TomRhere

Engines out, tranny is out, entire front suspension is lying beside the car. Steeringwheel and dash cluster is out, heater core box is out. Just need to concentrate on the rear end of the car now. Was way suprized at the ease of getting the bolts out for the main front crossmember, and front tranny mount crossmember. Especially after fighting with the rear tranny mount cross member bolts, all 4 of them. Still have to drop the rear diff, gas tank, and the rest of the exhaust system. Then it's time for a trailer, and it's off to someone elses garage for their needs and wants.

Welcome to the board. A clogged PCV system could be your troublemaker. Replace the PCV valve, and make sure all the hoses are clean. May even need to pull valve covers and clean those out to.

Spent the day tearing the XT down, from 8:am to 6:pm. Got most of the interior out, still have the steering column and the heatercore box of the climate control system to remove yet, and I still need to fish the rest of the wiring harness out. The main part of the dash was way to much fun trying to remove, even after I found all of the hidden bolts. Got the ECU and it's wiring out, and layed to the side. Got everything on the engine disconnected and it's ready to be pulled. Only thing holding it in the car are the motor mounts. Was way surprized at the exhaust studs, all but one came right out. Had one argue with me about it's removale, but I won. Plan on having the engine hanging on the hoist, shortly after work tomorrow. Then it's get the rest of the exaust out, finish pulling the wiring, steering wheel and instrument cluster. Tuesday should have the tranny, front suspension, and rear suspension on the garage floor. Well, maybe by Wednesday night. I did do one boo-boo, Forgot to un-plug the O2 sensor before I dropped the exaust header. It un-plugged itself as it hit the floor. Pulled the entire wire with terminal end still attached, right out of the harness. Rats, darn, and golly gee wilikers.

Yes, get the XT-6 if you can. Took the one I bought (for a parts car) out for a quick 2 mile run. Those 2 extra cylinders and the MPFI sure does kick the YeeHaa factor up a couple of notches.

Welcome to the board!! There's atleast one person on this board that has the carbed short-block in his Turboed car, his name here is WJM. So it is doable, but there are somethings to be mindfull of. I looked for the write-up he had on it, but I couldn't find it, sorry. Maybe he'll see this and chime in on it.

May want to check some of the Radiator repair shops around your area, some of those places will do gas tank repair also. I have used a product called Seal-All. Comes in a yellow and red tube with black writing. Got the last tube I bought at Wal-mart. This stuff is good for tank repairs, and will stop a flowing leak. I've used it by itself to plug holes upto 3/16", used a sheetmetal screw or bolt in the bigger holes to help plug them. A 2" gash is a rather large hole to patch over. If you can get hold of an air drill, you could cover the gash with a patch of sheetmetal, then use the Seal-All over it . Please be mindful of what you are working on. You don't want excess heat, or sparks near a gas tank that has a hole in it. I have dropped afew tanks, and put a garden hose in the filler hole, filled the tank with water, then done repairs to it. This will reduce the amount of vapors in the tank. Less likely to go BOOM that way!!!

Miles claimed dibs on the suspension components and the 5 speed trans. I'm seriously considering the 6-lug mod myself, so the 5-lug parts are a no biggie. Got a D/R 5 speed already, so I don't need the tranny, either. Yes it truly is a shame this XT is so rusted out, would've been a nice keeper. Floorboards are still solid, but the rockers and sub-frames are shot. The whole bottom of the radiator support is gone. The side wells in the trunk aren't there anymore, either. Adam, Tried looking up info on your site as to how you did your engine mounting. Couldn't get to the BRAT pages. You have the engine sitting in there as it normally would, right?!? Then you re-did the suspension under that to get your 6" lift, ifin I remember right. Thinking of doing simular with mine, along with the transfercase and flipped rear diff unit, like you and Lumpycam have done. Just amassing knowledge and parts needed list right now. Won't be doing any work on the BRAT until later this year, which isn't very long until it's next year. I'm hoping to have the majority of the work completed by March/April, with maybe the exception of the final paint and stripes. Gotta get busy scrapping on the XT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finished up re-doing the T-belts today. Had to make me a tool for torquing the P/S belt, as they be different pullyes than the EA-82's are. Anyways, got all of the nessecities back on the engine, didn't put the covers on the T-belts, nor did I re-install the electric fans. Had to re-set the plug wires on the disty cap, as someone had rotated them CCW during a troubleshooting episode previously to my buying it. Dumped 2 gallons of fresh go juice into the tank, and fired that mutha up!!! Let it run out in the driveway for about 15 minutes while looking it over for signs of leakage anywhere. Goosed the go-pedal a couple of times, and pasted a wasp nest against the back wall of my garage. Think it's still stuck there now, 3 hours later. Got a case of Huge Gonads, and decided to take her out for a short scream down the road. I don't have a Title and therefore no plates for this car. O---M-----G-----!!! What a difference 2 more cylinders, and MPFI make. This thing just absolutely flies on down the road. Clutch pedal/cable could use some tweakage, but man,,,,,,,I LOVE IT!!!!!! Can just imagine what a Turbo would do to it. Think maybe I might give that a try on down the road. Real shame I have to tear this car down, and get rid of the body. As I said, no Title, plus it is way to rusted to even think about saving. Atleast on my budget, anyways. More up dates to follow..................

