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The '84 BRAT is being resurrected!


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With gas prices for his F-350 diesel, Tim pulled the '84 down out of the depths to make it road-worthy... good news... the frame is sound, there are a few minor rust issues that need to be addressed. I was very excited!

 

At any rate, Rust Bullet vs. POR-15? Opinions?

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I admit that I know nothing of Rust Bullet but I would love to POR-15 the heck out of my cars. It supposedly uses moisture to "metabolize" and cure, so any moisture underneath it when applied will get sucked out. Plus it's flexible - in the brochure they have a pipe photographed after a POR-15 coating has been applied, and after the pipe has been twisted - the POR-15 is intact.

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all you really have to do is get some stock of channel, and cut it into pieces. Cut the right angles into everything, and weld it up where the old rails were.

 

Its just bone replacement surgery.. Find appropriate steel, cut it into appropriate shapes, and weld them into the appropriate spots (after removing the old metal of course.) You can mock the pieces up before you ever cut the old rails out, so you can test fit the new rail, one or two pieces at a time, just by setting them up against the old rails.

 

It really is a lot simpler than it can seem.. the concept of "replacing my frame rails" can be daunting, but once you see the end result you realize, "Hey.. it was just putting metal back there where the factory metal rusted away... wow, that was easy!"

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Well I have open access to metal at work. We, well they, build gooseneck trailors and flat beds, I paint them.

 

If you can get the pics that would be great.

 

Talk to some guys at work, then.. for someone who works with metal, custom frame rails are NOT a major thing to "fabricate." With any luck you could get out of it for the cost of materials, a case of beer, and some pizza.

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yeah, they were custom. the guy also fabbed up a completly custom inner fender well section on both sides. i could probly get some pics of it.

 

If you could get those pictures, that would be awesome Jon! He's talking about swapping bodies with a Jeep. The body, interior and wheels are perfect and I hate to part it out.

This is the BRAT:

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showgallery.php?cat=798

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How bad is the frame on that brat?

 

Could you get some pics of it?

 

It looks like baklava... that Greek puff pastry with nuts... I have some pictures I'll add to the album. I'm trying to find a welder around here... no dice. There's maybe a guy in NH.

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holy cow!!:eek:

 

i`ll try to get those pics for you, but man i don`t know if that can be saved. i have a parts brat with almost no rust up in the front or rear frame, but on the inside wheel wells, but even the channel going up underneath them is solid. i guess its the shock mount. if i had a way to cut it, i'd sell you or trade you some underbody parts for a nice hood:rolleyes:

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holy cow!!:eek:

 

i`ll try to get those pics for you, but man i don`t know if that can be saved. i have a parts brat with almost no rust up in the front or rear frame, but on the inside wheel wells, but even the channel going up underneath them is solid. i guess its the shock mount. if i had a way to cut it, i'd sell you or trade you some underbody parts for a nice hood:rolleyes:

 

God forbid you see mine...

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Wowsers!! holy cow, I haven't seen rust like that in a LOOONG time.. see, down here in S Florida, our rust comes from the ocean air, so its kinda all over, and a car that looks that bad on the underside would look worse than mine does on the top...

 

That made me think back to my uncle's old honda accord CVCC.. he was from Jersey, and the thing looked at least as bad as that on the underside, and at least as bad as my car on the topside :lol:

 

As nasty as my body rust is, my frame rails look b-e-a-utiful..... especially next to that! It may yet be salvageable, though... Its really hard to tell from just photographs, especially since I'm not familiar with the underbelly of a Brat in the first place.

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