Jump to content
Ultimate Subaru Message Board

New Orleans Brat!


belacane
 Share

Recommended Posts

The rear wheel wells has some pretty nasty rust... so that needed to be tackled asap and the first stages of it happened this weekend!

(p.s both wheel wells were welded up, but I don't have a complete set of photos from each, so this is a bit of a hodge-podge to show the process)

 

Here's some photos of before:

IMAG0350.jpg

 

IMAG0351.jpg

 

First, we just cut out the rusted spots:

IMAG0356.jpg

 

This was all that was left of the actual sheet metal from the wheel well on one of the sides:

IMAG0355.jpg

 

And sanded away the rest of the rust:

IMAG0366.jpg

 

The holes had to be patched up, so another piece of sheet metal was welded on:

IMAG0370.jpg

 

A few layers of paint probably wouldn't hurt :)

IMAG0371.jpg

 

The new piece to be welded on, note the holes left to secure it to the strut mount:

IMAG0373.jpg

 

And it's on:

IMAG0375.jpg

 

The other side (holes not filled in yet):

IMAG0362.jpg

 

Of course, there's a good deal of grinding still to do and some painting.

 

In the mean time, I'm loving how my brat looks without the top on!!!!

Pretty productive weekend ;):clap::-p:cool:

Edited by belacane
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...

She's back!

 

I recently moved to New Orleans, and since I had no one to drive down with me, my little brat stayed in Chicago until just a little bit ago. She's with me again down here and Boy did I miss her!

 

Fixed a few things already. A closer look at the her rear, and the brake squeal turned out to be a wheel bearing in dire need of replacement, so that's done! 

 

She seems to have developed a nice exhaust leak while she was away, but as long as it's not dangerous or illegal, I kind of like the sound  :D, so I'm not going to do anything with that for now.

 

Next up:

 

- finish grinding down the welds on the bed

- rear disk brake swap

- install the cool little prosport oil pressure gauge I just got, since the one in my cluster has gone kaput again

- paint job (I'm probably going to have this done by someone else. I don't have the right kind of space, time or proper tools to it myself at the moment. I plan to keep the color)

 

Also waiting on Idasho's aux input mod for the oem radio. Electrical is not my strong point yet. Can't wait to have my own music again!

 

 

peace all :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Since moving, I finally had some time to spend with my brat. 

Ground down some of the welds from the wheel wells, and also added an AUX input to my radio. LOVING IT so far!

 

auxinputbrat_zps42d2096b.jpg

Edited by belacane
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

And she's down...sort of.

 

On my wat home the other day, she started getting right up by the red line on my temp gauge, so I pulled over immediately, smelled and looked for leaks, and noticed that the coolant overflow tank that the previous owner had put in was empty. Poured in some water, but it disappeared again.

 

There's evidence of a rad leak and I have yet to get under her and check around the water pump or the bypass hose. The fans work fine, and I'm gonna replace the thermostat anyhow...

 

More updates after I haul her into work on my day off to take a real look.

 

In the mean time, I miss driving her :(

 

This is my first time dealing with this problem. Any ideas or hints or tips are most welcome of course :)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

She's back up and running now!

 

It didn't initially show it, but after a little investigation it was obvious that the radiator was cracked and leaking. A simple replace (i opted for a brand new rad) and she's on the road again!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Did two things I'd never done before over the past week: 

 

1) wheel bearings and ball joints

2) partially rebuilt the hitachi carb.

 

Also....

3) Put on the badges for the tailgate!

 

The carb is fine and she runs so much better.

 

The wheel bearing turned into a crazy mechanical adventure that's still not finished.... because I ended up bending the steering knuckle in a press (yeah... when the press doesn't want to move... don't move it!!! :P), and ended up getting a thread chaser caught in the brake caliper bracket. Still working on drilling it out. Also apparently learned than an '82 Brat has a slightly different caliper/bracket assembly than an '86.

 

And the fun continues... :) :)

 

IMAG0922_zps0b335b10.jpg

 

IMG_519082_1_zps49b58d3c.jpg

 

 

IMAG0992_zpsd138ea58.jpg

Edited by belacane
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the kind words and for keeping up with my thread :)

 

I'm about to change out the doors for some less rusty ones.

After that, I think it's time for a paint job. I'm really looking forward to doing that.

Edited by belacane
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the kind words and for keeping up with my thread :)

 

I'm about to change out the doors for some less rusty ones.

After that, I think it's time for a paint job. I'm really looking forward to doing that.

 

What color will you paint the Brat?

 

Mine is that stock shadow grey sort of color with red pinstriping and red Brat logo.

I like it and may respray it that color but lately I've been thinking about a nice Irish green

with white accents.

 

My  '04 WRX was a  San Remo red, and I had it painted a  Cosmos Purple color that

was on the second generation of the GTO (04-06).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What color will you paint the Brat?

 

Mine is that stock shadow grey sort of color with red pinstriping and red Brat logo.

I like it and may respray it that color but lately I've been thinking about a nice Irish green

with white accents.

 

My  '04 WRX was a  San Remo red, and I had it painted a  Cosmos Purple color that

was on the second generation of the GTO (04-06).

 

 

I'm not 100% sure yet. I was also originally thinking some type of light green (not bright like irish green though). But the more I think about it, the more I'd like to redo the original blue. I really like it.

 

I also have an '02 wrx that is the "other red" (I can't think of the name), and I really like that too. Somehow, I like keeping my cars as stock as possible. 

 

Regardless, when I do it, there will definitely be pictures posted!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice looking Brat. Your updates are motivating me to take action on my carb rebuild.

Awesome! Good luck and have fun! Im still having problems with mine, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. I have a feeling the emulsion tubes ate switched....but I haven't had a chance to check. I'll post updates here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice!

 

Don't see ANY older Subaru's down in New Orleans, heck ya don't even see many Subarus period. When I lived there people thought I was nuts for wanting one.

That sure is true. Although about a month ago I was really surprised to see another brat on the side of the road not far from my place. It was crashed up on the front end...ended up buying it for a song and now I'm parting it out. Apparently it belonged to a German exchange student who had originally wanted an el Camino but couldn't afford one. Once it's carcass is gone, I'm pretty sure I'll be the only 2nd gen brat for miles. Edited by belacane
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

SHE'S ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

 

I was having issues with bucking when my brat reached operating temperature.

I cleaned out the carb, investigated the thermal vacuum valve, thought maybe the EGR was malfunctioning. B

ut the real issue turned out to be a vacuum leak in the big line from the EGR  (which I recently learned tends to leak after some years). I decided to just plug the whole thermal vacuum valve to EGR at the intake. She runs great again.

 

Here are pictures of the hose I took off and plugged (on the passenger side of the engine).

 

 

IMAG1347_zpsea3f75b8.jpg

 

IMAG1346_zps2445c76b.jpg

Edited by belacane
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 6 months later...

Just a thought since you're a do it your selfer - have you researched the $50. paint job? I've done a few of them over the years and if you're not looking for showroom quality, they really do a good job. Basically use mineral spirits to dilute the paint to make really thin coats that are self leveling and can be applied by a foam roller instead of a spray gun. A car takes 8-10 coats. It's some extra grunt work for a much less expensive paint job. But it's about $50 worth of supplies from Lowes or Home Depot and you've got a car that looks nearly new.

Edited by AdventureSubaru
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...