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"I'm El_Freddo, and this is my Brumby Story:" Ok, time I "came clean" about the Redback Brumby. This is how I picked her up about two years ago. AFAIK I'm the third owner: The previous owner was a bit of a talker/player. I went out to check her out as a bit of a tease for me, it was local enough for the drive - I've always wanted a targa top since Sunnie the Brumby that we got for my mother inlaw. I would've loved a blue one but beggers can't be choosers. The owner said a fella was coming up from Melbourne that weekend so I bid him good luck, he was asking too much for my liking. 6 weeks later it was still there so I made an offer - he still played a hard card so I told him to offer it to the other guy at the price he mentioned and I let it be. Less than 5 mins later he called me back and said deal. As you can see from the pic above there's some front guard damage, pity, it's pretty straight otherwise! The engine wasn't working - reckoned it just stopped one day on the way to work and has been sitting like this for 6 months. I thought blown HGs straight up - empty radiator and creamy oil told the story. In the tub it had a rubber mat that concealed some foundation sand/packing sand (the orange stuff) that had held the moisture and rusted the middle of the tray. The main areas where rust shows up were pretty decent which I was happy about. After getting her home she moved around the yard a few times before making it into the shed for some work. Family photo: First up was pulling the engine - pretty easy in these things! I had to entertain dad as a decoy for his surprise 65th - he sat and watched for most of it :/ Once on the stand we drained the "oil": Second bucket: ~15 litres of water and oil in total. Now thinking major head gasket and a possible engine replacement. Continued stripping the engine before jumping to conclusions though. Heads removed, such a pretty sight (not!). Never seen this before: This was the culprit - and the previous owner's story checked out at this point: That's a Welch plug that dropped out, dumping the entire contents of the radiator into the engine, stopping things pretty quickly I'd imagine! After getting busy with work and other things (4wd trips etc) Dad came up and put the long block back together for me while I was at work - this saved me loads of time! Once the engine was all back together I got it running - it blew a lot of blue smoke and I shat bricks. It was also running as rough as guts. Turned out that I needed to adjust the valve clearances better than I did - it was running on two cylinders, just. Once all 4 were back online it blew more blue smoke. Not happy Jan! This finally cleared up and ran without any smoke. Very stoked. One of the things we had to do was remove rust from the bore. This was a cheap build for a daily cruiser - so instead of a rebuild or even a hone and new rings we hedged our bets and went this way. No1 cylinder had a couple of small pits at the very top of the cylinder so we left it this way and ran with it. Now it was time to look at other parts of the vehicle. Redback got her name when I was working on the rear end pulling drive shafts off that had probably never been removed before. While hammering away a redback dropped out from behind one of the rear wheels. Sorted that one quickly! It wasn't the last - I think there were five all up from memory, so a name was born for this beast. The rear bearings were an unknown and seemed rumbly and one of the rear brakes was leaking. So after a small investment in parts: This was done: Rear end being worked on: Rear diff was out as well, swapped in for one that leaked less instead of swapping seals! Home made tool for bearing retainer nut removal: All coming back together well: "New" rear drums were sourced from one of the parts bombs, the originals had a decent 2-3mm groove dug into them! The new ones barely looked like they'd been used! Then it was off to a mate's place for some detailing - 4 hours of degreaser and pressure washing! Only got a phone pic of that, it's not been uploaded At some point, either in the transit there or back I managed to get a stone chip in the windscreen, just a small one but right in the driver's view. Again, stole a windscreen from a parts bomb. This one cleaned up very well - I was stoked. This also gave me the opportunity to replace the old hard windscreen rubber and tackle the rust that I knew was under the front right corner: Putting the windscreen back in - always fun. Had to look it up on ausubi as to how I did it last time on Sunnie the Brumby. Once that was read the windscreen was in within 20 minutes: A new heater hose above the water pump was sourced - I use another unit from a Toyota Camry, just trim to size: A few other things along the way and it was time for a roadworthy inspection: ^ I didn't like the original rims, different offset and to me they didn't look that great on this brumby. I also had a set of black sunnies in the shed with my snow tyres on them which easily swayed my decision. I reckon they look way better even if they're only 13 inch and don't fill the guards. So she didn't pass first go. A few excited rookie mistakes: 1/ Didn't fill the wash bottle 2/ Didn't bolt down the passenger's windscreen wiper arm, so that didn't move! 3/ Apparently I had a front indicator that was blown - I didn't find it on my check so dunno where they got that from. and 4/ worn front uni joint on the tail shaft. I fixed the other easy little issues straight up, had to order in the uni joint so got two and did them both at the same time. I also smashed my thumb pretty good doing this - only now is the damaged nail almost grown out about 6 months after the event! Once those things were sorted the RWC was issued and I was off to rego. Vicroads now make it nearly impossible to get an appointment! I was pissed that I didn't get one before the weekend, but got one Monday and had to take some time off work to do it - just frustrating! The blessing was that my birthday/christmas/birthday pressie rocked up in the mail at M&D's (home base for important mail!) - so I was able to use them during the rego process, saving me some extra coin on not needing new plates: At Vicroads just after rego was granted: Back at home: Used her for driving to work, loved it! Didn't have to worry about rain (I'd been on the scooter prior to this!) And of course, hanging with the family members: Since this pic Dad borrowed Redback for a few months. I missed the old girl, the scooter's fun but there's just something about a brumby, plus it can do over 55kmp/h without trying hard. It's easier to speed in that Ruby Scoo IMO. While Dad had her M&D headed overseas and I had a conference close to their place, so my wife and I crashed there and I drove to the conference in Redback. The issue that came up after frying a few alternators (dad went through this issue) was a severe lack of performance - the exhaust would become blocked at certain levels of acceleration. This got worse until I was stuck on the way to the conference travelling at 60km/h, and that was before hills! Not fun! Pulled another Y pipe from the parts bomb and that sorted it. This wasn't an ideal fit due to some spacers on my EA81 for the ERG system that wasn't on the earlier year parts bomb, but it works and Redback goes very well for an EA81! I've also got to fix the choke - dunno what's wrong with it but it doesn't work properly. The carb could probably do a with a rebuild too, she runs too rich overall for my liking. I've solved the slop in the gear stick with the classic slot and bolt arrangement: The Welch plugs were sorted by Dad's idea - massive grub screws/threaded plugs: They've worked a treat! I've been hunting for a bullbar - found one in Talem Bend, South Australia, got a mate to pick it up for me. So I need to roadtrip to the city of churches to pick that up soon. I've since found an ideal bar that fits the bill for what I want. If all goes well the first one purchased might end up on Sunnie the Brumby if it's better than the one already on her. I've also been tossing up the idea of a lift kit, but it really comes down the right price at the right time - I don't want to go all out like Ruby Scoo lift/tyres. One thing I would love to do is make the engine run with the stock L series MPFI system. I'm a true believer in EFI over carb setups. I don't know if I can do this due to space constraints without converting the auxiliaries to the EA82 setup - not an easy task unless you've got the EA81 turbo brackets and crank pulley. Also an AWD gearbox would be great. Will have to build one up and fit it in at some point. EA casing an EJ gearbox can be done without issue over here with a dual range gearbox. Cruise and remote central locking would be sweet and I'd like to add a neat little tacho, oil pressure and coolant temp on the steering column in a manner that doesn't cover the other gauges. It's just a case of time and money for those things - after all this is meant to be a cheap build! Cheers Bennie

