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What Have You Done to your Soobie lately? (Please post in here and keep it going)


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Changed the seats from a 99 Escort GT into my 82 BRAT. Easy swap. Took off the rails from the original seats, ground about 1/8 inch in one bolt hole and mounted to the Escort seats. They are so comfortable compared to the old ones.

 

Hmm.. Love my untorn ones.. But I play the game by oem. Not many coupe options. Have considered having them restuffed. But yard seats muchmuch cheaper.

 

Duplicolor medium beige as attempt #2 at finding matching tan. The gist of it is effective, but if you have missing texture, itll be a consistent color at least..

 

Fun fact: no, the glovebox color has _always_ been a bit off..

Review of the brochure pix seems to indicate that, at least for tan..

 

Installed wagon wiper switch. Plugs right into the harness, then go over

To the far right corner, theres a plug with 12v, your swith now powers two of the leads. connect as your muse warrants. Also reccomended: rear defrost switch, and it lights up the indicator.

fuse as deemed necessary.

 

 

 

Three additional 12v switches and still oem.. Lets hear it for universal wiring harnesses!

Edited by kayoteq
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No, no...that's just how the boxer engines sit in general. Mine is an EA82. Even with small hands I curse my way through getting the driver side valve cover on and off. Pretty sure Subaru conspired to do it on purpose...no, I'm kidding. It's just the way it is. Give a kid a candy bar to help you with it :P.

 

Really? You'd think if the engine were centered, it would have equal clearance from the valve covers to the frame on each side. Looking at my engine mounts, it does look like the engine is shifted a tad to the driver's side. I wonder if they originally were somewhat centered, but years of use and crappy motor mounts caused them to wiggle over a tad.

 

Doesn't help that my EJ22 was installed onto the stock motor mounts without using wedge shims, and they don't look happy. I hooked a ratchet tie-down strap to my alternator mount, ran it over my fender and hooked it to a hole in my wheel, then cranked it down to lift and pull the engine over. Gave me just enough room to get the VC off and on, and to fit the socket on the rear-most bolt.

 

I forgot to clean off all the oil that spilled onto my exhaust tho, so today's drive to work was particularly smokey. Off to the car wash on my lunch break!

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Installed Tachometer! My ignition switch also stopped working, and I found one that won't fit in my car so I just wired it up and have it sitting where the coin tray used to be until I get one that fits.

 

ry%3D400

 

Also installed a stereo and some new door speakers!

 

ry%3D400

Edited by nickeggen32
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just done tires, oil, plugs,wires,valve cover gaskets both rear wheel bearings and a timing belt. need to do fornt bearings next weekend. i also cut out my windshield and glued a new one in last week. i guess thats not bad for 230k. oh yeah in the spring i gotta do head gaskets but i kinda want to re ring the engine at the same time

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Really? You'd think if the engine were centered, it would have equal clearance from the valve covers to the frame on each side. Looking at my engine mounts, it does look like the engine is shifted a tad to the driver's side. I wonder if they originally were somewhat centered, but years of use and crappy motor mounts caused them to wiggle over a tad.

 

Doesn't help that my EJ22 was installed onto the stock motor mounts without using wedge shims, and they don't look happy. I hooked a ratchet tie-down strap to my alternator mount, ran it over my fender and hooked it to a hole in my wheel, then cranked it down to lift and pull the engine over. Gave me just enough room to get the VC off and on, and to fit the socket on the rear-most bolt.

{snip}

 

 

Possible, but if your bolts are in the mount holes it will be close to centered. If your transmission hasn't moved, it is unlikely the motor has. Rather, I think there are two other factors at play here. Maybe three. This list regards an EA82, there may be slight deviations for an EJ motor.

 

1. The driver side cam tower has extra length to accommodate the distributor. This fifth bolt is the one that's the pita. The fender/wheel wells angle in slightly. Not much, but enough to make that last bolt a real butt-kicker.

 

2. The motor is/should be centered, but the motor is not symmetrical back to front. Note that your timing belts reflect the piston set up, the driver side is set back 3/4 inch or so toward the rear as compared to the passenger side. The angled fender/wheel wells also factor in here.

 

3. The transmission is centered as can be verified by swapping your axles side to side, and the motor is centered on the transmission. You can swap heads and cam towers and valve covers just to measure things, though the car obviously won't run with the cam towers and valve covers swapped. Heads can swap but won't hook up to the coolant lines, etc properly. HOWEVER, this does not mean the fender/wheel wells are symmetrical in the interior. On one side you have the air intake, air filter, and window washer tank; on the other side you have only the coil and coolant overflow tank. On an EA82 anyway. The fenders are close, but not identical from side to side.

 

Oh! Some EA82s also have an air pump in the driver side fender for the air shocks.

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Thanks for the info, that makes sense. If it were really that uncentered, my axles would probably not be happy. Although I suspect it to be more of a twisting motion than simply being off center. The drivers side does seem like it is maybe half an inch lower, which would definitely bring that side closer. And those damn frame pieces that angle inwards don't help.

