mandelbrotx

I'm just finishing up on my 05 forester's head job from a broken tooth idler (Also took out the belt and passenger side cam sprocket) . I got lucky and only bent the driver's side exhaust valves (yes, I check the rest of them). Your heads are probably fine, just need to get them machined and new valve guides in. Get an entire new kit for timing stuff, Head kit and head bolts. I found a few videos on youtube on how to do the entire job without pulling the engine and it seems to have worked out fine.

Good to know. The boots are still good, so I'll just pop it back in with some new goo, because. I plan on grabbing a salvage from Denver this spring or summer and doing a transplant so I can have a dual range 5 speed. Seems like a lot less headache to do a reshell than swap my auto for a manual.

Would you believe the boot is in still supple and free of cracks after 170k? I was shocked too.

I needed to replace my ball joints and tie rod ends, and decided that while I was there, I would do brakes and struts. I pulled the calipers, removed the tie rod from the spindle, removed the strut, and popped the ball joint from the control arm. I went to turn the spindle over to pull the old ball joint out and the entire axle pulled out from the inner cv leaving the female end of the axle on the dif and the boot on the axle. Is this normal?

I remember reading something a while back that you can pull your front axles and run it in 4wd. Is this true? I would rather just replace them, but I don't have the cash on hand to do that right now.

The factory carb on gen one brats are trash. If its not working you should get a weber. Here's one link

My 79 uses 170/70 r 13, and seems like I my speedo is accurate, however the trip counter is WAY off, if I drive around the block it says I've gone a mile. About the turning full left. I've noticed on my brat there is a mar on the wheel assembly that seems like it was made by the bolts that hold it to the cross member. I see it more on the left side than the right, but if I hard lock to the left I hear a pop when the bolts push under. About the fuel gauge, I don't trust mine at all. I filled the tank the other day (10.5 gal, and I was running on fumes) and when I started up it said I had 3/4 of a tank. every time I start it up it reads something different, however it seems like mine is always under what is in the tank.

I have a spare glove box strap and tan glove box door if you are interested.

did you get it figured out? if not I can go take some pictures of my 79. No dash right now.

Got it up again, the issue was a loose autochoke wire that shorted out a fuse I couldn't see last night killing the ignition. messing with my dizzy I put it in and was off a tooth, making it ping like crazy. Sounded like a bent valve, but a quick tooth pick in #1 and found out the marks on my flywheel are off about 15 Degrees. Ugly runs like a champ again. Thanks for all the advise and offers of help, but this time it was user error. A lesson I won't soon forget.

No, still in the same spot. Thanks for the offer, but I've got another rig to tow it in the morning.

Thanks for the quick responses all. I'm going to see if I can find a new dizzy tomorrow. Is there someway I can test my ignition box with a multi tool?

no air filter atm, can't find the gasket for it. I just pulled the dizzy due to no spark on my plug when I tested for fire. anything I should be looking for?

All I did was put it in second and give it gas, I do know I'm getting fuel to the float, air isn't an issue and I think I'm getting fire because it started when I popped the clutch, but I don't know how much. I checked all my plug wires and cap and rotor, all I can think of is a stripped dizzy, but then why would it start when I popped the clutch?

A few minutes ago I was taking the brat for a quick test drive, I turned to go up a hill and heard a small 'clunk' and the engine died. I attempted to restart it and it would turn over, but would not start. I managed to get it turned around and headed downhill and popped the clutch and it started and I put it into nutral, I had to keep pumping the gas to keep it going but it was very weak, as I got to the end of the hill and it stopped rolling it died. It is parked in a 2minute zone and I really need to know what broke so I can get it out without getting towed.

I payed $200 for mine, but it was in a lot worse shape. 80k miles is a rare find. $800 would be the lowest I would suggest, more like $1200 would be the serious offer he's looking for (at least in the NW, your millage may vary down there). They are kinda rare cars in this shape. If you can afford it, take it. Brats are the coolest thing Subaru has ever made. If you do get it and have any questions PM me, I'm in the process of squashing all the bugs in mine. And welcome to USMB!

Thanks michael appel My search mojo failed me. You would think searching for "ea71 lift" would have turned up your post from last July with all the nice BIG pics of that lift. Did you have to do anything in the front other than the coil lift? When I have the money and time I plan on putting a dual range tranny and LSD on. But from the looks of it, I could fab up the kit and have it on in a day. I knew I was saving that heavy wall box tube for something!

So, here it goes. I've never done a lift before, but I want to lift my 79 brat. From what I've been reading it sounds like a Royal Pain in the back side, and that leads me to my questions. What would be involved in lifting a gen 1 brat? Right now I've got the back end up on jack stands and I think I can see what I would need to do to lift it back there, but it looks like I would need to do something with the diff or is it possible to rotate the torsion bar down? The front seems like another beast all together. Until I get the new wheel cylinders installed in the morning, I won't be able to get the front tires off to have a good look a what all is going on. Any advice given will help me understand what I see when I can poke around. I'm only looking at a 2" or 2.5" lift and some 15" tires. From what I have read on this site I shouldn't need to worry about axle's should I? I'm a fabricator, and have use of a mill so that's one thing I don't need to worry about. I will be doing the 6 lug conversion to open up my options on rims. Am I missing something super critical in this?

haha, no I just took the wheel off so you could see the lack of a dash.

As you can see no dash, just duct tape and wire This week I'm going to see what I can cobble together with some aluminum I've got.

Are you talking about the soft lines that link from the stainless lines from the master cylinder to the Stainless line running to my wheel cylinder? BTW, I love Subaru more than ever now... The first time I did drums was on a 98 Grand AM (POS car) and the next time was on my S-10. Both times it took me over an hour to get the drums off. It took me 10 minutes from jacking the Brat up tell I had the wheel cylinder off. I agree, the last time the car had tabs was 98. So far I've replaced the water pump, oil pump, fuel pump, coil, rebuilt the carb, replaced the rotor cap, dizzy cap, plug wires, plugs, tires, vacuum lines and now the wheel cylinder's. The master cylinder was replaced just before I got it, and a clutch kit installed. I still need to drop the exhaust and weld the holes and replace the muffler. I also need to replace the heating ductwork and put the dash back in, as is the console is using duct tape AND wire to hold it to the steering collar. My wife puts a base ball cap and sun glasses on when we go to the store...

Yea, I just pulled both rear wheels and drums and they are both shot. Can you think of any reason that would blow them both out at the same time?

What would cause both of my rear drum breaks in my 79 brat to start spewing break fluid inside the drums at the same time with no warning? I've been driving this thing around Seattle for a week now, and the breaks have been fine, just a felt like they needed to be bleed. I was driving it around this morning and all of the sudden I lost almost all pressure. I had to drive it 5 blocks breaking with the e-brake to avoid nut jobs j-walking and hope the dumb white chick in the Audi A4 on my rump roast could find her break petal as fast as her horn. I got to my parking spot and both rear wheels and tires are soaked with break fluid, what gives?

Yanked the EGR valve, anti back fire valve, and the evaporative can. Also shortened all the vacuum lines I could. I think there are some other hoses that I can plug and move, but need to look over the diagram again. I did this to my S-10 last year and got a lot more response after, however my mpg dropped from 17 to 12. I also did a full tune up, timing, valve travel and some good plugs.