July 6, 201015 yr I think I might have to invest in some gas before I tackle this tho 100% CO2 and .023 wire. Definitely a wise investment for doing more than just a little sheet metal work. I did a whole front clip on an EA82 with 75/25 and .023 and while it worked out ok I would want CO2 if I were doing it again. GD
July 6, 201015 yr Author If there's significant rust on the front end, do you think I'd be better off chopping the whole clip? Or just repairing the rusted sections?
July 6, 201015 yr Since they are all the same on the front (well - GL's are the same as GL's - the headlight buckets are different on DL's, etc) I would do a front clip. The way I did it was to remove the fenders, then cut back as far as I needed to get to unwrecked metal (in my case the problem was a tweaked frame rail in front of the passenger side strut tower). Then I went to the junk yard with my battery powered sawzall and cut a front clip from a wagon - cost me about $35 for the whole thing - I cut back way farther than I did on the wrecked car to insure I had more material than I needed. Then once I had it at home I matched everything up and then bolted up the fenders and latched the hood down to line it up perfectly - tacked it in place, pulled the fenders off and finished up the welding. I used no bondo or other fillter - just straight weld only. I painted it and bolted everything back up. Without lifting the hood you can't even tell it was ever done. Worked out way better than I had imagined. But the car was worthless - only reason I did it was because it only had 118k on the mechanicals and made a nice little $500 beater for the guy I sold it to. Frankly it was more work than the car was worth but the car was free to me so I banked like $400 on the job. GD
July 6, 201015 yr Author My issue is that we've spent $2000 to get this thing to my house from Alaska (including the cost of the car, new carb, ferry, etc) If I give up on it now the only option is the $50 I'll get at the steel recyclers. I don't mind putting in a few dozen/hundred hours work as long as it doesn't cost another grand, haha
February 2, 201115 yr Author Haven't been posting in a while, the Brat's just been sitting. My GF is now in collision repair school and they might be able to fix it up as a project, but I've finally looked at what needs to be repaired and it's pretty bad. The whole area forward of the passenger front wheel is basically gone. Now, one of my customers has a dead EA82 loyale wagon that he's going to have crushed. Could we in theory cut out that whole section, or are they different?
February 2, 201115 yr Haven't been posting in a while, the Brat's just been sitting. My GF is now in collision repair school and they might be able to fix it up as a project, but I've finally looked at what needs to be repaired and it's pretty bad. The whole area forward of the passenger front wheel is basically gone. Now, one of my customers has a dead EA82 loyale wagon that he's going to have crushed. Could we in theory cut out that whole section, or are they different? A BRAT doesnt really have anything close to the ea82 as for measurement dimensions. Good luck.
February 2, 201115 yr Author A BRAT doesnt really have anything close to the ea82 as for measurement dimensions. Good luck. But if I found a non-rusty ea-81 wagon I could use that, right? It's the front I'm looking for.
February 2, 201115 yr Correct ea81 wagon, 80-84. The headlight style will be either single on a side or dual. Get the same to minimize any other issues.
February 3, 201115 yr Ouch! yep. that's rough. at least it's not on the unibody. I'm sure that if you can fix teh gas tank, you can fix that though. Good Luck!
February 3, 201115 yr If mine could have been fixed yours can That rust does look pretty bad, but with enough time and determination anything can be fixed, and you have already fixed the gas tank, that is a pretty big undertaking. Don't give up
February 3, 201115 yr Just weld in a frame rail from a wagon, etc. Pretty easy to find them cheap or in the yards. Cordless sawzall - go to town. GD
March 1, 201115 yr Author Went into the shop today, then saturday we're doing the mechanical stuff. With a bit of luck I'll have it ready for the inspection around the middle of next week
March 3, 201115 yr Author Sorry for the ************ty cellphone pics. Got it apart tonight, surgery starts tomorrow.
March 3, 201115 yr "Holy Rustout Batman! That's bad!" "I know, Robin Boy Wonder, I know..." Lol, sorry, had to throw in some retro batman in there... But wow guys, good luck with getting that cleaned up and replaced, and I thought my BRAT was bad... :-\ Twitch
March 4, 201115 yr Author It'll be fine Menu for tomorrow: Pull motor, do valve cover gaskets, front main seal, rear main seal, oil pan seal (anything else while it's out?) Front brakes incl. brake hoses Rear brakes Rear shocks General cleanup of any dirt/oil/etc Then with any luck, inspection early next week
March 5, 201115 yr If it's an EA81 and you are pulling it out anyway you might as well clean and re-seal (or replace) the oil pump and do head gaskets on it. The Felpro Perma-Torques work great, dealer for the rest of the seals and intake gaskets. Check the freeze plugs in the heads under the valve covers too and make sure one isn't about ready to pop out. Good Luck with the rust:eek:
March 6, 201115 yr Author Wow what a long day. Didn't get it out of the body shop til ~1pm, then for some ungodly reason it took 9 hours to do front brakes and rear main seal. Stuff kept going wrong until it got frustrating. For the record, 02-07 WRX front brake hoses work on the EA81 brat, with some modification minor to the mounting brackets. They're also about 3 inches longer so they'd be good if you have a mild lift. Also: I hate the exhaust studs.
March 6, 201115 yr Also: I hate the exhaust studs. I'm with you there. I ended up drilling mine out to a 12 and tapping them to 12x1.5. It bites into the EGR spacers as well as the aluminum, so you have more solid bite than 25+ year old aluminum. It does take longer to tap out, cutting through the steel, but the end results are worth it. Twitch
March 7, 201115 yr Author Yea I'll do a more permanent fix once I've got it on the road, so I can actually work on it at my house For now I just gooped the crap out of the gasket , got one stud tight and glued the other one in so it looked like it was in properly, lol. Should get me through inspection on tuesday. I'm nervous! I really hope they pass it this time. I want my Brat!
March 7, 201115 yr Author Does anyone have a list of what parts are still available from the dealer? Or are all the parts on the SGP website still available?
March 7, 201115 yr Not everything they list is available anymore but just ask Jamie what you need and she'll look for you, especially if you have a partnumber.
March 9, 201115 yr Author Failed inspection. Apparently they want ALL underbody rust repaired, which they didn't tell me before (they just listed specific areas for some reason) So its back at the shop for more surgery, new right rocker, fixing a hole in the frame under the bed and a piece under the right side of the firewall. Argh. I'm in this deep, no turning back now...
March 22, 201115 yr Author This car does not want to be back on the road. Was half way to the inspection place this morning and it just dies. Tach jumped around like crazy then nothing. Now when you turn the key on, tach jumps all over the place. When you crank it the tach does nothing. No spark. Coil has power... I'm guessing bad pickup in the disty. Ordered a new distributor, as it was cheaper than a new pickup!
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