lonnie

my tach is now acting up - movement at times jerky, sometimes will register at certain rpms and then fall to 0, sometimes just idle and then falls to 0. is the tach mechanical and therefore the cable suspect (since that is what it is acting like).

worked on wiring and found it more difficult to take power from VR for fuel pump. white wire from VR for pump is not switched but always on. ended up taking wire from radio, since i have none and used this. just hope the voltage is enough to power pump long term.

thanks. i pulled the wiring diagram and traced it to the VR however i thought this must be wrong. tonight i was going to try the ignition wire in the column however i do like going back to the VR since that's where it came from in the first place. thanks.

1981 brat - fuel pump wiring has gone bad. what is best alternative switched source for power? thanks.

I too can report a similar experience with poor idle and a bad miss at constant speed in my 81 brat. Just last week, replaced carb with weber i had rebuilt and boy what a difference! My problems did not entirely go away however and this lead me to discover the Dizzy was completely worn out (lots of side to side movement). i have now installed a rebuilt dizzy (as well as cap and rotor) and can not believe how much performance has improved in all ways. Install of carb not a big deal if you take your time.

I drove my 81 brat to work this morn. I was living the dream. It's now starting to get cold in Oregon. This morning when fit myself into that small suby cockpit, i had to work the throttle and bring it all to life. There is no choke in my car, there is no a lot of things in my car; but it does have a loud exhaust, a roll bar and me who wants to throw it on the freeway and squeeze that motor, draft anything within reach to stay ahead of everyone else. i have a lot of cars at home and i am a slow driver , but not in the brat. I race traffic, push the car and feel so accomplished when i pass that slower porsche or vette or what everelse i can find on the road. There is no carpet in my car, the tranny wines like its going to come apart and going 70 mph seems just like all those scenes from the movie Grand Prix and rushing down the mulsanne straight. I passed a bunch of cars and pushed hard all the way to work. when i pulled into the lot i had my first win for the day. i can't wait to drive home.

are you sure it's a 1993???

many thanks for all the great responses. i will take advice given and check my door jam and report back.

Can someone pls advise me on the original tire size for gen 1 and gen 2 brats. thanks.

today put 195.70.13 on my 85 brat. believe speedo will probably read 7% slow assuming stock tire at 165.70.13. does this sound right and is that the original tire size? ps-do notice a significant improvement in ride quality on the road.

really enjoyable thread i vote #6

so is the ea82t application you suggest generic in that i could take the rear sway bar from any ea82t and adapt to my use 1985 brat?

working with 85 brat and want to reduce roll. replace all shocks replaced sway bar with larger one from RX, however could not find new bushings. question: has anyone used metal bushing as part of bar mount. am guessing there would be some vibration transmitted to body, however this may help reduce roll. also, anyone know of rear sway bar application for brat? thanks for help.

Ended up taking rig to electrical shop and glad i did. Found main power wire very bad in several spots. previous owner put in larger fuse to compensate which resulted in a part melted fuse box on back side. ultimate fix was replaced power wire and two in-line fuses to replace those compromised in box. several other small electrical gremlins fix. surprised what a difference this made, lights much brighter, blower runs stronger, etc. Bill was $160 but very glad i spent it given system was melting down and ready for a fire.

cab-thanks for reply. do i assume the fuses are placed the same way you listed them, ie. the fuse at the top of the box is the 15 A headlight? thanks.

working on 81 brat keep blowing out top fuse for headlights. currently using 25 amp however since i do not have owners manual it occures to me i may have the wrong fuse. thought this would be logical place to start. so... does anyone know correct fuse sizes running from top to bottom of the panel. many thanks.

understand, in my case the gabriel listing # was wrong, tried it twice.

1981 brat have had considerable difficulity sourcing correct shocks and struts. do not know if 81 year is unique however, nearly every parts book we can across had them mis-labeled. finally, after several failed attempts, took old shocks to NAPA and had match as best they could (this actually worked very well). OEM front struts were very hard to find, returned two different sets from two different sources, before we located correct part. bad news was they cost over $200 each. i am now in search of rear axles and wonder if this will be a similar experience...

thanks for comments regarding shocks. my experience did not match in several ways and so reporting an alternative path... confirmed at several shops that the kyb listing is wrong and went to two different NAPA shops and it is possible to get the listing and pic, the shock in the box does not match the pic. i did not pursue classic garage option, given my time was short. my alternative path was to have NAPA measure the shock and identify an alternative which was monroe #5753 ST. another parts house had the shock on hand $23/ea. while the replacement shock body is about 1/2 to maybe 1 inch longer and so too the top stud, i was able to install with no noticeable change in ride height. the ride improvement is significant. next week i plan to change the front strut inserts and will report on this too.

spent all day going from shop to shop in search of rear shocks for 81 brat, with no luck. the kyb listing is wrong and shocks from the sedans are not even close. went to classicgarage and they do not have them, pics for the 78 to 80 shock do not match my 81. does anyone know and maybe have a part number? thanks.

wiper shaft on drivers side seems to short to attach wiper arm. any help. thanks.

i have painted a lot of cars and would offer you this based on your budget limitations. prep the car yourself. this is 90 percent of the job and depending on the conditon of the body, you can do most of this at home for probably less than $200. based on your abilities, the equipment you have and expectations (how good a job you want) plan on spending anywhere from 10 to 40 hours. The cost for you and me to do a full on paint job (body work and paint) is around $1000. i have a very long thread on this process over at Binder Bench (Just Internationals web site). If however you are able to undertake and complete all the prep work, it should be possible to get paint on the car for about half the original bid. ps. as i write this, am teaching my son how to paint. we are working on 81 brat.

got wheel installed. had to do clearence column a bit. great upgrade. am painting rig in my garage this week.

yesterday went to baxter auto and picked up grant steering wheel ($70) and adaptor ($53).