So tomorrow I'm going to look at a 1981 Brat. I was wondering what are some possible signs of trouble to look for in older ea81's (this one has over 200K miles). The asking price is only 900 dollars, so I don't expect it to be perfect in any way, I just don't want to buy another basket case subie.

Rust, tranny synchros, & rust.

Rust in the bottoms of the doors, sill plates, A-pillar, bed and around the rear shock mounts of the bed. Popping out of 3rd gear.... All bad. Also things that have been clipped, capped, re-routed or re-wired. Could spell future trouble if it does done (bites tongue) hap-hazardly. Also make sure the cooling fan comes on.

so far it all looks good...only thing i noticed was a small tick coming from the engine. It sounded like a really quiet ea82 lifter tick, the owner said that he thought it just needed a valve adjustment. other then that, it ran and drove fairly smoothly, and only has one small rust spot, near the passenger side rear fender.

Post some pics if you can please...

sorry...i have a really crappy phone right now so no pictures. its a really clean looking brat thought.

crawl under it?

yep. axels look good, no dents, gashes or rust on the underside. its got a super sweet dual exhaust setup tho. The only thing im worried about right now is that little ticking sound.

The ea81s can need a valve adjustment every year if the motor is worn and is driven alot. Mine is that way at 230k. Get used to it. You should know it. That is why the hydro lifter motors are so much better, valve size not included.

 

No rust? Might be quite worth it.