84 replies to this topic

[The Beast I Drive]

Got the rear bumper built tonight, its pretty much done, eventually Im going to build a swing-arm that will mount to it to hold the spare and a gas can, but other than that and paint it is done! Also replaced the tranny mounts, which turned out to be more of a PITA than I had expected, but it made the car feel like a totally different rig.






Here's where I welded the hinge back to the tailgate (both bolts broke off, and the tailgate is F****, so I dont care, I just wanted it to work)


Tomorrow Im going to tackle the lower radiator support and build the pushbar for the bumper, then sometime in the next week I will get the skidplate made.

-Bill

[SoobieDoo]

Nice bumpers, I especially like how the front ties in with the trimmed fender.

[wow]

so many works .continue please.

[TheLoyale]

That rear bumper looks sooo clean - awesome job on both, I want to see the Skid plate!

[subaruguru]

damn thats all i can say i thought my bumper was cool i really like the rear one it looks bad rump roast i really need to get down there i htink a 6 inch lift is in order for the gen 3 brat

[bratman18]

Looks awesome!! Great job, now you gotta cap them rear quarters off!!

[The Beast I Drive]

Ive made a little more progress this morning, just finished the lower radiator support



Now Im going to eat, then Im going back out to put the frontend back together and finsh the front bumper.

-Bill

[The Dude Abides]

Was it rotten bill.

[The Beast I Drive]

Was it rotten bill.

No, it looked like a banana though :-\ Someone at one point must have made a crash landing on a good size rock...

Before


After


Now I have a straight one, and I also gained about a foot of clearance by cutting the towhook BS off at the bottom of the framerails, and making my new rad. support out of 1 1/2" x 3" tubing with a notch cut out to fit the radiator, as well as nuts welded in to mount a skidplate.

Im just about to finish the front bumper, so Ima go try to do that before it gets dark, then Im gonna wire in a push button start setup so I can stop using the screwdriver

-Bill

Edited by The Beast I Drive, 31 October 2009 - 08:05 PM.

[bratman18]

Looks very similar to the radiator support on mine!!! Great work

[The Beast I Drive]

The front bumper is pretty much done! I still need to get a 5000lb winch, and make a small skid plate that will go from the bumper to the rad. support, and paint of coursed, but its pretty much done!






When I did the lower radiator support, I also re-routed the wiring below the rad. to above it




Im heading back out in a few minutes to install these



And replace this


With a pushbutton start setup.

-Bill

[lostinthe202]

That all looks great.

You should take a cutting torch to the skid plate rad cover and make yourself a designer grill!

Will-

[subaruguru]

i love that front bumper i cant wait till the push bar is done on my front bumper. that thi9ng is looking sweet

[The Beast I Drive]

Got my fog lights installed somewhat properly (had all the right switches, lights, relays, wire, but all I had for splices was thumb screws )



I ran the positive wires through the pushbar (talk about a PITA) and ground wired to the mounting points.



They work great



Then I set up my PB start system. I have done this to 3 or 4 rigs now and I like it. The idiot light and switch closest to the seat are for the fog lights. I mounted everything on the center console for now, because I dont have a radio consol in the car yet. Eventually I will build a roof consol to mount all the extra gizmo switches in, but for now, this works, Ill just have to get a boot from McBrat to cover the wires




Tomorrow Im gonna work on lift kits, so there prolly wont be any more progress on this until monday or tuesday...

-Bill

[The Dude Abides]

Looks great bill. Butttttttt.............................. with the space being so small in these cars. Dont you find your leg bumping against that often. Maybe turning on an off certain things. Just curious. Still, looks awsome though.

[The Beast I Drive]

Looks great bill. Butttttttt.............................. with the space being so small in these cars. Dont you find your leg bumping against that often. Maybe turning on an off certain things. Just curious. Still, looks awsome though.

Im only 5' 7", and there is a lot more room in a Gen 2 Brat than in my Gen 1 Brats, I checked to make sure my leg wouldnt be bumping any switches, and it clears everything with plenty of room to spare. Pluse it really is the only place I had room to put them.....

-Bill

[The Dude Abides]

LOL well i have a ea82 wagon so i dont knwo for sure but were the same height. Again looks great and if it works for you, then awsome.

[The Beast I Drive]

LOL well i have a ea82 wagon so i dont knwo for sure but were the same height. Again looks great and if it works for you, then awsome.

