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Wrx Brat


rguyver
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Well seeing that the EJ swap is getting more common ill add my two cents ,

 

 

A year a go i got a 2002 WRX wagon that was rolled and intended to swap the engine and tranny in to my 85 brat ,that i built in to a turbo brat with a RX trans and LSD diff and XT6 brakes and 5 lug pattern .

 

The WRX was compleet and i pulled everything out that i thought i would need and then some .

 

things you need are , compleet engine and tranny , diff , all cv axels , wireing harness , fuel pump + fuel pump controler /locaded near the rear weelwell it runs the fuel pump! , shifter linkage, driveshaft, and its a good idea to get a compleet car for a doner beacuse there is all the little things that you dont think of that you will need beacuse when i got my car it had no O2 sencer and no Mass air so that cost me an extea 600$ ,

 

The hard parts!

 

wireing wireing wireing !!! dont start this project if you dont like soddering wires and reading wireing diograms !! i got the subaru shop book for the 2002 WRX and for 10 weeks i could tell you what wire did what .

 

 

CV Axels will need to be custom built if you are going to put the tranny in to the EA81 car, i cut and shortened then welded two ends from the XT6 axels , this was nessary for the RX tranny too , the rear is a little easer , you have to use the outer cups and shafts from the EA81 car but the inner cups from the WRX diff need to be used beacuse they have no pins like the older diffs .

 

ENGINE AND tranny , the cross member needs the mount holes slotted 3/4 " up and the frame needs to be hammered 1/2 inch in right ware the timing covers are "driver side only " and a custom tranny mount will have to be welded up ,

 

see pics at http://spaces.msn.com/rguyver/photos/?_c02_owner=1

 

 

more to come !http://tk.files.storage.msn.com/x1pi5lc1-zbMIROsd-DGXcvPPbFY2FocB-2c-R6bsVetyGbUpPqXK0yiJagWNQqBfK5HzzJk_WrC8dgdz9dCJzO05HSJGnwNdUpk22DOwuSbVfrIl-lyYgTLJxYLj--djx4KCpYBW6PmyiTJlCoIBq-RQ

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i remembered these pics here:

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=478&sl=r

 

is it driveable now?

 

Ya its driveable and it will do a 0-60 in 4.4s and a 13.2 at 104mph , i have a autometer DPIC gforce gage and that is at 14-15psi boost and no engine mods, stock 2000 impreza rims and tires ,a short ram intake K&N filter 3" no cat exhost and scilicone intercooler hoses, NO computer mods or turbo or injectors but that is soon to come hopefully a good used STI turbo if i can find one cheep + injectors and a AEM engine management comp. so i can run 20psi boost, but that will add $3000 to my project and i can allready keep up with a STI and i wouldnt want to embarress them too bad with a 10,000 dollar CA. 83 brat :grin:

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Thanks so much for the write-up!

 

Would it be possible for you go into a little more detail on exactly how you made your custom axles?

 

Also, the link doesn't seem to be working for me, it says the page may not exist or access is restricted...

 

The axels are stock XT6 that i cut enuff out of the middle so they were the same size as the EA81 cars and press fit 1/4 " wall seemless pipe over them then welded the ends up ,I ran them in the lathe to make sure they were strate , doing them this way cost me nothing to do compared to hundrids to get them shortened and resplined , and i know there strong beacuse we uses to do this with lifted off roaders that had 31" tires and had know problem if welded and press fit properly.

 

I havent seen or herd of a nother WRX brat in north America but the Ausies did if first! even one with a compleet STI swap .

 

000_0046.JPG

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The axels are stock XT6 that i cut enuff out of the middle so they were the same size as the EA81 cars and press fit 1/4 " wall seemless pipe over them then welded the ends up ,I ran them in the lathe to make sure they were strate , doing them this way cost me nothing to do compared to hundrids to get them shortened and resplined , and i know there strong beacuse we uses to do this with lifted off roaders that had 31" tires and had know problem if welded and press fit properly.

 

I havent seen or herd of a nother WRX brat in north America but the Ausies did if first! even one with a compleet STI swap .

 

Excellent! And thanks for the pic, that was definitely a bonus.

 

A few more general questions: Would you rate the braking ability of your brat as adequate with this much power on tap? What is the ride like at speed? How greatly has the handling been improved by the 5-lug swap, swaybar etc.?

 

Whatever info you can give is appreciated... I'm gonna be doing a similar build with a hatchback soon, and I just want to get a feel for what the car will be like all around. No doubt it's gonna tear up the 1/4 mile, but I want to know is if it's gonna be just too scary/squirley for anything else or what...

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Excellent! And thanks for the pic, that was definitely a bonus.

 

A few more general questions: Would you rate the braking ability of your brat as adequate with this much power on tap? What is the ride like at speed? How greatly has the handling been improved by the 5-lug swap, swaybar etc.?

 

Whatever info you can give is appreciated... I'm gonna be doing a similar build with a hatchback soon, and I just want to get a feel for what the car will be like all around. No doubt it's gonna tear up the 1/4 mile, but I want to know is if it's gonna be just too scary/squirley for anything else or what...

