Scoobywagon

3 wagons, huh? Welcome to the dark side! Please see this thread for helpful insights in dealing with your condition. Welcome to the board!

Welcome aboard, Marc! Brats can be fun toys, but you should be aware of the following things. First, Brats only came in 4WD or 2WD. If it has AWD, then someone has swapped the tranny. Second, the engine may not NEED to be replaced, depending on what, exactly the problem is. Frequently, people buy these cars with engines "needing replacement" only to find that the problem is something relatively minor. If you want to build a go-fast Brat, you've got lots of options, depending on your wrenching and fabricating skills. I'll list out a few options in order of ascending complexity. 1) Rebuild your EA91 turbo engine using an aftermarket cam (Delta Cams), intercooler and blow-off valve. Shouldn't take too much fabrication beyond maybe a few brackers here and there. 2) Yank the EA-81 running gear and install an EA-82 turbo engine. WHile you're at it, swap in a 5-speed, either dual range or, if you can find one, full time 4wd with locking center diff. One of the members here is a real wiz at getting ponies out of the EA82 engine. Talk to WJM about his RX wagon. This option really shouldn't require a whole lot of fabrication work, but your going to have to do some pretty serious work to get the whole thing in and tuned properly. 3) Yank the EA-81 and go to an ER27 with the full-time 4wd tranny. YOu'll find these ONLY in Subaru XT6's and those are kinda hard to find. Its especially hard to find one in a condition suitable for being a donor car (i.e. trashed body, god motor). This requires some fairly significant fabrication work. Been done before, so you can get some good pointers from people on this board. 4) Yank the EA-81 and do a complete WRX power train swap. This will require the most fabrication work (I think) and will NOT be a direct bolt-in swap. I believe that doing this swap also requires doing the 5-lug swap. This will also be you're best bet for REALLY hard-core go-faster goodness. It'll let you use all those wonderful STi goodies. Anyway, there are plenty of people on here who can help you with just about any question you can come up with, not to mention occasional help in the wrench turning department. Anyway, welcome aboard!

Moroso makes an oil filter bypass head that is used to relocate the oil filter to whatever remote location in the vehicle you want. I'll dig up the part number, but what I did was install the bypass head on the filter base on the engine. I installed a dual head remote filter system and used 1/2" hydraulic hose to route the pressurized oil around. The remote head uses two "standard ford" type oil filters, also known as a Fram PH8A or equivalent. I use the Wix 51515. This nets you approximately 3 times the filter element surface area, a (tiny) bit of oil cooling and the ability to locate your filter(s) anywhere you want. Also, since the oil is now being routed "outside" the engine, you can easily add aftermarket oil coolers or whatever else your heart desires. How would you high-performance guys like to have an oil pressure regulator? Anyway, I'll try to dig up the part number if anyone is interested. Can't remember right off hand, but its either a Moroso or Mr. Gasket part.

Considering the investment in both time and money that one puts into a SAR dog, it becomes VERY important to protect the dog in case of an accident. I'm currently working on the designs for something like this for one of my wagons. In my case, I'm joining the local 4x4 rescue while my wife gets herself and her dog certified for SAR work. The key is that you have to have room for the dog and all his gear as well as yourself and all your gear (for those who don't know, that is a LOT of gear). In order to protect the dog, my car will have the rear seat removed and I will build up the cargo floor to a point just behind the back of the passenger's seat. This will leave some storage in the rear passenger footwells. The crate will be custom made from 1.5" steel tube frame and will be welded into place on both the floor and ceiling of the car. The sides will be made from heavy canvas, like a sail. That should be heavy enough to protect the dog, but soft enough to not hurt him. This design will leave enough room on either side for gear storage.

I probably don't know what the rulse are regarding what mods may or may not be performed on a the vehicle. However, I've been thinking about something like this for the past couple of days. here's what I've been thinking. EA81 with EA-82 SPFI pistons for their higher compression, delta cam, and EA81T heads, intake, sensors, etc. This would result in a powerplant as bulletproof as they come with less complexity than a turbo system, but still offering good power. I'd stuff this in a Gen-2 hatch (low weight) along with a locking 5 speed and 5-lug conversion. KYB GR2s and you're pretty well set. A setup like this should result in a car with nearly 100hp at the wheels weighing about 2200-2300 lbs. (max). Some quick math tells us that this is ~16.5-17 pounds per horsepower. Not great, but not too shabby. Put a good driver behind the wheel and you could be competitive.

Got this idea about a year ago and am currently trying to accumulate the parts. I'll use DOJ cups to attach a variable displacement hydraulic pump to each axle stub. These will be plumbed "in parallel" to each other and will run a military type hydraulic winch mounted at the vehicle's center of gravity. a roller fairlead will be mounted above it so that the center-mounted winch can pull the vehicle in any desired direction, to include straight up.

