TomRhere

Definetly was a hard hit. But I think it's fixable. Granted, I'm not there to see it in person, but it does look fixable to me. And I don't think you'd need to put it on a frame machine either. You'd be surprized at what one can do with some chain, come-along, block & tackle, and a porta-power.

PM sent.

Had same issue with the '82. Pulled the unit and looked at the solder joints. Quite obvious that those were the problem on mine. Quick re-solder of joints and she works like a charm.

I was thinking wrong rotation on either the blower motor or the squirrel cage, but didn't think it was possible on Subarus so I didn't say it. Do know it's possible on "other" makes/models. Learned something....

^^ I've done that countless times. The gasket set they sent you is for the EA-82 2-piece adapter.

Nice work. Great looking Brumby!!!!

It's just left of center where the engine/trans bolts together and runs back under the spare tire mount.

My guess would be bad motor and tranny mounts. Those would let things flop around enough to pop it into to 4WD. Just my .02

I would suspect a bad connection for the pickup module in the disty, or a bad module itself. Also, I had an issue of "no spark" in my '85 BRAT awhile back. After a bit of checking things out. I found that the magnet under the "C" shaped piece in the disty had broken into quite a few pieces. Swapped in another magnet from a junk disty and she's been running fine ever since. Had simular issue then. It started, ran for a few minutes, then died and wouldn't re-start. After a few minutes, it did start back up. But I wasn't willing to attempt the 32 mile drive home with it. Left it at the shop and caught a ride with my Son. Made repairs the next day during lunch.

The top half of your tank has probally developed a few pinholes. I've replaced the tanks under 2 BRATs because of the same thing you're going thru. A temporary fix, until you can source a replacement tank, is to use some Seals All. Drop your tank, (fun job), clean the area of leakage, coat it with the Seals All, re-install tank. Seals All will stop a flowing leak in a gas tank up to an 1/8" diameter hole. One can use something for a plug for larger holes. Good stuff to have on hand when you're off-roading. I have had the need of using it, many times. Should be able to find it anywhere they sell stuff like RTV, and simular products. My local parts store has it, WalMart carries it in the automotive department.

Heard tell that we had about 3" of snow before it switched over to rain early yesterday morning, turning it all into so much slush.. Do know the '85 BRAT did not like that slushy crap one bit!!!! Even in 4WD, it was all over the place. If I got out of the tire tracks of other vehicles, she would dance all over the place. Those tire tracks were down the center of the road, so I had to get into the actual lane when there was on-coming traffic. Made it out of the driveway with no problem in 2WD, but when I got onto the pavement with the slush, she didn't want to move very good. OK... 4WD it is... Felt like shifting it into 4WD dropped out the front and just drove the rears she was so squirrly. Reminded me of the '68 Chevy 1/2T 2WD I had many years ago. Got good tires, but I guess they are not for slushy conditions. Had them on the '86 BRAT last winter, and they did good in the snows we got then. So I don't know.... Maybe a frontend issue I haven't found yet. Didn't drive it in any snowy conditions last year. Really not wanting to do it this year either, but I have no choice right now. Took an hour and 10 minutes to make the drive into work. Usually about a 40 - 45 minute drive. 8 miles of that slush crap before I got to a plowed road, and couldn't go faster than 25 MPH. Trip to work is a little over 32 miles oneway. Really wasn't wanting to have to drive the whole way in that...

Drizzle rain this morning has turned what snow we did get into slush. Hard to tell what we did get amount wise. I know the wind was kicking pretty good lastnight when I was climbing into bed. Nieghbor's pine trees were singing pretty good. Sortta calm out right now. So much for the "Major Winter Storm" they we ranting about yesterday....

Light dusting of snow, just starting to cover things. Rain is on it's way though. Really not wanting bad road conditions just yet. Need some new tires for the Wife's HHR. Pricey buggers.....

The resistor block gives the blower speeds, depending on switch settings. You can loose one or two speeds due to bad resistor block, but still should have airflow. Really sounds like you have something in the system blocking the airflow. Maybe from a PO's forray into the system to repair some other problem. Only items in there that could block flow are the AC coil and heater core themselves., and or debris getting trapped against them.