 

well i have the WRX master cylinder for braking along with steel braded lines for the front and dot 4 fluid , it stops realy good with a bit of peddle effort but i think thats beacuse to booster is smaller then the WRX one (you can swap the booster from a EA 82 car with some hammer work in the strut tower area but i didnt want too) it could be better if i had vented roters and the WRX front calipers,

 

 

dont get me wrong you wont be doing any top speed runs at 150+mph the car is not built for that , my side glass gets sucked out at 100mph and since its a brat the box creats a wind drag effect that makes the back end light , a tonue cover or the canopy would fix that , and a front air dam would give it better down force in the front . Im autocrossing it and i have the XT6 rear sway bar and a custom built sway bar mounts and end linkes that mount to the controll arms not the tirods , the front bar is a stock 70s plymouth Cuda' 7/8" one that i had lying around from when i up graded my Cuda's but i still need to lower it and put stiffer springs and shocks in it, i think i can make the front struts out of the WRX work with some mods.

 

tires will make the bigest diffrences 15"+ are needed with good rubber, i made a set of 16" stock impreza rubber bald in two months lots of weel spin out of corners :grin:

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its awesome to see another canadian with a brat! let alone one with a WRX swap!

 

i'm planning on doing an ej22 swap into my brat with RX running gear... i have all the big bits already...:D

 

perhaps you could make me up some custom axles? i heard you can change the stub in the trans pretty easily... although i wanna convert to 5 lug... have access to those bits too!:grin:

 

and my buddy is parting out his ej22t... so i migh just have to use that!:grin:

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its awesome to see another canadian with a brat! let alone one with a WRX swap!

 

i'm planning on doing an ej22 swap into my brat with RX running gear... i have all the big bits already...:D

 

perhaps you could make me up some custom axles? i heard you can change the stub in the trans pretty easily... although i wanna convert to 5 lug... have access to those bits too!:grin:

 

and my buddy is parting out his ej22t... so i migh just have to use that!:grin:

 

thanks but i not only have one but three !! 1983 WRX brat , a 1984 Brat that im going to build in to a huge 4x4 with 35" bogers and a 1978 all orignal 130 000 km Brat needles to say im a brat hog :lol:

 

i would have to charge 200$ per side for the axel shafts its a lot of labour but i have had som intrest in making several sets so that may lower the price .

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thanks but i not only have one but three !! 1983 WRX brat , a 1984 Brat that im going to build in to a huge 4x4 with 35" bogers and a 1978 all orignal 130 000 km Brat needles to say im a brat hog :lol:

 

i would have to charge 200$ per side for the axel shafts its a lit of labour but i have had som intrest in making several sets so that may lower the price .

 

heh thats awesome!

 

there is a guy in maple ridge (subaru jim maple ridge) who also has 3... an 81 and two 78's...

 

i'm gonna have to do a bit more thinking since i can't figure out how to convert to 5-lug on the gen1's... i'm pretty sure its gonna need custom control arms... which sucks...:(

 

i'll deffinatly be bouncing questions at you as i work my way though...:D

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  • 2 years later...
Cool! I am mostly interested in what it would take to put ej or xt6 rear brake along with ej front brake / suspension setup on the front on the ea81 chassis. I have dreams of a terrible subaru in a good way!:slobber:

 

Are you speaking of my BRAT??? :lol:

Yeah, Jerry pointed me in your direction to ask about this, as I am attempting

something very similar...

It can be found over here.

 

Twitch

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4582_104550161920_635456920_2418975_991079_n.jpg

 

looks like an EJ257 and 6MT :slobber::slobber::eek::slobber:

 

 

CORRECT !!! i got a 2004 USDM complete STI in parts so the motor tranny and rear diff will be swapped in but it may not happen till this winter if i still want to drive it this summer , it will require new custom axels , wiring ,diff mount and shifter boot , and i havent figured out if i will need to make the tranny tunnel bigger " i think yes " so cutting and welding in the bigger tunnel is going to have to happen .

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F'in wow mate! Can you help me do that same swap to a hatch? :slobber::slobber::slobber::rolleyes:

 

sure drop it off and a bus load of cash and it will be dun :brow: i have at least 25,000$ in to the brat over 10 years still cheaper then a new STI

 

im also helping a friend do a 83 2dr sedan with a simmalar setup EJ swap

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F'in wow mate! Can you help me do that same swap to a hatch? :slobber::slobber::slobber::rolleyes:

 

A hatch STi?

That thing would be awesome!

But you'd have to put a pretty hefty wing on it to keep it glued to the road.

Those things are about as aerodynamic as a frisbee, aka get it going fast

enough and it'll fly away! :eek:

 

Twitch

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I've been lurking on the forum for a bit, and was rather interested in this thread. I too have been contemplating swapping the engine and drivetrain from a STi into an old hatch or brat as a M4 rallycross car. I would guess that the end result could be quite a lot lighter and faster than a STi or even a swapped Impreza coupe.

 

Do you know what your brat weighs now?

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