Flatfourguy

hey, I had the same idle problem with my 1980 BRAT (which has the Hitachi carb). It would idle at 1500 and then would race up to 2500 to 300 rpms. Adjusting the idle screw didn't help. A friend Discovered that the accelerator cable was adjusted way too tight, which made any attempted adjustments to the carb ineffective. so he loosened it as far as it would go, then we adjusted the idle screw, and every thing was fine. It now idles at 800 rpm. I've seen where a lot of folks change to the Weber carbs, but I have talked to 2 Subaru mechanics who worked on the Hitachi carbs back in the day,and they said that they were generally reliable, just keep a good fuel filter in it, and, if the car runs rough, keep an eye on the points, as they seemingly needed to be changed fairly frequently.

Hey, I just bought a 1980 BRAT GL, excellent shape, minimal rust, interior is perfect, and it only has 15000 (yes, fifteen thousand) original miles. It was kept in a garage most of its life, and only has some surface rust underneath, and a small spot on each side right behind the front wheel wells. 2 questions; At first, I was under the impression that it had A/C, because of the markings for the sliders on the dash (a/c & a/c max), but I dont see a compressor, or a condenser, nor more than one drive belt. So why is my heater dials marked that way? Also i have the usual Hitachi carb problem, it idles fine(around 1000) when it is first started, but in a matter of 15 min or so it wants to idle at 2500 to 3000. I turned the forward screw on the carb and it seemed to bring it down to 1500, but when you step on the gas it just goes back up to 2500 or so. I see another adjustment screw at the rear of the carb (probably the auto choke cam adj), but havent messed with it because I dont really know what I am doing! I am taking the BRAT to a local mechanic who does know the old Subies well next week. Interested in any opinions! Here is a pic of my new BRAT along with my '01 Outback, and my wifes '09 Legacy