Well my 1981 GL got me through most of this weird rump roast winter with little snow however early last month I was ready to leave work and went to start my car. I’ve had some weird starting issues where if I don’t get it started on the first bout of cranking sometimes it won’t crank again just click. This time it did just that and I usually would just go thow a little jump pack on it for a minute and it’ll crank over again. However this time it blew my fusible links and the fuse in the box under ign & fuel gage. Spent the past month pushing off/ learning about all that crap and now it’s suppose to snow soon so I’ve been rushing trying to fix it. I have cleaned and replaced some grounds, pulled apart that little rat nest of wires around the ignition coil, and tested the relays (to the best of my ability). However I cannot seem to get the coil to get any power beyond .80v (I tested the coil and it has proper resistance). A buddy and I did get it running a couple days ago but, when I turned the keys into start, my stater would engage and the engine would fire however once I would let go and it would flip back to run it would completely cut out. Made a post about the prior problems I had on in a Facebook group and they helped with a little bit of the wiring. One of them also told me to try jumping the positive terminal on the ignition coil to the battery itself and it ended up working flawlessly even my starter cranked instantly which usually takes a second or two to engage. Ofcourse then I went to go turn it off and it wouldn’t until I ripped the extra wire out. Not sure where or how I’m loosing power along the way but when I pulled the circular (I think 6-8pin) plug out from the external voltage regulator and tested the battery side the black with white line wire is only reading around 1.14v and that is also the same wire I have traveling up to my ballast resistor and is what I believe supplies the power to my coil. There is also the black with red stripe that I have attached to the positive terminal of the coil too. I checked the voltage right before and after the new fusible links I’ve put in and they are 12v so I’m not sure how I’m loosing over 11v. I have the Hanes book and have looked at the wiring diagram but I’m just not good with this electrical stuff. I will probably add some more in-depth stuff tomorrow kind of word vomited tonight however I'm beat right now and the snow starts Friday morning so I got 2 more days. 😭 *can add pictures if you think it’ll help.*

