GeneralDisorder

That's not quite right - 83/84 didn't have a 5 speed D/R..... and there is no difference between an 82 Brat 4 speed and any other 82 4 speed. The change in the 4 speed's came in 83, and was across all models..... GD

BAH! We all do stupid things. Your mom should be glad that you are alright, and have learned a valuable lesson. She probably doesn't see it that way tho. GD

I've never seen that, but as you are in PA, I would have to say it's probably rust related. Either rusty rotors, or rusty calipers. Could be that those calipers are in need of a rebuild... I've seen ones out here on the left coast that caused the pads to wear at an angle, and made sqealing noises because of it. In the end you'll probably just have to start dismantling the brake systems to see what's what. It's not something that is easily diagnosed from a description of the noise it makes :-p Note that there are two types of calipers and rotors - vented rotor style, and non-vented style. Make sure you know which one you have, and order the parts accordingly. For the vented, use an '84 model year, and for the solid rotor's use the '82 model year. '83 was half and half, and will confuse the situation. GD

Classic wheel bearing. Doesn't do it when jacked up because there's no load on the bearing. GD

Those pumps are tough as nails. I've only ever heard or seen of 1 dying.... that was on an EA81T. I'm sure it will be fine. GD

Might have to cut out the side of the tranny, and tig weld a cover back over the now exposed gears..... anything is possible, but the cost might be pretty high. Unless we could find someone that would do a bunch of them and get a bulk order going. If we just bought the parts and assembled them ourselves it might not be terribly expensive, but getting enough people on board for what is sure to be no less than $500 - $1k for each set is unlikely. Too bad too..... I would really like to see that happen. Oh - and lets not forget the HUGE pile of broken stubs and axles that would result from this..... carnage on a scale that has not been seen before on this board anyway. Rectifiing that situation is possible to... chromoly stubs, and cryo-treated axle cups.... maybe with reinforcing welded to them as well.... GD

PS fuild doesn't flow near the steering wheel - I would guess that's something else. The EA82 PS system uses ATF - which is bright red too...... there's really not much that can go wrong with the system - fill it up and see if it works again. GD

Yes - I agree, but the Z car diff's have a bigger aftermarket than ours. If you could make it fit, then you could probably get a 5.xx ring and pinion for it.... GD

Some of the Z cars had R-180's with 4.11 ratio's.... modified Z U-joint axles could perhaps be fitted with some work..... GD

Probably just need more bleeding.... helps to have a friend. Can take a LONG time. GD

Sure - just don't try to turn, cause it's not going to happen. Straight line on pavement and you will be fine. Don't hit a speed bump, and please - no turning...... at all. McBrat had 30's on his turbo brat with a 4/3 BYB lift..... but he said the amount of cutting and beating was considerable.... and they still rubbed. GD

Too big, Too heavy, and not that great off-road. Although they do look cool. Hard to find parts for, and I doubt you could get one as cheap as a Sammi. A friend of mine got one for $300. Cost him another $250 to get the fuel injection computer rebuilt.... GD

If you want cheap - get a Sammi. They can be built up with all sorts of straight bolt-ons and are pretty tough little buggers. Heck - I would get one myself except that I really want IRS/IFS and I can't afford a hummer. Besides that - Hummer's don't have the travel I want anyway. GD

The casting on the EA81 thermostat housing is not like the casting of the EA82 - it has a spot carved out for the jiggler pin to sit. It's at the 12-o-clock position in the houseing, which sits upright on the manifold. On the EA82 the housing is flat, and the thermostat sits such that there isn't a 12-o-clock position anyway..... or I suppose you might regard all positions as 12..... at any rate for your car it doesn't matter. There is no cut-out for the jiggle pin in your houseing, and thus it doesn't matter where you put it. Besides that it's just there to allow air to escape when the thermostat is closed. Once the thermostat opens, this becomes a moot point as the air can go right through the thermostat anyway. Without a doubt you can rule it out as a source of your overheating. GD

Yes - probabaly best if you re-made the whole gearset and shafts from chromoly..... but a tranfer case is cheaper. GD

