RAD

I tried for over a week and a half to get some parts from gary's Inc. / Subaru service, 3940 W 13th Ave. Eugene, OR 97402 I spoke with someone there who told me I would get a call back... and again, and again.. and again, This "Gary" could not take a lousy 5 Minutes to call a cutomer and tell him what he had or did not have, what he could do or not do, not even a quick call to say if he was to busy to do whatever! What a jerk! That is no way to run any business, not a very smart way to make money, and beyond unprofessional, is just plain lazy, disimissive and rude! Any business can take a few seconds to at least touch base with a customer wanting to spend money sometime withing WEEKS. No excuse for this kind of garbage! If you need parts, look somewhere else where they can actually handle at least giving a call back!

I am East of San Bernardino, East of Redlands, East of Mentone, off Hwy 38. Last night coming back from town I hit a hard to see rock in the road and totally tore apart the right front wheel assembly - Swing arm tweaked, axel pulled apart, ball joint separated. This may be ther end. I cannot fix this, not out here, not sure how I would even find a swing arm.

Why are you doing all that? Seems like a value judgement to me. You would not be going to all that trouble if you just wanted to drive a Corolla, lol. You're going to all that effort because of the value you have for what you are working on and the vehicle it is going into.

You are one of those people who are so full of your own opinion that you will never respect other opinions, and will continue to degrade opposing oppinions. Like I said, I fixed my Brat with a range of serious problems out in the dirt and rocks. That mechanic in Oregon, you insult him too, you jerk. He has a line of vehicles and customers waiting to do business with him, to do business with him means being on a waiting list. He is, and has proven himself a better mechanic than you are for a certainty. Your own statements versus his performance make that clear to me. Which is better - a mechanic who can do the job, or a mechanic with an endless list of excuses why not to do the job? You would not be fit to work on my Brat with your attitude, and that mechanic and me, we had no issues, I asked him to do a job, he did the job, he got paid, just that simple. All you have are excuses and insults and conceit.

I think I have identified what is really wrong with the minor controversy regarding keeping an EA81 engine and improving it. There are obvious reasons to an EJ engine swap, IF you have the money, the skill or mechanic with skill, can do without your Subaru for up to a month or more depending on circumstances, having to essentially buy a second vehicle and strip it of half its parts, etc. The proselytes of the EJ swap all forget or disimiss one very simple, important concept. The older Subarus, and Brats in particular have been loved and had good reutations in various ways - Why? There are reasons for such things, you know. Some vehicles are loved just for thier looks, even if their performance or drivetrain or reliablility/longevity, etc. is not the best. Some vehicles are loved for thier mechanical qualities, and not so much for thier looks. Some vehicles are prized for reasons or lack of reason that really defies logic, reality, tatse or common sense. The 1st and 2nd Gen Subarus, Brats in particular (I am biased) gave us a little (-or a lot) but of it all. They are cool vehicles, they were/are forgiveing and reliable vehicles, had 4WD, good gas mileage, etc. etc. etc. They were/are known for taking you damn near anywhere and everywhere, and in my experience, could take you some places that the best off-roaders with the biggest wheels and even Hum-Vee's couldn't get into for various reasons. This included the fact that they could "Fit" in and through places the others could not, and that stooped the 'big boys' dead in their tracks with NO hope of going farther. This included the fact that for a 4WD, they were lighter than most anything else, and would go over soft terrain and not get stuck, where others would. This included the fact that even if you got yourself into a mess, you had MUCH more chance to get out of it, to fix it, or even to ignore seroius problems, and be able to get back home where someone else would have to call thier friends to come get them out of thier mess. There are very real reasons why they had the various reputations they did and do, and I could go on for some paragraphs about this from even my own personal experiences, multiplied by the experiences of so many others. So when everyone else is saying that the answer to everything is "42" (EJ swap), I say, you need to reexamine the question. What makes an EA81 Subaru (Brat) what it is? What has given it the qualities it has? Just a shell of a body? Looks? Absolutely not! EJ Engine swap: You have to essentially buy another vehicle, a mostly good vehicle likely, because you need the engine, the wiring harness, the dash, several other components, and while you're at it, you may as well use the transmission too if you can, and what does that leave of that other vehicle? - Mostly a now empty shell. Yes, you can search and find this part here and that part there, and that justy means more time, so again, it would make more sense to just buy a second car and almost completely cannibalise it. Same thing towards the new creation, what is it now? What is left of what it was? You have essentially gutted your Subaru (Brat) to where what remains of the original is not much more than a shell. - What's the point of that? You may as well have just bought some kit car and put it all into that. The only good thing about amn old Subaru (Brat) is the shell ?!? - Really ?!? Think about that.... The good qualities of the older Subaru (Brat) are more than just looks, more than just some damned shell! There are not many EA81 Subarus in the road now, parts are hard to find - is that because they were not a good vehicle, not a good engine, not reliable? Absolutely not! There are many reasons why they are rare now, and it has nothing to do with any lack of quality or reliability! Parts are hard to find for 'Model T's' now. They are certainly not known for performance! But people are still rebuilding them! You want another reason to prove my point? Let's see.... is it still true? Is is still there?.. Yes, it is... Lets check on a big indicator of value, shall we?.... "Top 10 "Scarciest" Cars on AutoTrader.com" http://www.autotrader.com/car-news/top-10-scarciest-cars-on-autotradercom-130792 Circa - October 2011 - Apparently they have not found reason to change it, and it still has truth to it. #1 Scarciest, most saught after vehicle. Not the Model 'T', Not the rare old Corvettes. Not engine-swapped Subarus. Good, old Brats. There were an average of 27,000 searches in one month, to find one or two rats for sale. Do you think they are more or less rare now? You think people are not still looking for them? When I was in Oregon, not three weeks would go by before someone would try to buy my Brat. Not one week would go by without someone going out of thier way to compliment my Brat. In the last two years when I searched Craigslist in Oregon and California, Brats in BAD shape, all primer and stupid stickers, with dents, etc were going for an average of $1,700. Brats in good shape were going for $5,000 and more! I guarantee you this is not just because of some cool lookng SHELL! The EA81 engine was and is not just some piece of junk! The EA81 is not harder to find parts for than a Model 'T' ! Yeah, we may have to search more, pay more for parts or improvise this and that, but its because what we are working with is LEGENDARY in the first place! I will likely someday end up with an EJ Swap Brat - as a SECEOND Subaru, but no engine has earned my respect more than the EA81, and I could never bet my very life, going into the middle of nowhere, or to the far side of hell than the EA81. EJ Swappers - you are in the back seat, lol...

