rippin

A little bit of history- I had been running a donor engine in my 79 Brat while I rebuilt the original. The rebuild parts came from Clegg Engine online and I did Crankshaft, pistons rings, gaskets, main bearing. Engine is fully rebuilt and I began the swap this week. I am using the flywheel that has always been with the car, and I am also using the same Bell Housing that has always been with the car. I got a new clutch and pressure plate which I am fairly confident is installed correctly. The problem- When I bolt the engine to the trans the engine will not turn over and seems to be very bound up. If I back up the bolts and give the bell housing a gap of 1/16 of an inch the engine will turn over smoothly just like it is on the bench. has anyone had this happen? any ideas on what could be binding the engine so badly with just the last snug on the bolts? Thanks.

A little bit of history- I had been running a donor engine in my 79 Brat while I rebuilt the original. The rebuild parts came from Clegg Engine online and I did Crankshaft, pistons rings, gaskets, main bearing. Engine is fully rebuilt and I began the swap this week. I am using the flywheel that has always been with the car, and I am also using the same Bell Housing that has always been with the car. I got a new clutch and pressure plate which I am fairly confident is installed correctly. The problem- When I bolt the engine to the trans the engine will not turn over and seems to be very bound up. If I back up the bolts and give the bell housing a gap of 1/16 of an inch the engine will turn over smoothly just like it is on the bench. has anyone had this happen? any ideas on what could be binding the engine so badly with just the last snug on the bolts? Thanks.

Look at us go! click here to see us zoomin' through a puddle

Updates and Issues I picked up the new engine: I put the engine in the brat and after 3 nights in the shop I was able to take the brat for the first drive in quite some time. Here is a picture of the Brat up on the lift

Hell yeah man, It was your comment saying that my brat was "one bad rump roast" that kept me going.

Going to pick up the engine on sunday

what would the advantages/ disadvantages be between the EA-71 and the EA-81? Im curious in both performance and diffuculty of instalation

I guess I'm going to hold off on both of those, because I have no leads on a transmission for a ea81. who thinks this ea71 is worth a 300 mile drive? I called and talked to Jim he said his absolute low is $225.

thanks for the info here is what i found i believe this is what you were talking about. http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/pts/3986987249.html I also found this wagon for sale http://battlecreek.craigslist.org/cto/3993880602.html does anyone know if the engine and the 5 speed from the wagon would work in my brat? it says it is a front wheel drive which is what im not sure about.

this is the sad story of a brat that whent kapoop. I was gearing up for a long road trip and all I had was one blown speaker, so I got myself a new sterio and two speakers, I made a box for the left speaker and put it behind the drivers seat, and then I modified the dash mount to hold the new right speaker which was slightly bigger than the orig. I got a front bumper in november, along with a few other odds and ends from a gentalman I met the day before I hit the road from Colorado to Michigan. The trip went by pretty smoothly, had to dump three quarts of oil in it because of blowby. I had newspaper in the windows of the topper because i stayed a night in denver and a night in kalamazoo with everything i owned inside (excluding the things that were on the top!). Driving through chigaco during rush hour was way too stressful. Here is a picture of the operation after going from point A to point B. I moved into my new place and did a little bit of renovating, The winter came quick, and the snow piled up fast and I needed to take a 3 hour road trip to Mt. Bohemia. I topped up the oli before i hit the road becaue the blowby was still causing me to loose oil. Im not sure if I didn't push the dip stick back down all of the way, or if there was just a lot of presure, but all of the oil blasted straight up the dip stick tube and blew out onto the spare and the inside of the hood. I realized this had happened after I heard a terrible knock for about 60 seconds as i pulled onto the sholder of the road. It was 7:30 am, -16 F, and I was exactly half way, broke down 30 min south of Houghton, MI. I towed it home later that day behind my friend Nate's car. My brat is now sitting Midland MI, I dont have the resources to rebuild it myself, and cant seem to track down a new engine nearby. My Father is pestering me to sell the brat so IM ASKING FOR YOUR HELP to get it on the road soon. I think YOU all realize what it feels like to love a subie, and I do too! any suggestions on what i should do to rebuild it, or help locating a new engine would be so wonderfull! I NEED OLD BETTY FOR THE WINTER UP HERE 4 WHEELE DRIVE is soooo helpful.

I can't wait to get rolling Ill be seeing the bridge before christmas assuming I make it. I'm making a bit of progress on the brat preparing it for the trip home. I replaced the motor/transmission mounts and CV joints with my neighbor in September and then took it to the local imports mechanic and had him inspect all of the other wheel components. He said all of the ball joints and wheel bearings were looking fine so i decided to get an alignment done and balance the wheels which helped me feel more comfortable going above 45 MPH. I made a trip to Denver to pick up a SNUG-top and just got around to gluing on the rubber last night, I hope Silicone was the right choice. If anyone has any suggestions on things to keep my eye on while I drive 1,500 miles, or things to check out before I get on the road please talk to me! I'm definitely a noobie:headbang: It looks like they have probably been claimed by someone. I dont want to be a nag about it but maybe I'll PM him. Thanks for the link WOO how/where can I go to keep up on your '80 project? I'm trying check out as many projects as possible to get ideas for mine. I'm living in Salida but only for a couple more weeks. Being a beginner on a budget the progress on this car will be slow. I figured that by making a little post on USMB I would motivate myself to keep things moving forward. Thanks for your intrest everyone!

back and fourth between the tri-cities and the U.P.

I Bought this Brat two or three months ago and have been getting tons of ideas from USMB but have yet to post anything until now. Selling my doofy camry should allow me to buy some parts that I "need". This brat is the fourth car I'v owned this lifetime but it feels like my first. I'm living in colorado but will soon be making the trip east to michigan with this brat The only spot that has any real rust issue I need a front bumper if anyone has a lead and a pillar cover for the drivers side I will put up some pictures of under the hood when I get a minute