Mugs

Sounds good. What if tried to reserve a spot at Leavenworth for campers. Is the BBQ potluck style, or are we eating at a BBQ joint? Is there going to be enough space at the lake for us all to park "suby style"

Uh, put another name on the roster Sparky. Hy my name is ***** and I'm a BRAT addict. Welcome to the forum.

From the looks of your neighborhood, I would say they are gonna call the neighborhood ordnance on you for having such a "junker" in your front driveway. Are you even allowed to work on your cars over there. Or do you just do it in the middle of the night and try to not wake up the neighbors. Looks good man. I dare ya to bring it home covered in mud and park it on the drive way all crooked.

Man you get all the cool stuff Lookin good man. Hope to cruz in it someday. Can't wait to see that lift...ah the idea's and inspiration.

I have been wanting to something like that to a gen I BRAT for a long time. I think they have a cool "rod" look to them. My plans were to make it rear wheel drive though.

Dude for 50 bucks buy it. If you don't want it there are a ton of us that do. In fact I'll give you 100 for it right now sight un-seen I live in Spokane. Welcome to the forum...and in the upper right hand corner of the page at about the 1 o-clock position is the search function. It will be your best friend for a while.

Didn't really mean "tradition" on location, just dates. If we start making it for M-day weekend then we grow accustomed to it, and can always plan ahead for it. Plus it will be a steady constant that we can look forward to.....Or something like that...I know what I am trying to say

I was just thinking about this the other day. Good thing I checked in the Meet and Greet. I have been slowly getting the BRAT back into drivable condition. Not much has changed since the meet, but she has a weber now, and possibly I will have the 5spd D/R in her by then will see...I am basically holding down 3 jobs now (job, student teaching, night classes) I tend to be a stickler for tradition. I Personally like the memorial day weekend thing. Meet on Sat, Cruz, eat, do what ever on Sun and then return afterwords or on Mon. I am game for Leavenworth, I just want to be able to camp somewhere (my son and I) We will need tree's there is no way around that (Were hammockers) I don't mind the extra little bit of a Drive from Spokane. But I am game for a repeat of the E-burg thing again as well.

Looking good. I am curious to see how this Mega Squirt turns out. I may just do something like it after you guinna pig this thing for a while.

Huh, never thought of using it that way. As I have a different tool used to remove came gears/pulleys. I have always used it as a cam alignment tool on the dvr side cams. Learn something new everyday.

I'm not worried about the valves hitting the pistons. It makes installing the belt a whole heck of a lot easier. Man if you fart wrong, that left side bank (the ones that are on the cusp of springing one way or the other) will spring out of time. Once I started using that tool (the previous shop I worked at had one) it made installing the belts a breeze. That is why I am thinking about buying one. Plus I am a tool addict...if you saw my tool box and my tools you would soon understand. So I want one just cause I want one.

OK so I have a random few wrx's that I work on, and it is time for their timing belts to be done. Now my question is this. Is the 2.5 suby cam alignment tool the same as the 2.0. I have e-mailed a few of the sellers and they say no. But to me it seems the same. I have access to a 2.5 alignment tool and am thinking of having one made by my machinist friend but have to be universal to fit both engines. It would just be a matter of unbolting the hold downs and re-bolting them into the correct position of the bracket arm. But I wanted to make sure first. And obviously I can keep the person's WRX here while I work out the details. And don't tell me to fold the old timing belt in half and shove it between the two cams. That is not the way I work, or how I do things. Proper tools for proper jobs, no jerry riggin done here. Thanks for the help

Its Mr. BRAT's here on the forum. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/album.php?albumid=264&pictureid=2688

Ya I use Domestic Gaskets I have done about a dozen or so head gaskets using there products (use them for t-belts stuff as well) and they are the thicker graphite/metal gaskets. Once I found them I stop using anybody else. They are great to work with and I have yet to have a problem with their products (knock on wood.) I always go to a style of gasket like that when doing a head gasket. But I also have my machinist only "shave" it enough to get it flat again. Usually only take about a few thousands or so.

Well I was willing to take a gamble. As I did this repair on a shoe string budget. So far it has held, but only time will tell. And it wasn't the block that was the problem it was the heads. As in no pitting on the block, just heads, but who knows :-) Sorry no after machine pics. These are the only pics I took of the car. You all should have seen it. But I figured we all have seen enough subies in crappy condition that it would just be a waist of thread space, so I didn't take any, not even of the interior.

