Grisezd

I’ll second doing a relay conversion. Check the voltage at the lights vs at the battery to see what you’re missing. Relays will put full voltage to the lights.

Hello all. I’ve got a 78 Brat in need of some rear swing arm bushings. The listings for Leone at suspension.com don’t seem to be what I see when I look under the car. Anyone have suggestions or sources?

And now an update on my original issue. Sort of... I pulled the front axle shafts and inner joints and all is well in the world. Noise is gone, shifters don’t vibrate any more. One or both axles were bad or badly unbalanced. Now running RWD and loving it!

Any fuel line leaks? Fuel pump stronger than the float bowl seal?

I’m sorry to say you’ve got a real mess on your hands. Is this your daily driver or a “fun” car? If you can have it off the road for a bit it would pay to make a deep dive and clean it all up. As electrical systems go it’s a pretty simple one. Study the wiring diagrams and try to find some tutorials on basic automotive wiring, then start replacing everything you can. If it’s a car you’re counting on daily I’d suggest starting from any bulb chase every wire back to its source and check it against the wiring diagram. If you find a bad spot or a shady repair re-wire it with new wire and hack the old circuit out. You’ll get through it all eventually!

Ok, now I actually have an update. As the roads are cold and wet but not frozen I decided to try running with 4wd engaged on my commute. No rum-rum-rum noise at all! I confirmed that 4wd was actually engaged when I tried to coast into my parking spot and got the bind I expected. A mechanic I work with suspects that there is a bearing that turns when in 2wd (separating the drive from the rear output) that does not need to turn on its own when 4wd is engaged. For those who have had the transmission apart does that make sense?

No, still happens. It’s dead cold out now so I’m just driving it and learning to love it until spring. Some folks on a Facebook group are certain that it’s a bent wheel and I do have at least one that’s not entirely square. In thee spring I plan to do front sus bushings and dig up some straighter wheels. Good luck!

I had rough running, stalling, and hard got starting until I added a fuel pressure regulator.

I’m afraid that I can’t be much help but I admire your style of writing. I’m in a similar situation with my 78. So far I’ve found that I can get to a lot by pulling the instrument cluster. Between that and crawling under the steering column it’s all there. Pulling the steering wheel will get you to the horn wiring. Good luck!

Thanks for checking in. I haven’t tried it yet. I think there’s hope as I’m starting to get a catch here and there early in the belt’s travel. That said I’ve found that new universal fit belts are available, will probably go that route. Thanks though!

Thanks Ironworker. I’ll give that a shot!

Boring stuff, seatbelts. Mine don’t catch when pulled away from the chest quickly. I assume they should, or I’m hitting the windshield. Anybody rebuild the mechanism? ‘78 BRAT. Thanks.

I got calipers for my 78 at AutoZone.

Dumb little thing but maybe someone can help. I'm missing the washer nozzle from the hood of my '78 Brat. I ordered a pair of cheap universal nozzles that seemed like it would work with the round hole (threaded with a nut to hold it in place) but they were defective. Are there any OEM nozzles I can get new that work in the hole without modification? Thanks, Dennis

Side marker lights please! Your best 2 fronts and 2 rears shipped to 43360 Ohio. I sent a message on your CL add too. Thanks.

While I asked for some small rust and dent repair before paint, 2 of the students have really taken a liking to the Brat. They and the instructor don't trust some of the bondo they're finding and have decided to take the whole body down to bare metal and do it right. They've been pulling dents and replacing rusty steel and sending photos a few times a week. I think I got really lucky with this crew! So far I'm in for a roll of DA paper, $40.

Wow, haven't checked in for a while! Thanks for the tips and link. I'll post it up when they finish, probably in February.

Hello all. My Brat is scheduled to go back to school next month as a body shop class project. I've stripped back the thick, cheap Macco white and found a cool copper over the original gold. However, neither repaint went into door jambs, underhood, etc. So I'd like to try to match the original gold color on this one. How do I find a paint code that the paint supplier can mix up? Next up, the shop instructor would rather have the kids work with base/clear than single stage as I think was original, mostly because that's the majority of the finishes they'd be expected to do in the working world. Is there a way to do base/clear that won't end up looking like a candy shell on the original color? I thought about asking them to use a flatted clear. As a bonus the kids will paint in a bedliner. My cost is only the materials and a $50 shop supply charge. As an aside, the welding instructor is interested in having students design and make tube bumpers for me while it's there, and the graphics instructor thinks his kids would love a chance to do some resto-mod vinyl. I can't wait to see what they come up with. And again, I only pay for materials! I had this same school paint my '82 Renault LeCar (Renault 5 outside of the US) a decade ago. They did a pretty decent job of it and reportedly really enjoyed working on an odd (here) car. I understand that they're way more excited about this tiny truck.

There was no filter in my 78 tank. This might sound nutty, but if your tank is tight and the vent is plugged it might keep a weak pump from pulling against a vacuum. Take off the gas cap and try it. Also, try pushing low pressure air back into the tank through the fuel line (rearward of the tank).

I pulled the driveshaft anyway, felt clicks in it when I shook it by hand. A friend reminded me that I've got a few tweaked wheels, will try moving them around after the new u joints are in. I think I overstated the clutch thing. It vibrates when I coast down through 55 mph with the clutch in.

A little more research points towards prop shaft u joints. They're cheap and I should replace them anyway. Thoughts?

Just put a little testing into it. It's not the clutch, no amount of goofing around with it changes the sound. Lug nuts are tight, wheel bearings feel good, nothing sounds right when I hit it with a mallet. I notice that I'm feeling it too, through the body but not stronger in the pedals, shifter, or wheel. I did notice when under the car that the left rear axle shaft slides very freely between the joints as I'd expect, but the right rear slides "gritty" and I can get it to stick in some angles of rotation. I assume those should be very free to float. Does a failing axle make that sort of sound?

I would have never guessed that! It vibrates with no force on it?

Hi all. Had my new 78 brat out for its first highway-speed run yesterday. On relatively good asphalt in 2wd, about 50 mph I start to hear a "rum rum rum..." sound. If I put in the clutch it stops immediately. If I continue to accelerate it keeps going until about 65mph. Tires are new and balanced. Any guesses? I know it's some harmonic vibration but in what?

I cut the hub out of my cracked wheel and paid a fabricator to weld it to a plate with the threaded holes I needed. Came out great.