Remembered this thread while I was out in the garage today, so I looked over the units I have here out of an '86 Sedan and an '88 XT6. They were identical except for the Xt6 has electric servos, vs vacuum on the '86. Only doors found are cabin/outside air, defrost/vents/floor. Nothing found that would restrict airflow thru the system. Outside air intake for the blower motor is under the wiper cowl on the passenger side, just off to the side of the area that the removable cowl grille meets the stationary part. Basically directly above the blower motor itself.

Going thru the same thing with my '85 BRAT. Swapped in a new cable a couple months ago as the old one broke. Worked fine for a couple months, now it's wanting to hang up. Thought it might have been due to the new shoes I recently bought. Slight heel on them, and thought maybe heel was getting caught under the pedal and basically jamming it when I lifted my foot. I tested that theory by placing the shoe on the pedal, and it is possible. I made consious effort to re-position my foot while driving after that. But,, I have had it hang a few more times, and totally moved my foot away from the pedal, and it still did the "high rev" thing. ???? I have removed the cable from the carb, and it moves freely in the housing with no resistance felt at all. With the cable attached to the carb, it runs straight from the mount bracket to the carb. No strange angles or anything like that. So now, I'm thinking either weak return spring, or the throttleshaft is hanging up in the carb base. I need to look into that later today. Just may swap the intake and Weber over to it from the '86...

http://www.rockforddriveline.com

'86 BRAT, EA-82 intake W/Weber, solid lifter EA-81 engine got high 28's low 29's consistantly. Could get as low as 24 if I beat on it alot. Haven't really checked the '85 BRAT yet. It's bone stock basically. Seems to do fairly good on gas. Thinking about 26 mpg.

quote; all these problems remained the same before and after i replaced the cap and rotor. And werent a problem when i changed the plugs and wires. end quote; Check that the plug wires are correctly positioned on the cap following the firing order, and that they are one the correct plug also. Flipping 2 wires around can cause the symptoms you're having. my .02

Fired it up yesterday. Whole lot of cough, gag, choke, spit, sputter, at first. But she runs......... On the way old gas even. Really bad nasty smell from the exhaust. Still need to do work on it, Y-pipe install, swap radiator(leaks), accelator cable, correct oil pressure switch, proper accessory drive belts, few interior repairs. Christopher helped me out some by swapping out the headlights, broken tailight. Checked power window operation, auto seatbelt operation and what nots.

Link to Service Manuals, http://www.box.net/shared/4fmearkah4

I have a Thrush CherryBomb(CB) under my '85 BRAT. Had to do some custom fabbing to fit it where it's at, but it was nessecary with what I had to work with. The flange for the doughnut gasket on the end of the Y-pipe had broke off, plus some of the rest of the system was in sad shape. The system looked to be an OEM replacement complete with the way-to-small tailpipe out of the muffler. I put the CB on the end of the Y-pipe, and used the exhaust piping from under the XT6 I had, as that piping was like new. However, the muffler had rusted-out. I used a length of 2" EMT conduit to extend the exhaust out past the bumper where the muffler should be. It was something I had here at that time. It's surprizingly quiet for having a CB under it, but that's probally due to it being sofar up near the engine. Acts more like a resonator than a muffler. I hear more intake noise running up through the gears than I do exhaust noise. It does have a nice burbble to it idling, and downshifts have a nice sound to them. I imagine that it would be louder if I had the CB back where the muffler should be. I kinda remember hearing a Sube with a CB under it where the muffler should be, but it's been a few years ago, so I really can't recall just what it sounded like. Do know that I could hear him coming down the road.

If the axle did come off the trans, sounds to me like you were given an axle for an EA-81 instaed of an EA-82. The EA-81's are shorter, and may be short enough to drop off the trans.

Email me, and I could do that. No have link available, but have the downloaded files saved to send you.

Got the Pics. Thanks.........