nontrivial

Now up on Ebay ( https://www.ebay.com/itm/166026336646 ) with a reserve of $4800.

I don't live in Oklahoma anymore, I'm in SW Florida until I leave. I have it up on FB at https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1172982303409882 I unfortunately have to sell it by the end of the month, so I started high and I'm going to drop the price until it sells. Currently at $8800 but if it hasn't sold in a couple weeks I'm going to put it on Ebay with a reserve of $4800. If it doesn't sell for that I'm just going to park it somewhere and hope it doesn't rot too much.

I am looking for a good home for my Brat. There are some local folks that say they are interested and I wanted to give them and everybody here dibs before I got serious and put it online. I suppose the price is a little negotiable but I'm not sure how negotiable. I've got plenty of pictures to eventually post online if needed. I would REALLY like to thank everybody here because you all have saved my bacon more than once with this Brat. If you have any questions let me know. FOR SALE $10,800 1983 Subaru Brat Four speed manual transmission with dual range four wheel drive. Runs great. 131,000 miles on the chassis. A real classic car that is fun to drive. Reliable enough for daily driver or for a road trip. I am moving out of the country and can’t take it with me. The Good: • Has only minor rust. • Includes removable truck cap. • Has 4 inch lift with 15 inch rims (13 inch is stock). • Rebuilt engine with less than 3000 miles. • Stock carburetor has been replaced with aftermarket Weber. • Includes tow bar, mount, and lights so it can be easily towed. • Some spare parts are included. The Bad: • The rear shocks need to be replaced. • The interior overhead light does not work. • The A/C does not work and needs two new hoses made. • The rally lights need to be wired up. • The reverse lights need to be wired up. • The 4WD indicator lights need to be wired up. The Ugly: • Need to use a button instead of ignition key to start. • Transmission requires some technique for a couple gears. • Some exterior emblems, badges, and trim need to be refurbished. • The minor rust needs to be dealt with soon. james at nontrivial dot org

Maybe, but so far so good. 🙂 I am keeping the bits in the car for a while just in case something goes horribly wrong and I have to rig another solution. But both ends were hose, so I figured all hose would be OK. It does come off just above the EGR valve and goes all the way to the firewall to a widget near the windshield wiper motor, which I assume is emissions related. Whatever it is I don't think there is much flow because there are only a couple vacuum looking hoses attached to the widget, so I am assuming it's just a giant vacuum hose.

Found my vacuum leak! This sort of explains why it was intermittent, because sometimes the leak was bigger than other times depending on how much the metal pipe was bent at the break. I just replaced this whole section with hose and it runs great now! In case you are wondering, this was mounted on the top of the engine on the back, and ran from just above the EGR valve towards the drivers side of the engine. Looks like the other end had broken in the past and somebody just got a longer hose, which is essentially my solution too except now the hose is attached to the engine and not this extension whatever.

My Brat has had a vacuum leak on and off since I've had it. I've spent a lot of quality time looking for it to no avail. To add to the joy it seems to be intermittent and seems to just fix itself eventually. Besides running like poo, I know it's acting up when the vent flap in the dash somewhere doesn't go "THUNK" shortly after I start it up. I still have a lot of emissions junk on it which would probably make my life easier but right now it is what it is. So my question is, does anybody with more experience with me have any pointers to try and help track this down?

So to make a very long, very sad story short, it turns out the transmission is as good as can be expected for being 40 years old. The problem was the clutch cable had seized. Apparently sitting in a field for 10 or 15 years tends to degrade parts. I just wish I had thought to check that before the transmission was temporarily separated from the vehicle. Next up: Vacuum leak, then rear shocks. After that I'll have to check my list.

So there are many references to a thread that outlines how to replace the stock 4MT transmission with a 5MT/EA82 transmission but all the links are busted, and searching for it seems to time out. Does anybody have a good link to that thread? For anybody in the future trying to research this I have learned a few details about it. The good news is the 5MT transmission will just bolt onto the engine. The bad news is that is pretty much the only good news. You need several parts from a donor car (clutch, clutch plate, shifter, maybe some rubber boots, and maybe the 4WD drive shaft. And on top of that it looks like you need some sort of custom mount, and there used to be a guy who sold a kit for that but as far as I can tell he hasn't logged in for a few year. Seeing as how I do not have a donor car, as much as I would like to put in a 5MT unless somebody has a better idea it looks like my best bet is to find another 4MT transmission and hope for the best. I'm also considering putting the existing transmission back in and selling as is because I'm not sure what other options I have right now.

