mcbrat Posted March 3, 2010 Share Posted March 3, 2010 with capacity for some fun too so after moving out to a smaller town, I have a one way 30-35 minute commute now(25-35 miles depending on if I have to drop my son off....). love it. The drive is great. I'm much more relaxed now. love the town I'm in... as soon as the snow started to fly, though, my '86 Brat went into storage to keep the rust monster away, leaving me with a '96 Yukon as a daily driver when I wasn't carpooling with my wife in her Forester... has been a good driver for the winter though, but last week, I needed to drive something else, so I drove my '72 Chevy K20 with 33's... new 350 crate engine, and Holley 600 cfm carb... so, 7.2 Gallons per day was the fuel usage on the beast! decided I needed an all-season soob daily driver... the Red Brat would work, but I't a bit rougher ride than I'd like so I can relax so time to simplify. I'm gonna sell my '72 K20, and my Yukon... will pick up a different tow vehicle later, and am going back to an ea81 wagon for a daily... engine smokes, windshield cracked, front calipers bad, shifter linkage is bad sloppy, rusty rockers, torsion bar broken. Ignition switch is finicky, and it looks like hood and hinges were damaged, and the core support latch was removed. nothing holding it down at the moment other than gravity. Rear bumper has the end caps off it... sounds perfect! Parts I'm gathering.... loaded calipers for vented rotors hood pins ignition switch (aftermarket) Stuff left over from my Red Brat build, or other stuff I had laying around: ea82 rear coil overs 4"/3" Ozified lift kit Yakima Cargo basket lights up top of course and some fog lights 15" pug flat spoke alloys 27x9.50x15 Swamper SSRs brush guard I definitely need to get an aftermarket stereo as it still has a stock one it it.... hope to start working on it with pics as soon as my other "required list" is done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoyale Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Sounds nifty, pics are a must! It is to bad you'll selling the '72. I love those old GMs. Is it a 3/4 or 1ton? Anyhoo, away from the offtopic. Hood pins eh? Cool. Sounds like an interesting DD build. -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Abides Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 After driveing my subaru for 3 years every day and then getting this other car. For a daily commuter you cant beat the (plush) factor of a more high end car. Now again dont get me wrong i love my subaru. But your talking about an ea81 which was even rougher then the EA82s. I know opinions are like a** holes but i wouldnt give up your yukon. You never know when you might need it. I duno i like a nice comfy ride to work and since your going that far, i would think you would want as comfy of a ride as possible. But then again ive had bad exhaust rattling through my ears for the better part of a year. Let me fix it then get back to ya. If i were you since your doin this i would get new shocks and struts and bushings. Might ride like a brand new car then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry DeMoss Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Don't make it too nice. Leave room for duct tape.:-p But seriously it sounds like a fun project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twitch de la Brat Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 What he said ^^^ Make it nice, but not too nice so that duct tape isn't allowed My BRAT is a total piece of crap compared to most vehicles I ride in, but its most relaxing for me, cuz if anything breaks, I can fix it, and I know the car inside and out. I guess its just a security blanket... Twitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbrat Posted March 4, 2010 Author Share Posted March 4, 2010 After driveing my subaru for 3 years every day and then getting this other car. For a daily commuter you cant beat the (plush) factor of a more high end car. Now again dont get me wrong i love my subaru. But your talking about an ea81 which was even rougher then the EA82s. I know opinions are like a** holes but i wouldnt give up your yukon. You never know when you might need it. I duno i like a nice comfy ride to work and since your going that far, i would think you would want as comfy of a ride as possible. But then again ive had bad exhaust rattling through my ears for the better part of a year. Let me fix it then get back to ya. If i were you since your doin this i would get new shocks and struts and bushings. Might ride like a brand new car then. it appears to have recent struts and shocks, but since teh brakes are hosed, I can't drive it to see how thw ride is... I could barely get it off the trailer.... plus it will be running swampers, so that will take away a little bit on the smoothness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostinthe202 Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 I have an OEM ignition switch I bought for an ea81 hatch I had a couple years back that I never used. It's just the bottom portion so you'd need your key tumbler. If it's of use to you, it's yours part # 783131010 Will- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbrat Posted March 4, 2010 Author Share Posted March 4, 2010 I have an OEM ignition switch I bought for an ea81 hatch I had a couple years back that I never used. It's just the bottom portion so you'd need your key tumbler. If it's of use to you, it's yours part # 783131010 Will- thanks, but it's the keyed portion that's bad... I have a good spare set IGN/doors from a Brat, but I just want to use a new keyed section for IGN and leave doors/hatch as is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostinthe202 Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Righty-O Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbrat Posted March 6, 2010 Author Share Posted March 6, 2010 got the SSRs mounted onto the pugs.