Grisezd

Not for this part specifically, but two local Subaru dealers told me "can't get that, it's older than 1985". Do I need to give them a part number, or are some dealers better than others?

While waiting for a good time (and money) to get the body painted I started pulling and cleaning interior. I've got the seats and carpet out and have some surface rust on the floor to take care of. The seats need some foam replaced and to be re-covered. Carpet is pretty good but is filthy. Can I toss the carpets in a washing machine on "gentle"? Power washer?

My hazard switch is broken as well. I plan to re-wire to a new switch on the dash.

That's the trick, going fully custom and getting it right. You've got to start with figuring out the wheel rate you want (force over distance, like 400lbs over the wheel makes the body go down an inch), then calculate the spring inclination and leverage ratio at the spring mount. That will get you in the ballpark. Then you adjust the calculated spring rate by the amount you want it softer or stiffer. Then you find a spring with that stiffness that will fit in your space. Finally, you get a damper (shock) made up to meet that spec and your preferences. Whew, that's a lot of work and it still might not make you as happy as you'd hoped. You learn a lot, though, which may be worth it. I went through that exercise with a Renault years ago, ended up doing all the calculations only to find out that stock springs were pretty close and a nicer set of dampers made all the difference in the world!

Whoops, missed that. Sorry. Yea, on the rear you could do a coilover. There's not much room and would require some strengthening of the upper and maybe lower mounts.

The OE part is a coilover. Just replace like with like. You could do a different strut insert, maybe add an adjustable spring perch. But that's a lot of fabrication.

The carb would only fit one way, with the fuel inlet on the right side of the car and the cable on the left. The other way around the choke hit the distributor.

One box had the bracket I needed, the other box had a carb meant for somebody else! Whatever. After a couple of tries I have a cable that works great, car that starts, idles, and pulls pretty hard for its size! Stoked. I have a little gas dripping from the secondary venturi onto the butterfly. Might that be too much fuel pressure?

I ordered a Weber 32/36 kit for my brat from Europarts on Sunday and got it on Wednesday. Came with the rectangular filter and the adapter kit and a few sheets of instructions. It also came with a sheet with their phone number, asking me to call with questions. Kit is WK730, $300 free ship. I'd put one on a Renault before, so was sure I wouldn't need the phone number. Then I saw that the fuel inlet faced forward as did the cable pull. I was pretty sure I could just swap the fuel inlet but I wasn't stoked about making a new bracket and longer cable, so before I started cutting and bending metal I gave them a call. Had to leave a message, they called right back. Confirmed that the inlet could be switched with the plug on the other side. It surprised them that I couldn't use the stock cable stop bracket, apparently nobody had ever complained about it. They promised to send a handful of different brackets, asked me to let them know which works. No charge! Two boxes are on the way. Awesome. I made up a new cable from parts and wait. I installed the carb without cable and fired the car up. Idles great out of the box and revs great. I could have saved a few bucks piecing a kit together and buying a used carb. But knowing it would be jetted close off the bat and especially with great service it was worth it to me! I'll report back with the PN of the bracket that works.

Thanks for posting the cross reference! Don't need one now but its greasy to make this stuff easy to find.

Wasn't NAPA able to look it up? They were able to look up '82 Renault lug nuts, I assumed they'd have cross reference to drain plugs.

Thanks LS!

I searched, here, two manuals, and google. Please indulge me! When I drain the manual transmission on my 78 Brat this weekend, how much 89/90 gear lube will I have to pour back in? My dip stick tubes are sort of loose and flying around in their bores, so I'm not sure if I can trust them for this first fill. Thanks, Dennis

That was a puzzler but I've tracked it down. The blue/white wire from the regulator went into a wrapped harness and seemed to come out as two blue/white wires against the firewall, except they were switched on with the key. I finally unwrapped the harness to figure out where the one wire became two. Turns out it didn't. The correct wire was cut short (or broken) and was buried in the harness. The other two wires come out of the firewall, something totally different. Now I'm a gallon of gas from finding out if I've got a runner!

Commie, that's awesome. I can find adapters for '83!

That's probably my best bet in any case.

My steering wheel is busted. I'd like to replace it with an aftermarket one. The adaptor kits don't list a fitment for 78 subies. Does anyone have a cross reference that might get me there?

What did the shops tell you? Having more data would be helpful. Try another shop and insist they show you the problem. It should be somewhat obvious when it's in the air. Or jack it up at home and have a look.

I've heard often that a Y or H crossover aids in low engine speed scavenging, promoting torque down low. I'd plan to do either one if I was doing something custom anyway.

Have you got a stock steel wheel for a 78 Brat? About 4.5in back spacing?

Well, I tried car-part.com. I made a lot of calls and emails on listed parts with no luck. Who knows how up to date the listings are. And after looking into Subarutex's wheels I learned that I can't use anything over 4.5in back spacing. I'm going to stick with my 13's until I'm ready to shell out for custom.

I'm using car-part.com. I've never made a purchase using it but a few friends swear by it. Turns our that Coker tire has Michelins in TRX sizes at about $400 per tire for the vintage Ferrari crowd.

Thanks. I'd forgotten all about TRX until I started looking at Pug wheels! I wonder if there's a tire available anywhere for those!

Hey Leeroy, what model Peugeot wheels did you use? 505? I'm seeing a lot of those in a search of salvage yards. I didn't know you could get them in a 15.

Thanks, guys, for the help.