So it turns out it is not a clutch release/throwout bearing, it's the transmission itself. After dropping the transmission (again) the pilot and release bearings seem fine but the transmission itself is hard to turn. So, am suddenly in dire need of transmission #4. The only place I can think of to buy one is on Ebay and I'm not sure which one might work. I would entertain any 4WD that might work, 4MT, 5MT, or whatever. Some options are: https://www.ebay.com/itm/185700120903 https://www.ebay.com/itm/266110131434

Thanks! The pedal seems firm and the transmission is a little sloppy in general but I figure that is normal for the age. Third is a little tough to downshift into though, is that what you mean? I've done a little work on it and (when it is running good) I really like driving it. I hate newer cars with all the sensors, computers, and screens. There are still a lot of little things I want to do on it (like refurbishing the bumpers and wiring up the lights up top), but since I got the big stuff done I'm kind of happy just driving it as is. In a couple months I'm moving out of the country and I'm probably going to be selling it.

Thanks! I really appreciate the help! Last time the bearing went out it took it's time and just kept getting louder. This time it happened a little more quickly and more dramatic, and I had trouble getting it into any gear except second to get it home. So I'm hoping I just need to replace the bearing again and everything else is fine. I actually replaced the clutch and plate a couple years ago when I swapped the automatic transmission for a manual (that crapped out a couple years later), and we are getting unfortunately too familiar with dropping the transmission now. I'm also trying to source a pilot bearing and I'm going to try and replace that too. It seems like the pilot bearing is easier to find. This is my fourth Brat and I've had more trouble with this one than the other three put together. I guess that might have something to do with it being almost 40 years old. :-)

I have a 1983 Subaru Brat with a 4MT dual range 4WD transmission but long story short I have no idea what year the engine or transmission is. The transmission is a little questionable but the throwout bearing was definitely going bad so (with some effort because I don't consider myself a mechanic) my dad and I replaced it with a new one I got from autozone. It lasted about two weeks and now I need to replace it again. I've been researching how to get a good quality throwout/clutch release bearing but I'm having trouble digging up a source/and or part number. As far as I can tell the internet does not think this part exists for a Subaru before 1985. A lot of the ones I've found online that might work have this cover or something over what is presumably the bearing, and I'm not sure what's up with that. I got the one from Autozone because it looked like a bearing, but after it went bad I went back to read the description more closely and it says it is a general purpose bearing. I'm hoping if I get the right bearing it will last longer. I happen to have an extra (bad) bearing on it's carrier/assembly/whatever and I took a photo of it in case it helps. The bearing has an inner diameter of 35 MM. Anyway, if anybody could point to a source for the right bearing I would greatly appreciate it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

What color it the interior? I'm looking for a tan plastic shifter cover and vinyl boot. The donor car it came out of had a severe reverse issue and my uncle cut out the boot and a notch on the right hand side so he had more travel to get it into reverse. Actually the rubber boot I have under that is pretty chewed up too. Actually looking for a few tan plastic bits if you have them.

Well I verified that the original problem was there is an intermittent connection in the fan connector, which is why they originally bypassed the sensor. Once I fixed that grounding the sensor wire always engages the fan, so I deleted the universal fan sensor/bypass thing. So I guess if the fan still doesn't come in I'll try plugging it into the other one. :-) The bypass thing has some sort of a sensor zip tied to the radiator hose, a potentiometer to set the threshold, and some wires to connect it all.

I just wanted to post an update. I got all the parts installed and took it to a local A/C shop. The guy was nice an knowledgeable but said I would be wasting my money because the system had been disconnected for so long all the oil had congealed. He didn't seem to believe me when I told him that the evaporator and expansion valve had probably never had refrigerant in them. He also said that the hoses were probable too brittle to be used, and said the only refrigerant he used was R134. Finally he recommended I go find somebody that would but in a complete aftermarket system that would cost as much as I have into the entire vehicle. But he did say he would charge me $100/hour to do whatever I wanted him to do. He actually seemed like a good guy trying to help, but I'm not going to follow his advice. The current plan is to go ahead and buy a new compressor, and also an A/C flush kit to clean out the hoses and condenser. Then I'm going to flush the hell out of the condenser and hoses. Then I'm going to take it back up to him and tell him to hook it up and see if it will hold a vacuum, and if so go ahead and try adding refrigerant. I still have a question I would really like answered, though, in case I end up having to do everything myself. Where the hell are the high and low ports on this system? Again, the only thing I can find that might be them are on the compressor and they have black caps, so are those them? And if so which is which? Attached is a picture of the compressor I am buying.