we7x

Greetings from Issaquah, WA. I may be in the wrong place with my question, so point me to the correct one if needed. I have been on the fence about putting an EJ-22 in my '83 BRAT, but the old EA-81 is getting tired. I have finally decided to go ahead with the project, and now have a complete EJ-22 and harness. I will be using the original D/R 4-speed transmission, and I understand i will need an adapter plate. I have read many threads on the subject, but I seem to be confused about one aspect of the swap. I do not plan to do much 'wheeling'; but do want to be able to keep up with traffic in the mountains without having to have the 'Go-pedal' all the way to the floor constantly. I have a question about the clutch. Everyone seem to be swapping/modifying flywheels. Why can't I just use the original EJ-22 flywheel and cover, with an appropriate clutch disk to match the spline cound for the original D/R tranny? What am I missing in all the reading? Second question...where do i get the adapter plate, if I decide not to fab it myself? I saw one sorce listed, but they apparently only make cycle covers now. Thanks for your help. Rod in Issaquah

I do not know about the '88 BRAT, but on my '83 BRAT and two EA81 wagons I made a piece of structural pipe (Sched 80) with plates on the ends that would bolt up to the factory lash down (tow hook) mounts, under and behind the front bumper. The pipe was the same diameter as the front beam suspension of an early VW Beetle. VW Beetle towbars are still cheap and readily available, being used on a lot of Dune Buggys. Rod J issaquah, Wa

Greetings to the group, I've been a 'lurker' for a long time and keep watching the threads about EJ22 updates. I have a 83 EA81 BRat, which I dearly love. It is not a daily driver, but when it is taken out, it is often for a long distance...two or three hundred miles each way. I am planning to do some minor rust removal and paint work; but I just ran across a local 95 Legacy 2.2 4WD manual transmission, with 209K miles, that has some well bent sheet metal. It is being sold as a parts car. It is all there, having just been towed to the owners home after the accident. I have only seen pictures at this point. They are asking $500 for the whole thing. I was not planning on this project, but the opportunity to get a whole donor, close to home, has arrived. As I understand, I will either need to use an adapter plate to retain my 4-spd D/R tranny, or forgo the D/R and use the non D/R 5-speed tranny from the donor chassis. Is this correct, or is there another tranny option I also understand I will need to do a lot of wiring modifications to accommodate the FI computer and different ingition system. The owner says the car does have some minor oil leaks, (with 200+ K on it I'm not surprised) but that it was running just fine prior to the accident. The major damage is to the right front suspension. If it was not for the broken strut and bend lower A-arm, it looks like it could have been driven home. Am I overlooking anything serious? Any major or minor "GOTCHA'S" I am going to look at the car this evening. Thanks for taking the time to read this. Rod J