Been watching/reading this thread with interest, as my '82 has a variable vibration in it. Depends on what road, and what speed I'm driving at. I've replaced wheel bearings, tie-rod ends, and ball joints on both sides. Haven't done a tire rotation as yet, but will soon. Did replace passengerside drive axle a while back, vibration lessened to a degree, but not alot. Thinking I got a bad rebuilt axle, as the noise while accelerating/turning is still there. Then again, thinking that maybe something further in maybe the problem, as in the stub axle bearing in the trans. Don't like that idea at all.

One other thing to try before ripping into the dash. This has worked on some vehicles, some it didn't. Disconnect both heater hoses and swap their positions, start/drive car for a few. Then replace the hoses as normal. This will reverse the flow thru the heater core, and flush out some of the stuff that likes to collect in there. Like I said, doesn't always work, depends on how the core, and it's supply tubes are related to everything else. Do you have a good flow of air thru the vents, at all positions? Could have a mouse nest blocking off some of the ductwork.

My '86 BRAT, sat for afew years before the guy I got it from, got it, was last plated in '96, he got it in late 2001. Fresh battery, and 2 gallons of gas, fired it up, and drove home. Lost the rear brakes on that drive, rusted lines, but the E-brake worked fine. 1st oportunity to do so, I would do a flush and re-fill of all fluids on the cars, especially the brake system. Wouldn't have anyone standing behind the cars when you do fire them up. Just fired up the XT-6 parts car Miles and I bought. Blew a wasp nest out of the tail pipe with a little bit of force. Had the XT sitting in front of the garage, and the nest hit the inside of the back wall with some force. Didn't do it right away, but it only took a couple gooses on the go peddle to, let her rip.

Hates when that happens! Fix the headlight assembly, then pull the D/S fender. That way both sides match, and you get a better spray trajectory when you next run thru the mud.

Head is cracked. A compression test may tell you which side is FUBAR. Heads are the same for either Driver or Passenger sides, on non-turboed engines, except for the EGR passage. (This one wonders if one can't drill-out that passage.) It's the cam cases that you can't swap.

Does all of the good ones have to be so dadburned far away? Would love to get my hands on another '82. Then the Wife will stop nagging about how her '86 looks.

JF1AX9421HG309413 JF2AT5383CE505495 Really just all in curiousity. Would just like the history, 'specially the 2nd one. That be my '82 BRAT. tomrhere at yahoo.com

http://www.carbsunlimited.com/Weber/Dataresults3.asp?Kit_Nbr=K730&Model=ALL%20,%20INCLUDING%20BRAT Link is to the Weber kit you need for your engine. Word of warning; The kit comes with some bolts that are to long, but they can be easily swapped with the right length ones. They will send you the tall filter element, you may need the shorter one, for hood clearence. Been a few threads on the Weber swap on here lately, do a search for Weber, and read up on them. Takes a little finessing on the settings , but once you have it set-up, it really wakes up the engine.

1. Makes a hellish racket , 2. Gets you stared at by other people on the street/road, 3. Could damage the pressure plate, 4. Will damage pressure plate if left in for long after it freezes up, 5. Can damage the shaft it rides on , on the tranny, 6. Will damage the shaft of the tranny if left in for long after it freezes up, 7. Will cause you to spend more money than you wanted to if you don't change it out before it goes bad.

Yes. You place the jack on top of the 4x6 post. You will need to add the 2x4 blocks under the jack, on top of the 4x6 to get the jack to the proper working height. The 4x6 is used to spread the forces that the jack is applying to the wood, chain and bumper. I've tried 4x4's, but have had some break. Haven't broke a 4x6, yet. You want the 6" width of it like you would a floor or ceiling joist ^, on the side, not the top Now, as the jack is pumped up, it applies force to the bumper and the 4x6, and the chain. Something has to give here. Hopefully, ifin you're using a good quality chain, good jack, and a stout piece of 4x6, it will be the metal of the bumper that gives. That is why you need to place a piece of 2x4 on top of the jack also. If not, you would just bend the bumper lip at that point where the jack is pushing on it. I've even used a small piece of 3/8" flat stock between the jack post and the piece of 2x4 at the bumper, on some really nasty bends. It helps spread the forces out. I have used this method to straighten bent frames on 1/2 and 3/4 ton trucks, so I know it will do a bumper.

Using Snowman's diagram will allow the thermoswitch to run the fan as it normally would, turning fan on/off at xxx* temperature. Flipping the toggle switch, lets you turn the fan on/off as you wish. But off will still be under the control off the thermoswitch, if the engine should be at it's "on" temperature setting.

