belyle

If you recall, I bought a 1st gen Brat about a year and a half ago. When I bought it, everything was rosy: it ran pretty well, it started easily, life was good. One day I went out to start The Dragon, and it was difficult to start. It would crank just fine, and then catch and fire for a couple of seconds, then die. I' pump the gas a couple of times and crank it again. I'd have to repeat that 3-4 times, and finally it would start and run rough until warmed up. It seemed to me to be a choke problem. I know that the brat has an automatic choke, but those work on black magic as far as I know. A couple of weeks ago, I took off the air cleaner housing to have a look. Part of my carburetor was hanging off the side. It was a dome on the passenger side of the carb, it had a (broken-looking) coil of metal inside, and seemed to be hooked to the vacuum lines. I put it back on. Since I did that, it's been even harder-er to start. I can still get it started with some persistence, pumping the gas a couple of times with each cranking try. So, a couple of questions: can I put a manual choke in. How? And if not, what do I need to do to get the auto choke working again?

Holy crap this would be awesome! Do you have a paypal or something so that we can throw a couple bucks your way?

This is a super old thread now, but I'm going to resurrect it, since I now have pictures! I replaced this with a stretch of cable (ultimate backyard mechanicing!), but didn't get it very tight. It may or may not hold or stay there. We'll see. I am going to try to find a replacement. I had a friend of mine look at my engine, and watch while I started in 1st gear. He said that it looked like my pitch stopper was loose. I replaced the rubber with some custom rubber made out of stoppers, and tightened everything down. I haven't taken it for a test drive yet, but the pitch stopper is definitely tighter than it was. Hopefully this helps. If not, I'll look more into the DOJ.

As those of you following my car fixing will recall, the last thing I did to my cooling system was replace the water pump and the thermostat. I also added a reservoir/overflow tank that’s working quite well. All was well for a couple of days, short trips. Long story short, my car started overheating again. I noticed that the increased pressure in the system due to a functioning water pump and thermostat had induced leakage in my radiator. It’s on the left hand side (car’s left), between the section with the fins and the side tank-thing. And it’s getting worse. I found a radiator for a 1980 1.6l brat on Oreilly (formerly Schuck’s) website that I could have shipped to my local store. But I’m not sure if it’s the correct radiator. I did a search for a 1979 brat, and they did not have one available. How hard would it be to adapt an incorrect radiator to my car? I have basic mechanic tools, drills, and can get taps etc.

Hmm, I didn't remove it. I just found it underneath my car after working on it. The car started and seems to run just fine. I thought it looked like a condenser to me. Maybe it was dropped by a previous owner and never found.

While I had the engine compartment all torn up yesterday while working on my Brat, I found this on the ground. I am 100% certain that I did not disconnect it, and had never seen it before. What is it?

I added a reservoir (see picture), replaced water pump, replaced thermostat, replaced upper hose, and refilled with coolant. After re-doing the thermostat gasket (pinched the thermostat in with the gasket, leaking coolant all over my garage), everything seems to be not leaking. When I was pulling the water pump, one of the bolts broke off in the block. I tried all afternoon Friday and all morning Saturday to remove it. I finally called it quits after trying everything I could think of (not an EZout), and everything my dad (who is a mechanic) suggested. I reassembled with only 4 bolts. I'm hoping that it will be enough. It was actually previously held on by only 4 bolts as well. Somewhere along the way, one bolt had fallen out.

Today is the first day I've driven my car when the pavement has been dry. (No exaggeration; I live in Seattle area). When I got out from work, I noticed a sizable wet area under my car. Actually two, but one was oil (I think my oil pan gasket is bad, too). Anyway, it looked like the origin of the coolant on the ground was from my water pump area. I am going to replace that, and the thermostat, and add a reservoir this weekend. I was going to replace the hoses, but I checked them today, and they look really good. I think that they must have been replaced in the last couple years.

So... Rebuild radiator? Buy a new one? Thorough cleaning? I'm not sure what to do about an old radiator. Or, should I look at getting a newer/bigger one? Can you help point me in the right direction? The car was tuned up pretty thoroughly (according to the receipts) a couple thousand miles ago. The guy that had it before me was using it as an around town car, but never put any long miles on it. Not sure the history of the car before him. One of the receipt notes said that the mechanic recommended replacing carburetor, but nothing else caught my eye. I was planning on doing a whole tune-up (oil+air filters, oil change, plugs, wires, cap+rotor) in the near future.

Moving on to the next problem on my '80 Brat: overheating. I am not convinced now that my overheating problem is caused by my coolant loss. I am thinking now that the coolant loss is more likely caused by running too hot. I'm losing about 1/2 qt of coolant every 50 miles. I check it every day that I drive, and I drive about 50 miles to and from work. The engine seems to run hot. At 50+mph, I don't have any problems, because I'm forcing a lot of air through. Temp gauge reads just above the lower tick mark. However, if I'm going slower than ~40mph (especially after going 60), the temp climbs, with the temp gauge reading somewhere above half, although below the upper tick mark. When I'm running at lower speeds, especially in town, I have to use my heater as a 2nd radiator just to keep the car from overheating. If I get off the freeway, then go to town, the temp gauge will read right at the upper tick mark. Just a little warmer, and I'm blowing steam. I've checked the radiator fan, and it seems to be working. It's spinning and moving air at least. Maybe not fast enough? I've been topping off the system with coolant every day. Like I said, about 1/2 quart. I replaced the radiator cap, since my old one was crap, but no effect. Here's what I'm going to try: Flush + fill coolant Replace thermostat with 180 degree Add a reservoir so I can see if I'm losing coolant from the radiator vent Anything else that I should look for? What else could cause this overheating? Running lean? Too much load on the engine at all times? ??

