BeardedWrench Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 (edited) My first build log i've actually posted somewhere, picked this 1st gen up from texas and had it shipped up to me in ohio, the plan, is to 100% restore back to original, and make it a new brat again Edited June 17, 2019 by BeardedWrench 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 Love that patina! WOW! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeardedWrench Posted June 17, 2019 Author Share Posted June 17, 2019 1 hour ago, carfreak85 said: Love that patina! WOW! yeah what's weird is, i've seen 3 of these come from texas, and they all had identical paint jobs. not sure what's up with that lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeardedWrench Posted June 18, 2019 Author Share Posted June 18, 2019 (edited) engine is OUT, going to strip it down, separate the case halves, and replace as much as possible depending on parts availability, restore the rest! Edited June 18, 2019 by BeardedWrench Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeardedWrench Posted June 18, 2019 Author Share Posted June 18, 2019 (edited) if anyone's interested, here's the original photos before it was shipped to me Edited June 18, 2019 by BeardedWrench Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkyboy Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 (edited) Give that poor girl the love she deserves I'm from CO, but I have been to texas, (sux BAD!!!) and of all the idiots moving to colorado, them and floridians make me laugh the most stuck in snow with 2wd trucks. No wonder they do awful things like this to a beautiful brat, all you need in texas to off road is monster tires and a diesel engine. No finesse or grace required like in the mountains. Hence this utter nonsense... @BeardedWrenchI'm glad you got her before those turds broke her and scrapped her. Name yet? Edited June 18, 2019 by sparkyboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 Looks interesting mate. I’ll be looking forward to the build progressing - with pics! Cheers Bennie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeardedWrench Posted June 18, 2019 Author Share Posted June 18, 2019 8 hours ago, sparkyboy said: Give that poor girl the love she deserves I'm from CO, but I have been to texas, (sux BAD!!!) and of all the idiots moving to colorado, them and floridians make me laugh the most stuck in snow with 2wd trucks. No wonder they do awful things like this to a beautiful brat, all you need in texas to off road is monster tires and a diesel engine. No finesse or grace required like in the mountains. Hence this utter nonsense... @BeardedWrenchI'm glad you got her before those turds broke her and scrapped her. Name yet? @sparkyboy oh yes, she will be 100% again..just depends on how long that'll take, finding parts has become pretty hard but worth it, the wife and i were thinking of naming her alpha, considering she is the first of her "kind" lol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 DON'T SEPERATE THE CASE HALVES IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO! If you do, you'll want to line bore the main bearing journals. If the bottom end isn't damaged, don't bother messing with it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeardedWrench Posted June 18, 2019 Author Share Posted June 18, 2019 3 hours ago, carfreak85 said: DON'T SEPERATE THE CASE HALVES IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO! If you do, you'll want to line bore the main bearing journals. If the bottom end isn't damaged, don't bother messing with it. unfortunately i have to, got the engine to run before pulling for a second but there is mud and sand in the engine, i have everything i need though, the shop i work for restores vintage volkswagens, and we line bore air cooled cases so all the tools are available as of now, already ordered new pistons, rings, crank bearings and rod bearings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted June 19, 2019 Share Posted June 19, 2019 Sounds like your shop has a handle on the pitfalls of rebuilding flat engines. Carry on, just be sure they use deck plates or bolt the heads back on when they line bore the mains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelvw Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 Nice sealing wax red beige grey deluxe. On 6/17/2019 at 10:48 AM, BeardedWrench said: yeah what's weird is, i've seen 3 of these come from texas, and they all had identical paint jobs. not sure what's up with that lol Yeah my sister had one by her down in Texas, same paint job... K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeardedWrench Posted June 22, 2019 Author Share Posted June 22, 2019 Engine is out and on the stand, did not use a cherry picker, unbolted and picked it up out of there, little thing is heavier than it looks.. now starts the cleaning and teardown process! also i ordered some magazine "swag" for the brat, the article clipping when it was released, i also thought it was neat the article was released april,1978..the month my brat was built. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveAP Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 Thanks for posting your build. I have a mostly rust free az 78 brat. Just got it running after being parked for 15 yrs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeardedWrench Posted June 23, 2019 Author Share Posted June 23, 2019 (edited) 19 minutes ago, DaveAP said: Thanks for posting your build. I have a mostly rust free az 78 brat. Just got it running after being parked for 15 yrs. awesome man! post up some pics. hooked the brat up to my tacoma and pulled it out of the garage today to pressure wash it underneath, got a lot of it..but there is still a TON of mud left underneath, i think the texan who owned it, enjoyed the off road. Edited June 23, 2019 by BeardedWrench Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeardedWrench Posted July 2, 2019 Author Share Posted July 2, 2019 somewhat of a successful day, engine is stripped down to a short block, did some scrubbing and got it to this point, will be soda blasting once the case is split Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeardedWrench Posted August 13, 2019 Author Share Posted August 13, 2019 Finally gotten the cylinder heads back from the machine shop, everything brand new and looking good! Split the case, pulled everything out, rods and pistons are coming new soon! Decided while i wait on other parts, i'll sand blast, clean and paint some others! I chose this color because it's what i had at the shop, it looked cool, so i sprayed it and ran out and bought a few more cans, plan is to paint quite a few engine parts with this color I think it turned out great, here's the oil pan in this color, Detroit diesel forest green going to strip down the interior of the pan, but just sprayed it all for now 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeardedWrench Posted August 13, 2019 Author Share Posted August 13, 2019 Alright boys, last update for a little while on the engine, waiting on parts to arrive and attempting to find a decent oil pump and TRYING to find new cylinder head nuts for it, someone decided to clean the garage while i was at work and now i'm missing 3 head nuts and washers, in any case...i'll be stripping down the suspension and driveline here in the next few weeks so i'll post pics of that, in the mean time...here is the current status of the engine, mostly assembled. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73mako Posted December 5, 2019 Share Posted December 5, 2019 Looks great! I am doing the same thing here in Seattle with a 1978. Not sure if I will split the case but we'll see. Gonna strip the whole car down 100% have it sand blasted and painted. Then reassembly. I hope to have the closest thing to a NEW brat when I am done. Let me know of any pitfalls you came across. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc556 Posted December 5, 2019 Share Posted December 5, 2019 Fantastic project with a so beautiful car ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXJayhawk Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 (edited) I Where in Texas did you find this thing? I am in Houston and have not seen another Brat in 8 years (out of 7 million people)! i have cylinder head bolts and nuts for an EA71 if you still need them. Edited January 9, 2020 by TXJayhawk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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