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subarutex Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 I miss my SSR's. Had I known you were looking for a daily, I would have made you a deal on my RX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstaru Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 i have a key+tumbler, if you know how to replace just that.it has a genuine subaru key with it as well/worn, but genuine. cheers, brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbrat Posted March 6, 2010 Author Share Posted March 6, 2010 i have a key+tumbler, if you know how to replace just that.it has a genuine subaru key with it as well/worn, but genuine. cheers, brian the one that's in there now is well worn I've already got an aftermarket one for the dash... I also got my loaded calipers delivered yesterday, so as soon as I get some time I'll start on it... unfortunately I've got a roof leak in my garage that I'll need to attend to first..... hopefully the rotors are okay... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Abides Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 Good thing all this snow is melting, but bad becase it reveals problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbrat Posted March 7, 2010 Author Share Posted March 7, 2010 yeah, I've captured about 3 gallons of water so far.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbrat Posted March 8, 2010 Author Share Posted March 8, 2010 yeah, I've captured about 3 gallons of water so far.... Emptied a full 5 gallon bucket yesterday, but it ooks like the ice/snow melted enough now that it's not backing up under the shingles now... the wall has dried up... hoping to get some work done soon on the wagon... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbrat Posted March 22, 2010 Author Share Posted March 22, 2010 so back at it today after sweeping branches off the roof of the house and garage, and cleaning out all the gutters... I've been soaking the rear shock bolts with Yield for the last week... uhhh yeah... I really hate Midwest rust on old soobies... for uppers, now I have 3 broken bolts. 1 came out fine. lower bolts: 1 came out fine, and the other is out of the captive nut cleanly, but the shock spacer is rusted to the bolt, so it won't come out... looks like that one is gonna be cut... then I get to decide what to do for the busted off 8.8 grade bolts... since I needed to put ea82 coilovers on anyway (broken torsion bar), it looks like I'll be fabbing up some new mounts and welding them in.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnW Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 Keep plugging along man those bolts aren't going to be that bad to fight. A sharp set of drill bits and a lot of patience should get them out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoyale Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 Hey, Oh I hated the top shock bolts when I did the lift. Lots of DeepCreep (Didn't have Yeild then) and lots of heat and back'em out slowly. I bid you good luck with getting the broken studs out, I like the SSRs btw! Cheers -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbrat Posted March 28, 2010 Author Share Posted March 28, 2010 so I put some '84 style mirrors on it tonight, and started fabbing up the rear ea82 coilover mounts got them bent to shape, and captive nuts welded on the back... figured out placement where new brackets will be welded into the exisitng support... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbrat Posted March 31, 2010 Author Share Posted March 31, 2010 got left rear coilover mount welded in place. need to paint it, and move to the other side... and do the same... after cutting the lower bolt. it's rusted onto the spacer in the bottom of the shock.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoyale Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Pictures please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Abides Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Your a smart man mick so ill assume you tried this. But did you try putting a torch to it. Heating it up really hot then try backing them off. Just an idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcbrat Posted March 31, 2010 Author Share Posted March 31, 2010 Pictures please! nobody needs to see my crappy welding.... the bottom bolt came out of the nut okay, it's just spinning inside the lower shock eye with the spacer frozen to it... I have another bolt to replace that one anyway.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 sounds like you are putting the subframe and rear wheel drive section/struts off the red BRAT into this wagon? that about right assumption. That be a lot easier that doing ladder link bars like you did on the red one or is this wagon going to keep neutered in the back, IE FWD only no rear diff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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