subarubrat

While checking up on the BRAT at the paint shop today I happened to park next to a stock Baja turbo that was the same color, took a few side by side pics.

Checked ebay, Rock auto, and a few other places but nothing yet, anyone have one or know of a source? My chrome trim is in good shape but my rubber is starting to dry and with the truck getting repainted now would be the time!

Pull the engine and split the case, easy extraction then, and you can get eyes on the problem much better.

Yes, they are 14s and the company is still in business, maybe they could still make them?

I was asked about the axles, in addition to the email from the PO I posted above, here are some pics. It looks like VW III CV's that have had a core machined out then the spline section of a Subaru welded in.

The engine; 30 off the heads and port/polish EA82 SPFI pistons Delta torque grind cam EA82 intake manifold Weber carb New valves / rod + main bearings Emissions delete / EGR / aux air etc. Felpro permatorque head gaskets / OEM gaskets elsewhere New distributor / wires / plugs New alternator New fasteners (all other than head studs) New water pump / thermostat Repaint the tin Will do a header As it came out at 223k miles, a very good core with like new conditions inside. The overhaul..

I started a thread just on the engine but figured the whole thing should be documented because it is an interesting example. The good thing is it is a rust free truck and has very few dings and the expected paint fade of a socal car. I am in the process of a full body makeover and re-spray with new trim/badges/decals etc. as well as an interior overhaul with as many (I want 100%) new parts as possible so it looks showroom fresh. I am doing an overhaul of the engine to get the HP up a bit and make it more drivable in modern traffic. The truck is lightly modified with some real nice custom work and I plan on keeping it as-is for the most part. The interesting thing is that this truck was modified with a lift, larger wheels, and some other custom work in 1989, which is allot earlier than I knew this stuff was going on. I had an 86 at the time and just assumed that the conventional wisdom was correct, that you could not lift them. My plan for the truck is to get it to where it is stock +1, not heavily custom like I have done in the past, but something that could have been done in 82, along the lines of what folks were doing to Toyota 4x4s, had we known then what we know now. Here are some emails from the original owner that shed some light on the history of the truck and the parts on it. I am glad everything is in order. The wheels were made at "Taylor Made Wheels" in South Gate, California They build to order, their phone # about 25years ago was (213) 567-3998. I had them make the wheels because they Could make them look just like the 13" OE's and wear the OE hub caps. Quite a few people have asked me about those wheels over the years after they realized that they where not 13" . The lift kit was also custom made by "Tom Topping" retired over 12+ years ago. He designed everything (lift kit, push bumpers, skid plates, the removable rear seat setup, axles, rear dif. strengthening support) built and installed everything in about two weeks, back in late 1989. Let me know if there is anything else BA The axles are a mixer of Subaru outer CV joint with Smitty Axles ( I think that is what they were called) and the inter CV is half Subaru and half VW. Tom that raised the brat came up with the design. Tom made two of these Brats, mine and my brothers. Tom was working on my brothers front suspension, Tom was able to remove the front sway bar and added additional subframe mounting points and made that brat handle better then it did with the sway bar on or off road. My brothers' brat was T boned and was totaled. BA

Sure, but the castings are the same for the cyl heads.. The only published difference is the valve rocker assembly that bolts to the cyl head casting, those have different identities and are stamped only on the tube as being L or R, but have no discernible differences.

Here is a view of the pistons;

I don't see any way to really beat your classic chromolly tube chassis with a VW front end for starters. If I was building one I would start there and incorporate an EA81 rear suspension assembly, then a WRX engine mated to a bobbed EJ 5mt.

I may have reached the limit of my mechanical reasoning for the evening, but I noticed the following; The shop manual lists a Left and Right hand valve rocker assembly. But looking from left to right on this spare set of heads I cannot see any difference between the two, nor do they seem to be marked in any way (other than the L and R) but that is on the tube and not the castings or shaft. Subaru took the time to make a L Vs R assembly that was independent of the castings, but unless I am missing the obvious difference I am not sure why.

I have some pics that I can post soon, they show the piston tops which do have valve reliefs in them.

I will try to snap some pics of the CV's tonight when I get home, maybe somebody more VW savvy than I can identify the exact components combined with the Subaru components. There are allot of nice custom bits on the truck, the front and rear bumpers are modded so that the tube bumpers mount through them and connect to the frame, super nice work. It also has integrated front and rear skid plates, and a factory high roll bar. Once it comes home from the paint shop and I get the engine back in I will put it up on the lift and post a ton of pics of the work that was done back in the day. I am sending the bumpers, roll bar, and wheels off for powder coating while the truck is in the body shop. Now, if I can just find an OEM winch, NOS front fender badges, and NOS tail gate badges..... And if anyone has a line on headers that would be helpful, I loosely recall somebody making them a few years ago for EA81s but I didn't need a set at the time.