Where my issue was and is concerned, it has never necessarily been about turning my Brat into a race car. I have made a post about "Hot-Rodding" my Brat. which means doing those things possible to improve performance overall, without replacing half the vehicle, and where the EA81 engine is concerned, most of what can be done one way or another involves the Intake Manifold, thus this thread. This subect/issue figures into my post/thread about respect for EA81 and performance, see my next post there for what I was tempted to type out here, regarding the EA81 vs. EJ swap concept and what is wrong with it.

You know, I would understand and even agree with most of what you said, except for that "Stop talking s#!¥," B.S. !

Your LAYERS of attitude and complete lack of respect are really the problem here. If you were at least factually right in your B.S. you might have a point, however, reality does not bend to your dictates. Prime example: DHL Auto in Medford, Oregon. That mechanic dispared at working on my Brat, only in that he said "There is so much this car needs!" He didn't use the pathetic excuse that "Its too old", which is just that. Yes, mechanics need to make a living - did I imply that a mechanic was not going to charge me or something? That's the deal, or is supposed to be the deal - mechanic does a repair, if done right and the vehicle works, he gets paid. Just that simple. This mechanic was not a selfish, quick-to-excuses, unable mechanic. Need a few things done, bearings, seals replaced, clutch job, etc, etc. Was supposed to be a couple days, turned out to take a week, that happens. The whole clutch situation was a disaster, and he said a quote that I have heard many times where old Subarus are concerned: "I don't know how you were able to drive this thing in the condition it was in!" He had to do machining, replace hard-to-find parts, etc. When he got it together, the clutch would not engage. Turned out that a previous unknown mechanic had installed a wrong part. He figured this out because he knew what the hell he was doing, and not some milk-toast mechanic who would only take quick, easy money. He was a REAL mechanic, the old fashioned kind, the honest kind. He got it fixed, it worked great, he had named his price, he got paid. Everybody happy. Yeah, you wouldn't want to work on my Brat because I expect too much, eh? Yeah, I expect a mechanic who is not all "Elite Master" B.S., and who can actually do the job, even if its not quick and easy money every time - that's what honest work is about, you know. You expect everything to be smooth, easy, quick, and all what you want it to be, and in real life and the real world that isn't how it works often. This mechanic was not some narcissitic sel-important so-called expert, just a regular guy with a small garage, but he was a good and honest mechanic, and knew what the hell he was doing. Also - being as you are such a sensitive snowflake of a mechanic, I am no mechanic, although I have long-term experience with older Subarus, and years ago did 95% of my own work, I don't have a fraction of the skills that many of the guys on here do. However, I have taken an old Brat is extremely bad shape, with serious damage to it, multiple problems, and gotten it back to running without a garage, without all the proper tools or equipment, with almost no money, out in the middle of nowhere, in the dirt and rocks, so apparently I'm twice the mechanic you are! If I can do that, a good mechanic with a garage, the proper tools and equipment, etc. could do it easily in little time! So I'm some kind of idiot who expects the impossible eh? Go blow your conceited, insulting smoke elsewhere, you are not the mechanic you claim to be!