I feel squished when I drive the Beast compared to driving this, idk it seems like there is more room in the Brat than there is in the Gen 3's, at least around the driver anyway... At any rate, it all clears so it works for me

-Bill

[hardtail_pride]

So.... my 2 cents on the smoke stacks. I never was a fan of the big diesel trucks running around town with the same set up coming out of the bed till i saw an old ford f150 the other day. The changing factor was the fact he didn't seem to be looking for tons of attention in the height of the stacks. His stacks were level with the bed of the truck. I think the same would look great with your brat! Oh and i dont know if there have been projected plans in this write up, but are you lifting it higher? Looks great!

[bratman18]

Looks great. You do awesome work. I did the same with my wiring harness, I used the factory Subaru removable zip ties to hold it on top of the radiator.

[The Beast I Drive]

So.... my 2 cents on the smoke stacks. I never was a fan of the big diesel trucks running around town with the same set up coming out of the bed till i saw an old ford f150 the other day. The changing factor was the fact he didn't seem to be looking for tons of attention in the height of the stacks. His stacks were level with the bed of the truck. I think the same would look great with your brat! Oh and i dont know if there have been projected plans in this write up, but are you lifting it higher? Looks great!

The reason I have the stacks set so high is becasue I plan on building a high roll bar and putting 4" offroad lights on it. When I do that, the stacks will be level with the top of the lights, and it will all get evened out...

As far as going higher, I might do a 6" later on if a combination of parts Im dreaming of works like it should, but the final plan for this is a 10" lift, full subframe and cage, bed mounted radiator, 5 speed D/R married to an old Chevy truck 4-speed married to a Nissan T-case, fully custom independent A arm front suspension set to Gen 3 track width, full custom A-arm rear independent suspension with horizantal coilovers in the bed, all-wheel steering, 4.444 diffs, 32/11.50 R15 tires on Black NASCAR-style Chevy rims, and either a dual weber'd 2.5 with 2.2 heads and hot cams, or a tripple-carb'd EZ30 or EG33 if I can find one for a steal...

...So yeah, this is just an intermediate stage right now......

-Bill

[The Beast I Drive]

Looks great. You do awesome work. I did the same with my wiring harness, I used the factory Subaru removable zip ties to hold it on top of the radiator.

I love those things But I got lazy, and just happened to have a 5-million-or-so pack of regular black zip ties...

Eventually when I re-wire it, no wires will cross the front at all, and no part of the harnes will go any lower than the top of the headlights. Any wires that need to cross the engine bay will be re-routed under the dash and out the passenger side. I did this once to a Wagon I have (unfinished project) and its a lot of work, but its worth it for the clean look and not having to worry about wires getting wet on water crossings and deep mudholes

-Bill

[The Beast I Drive]

The exhaust is about 75% done right now, I have it built from the headers to the back of the cab so far, all thats left is to put on the 12" cherry Bombs and hook the pipes into the stacks

Im still waiting on my new exhaust bends from Summit, but I got impatient, so I cobbled together what I have now from the leftovers I had when I did the exhaust on the Beast, and some mufflers that used to be on bratsrus1's yellow HatchBrat. Its a lot better now than it was, I can here the worn out lifters ticking again




Im going to put the short Cherry Bombs on where the pipes end now, behind the mufflers, so that should take away the metalic sound I get from these mufflers. The X-pipe makes a world of difference, before I lifted it I had completely seperate pipes (no crossover at all) and It had no low-end. Now I have my low end power back It accelerates much better now, and the idle smoothed out alot too. It doesnt sound as cool when I lay on the gas, but it has more power and runs better, so Im happy.



-Bill

[The Scooby]

nice fab skills there bill, that rear bumper looks awesome. i really dig the front other then the stinger, honestly i think it is a little big for my taste but again nice work.

[The Beast I Drive]

Woot! These finally came earlier this evening!



Rancho RS5000 shocks, part number RS5241, for a 2-2.5" lifted Jeep Wrangler or some BS like that... Anyway, they also fit 4" lifted Subes (come with the correct upper mount bracket, bolt-in, no mods) But I could not get the damn boots on with the bracket in, so I pressed it out and pressed in the old Subie brackets when I got the boots on. I f'd up the upper bushings doing this, but I care not, I finally have suspension dampening in the rear! I have a 3" lift, not a 4" lift, but these should work fine and give me more down travel than stock. Took it for a test drive after I got 'em installed and it was sooooo much better than riding around with no shocks like I have been for a week.

The only downside to this night was that getting these shocks to actually mount to the car was a Biotch, because I had a broken off bolt in one shock mount that would NOT cooperate with me AT ALL. I finally drilled and tapped it out to 1/2-13 threads, then proceeded to crossthread that when I installed the shock :-\ so I hope I dont have to take them off any time soon. Im just happy I finally got my shocks!

-Bill