Put new oil in it and in the filter, and got all good pressure, all the time. Still need to test drive.

I've got 185/80/13 on one of my brats. Les Schwab, Signet, Winterguard. "Les" said they were winter tires and would be hot in the summer, may not get the milage etc...but it's such a lite vehicle I get more miles on them then the warrenty. This makes between 23" and 24" total.

82 BRAT, has 293,000 original engine w/one change of headgaskets. Last year, drove to the Colo. river/lees ferry, for rafting trip down the Grand Canyon, packed to the max with raft/gear, still 34mpg. I got another 82/GL BRAT, rebuilt engine w/0miles, 202,000. One of these days I'll get to drive it(almost there). I did read/scan all the pre.pages, and hadn't posted before...

howdy, This sounds like the thermo is sticking. I'd check some of the easy things first. I've had thermos fail right outta the box. Can check these outta the engine, w/boiling water and cooking thermometer. Does your electric fan come on? If it doesn't it, could be its sending unit, in the radiator. I've had clogged radiators, that couldn't be cleaned out. The radiator guy told me that "off the shelf" radiator products usually result in radiator clogs. If you have a leak in the gaskets, you might see something other than air bubbles in the radiator fill, or maybe even in the oil. Some repair shops may be able to put analyzer on radiator fill and see if there are exhaust gases there(leaky headgaskets,etc)

Howdy, I've done the blowback thing and also have drained my tank a few times. I hook a small hose underneath, at the fuel pump/fuel filter link. Find the right hose, hook a long tube(I use a clear so I can see the fuel comin, and I stand higher than the tank), blow back through till I hear the bubbles. Since I question the gas I get sometimes, I've also run some carb/fuel line cleaners through the system, when I've been on the road(brat starts to hesitate/gets slower) and haven't been able to stop and check out anything else(fuel filters), and this has improved the running. I do it when I have near a full tank. My brat has 293,000 miles on the original engine, with one change of headgaskets. Still getting 31+mpg. and it seems to come out to 34mpg on hwys. There is a fuel filter in front of the drivers rear tire(under the car). This is where the electric fuel pump is. See whats in it, if you can. These BRATS are funn.

NICE PHOTOS, ettev...

So the "Keeping Your Subaru Alive" manual, he talks about making your own socket, by grinding down a thinwall one. I've never done this, and another book says to install the head, using spacers in place of the rocker stuff, torque it all down, then remove the spacers and torque on the rocker arm assemblies. I've done it this way, and use some spare rocker pedestals for the spacers. I'd like to get one of those Subaru sockets.

I was kinda shocked when I went into a NAPA store(ashland,ore/college town) and they had a clutch cable in stock for my 82 BRAT. I was broke down, offroad, doing forestry related work. And those axles, I got some from Autozone. They come with a lifetime guarantee(original purchaser), which I have had to use, and gotten exchanges for free. Although, one time I was getting ready to leave for a Middle Fork Salmon River rafting trip(covetous permit trip), and had one that I wanted to change out/off my brat. The "new" one made noise and vibrated when I hit the pavement, 3/4 of a mile, bottom of my 4x4 driveway. But I drove it anyway, and all the way back. And exchanged it, for free. Like it says, original purchaser, so you have to keep the receipts. The last time I called about exchanging one of these, they said not to come in(I live outta town), as they had to order one from their supplier, wasn't sure if they could get them. But they did get one and also told me they may not be getting these in the future.

Howdy, I got another 82BRAT, and was just getting it for the parts, except it's a T-top,fun/sun roof model(GL). The engine was siezed,radiator totally clogged, and there was so much mud and crud underneath,above the axles etc, that I got the funny feeling that they(high school kids) 4wheeled the s**t outta it,burned up the motor. The sway bar bushings gone and bushing holder smashed FLAT. The rear moustach bar is BENT, and those rubber bushing are ripped. But hey, I rebuilt an engine, and straightened a bunch a stuff out, and am almost ready to put on the road. I also have a 85 gl wagon that I've been getting some still useable good parts off and putting on this brat, front fenders and hood different color. I really like these cars, will carry all my rafting gear and I still get 30-34 mpg, and they handle well. The ones I have will never be "restored", but will be drivable. I also took a welding course offered by the local comm. college. Then I got a gas weld outfit and a small arc setup, but I also got a lot of junk to mess around with as in old iron. later,rc

Howdy, When I got this brat, it hadn't been run in 2 yrs. I could get it started but not keep running. I finally decided to look into the carb, as I couldn't really change the tuning/running. The carb was all varnished up with old gas compound. Had to buy a rebuilt carb and have been running ever since(10yrs?). The carb I have is a stock carter/weber, and I like it.

You need to be cooling the trans fluid, thats why it went thru the radiator.

I have an 82 brat and used to have headlight on off problem. I could have lows and not highs, and then nothing at all. It was a wire coming out of its connection, and was because of the working of the clutch pedal(I think). I had to trace the headlight back through all its connection and found this one on the drivers side, up to the left of the clutch pedal. It was one of the wires in a cluster plug-in, 6 or 8 wires, one or two were just able to slip off and barely make contact, and eventually be disconnected, although the plug-in still looked connected. I found it by just wiggling wire connections.

my 82 brat,290,000 on original engine(3rd trans), only replaced head gaskets once. I drove to colo. river/grand canyon(from oregon) w/14' raft, and all the gear for 21 day float, 31-34 mpg. broke 2oars, no brat breakdowns,

I took a used rad to a radiator repair/rebuilder and it was totally wasted. He had one in his used/repair stock(someone didn't pick up), $75, and works good. You might call around to some radiator repair shops. A used one might be clogged or need some work, boilout/rodding/rebuild.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1986-Subaru-Service-Manuals-3-Vols-FREE-SHIPPING_W0QQitemZ200417903404QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Automotive_Tools?hash=item2ea9d6832c saw this today...

Yep, that is the other thing I try before messin with the carb...mechanic in a can and I've had good results. Funny thing driving from oregon to arizona, seemed to get better gas and even get better milage in Nevada.

My 82 brat(1800 @268,000miles) started to have cooling problems like that, as long as I was moving in traffic or on the highway, it would run cool, but idle at a stop or stop and go traffic, it would overheat. I checked and replaced the thermostat(some of these don't work right out of the box). That didn't fix the problem, and with this many miles I figured I would just pull the heads. I was set to go on raft float trip, middle fork salmon river, idaho in 10 days. I found some pieces of head gasket stuck in some of the water ports. Did some valve work, replaced the headgaskets, and it still overheated. So I took the radiator in to be checked out, guy said it was about 50 or more % clogged, so it got cleaned out. The clogged radiator was probably the real problem.I made it to Idaho and back. That was 2 yrs. ago. Last year I went on a colo. river/grand canyon float. I drove from oregon and back with all my gear/food=1000lbs. Still get 31mpg...love these subbies...especially with the toyoyototas in the news

Time to check your fuel filters, for water and crud...? This might tell you something about what might be running into the carb

thanks guys, I'll check the dealer

I need a hill holder cable for 82 brat...