Dynapar Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 I have posted this stuff on a couple other subaru forums but not here yet. I think you might get alittle more into it. Thanks a ton to Numbchux for endless amount of help!!! Lets start off with Day 1, trailering the Brat home. The topper is perhaps the ugliest thing I have ever seen... This pretty much sums up the all of the progress I made during the winter months. Early spring activity! Brat is moving to a good place to be worked on. Chux doing some actual work while I take some pics. Brat looks 10x better without the topper. Amazing how much stuff can fit in the back of it. (5x wheels/tire, extra motor, 2 exhaust systems, bunch of brake stuff, extra windshield, rear window, and much much more) Working on replacing the gas tank. Part 2 The old gas tank. probably not visible in the picture is the crank which runs the entire length of it. good thing there was a new gas tank in the bed of the Brat when I got it. (happens to be the last OEM subaru gas tank for a brat /possibly EA81) I dont know what this thing is but it was in my way so it is gone now. Brat works amazingly well at storing tires. IIRC there are 12 wheels/tires and an engine in there. I love how the Nokians for the Impreza are way wider than the Brat tires... Short shifter? Yeah right. Changing out some bushings to try and help the weak sauce shifter play. New shocks for the rear. I think these are for a 2.5" lifted TJ Jeep. they will bolt right up and when this are compressed all the way they are the same length as the stockers at normal ride height. Got some goodies from 83projectbrat. Prepare for domination. EA81 Power. 1.8l of gear driven, push rod fury. Bye bye tailgate. NorthUrsalia is the proud owner of this beauty. Oh and FYI the topper was given away to a good home.(Wounded Brat) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynapar Posted April 2, 2008 Author Share Posted April 2, 2008 Got the exhaust fabbed up. Now to start in on the rust in the bed. Video of the exhaust: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4228646805196052491&hl=en Spare motor What could this 2"x2" 3/16 tube be used for? Hmm.... And some 1 7/8" schedule 80 pipe? A statue of some sort perhaps? Ah some frame reinforcement. Brat definitely needs that. These pieces of tube are 22" long... I wouldnt want to rear end this After some welding Pretty beefy stuff It moves under its own power for the first time in.... along time. Of course it ran out of gas right there. Had to push it back in w/ the Impreza. Way cooler w/o topper. My two subies More to come Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynapar Posted April 2, 2008 Author Share Posted April 2, 2008 (Current Brat Status: wont go into reverse!) A few miles on the clock. Rust is pretty much gone, just need to weld in some patches now look at that monster. the mountain dew bottle is my coolant reservoir, and yes there are vacuum lines that dont connect to anything. The interior, I already ripped out the carpet. it smells like mice inside. I need to clean out the vents sometime. FYI: the shifter is in 1st gear 4spd MT, DR 4wd No AC for me... Heres a shot of the engine that will eventually make it into the brat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynapar Posted April 2, 2008 Author Share Posted April 2, 2008 Update: Brat now moves backward under its own power. This is a large improvement over it only moving forward under its own power. Heres a pic of the linkage: that bolt should be a tight fit, and well it isnt. so there was alot of slop in there which made it so it wouldnt move over far enough to hit reverse. Muahahahaha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynapar Posted April 2, 2008 Author Share Posted April 2, 2008 yeah it still has a gas leak which has me baffled. I need to figure that out. I did manage to stop it from leaking gear lube out of the tranny which is good. Big update time. I got around to starting the lift kit over my spring break. I am using 2" blocks on the rear diff carrier and mustache bar to lower them so that they are at a kinder axle angle. I will be reclocking the torsion bar to get the actual lift. This is where I am stuck right now the 2 bolts i need to remove are not cooperating. anyway I made up all of the 3" blocks that i will be using to drop the tranny and engine crossmembers. So the only remaining parts that I will need are some break line extensions for the rear, the front strut extensions and the steering extension. The rear diff had become one with the DOJ cups on the axles so I had to replace the stub. With Chux's help I was able to get a EA82 DOJ cup to replace the broken one. the EA82 cup will allow for great travel and flexibility before it well explodes... Pictures! Milling out the front lift blocks: Completed lift blocks: The broken stub on the rear diff: The rest of the stub: The old EA81 cup I broke: Replacement parts from Chux. note the deep offset inverse torx socket...: I needed to replace the factory captive nuts with new hardware: 2" longer: Diff carrier drop w/ bolts and blocks on it: New rear shocks. Rough Country shocks for a 2.5" lifted TJ jeep next to the stock brat shocks. both are fully extended.: Diff reinstalled: Mustache bar and shocks installed: Thats it for now. Hopefully I will have some more soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durania Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Those tail lights look different than the ones on my 83. Did the EA81T's get a different style of tail light? So did you change out the Turbo gauge cluster in favor of the N/A one? Also that looks to be some pretty low oil pressure. I like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynapar Posted April 2, 2008 Author Share Posted April 2, 2008 Those tail lights look different than the ones on my 83. Did the EA81T's get a different style of tail light? So did you change out the Turbo gauge cluster in favor of the N/A one? Also that looks to be some pretty low oil pressure. I like it. I am not sure about the tail lights. This brat has been NA all fo its life the Turbo decals were a mistake at the dealership from what I understand. The oil pressure sending unit isnt hooked up, I still need to fix that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backwoodsboy Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 it smells like mice inside. Good times.... good times! Nice work.... reminds me SO much of when I got my brat. FYI, you'll probably need to dissasemble and clean the blower motor box over the pass footwell to get rid of that not-so-fresh "mousey" feeling. I drove mine for a month before I finally ripped the whole thing apart and cleaned it with bleach in the tub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durania Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Imagine being the guy that accidentally put the turbo decals on a naturally aspirated Brat. Whoops! Thats a great project though man, wish I had that kind of place to work on all of my Subes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2K4 STI Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Very nice detailed resto writeup so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woundedbrat Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Looking good so far. gonna be a wheelin fool in no time. Oh Yeah can I have your mill?j/k unless I can have I'll give you a dollar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 wish I had that kind of place to work on all of my Subes. +1!!!l That storage unit is freakin awesome! all it needs is a good air compressor. Martin, you should post the pics of us modifying the upper shock mount brackets for the RC shocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbrat Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 I am not sure about the tail lights. This brat has been NA all fo its life the Turbo decals were a mistake at the dealership from what I understand. The oil pressure sending unit isnt hooked up, I still need to fix that... the black stripes on the tail lights were either painted or had a decal put on. I have pics from the guy who owned it many years ago..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 FYI, there wasn't a bolt in the shift linkage where you showed "it should fit". That connection is made (factory) with a roll-pin inside another roll-pin, with a special cotter pin that has a built in washer. Check out my new fix for that: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=86901 GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 FYI, there wasn't a bolt in the shift linkage where you showed "it should fit". That connection is made (factory) with a roll-pin inside another roll-pin, with a special cotter pin that has a built in washer. Check out my new fix for that: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=86901 GD yea, the slop was really bad, so I pointed him in the direction of the USRM article that uses compression fittings and a bolt. which made it substantially worse...... I like that way! Martin, if you don't, I've got a couple Tap/die sets.......we could do that pretty easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynapar Posted April 3, 2008 Author Share Posted April 3, 2008 FYI, there wasn't a bolt in the shift linkage where you showed "it should fit". That connection is made (factory) with a roll-pin inside another roll-pin, with a special cotter pin that has a built in washer. Check out my new fix for that: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=86901 GD I will have to do this. I removed the roll pin in favor of the compression fitting fix which was posted on here previously. That was the reason that I could not get the brat into reverse at all. so I nixxed that idea and just dropped in a larger bolt instead. There is still plenty of play but atleast I can hit all of the gears now. This tapping the hole plan sounds very solid. One thing I noticed between when I removed the compression fitting fix and just dropping in a bolt is that the stub which sticks out of the tranny is made of what seems to be a very soft metal. I noticed that the hole in mine has started to oval. I have a question about lifting the brat. I am doing 2" blocks in the rear and re-clocking the torsion bar 1 notch this should give me an effective 4" lift. What length brake line extensions do I need? Also what type of fittings on the line? Female/Female? Can I get these from the local auto parts store? