Making leg room in the Brat

[Gravityman]

Whats up Subaru Freaks!

 

Ok, So I am 6' 3" tall and the 1984 Brat was built specifically for the 1980 Japanese Male/Female population that averaged 5'2"/5'0" tall respectivly. So if you can imagine, I max out the total usable space in the drivers seat. The problem arises when breaking, steering and heal-toe shifting where my knees and hands ofter come in contact and cause erronious inputs to the car which disrupt my driving flow.

 

Well, I am working on a plan for the brat. I want to take the entire rear window/wall assy and move it backwards approx. 6"-12". This should not only give me additional room when I move the seat back, but will also allow me to install a roll cage and move the center of gravity back a little so the front of the car is not SO heavy with 2 turbos and a 6 banger and my fat a$$. I plan on removing the original seats and dropping in nice light weight racing seats with a 4 or 5 point harness, I just dont see that happening as is.

 

Has anyone tried anything like this? I want to try to do this and make it look like it never did (factory). I have it somewhat planned in my head with what I want to do. I HATE crap that was chopped and then ducktaped back together. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

Thanks

Scott

[Phizinza]

I'm 6ft and just fit nicly in my Brat with the smaller steering wheel.

So I can understand your issue.

 

I have never seen anything like this. But it wouldn't be much fabrication. You just need to cut it out and weld it back. It s all pretty much the same shape back there for the 6" or so you want. Interior could be an issue if you want it to look like factory though. But if your putting a cage in, you probably don't want the interior panels?

 

Should be interesting seeing what it looks like once your done.

[newsoobdude]

Will be interesting lengthening the roof that 6 inches or so. It might be best to find a Brat that has been smashed in the front to use for parts and graft them on to a Wagon (a LOT more work) or simply find a wagon donor for the roof panel- depends on if you have the fun top, and whether you want to keep it. Sweet idea though! Good luck and post pics.

[GeneralDisorder]

Just change the seats. I'm 6'2", and I know your pain.

 

I switched to Isuzu Impulse seats and now I'm golden. Plenty of headroom, and more comfortable too.

 

You just need to lower the seat - trust me.

 

GD

[Phizinza]

I didn't think he was going to lengthen the car, just move the rear wall backwards.

 

As for GD's post, didn't he say he was having trouble with his hands hitting his legs? Not his head on the roof. Surely that means the seat needs to go backwards, not down?

[Gravityman]

I would imagine that the seat has a lot to do with it. But I need to keep in mind the roll cage, harness as well as the trying to move as much of the weight as I can to the back of the car. If I can find a good racing seat that will fit with the back wall moved back to the farthest extent (about 6") that the unmodified roof will allow, I figure I can drop in the cage and be comfortable driving at higher speeds with no problem.

 

As far as the grafting, I am not lenthing the car just extending the interior of the cab. I will need to cut around the wall on the bed side and remove the additional metal to slide it back and weld it. On the interior I will have to graft some metal to the inside to fill the void. Instead of using old metal I plan on buying new steel, painting it with weldable primer to prevent rust on the inside of the panels.

 

Another question comes to mind, What about the seats in the back of the brat? Well even though I am trying to lighten the brat as much as possible, and I know everyone removes the rear seats on the interior of the car when racing, but I think I am going to lower them and keep them in. The seats in the back are an iconic feature to the Brat. Removing them is like taking part of its soul. The only problem is I have to make room for the 2 seats, a radiator, battery and a fuel cell. For the most part I dont think it will be that big of a deal.

[GeneralDisorder]

Ever been under the Brat? The interior extends BELOW the bed. The fuel pump wires for example exit the rear of the cab about 8" to 10" above the floor, and emerge just UNDER the bed sheet metal. Moving the cab wall backward would require massive amounts of re-working to the uni-body frame rails and unless very carefully done would leave the vehicle structurally unsound.

 

Given a proper body shop, and unlimited amounts of money I'm sure it *could* be done (although no body shop would touch the job for liability reasons). But unless you have some serious skills in this department you are going to totally mess up the vehicle and ruin it's already relatively high value.

