crockettbrat

On my brat and on my bmw 2002 I removed the carpet and layed down some adhesive backed HVAC duct insulation. I got the stuff at Home Depot. It's about 1' wide and 25' long roles for like $15 or $20. The stuff is probably 3/16" thick and really does a good job of sound proofing. I took the door panels off and did the doors too. The bmw is really quite, the brat still sounds like I've got a helicopter tailing me, but it did improve it alot. When I had speakers put into my bmw the stereo shop guys thought the stuff I used was great and were asking me where I got it. The carpet fit right back over the stuff as did the door panels. good luck. Daniel

When I first saw your post I was skeptical, but I must say I'm jealous! That is an awesome idea and finished product. Good job! If mine ever leaks, I'm going to do that. Plus I really need an excuse to buy a plasma cutter. Daniel

Ok then. Lesson complete! I'm young enough to already know this stuff, but somehow I've managed to have most of the computer literacy stuff pass me by. Daniel

ok then I'll try it. How do you resize images? Daniel

Hey all: The legacy is almost gone. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/data/500/P10100301.JPG Someday I'll find the post that tells you how to cut and paste photos on to posts:dead: Tomorrow I'll cut up the firewall area and this thing is gone. I've got one dump run if carpet and plastic, but other than that I recycled the vast majority of this vehicle. From what I found on line, most likely the brat speedo has a vehicle speed sensor, so for now I'm not to o worried about that part of the swap. The brat should be moved to the front of the driveway on sunday or monday to have the engine and tranny removed, then the new engine and 5speed d/r can go into place. I've still got to get the new clutch stuff too. Anyway, moving forward on this project. Thanks USMB for the motivation. Daniel

Thanks guys for the info. Shawn I saw on Phinz's website that my brat might have the sensor. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'm not going to rip into the brat until I finish chopping the legacy carcass in to little pieces and get it out of the driveway. I'll post the results of the VSS hunt when I'm done. Yes, California is pretty strict about engine swaps. I will need to bring all of the original emissions stuff from the legacy and make it work properly. Luckily people have done this successfully before me, so I'm confident that I'll pull it off. Thanks USMB:headbang: Daniel

I'm running firestone destination at's on my brat in the 215/75/15. They are great in every condition I've used them in so far. Dry pavement, wet pavement, snow, ice. They rock. I run them on my range rover as well. The set on the rover has over 20k miles and seem to have almost as much tread as the "new" set on the brat. They are quiet on the road too. These are definately the best tires I've ever had, but they were about $110 a piece if I remember correctly. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/data/500/Picture_026.jpg

He's a great kid. He's been helping me wrench since he was able to walk. He is really good with a wrench, and wrote a "poem" the other day that was a description of the four strokes of an engine. That's ma'boy! As far as his rate goes, right now he's helping me strip the legacy for all the coins he can find. I think he's up to a buck fifty so far. I know he'll work for ice cream too.

Hey there vanagon people. I'm doing my ej swap in my brat and am wondering if any of you guys have done the ej-vanagon swap in California and passed the smog referee. I'm trying to come up with something for a vss to keep the check engine light off. Thanks daniel

For the VSS I took the signal from the reed sensor in the cluster. I don't remember which wire it was. I can take a look at my notes and tell you specifically which wire a tapped. bw How did you get the vss to spin? Did you use the ej speedo cluster? The brat doesn't have a VSS in it's cluster does it? Thanks s'ko. Daniel

Well I've got the harness out of the car. I haven't chopped anything out of the main harness pieces that I will need, and I think I've identified the oil pressure, and check engine light wires, and I feel confident that I know what the various part of the harness go to and what I can keep and what I can chop. The engine is ready to be pulled out and that part is no problem. I am wondering if anyone else in California has done this swap, or if anyone else has done this swap with an OBDI ej22 and rigged up some kind of VSS (vehicle speed sensor) to keep the check engine light off. In California with this swap it has to be inspected by a smog referee and the original emissions from the donor car need to be fully functional- ie the check engine light needs to be present and funtional as it was in the donor car. I intend to install the check engine light in the blank ecs light on the brats dash board. This part seems straight forward, but I haven't come up with a solution for making a vehicle speed sensor. Any input is appreciated. I have searched the forum for several hours and have come up with some vanagon homemade VSS stuff, so I've got a start. Just looking for more input from those who have done this too. Thanks. Daniel

Who doesn't need a freak wagon?

