waimaks

Hello! How 'bout some pictures eh bro! I also I have an '81 Brumby in NZ yet can't kinda figure out what the first gen Brats were called over here. And apparantly there used to be lots of these babys running around NZ, but before my time at least and rust ate most of them. Mine is the only first gen Brat-Brumby I've seen in NZ in person. Yay! Heres my baby....

Just a small update, Barely no steam today, and a little bit of gurgling noise coming from what I can only assume is the heater core(under the dash somewhere). Will work on getting it legal and then running it more often to try and get a better diagnostic.

When I needed a key for the XT it was enough to take the door lock in and he cut a key from that. Worked perfect. Might be different on the older cars though.

No bubbling after you shut it off, not for long anyway. Only any real bubbles when you rev the engine. And I can't say I've seen any coolant when you remove spark plug, But I will check better tomorrow. It runs at about 3 to 4 bars(max) on the digi dash, I've shorted the thermo switch to make the rad fan come on fulltime though. And I can't really say how many k's it takes to need topping up as its slightly illegal to drive it at the moment, But driving it round the lawn and farm for probably over an hour over the last week it hasn't used any water from what I can see. The boil over bottle thing is still quite close to where I filled it to awell. An intake gasket would be a lot nicer for me at the moment, I don't think I'm ready to have to pull the engine and work on the heads etc at the moment Thank you!

Turbo - yes, I shoulda mentioned that. The steam so far isn't really noticeable. The plugs have all been about the right colour as far as I can tell, But I'll check them again next time I'm doing something on it. If it is a cracked head... Is it likely to get any worse if I keep it in normal operating temps and full of water? And theres no chance its some other thing? Something easy? Thanks all:)

So my Vortex-XT is steaming out exhaust, and it doesn't really go away once its warmed up. I did a compression test and got between 140-130 all round. There is some bubbling in the radiator, but it doesn't loose water at an alarming rate or anything. Barely no oil in water that I can see, and no water at all in the oil. And rarely gets over 4 bars on the digi dash, Though I'm yet to give it a proper run as its not legal yet. What other than a head gasket could be my problem, and how do should I go about finding the problem? Any help appreciated

I'm quite partial to the round lights personally. It looks really tidy. What'd you steal the bits off? Old DL?

My Brat has just done 72000km (43000miles roughly) The vortex has done 328000km (200k miles roughly) Both as far as I know are are on original engines.

Wow, what an rump roast.

I would nearly have to say "Cashmeire Beige" My Brat is that colour and it sure does take a while to grow on you.... And the mud doesn't even show:mad: Woot!

Man I love these cars. Sounds like I'd better get myself a mattress and start sleepin in er before I get much taller. I'm sure you could manage it if you were cold and tired.

Norf sydz da best! Hehe, Kinda a Ali G movie quote But yes, Your Island seems to have all the cheap soobies. Jelousy

Alright, so I put some gas it in and well, it goes again.... I thought cars refused to run when they ran out of gas, as opposed to running like crap. Stupid fuel injection. Damn I'm an idiot There is still a mother load of steam though... and after idling at operating temp for a for ages while I struggled to adjust the headlights there was still steam....So maybe not condensation.... Yes you can laugh now:horse:

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/ Go here, up the top right sorta there is a 'upload photos' button. And your away! Lets see them piccys!

Well, actually, no, Not for certain. The previous owner said he replaced it himself. And looking at the type of guy it wouldn't be surprizing that he messed something up without knowing. Any surefire way to tell? What can exactly fail in a turbo to give me this kinda stuff. It still boosts OK... Actually I noticed that sometimes while it was spluttering, when it died the boost guage would go to full and back down again. I just put it down to backfiring back up through the manifold? Hmhmm, What a fun car....

Thats pretty awesome! A++

I just had a look, sorry, the park light switch works reguardless of the other switch. That is without the keys.

