The New Guy

[turbophoon]

Hay my name is Marc, just found the board. I currently own a 92' GMC Typhoon and have come across what i think to be a 1984 brat(not quite sure on the year). It has the T-tops. AWD, the turbo option, and what looks to be a sprot package(not 4x4, sprot car look). The motor has some type of problem and need to be replaced. I am here looking for whar kind of performance options i can do to her:grin: . Hope to be getting soon.

[Scoobywagon]

Welcome aboard, Marc!

 

Brats can be fun toys, but you should be aware of the following things.

 

First, Brats only came in 4WD or 2WD. If it has AWD, then someone has swapped the tranny.

 

Second, the engine may not NEED to be replaced, depending on what, exactly the problem is. Frequently, people buy these cars with engines "needing replacement" only to find that the problem is something relatively minor.

 

If you want to build a go-fast Brat, you've got lots of options, depending on your wrenching and fabricating skills. I'll list out a few options in order of ascending complexity.

 

1) Rebuild your EA91 turbo engine using an aftermarket cam (Delta Cams), intercooler and blow-off valve. Shouldn't take too much fabrication beyond maybe a few brackers here and there.

 

2) Yank the EA-81 running gear and install an EA-82 turbo engine. WHile you're at it, swap in a 5-speed, either dual range or, if you can find one, full time 4wd with locking center diff. One of the members here is a real wiz at getting ponies out of the EA82 engine. Talk to WJM about his RX wagon. This option really shouldn't require a whole lot of fabrication work, but your going to have to do some pretty serious work to get the whole thing in and tuned properly.

 

3) Yank the EA-81 and go to an ER27 with the full-time 4wd tranny. YOu'll find these ONLY in Subaru XT6's and those are kinda hard to find. Its especially hard to find one in a condition suitable for being a donor car (i.e. trashed body, god motor). This requires some fairly significant fabrication work. Been done before, so you can get some good pointers from people on this board.

 

4) Yank the EA-81 and do a complete WRX power train swap. This will require the most fabrication work (I think) and will NOT be a direct bolt-in swap. I believe that doing this swap also requires doing the 5-lug swap. This will also be you're best bet for REALLY hard-core go-faster goodness. It'll let you use all those wonderful STi goodies.

 

Anyway, there are plenty of people on here who can help you with just about any question you can come up with, not to mention occasional help in the wrench turning department.

 

Anyway, welcome aboard!

[TheSubaruJunkie]

First, Brats only came in 4WD or 2WD. If it has AWD, then someone has swapped the tranny.

Actually, Brats never came in 2WD. All brats are 4WD. If your Brat is Turbo, then it has a 3spd pushbutton 4WD Auto in it.

 

Chances are, the motor has cracked heads. The majority of all remaining Turbo Brats have that problem, they overheat once and the heads crack.

 

The good news is that car is a pretty rare car and if restored will hold alittle more value than a non-turbo Brat. The bad news is finding new heads for a EA81T is extremly difficult.

 

-Brian

[northguy]

Welcome to the board. The good news, as listed above, is that you have about everything you need to get the maximum out of your Brat. The bad is that there's not a ton left to beef it up a whole lot more.

[MilesFox]

if yopu swap in an ea82(timing belts) from an 85-86 turbo xt, rx, turbo traction wagon ea82 models it is speculated theat the ecu in the brat and the engine controls on the motor is all plug in and play compatible

 

as far as the tranny it will make a dog of the motor, swap in a 5spd from an ea82 4wd and you will have better gearing for the turbo motor. all the MT parts are bolt-in. ther will be some costom work for the driveshaft, and you will have to drill holes for the rear diff mounting. but MT swaps are standard procedure, all of the swapping will use stock parts for the most part.

 

just knowing what combination of stock parts is the key to putting it all together. really, think of the car as a lego set you can put together any way you like

[turbophoon]

Hay thanks for all the info that is awsome. I use to be a full time drivability tech at a chey delarship so i think i will be able to handle the modification. I dont know that much about the car because it is at a shop i use to work. I will hopefully be able to go and get the car after i sell my 68 2wd that is being painted right now, if i get to many projects going at once I dont go anywhere. I just wanted to jump on what i could mod on the thing to make it haul some rump roast . Side note what kind of turbo did most of them come with?

[chef_tim]

Most of the Brats I saw in Isreal were 2wd:confused: . We might not have got them, but they were made. Tim

 

Actually, Brats never came in 2WD. All brats are 4WD. If your Brat is Turbo, then it has a 3spd pushbutton 4WD Auto in it.

 

Chances are, the motor has cracked heads. The majority of all remaining Turbo Brats have that problem, they overheat once and the heads crack.

 

The good news is that car is a pretty rare car and if restored will hold alittle more value than a non-turbo Brat. The bad news is finding new heads for a EA81T is extremly difficult.

 

-Brian

[turbophoon]

Is there some kind of way to read the engine codes?? ex. EA-82

thanks

[MilesFox]

as far as turbos go, if you used the existing motor you can swap on an ea82 turbo and up-pipe. i believe the ea82 is an rhb5? i think its a little bigger than the ea81. anyway it bolts up the same, oil and water lines too

 

look on the top of the page and clicj the USRM repair and modification link, and look inthe miscellaneous section for the ecu code reading procedure