I need to do that, it has a very interesting history. The original owner bought it in 82 and his brother bought one as well. In 89 they both had a shop do a lift, roll bar, bumpers, skid plate, and some very interesting wheels that are copies of the OEM wheels but done in 14in. His brother's Brat was destroyed in the early 90's. I had my original 86 Brat in 89 and back then it was conventional wisdom that it was not possible to lift a Brat, I had no idea that anyone had done a lift that early on. The first lift I recall seeing was in the late 90's when this stuff hit the web. The work was nicely done and the lift is a somewhat different approach with the strut tops remaining in their stock positions and the bottom of the strut being extended, it also has travel limiting straps and type III VW CV joints.

This is how it sits now, just need to do the PCV plumbing and filter, distributor, and a few minor odds and ends before installing. The truck is headed off to the paint shop next week to get showroom fresh, I decided to have them do the engine bay as well so I am gutting that totally and will lay in a new hidden harness, there is so little left anyway once you de-emissions the truck that it makes no real difference to go all the way. The one thing I am torn on, is should I use the stock air cleaner and re-install the spare so that at first glance it looks all stock, or go with the bare look and the aircleaner that comes with the weber. I change my mind about twice a day.

I bought the rust free BRAT out of CA a few months ago and while it ran good it would (as most EA81s do) run out of steam on the upper end thanks to the terrible carb. My plan was to do a weber swap until I had some more time to spare and do a nice build. I installed the weber and decided to clean up the brackets and in doing to an intake bolt snapped off, since that might leak I knew I had to extract it and having to extract it meant risking more bolts breaking off so I decided to just go ahead and pull the engine and do the build. The engine had 223k on the clock and it was greasy on the outside but clean and within specs/clearances on the inside. Cleanup after hot tanking was really helped by a soda blaster I picked up at harbor freight of all places. It is like having a magic eraser to get you back to factory fresh aluminum. After hunting around a bit for a hydro cam to regrind into a solid lifter cam and an EA82 intake manifold I am now into the re-assembly. Build is: 30 off the heads and port/polish EA82 SPFI pistons Delta torque grind cam EA82 intake manifold Weber carb New valves / rod + main bearings Emissions delete / EGR / aux air etc. Felpro permatorque head gaskets / OEM gaskets elsewhere New distributor / wires / plugs New alternator New fasteners (all other than head studs) New water pump / thermostat Repaint the tin I will get some more pics posted soon, the heads and covers are on now, oil pan too. I hope to finish by next week time permitting. Then I think I will drive the truck until the road salt starts then it goes off to the paint shop.

Oh really, what number do you happen to have for him?

He sent me the same excuse, apparently his parents are not very reliable as none of those packages seemed to make it. Of course no package came. I waited too long (being understanding since he gave a hard luck story) and the money is gone. Scumbag.

The EA81 I am building had a set of case bolts that is missing the one large one that is accessible with the head removed. Anyone know what size that bolt is, or have one they want to get rid of?

Right at $1900. for the lift, and about $300 for saw rental, concrete, etc. It has paid for itself several times over. I just had a set of motor mounts fail that can only really be done on a lift, motor mounts were $380 for the set, dealer charges $400 each and install would have been about $2000. That one alone paid for the lift. I also put it on a dedicated breaker just to prevent tripping it in mid lift if something else was on that circuit.

I did this a while back but thought it might help folks out to post this. After living without a lift for far too many years I finally installed one. The problem was that I needed one that would totally disappear and would not have posts in the way. The practical choice was a Bendpak scissor lift that met all my needs but one, some of my cars are too low to pull up on it in the collapsed position. I had to make a mini pit in my garage floor to install it in, the pictures tell the story. I have done work on all my cars using it and I don't know how I ever went without it.

Arcade party at my place this weekend, Sat the 30th. My neighbor is a collector too and is opening his arcade as well so there will be about a hundred games total, pinball, arcade, slots, pachinko, etc. We start about 5pm and pizza is provided, there is an ice bucket for BYOB and we play allot of games. I would love to see some Subaru presence in the cauldesac so PM me for the address if you want to come. Zip is 22712 if you need to figure out where I am. Got some Subaru and other projects in the garage, EA81 MHO engine going together so I would love to talk shop a bit.

Testing.

I thought the HF tools not to expect much from was a great thread, some times they do work though and I thought it would be good to discuss that. -Soda blaster, I bought one and run it at 110psi instead of 90 and it is magic, I hot tanked an EA81 and then soda blasted off what the hot tank did not remove and it made the aluminum look factory fresh! -Large compressors, there is a reason they exclude these from most discounts, they are actually pretty good and are often sold under other names for a few hundred more.

On my site, www.subarubrat.com you can go to my brat mods and there is a series of pictures showing the construction of a 12 in lift, 10 frame and 2 suspension.