I'm trying to think if the shudder goes away when I let off the gas. I am typically trying to accelerate from a stop, so I don't really take my foot off the gas. I find that if I can stay rolling slightly, bump into first, then take off, I don't get any shudder. It doesn't do it much in reverse. My first instinct was that it may be a warped clutch plate, but now I'm not so sure. What is a DOJ issue?

hmm. Good to know. You guys are awesome. Would the absence/broken-ness of this pitch stopper cause or contribute to bucking/shuddering when starting off in 1st gear?

While changing the struts, changing the xmission fluid and generally cleaning my brat, I found a broken thing. It is a flexible connection that looks like it runs from the top of the transmission to another cross bar that goes from the firewall to the engine. Mine seems to be broken just below the engne-firewall cross bar. What is it? What does it do? Should I be looking for a replacement? I'll try to post pix sometime in the next couple days.

He said that he's sending the struts and springs; the full assembly. Is the spring perch at the bottom of the strut, near the knuckle? I was thinking about replacing the suspension and steering in mine with the suspension out of the EA81 model. The reason being that it seems that parts for the EA81 era are still available. I seem to remember reading about it somewhere, maybe here, that it was possible and relatively easy. Would only the Brat suspension work, or could I use front suspension out of a 4WD wagon?

I moved from Corvallis about a year and a half ago. Great place to live. We were there for 6 years, going to school. Love the area. I'd live there.

I drove it to work on Monday. No issues whatsoever. Even with the seized strut insert. Well, except for that it overheated as soon as I got home. 20 miles on the highway, then 2 miles stop&go traffic up the hill to my condo. I'm 99% sure that the fan is not working. I talked with the guy who sold me the Brat about the struts. He has a friend who has some from an 80 that he's going to send to me. I hope they're the right ones. Is there a way that I can identify which struts are in mine vs what he may send me, so I don't spend a lot of time taking my front end apart? Also, can someone point me towards some info about swapping an EA81 front end into my Brat?

Ok, so I found another problem, I think. While my wife was following me home yesterday, she said that the car looks like it leans one way. I say, "Nah, you're imagining things, it's just the road." Well, it wasn't, and she wasnt. As I was working on the Brat today, I noticed that three quarters of my car go up and down when I press on it. One does not. That one is the right front. I crawled under with my flashlight and tried rocking the car, but there is definitely no movement in that strut. So, I tried jacking the corner of my car up, and the tire raised up with the car (no, I wasn't jacking under the knuckle or a suspension part). I stood on the tire, and nothing. No movement. So, It seems that my FR strut is seized up. I've been searching the board long enough to know that the inserts are nigh impossible to find. However, I also know that some folks have found them and provided links here and there. I am not sure which struts I have, though. It seems that there are two kinds of struts for the 1980 Brat. Was there an overlap between Gen1 and Gen2? Or, did they have two different engines in 1980 that would call for different struts? What I need is some help figuring out which strut I have. My car is a 1980. VIN is A69L-043195. I believe that it has the 1600 engine (EA-71?). I'm looking at getting strut inserts from http://www.classicgarage.com/subaru.html, but they have two listed for an 80 Brat. Which is the correct one for my '80 Brat? Also, is the car OK to drive on the road with a seized strut?

As requested, here are some pictures. I haven't gotten into the engine bay to clean it up, so no pictures of that yet. There is some damage to the front bumper right behind the bull bar. The chrome is all intact, but I doubt that I can pop the dent out without damaging the chrome. Body is straight. There is a little rust on the front fenders that's been covered by the non-stock color paint. I haven't found much rust other than that. Eventually, I'll pull off the paint, fix the rust spots, and get it painted original colors. Absolutely pristine tailgate. The bed is in great shape, too. No rust spots or holes. It's got a texture inside, I think it was coated then painted over. I have the jumpseats but no brackets to put them in. Some more info about the whine above 50MPH: It only whines when I am applying power to the wheels. If I'm coasting, the whine goes away.

First off, I'd like to introduce myself. I"m a first time Subaru owner, bought my 1980 Brat this morning, and live in Renton, WA. So, I bought my Brat in Port Angeles, which is a shade over 100 miles away, if you take the ferry (which I did). I took it for a test drive, but it is a small town, so couldn't really get it up to speed. I did notice that the clutch has a very short engagement region, and I tend to make it chatter a lot. Or maybe the clutch plate is warped, not sure. I noticed that at above 50MPH in 4th gear (even in 3rd), I get a whine/hum that sounds like it may be coming from the transmission. I ignored it until I got home, checked the fluid and it is full and clean. I wasn't in 4wd, that was the first thing I checked. Is this normal? Second issue is that I was stuck in Seattle traffic on I5 after disembarking the ferry, and she started to overheat. I got a couple puffs of steam coming from the hood vents, but not a lot. I turned the heater on inside and everything was fine after a couple minutes, but I had to leave the heat running. Got home, checked the fluid, and put 2 quarts of water in. So, is 2 quarts low enough to cause overheating? Finally, do I need to buy special antifreeze/coolant for this car? I actually read through the owner's manual (it was with the car! holy crap!), and it said to use special coolant, but the "formula" that they gave seemed to be the same as standard antifreeze to me. Great to be a Subaru Owner, and I'm glad I finally got my Brat!