The Beast I Drive

looks like all you need now is one of my lifts -Bill

I have dual exhaust on both my brats and the Beast, and I had dual exhaust on my RX too... I made an x pipe for my 1600 brat and it made a world of difference, but I think ill switch it to a crossover pipe for the sound Im looking for. The beast and my black Brat both have full dual exhaust and sound really mean, but I did lose some power by not putting in some kind of crossover. Oh and my Black Brat has stainless stacks.... -Bill

i didnt know they dont make the rear axles... So far Ive had good luck with my EMPI front axles in my brat... Only comlpaint is the boot rubs just slightly on the steering shaft from the rack... But not enough to burn through. I get mine from Triangle Autoparts in Yakima, so Im sure any place in Spokane that sells VW parts can get you EMPI axles for your Subaru Brian... Triangle deals all the imports, European and Japanese, and has lots of VW speed parts in stock... -Bill

Trust me, they aren't that cool. N/A FTW. And no Rob, your's doesnt count cuz its an exception... -Bill

eh, they had some bondo in them too... I guess we could check it out, but fire warps the thin sheetmetal on the outside of them, I wouldnt use them, for some reason it just seems wrong... just dont feel right -Bill

Burnt, just like the rest of the car . I wouldnt try to use any structural parts from that car. Not from above the ground anyway... Ive got some more Ideas to think over when you get down here as well... -Bill

Bumper isnt quite done yet fellas, still gotta fab up the bull bars and hoop for the lights I hope you left some excess metal for me to work with Robbie, it will make it a lot easier... Prolly gonna have to wait till Monday to start my part of the work on it though, I have to clean the shop out (again) and get Justin's wagon in there for the lift... -Bill

Speak for youself Jeff, its hard core sunshine all year long over here on my side Also, this -Bill

I was pretty conservative with the Beast in rwd, but when I blew up both front axles in my black Brat, I cut the CV off with the torch at work, pulled the DOJs out and proceeded to drive sideways everywhere I went for a week It was too much fun to be able to swing the rear out with just the slightest blip of the throttle, especially around the curve to my parking spot On a side note, wheeling out of the bottom of a rock-filled canyon in rwd in the dark at 2 am is a challenge... Especially with an open diff... -Bill

Pull the bad front axle, break the CV cup off the end and stick it back into the hub and drive it in RWD to get home. You'll destroy stuff if you dont... I drove the Beast like that for 3 months... its fun to drive a RWD Subaru... -Bill

they do only go one way, the angle of the cut on the blocks must be parrallel to the angle where the strut bolts to the strut tower. Otherwise you will play hell trying to get the struts on, only to find your camber 30 degrees or so out of whack so pretty much they only fit one way... Sounds like you got it right if you got 'em in -Bill

LMAO -Bill

You know Andy, Boldly going where no Subaru has gone before I saw the Brown Beast at WCSS 10, diggin the header, but i would spring for a skid plate. Not too hard to make one, just cut/bend some plate, weld some tabs, and bolt it on.... Now lets see that rig in the mud eh??? -Bill

Oh, it is definitely faster than a stock RX... By far Nice numbers Rob! Bump up the FP man.... -Bill

With the amount of these engines that I have found available, I would scrap the block, use the scrap money on a six pack, and start lookin for another. I have at least 1 good block here, I have 4 of those motors on a pallet and 2 that run, and another that ran before I pulled all the stuff I wanted off it... So I have like 7 of them.... I dont know how common they are in your parts though, but if they are as common as up here, yeah toss the bad block for a good one. The bores have steel sleeves in them though, so it *should* be ok if you can find a machine shop to punch out the sleeves, weld it up, and re-install the sleeves. A lot of places wont do that anymore :-\ It sounds like your engine was severely overheated at one point or another, or driven like it was stolen multiple times for prolonged periods... or both, one resulting in the other -Bill

If you have patience and some mechanical skill an old Subaru is a great car to have as a daily driver. They are about the simplest car to work on once you do a little cleaning up/mild modification, and if I have parts handy I can usually fix or replace any part of my rigs within a day. If you can find one with lower miles that hasnt been abused all its life you'll be better off. I beat the crap outa my cars, i have 2 brats on the road right now, an '80 and an 85. The 85 has had a less than desirable past, with almost 300,000 on the drivetrain though its running great and the trans is still shifting good (which is unusual as the 4 speeds usually lose 3rd and reverse). The body is toast, and its been saved from a junkyard before i got it. Ive had to replace a few things, but for 350 bucks its one of the best rigs I ever bought. If you have emissions regulations you might not want a neglected old Subaru for daily street legal driving, they can be a real bear to get them back up to snuff for the smog checks. If you are lucky like everyone on the east side of washington, you can swap on a Weber and eliminate 98% of the vacuum lines under the hood and all the emissions crap. That makes changing out the entire manifold possible within a half hour. Brats are getting way too high in price IMO, so just look around and try to find a deal. Look out for rust, once it starts it can ravage the whole rig a lot faster than you can imagine... Oil leaks are typical, and you can usually find a good deal if you find a nice body with a blown headgasket, broken axle, or bad tranny, etc... Easy things to fix, hell you could do all 3 of those in a day if you have ambition... Plus, Subarus are way cooler than Hondas. Period. -Bill

Yeah but you dont exactly (ah-hem) off road your rig -Bill

They are the same, Ive used passenger sides on drivers sides and vise versa, also used both sides for tailgate handles on gen 1 Brats as well... Gen 1 stage 2 and Gen 2 handles are the same dimensions and design, the only difference is the Gen 1 handles are smooth and the Gen 2 ones have that groove in them, but they are interchangeable. -Bill

I have the tranny mounts, PM me -Bill

Driver side and passenger side handles are the same. All you have to do is swap the plastic clip that holds the rod to the other side. The metal castings themselves are the same. -Bill

What a difference 2" of lift and some bigger tires makes huh! Looks great man! And no, I dont have any new pics of the Beast yet, it needs an engine, some exhaust work, rear wheel bearings, and 3 axles before It will be back in action... Hopefully soon though. -Bill

Quite possibly the coolest Subaru wagon design Ive seen yet Id love to have one of those! -Bill

I have found that even a flare wrenches start to open up on these little bastards, I used a big, big cresent wrench on the last ones I did, but it was out of the car when I did it. Once they start to come loose though they come out pretty easy. Pipe wrench would prolly work, but make sure you can still get them back in, seeing as how you are in California where you actually need that stuff... Damn thats gotta suck :-\ -Bill

Well, if you insist... I just couldnt resist Awaiting pics of your rig! -Bill

Black with the red rim FTW! -Bill