TomRhere Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 Had the day off work as Holiday for the 4th, so I decided to spend some quailty time with the '85 BRAT. Started out to install the new inner/outer tie-rod ends, so I had to drop the Y-pipe. Of course, one bolt decided it wanted to break off. It's still broke, letting it soak in a mixture of BP Blaster and Seafoam Deep Creep. Anyways, dropped the rack and changed the ends out, and decided to remove the home-made front only 2" lift installed by a PO. No strut lift blocks, just engine and trans x-member blocks. Front tires were starting to show extreme wear on the outter edges. Hahahaha, talk about totally redneck ghetto DIY stuff. Engine x-member blocks were made by stacking hockey pucks together. The trans x-member blocks were short lengths of pipe with washers welded to them. Installed a new rag-joint along with the correct length steering shaft and coupler joint. Steering wheel was of by 1/4 turn, but I'll wait on correcting that until I get the toe set correctly. Got more to do tomorrow. Swapping the tires from the '86 onto this one. Swap the exhaust over due to bad Y-pipe (rustout). See what is the cause of the noise from the rear, thinking bearing, but not sure. Could be something with the rear discs as the noise started after the swap. Few other odds n ends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRhere Posted July 5, 2009 Author Share Posted July 5, 2009 Got the broken exhaust stud out by rapping on the ASV adapter to loosen the rust. Then getting a good bite on it with a small pipe wrench. So now the exhaust has all been replaced. Looked at the rear brakes. Thinking the noise is just the pads rubbing on the discs. Can't feel any play in the bearings so I think they're ok. Still need to set the toe on the front and straighten up the steeringwheel. May opt to swap the sound system over today, we'll see. I'm liking the way it sits now more than the way it was. I need to get a pic taken of it now so I can post a before/after look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRhere Posted July 6, 2009 Author Share Posted July 6, 2009 Well, taking the so called "lift" out really made the axles complain during the short drive I took yesterday morning. Axles were clicking some before, they "really clicked" yesterday. Not good. So I proceeded to swap the axles and strut assemblies over from the '86. Did it as a complete assembly too. Popped the ball-joint out of the knuckle, un-screwed the tie-rod ends off the inners, pulled the pin for the axles, removed E-brake cable, and brake hose at the body side connection. Had to have Christopher help me get them into the '85. Kinda difficult to hold all that up where it belongs and get the washers/nuts started on the strut tops by ones self. He then got a good leg workout helping bleed the brakes. Took her out for another drive, much better. Has a pull towards the center on some roads, goes straight on others. Best part is no shimmy, shaking, ossilating or what have you from the frontend, nice and smooth. Even had her up to 78 MPH for a short bit. Replacing the exhaust has sure made a difference on how this engine runs. Was thinking before that the Hitachi carb was going south on me, but I don't think so now. She runs much better, with good throttle response. Did notice that whoever did the "lift", also spun the strut tops around 180*. Probally cause the "lift" made it sit more level like the Hatch and Sedan bodied Subbies. Don't know.. Struts that were in it are not the original OEM style, built slightly different especially in the height adjustment area. I'll keep them around here for spares. We'll see how she does on the trip into work this morning. Got tools to play with toe setting if need be. And a screwdriver to adjust the headlights, as I know they're going to be off a bit. Sure am feeling the 3 days of wrenching this morning. Must be getting old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucky92 Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 I feel like you after just a day of wrenching sometimes. But glad something good is coming out of the loss of another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRhere Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Tweeked the toe setting at lunch yesterday. Didn't seem to affect the light pull towards the left any on the trip home. Going to see if I can pull it in the shop and use some lenghts of steel to get a better idea of how the fronts are compared to the rears. Be atleast 2 weeks before I can get it in to the frontend guru. She does run better. Got a couple of hills on the way to work that are steep, like pushing the limit on grade angle. Not real long hills, just a few hundred feet, but you know you're climbing a hill. She'd drop any where from 8 to 10 mph before, now she just runs right up them. Amazing what a free flowing exhaust can do.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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