I've spent the last two days dismantling my legacy for the ej swap. I've gutted the interior with a little help from my head mechanic. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/data/500/medium/P10100251.JPG. I've started chopping down the wiring harness. So far I've eliminated the rear portion of the harness completely with the exception of the fuel pump. I've never done this kind of electrical work before, so I'm going slow, labeling everything and slowly chopping stuff that is unplugged or known as not needed, and then restarting the car to comfirm it wasn't needed. So far things seem to be going well. Hey s'ko, if you read this can you tell me what you did for your check engine light? I am also in California and will need this for the smog referee. Any help appreciated. Hopefully I'll have the harness handled in the next few days and pull the engine this weekend. Then its going to be a sawsall party at my house. The metal recycling bin at the Berkeley dump is going to be full!

Hey there: My first welder was a lincoln sp100 wire feed mig. It didn't come with the regulator or gas, so it was all flux core wire feed. It ran off 110v. As I got into welding thicker metal I upgraded to the sp175 with gas. This welder requires 220v. I love it! Wire feed mig welding is very easy to learn. Get some scrap as mentioned before and practise. Getting the wire speed and amps set right is very important. It will sound like bacon sizzling in a very hot pan when you've got it right. The lincolns are good for welding steel, but if you are going to want to do aluminum in the future and are on a budget (ie-no money for a good tig set up) maybe research the miller welders because I believe the miller 135 amp mig can work with their spool gun. The small lincolns don't have the ability to run a spool gun. Good luck. Make something!

Thanks for the write up! Good info. I wish I had access to a car lift! The good news is that the BMW is all buttoned up and out of the way. I moved the legacy up to the front of the driveway by my shop and the dismantling has begun, so I'm going to do the EJ and 5speed at the same time, unless my tranny dies in the next few weeks, which I don't think is going to happen.:-\ Daniel

Thanks for the slide show. Excellent tribute to a great vehicle! Your brumby was a motivating factor in my brat purchase last year. Thanks for all your good info and great work. Daniel

Yeah, I'm leaning towards waiting. Last time my exhaust came off this motor I stripped threads and it took forever to get it to seal up correctly. Plus with a 4/3 lift wouldn't the carrier bearing need to be placed under a block? I've got a couple good driveline places that I've used in the past for shortening driveshafts, so I'll go that route for sure. I bought a two piece shaft at pick n pull the other day too, so I will just have the one piece length matched to the to piece length. Thanks for the input. Daniel

Hey all: I scored my 5sp d/r tranny today at the pick n pull half price day. Anyone have an opinion on whether I should install the 5 sp d/r into the brat while it still has the stock motor, or wait and do the tranny when I do the ej swap. The ej swap is waiting on me getting my bmw 2002 out of my shop. Hopefully this will happen this month. Too many projects too little time. I might do the 5 sp and get it overwith. Any advice appreciated. Daniel

Yes the brat is my favorite vehicle! I really cant wait for the ej22 swap, but I love it as is. I did my first real snow trip in the brat last week in Tahoe. It dumped many feet and the brat was a champion! It chugged up the sierras at an indicated 50mph with my 27" tires. I was really hoping to find a big stuck SUV to winch out of a snow bank, but it didn't happen! My first brat was remote control when I was a kid! Finally bought a real one last year!

I built my own bumper for my lights. I posted it back when I did it and a few others put up pics of their driving lights too. Here's a link good luck http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=76693&highlight=driving+lights

looks great!

Right on! That spare tire carrier is the answer for my Brat!! Hope you dont mind me copying that idea!! Very cool hatch! Daniel

My brat had a similar problem that I just fixed. When my lights were on all the red warning lights on the dash would go on and off with about half the brightness of when they were supposed to come on. There didn't seem to be any reason for it, just kind of randomly flashing on and off. When I lifted my brat I didn't reattach the grounding wire from below the spare tire to the transmission. I just made a longer wire and reattached this ground and now the problem is gone. Hope this helps. Daniel

Hey: I run those wheels on my brat with 215/75/15 tires. They rubbed alot but a little bashing with the bfh and things are working fine. I have to hit a big bump for any rubbing. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/data/500/Picture_026.jpg

I bought a carpet kit from JC whitney. It was almost a hundred bucks if I remember and it doesn't fit that well, and is only for the front of the interior and there was nothing for behind the seats. I wouldn't recommend it at all. I might use it as a pattern and just enlarge it a bit. Good luck. If you find a good kit please post where you found it. Daniel