Speedwagon

The Denver store actually shows a 1982 Brat right now! Ima check it out Sunday. http://www.upullandpay.com/Locations/denver/Search.aspx What's the easiest way to pull a junkyard trans? Remove the engine/trans together with one of the A-frame hoists? Or drop just the trans from underneath?

Yes, one could, but we aren't talking about the person... the car could be from overseas, even down there(I think). I know the Brits get bot RHD and LHD vehicles.

Well, even though you can't see the steering wheel, his wipers are opposite ours, so it is an overseas car. Can't be from the states, with RHD.

I swung by there today. They are starting to get the EAs back in stock. Had a few Loyales, an early 80s coupe, and ~83/84 wagon or two. They still have a million of the C4C trucks though. Almost the entire left side of the lot as you enter is trucks now!

I just swung by the local junkyard, to see what Subarus they have right now. No 5spd D/Rs there, but a couple 4 spd D/Rs. They charge $125 for a trans. There's a 5spd D/R on CL in my area, but they are asking $250. They don't seem willing to lower the price, as I haven't received a response back from them in a few days.

Just to rule it out, you might consider getting a brand new key cut, from the key code. Small price to pay, and it will rule it out if it continues.

I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say it's not the DOJ, or anything in the axle shafts or wheel hubs... I just drained the transmission...

They apparently do custom halfshafts, and specialize in high strength CV joints. Looks like it might be good for someone converting the hubs/suspension with newer components? I would guess that once you bought one, you'd never have to buy another axle as long as you maintained the boots on them. http://www.rcvperformance.com/

But wouldn't something like a wheel bearing make the noise all the time, regardless of transmission load? And it seems to do it less in reverse, than forward. And I think it's more of a ka-klunk type of noise than a straight thump. And yes, when under load, but only positive load. Negative load(or no load) to the transmission makes the noise go away. But I've heard wheel bearings starting to fail before, and this doesn't sound like that. What is a DOJ?

I ended up swapping bumpers between the 2 BRATs, since the '87 I recently bought has the correct bumper on it. And I plan on going with tube bumpers before long on my '87 anyways. So now the '85 looks and works like it's supposed to!

Have you been there recently though? I was there a few weeks ago, and the oldest they had was a Legacy(maybe a Loyale too). CAP is the yard I frequent the most.

Currently, CAP has a million of the C4C vehicles, but they ditched all the EAs and such to make room for them. So what other junkyards in the area normally carry these cars?

The first thing I did after getting it in the air, was to spin each wheel by itself with the trans in neutral. I couldn't hear any noises, or feel anything abnormal when I did it. I didn't use a screwdriver to anything though. And no, there is no wobble on either side when I shook them. I was thinking about doing this as a temp fix, until I get a new trans. Just to make sure, I can safely pull the front axles completely out with no problems, yes? They aren't holding anything together on this car, are they? And what size axle nut is that? My 32mm socket doesn't fit, and neither does my adjustable wrench.

It's not spinning with that much force... and I had no problem stopping it at the tire. It did make the pass side spin, but no change in the noise. And it's definitely the transmission and not the hubs. When it makes the noise, I can see the pass side axle at the trans slightly move in an up/down kinda motion(I didn't look closely at the driver's side to see if it did the same thing).

Yes, but they should have both been spinning equally, because they both had zero traction. I can try to grab the tire on the driver's side, but it spins too fast for me to want to grab the axle.

I put the front end up in the air just now, and this is what I found: First, is the parking brake supposed to be on the front wheels? I've never seen that before, but it seemed to be the case here. I can rotate either front wheel, either direction, and no noise or problems encountered. I did this both in neutral, and in 1st. I then started the car, and put it in 1st. When I did that, the driver's side seemed fine, but the pass side was going thump thump thump, and was barely turning. I could easily grab the axle and stop it from turning at all, and I could feel the thumping. When driving the noise doesn't change if I'm going straight or turning, it's always there when the vehicle is moving forward under positive load(engine braking makes it stop). So obviously the problem lies with the pass side, but thoughts on this?

More pictures:

Well, the previous owner had the ignition switch just rotate and not do anything, so he wired up some POS switch that just takes a screwdriver to start. See here:

Where's he at, and what's the contact info?

Not fantastic. Needs a new trans(sounds like the front diff is about gone), quite a few dents, interior is so-so(ignition switch is toast). Not much rust though, so that's a plus, and the windshield needs to be replaced(cracked).

First, the pic('87 BRAT as the title on it says, not '86): Now, the bad: 4Lo gets me to neutral. Might be an adjustment, I'm not sure yet. The trans sounds like a card in the spokes of a bicycle, but way louder. Only does it under positive engine load, stops as soon as I engine brake or go neutral. Ignition is hosed, and the guy put in an 'aux' ignition, that gets started with a screwdriver(or whatever is handy). Has some holes in the bed from drilling, and almost all body panels have some dents. The good: Very little rust, except the norm(rear fender wells). It actually runs, and fairly decently. The seats are actually quite nice, and have decent side bolsters on them. Somehow I doubt they are stock. Alloy wheels on it, but the tires aren't much good. It's black, and I quite like the look of the black BRAT.

I bought it for $400. It now sits in my garage: