jmoss5723

This seems like a tall order.

That is something to consider. I how the airflow will be affected into/out of the bottom of the engine compartment. After all, that is wide open.

Their website only really shows pictures of kids in the seats. Which makes sense based on leg room anyways. I'd bet you could get three 5 year-old kids across there. But yes, 3 people of anywhere near average size would be VERY tight, if possible at all. It seems that their target market is families who have more kids than they have seats in the car, not adults who want to carpool more colleagues to work. And I thought of another reason I'm not too keen on these aside form being crushed in a rear-end collision. You can't get yourself out! In the event of an accident, fire, car-jacking, or even a wasp in the car, you have to wait for someone to open the hatch. No thanks!

I hadn't considered how it might affect cabin air. Maybe I'll just have to remove it and see what happens. I can always put it back on, after all.

I'm wondering if removing the weather stripping/seal where my hood meets the cowl area would do anything to reduce engine compartment heat. I know that there is an area of high pressure there which is what makes cowl induction hood scoops work. So it SHOULD push air into the engine compartment, right? It is always nice to find ways to keep the intake manifold (among other parts) cooler. If my Forester was a turbo, I'd be even more concerned with under-hood temps. Am I considering something that would have minimal effect? Are there any cons I'm not thinking of? And don't even mention water or dirt getting in there. Cars get wet under the hood already. That is NOT a concern.

Is that what you used in the engine compartment of the Ski Wagon? In some spots that stuff is peeling off in sheets.

I stumbled across this today. Third row seats for 1995-2004 Legacy and Outback wagons. http://www.littlepassengerseats.com/index.html https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.577023802326404.143968.250990354929752&type=3 I'm not really sure I'd want to be in the back if the car was rear-ended and I would have to think you'd want to install stiffer rear springs. But if you really need more seats, and you love the Subaru you already have, this is apparently an option.

Surely if things like these are legal, you can get a 5th seat approved in a Baja. You just need to ask the right people how to get inspection, approval, and paperwork. http://www.littlepassengerseats.com/index.html https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.577023802326404.143968.250990354929752&type=3 http://www.traveltoast.com/2011/02/how-to-add-seats-to-your-truck-and-get-a-bigger-tow-vehicle-for-your-large-family/

I'm sure there is an inspection required, as well as a change to the vehicle's title. People build kit cars or even custom one-off vehicles and get them to be road legal. I'd start by calling the DMV.

I'm using a harbor freight flux core. I can goob together pieces of angle iron and stuff, but this thin sheet is killing me.

F#$@ welding. After doing some cutting in the wheel wells in the bed, I was ready to weld on some patches. I went to weld them in and instead of adding any metal, I'm just burning away everything. I can't seem to set the welder to a low enough power to not torch the material. I've always been awful at welding anyway. Now I'm kind of at a loss.

If I had factory corners to use, I'd definitely consider it, but I'm not super worried about the fabrication. It should be pretty simple. And heavy duty is the whole idea, but I want it to be heavy duty enough without be too physically heavy. Bratman, your bumper is awesome, but I'm going for a slightly more subtle look.

Spring has sprung and it is time to get to work on my cars before I have any more kids... This weekend and the next I will be patching the rust in the rear wheel wells, finishing the bed liner, reinstalling my roll bar, fabricating a new front bumper, and MAYBE installing the jump seats. I have a solid plan in place for everything but the bumper. So far the Ski Wagon's 81/82 chrome 4wd style bumper has been removed and sent off to TheLoyale for his coupe, The BRAT's year-correct bumper is getting cleaned up and installed on the Ski Wagon, and a new bumper needs to get fabbed for the BRAT. I'm thinking the following: Stock bumper mounting location Simple single beam that wraps around the front fenders very much like the stock bumper Material will be steel C-channel Hitch receiver for a winch (Moderately sized ATV winch. Nothing crazy.) I'll use some plate to beef up the mounting points on the unibody so that I will hopefully not rip them out. So now my question is this: what thickness steel should I use for this? I want it to be tough enough, but I'm hoping it won't weigh a million pounds. I'm thinking that 1/4" is heftier than necessary. I'd certainly tear the car apart before the bumper, right? So I'm leaning towards 3/16", but can I safely go thinner?

