talldude

Just a note regarding the steering universal for the 4 inch lift- I had previously stated that the Impreza universal worked. Well, it does, until you install the rubber damper (the 4 hole rubber disc between the steering rack input and the bottom of the shaft), then it binds up. Have to find another fix, or just not use the damper. Anyone know what fits?

Sheetmetal. Finding replacement body parts is nearly impossible unless you find someone with a stash or get lucky on ebay, etc. On the other hand, I've had great fun butt welding 20 guage panels and fabricating things; part of the challenge of owning an old relic. Enjoy.

Again, I would buy only oem Subaru boots, likely from your LD. They're not expensive. Use zip ties or safety wire to secure the ends and buy the CV grease in a tube from NAPA. Take the joint completely apart to clean and inspect. Not difficult and not worth doing it any other way IMHO, unless you feel your time is cheap and you'd like the practice of doing it again in a year or 2.

Put me down for at least 1. Thank you for your efforts.

A dealer or wrecking yard oem axle or joint might be your best bet, long term. As far as boots, I have not ever gotten longer than 2 years out of non-oem rubber, especially the rh inner (over the exhaust). Good luck.

Man, great progress; at this rate you'll be driving yours before my engine is even installed. Good job, keep it up!

Grew up in Greenville (Moosehead Lake). Loved it, but don't miss Jan-Feb, mud season, or black fly season. Other than that, it was paradise! Of course, in the 80's Subarus were still kind of a novelty up there, so we were all getting around in 2 wheel drive pickups (kinda slow goin). But I always carried the snowmobile in back in case I buried the truck in a snowbank (which was often). Sure wish I'd bought a new BRAT in high school...

The red truck is a '79 I bought last spring when I went to look at some parts. Turned out to be a complete truck with just a little floorboard rust so I had to bring it home... That will get a restoration at some later date, maybe with an EJ22.

I just bought a couple of those same heater valves- they'll work fine.

'78 BRAT, bought for $300 late 2009 as a basket case (sat under a tree for 15 years!). Some typical rust, but not out of hand. As of now it has a 4 inch lift, rebuilt fat case EA71, lsd rear diff, rebuilt suspension and steering, new brakes (rear discs too), and about half the sheetmetal work done, including floorboards, battery tray area, and some other typical areas. It will soon get 18 guage rocker panels and rear valence. Then it goes back together with a reconditioned dashboard and a custom bench seat so I can lug both my boys around (at least while they are small) and it will get a flat white epoxy paint, tubular bumpers, and hopefully a set of slightly modified factory type graphics, if I can find them. With any luck (and spare time) she'll be on the road by spring.

I am impressed with your intestinal fortitude. Keep up the good work. You know what they say: If it's easy it's not worth doing. You're prolonging the life of a truly cool rig. My hat is off.

Agree with McBrat, it doesn't look too bad. Straighten out what you can and weld a doubler over the kinked area- form it over the box so it fits well. It can be same guage or slightly thicker. The crossmember probably kept your suspension in place but it's worth measuring out. How's the rest of the truck rust-wise?

Keep going, you're doing great! Just remember, the pyramids weren't built in a day either...

Can you separate the subframes from the floorpan? I think I would save the subframes (if they're any good) and fabricate everything else. You could even go up a guage for strength. I ended up replacing large sections of floorpan with donor floorpan from a Loyale. A good guage sheetmetal, easy to work with.

I've never owned a wagon, but a BRAT is basically a sawed off wagon with the same mechanicals. Everything should fit.

I think Subaru used to dip everything in saltwater before they spotwelded pieces together...How about trimming off the worst of it, wire wheel and/or scotchbrite disc it, brush on some rust treatment on what you can't get at, and weld new flanges on where needed. Then paint or por15 before assembly. Consider: Harbor Freight has a great portable blaster (their bigger one on wheels) less that $150 and it does really work well. Then you can do your whole floor pan and save a bunch of time, which you will need for welding. Personally I'd rather weld than clean up yuck.

You are hard core. Stop by if you're ever in the Tahoe area, and we can exchange horror stories...

My 78 didn't need quite this much welding, but a fair amount. I started my project for the enjoyment of the work, not because it made sense (the things we tell ourselves...) If you're having second thoughts, maybe buy another with less rust, now that you know exactly where to search for it. You could use this one for parts. This stuff is getting hard to find so having a parts truck would be worthwhile. I bought a 79 this spring for parts, but it is actually almost rust free as far as I can tell, so it will end up being another project on its own, and I'm back to scrounging parts again:-\

About now might be a good time to ask yourself the hard questions- from your Volvo pic I'd say you know what I mean. I bought a '78 in slightly better shape but with rust in all the same places. A LOT of work to do it right (lots of welding and I used POR 15, too). The more you dig, the more you will find. I just decided near the beginning I would do the restoration regardless, just for the fun factor. Parts are relatively cheap when you can find them; that's part of the challenge, too. Seems like almost all the gen 1's out there have rust, unless they've been gone through thoroughly or been in desert storage...When you're done you'll have a really cool little 4X4 truck that will turn heads and get 30 mpg. Best of luck.

From a standpoint of cost and complexity I am leaning towards adapters at the heads to widen out the ports to accomodate an uncut stock EA82 intake. It'll raise the intake a bit but I'm using one of Bill's 4 inch body lifts so there'll be plenty of room. Seems like an easier mod if the whole manifold goes on with all sensors, etc.

BTW, thanks to Kostamojen; I bought your EA71 last summer and it took a bore and a rebuild beautifully. That's the engine I'll be running in the BRAT. Your project is looking incredible, too.

So I found a few other threads related to this and two other possibilities were suggested: either making an adapter plate for the throttle body to the EA71 intake, or use the original EA82 intake and make adapters bolt to the heads to accomodate the wider intake. Unfortunately none of the threads had follow up, so maybe neither has ever been done. I find that hard to believe. Also, if I do this I have to use all doner vehicle smog equipment for it to pass smog. Let the fun begin!

I just overhauled the motor and resealed the trans so I'm planning to use them but can't bring myself to put the hitachi carb back on. I realize it's a narrower engine than the EA81-82 but anything is possible with correct motivation. I am more looking for constructive ideas and anyone who has done anything remotely similar. I'm not afraid of sectioning the EA82 intake; that seems to be the most difficult part as far as I can see.

OK everyone, I'm here in norcal with my future snow truck, a half completed lifted '78 BRAT. I hate carburetors, at least in stock form. I'm not looking for performance gains, though that would be great. Rather, driveability, especially with big altitude changes, fuel economy, and a clean burning truck that will pass our stringent smog checks out here. I'm not looking for a carb vs EFI argument here, just the feasability of installing an EA82 SPFI induction (complete) on an EA71 engine. I've already done an EA82 in our '71 VW with great results, but my main concerns are mating the EA82 intake to the EA71 (cut and weld?) , distributor fitment, and any other issues I may face here. Thoughts?

Here's a pic of the steering universal, and the truck, finally on all 4 wheels. Plenty of ground clearance for the huge snow we get here, plus the LSD in back should help.