A brief history first. 95 Lego sedan. The most unmaintained car I have seen in my life. Interior was so trashed it took two days to clean up. The engine bay was so greasy and grimmey I had to bust out the pressure washer just to be able to clean it up enough to pull the engine. The previous owners never maintained anything on it, and rarely changed the oil, let along anything else. 180k and I think the coolant may have been changed once. It was puke brown, and the head gaskets were blown (which is why I ended up with the car.) Coolant coming out of #4 spark plug hole. So I get the engine out and torn down for the HG job and this is what I see. Even after my machinist milled them they still had some pretty hefty pitting (these pics are before he machined them.) But luckily it is on the coolant passages and not on the compression side of things. I would say it is do to lack of coolant maintenance which cause the PH balance to be way out of whack, that and just plain old coolant cause electrolysis between metals. Any way engine is "rebuilt" and interior is all cleaned up, so now all I have to do is get some tires and license it and I'll have a decent daily. When I am done with it, the engine and wire harness will get pulled and used for an EJ project for whatever. Enjoy (both heads were just as bad as each other) You get the idea...no need for too many pics

A location of your residence area would be nice, so that we can guide you in the right direction.

Beautiful BRAT. I know it may be tempting to sell it, but don't. Obviously your uncle willed it to you because he thought you were the one responsible enough to take care of it, and carry on its legacy. Putting a Weber on it (IMO) would not hinder its value per se' and it would add a lot of more get up and go. I was amazed how much more pep I had when I put mine on. I took it all out, EGR (made a block off plate to cover up the holes,) all emission stuff (vacuum lines, evap etc,) cut out the cats, exhaust risers, etc, etc. All that is left is a vacuum line going to the distributor, one to the master cylinder, and my PCV hoses. It really cleans up the engine bay. And would add a nice touch to the car. Plus with it being in you family for a very long time in the future as well it will give it that personal touch that can make it yours. Enjoy...and leave that thing alone. No wild crazyness (EJ, Lift, custom this or that) should be done to that car.

I have been wanting to do that with Gen I BRAT for like 3 years now..but use a STI motor and make it a DD.

Yes the "aftermarket" or update kit you buy from the dealer to replace the plastic ones are metal and should come with allen head bolts and not phillips. Just make sure you don't put the allen head bolts in the factory aluminum one, the heads will rub on the flexplate and make an awful "oh crap what the hell did I just screw up" noise. Trust me I know. :-\

Tire Porn

I drove it around for almost a year but then sold it this July to a forum member...But I am starting in on my own BRAT as well. Already have the EJ donor car for it 95 lego sedan. So far everything I have gotten including the BRAT has been free. So I am not into it as much as one may think. And It looks more daunting then it really is. Haven't we all seen the hot rod before and after pics of some of the cars we look at in the hot rod shows. Best one I remember is a bullet riddled shell of a 41 chev, that came out a trophy winner a few years later. I figure this is a cake walk compared to that.

Ya even if the kid did manage to get the car up and running, I seriously doubt it would have made it around the block, let alone out of the drive way.

Well to quench some of your fears. I have a cross member complete with hub assemblies, rotors, tie rods, and radius arms. Interior wire harness, and engine bay harness, another complete interior of the same color, and a tunnel section. So putting it back together is not going to be as daunting as one may think, Just some time and effort, and a welder for some parts. As far as the much discussed EJ vs EA81, It will be less expensive (right now) to put back in another EA81. I have one lined up, its just a matter of getting it to my house. So I think we will go with that for now. And I agree having him doing all the work is going to make him a lot more respectful and responsible then the kids that mommy and daddy just gave him a car...sometimes a very nice on at that. But even I as his dad can't stay out of the gas. Its not that I am a crazy driver who street races and takes unnecessary risks or even speeds, its just that I get up to speed real quick and I maintain it. I can't stand slow movers in the fast lane. Even when I had my EJ wagon I was always in the throttle running it through the gears, heck I am like that with my daily driver. But its was the shear thrill of acceleration and speed (especially with the EJ wagon) that gets me every time. I loved just romping on the wagon, especially if another suby of its gen or even new gen was next to me, or behind me. So I know he will more then likely be the same. We are just a family of racers, always have been. I just don't want him to be an idiot about it. Like I was when I was his age. I think what I might do is EA81 for now, then at 18 when he finishes high school and is off to college the graduation present will be the EJ. But who knows, it will play out how it plays out. I am trying to make very far off plans and not looking at the here and now (I have a bad habit of doing that.) So I guess we will just have to see what happens. Thanks for all the replies, more to come as work progresses.

Both the EA81 and EJ's are reliable, its the added power and thrill of the EJ that concerns me.