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No photographic updates, but some work was done today and I figured I owed some proof of life. Still need to get the engine back out of the brat to get the bracketry welded in, the frame rails boxed in again, the crossmember modified some more, and a few more odds and ends, but I put that on pause slightly so that I can move towards reclaiming my shop space from the "donormobile." I've been working for a few months now around that Impreza shell and its welcome in my workspace has been worn pretty thin. Today I rolled the impreza chassis out and started prepping it for chopping and removal of all the remaining driveline components that i still need. That ended up being just disconnecting brake lines and the sway bar, along with removing and tossing the old ratty carpet and disconnecting the parking brake cables from the handle in the cabin. I've measured out the rough length of the section of Impreza trans tunnel that I'll need, but I'll probably be just taking the entirety of it and then trimming to size. Same goes for the rear suspension mounts and towers, but i suspect I might end up fabricating more of that than I might otherwise expect. I also did a quick on-the-ground measurement comparison of the width of the wheelbases between the Brat and the Impreza. from outer edge to outer edge of the rear tires, the brat sits at about 56.5", and the Impreza at 65.5", meaning I'll need to either modify the impreza rear diff crossmember and strut towers by removing about 9" of overall width to get the stock suspension control arms to be able to drop in place, or fabricate my own mounts & crossmember to add to the one on the Brat already. I am not 100% sure which will be the simpler of the two options, or if a third path might present itself, but the way I see it most of my progress on this build has been by just getting started and solving one problem at a time. Eventually I should run out of problems and it'll work, right? Speaking of other problems to solve - it seems that on my last post I've hit my max limit on uploadable files for the forum, so unless somehow I can get that 10MB cap lifted, I'm going to start linking photos as links in either a Drive link or another photo repository. Not a huge fan of that option - might also go back and reupload my images in a more compressed format so they can be hosted natively. Can't tell you how many photobucket albums and images I wish still existed - I'd hate to have that happen here. If anyone has any insight to keep more image files hosted by the forum directly, I'd love to hear from you.

I’ve got rear discs on both my Brumby and L series without changing the standard system other than braided brake lines. The brumby is by far the vehicle with the best brakes now! The L series needs new rotors or pads after sitting around for a few years, plus it runs 27 inch diametre tyres so that takes some of the punch out of the brakes. If you’re running the old rubber hoses I highly recommend replacing them at the very least with new rubber hoses. Best upgrade is the braided. I had a kit for the brumby from an ADR approved kit from eBay that did all the stock hoses then the flexible line to the rear caliper made up by a local brake and clutch specialist to finish off the complete system. The important thing is that your fronts lock up before the rear. If you’re locking the rear up before the front I’d recommend overhauling the front brakes then looking into the front/rear brake bias if the issue persists. It’s down right dangerous to have the rear brakes lock up before the front. Cheers Bennie

And a major milestone has come to pass. The Brat touched back down on all four tires for a brief time here this afternoon, and the stock Impreza wheels really fill those wheel wells up nicely. I've left out images of the tacked in brackets because they're A) extremely ugly albeit functional, and B ) not particularly different from where they sit in the mockup. After having completed this milestone I will say for those following in my footsteps - getting these brackets to site evenly and where I want them was very tedious to do by myself, on the ground, in the sun, in my driveway. They also need about a quarter inch spacer installed underneath them to allow the vertical edge of the upper bracket to get good contact for welding to the frame. I'll be welding a chunky fender washer or fabricating a spacer to thicken the base of the bracket to accomplish this. Installation of the bracket sets would have been much, much easier if I'd had a lift to use or removed the engine first (or ideally both.), neither of which I have or did. Egg on my face there. I'll get some more images of the engine bay and bracketry once I've put this thing back up on the stands to pull the engine and subframe. Next up is getting these welded in completely, boxing the frame rails back in, and modifying the subframe to accept the impreza power steering, as stated in earlier posts.

Second post to keep things flowing and file sizes under control- Repeated the operation on the passenger side of the car. Bolted the brake mounts and calipers on lightly, and threw a wheel on each side - one WRX alloy and a newer impreza steelie. Thinking I might go with the steels and paint them white, but that's a long time down the road. A lot more fabrication to go - control arm brackets, shorter CV axles (probably some chopping for clearance in my future here - it's a pretty clear shot but it's tight), steering rack install (still haven't solved that clearance issue at the transmission bell), transmission tunnel (still part of the impreza)... A long list but I'm really excited for the milestone of putting this back down on its wheels. Even more excited to get the impreza out of my workshop! More parts and pieces to come - Again I do plan on having these bits available for others doing a similar build - just reach out if you're interested :).