The time has finally come for the Ignition Lock to get stuck in my Brat. It was already in a state where the key could be removed in any position and while driving around. Currently it is stuck in the Run position, and can start the car, but will not turn back to shut the car off. Is it possible to remove this lock cylinder? I have a parts GL Brat with a good lock cylinder in it to swap out if so. 1985 Brat Gl (tilt column steering)

So I made a mistake and bought a ea71 for my brat I got a good deal but I’m not sure if I can hook my ea71 up to my brat idk how different they are so I gotta ask can I hook this up.

Hi everybody, I'm looking to improve the interior of my EA81 hatch before/as I convert it to electric, I've already got some parts ready to swap out like an uncracked dashboard and some new interior lights, but one main piece I'd like to take a look at is the shift lever (and seats too but I'm keeping my eyes peeled for some Escorts and Probes in the usual places). For the most part it's fine but the (vinyl? pleather? I'm not sure) stock shifter boot is just torn to pieces and I'd like to just outright replace it. I've been eyeing up manual 3rd gens because of their relative plentifulness in my local junkyards, but it looks like their boots are a different design, more like the accordion boots out of early legacys or imprezas. Are they interchangeable into ea81 machines, or would I be better off looking elsewhere?

I am new to Subaru and have acquired an 83 GL station wagon, straight body, garage kept and she runs!...kinda. It starts but floods because my metering rod is seized inside the carter weber carb. I seem to have purchased the last rebuild kit in the US (or so I've been told) for just about $300! Now I'm being told I should get a new carb and haven't had any luck finding anything to fit the carter/weber intake manifold on this EA81 engine. I'm learning to work on this car, not a mechanic so my knowledge is very little on conversions. I want to see her drive but may not be the project for me since parts are rare and no sentimental value to encourage me to spend the $$$. The interior is immaculate, the original owner has everything down to the dealer keychain in the leather case. One dent in the drivers door but other than that, the car appears brand new. He treasured this car and hoped I could get it on the road again but been hitting dead ends so this is where I'm at. I can either find the right manifold to accept a new carter redline carb or hitachi carburetor, or find one to adapt to mine but the last thing I want to do is start parting it out or sell it all together. Upon waiting for my carb kit and sending back the redline carb that won't mount to my manifold, I've cleaned the fuel tank, new filters, pump and fuels lines. unseized the back brakes and got all new parts and haven't run into a snag until now. I am hoping to get some information on where I can find a hitachi manifold or work around for the original carb. Any information will help.

Thus begins the saga of rebuilding a seized engine, a seized water pump, broken bolts, registration woes, and the many other problems from sitting for years in who-knows-where. So far, it's living up to its namesake, but it's complete and in good condition.

