kayoteq

Also, subies are more numerous around here.. with both realistic and deluded pricing.. But again, that brat up the road, id hate to miss out on it spending on this.. I have sources for evr'thing, even t-tops. Fellow in NC.. Just tempting to.have a car for the price of a gocart.. Maybe I can convince him my rim buy as partial.. :-)

Sorry for the previous posting, poor mobile texting. ugh. I really just want the motor, and even that's a iffy. I mean that in the most sincere realism despite reputation. It looks to be newer, a quad headlight grille , no center lamp crossmember. Afraid this would be too much of a liability since I don't have a means of disposal. However, I know someone who might. Details as I recall: red valve covers, clean enough to discern ea81 stamping, good set of parts, or at least when I last saw it. Vultures were scavenging, I begged them to leave the factory stuff alone.. sigh. What bothers me is that motor. I don't want the trouble of the whole car, but their argument is they can get nearly that at the scapper. I'd rather horse-trade them a old rusty s10 transmission for equal weight of ea81.. (Have I mentioned I'm in East Tennessee, where such things are plausible)

I was going after some (spare) wheels and the vehicle they came from is an automatic, but good motor, or at least a running one. Right at about scrap value, and a few yards that might take the leftover, or I scrap after stripping a lot. At $400, shoulld I? *definitely ea81. I can read the stamping.

Got the Brat timing set by a mechanic who, along with his son, have at least 6 EA81s.. Not that I can't or won't set timing, but wanted to watch the full procedure specific to the engine, loads, common sense etc. and worth the 6 bucks. At least now I have a 0 point reference for future foulups. Weird timing mark from PO, but My 'by the ear' distributor timing wasn't that far off. They used to do that, 'tune' a car. harmonics and all. And 1K engine rebuilds..Took awhile to get there, admittedly. Now can warm up the car without propping the pedal up +250rpm. (not safe. do not do.) Vaccum advance is working, I had compared it to a spare rebuilt and thought it was functional, or both were broken. End result: unnecessary new rebuilt distributor, to be stored for when I actually need it. The replacement window seal is holding back the outside fine. I cannot underrecomend sealing your leaks properly. Or buy sandpaper sheets and patch away in 10 years. Now to figure out how to get the chrome back in.

Me and the Brat consulted on the proper ratio of gearing to highway speed to mountain road incline... Did I do alright? I passed a Baja. ..while in North Carolina picking up a camper top for cheap (minus the gas) but will require a bit of re-fabrication to get it fitted. (upside down, backwards with the tailgate down and tied securely, for those wondering) He threw in a wheel as part of the deal. Now I have something to start refinishing the OEM white wheels one at a time without lacking a spare.

Yeah, overall it's a good concept. I hope they didn't bend the bumper to make those fogs fit.. er, fogs or the current headlights. (I've taken yellow fogs and made turn signals, so it's plausible) Then again I just have to pick up gloss black rusto and I'm set for touchup paint. :-p

.8 miles away from my house, I spot this familiar shape.. but not seen one out in the wild other than my driveway.. I admire the concept. Outbrat? However, a bit more masking tape. ..and yet, I internally calculated a offer had the owner wandered out wondering why I was snapping photos..

I will find out. He seemed to be nonplussed about it, I think it was about $40 plus installation. Closer examination of the gasket today indicates it needs a swappin'. He was even ordering in the glass in case they break mine. oh boy. This is a Safelite franchise, been around for years. Their warehouse might be well stocked for Subies regionallly. We shall see.

Set up an appointment with the windshield folks. The brat has a leak in an upper corner, only spills at speed. Long-term, that's not good. Have to replace half the body pan on my Beetle due to *internal* rot from its formerly leaking windscreen. Any nasty surprises I should be planning for? They're ordering in the specific gasket, even the windshield, if they break mine. (hopefully not) I may try to sneak some dash tweaking while the windshield is out. just reattach the loose parts somehow..

When I encountered this problem, it was after I had fooled with the fuel cutoff valve in front of the stock Hitachi carb. Taking the piston out removed the stalling issue. Fuel runon is not an issue so far until I get a new one..

If it's non-California (aka no ECU) Here's a (labelled) 84-up Brat/Brumby MV* My quad lights kinda does a similar weird dimmy stuff. I kind of like it. LEO might not, however. About every time I trace down a wire thinking it's frayed somewhere turns out the contacts were corroded or loose. You might be able to scavenge some connections from old harness bits if the light's contacts are fubar. Stuff exposed to weather/grease tend to get erratic. *same as another source, but with the part numbers labelled.

Okay, that was a bit scary. Went by the towing company, not for sale, they don't or won't have info on the hatch ownership. ('It was confiscated', said one fellow) Oh well, sorry. All I can do is troll the local police auctions when or if it ever comes up. It's been there for at least a year.

Didn't get there tuesday, will try to fit in a visit. Keep searching meantime. There's a few 'freelance' dealers specializing in Subies, will try to find prices for you there. They're in the mountains of North Carolina. Another AE81: http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/ctd/2745560433.html 1984 Wagon $1K, auto. At 115K, an example of a 'vintage' or 'granny's Subie'

Not a problem. Gives me an excuse to ask them about it. Will let you know if they are capable/willing to sell, then, if it's worth it.

