MorganM

Did you check the condition of your radiator? Do the fans function properly? VERY key components to keeping the car cool. Fix this before you DO blow a head gasket. Very easy to do. I would not over heat this car! And by over heating I'm talking going over the half way point. If it hits the red its too late; youve over heated it bad!

5MT4LIFE! Get the 5 speed for sure

Yeah I hear you man. I wouldnt expect them to re-release the real BRAT any day. What about re-releasing parts for old Subarus tho? If they still had the capability that is; which I highly doubt Maybe if they saw there really is an aftermarket demand for older parts they might consider relleasing 'new' parts? A long shot to say the least... but writing a letter is easy and no loss to us. Hey maybe we could atleast get some real Subaru duders here on the USMB! Would be nice to have an official SUbaru engineer or something here

Yep

Who's fighting? Have we exchanged harsh words? From here it just looks like a friendly dissagreament. Notice all the :-p and from us BOTH? WJM doesnt seem to be angry about it or swayed one bit by my, and others, seaminly more realistic approach to the idea. I hope he does it and comes back here for a big fat I TOLD YOU SO JUS KEEP'N IT REAL YO :-p

Sounds like heat soak. Driving at higher speends puts more demand on your engine and coolant system to keep it cool but the higher air flow really helps. Now you pull off the highway, engine is still HOT, and the air flow dlrops considerably. The heat 'soaks in' and builds up! This is where your fans come in. Do you still have your OEM clutch fan on the water pump? Does your auxilary electric fan kick in? If not that would be the first place to start. Also look at yoru radiator and make sure all the fins and tubes are in good order. Look from inside the engine bay, between the clutch fan and the radaitor itself. If you look from the outside all you will see is your AC condenser that looks like your radiator but really is not. NO fins should be missing! It should not be all rusty or scaled up in a green nasty color. If you see lots of fins missing then it's time for a new radiator. Start there and report back

Hell I'd write a letter! I'd send in some pics of some of the sickest BRATs we have here on the USMB and AUSubaru. Also mention to them how often the topic comes up "where to find parts for my BRAT?". Tough part might be that they got rid of all that old machinery and documentation. Most companies I've called ditch records after less than 10 years... Where did you send it? More voices is better than one!

Here is an explination of Backspacing and Offset. http://customwheelsmarket.com/wheelter1.html After rebuilding the engine I did a full 2WD to 4WD conversion. I then went with just a bolt on BYB 3" lift, 15" pugs, 29"x8.5" All Terrains from Wal-Mart and I'm having a BLAST Just wants to make you go further hiowever, so be carefull! Now I'm just finishing a rear disc swap, gonna get an extra rear diff to weld up so I'm locked in the rear, and hopefully find the money for some Mud Terrain tires! Just like you I went with Subaru due to my budget. All of these mods are VERY affordable compared to real 4x4 rigs. Yes there are much better 4x4 rigs out there and platforms to start with... they also have much more costly parts! Just a couple weeks ago I was talking to a guy with a lifted Tracker. It was up on 32"x12" TSL swampers. He was talking how cheap it was compared to his "real" truck. After talking I found out he paid $1500 for the truck and his lift kit was $1000+! Now go price out 32"x12" TSL swampers and rims to fit them on. Compared to what he spent on his Ford I bet that is cheap but compared to lifting a Subaru it is not really that cheap. Others have definatly gone leaps and bounds beyond bolt on lift kits. Check out what many others have done here on the boards. Pictures from the WCSS6 are great examples. I'd list names but there are so many I'd hate to leave someone out!

Sounds like you are a prime cannidate for a BYB Ozified 3" lift. On that 88 Wagon youll be able to fit those tires... or even larger. With the 3" lift youll have to cut some fender and bash some stuff out of the way but that size tire will fit for sure. Also new rims will be in order. VERY tough finding tires for those 13" rims that will meet your offroad needs. You can bump upto a 14" or 15" steel or aluminum alloy Pugeot rim. Yo ucan also take either a 6x5.5" rim and modify your hubs to a 6x5.5" bolt pattern or redrill the rims themselves with 2 extra holes to bolt onto your 4x140mm pattern. With the Pug 15" steels youll have a lot of back spacing and can only go 9.5" wide on the tire before you rub on the struts. With a Toyota 6 bolt rim you can findo ne with 3 or 3.5" of backspacing allowing you to go wider at the tire. Rage it!