Yep. I agree - easy-outs suck IMHO. I've never got one to work properly, but have managed to break off several. The best thing to do is first take a dremel and grind the top of the bolt as flat as you can get it. Try not to mess up the mating surface for the manifold, but if you have to you can fill it later with JB weld or somthing. Get a good quality center punch and punch the exact center so you can drill it out. Start with a small bit and use a LOT of oil to keep your bit from going dull. Buy decent bits, cheap ones will not just frustate you, they will probably not even work. They bend, the snap off, and make your life hell. I've had pretty good luck with craftsman bits in the past, and they aren't real expensive - you might try those. Use three or four sizes and work you way up to the bolt size. Then run a tap in there to clean the threads of any remaining junk. If you do it just perfect (hard) you might even get away without makeing the hole a size larger. If you do have to make the hole bigger, find a standard size that's just a little bigger than what you have and try for that. If all else fails go with a metric size one bigger. Most of all - take your time. Measure twice - drill once. GD

I doubt that 4:1 would fit inside the casing, but it's worth a look inside to see. You might still achieve it tho by making first gear a creeper, and modifying the low range as well... GD

The wagons had power steering, and the castor is changed by rotating the strut tops 180 degrees. In fact it's marked on the top of the strut how it's supposed to go. Wagons, and vehicles equiped with power steering were one direction, and all the others were the other way. GD

It's a Japanese farm truck with the transmission from a wagon in it, and big tires.... what did you expect? Mine doesn't crawl enough either, but I'm using it as a platform for further development. I personally wish to keep the IRS/IFS and see how far I can go with it. My suspension won't be stock at all. I'm thinking a hybrid custom/VW suspension and a transfer case. I'm done with the short travel Subaru stuff. If you want to rip open the tranny, it might be possible to have custom gears made for the low range, and first gear. Then have the other 4 gears redone to the specs of the original 4 speed. That way you would have an ultra-low when you are in 1st gear low range.... expensive tho. GD

If there wasn't any obstacles, then you could have hammered it up them, but really I suspect you just need time to learn to drive it. You have to use the clutch a lot. No way to imrpove the gearing except with some sort of reduction box - like a tranfer case from a truck. Need about 8" of body lift to fit it properly tho. A lot of fabrication. Look around on the board and you will see what others have done. unless...... do you know if the 5 speed D/R is a 1.5:1 low gear or a 1.2:1 low gear? Maybe you got one from a EA82 Three Door.... GD

Forest Green??? I have like 4 EA81's here and none of them look even remotely Forest Green..... or at least what I consider Forest Green to be. They are more of a light blue/seafoam color. I suppose it depends on what you consider "forest green" to be, but all the cans of forest green that I have ever bought were a very dark green. GD

What's a "Pillow Block" Ken? Never heard that term used before.... maybe a pic would help. GD

That's nice and all, but I've already started me own private yard so to speak. I have an associate with acreage.... we haul the cars out there an part them at our leisure..... no need to keep them indoors as we don't have that whole..... uummm.... what do you guys call it..... oh yeah! Rust. Yeah - none - zip - nodda! Hehe That, and we have tons of Subaru's out here anyway - I don't really need to stockpile anything except Brat parts. The rest are everywhere and plentiful for the most part. Oh - and Wyoming doesn't exist - I'm a firm beleiver in that. GD

Really the ticking doesn't damage anything. It can continue indefinately. It's just the sounds of a loose valve train, or portion of the valve train. What you are hearing is the tap of the lifters compressing slightly when a valve opens..... basically they are not pumping up due to either insufficient oil pressure, cloged lifters, or just plain worn out lifters. If they have ticked as long as you say, then probably the only cure for you is going to be to replace those lifters that are worn out. The ticking causes the lifters to actuate a lot more than they normally would when fully inflated, and so when left in a ticking state for a long time the lifters just eventually fail from the added wear. There is no cure for this but to replace the lifters with new ones, or good ones from another engine. GD

Just add another steering u-joint - this allows you to have a weird angle and still attach to the rack... GD