ettev

I've taken all the photos. The person you see in them is my brother-in-law.

Tedious work tonight. It all started with about a one-hour rain delay and was cut short because we ran out of argon gas mix for the welder. Tonight we went at the rear frame areas where the torsion bar mounts. A critical area in any case but even more so considering the soon to be installed SJR lift. Figured it had to be relatively sturdy in these areas or the lift tubes wouldn't be of much use, nor the entire car for that matter. Lots of careful template making, plate cutting and bending, etc. Very tight conditions for grinding, wire brushing and all other prep not to mention welding! Looks pretty good now though. Man, I have to vent here. These things had to have been designed as disposable transportation. Talk about super thin frame sections! I can't figure out how you west coast and northwest corner folks manage to keep yours as rust free as you do. Our state highway group, affectionately known as PennDOT, uses this really neat stuff for road pre-treatment before winter storms that is absolutely killing all types of vehicles underneath. My inspection mechanic tells me that in all his years (and thats a lot of them!) he's never seen undercarrige damage like he has since PennDOT started using this crap. With these vehicles already having been made from not much more than commercial kitchen aluminum foil its no wonder they literally fall apart. Anyway, check back tomorrow for more work

Most of the top side structural work is done. Tomorrow its underneath repairs to the torsoin arm mounting frame areas, some front frame repair and possibly a few rocker panel patch welds. Also want to fit up the front brush guard. After all that I'll hang the new (old but in better shape than mine) left front fender and two better doors plus maybe a hood. Then its off to USMB member subaru360 for the lift kit install. Check back tomorrow for more progress photos.

Took the weekend off. Got back on this tonight (7/7). Chickened out on tackling the tube steel on the rear bed frames today so we went at the floor pan and the other wheel well. Making progress! Tomorrow should be the tube steel work then we go underneath the beast for some torsion bar repair, floor pan work along with other good things. Hope the kid appreciates this! On another note, does anyone know if that heavy, tar mat that Subaru put on the inside of the floor pan is still available? If so what's it called (please don't say heavy, tar mat). Check back daily for more progress photos. I'm trying to wrap things up this week.

No work on 7/3 & 7/4. Frame tube steel to go in this weekend. Check back.

Progress photos of 7/2 added (click the original link in the first post). Not much to show for 3 1/2 hours. Lots of hand fitting and prep.

Yes, but I don't think I want to pay the asking price. I may change my mind in a few days however!

I'm working on an '85 Brat for the kid. He gets his drivers license next summer. Here's a link to the progress photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26905545@N07/sets/72157605926523746/detail/ I just started the chopping out of the bad and rusty areas on 7/1/08 and hope to have everything structurally sound so I can get this down to another local USMB brother for a 4" lift install. I'll keep updating as the work goes on. If you see me doing something wrong please let me know so I can fix it. Any feedback would be appreciated.

WTF?!?

I live in Pennsylvania. I have two 1985 Brats. One title says passenger vehicle, while the other says truck. Go figure. Neither have tags so I guess when I apply for them I'll find out what they really want to classify them as! When my "passenger vehicle" Brat was on the road a few years ago I was able to get passenger vehicle (non-truck) tags.

I just bought another Brat this weekend. The guy I bought it from also has a turbo Brat that is completely un-roadworthy. Everything from the cab back is rusted out, top and bottom side. I'm swapping out my seats with him and other than that the interior is ok. Has 114,000 miles on it and he claims the engine, trans and rear are all good. Any interest in parts? If enough people make it worthwhile I'd buy it, crib the parts and send 'em out. I say worthwhile because even in its near-death condition the guy wants $700. I don't know if I could sell enough off of it to make that back.

I thought mine was stock. If it isn't whoever did the retrofit was pretty good.

PM and email sent. I'd take a 4" Gen 2 Brat kit but I need it yesterday.

I'm in for a 4" Brat lift if it's going to happen soon, real soon.

Mine is a 1985 non-turbo and it's got power steering. As many as I've seen in the junk yards over the past few years none of the non-turbo's have had power steering. I guess I got an odd ball.

Hatchsub, Thank you.

How about a pic or 2 of what you did to the shifter?

I have two Brats, one with and one without power steering. Naturally I need to swap from one to the other . What am I in for? At least I know I have all the parts. How tough of a job is it? Would it be easier to do with the engine out?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26905545@N07/ Hope they work.

Rest of the truck is decent. Typical stuff around door bottoms and fender well edges. Not too worried about the fenders as I'm planning to clip them and hang flares on it after a lift. Typical rust at upper rear rear shock mounts that can be fixed. Interior of truck is really nice. It has 93,000 miles on it and mechanically works great. Just a shame to have to scrap it because of unibody nonsense. Wanted to start working on it and complete it with my son for his 16th b-day next June. I personally don't do body work or welding/fab stuff (strictly a mechanical wrench) but it doesn't bother me to have to spend a couple bucks to get it done. I just didn't know if it's TOO far gone to even be feasible to operate on. I swear it's this crap that Pennsylvania pre-treats the roads with prior to winter storms. Inspection mechanic friends of mine say that the underside of cars are horrible since PennDOT started using this stuff. I'll post some more pics of the rest of the truck shortly.

I have a 1985 Brat that I'd like to get back on the road after 5 years. Overall its typical rust along the bottom edge of the doors and at the upper rear shock mounts. Some other small stuff that's no big deal as well. Here are the areas that concern me. The forward part of both sides of the floor pan where the unibody horns appear and surrounding areas. I had a 1987 wagon and bought pre-fabricated steel stiffeners for these areas and welded them in but I've never seen them for this body style. Is this thing worth trying to fix? If so what are my options? Thanks for any input.

s360, Thanks. Which kit is better to work with, the BYB from Cali, or SJR from WA? Mike

I've noticed that in general, regardless of salvage yard location, older soobs are starting to dry up. A few years ago they used to be like sand on the beach at our local yards. No longer.

Normal stuff: bottom edges of the doors, left front quarter has broken loose at the bottom hem, rear shock upper mounts are probably thin. I just want to get the body solid and knocked down with 300. Rather than paint I'm leaning toward a full body vehicle wrap in snow camo graphic. Interior is perfect. Mechanically its solid except I do want to put a new heater core in it.

It's been a while since I posted on the USMB but figured this would be the place for my proposal. I sold my '87 GL turbo wagon but still have my '85 Brat. It hasn't been on the road in 4 years. One day the exhaust pipe blew apart and it's been parked ever since. Well, my son is going to be turning 16 soon (see where this is going?) and I'm leaning toward putting him in the Brat. I'd like to get some tricks done on it but simply don't have the time, or quite honestly the know-how to do the things I want to do. I'm good to excellent with mechanical stuff but just never really got into bodywork. I'd love to put a lift kit on this thing but just don't want to tackle it. Anybody interested in this job? I live in Pottsville, and if things are still the same on the USMB I'll tell you where that is in relationship to the salvage yards. I'm on Pa. Route 61 between Joe's U-Pull-It in New Ringgold and Harry's U-Pull-It in Hazleton. Anybody? If not you do you know of someone in this area who might be interested. I'll get the thing running again and could drive it to your place and leave it. I'm assuming there may be torches involved and thats something I don't have readily available (but could get them). I do have a space in my basement where this could be done but I'd rather have it done someplace else so I can hide the thing from my kid until it's ready to go. Thanks in advance. I do have some pics of my Brat someplace if you'd want to see what you're getting into.