cobcob

In the wild Engine bay... nice new relay for driving lights (the red wires going everywhere are NOT my work! Gotta clean up after the PO a bit) All lit up! Spare Tranny Spare Engine Looks like the spare engine is good to go! Mileage? Not too shabby!! Subaru Brat meets Subaru Longhorn?

Brat stripes eh? Sounds pretty cool! I've toyed with getting it repainted at some point back to the original color but I think the maroon color would be a bit boring

I'm working on drafting up a good maintenance schedule, going to be doing things that I haven't done in the past like checking fluids while filling up with gas etc. I figure that since she's given 25 years of service to someone else she deserves a bit of pampering now! Also going to buy a new print cartridge so I can print out HTKYSA for some bed time reading

That's going to be the title to my first "broken down Brat" thread hehehe:grin: I've got no pie-in-the-sky visions of this thing running for years and years of trouble free service. As is the case with any older vehicle she's gonna have her issues and quirks which is what gives the older vehicles their personality. I learned a LONG time ago that a car is a group of mechanical systems and they like to break:) Good thing I like to fix things right?

I might give it a try, if it scrubs out my tires then I'll throw the ones off my wagon on there... It'll give me an excuse to do the 5 lug swap on the wagon...

Awww geez... I wish I had have seen that post when you had it for sale! I woulda given you more than that just to have another Moke! They had some awesome handling, kinda sloppy transmissions, but I'd die to get my hands on another one!

off the top of my head I think it's rolling on 175/70R13's, dunno the backstory on the rims, not sure how long they've been on the Brat at all, I'm gonna drive with what I've got until I run across a good deal on some other rims for it. Not really too fussed right now though

Pics will be forthcoming after the weekend, I'm getting the topper, spare engine and trans, and a mess of other parts tonight Should have time on Sunday to get some nice pics of her and I'll upload them Monday when I'm back on the high speed connection at work (dang dial-up at home!)

I drive 32 miles to work and 32 miles home 5 days a week, I travel by myself and in some pretty heavy traffic which rules out a motorbike. Weekends see me needing to haul some firewood, cart the lawn mower around, or tote building supplies out to the house. The Brat is pretty well perfect for what I need at this point in my life, good gas mileage, 4x4, reliable, easy to repair, and hauling capability. The family trips are covered by the wife's SUV but that will change as soon as I get the turbo wagon up and running

I certainly trust the Brat a lot more than I do my wife's Isuzu Trooper! I've got a good background in engine repairs, everything from 1981 Mini Mokes to 1966 Honda S600 Roadsters, Chevy V8's, Ford small blocks, Mazda V6's and the list goes on. I'm certainly no stranger to an engine bay and I don't get too easily intimidated by launching into what others would consider 'major' engine work... I've driven her to work the past few days and am learning the little quirks (don't try to hit 2nd very quickly, it'll go in but with some additional noises). Listened to her when I arrived at work this morning after a 30 mile run and based on that I'll be doing a valve adjustment this Sunday afternoon providing I can get some valve cover gaskets...

Sounds great Jerry! My wife won't complain about me spending minimal time out in the garage this weekend, she tolerates my vehicle fetish up to a point and I don't want to reach that point quite yet! Whenever you get a chance to do that I would appreciate it! PM me if you need my current mailing address (it's not the same as the one on that check I sent ya)

I've done a search, I've dug through my Chiltons manual etc but I can't for the life of me find a wiring diagram for the "3rd eye" One was installed by a mechanic at some point into the 1982 Brat that I just bought. The light will turn on but the 'door' in front of it will not open. The previous owner said that he had the door wired up to a rocker switch so you have to turn on the light with the factory switch and then hit the rocker toopen the door. I'd kinda like to have it working properly but don't have the wiring diagram to know what's meant to go where Thanks!

Thanks 75subie! I wasn't sure what the fix to that rake was, I'll probably do that on Saturday while doing the oil change etc. Just got done poking around under the hood and found that on top of all the things I knew about it also has a block heater installed! Going to get the spare engine & trans as well as the topper and some other parts from the PO tomorrow after work. More pics with the topper will be online after the weekend

Here's one of the speakers that's in my Brat, next to the CD changer, they're a Jensen speaker in a formed plastic enclosure...