I'm building a steel front bumper for my BRAT. Here is what I'm thinking so far: Stock bumper mounting location Simple single beam that wraps around the front fenders very much like the stock bumper Material will be steel C-channel Hitch receiver for a winch (Moderately sized ATV winch. Nothing crazy.) I'll use some plate to beef up the mounting points on the unibody so that I will hopefully not rip them out. So now my question is this: what thickness steel should I use for this? I want it to be tough enough, but I'm hoping it won't weigh a million pounds. I'm thinking that 1/4" is heftier than necessary. I'd certainly tear the car apart before the bumper, right? So I'm leaning towards 3/16", but can I safely go thinner? Thoughts appreciated. Thanks!

I've heard that the bottom cushion from a legacy or outback is a direct bolt it (maybe someone else can confirm), but you'd have to figure out a seat belt. As far as legality goes, I don't know. I'm also unsure how it would affect the folding rear seat. It might be worth going to a junkyard and getting the cushion just to try it out.

I'm putting the bumper from my BRAT on the Ski Wagon and custom fabricating a steel bumper with winch mount for the BRAT. I forget the details on the turn signals. Did you end up beginning the wiring for the corner markers to act as the signals, or is the wiring still original? So yes, the chrome bumper is going! My parents are driving to Chicago tomorrow and MIGHT be heading to Milwaukee on Monday. If you want to toss me a few bucks for it, the money will just go to buying supplies for the BRAT bumper. I can go pull it from the car tonight and send it with them. If they don't make it to Milwaukee, I can have them leave it at my aunt's house in Chicago and you can pick it up at your leisure. I know chicago isn't exactly in your backyard, but it's closer than Pittsburgh. PM me if you want to try to figure out the logistics on this.

Maybe, but I think I'd still have so much fab left to do, that I'd rather leave the spare fenders I have whole and just make the whole rear piece out of new sheet if it comes to that. I did a really nice job on the front fenders of my BRAT when I cut out the wheel arches to clear bigger tires. You would think they were factory unless you held up a stock fender and compared the size. That would be superb! I'd appreciate any help. You guys are spoiled with cars out there that aren't rusted to nothing. As an East coast guy, that is such a foreign concept... I'm hoping to have this car aesthetically restored to original condition, so I'll skip the flaired fenders, but the flairs from the front welded in on the back would likely be a very subtle and cool unique look. When the arches on my BRAT inevitably rot off, that might be the solution!

I'm wanting to do the last of the major rust repair ASAP. I'm hoping to get some original pieces off of another soob. Does anyone have a wrecked or destined-to-be-scrapped EA81 car with clean rear quarters that they want to cut out? I basically need all the metal from one rear wheel arch, around behind the bumper, and to the other wheel arch. You can see the part I need the most in the following picture (the black part). If someone has it and it needs to be cut into a few pieces to ship, that's fine. I can weld it together and much of it would be hidden by the bumper anyways. I just really don't want to have to try to fab this up myself. I know this might be a long-shot, but I figured I'd try... Edit because I forgot the picture.

I talked to him a little bit last year just to get an idea for budgeting. I'm sure I'll get them from him when the time comes.

Thanks for putting the time into that response. I've been braced for the sand, fill, repeat, and I'm not looking forward to trying to remove those decals. They're so cracked that they will come off in about a million pieces. I'm going to try a few approaches, but I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot of sanding.

Tom, that's about what I'm thinking. Thanks for the input. You gotta love youtube university! Anyone have any experience or thoughts on what low-price sprayers yield good results? I'd hate to spend a bunch of money on something I'll probably use only a few times. How about those old decals? I doubt I'll be able to peel any of them, so should I try to sand them off? Is it as bad of an idea as it sounds to paint over them and line up the new decals over top? I am handy with a rattle can, but that's where my automotive painting experience ends. My car skills are mostly under the hood or behind the wheel. If I'm asking elementary questions, I apologize.

Spring thaw has come to Pennsylvania and it is time to take the ski wagon out of winter storage (I wonder if that will ever stop sounding so backwards). High on the priority list is fixing up the last of the body work and doing some painting. I'm planning to spray the white myself then put new decals on. Anyone have a good idea on how to do a good job on the painting without breaking the bank? Assume I have no equipment and know nothing. I don't want to make any assumptions.

I'd have to make them blink correctly. The quick blinking stresses me out

That's basically what I think I'll end up doing. I know there are ways to get the LEDs to behave properly, but I might just use old school non-LED trailer lights. I also have the option of rigging up some OEM signals. Since I'm basically making a steel version of the factory bumper out of some channel or tubing, it might look nice to have the original lights, but cutting holes to recess them will be a pain in the butt...