I had a leak, in a coolant bypass hose. I used dry ice in the radiator to pressurize the cooling system, and the leak became much easier to find. Video. https://youtube.com/shorts/gN2hKFJvt3M?feature=share

heeeeeey. i’ve been lurking the forums since buying the murder machine in 2017 & getting so much info from y’all thought i’d finally post some photos. 1986 gl wagon, ea81 swap with weber conversion, 4 inch sjr lift. 6 lug conversion currently running 215/75/15. all the interior lights have been deleted, & the cooling fan is on a toggle - i live in leadville so it’s usually cool enuf. straight exhaust to annoy the neighbors. just installed the steel front bumper & winch!

Hey qwanted to post a link to my last wheelin trip to browns camp. My camera batteries died (like wouldn't charge died) so I had to rely on others to film. My buddies wife got this one on one of the hairier sections of firebreak 5 at browns camp OR. Facebook video....sorry to those that don't FB https://www.facebook.com/Unnefer.and.Iset/videos/vb.100000313806507/1829128547107588/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

Sitting at the computer, I'm at the point where I'm about to pull the trigger on purchasing my lift kit. -=BUT=- The SJR website says their 4-in kit "fits EA71, Gen1 1978-80 all body styles"... I thought my 1980 wagon (with the 1600) still fell into the EA81 category? (Plus, the SJR kit for EA81 is about 50 bucks cheaper.) I also have a 1981 parts car with the 1800 motor I plan swapping into my 1980 wagon when I do the lift. Thinking that would be easiest when everything is already apart. I've been told I'll need to use the crossmember from the 1981 to make the swap. Is there any truth to that? Can somebody set me straight on which car I have and will a crossmember swap make any difference as to which lift kit I buy? - I appreciate any insight/experience you folks might have.

ive picked up a project recently that i had given up on for a while. The things that have stumped me about this 4" lift that i got from SJR was how i was gonna extend the steering column and shifter linkage. i heard that you may be able to take a steering column from a legacy, but if this is true i don't know what years i could take one out of for it to work. 1984 gl hatch EA81 1.8L no power steering

Anybody have any experience converting the EA81 Quad Headlight setup over to the EA81 Single Headlights with Cyclops? Or know of a writeup? Believe that I have everything needed: Single Headlight Core Support Single Headlight Buckets/Bulbs Single Headlight Bezels with Turn Signals and Pigtails Third Eye (Cyclops) Full Assembly with Pigtail Third Eye Grill Relays that sit on the passenger side (RH) strut tower Third Eye Switch from factory that's used with the HighBeams on. Part that's confusing me is how the wiring goes from twin lights, one for low and one for high beam, to single units that do both functions. Guessing that the turn signal wiring that goes to the front bumper will have to be rerouted so they will go to the corner flashers of the Single Headlight Style. And then there is adding the Third Eye to the equation... The easiest method in my head; Take the entire front harness from an '82. Place that harness in the body of the '86. (thats the year of the EA81 chassis its going into.) Not sure if the connectors between those years are the same or if they were changed? I have an '82 that is badly rusted and is more like a donor vehicle. Ideally would take the cyclops light setup from it and put it on the '86 which is still structurally sound.

Looking at SubaruParts dot com or the similar Subaru branded sites, they don't even show the "Loyale" as an option on their drop-down-lists. However using search engines and searching for example a Brat or Loyale part and then including "Subaru Parts" will bring up these older vehicles on their site. Did this for the Brat Tailgate... Trying to find the part number for the Counter-Sunk Phillips Cap Screw/Bolts that connect part number 10 (The support Stays) to both the Gate and the Body. They list all the other part numbers but the hardware I'm looking for... https://www.subaruparts.com/v-1984-subaru-brat--gl--1-8l-h4-gas/body--tailgate Ordered these through Subaru before back when building up my '85 Brat... Now having a hard time finding them. Have heard that someone at the Oregon Dealership has The Book with all the numbers. The nuts here at my local Subaru threw theirs away years ago. Also tried using the Search for this info... got about 5000 results... most of which had nothing to do with what I searched. Tried narrowing it down and the results went to 30,000. Narrowed it down further and went to zero results. Seems the Search prefers the latest posts and the older ones just fall into the clutter.

