Zefy

i needed to look into the inner tie rods a just yesterday... and this is what i have come up with... if you want(and you really got to want it) i might be able to get you a brand new rack for 240 bucks canadian... but then there is shipping and what not and they aren't small... if not i found some stuff at lorco... you should be able to find some inner tie rods at like napa or something...

haha that thing is sweet... i bet it is even smaller then it looks... that girl is probably 4 feet tall...

you should take picks of everything... i recognize most of the stuff that you were talking about(i think) and i can easily take pics of mine so you can compare... but then again mine isn't running to hot either... same kinda problems...

while driving out to see a friend of mine on the side of the road i saw a red gl fast-back coupe on the side of the road... this was on the maryhill bypass just after the bridge... i tried to pull over but i was in the far inside lane and wasn't able to turn around... anybody know who owns it? i have only ever seen 2 fastbacks... they nice... also, my friend that i was going to go see said that there is a guy from oregon coming up to buy his brat... who is this? anybody know? somebody on the board? thanks

WAIT! are you all saying that my brat may have nice vinyl seats under my ugly plaid seats!?! i don't think so... there is a big tear in one and all i see if foam... luckily i have my RACING seat covers...

i really have no idea but what i would do is put on the rim with no tire and make sure it doesn't rub on anything... i had rubbing issues with my trailing arms in the rear when i didn't have the right suby rim on my brat... maybe even crank the wheel and take measurements on how much rubber can be on there before you hit the fenders or wheel wells...

hey you really sound like you got this stuff down! boy do i wish you were close by... i'm still trying to get my car to give me better then 15-17mpg... vacuum hoses confuse me... and hey if you need any info from a FSM i can scan a few pages to clear up anything...

ok so here i am... 17 and have one of the nicest brats in the province... the problem... it needs to pass an inspection... so far on the car i have replaced: -clutch -tranny seals(meaning i took apart the entire thing) -wheels -carb -passenger side front axle -wheel barings -front brakes -modified the axle hub/knuckle(because of damage) -throttle cable(modified ea81 cable) -spark plugs/rotor/cap/wires -all the fluids(tranny, diff, everything) i did this stuff over the course of the year and a bit and have driven it a total of 210 miles... now to get it legal to drive in Canada i have to pass a vihicle inspection... now i have gone over the car over a dozen times looking for things that might make it fail and i took it in yesterday... now there are catches... if it fails i can no longer get day permits for it(only able to use trailers) then once i have fixed the problem get it retested(FYI the test by itself costs 130 bucks) and trailer it down to the shop... well my car failed on 3 counts: -a loose bolt on a crossmember(ok half a minute with a ratchet...) -windshield wipers are bad(ok 20 bucks or whatever for new ones) -and last(the one that gets me steamed) my inner tie rods are worn out... so with all of that including the test to get it to role out of there shop a registered, legal canadian brat is going to cost me 750 bucks... all of the money i have been saving for insurance GONE... so this is deffinatly not good so i check around... all of the places i looked for the inner tie rods had it for much cheaper then the shop but they weren't easily available... and i can't leave my car at there shop so waiting for the parts to come in would take to long... and since i wouldn't be able to drive the car down to there shop to get it retested it is just going to cost me more money... now i found a brand new steering rack(complete) for 240 bucks(the same price for just the 2 tie rods) then according to him it will take longer to do the whole rack then just the tie rods... so i look into this... Jim my suby guru hick guy(not on here) informed me that the tie rods are problably fine but its the bushings that are gone... and if so this is all just a waste of money and time... also that changing the rack is much faster then just the ends(its like 6 bolts, 2 cotter pins, and just slide it out) so i talked to the shop about my findings... he told me that he checked the bushings and they were fine and i asked him if he was sure and he (kinda) barked at me saying that they have blah blah experience and his mechanics have blah blah certificates and everything... i backed off but i wonder how much of that experience is with subarus??? so he completely ignored me and my knowledge and i even looked at the tie rods as i left... the boots had not been removed(meaning he never checked the bushings!!!) and that he had just shaken it... well on any other car shaking it would have told the story but on a subaru shaking it ussually means the bushings... so my parents talked to me and i gave in and let him fix it all... they(and myself) want my car on the road... so its either a month for me to do it(waiting for parts and me figuring out how to do it myself) or i let them do it and i drive it away today or monday... this whole experience is really upsetting to me so i thought i would get your takes on it... here is the total on my car so far... -1300 for car -50 for plugs/filter/blah -300 for clutch/seals/machined flywheel/fluids -70 for flywheel bolts(after somebody at school torqued them to 120 ft/lbs and had to get them airmailed from oregon while teacher getting some that he didn't tell me about... which i also got charged for...) -20 for axle(thanks jeff! it would have been 520 from the dealership) -70 for barings and throttle cable -20 for brake rotor(thanks Jeff! would have been 80 from dealer) -70 for other set of barings, cable, and hub from John that got lost in the mail(stupid canada post) -180 for day permits(6 of them i think) -50 for trailer to get it in Canada -750... what the shop wants to charge me... over half the price of the car...\ so far i(and my parents in some cases) have spent 2880 dollars(canadian) on my brat... is it worth it? when its all said and done i think so... thats my story... and it seems there is a really good chance of going to WCSS7 with it... thanks for reading!

i got 2 spare carbs sitting in my garage... that valve is the idle mixture adjustment screw right??? i got 2 if you need it... one is a little different though...

