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1978 Subaru Brat. From death to life and everything in-between


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Just wanted to document this day. The brat is now home with me! I drove it about 25 miles this evening and it was awesome....up until the moment I blew a fuse and lost all my lights. Lol

Ah... memories! (ren and stimpy singing)

 

Hehe, when it's down to a few little gremlins is when the car becomes fun!  And honestly, I love the building part too!

 

Looking amazing!

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I'm trying to get all my running lights to be LED's and I seem to be running into some issues. I posted a separate LED thread over here:

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/145320-possible-to-convert-all-running-lights-to-led/

 

 

Halp!

 

 

Small Update:

I've driven the car about 60-70 miles so far. My mechanic wanted the motor to be broken in a little bit before he readjusted the motor. Hopefully after I get it back tonight it will be running quietly.

 

He will also be installing the new speedometer cable so that I actually know how fast I'm going. ;)

Edited by spicypeanut
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Okay. Made some progress the last 2 days. Here goes a pretty large update. I'm still greasy and dirty from working on it all day.

 

Got some replacement windshield wipers. These are old school. I much prefer what cars use now...

 

13924084594_8c8e4ef2d5.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

Check out my freshly painted factory Mirrors!

13900520101_e360ebe0e3.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13900525551_d9f8fd0013.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

So because I didn't have this tiny little valve, the truck-let failed the smog test (Yay for California...). This is called a vacuum delay valve. Basically it delays the vacuum to the EGR valve so the emissions runs properly. I didn't have it the first time I tried to smog.

 

13907750431_5b1a28b515.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

With that little thing installed ALL of the emmissions numbers dropped drastically. So now the truck-let is running well, but it failed the smog test yet again. :(  . The HC (PPM) is 332 and the max allowable is 239. :(

 

13907746531_c28e2c7a14.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13907759882_06aee3268d.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

 

I ran it back over to my mechanic who was able to retard the timing a bit and lean it out. I am hopeful that those adjustments will allow it to pass the smog test tomorrow so I can finally get my tags.

 

 

 

Next up, are the shims for the rear head rests. I had one original set that was in good shape and another set that looked as if they had disintegrated. I went over to my good friend who has his own machine shop. He's been doing custom machine work for the past 40 + years. Well needless to say he re-created these parts and the attention to detail and the quality far surpasses the original components. Just look at these, they are gorgeous!

13900559382_e150ed1304.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13900540931_ecddc35bb4.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

<iframe src="https://www.flickr.com/photos/48004531@N06/13900549061/player/" width="375" height="500" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe>

13923677545_3f3cd72484.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

He did a little spot weld repair on the damaged head rest that I had. Once I clean it up and put some paint on it, the head rest will look brand new.

13900569186_2328c5591e.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

Here is some more welding I had my machine shop friend do. Basically each of the grab bars were very rusty. They were bad enough that he told me that he wanted to weld new pipe onto the original frame. Who am I to argue? Had him fix all 4 for good measure.

13900562101_41018a18d0.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13923691395_23b94cda03.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13924141804_8f31c12a3b.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13924146894_77c18a7c46.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

Did some touch-ups on the rear truck-let bed. Came out quite nice.

 

13907738221_860b006cdc.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

 

 

Now that the car/truck/truck-let/Brat is drive-able, I went ahead and re-installed the front push bar and rear roll bars. We polished up the bolts, used some lock washers and flat washers and re-installed both bars. I think they look GREAT!

13907743966_0699db139e.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

13930912953_02f43937fd.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

13930899913_9fbfdb4ea1.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13930856145_7f942f1566.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13907737616_cfe89dd72b.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13907736412_c96260ff83.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13907744212_2d4dd47a16.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13930870985_c2d17747e3.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

 

The mad house that is my garage at this point during the installs.

13907752932_d5de3b45be.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

I've gotten most things on my check-list taken care of.

 

13907746062_f2dd4c1eb3.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

My dad and I were finally able to install both mirrors!

