Subieguy

I am getting ready to rebuild the front end for my 78 Brat. So far the parts I have got for it are: ball joints, outer tie rod ends, brake rotors new front strut cartridges and, new cv axles. I am buying everything new because everything is old and wore out. It was all wore out when I got it 3 years ago. I am finally doing some real work to get it driving up to par. I know I have to still get new brake calipers and wheel bearings still. Question: Does this Brat have inner and outer wheel bearings? Does it have wheel seals that need to be replaced? I have never torn this Brat apart to know all what it needs. Where is a good place to get wheel bearings and seals for this? Any help is appreciated. Thanks, Richard

Yeah it seems like I have a harder time finding EA-81 engines or cars for that matter around here. The only one I have is in my 84 Brat. I have three EA-71 engines sitting in my garage and one in my 78 Brat too. For some reason I have had quite a few of those go through my hands in the past few years. Just can't see keeping them all.

Your A bar looks a little different than the 3 Gen 1 A bars I have. Never seen those bars going through the middle before.. With those bars in the middle I doubt you could get the small skid plate that Todd was talking about up in there. I have a extra small skid plate sitting in my garage if interested.

So are the original front struts rebuildable? I noticed on the top of the strut it almost looks like a big nut holding it together. I have one with the spring off it and that was just my impression. If not where do I find a strut with the part that the spring mounts on?

Anybody got a link as to where I can purchase some new front struts at?

here you go: http://store.classicgarage.com/subgldlrear1.html

Here is the link: http://store.classicgarage.com/subbratrears.html

I got KYB shocks. I got them from a yahoo store called classic garage. They were $54.95 for a pair.

Come on! Nobody has needed front struts for their gen1?:-\

I just put new rear shocks in my 78 Brat. Man what a difference that made over the old worn out originals. Now I would like to do the front struts. I know they have not been made in a long time. Any suggestions? I have heard that ea-81 struts can be used. But doesn't parts on it need to be relocated to make it fit right? If so wouldn't you need to weld those pieces back in place. Now last time I checked these things are under pressure and I don't see how with the heat produced by a welder you could do this without destroying the strut. I suppose you might be able to if you just weld a little spot at a time and let it sit forever to fully cool. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Better yet anybody have a pair of NOS front struts for sale?

Will EA82 calipers fit onto a EA81 car? The calipers on my 84 Brat are all messed up. I have a almost new set from a 88 XT that I used to have. Just needed to know if I can swap them.

Actually I was referring to the steel reinforcement underneath the bumper cover. Talk about thin sheet metal. It is no thicker than regular body sheet metal. You can bend it with your hands. I don't see that offering much in the way of safety.

No not planning on running into anything. Just better not ever bump into anything or you could destroy the front or back of your Subaru.

This front bumper on my 84 Brat is a big piece of crap! How did they get away selling these cars with such weak bumpers? This is my first EA81 car and wow talk about poor workmanship in the bumper area. Man I would be afraid to breathe wrong on it or it may just bend right in half. I guess I might just have to make a real one for it myself.

There is a spot on the floor about 3 by 3 inches that I will cut out of the wagon to fix the Brat with. The area around the battery box is rusted out. The wagon is perfect. I will do the same to it. Cut it out and weld in the replacement piece. If I find time I will take some pictures tommorrow. Now all I need is some good seats for it.

Well I got it running today! Thanks to the 84 GL wagon I picked up yesterday. My first guess as to the problem was right. Bad starter. I took the one out of the wagon. I knew it still worked and put it in. It fired up on the second try. That was with 5 year old gas in it too! I went and put some fresh gas in to freshen up the little bit that was still in there. I get the impression that the fromer owner had siphoned out all the gas he could get. Anyway now onto replacing the muffler and fixing the 2 rust spots. I think I did pretty good on this one considering it was free!

I did it on my 78 Brat. Quite a bit of grinding on the backing plate and I had to grind a pretty serious notch into the trailing arm itself. That was to clear one of the caliper bolts. The three bolts on the backing plate line right up when you have enough ground away. I am really happy with how it turned out and how it looks. Looks cool having 4 wheel discs on a gen 1 Brat:headbang: . The thing I still need to do is get longer brake lines to go to the calipers. The originals are a little short for the disc setup so the don't run in the same location as original. They are just kind of free and floating around back there. Would be a problem if I actually drove it very much. I will get around to taking care of that one of these days.

No warning lights. Acts just like it has never been turned off. I cant hear any problems out of the alternator. They both sound fine.

Ok I have tried a entirely different ignition switch, changed the coil, changed the alt and checked all the fuses. Still does it. But I have discovered that when my dash lights are dimmer I can turn the car off no problem. But, soon as I rev the engine and the dash lights get brighter I can no longer turn the car off without stalling it or pulling the ignition fuse or unplugging the T connector on the alternator. Getting a little frustrated here.:-\

Ok i pulled the T plug and the motor stopped. Ok I figure it has to be the alt right? Changed it and it still stays running with the key in the off position. No it is not dieseling or running backwards. It just acts like I never turned the key off.

The car runs fine. No dieseling. Nice and smooth. I will try to check the wiress later today. I think I have a extra alternator sitting around so I can try that too. Non turbo car also.

No I will have to go back and check it.

OK i finally changed just the electrical switch in my ignition today. Took another one from my 87 column. Worked perfect in my 87 too. It was quick and easy. I just removed the one screw and it came right out. Easy fix right? Well I still have the same problem. Maybe I need to replace the key portion too. It is funny how it does it. If you only let it run for a short time it will turn right off. But after 10 minutes or so it will not turn off with the key. Only stalling it will turn it off. Any thoughts on this one?

Hey I have either plastic or wood shift knobs if you need one. Lots of other Brat parts too.

Personally I just like to replace them when I do all the front end work on the EA82 engine. Never knowing the exact amount of use or abuse it has taken over the years I just asume I start out with a fresh one. I feel better when it is a new part.