ya answer it!!!:-\ or i might start swingin'!!!:-p seriously... i really want to know...

at the rate i'm going my brat isn't going to make it... its not an issue of car drivability... its a matter of insuring the car... i need $1700 bucks before the show... i have 500... i'll still go... but not with the brat...

its even harder up here... there are only a handful of people who have heard of of a brat(most of those people are over 40) and when i ask the dealership anything they are always silent as they think about what the hell i'm talking about... and when people ask me what it looks like i either whip out my palm pilot and show a picture or i just say, "picture a midget el camino, with 4wd and a small engine..." i even had to tell a guy at the parts center at the dealership where to look for my parts in the computer(because they get parts using the VIN which is 3 digits short on my 79)... i seemed to know there stock WAY better then they do...(even on the new gen stuff for the legacy) i've had to spell it out a dozen times myself... then they ask what the hell kinda name is that for a car... A GOOD ONE! i even talked to the car salesman about the baja... he had no idea what a brat was... i laughed and asked if they were hiring...(or replacing! )

last time i checked you use unleaded gas... the subies aren't THAT old... but hey... all you people are like, "i haven't had to do that in years!" with my car everytime is a first time... its kinda weird... my car had 9 years on me... but its still my baby... nah i don't call my brat "baby"... my brats a lean mean fighting machine!

i know of the place in Canada that sells body pannels... the company that makes them is called cross canada(i think... its something like that) and oddly enough there dealers are Canadian tire... so when i have time i will go to crappy tire and see if i can get a catalog...

my brat is rated for 800lbs max load... from what i could tell thats max for everything... trailer, passengers, bed cargo... but my trailer hitch(i assume its stock) is rated for 4000lbs(i think)... i have towed my parents trailer before(empty) which just so happens to way 800lbs... it was kinda fun... oddly enough though the brat sits to high for the trailer... the trailer was leaning back... so unless i was carrying oodles cotton balls or something i wouldn't use a trailer... i would just use the bed... and for that page of colours... my brat is yellow... and there is no pic for the mild yellow in 79 on that page...

hmmm... well that was a kick in the groin... i thought i read somewhere that people got like 5mpg better... hmmmm... the 5sp d/r mpg is kinda disapointing... but hey data is data... i guess it really depends on what you want to do with it... Sweet82 is abolutely right... you can't compare AWD and 4WD... apples and oranges... (and banana... they don't have a dancing orange or apple... )

your right... it is a step back... i my dad atually wants subaru to make a d/r fwd suby so it meets his crazy expectations of a vihicle... i told him that they won't because its a step back in technology... he doesn't believe me... but he has a point... our other car is isuzu rodeo... and we maybe use the 4wd a couple dozen times a year... (snowing, dirt roads, hauling stuff...) while the suby has AWD... now for us, thats a lot of wasted gas just to get out of a couple dozen sticky situations a year... when people turn off there AWD(its been done) they ussually get 35-38mpg... instead of the normal 28-30 with AWD... so when you count it all up thats fair amount of savings with gas... putting in the EA-82 trans seems like a really good move... you get more ability(with the d/r) and better fuel economy... its gonna be one of my first mods when i get my new gen car...(in oh 10 years... )

ya they make them in every place except north america... but there isn't a huge difference in gearing on them... if you want a d/r in your new gen suby talk to mudrat79(John Bloom)... he can put in a 5sp d/r into your new gen... just do a search and you'll find him... but you loose AWD... but so what... turn on the 4wd when you need it and save money on gas when in FWD... sounds like a good deal to me... later,

w00t! go gen 1's!!! this is a great add... i am probably going to be using this forum on a regular basis... thanks everybody!

i dunno about you people in the states but i have to have it as a pick-up... unfortunatly i looked into the top-mounted starter on the 81(because i was looking to swap a d/r into my 79 while keeping the EA71)... and i found an 81 with the d/r and the EA81 in it... its side mounted... http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/photos/showphoto.php?photo=5567&size=big&sort=1&cat=500 see... i was pissed... but hey, pictures don't lie... except for photo-shop... photo-shop can making lieing pictures... anyway... and i really like the full size spare tire under the hood... what year(s?) did that go to?

ya throw in a 5sp d/r, with his new front LSD into it, and he will have it in no time... :cool:

hey ya i like em... you need some pics of them at night though... with the lights on... see how it looks... if there is any light through the paint... and hey... most "ricers" spend many a hundred dollars to have tail lights like that... mind you they are more pro but hey... a few hours and a couple cans of paint seems like a lot better of a deal to me!

hehe i should really re-read my stuff before posting... ya i was trying to say what TheSubaruJunkie said... just with a canadian zing to it...

propane is great... my auto teacher has all his trucks running on propane... apparently you get 110 octane rating with the stuff... and its uber cheap... even the school drag-car(a cuda) runs on propane... the only big downside is the smaller tanks... you can't "fill" a propane tank like you can a gas tank...i believe half full is the norm for a "full" tank of propane...

i'm pumped... gonna register later though... gotta do stuff... and hey... just a quick question... didn't SOA last year say they were going to sponsor the show this year??? my old free suby water bottle from last year is failing me... i need a new one... and i need more random free suby stuff... like this SPT mouse pad i'm using... and a suby poncho and foam dart thing... hehe... i can't wait! and hey... is there going to be a flat spot in the mud pit for the non-modded subies to play??? like last year???