mandelbrotx Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Hello everyone. New face here on the forums, longtime subaru owner. Tuesday I got lucky and picked up a 79 brat for $200. The guy I got it from said his son was going to restore it, but decide to join the army instead. So I'm not sure everything the kid did to it. I do know he put new breaks on it, replaced the plugs/wires/etc. Oil change, and new trany fluid. Oh, also a lovely blue and white rattle can job. It had been parked for 2 months, but after a quick charge on the battery and a splash of gas down the carb, it started right up and promptly died. A second turn of the key and another splash of gas and it returned to life and stayed running. The smoke out the pipe was pure white for about a minute (no black or blue smoke) then thinned out quite a bit while it warmed up and after about 5 minutes it was clear as could be with no smell of gas or oil. A quick look at the dipstick showed it was free of water, and a peek at the coolant showed no oil. Sadly I wasn't able to drive it very far as there was 6 inches of snow on the ground and we were on a hill and I wasn't willing to trust the breaks. Shifting had a fair amount of slop, and felt a bit stiff, but it went into R just fine and stayed there. The rubber on all 4 CV joints was good and no oil leaks I could see. The guy selling it said he had driven it from his son's place to his in November, but it seemed a bit sluggish. Not sure what to think about that because the engine sounded great and had quick response on the throttle, both from the peddle and the carb. The two things I can think of are it's only 67bhp new or the breaks were dragging. I won't be able to get a wrench on it until Sunday, It's 35 miles from my 'shop' and I can't get a trailer tell then. My questions are: Is there anything I need to poke right away? What parts should I be looking for? Is there anyone in the Seattle area that has a gen 1 brat, or knows about them? Any answers to questions I should have asked? When I get it home I'll post some pix of this rare bird. Glad to have a Subaru again, been too long (4 years with a 84 s-10) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandelbrotx Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 Well I got the car home last night, and it looks like its got some fuel system issues. I don't seem to be getting power to the fuel pump. I looked at the wiring diagram and all I can come up with is there is a black wire from the voltage regulator that should connect to the alternator but is hanging in mid air with no place to go. Now here is the strange part, a splash of gas in the carb and it will start right up. As long as I baby-sit the throttle I can keep it running as long as I want. But unless I put a small fuel tank on the fuel line just before the carb it won't idol. Anyone have any suggestions? Also, I got a ton of extra parts with the car including a bunch of trim for gen 1 and 2 brats. What I think is an intake manifold for a gen 2, and a 1984 1600, 1800 service manual. I'd like to trade some of this stuff for some hands on help getting this rig into a driver. I do have a hood, it's just not bolted down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 you need a hood and aircleaner, it will just get dirt and feces in there without a aircleaner cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7point62fmj Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 you need a hood and aircleaner, it will just get dirt and feces in there without a aircleaner cover. FECES?? What do you put on your soobs bheinen74:eek:. He has the hood. It states it under the pic. mandelbrotx sit tight there are a few members in your neck of the woods.. Realy feces..:lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twitch de la Brat Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Cool, well if you have trim for a 2nd gen brat I'd be extremely willing to help. The only issue is I live N ID!!! Hey good luck with it! You may be able to get help from Zap or Edrach. Ed's currently fighting insurance but he may have some spare time. Hope you can get it going! Twitch Ps: And if you don't have the wire connecting to the fuel pump, you may need to get the proper one there. Captain Obvious strikes again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandelbrotx Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 Well, for now I wired the old fuel pump to a switch tied in to the ignition. I'll be able to get a aftermarket pump in the morning. Think I'll keep the pump on a switch... I'm not fond of locks on my doors. After a bit of poking things with sticks I've got it running and drove it around the block but now I've found that the acceleration piston isn't pushing any gas into the barrels. That's the reason I don't have my air filter box on in that pic, less fond of gas soaked air filters than door locks. (A lesson my buddy was able to teach me one night after a more than a few beers). Oh, and would pine needles in the second barrel (the last owner's fault) count as 'feces' sometime this week I'll have time to figure out what all I have in the back, how much of it goes on my car, and how much of it is up for grabs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yo'J Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I've been looking all month for a brat here, Nice work! Got plans for that thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyewdall Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Nice brat. I like the colors. And the topper. Very nice price too I've heard sluggish applied to EJ25 legacies even... which are alot faster than old brats... so I wouldn't put too much stock in that unless you find an actual problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandelbrotx Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 I've been looking all month for a brat here' date=' Nice work! Got plans for that thing?[/quote'] Glad I got to it before you, was posted last week on crags list! I've seen a few of them in the last year or so. If you know how to setup an RSS feed, there is a rss link on the bottom of your search from crags list. I'm trying to get this thing to be a daily driver, because my S-10 needs to be driven off a cliff and set on fire. I hope to be able to take it off road this summer once I can get my hands on another early 80's wagon. I just got back from NAPA, got a new fuel pump and filter and have a re-manufactured water pump and carb rebuild kit coming up from Portland. I'd like to put a weber on this thing, but I'm running out of car fund and the $25 rebuild kit hurts less than a new weber conversion. That leads me to my next question, I've rebuilt carbs for generators and lawnmowers, but nothing like this thing. Are there any specific things I should be looking out for with this carb? I know my float is set wrong, because my view port is almost totaly full of fuel, and my acceleration pump isn't pushing any fuel into the carb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandelbrotx Posted February 7, 2009 Author Share Posted February 7, 2009 Well, I rebuilt the carb yesterday. I found that the second barrel was jammed up and wouldn't open. I soaked it in carb cleaner for about 15 minutes and it freed up, but there is a little bit of rust on the second throttle valve. :-\ The little plastic ball in the accelerator pump chamber was broken and jammed in the port, got that free and replaced it and the piston and now I can start the car. However I'm have a hell of a time adjusting the carb, I've searched on the site and google and can't find much on the DCJ 306 carb and how best to adjust it. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to look or how to do it? It was nasty today here in Seattle, and I didn't feel like replacing the water pump in the rain. Wish me luck in the morning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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