Got myself into a 1982 Brat yesterday... Pics below... I'm excited and loving it!

Thanks GD, I had read of the no hydraulic lifters a while back but until yesterday I didn't have an EA81 so I was focusing my reading on the EA82's. I guess I'll dust off my PDF of HTKYSA tonight when I get home and read up on the adjustment... I'll put a rocker adjustment on the top of my list of things to do in the near future, planning an oil change on Saturday as well as taking some time to poke around the engine bay and get familiar with that side of the hood

Thanks for the _LATE_ input there guys ... It is appreciated and I do understand the points made. I went ahead and bought the Brat yesterday morning, my concerns about an immediate break down have been calmed somewhat having driven it 80+ miles since then. There's no oil leaks at all, the trans isn't making any undue noises, the EA81 purrs like a kitten and there's no TOD at all. There may well be a lot of Subies out there for a lower price but not anywhere near where I live! I've seen 1 other Brat on the road, a beat to hell 1st gen, and a couple of wagons (hyrysc's being one of them) so in this part of the world, ANY Brat is pretty rare. (I managed to get him down to an even $2000 also) The issue in terms of break downs is more looking at the next 2-3 months and having driven the Brat more now I'm confident that I won't have any problems with it in that time frame. The 'Can't afford to have my DD break on me' is a time thing rather than a cost thing. I can afford to put up some $$$ for repairs if needed, but I've only got 3 vacation days left this year so repairs would have to wait for a weekend which means driving the wife's SUV or having my wagon running. I ran through all the options, including sourcing something out of the PNW, flying out there and driving back but I just don't have the time to do that so I've gone with what is available. I'm very happy with it so far (only day 1 of course) and I'm planning on doing everything possible to keep this baby on the road for as long as I can.

Search for "tempo" and Robert's your father's brother... http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=76746 Dangit! beat by seconds!!

Put me on the top of the list of "people to call if I want to re-sell" I'm up near Springfield MO and would probably be pretty interested!

Sounds like the good end of the stick to me... overheating? headgasket maybe, or a burst rad hose perhaps... Either way, sounds like a good deal

unfortunately I haven't had a chance to swing a wrench on the GL-10... alternator is shot on the wifes car and I had to haul the mother in law 200 miles to the closest Amtrak station so she could get home... Hopefully things will quiet down here in a day or so and I'll be able to get some alone time with my wagon

Ok guys and gals... tomorrow morning around this time I'm scheduled to be laying down cash for a 1982 Brat mentioned in some other posts around here CLICKY... I've got the pre-buy jitters here, having a 4 month old daughter and my wife no-longer working I can't afford to have my daily driver break on me. The Brat seems, for all intents and purposes, to be the most practical as well as economical choice. I'm not at all concerned about the vehicle mechanically speaking, it's the rust that has me a bit worried. I've read the website about the repair to the fenders in the bed, I'm unsure of just how much rust is too much though. The Brat drives just fine and it doesn't look like the rear shock supports are going to come through the bed any time soon. Is there any where else that I should be looking to find bad rust? it's been suggested that I pop the covers off the compartments in the side of the bed to check in there but I was wondering about floor rot etc in the footwells... Also have read that a lot of parts will not interchange into the '82 Brat so I don't wanna get stuck in a situation where I can't get parts that I need. The vehicle was in Billings Montana for a lot of years, unsure of where it was before that. Current owner is the 3rd owner.

If it's any thing to gauge it off, I'm buying an '82 later this week, sounds like it's in similar condition but it also comes with a topper, spare engine and trans, a 5th 'H' style rim with tire, extra door panels, spare 'cyclops' mechanism, 6 disc CD changer, electronic compass and some other trinkets. There's some rust in the wheel wells in the bed, nothing too major (I hope, it's under a spray in bed liner at the moment) I'm paying $2600... if it didn't have the extra stuff with it I'd probably be paying about $2000 or a bit less.

That reduction in efficiency will also result in the transistors (or mosfets) running at a higher temperature... Generally speaking, electronic components don't tend to like high temps so eventually they'll wind up burning out if you run improperly matched (impedance wise) speakers as well as having decreased sound output