Thinking that maybe one of the vacuum motors(diaphrams) that move the doors, has a hole in it. Not big enough to cause that function not to work, but big enough to let the vacuum in it bleed off while under a lowered manifold vacuum caused by acceleration. Also, thinking that your car has a White vacuum canister on the Pass. side inner fender. This unit is part of the heater control plumbing. It could be bad, or going bad. Thinking it either stores vacuum, or it's a vacuum booster.

Items required; 4"X6" post, long as width of vehicle, 2"X4" blocks 12" or so, 2-ton bottle jack, Lenght of good quality hardened chain with atleast 1 grab hook on it. Place 4x6 under bumper, wrap chain around bumper, furthest point obtainable from bend area, running chain under 4x6, Place 2x4's on 4x6 until you have proper height for bottle jack to set on them and under bumper, leaving room for one 2x4 ontop of jack, you want the jack to the straight side of the bent bumper, but near the bend adjust center portion of jack cylinder until it contacts board and bumper, start pumping jack handle, being WHATCHFULL of how things are happening, especially with the jack, repeat as needed by lowering the jack, adding 2x4's and shortening the chain hook as needed. If you pull it to far, reverse the position of jack and chain, Done this on many a bumper, even ones that were made out of real steel, not this heavy gauge sheet metal stuff of '70 and later cars

Went out to garage after work today, and started to do abit of troubleshooting. Slapped in a good battery, and started checking things over. Got good spark, got fuel. Well it's pumping some pretty foul smelling stuff that used to be gasoline, anyways. Kinda sorta offered to fire off once, right after cranking it a bit, stopping, then cranking it over again. She fired, 1 time. Decided to check disty/crank timing, as someone has put new tune-up parts in her at sometime. Disty is way off the mark! So, decided to check into it further, by way of T-belt timing. I was right!!! Someone has put new belts on the engine, and they have them way out of sync. Both cams pointing same direction, and they missed the T-belt timing mark by a mile. Looks like they timed the cams to the 0* mark and not the lll marks. Not Knocking on the guy that did this, as I had problems my 1st time of doing t-belts. But I stuck with it, asked the knowledgable ones here on the board, and I got my '82 running. Seems this person just gave up on it. So sorry for him, but to my good fortune. I'll work on it tomorrow after work, and get her timed right. Pretty sure she'll fire up now. Have to get some fresh go juice first. Also need to get some kerosene for my heater. Garage gets cold quick after sun goes down. I'm not ready for the cold weather yet. It can wait afew more weeks, can't it.

Put many a new T-stat in a vehicle, only to later remove it 'cause it was bad. These things happen. Both of my BRATs run at dead center on the temp gauge, and both have only the electric fan. I removed the mechanical one from the '82. This BRAT also had AC which has been removed. You will need to locate the wiring going the the electric fans motor. You will see where the control relay wires kinda T's into the harness. Un-plug the relay wiring, and put the connectors for the fan wiring back together. Now your electric fan will run as a non-ACed car would. Would check all of your hoses, and the radiator for signs of a pin-hole leak. These leaks are small enough, that you won't always see them, but they will leave traces of the water/anti-freeze solution in the form of some crusty deposits. As for filling the system, I fill the radiator until it stops giving major bubbles of air. Then start engine with cap off, letting it warm up. Add more coolant as needed after the T-stat has opened. You want to have your heater set on max heat when doing this, also. Thinking the little jiggler valve on the T-stat should be at the rear, but not 100% on that. Don't remember how I have either of mine at the moment.

Well' ifin it's a 4WD, I'd look at the driveshaft as a possibility here. Could be bad/worn u-joints. Could be, if car has it, a bad carrier bearing on the driveshaft. This only pertains to a 2-piece driveshaft, though.

Thanks Scott! 1st thing on the to-do list, is to find out why it wouldn't run. Don't know much about it, other than it wouldn't start. Owner didn't want to put anymore money into it, and just left it at the repair shop. Could be something major, could be something simple. Would be the tit's if it was just T-belts. Garage owner said it had low compression, but he didn't really want to go into details much. Just wanted rid of it. Battery is deader than a 200 year old doornail, so I can't even crank-it over until I get another battery. Even if I have to do a re-build of the engine, I have the bigger piece of the puzzle. And the car was only $200.00, then some money to a friend to help go fetch-it. After Miles and I settle-up, I'll only be into it for abit over $100.00. Not to shabby I thinks. If the light is good after work tomorrow, I'll try for some pics and get them up in my photo albulm. But pics ain't on the top of my list right now. Wife's thinking she's going to demand that I fix-it for her. Keeps saying, but what if I decide I like it. Kinda to bad Dear, no Title for one, and I'm only 1/2 owner of the car. So, your out-bid. Don't think she's wanting to accept that idea.