 

Ill be installing a 3" body lift soon, and when I do that ill see if I can nudge the engine a bit over. And I need to find some sort of wedge to put in the motor mounts. Thinking plastic would be a good idea as it'd be cheap.

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Been leaking coolant since the new year, determined a while ago it was coming from the water pump. Being winter and having no garage, I lived with it until it started streaming (vs. dripping).

 

Two weeks ago I dumped some of that gasket in a can, and saw no change. Decided to do the water pump gasket, oil pump seals, and change the oil (and tranny oil) this weekend, but...Wednesday there was suddenly no more leak! And she's held water for three days now!

 

Guess I should still change the oil, but I am happily putting off the gasket jobs until the weather is more cooperative. :clap:

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Here is my 85 BRAT. I have been asking questions for help for a while. Thanks everyone. I still have some issues but the list is getting smaller. I finally got to drive it today. Some of my mods are. Xtreme Liner in the box and around the skirt. New trim rings, new and expensive 205-60-13 white letter tires, seats from an Audi, 83 EA81, factory mud flaps, sweet roll bar. I still have the chrome tailgate trim coming and factory front mud flaps courtesy CL. I bought her for 800 with a broke crank. She was abused. Got the motor for 125.00 and the rest from ebay and CL. Roll bar was in her but poorly mounted. No seats but I really do not want them. The paint was bad but I took a chance and repainted the hood with a rattle can over the top of the peeled clearcoat and clear coated all the roof and from the strip up. I thought it would look bad but it looked good. I sold my Polaris Ranger and convinced my wife the BRAT would be it's replacement at 1/4 the price plus have heat, air and more.

 

It has a slight miss in one cylinder. I can hear it at the tail pipe. I put in new plugs, cap and rotor. I am considering swapping the original intake and carb from the 85. I also have not adjusted the valve lash. (I forgot when the engine was out so now I have to do it the hard way). The engine does have a decent amount of tappet sound so I assume the valve lash needs it. The other thing was that there is a ticking that is loud on the drivers side when you accelerate. When you let off, it goes quiet. The passenger side has a new CV shaft. I may just throw one on the drivers side. Any ideas what it could be?

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Here is my 85 BRAT. I have been asking questions for help for a while. Thanks everyone. I still have some issues but the list is getting smaller. I finally got to drive it today. Some of my mods are. Xtreme Liner in the box and around the skirt. New trim rings, new and expensive 205-60-13 white letter tires, seats from an Audi, 83 EA81, factory mud flaps, sweet roll bar. I still have the chrome tailgate trim coming and factory front mud flaps courtesy CL. I bought her for 800 with a broke crank. She was abused. Got the motor for 125.00 and the rest from ebay and CL. Roll bar was in her but poorly mounted. No seats but I really do not want them. The paint was bad but I took a chance and repainted the hood with a rattle can over the top of the peeled clearcoat and clear coated all the roof and from the strip up. I thought it would look bad but it looked good. I sold my Polaris Ranger and convinced my wife the BRAT would be it's replacement at 1/4 the price plus have heat, air and more.

 

It has a slight miss in one cylinder. I can hear it at the tail pipe. I put in new plugs, cap and rotor. I am considering swapping the original intake and carb from the 85. I also have not adjusted the valve lash. (I forgot when the engine was out so now I have to do it the hard way). The engine does have a decent amount of tappet sound so I assume the valve lash needs it. The other thing was that there is a ticking that is loud on the drivers side when you accelerate. When you let off, it goes quiet. The passenger side has a new CV shaft. I may just throw one on the drivers side. Any ideas what it could be?

 

 

Thats a pretty good looking Brat :clap:

 

Nice find. :)

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Here is my 85 BRAT. I have been asking questions for help for a while. Thanks everyone. I still have some issues but the list is getting smaller. I finally got to drive it today. Some of my mods are. Xtreme Liner in the box and around the skirt. New trim rings, new and expensive 205-60-13 white letter tires, seats from an Audi, 83 EA81, factory mud flaps, sweet roll bar. I still have the chrome tailgate trim coming and factory front mud flaps courtesy CL. I bought her for 800 with a broke crank. She was abused. Got the motor for 125.00 and the rest from ebay and CL. Roll bar was in her but poorly mounted. No seats but I really do not want them. The paint was bad but I took a chance and repainted the hood with a rattle can over the top of the peeled clearcoat and clear coated all the roof and from the strip up. I thought it would look bad but it looked good. I sold my Polaris Ranger and convinced my wife the BRAT would be it's replacement at 1/4 the price plus have heat, air and more.

 

It has a slight miss in one cylinder. I can hear it at the tail pipe. I put in new plugs, cap and rotor. I am considering swapping the original intake and carb from the 85. I also have not adjusted the valve lash. (I forgot when the engine was out so now I have to do it the hard way). The engine does have a decent amount of tappet sound so I assume the valve lash needs it. The other thing was that there is a ticking that is loud on the drivers side when you accelerate. When you let off, it goes quiet. The passenger side has a new CV shaft. I may just throw one on the drivers side. Any ideas what it could be?