I figure stuff out.

A floor and walls without a roof is known in common parlance as a "Box, open, 1 ea". In this case, probable very good for catching rain and snow. It is, therefore, NOT useless...assuming that one wishes to catch and store rain and snow. So there.

Hey Corky. That looks REALLY slick! I would call it "Magically Spiffalicious". The first Subaru Super car. Don't care what anyone else thinks you should do with your project. I like it and I firmly believe it will be truly awesome when done.

That's only sort of true. An automotive engine can generally be safely run at its peak horsepower for any length of time so long as fuel remains available, the oil doesn't break down and the engine stays cool. The problem is that transferring energy to water in order to achieve forward motion is far less efficient than applying the same energy to pavement. So, speed in the water is all about turning the prop faster (for a given blade pitch). Easiest way to do that is to start with a high-revving engine. That's why most outboards are 2-stroke engines and many of them are based on motorcycle engines. There are lots of boats powered by Chevy 350's. Most of them make use of some sort of stern drive or inboard/outboard drive system. Lets them have a gear box to step up prop speed in relation to engine speed. Much like the re-drives used by the aircraft crowd to get a propeller spinning really fast. If you figure a stock EA-81 makes peak power around 5,000 rpm then you can select a prop based on available power, displacement of the craft in question and planing efficiency of the hull. For a given engine speed, the only way to move the boat faster is to use a more aggresive blade pitch. Problem with that is it uses more power and, beyond a certain point, is less efficient due to cavitation. In an air boat, you can get around some of that because you don't have a cavitation problem to deal with. In an air boat, you can simply set a governor to run the engine at a certain speed regardless of load. Then you use a variable pitch propeller to change speed. Wanna stop? Feather ir. Wanna haul rump roast? Max out the pitch. USe an aircraft redrive to get more speed out of the fan.

I've had this happen on my 81. It was a REALLY cheap set of pads and the inner pad on the passenger side chucked its lining and the backing plate fell out. Heard it go PING! on the road and KACHUNK! against the floorpan. It CAN happen, but its a really weird thing...

Having asked about this once or twice, here's the jist from Washington. Motor swaps are entirely ok so long as the new motor belongs to the same "engine family" as the original motor. Additionally, the owner must present a reciept indicating the VIN and title condition of the donor car. Basically, this means that in a Chevy, you can install anything from a 283 to a 400 without penalty so long as the car was originally equipped with a small-block chevy. Theoretically, you should be able to swap your EA-71 for an EA-81 no problem. If the new motor is from a different family, then you have to deal with the State Patrol to have the vehicle inspected. At this inspection, you must provide proof of purchase and identity of the donor vehicle. THey put it on a rack and go at it. So if you want to swap an ER-27 into your L-body wagon, you have to keep good reciepts. Then again, they don't have emissions in all counties, so they don't really check.

Nice bumper. BTW, Whats that white stuff all over the shop floor and where can I get some?

I ran across this stuff called Evap-O-Rust. Works REALLY well. http://www.regismfg.com/norust.html PUt the stuff in a bucket and immerse your rusty thing in it. Let it soak and voila...no more rust.

I've got plenty of back yard. I'd be happy to keep it for you. Let me know.

WEll, I don't live in Longview, but I find myself down there a lot during the summer. We participate in a lot of weightpull events and, for some reason, they like to do it in the parking lot of wal-mart in longview. I'll drop you a line next time I'm down that way.

WElcome to the board! I, too, am going to reccommend an 85+ wagon for you. Reason is there is MUCH more space available in them than the 80-85 model. You'll frequently see us refer to the 85+ wagons as EA82 cars and the 80-85 as EA-81, FYI. I drive an 83 GL. The problem is that even though I'm not particularly tall (5'10") and like to sit sort close to the wheel, nobody taller than 4 feet is going to be able to sit in the seat behind me. That's ok for me because its just my wife and dogs (no kids) and we usually end up taking her Ranger cuz she doesn't like my Soob. So if you're looking for a family hauler...the EA82 wagons are going to be the better bet. The difference between GL and Dl is trim, just like the difference between XL and XLT in Ford trucks. GL is the "higher" model, but I'm not sure I could tell by looking at the interior which is which. 81-82 GL wagons had a single large sqaure headlight with chromed bezels and, I think as an option, something called a passing light. DL wagons of the same years just got 2 small rectangular headlights. In 83, the switched it up and the GL's got 2 rectangular headlights, not sure what they did with the DLs. After 85, GLs got compound halogen headlights, while DL's kept the 2 small squares. You'd have to ask someone else about more of the particulars. I think GL's are more common anyway. The reliability of the Turbo cars is not really any worse than those of the normally aspirated cars outside of the fact that they are, of course, more complex. Turbo's were available in GL wagons beginning in 83. Until 86, getting a turbo also meant getting an automatic. In 83-4, they used two different turbo units. The older of the two was oil cooled and was more prone to failure because of that. Sometime in 84 they switched to a turbo unit with water jackets. As far as I know, ALL EA82 turbo cars had the "upgraded" turbo unit. THings to be aware of: Head gaskets. Run a turbo car on boost a lot and you'll eventually blow out the factory head gaskets. EA82 cars have two timing belts that you have to watch. Another option for you might be to find an older Legacy wagon. You said you aren't looking for a hard core off roader. The Legacy doesn't have the off road support that the older cars do, because it is an AWD system rather than 4WD. However, upgrade the tires and maybe lift it a bit and it should be able to get you where you want to go. You'll also get even more room than the EA82 wagons. Just some thought...I'll quit rambling now....