Heh, I speak to soon. The vortex *was* running ok. The problem has seemed to return. Was just idling fine, some hesitation,but I put that down to it being cold etc etc. And started sputtering, running on two or less cylinders, won't rev over 1000rpm at best, only just spluttering over, even at full throttle, the odd backfire through the manifold. To "recap" Compression- 140-140-130-130- An abnormal amount of sooty water from the exhaust, could, *could*, be condensation... Buuut, Some slight bubbling in the radiator, And could be using water slowly.. what the hell is going on with the thing?!? Two plugs are cleanish, the other two fouled. But this morning when it was running O-K They were all nearly perfect light brown.... Stupid car.... Water, where, other than head gaskets can coolant and combustion chamber get together? Intake manifold? Its got coolant in it doesn't it? And is pressurized because of that damned turbo? Lemme have it...:-\

Well....Nothing yet. Cause Its a relay I guessed the switch was just to disable something. With the switch on, no difference that I've noticed, and with it off, nothing is different either, every thing still seems to work.... I think i'm just gonna mount the switch in center console next to handbreak and re-wire it for the rad fan. In the meantime, I have no idea what the thing does!

Hmm ok, Relay...really! I might just poke the switch back where it came from or something, the relay looks like its supposed to be there, all the wires going in and out of it go into the loom, its just that one of them has had that switch put into it... I don't think its had any aftermarket lights on it. I thought maybe it was to disable the air suspension, as mine has been replaced with ordinary struts. The relay doesn't look aftermarket anyway, just the switch breaking one of the lines going into it. *shrugs*

And why is there a switch wired into it? This is probably a stupid question but oh well..... So I'm poking around under the dash, and find a toggle switch stuffed down behind the foot rest thing. I traced it back to this relay type thing by the passengers strut tower (note right hand drive), next to the fuel filter and something else I am guessing had something to do with the pnumatic shocks.. . Its been wired in before the box thing.....What is this thing turning off or on? Its in my '86 Vortex (XT). Thanks all, I don't think its doing much at the moment, But has kinda confused me as to why there was a toggle switch stuffed out of reach..:-\ JOhnB

Ewwch, sorry to hear that... The vortex has had barely no use yet, so hasn't really proven itself....Heres hoping!

Weeell, did a compression test, 140, 140, 130, 130. Or there abouts. So That seems kinda spot on I think. The thermoswitch thing is now shorted so the electric fan works. I have put a windscreen squirter on the bonnet that I stole off Keltiks honda, Seeing as there wasn't anywhere to put one, this one is kinda *custom*, works and looks ok though. Now, the real issue, the engine! Two distributor leads weren't quite as attached as they could have been. At the same time I scratched and cleaned the coolant sensor contacts as best I could. They woo! It started, no throttle needed, first crank perfectly! It seems to run pretty good now, still a little hesitation, but doesn't die after 4000rpm as much as it used to. It was kinda hard to tell how it would have gone on the road as we'd replaced the shocks with two bits of wood till I can get some replacements. And on top of all that, I reakon the only things its needing now to pass its inspection is the rust which won't take much, and the shocks, which leads to my next question.... These things....They are poked! Like some sorta pogo stick on wheels.... Now, someone in the original thread said they were RX struts-springs etc etc. And they really mess up the way the car sits. My question is this. What would be my cheapest option to get the thing to sit, and ride properly? Just new struts? RX or XT ones, Or new struts with RX or XT springs aswell. Keep in mind, RX's and XT's are uber rare, so junk yard bits are hard to find. I will have to ask how illegal would be to cut the RX springs to work better with some new XT struts. As usual, All opinions-suggestions welcome, And THANKS all who put info in to get it running right again, Lets hope it lasts!

I had a quick glance in-around mr disty yesterday, no noticeable play in the shaft etc. Just a bit up and down, That seems normal though. Also, keep in mind we think #3 might have very minor HG troubles, but thats not important right now... It was going this afternoon....Just the usual slight splutter-hard starting-and uber bouncy shocks. Also, which way would we adjust the timing for lower octane gas, Yea I'm cheap....

EWha? HOW did that happen?