mcbrat

a Samurai frame fits inside the soobie (Hatch) frame rails and would help remove the "put a uni-body on top of a full frame" redneck look. should work the same for a Brat, but the rear axle mount points would need to be moved back and maybe frame extended. I would never go back to Independent suspension for a wheeler for my area, but your build should take into consideration what kind of wheeling you will do most, and what kind of reliability you want. Is your primary focus to have a great wheeling rig, or to have a reliable soob wheeler that you can get by with. and how deep is your wallet, and how available are the parts that you will keep breaking if you stick with IFS...

there's enough bends and changes in elevation in the line and such that's there's no way it would come back through the vent line in any normal circumstances if there's not a safety valve involved...

it won't be lifted...

you gonna need to pull the fuel tank, and run a fuel cell elsewhere?

I still haven't heard from Denis on the wheels/tires....

so....after a quick weekend visit to Colorado to help boost the parts supply at RetroRoo I ended up coming home with a EA81T PS pump and bracket, which is the last Item I needed really for the SPFI swap. now to find the time to do it.....

what are you planning for engine management? I did some digging and found the specs on one I had that was build by Josh Long... It appears that this is what the build consists of: ej22t crank & rods ej25 (NA) block halves. ej25 DOHC heads ('96 with hydro adjusters) newer EJ25 flat top pistons ej20g intake manifold with 440cc injectors vf8 turbo (ej20g) ej22t exhaust (until I put the downpipe in) ej22t fuel pump 2002 WRX top mount IC ej22t bypass valve (I replaced with the TurboXS one) ej22t ECU & wiring harness. original ej25 harness/ECU is gone, and the ej22t ECU sits in it's place, and is all wired in, and I can check code like normal (ej22t way) comes in around 2.4 liters with around 8:1 compression ratio

nice! the ultimate in versatility... probably half of my wheeling is night, but the crap I've got mounted on the roof is just there because I had them on hand and for definitely higher speeds. lots of wheeling buddies have the LED bars so there's no shortage of light out there. no need to add to the mix... yet.... I've got handle bar mounts for my bicycle that hold my flashlights too.

you'll want to find a place that specialized in covers (like for boats, etc....) the most important piece for keeping that style waterproof while driving is the metal bracket that attaches to the roof line. my very first Brat had one... under the upper edge of the tonneau, there's a plastic piece that slides into the bracket for holding power, and weather protection. the cover slides into this piece first from the side, then when centered, the rest of the snaps are closed. in the pics below, you can just see it on the top of the blue brat. The drawing is provided for more detail.

I'm hoping to get back out to WA sometime for one of the shows, but it will probably be a couple years from now....

I don't have a total. too scary. I added lots of upgrades in along the way. I think there was a conservative 140-160 hours in the design & fab for subframe, steering, suspension to make sure it all worked right. the rest is all in what parts you want, and if you can do junkyard, or new, etc.... plus your own time putting the rest of it together. I haven't broken anything yet, so for me, it was money well spent, because each time out prior, I was breaking something.

done

nice steering box mount. what's the pressure of a stock EJ PS pump? I wonder how that differs from the old EA81 (non-turbo) style pump? If I ever get to SPFI mine, I need to figure out something different for a pump...

available items modified in first post. Clarification from above post. the remaining ones that are alrady made, are still available for sale, and then seperately, the stuff to make this is for sale...

revisiting this thread. I stand by my earlier statement of something with more than 2 doors and maybe a subaru. definitely something less prone to sheet metal rot and something that is not known for electrical issues

bump. I have 4 black shift boots remaining. see first post for details. if anyone is interested in making these, I have some vinyl left, and lots of the metal rings. Interested in selling the whole lot together. PM or email me.

'82 Brat. dents have been made less "deep", and de-stickering has begun... might even paint it...

hmm. now a fully removable switch box would be awesome! then you could actually build it for both ways. just have an extension cable to roof mount it when in wet terrain... nice idea on the box. I have an old first aid kit metal box. might be something I can re-purpose it for!

I would opt for NOT above your heads. getting out of the vehicle when its upside down could be painful with switches and metal box corners to deal with...

I know I have the pics somewhere

5 years, 5 months, 89k miles. it was a good run. traded off on something much larger.

I think it's an '86. The Blue and Silver one? it has a Buy It Now of $2750

live sale is at noon today, but I've already been outbid at my max... http://www.copart.com/c2/homeSearch.html?_eventId=getLot&execution=e4s1&lotId=13834304&returnPage=SEARCH_RESULTS too rusty for me to go higher....

Very nice! I think it was closer to a decade ago! Found a pic of what I got them off of!