Eet ees a Bimp...ja...a bimp...

Ok...so I've got all of the SOA part numbers listed in the Parts Quick Reference book for Gen 2 vehicles (Listed as BRAT and 2dr) put into the database and I'm refining the queries I'll need to actually make everything work. Thanks to those of you who sent interchangeable part numbers. I've got those parts in, also. So for those of you who have a BUNCH of parts *AHEM*Mudrat*cough*. I'd appreciate some help entering part numbers for other manufacturers. For those who have not seen the original thread on this... I'm building a database of SOA part numbers and equivalents from other manufacturers as well as a cross compatibility index. This way, if the parts man ever tells you "I don't have a listing for that", you will be able to give him a part number or another, more common vehicle to search for. For example, the Bendix BXH 12261 master cylinder will fit your 1968-1994 Ford full size Bronco as well as your 1990-94 Subaru Justy (Thanks Subiemech). So if the parts guy can't find a listing for your justy, tell him you want one for a 68 Bronco. Easy, huh? Anyway...I'm still refining my queries and when I get that all done, I'll write a nice front end and get put up on the web. Thanks!

Didn't hear anyhting about this on NPR....could someone put up a synopsis for those of us who don't have RealPlayer?

Link isn't working for me. I just get a blank page. Could someone post it back up? Thanks. Nevermind...got it working....

A friend and I have been working (intermittently) on reverse engineering a lock-rite to fit the R160. I'll be sure to post when (if) we get some results.

Once again, I'll tap into my bank of research on fuels... Base fuels are almost all the same. In fact, many brands of fuels are stored in the same tanks and are only differentiated by the additives that different companies add. The only exception to this (that I can find, anyway) is Arco. The other distributors apparently refuse to share tank space with Arco. To me, this implies something about the quality (or lack thereof) of Arco's base fuel. Additionally, Arco and BP have merged, so some of you east coasters who have maybe never heard of Arco will now have the benefit of access to their cheap gas. BTW, if your valves and exhaust ARE stainless....I HIGHLY recommend Arco. Since mine aren't I don't use Arco. Anyway...for the most part, base fuel is base fuel and one brand is differentiated from the others only by the additives they use and those are only added once the base fuel is in the truck. Simple as that.

anyone interested? I'm thinking it'd be fun to go spend a day out there bashing around a bit. Just thought it'd be fun to hang out with some Soobie nuts. If there's interest, I'll set up a date and get a scouting run out there to find some fun spots.

I once did a comparison because I was making my living entirely on pizza delivery, so it was in my interest to find out what fuel got the best mileage. My test was simple. I ran 3 consecutive tanks of one brand of fuel, keeping meticulous records of mileage, then moved on to the next...same process. I tried Chevron, 76, Texaco, Shell and Arco (that's all we have out here). I broke it down to cents per mile for fuel costs. I don't have the exact numbers handy at the moment, but it came down to Chevron, 76 and Shell being the top 3 in that order. They were close enough that it didn't seem to matter which of these fuels I ran in terms of operating costs. However, in order for it to be worthwhile to run Texaco, it had to be at least 5 cents per gallon cheaper than Chevron. Arco was even worse at nearly 12 cents. I don't know about you, but I've never seen Texaco 5 cents cheaper than ANYBODY and Arco, though cheaper than Chevron is never 12 cents cheaper. Closest I've ever seen is 11 cents. The other thing to be aware of is that Arco uses lots of Methanol in its fuels. While that's good for the environment (sort of) and does help to clean SOME deposits, it is also corrosive and will eventually eat up your valves and exhaust, unless its all stainless. Texaco also uses somewhat higher levels of Methanol, but they've also got other additives that tend to offset this. Just my experience, Your Mileage May Vary....etc...