Hey all, I have a 1986 BRAT that has had disty trouble most of its life it seems. It original disty went bad an a different one was swapped in from a parts wagon. Then that one went bad and it got the disty from another parts car. This third disty was from an older model and had some sort of complicated ignition module bolted to the top of the coil. Now I was finally able to track down a cardon rebuilt disty, I installed the new disty, new accel coil, new premium blue NGK plug wires and new NGK plugs. I put all of it in and it won't start. No spark from coil. There is 12 volts at pos and neg. We get a weak spark if we ground the coil neg to a body ground. Otherwise no spark at all. Any help would be appreciated Thanks in advance.

I have an 87 XT and an 86 BRAT with an EA82T and an EA81 respectively. If either of those motors dies on me catastrophically I'll have to do an engine swap. I know most people seem to like dropping EJ engines into these cars, but I would like to make them both diesel with subaru's EE20 diesel engine if I can. I know that its physical dimensions will work as it is slightly smaller than an EJ22. I was curious if anyone knows what kinda of transmission mods I'd have to perform?

Hello! My ‘81 Brat GL 1800 has a vapor separator behind the passenger seat behind the bed panel. Mine is crumbling and is now fused together with epoxy. Hurray! I’m looking for a “new” one or I’m curious if there is part interchangeability with another car. It is listed as subaru part number “6420571001” or “642057100” Shown as Detail “O” in diagram. Thank you! My Brat thanks you. The environment thanks you!

Hi folks, So I'm planning a road trip in my BRAT in a few weeks, and decided to do a little preventative maintenance. Had a messy oil leak and a some ticking, so I decided to replace seals and the paper gasket on the oil pump. I think we all know what happens when you remove an oil pump on these engines... Now I'm in the market for a new (I wish) or used pump. I've found two new and one used one in Greece (car.gr), 12 new in Columbia (mercadolibre.com.co) and one new one in Mexico. There are a couple of shady looking websites (sabrmarket.xyz; nsbamall.xyz) that claim to have them new, but don't respond to emails. I've tried just about every salvage yard I can find in the PNW and I'm coming up blank... Does anyone have a specific salvage yard that they know has one? Or maybe you'd be willing to part with one yourself? It's been three weeks of scouring the internet and I've exhausted every option I can think of. Next step is to see if a skilled machinist/welder friend of mine can weld it back together and then mill off the weld material. TL;DR: If anyone has an EA81 oil pump available (in any condition other than cracked) I would pay handsomely for it.

After about a year of searching for a good Brat for a project I stumbled upon a 1979 Brat on craigslist in Wyoming for $100, a deal too good to pass on. I convinced my uncle in law to make the three hour journey to go pick it up for me and drop it off at my grandpas property in Montana, which is where it currently sits until early May when I have a trip planned to go pick it up. The previous owner had intentions of rebuilding the EA71 and had the heads disassembled and a few other things torn down as well. A few weeks later I saw an ad for a 1983 Brat that was so rusty that the rear end was about to separate from the unibody. The car looks very deceiving but it has almost no drivers side floor, rocker panels and the back half of the bed had already been replaced with a patch panel. The Brat came with the rear jump seats, headrests, seat belts, and even the bags that cover the seat belts. The car came with a lot of other miscellaneous parts as the guy I bought it from has supposedly owned like 10 different Brats and this was the last one he had. My plan is to swap the EA81 with a Dual Carb set up I picked up into the '79 along with the 4 speed D/R for now until I can find a 5 speed D/R to swap into it.

My '82 GLF coupe has a wheel shake at highway speeds that persists even after new tires, brakes, brake rotors, repacked bearings, tight suspension, rack, tie rods and new front axles. I noticed the output shafts on the trans (5MT) are pretty sloppy and have a lot of movement. The axles also make sounds like they're worn out when slow speed cornering even though they are new. Anybody dealt with this, and is it possible the loose trans output shafts can cause a bad wheel shake at high speeds? If that is it there is probably not much I can or will do to mend it.