Glad you're okay. I had a similar encounter with a police cruiser with failed ABS to my '86 golf, got a replacement taillamp that stuck about 3 inches out of the dent, plastic sealing, it kept going.. insurance company gave about $500 below what it cost me to replace it with a 90 Jetta, cost me $100 to keep the car, sold it for $350 later. . anyway, Are you in northern or sourthern Ohios? There's a blue 82-87 (?) hatch nearby at a towing company.(TN) Probably a '87, it's got those same funky wheels. Looks to be mechanical failure. (front wheel is on hood, either a failed fix or parts-stripping (eek) I'll stop by and get you a price figure for your records. In this rare case a high figure would be good.. High enough and I'll get the offer notarized and send it to you. Low enough and.. well, let's just see, eh?

Thanks, sorry I couldn't see the thread for a bit for some reason.. I've been quite lucky, especially compared to some folk's talk of their new purchases problems etc. Most every current problem is a result of me trying to fix past ones.. just another thing to tweak. And learn. I could take the car to the guy who drives a '84 to work every day, he'd get it purring. Then two months down the road I wouldn't know what to do. So far my list is: The Wrench Kit (98% of everthing except those darn 14s 17s and 19s, so pack them, fortunately I am redundant and forgetful, so made a set) The Proper Screwdriver Flashlight Vacuum hoses of proper ID/OD (at least 2 sizes) Filing device for electrical Electrical tape zip-ties Female and Male spade wires (make a few on the bench, connector on each end. Cut and patch as needed. Remember those harness connectors can be rebuilt or repurposed. Plan Bs This is where you take note of all the best MacGuyver stories.. Chewing gum (with foil wrapper, important) Straw Ballpoint pen with clicker And of course, Fluids (Oil, Transmission, Power steering (yes PO added it, tis a dream)) Belts Except for the fluids and belts, that list would actually be almost an inventory of my pockets after a few days of field work.. I also practice adjustments and inspections safely at home in the dark with just a flashlight and the factory tools. Only 79 parts to memorize, and half of those are lights.

So far I'm adjusting to the '85 carburated 4 speed world, and need to stock my emergency rations. Sure, the car's nice and neat, but that wrench kit and spare ain't always gonna do. What do you keep, minimum, as spares in your vehicle? I'm at Spares 0.. Probably can get some of the items from a Subie mechanic from his spares. Just more convenient to have one at hand in the carport or in the box behind the seat.. Everywhere category (don't leave driveway without) Distant (3-800 mi) Extreme (rally, snowball races, etc) Stuff that cross-matches EA82 parts would be good,as I may be stripping one for it's vital bits. .

After examining, confirming, testing a bunch of wires, still no glove box, ecm light or door switches. However, a few extra lights (for a '85 Brat) now.. Unused cruise control +12v makes for a convenient fused hot, also, a rear deflector shield (okay, rear defrost) switch has a powered harness connector right there. Lights up the info car, another switched power*, no cuts, just banana plugs and crimped lugs.. *Usually you would use the Subie power to flip a more robust relay for whatever high powered gadget you may be adding. Technique varies. I have also found that my collection of Namco wiring harnesses for 80's arcade games have given me a lot of oem-looking interconnects to repurpose. subtle.

Glad it's just an axle. Be sure to put the (new) bearings in carefully.. The PO had left a part out, trashed the axle end.. Maybe the same thing. Fortunately for me, this prompted him to drop the CL listing, but it was too late. I checked out the car with him swappng the axle. .. I considered it a $200 discount, parts and labor

Changed a light bulb.

Howdy.. sorry, was distracted by the sensory overload of a whole new set of wires, quirks and such.

Not quite having luck sorting the threads out.. So it ended up being a slice-n-dice anyway? I figure as much as I can leave of the original center bracket, fit. (Well, no harm if I treat the cut ends for bog prevention) Gotta start my trade-spares box somewhere..

Aha! so the center part will come out with the welds drilled out.. just the two or did they hide a few behind the support (conveniently occupied by.. radiator) (I count two in the front..) Drilling out the welds is what my friend suggested, but he was busy making a homebrew leaf mulcher vacuum out of a couple of lawn mowers. .. Anyway. How did you approach the grille surgery? I'm thinking install the lamp, remove the cover, study any differences in geometries, mark, measure, measure, cut thinly as possible and smooth the edges for pivoting. Ideally using the same grille with just that workable gap. Thanks.. I'd rather have this car be OEM weird than random holes in metalwork.. Going to document the process if I'm not busy documenting the leaf vacuum build.. .. - Just as an aside, I am seriously considering the roo guard. Not just because it looks cool, but we have had a overpopulation of deer around here. Need to study which design bouncem best. Steak's expensive. Deer stew is cheap.

Joy! Still have to test and restore it to working, but some preliminary fitting show that there's a bit of metal in the way on my quad headlight radiator support. Is the standard procedure to cut that upper down to a fitting size so the center works? I don't see that one part coming out without some weld removal. With that cut down, rust treated and the two bolt holes drilled in, should be more substantial than what is stock with the center bracketry installed.. Cut away? Dramatic photos?

This. Is both dangerous and beautiful. Another way to look at it is to consider both cars and which one is easier to work on. In 10 years. 20. *Disclaimer: nothing I own is newer than 1990. The parts, however..