 

GD

[kingbobdole]

Ever been under the Brat? The interior extends BELOW the bed. The fuel pump wires for example exit the rear of the cab about 8" to 10" above the floor, and emerge just UNDER the bed sheet metal. Moving the cab wall backward would require massive amounts of re-working to the uni-body frame rails and unless very carefully done would leave the vehicle structurally unsound.

 

Given a proper body shop, and unlimited amounts of money I'm sure it *could* be done (although no body shop would touch the job for liability reasons). But unless you have some serious skills in this department you are going to totally mess up the vehicle and ruin it's already relatively high value.

 

GD

 

+1... I'm 6'4" and disliked my lack-of-room BRAT... Solution is to get shorter(or thinner) seats and a smaller steering wheel.

[Gravityman]

Ever been under the Brat? The interior extends BELOW the bed. The fuel pump wires for example exit the rear of the cab about 8" to 10" above the floor, and emerge just UNDER the bed sheet metal. Moving the cab wall backward would require massive amounts of re-working to the uni-body frame rails and unless very carefully done would leave the vehicle structurally unsound.

 

Given a proper body shop, and unlimited amounts of money I'm sure it *could* be done (although no body shop would touch the job for liability reasons). But unless you have some serious skills in this department you are going to totally mess up the vehicle and ruin it's already relatively high value.

 

GD

 

Ok.. yea.. thats right I forgot about that. There is a brat in my local junkyard back home. I will go and check out the construction deconstructively and see if it is at all possible. This sucks, putting a damper on my fun. Let me think about this for a min.

[joostvdw]

if you won't be able to lengthen the cab, you could lengthen the whole vehicle by cutting the brat in half and welding in the cabin pieces of another brat (or perhaps a wagon/sedan, don't know if those pieces differ)

 

of course, if not done correctly the car will still be unsafe

[Gravityman]

And fall to pieces!

[bratsrus1]

Hey Scott This is Jerry, you need to look at my photos and look at my tall hatchbrat the blue one. I am 6 foot tall and the way i set up the seats they don't hit the back wall also my feet are about 3 inches from the pedals. The car is a 86 hatch with a 82 brat roof and back wall. The wall was moved back about 3 inches lots of room. Thanks Jerry

[Gravityman]

Hey Scott This is Jerry, you need to look at my photos and look at my tall hatchbrat the blue one. I am 6 foot tall and the way i set up the seats they don't hit the back wall also my feet are about 3 inches from the pedals. The car is a 86 hatch with a 82 brat roof and back wall. The wall was moved back about 3 inches lots of room. Thanks Jerry

 

Can you add some pics of what you did on the interior? Thanks buddy! Looks good!

[woundedbrat]

Yeah add some more pictures of the hatch brat. and while you are at it did you add those steps on the tan one or what?:cool:

[bratsrus1]

Hi This is Jerry, on the tan as you see it but it is light yellow yes i cut the holes in the side and bolted the steps on. The blue hatchbrat isn't done inside i just have the seats mounted. The back wall about in the middle of where the back seat would be. At this time it is covered with that dredded word snow, i hate winter to cold and to dark. Thanks Jerry

[JWX]

I had this problem in my hatch, so I got an 88 civic SI seat and cut the buttom "cup" out if it, then mounted it to a plate of aluminum(for lightness yo all I had at the time) and bolted that to the stock rails, moved back about 3-4 inchs. Helped a lot.

 

 

Basically, I agree with most here, you don't need to get the saw-zall out and start cutting just yet.

[joostvdw]

maybe you van extend the seat reals and make something like a gurney-bubble only behind the drivers seat, this will allow you to put your seat further back without mayor structural changes

 

again, I don't know anything about the brat's structure, so this may not be possible

[Adam N.D.J.]

This is an totally doable prospect. If you look at a coupe (like I just did), you will see that they too have a rise in the floor too (although not as high as a Brat). Essentially it comes down to this, if you look at your seats, they hit the rear wall at the top before they hit at the bottom (in mine, with EA82 seats, the bottom is 9 inches from the rear wall). So, this is how you would do it, take out the window, remove rear wall, move it back 9 inches, fill in any holes, install window and put in new seats. This will leave you with more leg room, and a nice 9 inch tall 9 inch long shelf behind the seat (perfect for cages, speakers, tools kits, ect, ect..)