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woundedbrat Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 In the rear you don't need to do extension's you can just remove the lines from their last "holder" and bend them so they reach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynapar Posted April 7, 2008 Author Share Posted April 7, 2008 I now have the rear end lifted. Thanks for the pictures. I figured it out. I was actually able to leave the brake lines in the same location and now at full downflex there is still alittle bit of slack in the soft line. so it should be perfect. I am uploading pictures right now. I will be posting them up soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynapar Posted April 7, 2008 Author Share Posted April 7, 2008 Update: Worked on the brat all of saturday. The rear end is now lifted. This means that the lift is now 50% done, not almost 50% like it used to be ;-) This is a picture of the old top strut bracket in the new strut. if you look closely one side is has been ground down to allow for easier insertion. Here we have mlgez and fishbiker15 working on getting the torsion bar out so that it can be re-clocked. The drivers side has now been finished and we are working on the passenger side. mlgez is using the mill to make a bolt the right size. This is the torsion bar on the passenger side. Both of the splined ends were kinda of rusty but the middle was in prime shape as you can see. Full downflex on the drivers side. Had to drill out the outer bushing retainer bolt (do I need this if my bushing has become one with the housing?) so this is a temporary measure so that I could move it. dundundun..... Check out the awesome positive camber on the rear wheels. My fix for the exhaust leak at the heads... Jacked up the front so that it sits level. front wheels are about 3" off the ground. lined up in ascending order according to production date. maybe....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Numbchux Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 I have the technology to put those P7s on there That's hot, I'm glad you got it figured out. sorry I've missed your calls, been busy. That rear camber is not normal. but remember, those 3 big bolts where the torsion bar bolts to the trailing arm. those set the alignment in the rear. they're not lobed bolts like EJ camber bolts, the holes are just bigger than the bolts, so loosen them, straighten things out, and then tighten them again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynapar Posted December 27, 2008 Author Share Posted December 27, 2008 Here are some more pics of the project. I want to give Chux another huge thanks for all of the help and parts he has contributed to this project. Grinding down the back of the front hub plates, in prep to weld the lug studs in. The back done. 12" of ground clearance to the rear diff. A look into the future... what it should look like after the front lift is done. Front tires on. Looks pretty sweet to me. Definitely need to finish the lift now. Hmm... this could be an issue. Gonna have to do some fender trimming. So now the 6 lug conversion is done, and with Chux's help we corrected some of the rear alignment issues. Just need to finish the lift and get the front bumper put together. Then it will pretty much only be cosmetic stuff. FYI: a great write up on the 6 lug conversion can be found here: http://offroadingsubarus.com/6stud_conversion.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bratman18 Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 Lookin' good! Almost done now!!!! I guess I'm not familiar with "clocking" the torsion bar. How do you do that? But anyways Its lookin' good, it definitely reminds me of my build process! Keep us updated!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suberstar88 Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 Awesome write up dude, the brat looks great, im diggin the turbo logo!! What tires are ya plannin to put on that bad boy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynapar Posted December 27, 2008 Author Share Posted December 27, 2008 (edited) Lookin' good! Almost done now!!!! I guess I'm not familiar with "clocking" the torsion bar. How do you do that? But anyways Its lookin' good, it definitely reminds me of my build process! Keep us updated!!! The torsion bar has splines on it similar to an axle stub, so to reclock it you have to slide the front stabilizer arm thing (cant recall the name right now) off and rotate it done 1 spline. This changes the angle of that arm piece pushing the rear knuckle down. Hope that helps. Awesome write up dude, the brat looks great, im diggin the turbo logo!! What tires are ya plannin to put on that bad boy? I am not too sure yet. For now I am going to run the ATs that are on there. In the future I will either go with ProComp A/Ts or Swamper TSLs. I will most likely decide based upon sizes available and price. If the TSLs are the same price or lower than the equivalent ProComps I will get TSLs. They have considerably better grip in mud, though wont last as long as the ProComps which isnt super important since I dont plan on putting over 3k miles a year on it. Collector plates FTW! Edited December 27, 2008 by Dynapar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstaru Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 is that one of those "own your own garage" type of places?we just got one here last year.i kinda wondered what the contract was like.....cheers, brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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