...before it happened. Or at least it should have. Hindsight is 20/20. The 3rd eye harness is very close to the battery. Rats were hungry and ate some of the insulation off of the red and black wires in the harness. Went to pull the battery to use in a different car; took off the negative terminal first, and then wrecklessly set it down in front of the battery, with the positive terminal still connected. Before I could undo the positive terminal I heard a "snick" similar to a fuse popping. The negative terminal had brushed those exposed wires... either the red, or black, or both. Now the highbeams work, as well as the "beam" icon on the dash. But once the 3rd eye button is pressed, neither it or the "center light" icon on the dash work. The 3rd eye was funtional before, door and light. McBrat, the one who built the straight-axle '82 Brat, had a diagram on "Indys World . com" but unfortunately that site is no longer up. What kind of tests can I do? Did I blow a relay or worse the 3rd eye?

Hi all, I've been using this forum for the last month to try and figure out for to get my 1983 Brat GL running. I recently rebuilt the Ea81 it came with and swapped the hitachi carb for a Weber (new). There are some rust issues with the car but the engine is in great shape. I've got the engine back in the car and it'll fire up with starter fluid sprayed straight into the carb. Tuned the fuel mixture, set idle, timing, etc. Now the issue is, if I detach the fuel line going straight to the carb and run the fuel pump, fuel comes out of the line and flows nicely. However, when I attach the fuel line to the carb and run the pump, it's like there is no pressure at all. No fuel runs through the forward fuel/vapor filter. I hear the pump running but fuel doesn't fill the filter. Could it be an issue with the float? Or possibly the Weber filter underneath where you attach the fuel line? Or a pressure issue? Do these carbs need a return line? Would really appreciate everyone's ideas and replies in advance. I've worked with the carb on my motorcycle (dr650) but other than that I don't have too much experience with carbed Subarus.

I recently got an EA81 hydro motor thats missing the pushrods. The guy I bought it from had a near complete set of solid lifter pushrods(aluminum) he gave me for free and I'm working out a deal for a partial set of hydro pushrods(steel) right now. Can you mix and match the two in the same motor? If mixing and matching won't work, can I run a complete set of solid lifter pushrods in a hydro motor? I'm not sure which set will be easier to complete.. Josh

I have an 86 BRAT that needs a new oil pump, now I have learned that these pumps are ridiculously hard to get these days. For now I am getting an original replacement pump, however odds are I will have to replace it again at some point in time. Lots of you will probably say to just engine swap an EJ in, but I want to keep this vehicle as stock as possible. So here is the question, does anyone know if it is possible to get an adapter for these pumps? You can get an adapter to relocate the filter, so I'm wondering if there is an adapter to get this engine to accept a different, aftermarket oil pump? Thanks in advance, long live the EA engines :).

Alright, so after some research I'm about ready to start an engine rebuild of my ea81. I'm going to use this thread to keep track of my misadventures as I work through attempting to redo an engine that has little to no parts availability, so that you don't have to experience my pain. Videos of the rebuild will most likely end up on my youtube channel. First thing's first. The vehicle that is in need of a rebuild is none other than my rusted-out, ex-daily driver 1984 Subaru brat. I purchased this heap for 400 dollars when I was 14 years old. By purchased, I mean I worked 50 hours for a farmer during harvest at 8 dollars an hour and in exchange recieved the privilage of cleaning his pasture for him so I could liberate it. It was my first car and first project. I drug it out of said pasture here in the midwestern united states, checked the oil, fixed the mouse-eaten wiring to the fuel pump, aired up the 30 year old tires, and drove my new to me 92,000 mile car home and proceeded to park it for 2 years, occasionally starting it up. when I got my license I changed the oil and dailied it for about a year, just around my VERY VERY small town and occasionally going 30 miles to walmart for groceries. once I hit 93000 miles the engine started to make a knocking noise, and then it started not wanting to run. So I stopped making it. I figured id rather have bearings to replace than an entire engine. In the coming months, I realized just how poor parts availability for the ea81 is. but that's why I'm making this thread, right? Occasionally, rockauto has parts like the bearings available, but only occasionally, so I have been trying to find an alternative source thats a little more *ahem* reliable. I had heard that the ea81 shares the same main/rod bearings as the ea82 and er27. If anyone can confirm this I would greatly appreciate it. That's all I've got for now. I'll check back in once I start pulling the engine and know what all I need Ciao Subarute