 

13908697161_585ab51a0b.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13908707072_5180277956.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

 

I thought this was a fitting photo to end this update on:

 

13931839865_056e5d58c3.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

Edited by spicypeanut
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Nice job on the shims. I made up a mold a while back and cast a few sets out of casting resin. So far, so good. Same thing with my 4wd shift knob. I also made a mold for the gaskets on my mirrors, but those were cast out of a rubber material that has worked out really well:

 

https://plus.google.com/photos/104996736048797020042/albums/5420708382421326497

Edited by bendecker
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Nice job on the shims. I made up a mold a while back and cast a few sets out of casting resin. So far, so good. Same thing with my 4wd shift knob. I also made a mold for the gaskets on my mirrors, but those were cast out of a rubber material that has worked out really well:

 

https://plus.google.com/photos/104996736048797020042/albums/5420708382421326497

 

Thank man, your molds look like they turned out great! My fix seems to be holding up nicely.

 

The plans I have left are to buy some long shank lug nuts so I can mount my new wheels. Get some meaty off roadish tires that fit (13 / 5x5 What tires can I even get?), install all my LED running lights (and light bar). And some little things here and there.

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Small Update:

 

Over the weekend my dad and I knocked out a bunch of small things. Some of which include:

Install LED Light Bar (7200 lumen)

Install and Fix Black Plastic Trim pieces

Cover up extra door mirror holes

Install front Grill

Fix Front Turn Signal housing Seals

Install LED running lights (all that is missing now are the side marker LED lights which are on their way)

Measure and Order higher quality speakers to install behind the seats

Remove ugly coolant over flow tank and replace with high quality powder-coated tank

Install Battery Tie-down

Install all LED's into Gauge Cluster and mount Gauge Cluster

Install Gauge Cluster Surround

 

Pictures to follow....

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Last night I installed 2 5x7 JBL Speakers into the custom boxes and put them behind each of the seats in the cab. The sound is amazing! Now I've got 2 good speakers behind the seats and 1 good speaker under the dash in the stock location, along with my Alpine head unit. The sound out of the Brat is amazing! Tonight I should be installing the last of the LED running lights.

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Last night I installed 2 5x7 JBL Speakers into the custom boxes and put them behind each of the seats in the cab. The sound is amazing! Now I've got 2 good speakers behind the seats and 1 good speaker under the dash in the stock location, along with my Alpine head unit. The sound out of the Brat is amazing! Tonight I should be installing the last of the LED running lights.

 

Would love some pics of the boxes and speakers. I'm thinking of doing the same thing and am looking for ideas. Thanks for keeping the thread going  :popcorn: 

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Would love some pics of the boxes and speakers. I'm thinking of doing the same thing and am looking for ideas. Thanks for keeping the thread going  :popcorn: 

 

Thanks Ben, I'll try to take some pictures tonight. I would have posted the other pictures already but I can't seem to remember my Flikr password again! :blink:

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Pictures as promised:

 

 

New Horns...

13907763312_c7bbb0906d_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

Here we have the redone jack and new coolant overflow tank installed:

 

14050961686_6534066738_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

14074071375_1b516b55f6_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

Battery tie down. Now it wont be moving around under the hood!

14074076115_9bdb562151_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

Because the previous owner had mirrors that had longer mounting holes than the OEM mirrors, I was forced to plug them. But I feel it came out very nice!

14050985356_6af6fa1152_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13887474959_82b1c4aa57_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13887494908_cb996641eb_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

Both left and right side plastic panels have been repaired and installed:

14050978036_b88d84eda6_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

Here it is before I installed it:

13887489269_94e24e0db3_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

14094157393_91b66a8713_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

And here I am teaching the ways of driving manual!

13887492520_a978e57d31_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

Here is a comparison of the factory head lights and then with a little "help" from my new LED light bar...

 

Factory Head lights only:

 

13907228717_7bc67d89b3_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

LED Light Bar:

 

14070749776_3283cd29d1_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

I've upgraded the following lights from incandesent bulbs to LEDS. Front and rear turn signal, front and rear running lights, front and rear side markers, reverse light, gauge cluster lights, light bar.

13907268668_450892c5e9_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13907215889_08c8e45424_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

And just for fun...