Awsome, thanks for the info. To much backspace for my needs The 15" steel pugs I have are the same, about 5" of backspace. The Toyota one I have for an example right now only has about 3". Prolly go teh same route as Subarubrat and many others. 6 lug hub conversion and Toyota rims. Althou I've ran into a few Toyota rims that had 4" of backspace... Have to find the right ones I guess Thanks again!

The BYB Ozified lift uses an extended linkage from the splined shaft on the steering wheel shaft to the splined shaft at the steering rack below. Hopefully this is all you will need. Pics???

Glad you posted! More fun looking at real numbers instead of talking about what ifs When's the next dyno run?

They are NOW. Weren't you talking about 'stock internals' for the longest time? That's why Dr. RX said your list of things to do/get was lacking. He, among others, knows that a list like that one above would be necessary for the results you are looking for. Atleast now there is a working template to draw information from. Should make things easier and cheaper as you'll have less trial and error.

WJM: take notes :-p Thanks for the info Myxalplyx and very well done QikRXTurbo!

Hoses! Check all and definatly replace main radiator top and bottom hoses. Also might do the thermostat as it might have gotten gummed up from just sitting there in nasty old cooalnt for a year. Lots of other great suggestions above.

I wouldnt worry one bit about unplugging that thing. If that's what the custy wants then do it up. If you are worried about water getting in there then pack the plug with dielectric grease or tape it up good and tuck it away somewhere. Also heat shrink wrap will seal up GOOD if you do it right.

You unhook one axle from the diff so that your drive train wont bind up and you wont risk braking something. What you are welding together is your drivetrains ability to allow one wheel to spin faster than another in a turn. If you look at how a car turns the inside wheel spins at a faster rate than the outside wheel as you make an arch. You sacrifice this ability for the purpose of forcing both tires to spin at the same time. That way when you are offroading and one tire starts to slip; the other one will HOPEFULLY force you through. With out the locked rear end the spinning wheel would just spin and you'd be stuck! Some people dont bother unhooking an axle since they are aware of this behavior and take precautions when turning to avoid too much stress. Upto you really if you want to do that. Personally I cant wait to get my hands on an extra rear diff and weld it up. Got some other things to take care of first but this is definatly high on my list of Must Do Offroad MODS! I'll mostly run around with one DOJ unhooked since with my luck I would break an axle the first corner I take too fast =P

I saw your site from the AUSubaru site. Looks good man, nice work. That spare tire carrier is way tricked out!

Oh I thought yours was thrashed or something. You can get high flow cats from places like Sumit Racing and Jegs.

Here's how I approach car ownership. I either buy a new car, make a payment, and let my warrenty cover the majority of any problems I have. OR I buy a used car and make 'payments' in the form of repairs as they come up. Relying on myself to fix it and keep it working. I tried for years to drive old cars. Frankly I got sick of making repairs just so I could get to work; so I went the other route to car ownership. I now have a new car with a warrenty and payment. Now I can get to work and stuff on time I'm not rich by any means and didn't think I could afford a NEW car. Just not true. I only financed $8000 for a new car. No down payment ($1500 "cash back" deal was my downpayment) and 6% financing. My payments are $167/mo and $99/mo for insurance. What did I REALLY buy? 10 years or 100,000 miles of peace of mind Weather you keep the Toyota or the Subaru you are gonna be paying for it in repairs. So either pick the one you like working on the best or buy a car with a warrenty Now my Subaru is just what I've alwasy wnated it to be... my offroad toy. I make repairs when I choose and modifications at will with out worry of it being running intime for work.

And I got the AC pump from my '88 GL wagon if you want it!

Damn they wont even bolt on eh?

a grinder eh; ya I got one of those! let us know how it goes hey is that bolt pattern 6x5.5" ?

Lathe out the center huh... I have no lathe hehehehe Thanks for the info however.

That sucks So the spline count is different on the hubs and axle stubs between the front and rear? That seems funny they wouldnt just use the same splines front and rear on the stubs.