The Beast I Drive

Since you have the EJ, sounds like you are set! I know there are adapters out there to adapt Ej motors to all kinds of VW trannys, so that part shouldnt be hard either. If the car is carbed now, you can also go carbed with the EJ for the sake of wiring simplicity and coolness when you open the hood. Or if you feel adventurous, you can swap the whole MPFI from the Legacy into the car as well. You will hear lots of pros/cons and plenty of arguing over carb vs. MPFI so its ultimately a matter of preference. Sweet lookin ride, might talk to Mountain Brat here on the board, he and a few other guys have done EJ conversions into previously VW powered rigs. -Bill

Yeah you want those to be tight, really bad stuff can happen when they are loose... -Bill

Ya know, if they reverse the rotation of the axles, then they would be perfect for using a Subaru drivetrain in a rear engine Dune buggy! -Bill

There may have been more old gens than normal, but there was only 2 gen 1s... I won second in Gen 1s by default! It was a great show, glad I got to stay for both nights this year, there were some awesome rigs and it was cool hangin out with everyone. Lookin forward to next year! -Bill

I did just notice it has a GL quad headlight grill, but it has a DL dual headlight valance panel... Also I have a couple of those radio consoles, but they have been cut up a bit from previous owners, but I could let one go for 5 bucks or so... I have a good one I could let go for some new HotWheels stickers, I lost a set when the RX burned up... Im guessing Brown interior? -Bill

Damn, that one looks to be in good shape. Nice score. -Bill

Ive seen a couple of those carbed EJs in person, personally thats my preference, I like carbs. Throttle linkage is no problem, Weber has throttle bracket kits that bolt to the carb, and aftermarket companies like Spectre make universal throttle brackets that bolt to most 2 and 4 barrel carbs. Modifying the manifold is as simple as plugging a few holes and cutting a hole in the top of the manifold, then bolt on Scott's Weber adapter or make your own... I know at least 2 people ran 4 barrel carbs, and 1 guy will be at the WCSS11 with a Holley 390 cfm 4 barrel on an EJ. Its all about preference, if working on carbs is out of your element, then do the wiring. If wiring is your anitchrist and you have been working carbs all your life, then go carbed -Bill

Yes. -Bill

Man California sucks... Up here in eastern Washington they really dont care as long as the blinkers and tail lights work... No inspections, not even on out of state title transfers -Bill

I bought an 80 Brat with some serious rust issues, and its still one of the best buys I ever made! I did a few little mods to mine because its what I do, but I still get great gas mileage, has more than enough power for what I do, and it can go almost anywhere on or off road. Mine has horrible rust everywhere but the doors and hood, but the drivetrain is in excellent shape and it runs like a top. They are quite easy to work on, and are overall fun little rigs. -Bill

You will have to have all pressure off the suspension, so have the body up on stands, and put a jack under the wheel, that way you can easily move the wheel to the position you want it. -Bill

How come you didnt just re-wire the corner lights to be the turnsignals and run amber bulbs? Just curious, but it looks good either way! -Bill

Mine was all about the aerodynamics and the '70s muscle car rake... Cuz I can -Bill

I love it, Thats exactly the stance my RX had, but I had little tires. Looks a lot better with the bigger tires -Bill

OK Ill try to explain it better for ya If you look at one of the torsion bar assemblies (lets say, the Driver's side), you will see that there are 2 mounting points on the body of the car, one outside the trailing arm (the part the shock is mounted to) and one on the inside of the car above the front of the diff. If you look right in front of your tire at the outer mount, you can see there is a splined shaft inside the tube that the trailing arm is attached to. There should be a 12mm bolt right there in that area, usually near the bottom of the mounting point, on the tube. Remove the 12mm bolt, then, use a punch and BFH and from the inside mount (above the diff) drive the shaft toward the outside of the car until the splines disengage. You will know the splines are disengaged when you can relatively freely move the trailing arm up and down with you hands. I might suggest you make a reference mark before you drive out the torsion bar so you can set it up the same on the other side. Once you have it loose, position the wheel where you want it, then from the outside of the car, drive the shaft back into the splines. Put the 12mm bolt back in and tighten it down. Once you have the wheel set where you want it, then you can go to the other side and do the same thing over there. You will have to do this probably a couple times to get the stance right where you want it, I believe you can lower it about 1/2 inch incriments because there are 2 sets of splines, the ones on the inside body mount, and the ones on the outside mount. Make sure you make marks Before you drive out a shaft, that way you have a reference point to work from and it will make doing the other side that much faster and easier. -Bill

I am so hungry for some good, fun wheelin, the only wheelin I got in this weekend was haulin rump roast to get to the tractor and make firebreaks, and I destroyed my power steering and ripped a front strut to pieces in the process, then today I destoryed 2 brand new tires and a wheel on my red Brat in the same place going back to get some stuff that got left... If anyone is plannin on wheelin at WCSS I will be there, unless we get more fires... Awesome pics! I see lifts from 2-8 inches in there and they all look sa-Weet! -Bill

Id say buy it and sell it to Turbone when his EA82 takes a crap, cuz he'll still be wanting to run one... I personally think it would make a GREAT boat anchor... EA82 are pretty good. EA82 TURBO, not so much... Think of it as a turd wrapped in 24K gold foil. Once the novelty and shine wears off, it REALLY stinks. -Bill

5 on 4.5" is also pretty much any 2wd Chevy wheel ever made... TONS of aftermarket, Cragars, American Racing, Edelbrock, Wheel Vintiques, Foose, etc... Pretty much any wheel you could possibly ever want is available in 5 on 4.5" bolt pattern... -Bill

Im still kicking myself for having to drop out at the very last minute, but when duty calls you have no choice. Hopefully I can make it to the next one, looks like it was a blast. -Bill

In the rear you have to re-clock the torsion bars to get it down, its pretty simple, I haelped Jarare12 re-clock the torsion bars to lower the rear of his lifted brat a bit. You have to loosen the 12mm bolt that holds the bar in its tube, then from the inside drive the bar out until the splines disengage. At that point, then you can rotate the trailing arm to any where you want. Then drive the bar back in, tighten the bolt and go on to the other side. Its nothing like the Gen 2 rear torsion tubes, those have an adjuster bolt. These are 100% different. -Bill

Well, it looks like I wont be there tonight, maybe tomorrow morning though... I was workin on the beast when I got a call... To go fight a lightning-started Wildfire on my buddy's ranch... We got it mostly contained, the fire department wont touch it because the ranch doesnt have a contract with them... I just got back and the Beast is not ready to go, and I have to go tow my buddy's car off the mountain cuz he broke the radiator..... But I plan to catch up with you guys on Saturday, hopefully between 10 and noon..... -Bill

The sheetmetal is LONG way from done, I still need to finish the back wall, build up the bed rails, and finish up the in-bed stuff, then modify the Gen 2 Brat bedtrim I have to fit it, and a few other things as well... The stripes will have to be custom, but shouldnt be much different than EA81 Brat stripes, although I might see if the font can be tweeked to be more like the 4wd emblem on the back of the EA82 wagons, just to be period correct -Bill