14090737652_089aeb63e9_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

Edited by spicypeanut
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just remember, you cant run that led light bar on the road legally

I don't use it on the road. It's attached to the car, but it won't be used until I go off road. One picture was for testing purposes.

Edited by spicypeanut
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just checkin of course!

 

I've also adjusted the head lights so I can actually see a bit better than that first picture would lead you to believe. But the light bar will come in handy up in the mountains for sure!

Edited by spicypeanut
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Did you have problems with broken clips on the plastic trim pieces that go outside, behind the window? If so, how did you deal with it? Also, did you repaint them?

Edited by bendecker
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Did you have problems with broken clips on the plastic trim pieces that go outside, behind the window? If so, how did you deal with it? Also, did you repaint them?

The lower 2 clips on both left and right side pieces were broken by the previous owner. The previous owners fix was what seemed to be a JB Weld type of mass which attached the clips to the panels. I had to use the Dremel tool to flatten out that area. Basically what I did was after the panel was prepped, I bought some trim clips and popped them into the holes on the car. Then I used a adhesive silicone and matted the panel onto the clips on the car. You have to use enough silicone so that when the panel makes contact with the back of the clips, it can make enough of a bond to hold the panel on while it dries. I used to painters tape stretched very tightly to hold the panel in place while the silicone dried.

 

The white clip is what I used for the side plastic panels. They fit perfectly in the holes in the car. The black clip is what I used to plug the holes left by the aftermarket mirrors the previous owner had used.

14117009663_0c23f98fe4_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

Here is where you can see the tape was used to hold the panel in place while the silicone cured.

13910324619_e5e606bfbc_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

Edited by spicypeanut
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Big update today. My updates seem to be fairly often huh.....

 

The rear head rests are now installed. The rear seat frame is now bolted onto the plastic seat, which is then bolted onto the lower seat frame. Now originally the Brat's seats were welded in the bed. This doesn't work for me. I want to be able to remove them and re-install them as needed. I've re-engineered how these will be installed. 6 grade 8 lag bolts, with steel plates under the bed should work beautifully.But for now, onto some new pictures.

 

Here you can see how we refurbished the seat frames:

 

13913791227_f0aa9974d3_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

14097342282_10befdd611_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13913827030_0f2313bbbc_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

Here are the head rests I got from RustyBrat:

14097338452_7aac0cfcf2_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

14097217141_d3220d8868_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

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Untitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

Here's how they look installed:

13913815170_71d062e8e0_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

Then a little shot of the fancy hardware holding the plastic seats to the seat frame:

14100844734_b6572a4886_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

14100842364_88cc6cce72_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

Completed pics:

13913782779_2a6db409fb_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

14100837814_221dcd47c6_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13913775059_221f88feea_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

14120492443_bdf0e2cb23_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

Things that will happen this week:

 

1. Welding on the lower rear seat frame, along with Grade 8 bolts bolting the rear seats in. 

2. Re-worked exhaust system to try to pass smog. Everyone says with a pair of cats the car should pass, so we shall see.

Edited by spicypeanut
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I'll be honest, I'm surprised they came out as good as they did. They were pretty rough initially. lol

 

perhaps :) but honestly, ive never seen or heard of a set in "good" condition before being restored. regardless, they did turn out fantastic

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Finally got some new pictures up:

 

Here are some shots of the speakers and boxes I have behind the seats:

13961453860_b1775f167b_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13961421229_0502f42eef_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13961450200_091eb59034_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13961417919_62beb4d8c3_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

14145215192_029ce4f8f5_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

 

Got some new plastic caps to cover the openings of the seat frames so water doesn't make a home in the pipes:

14148078795_00f6dc9547_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

13961442718_1ebf4f6a9a_z.jpgUntitled by blue03wrx, on Flickr

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UPDATE: The rear seats are now officially installed. 6 Grade 8 bolts, nuts, washers, and lock washers and these bad boys are firmly secured! I also had a pretty expensive catalytic converter installed, as well as new exhaust tips. It sounds good and looks great! I'll have to take a new shot of it tomorrow. My LED dome light came in the mail today so now nearly all of the lights on this car have been converted over to LED.

Edited by spicypeanut
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