samneric

Does anyone know where I can buy the fuel sender unit with low level sensor from the gas tank of an '86 Brat? I ordered one from Subaru which confused my dealership to start with. Then when it arrived, it had only the level sensor and I told them I need the one with both sensors which sent the dude to the verge of mental breakdown as he insisted those Brats only have 1 sensor. It didn't matter how much I stressed the fact tht the one I pulled off had both. Anyways, I have decided to get one of my Brats rolling again and my red one seems to be the easiest at the moment considering the bodywork is straight. Its problem was a rusted up fuel delivery line in the tank which I unclogged followed by giving it the POR15 fuel tank sealer treatment.I finished this at the weekend and while I wait the 96 hours for the sealer to dry I aim to get it ready to put back together... Hurrah, hopefully I'll soon have one of my subies running again Oh go on then, this moment calls for my first ever banana.... Steve

The yolk coats the surfaces and then congeals when the water heats up.Kinda like a hard boiled egg... Get some Soildiers and you got a meal! (or am I talking too much British).Heck, go the whole fry-up....Bacon, sausage and baked beans...I'm getting hungy...

Please be careful, the pair of you.... I risked driving a CRX I had through a flood in the past. Luckily I got away with it but had to take out the seats and rip up the carpet to dry out the foot wells... The trapped water will cause mold and start rust. Also, if water gets in your exhaust pipe you will stall and end up stranded. Plus water could get into your engine oil... Brake rotors could get warped.... I know I am going on a bit but the risks are just to high and I fear for you and old Rocky ... esp seing as you just got him up and running again... Steve

So whatever happened to y'alls vehicles?Did your fuel supply pipes melt through yet? ;)I am using it to clean up my engine at the mo... does a real nice job of removing baked on carbon if parts are left soaking in it over night....I'm sure one of its qualities would be to clean components....

I think I should qualify the physics....Its not water that won't compress, its Liquid water. If you vapourize water, its fine. If you are using Seafoam from a pressurized can, you should be fine.Even gasoline wouldn't compress if it was liquid. That's where the carb jets come in...

Water doesn't compress so if too much gets into the chamber there is a chance that the conrod will fail which tyipically means a large hole in the block of your engine (mal !) At least that is my theory - I'm not 100% sure that the inlet valve stays open long enough to let that much water in (I may be corrected by someone). I remember as a wee laddy, A Ford Fiesta of mine broke due to a snapped con-rod. I was lucky because all I had to do was get a recon engine. I've heard scare stories of engine bits coming into the footwell and doing damage to legs. Frightnin.... Steve

Oooo - and I thought I had it bad....To buy a replacement and find it worse than the problem vehicle...... on the way home.... that blows. At least I got a solid day out of my saviour Brat before it was taken from me..... Anyway, you got any pics of those springs???? We need to enter them into the Hall of Fame Steve

Ok Chaps, status update.... Thanks for all the advice on removal from a running engine - I'll use those techniques when its back together, but as GD picked up, my engine is in pieces at the moment. Oil leak got worse and then water would dry up in a week so I decided I wasn't going to risk driving anymore. It's not my soob engine, those will be next on my list. Its a small block V8 but the principle is the same as the ea81 - just more damn pushrods, rockers and valves to clean Anways, I noticed that my can of Throttle Body cleaner contained Acetone so I tried an experiment. I left the pushrod soaking in TB cleaner and the rocker bits in Acetone. This is a before and after having simply wiped the parts clean with a rag: And then after a touch up with SuperClean and more Acetone: Not bad even if I do say so myself (cheeky smirk). So now the plan is finish the rest (only another 15 :-\ + valves when they come off) with Acetone because its cheaper... Now I need to figure out how to get a production line going so I can do 8 ot 16 sets in one night (time is not my friend at the moment)....It'd be nice if they made cigar tubes that length so I could use those for the pushrods..... Just a FYI, here are some pics of the rocker train.... Have you EVER seen a more neglected engine?!?!? (maybe we could start off another of those roll-call threads ) http://www.alonzostreet.com/ftp/Vehicles/GMC/2007-03-23%20Engine%20Overhaul/011%20-%20Before%20-%20Rockers.JPG http://www.alonzostreet.com/ftp/Vehicles/GMC/2007-03-23%20Engine%20Overhaul/012%20-%20Before%20-%20Rockers.JPG Steve

Thanks!

Hi all,I am in the process of servicing my engine and have a huge amount of carbon buildup. I have been using Foaming Gunk, Seafoam and Castrol Super Clean but the all seem more geared to cleaning up oil.Any recommendations for a decent product I can use to strip these deposits?Cheers, Steve

After learning a thing or two from the dedicated on this site, I'd conqour (or was that Ceasar ) with the dolly idea.....This was my stab at the problem in my pre-USMB days..... this particular thread sure would have saved me some effort .....http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showpost.php?p=591274&postcount=30Steve

Cool idea.... Well, in order of purchase.... '02 WRX in a 'Gold-Rim-Standoff' with a buddy of mine before I bent it all out of shape. (Mine is on the right). Plans - Take out the engine, tranny and stereo from the wreckage and squeeze them into my first Brat.... '86 Brat - Purchased on eBay for $450, seen here at the start of its journey home from South Florida. Plans - Fix the rust, plug the roof's rusted through holes and follow the plan from the wrex. '85 Brat - Purchased on eBay for $3000, a rare glimpse of the car on its only day of life in New Orleans before being front-end squished as a truck cut across its lane on the way home from work. Plans - Pull the front end back into shape and start using it as my daily driver. I'm presently driving a '93 GMC Sierra which tries its best to match the Brat's 28mpg. Steve

I often find a propane torch works as a good partner with PB blast/WD etc. when removing stubborn rusted items.

Damn, none of that stuff is gonna creap past the rings? I figured the whole point of the PCV system was to relieve pressure caused by gasses getting past the rings? !? You live and learn.... Steve P.S. Taking out the plugs - I would..... again, I may be showing my ignorance but arn't the inlet valves always closed when the piston rises (either for compression or exhaust purge)?

!! I'd sooner buy this http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=1479 and suck it out (may also work on lead pencils too ). This then also has the bonus of becoming an invaluable tool when: a) Your dishwasher breaksdown, backs up with water from the garbage drain pipe and is left for a long period with a full load (Mc'Fly, I know).... Your roof leaks and you need a quick way to empty the tarps you have up your attic catching water.... c) You want to pump engine cleaner (although I would no longer use it for clean water projects ) through your Brat's gas tank because the delivery pipe has become blocked with rust/gunk etc.... d) Really, the possibilities for this investment are endless! Steve

Damn!!!!!! Which head chamber did that quarter come out of???? Steve

If I understand the system properly, it would work properly whether you pulled a vacuum or not. Pulling the vacuum (evacuating) causes the moisture in the system to evaporate - its a preventative measure that attempts to remove as many foreign substances as possible from the system before recharging with freon. I'm not sure if the dryer would clear out any excess moisture left in there or not. I am neither sure whether even small amounts of moisture going through the compressor would reduce its life expectancy. (We all know you can't compress water right ) I'd rather hook up the $10 vacuum pump (Harbour Freight ) to my compressor and let it purge for 10-20 mins just to be on the safe side. Besides, this way, you can also check to see if your repaired system holds a vacuum and therefore doesn't have any leaks.... Steve

I am about to work on my 256k GMC's AC because the compressor is making very scary sounds. I bought the Haynes techbook to learn about how the system works - useful if you want to get the basic principles. They recommend using AC flush on the Cond & Evap coils definately if a compressor fails (remove metal shards) and as a performance booster to clean sludge and oil build up if desired. I went ahead and bought replacements for all the components due to age/milage. That's a matter of budget though. I hope you bought a recovery system and didn't just let the freon discharge into outer-space Steve

...and if that doesn't work, I usually find the BFH trick works splendidly

What should you check!?!????? I'd say look out for a scruffy looking character with a large tree felling tool and a distant look in his eyes

Yeah, I can hack a chunk 'o 2x4 outa the Formosan colony in my structure and mail it ya in a Ziplock.... Just make sure you pop a NGK in the hole pretty sharpish after you drop a couple of the blighters in.... After all, they are vicious little buggers and you wouldn't want them having any ambitions on your beautiful wife's Mahogany I'd give 'em two hours before the pencil is saw dust and you can crank up your engine

I've been using this to pull my Brat around town lately so I reckon it has around 50 subie miles on it Despite the Chevy badge on the nose, its actually a GMC (you know they use the same Meccano bits on all US vehicles ) with 253k and is presently enjoying a front end service - All bushings, All balljoints, All tie-rods, 2 shocks and a generous helping of POR15. '86 Brat - 188k '85 Brat - 115k '02 Wrex - 58 dormant k's Steve

I like stories with happy endings Steve

Thanks Bill, Cab. I'd be glad to pay the $400 to have the frame straightened but the guy who guestimated that price on reflection came to the conclusion (in a stressed out voice while talking to one customer on the phone, a co-worker in the shop) "I am backed up with vehicles until the end of Jan, I'm not going to fool with it." This sentiment is echoed by all bodyshops in town. It's hard to picture but to give you an idea, imagine a whole town entered a demolition derby using vehicles no older than '05 models. All the cars are smacked up and are towed to all body shops in town. They now have 2 months of work ahead of them. Each vehicle estimate at least $6000-$10000 in damage. I come along and say "Can you put my 21 year old, no parts available, car and $400 dollar job ahead of the others". They are all going to tell me to piss off (under the stress of 1 year of these demolition derbys occuring once a week of course ). So if I want my Brat back on the road, I am going to have to do it myself. I'm not even going to mention the lack of roofers, plumbers, electricians contributing to my other workloads e.g. putting up a new 25 square vermont slate roof (on new individually nailed down 1x8 rough cut planks as compared to plywood the slate roof monkeys down here are putting down as decking before charging $45,000 for a roof that will warp and lose tiles in 30 years as the glue in the plywood unadheres - woa - another $45,000 to replace the first novice built, disposable roof). Oh ************ - perhaps I just did mention them Anyways, I appologise for the rant - got a lot off my chest - the point is I can't use a body shop right now. Bill - Thanks for the advice on the forward pull / sideways, downwards push combo. I'll need to buy another hydraulic pump but thats no biggy. I'm sure I'll figure some way of securing the car while the forces of multiple planes are applied.... Gulp - back to the drawing board - although designing the solution is the fun part - making it happen is the stressful bit. Steve

No worries, my consultancy is swamped right now, glad you could help out.... Just be careful of the one with the colostomy bag - it sometimes explodes in the heat Dr. Steve MD, ABPN. P.S. Seriously though - Nice car - tis in good shape. P.P.S You can buy pipe benders from Harbor Freight. I heard the trick is to fill the pipe with sand or water before bending so you won't get the kinks.