Still stuck out in the middel of nowhere, but just barely got it running, had to rely on very difficult jump starts for various reasons, including the system not charging the battery for some reason. Was able to stop the water pouring in to the carb, got the system charging again. While is was out there, someone tried to steal it, got into it without breaking a window somehow (almost thankfully) and completely tore up the ignition switc unit on the steering collumn, steering lock, whole thing messed up. If anyone can spare a whole ignition unit, steeering wheel lock, key(s) and all that bolts onto the steering collumn, that will bolt on to a 1983 Subaru Brat, I would realy appreciate it. I can pay for it, but I am in what amounts to an emergency survival situation, with little or no money at least for now. As long as I can get and keep this thing running, now that I can get into civilization on my own, I can hopefully get work soon and be able to buy everything else it needs and get life going again. Thank you in advance

I had a piece of high temp high pressure hydrolic line to replace the stock formed water bypass hose behind the distributor, which I had going in a half circle around the front of the distributor. I cut a couple pieces, found perfect bolts to tightly plug them, and used hose gaskets to make sure they would not leak or blow. Seems to have worked, not seeing water in carb. Yesterday when I killed the motor there was water gurgling in the carb and leaking out through the 'axel' of the throttle assembly. None of that today. Now my temp gauge is possibly not working as no reading, but connector is in place, and after driving driving about 7 miles, 3-4 of it up a grade, I checked radiator cap and very little pressure let off, but I'm at a bit for a second, so I know the system was water tight. r

At this point, with this present Brat, I may at some point be forced to do an engine swap. Cannot do that for now, just trying to bring it back to life, keep it alive. Sooner or later when I get my life back, I will be looking for a second brat, and that one WILL be, and remain an EA81 engine, by damn! I love that engine/design, lol...

(Late reply of course) Yeah, I found a place to hide in out in the middle of nowhere, have had to live out there in the wilderness for more than one reason anyway. Determined to save my Brat so it can save my practical life.

Ok, not sure of this passage/gasket "under the carb" - If you are referring to the main Carb gasket, it was replaced with a new one, and I saw no significant corrosion or similar problem. If you are referring to something else, please expand on identifying/explaining? I tried to find some picture or illustration of the water passages with the intake manifold. Is therer such? Like if someone cut one in half lengthwise and took a picture of it? Any such or similar illustration? How ese can I plug or bypass any water in or through the intake manifold or carburator/area ??? Thank you.

A dose of reality for your own arrogance and presumed expertise.... Some months ago when I had the money, I breifly considered doing an engine swap: #1 IT IS NOT EASY! - Some people can brag that they can do it in a weekend - those individuals are rare, and just because 1% of all Subaru freaks can do so does NOT mean it is a reasonable alternative for the other 99% of Subaru freaks. #2: IT IS NOT CHEAP! It requires not just an engine, but replacing almost the entire practical electical system - wiring harness, dash, components, etc. etc. etc.... NOT easy, Costs REAL money, you have to essentially buy another vehicle to sacrifice to do it unless you luck out on all that is necessarily required. #3: Tryying to find someone who can do it AT ALL is difficult to impossible unless one is willing to use vacation time or more than a day or two to travel long distances hauling one or possible two vehicles (one for the parts), and again, IT IS NOT CHEAP, unless someone wants to be a laborious philanthropist who wants to do it for someone just to be an insanely kind individual! - again RARE. #4: Trying to find anyone to work on my Brat AT ALL, much less someone who is really qualified to do so, even less so, someone who is a real Subaru freak or any kind of Subaru expert is difficult to impossible. In my area, I could not find a decent mechanic who would even work on my Brat, not even changing a head gasket, much less do a rebuild job or an engine swap. Most popular excuse: "Its too old" - What the hell do they care how old it is?!? Do the work, if it runs, they get their money! I have lost a lot of respect for the average mechanic as a result. #5: I had the money to have it done, and the ONLY guy anywhere near me who could or would do it (and be trusted to know what the hell they were doing, and get it done in a reasonable amount of time, for a reasonable fee) couldn't because he had nowhere to do the work, and I could not work on, or have anyone else work on a vehicle where I lived. I have very little respect for the opinions essentially saying "All you have to do is just..." Yeah, right. Real easy when someone else is supposed to do it! Everything is supposed to be so easy. The realities of real life and how things really work and turn out says otherwise! There is rarely only one solution to a problem or project, any view to the contrary is unrealistically limited and ignorant.

This post originally failed to happen for some reason, see following post...