 

where did you find your tires? I've been looking for a set like that myself

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Here is my 85 BRAT. I have been asking questions for help for a while. Thanks everyone. I still have some issues but the list is getting smaller. I finally got to drive it today. Some of my mods are. Xtreme Liner in the box and around the skirt. New trim rings, new and expensive 205-60-13 white letter tires, seats from an Audi, 83 EA81, factory mud flaps, sweet roll bar. I still have the chrome tailgate trim coming and factory front mud flaps courtesy CL. I bought her for 800 with a broke crank. She was abused. Got the motor for 125.00 and the rest from ebay and CL. Roll bar was in her but poorly mounted. No seats but I really do not want them. The paint was bad but I took a chance and repainted the hood with a rattle can over the top of the peeled clearcoat and clear coated all the roof and from the strip up. I thought it would look bad but it looked good. I sold my Polaris Ranger and convinced my wife the BRAT would be it's replacement at 1/4 the price plus have heat, air and more.

 

It has a slight miss in one cylinder. I can hear it at the tail pipe. I put in new plugs, cap and rotor. I am considering swapping the original intake and carb from the 85. I also have not adjusted the valve lash. (I forgot when the engine was out so now I have to do it the hard way). The engine does have a decent amount of tappet sound so I assume the valve lash needs it. The other thing was that there is a ticking that is loud on the drivers side when you accelerate. When you let off, it goes quiet. The passenger side has a new CV shaft. I may just throw one on the drivers side. Any ideas what it could be?

 

 

Nice brat! Bed-linered the bottom half of the body? Nice!

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Put 800 miles on it today. Went from Waterford, WI (southeast corner of the state) to Superior, WI (northwest corner of the state) and back in one day for a failed deal. Put 1400 miles on it in the last week as last weekend I put 400 miles on it and another 200 going back and forth to work during the week. Really running like a champ lately. Now sits at 204,400 miles (1996).

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I got a 90 legacy L 2wd auto 216k miles just did the water pump & timing belt think the mechanic did a half rump roast job my car keeps cutting off on me in the middle of the road when I turn the car on the green power light flashes 16 times then idles weird when I drive it about 2 minutes later it stalls out when I try to start it back up it hesitates I'm new with subaru's & new to the forum I just had a baby girl & I'm lost with this legacy on what's wrong with it any help please it would be greatly appreciated...

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That's awesome, LokeDawgg! :headbang:

 

 

Added a relay to the starter and replaced an axle on the XT6. Tryed to replace the speakers in the XT6, but I ran into a glitch with mounting them. Of course, the car audio stores are not open on the weekend, so that has been put on hold till Monday.:banghead:

Checked the front end on the PandaWagon, I heard a clunk the other day so I checked it out. Nothing is out of the ordinary...odd. Maybe a spring shifted after the last time I had the front of the car in the air. I also messed with my intake, it currently makes a racket at WOT and want to quiet it down a little. That MAF keeps getting in the way. Makes it difficult to have a straight for the MAF while still keeping the length short, quite frustrating.

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traveled DFW to Galveston in the outback (03 H6), then back after a cruise.

 

25 mpg down, 26mpg back. 65-80 most of the time.

 

That's about what my 2.5 gets ... all the more reason to do a 3.0 swap...

 

I "fixed" my Legacy yesterday morning. I was at a friend's place overnight. Get in my car in the morning and it wouldn't start. Turn the key to start and just a single relay clicks, most likely the one that shuts off the accessories. No click from the starter (ruling out bad contacts). I kicked the fuse box, then BINGO! It fired right up... Grumble. I wonder what's melting back there. I should take it apart before it stops working.

 

Just glad this didn't happen to the valet guy when I was staying in a hotel in NYC last week.

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ordered 100 bucks worth of transmission seals etc for my BRAT trans today.

 

subaru bucks being used. these same parts i could have got for 35 bucs online instead, but they had to look some up and even then i don't know if they got the right ones My dealer adds 10% to the msrp price, forget wholesale.

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Over the weekend, I rebooted some GCK axles that I originally bought for the '86 White BRAT. Inner boots tore due to bad trans mounts. :banghead:

 

Swapped one into the '85 BRAT on the DS, PS still looks good, so I can wait for better weather to do it.

 

Swapped tires off the '92 Loyale Wagon over to the '85 BRAT.

 

Got late and real muddy in the driveway, so I called it quits yesterday afternoon.

 

Got home from work today, fired it up, pumped some go-juice into the tank and went for a ride.

 

Damn I missed driving that BRAT, was all :grin: until I noticed the light smokescreen behind me. :(

 

Apparrently, PS E-brake was sticky. Did notice a light pull to that side, but thought it was just from being up on jackstands for some time, and hadn't "settled in" yet.

But a hard stomp on the brake pedal seems to have cleared that issue up, as I drove another 10 miles with no issues.

 

Going to brave it for the 64 mile round trip for work tomorrow. :)

With gas prices going up, need something better on gas than Christopher's 3/4 ton Chevy....... It runs ok, could be better, but it's just to much vehicle for that kind of trip everyday.

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