I did it,

one of the experiences of my life.

I can't say it was easy, but it's finished and I learned a lot.

 

Here are the pics, start to finish, what began as a quick business car to flip turned in to a personal car that I loved and of course a love/hate relationship.

 

More towards the end of all this, a buddy wanted me to acquire his '86 Brat which I converted with a 5-speed DR trans and I ended up selling that car before I completed and got rid of this old '83! (which had actually been sold first) Both Brats underwent almost complete mechanical swaps/rebuilds in the end.

 

I drove this '83 Brat on three transmissions and two engines: a bad auto trans, an '81 single-range 4-speed manual w/ small clutch (put about 25K miles on that), and an '84 dual-range 4-speed manual w/ large clutch.

 

I sorted through the pics so they are generally chronological, mostly..

I could have taken many more pics of many more steps, but I was focused and taking things just one step at a time. In hindsight, nobody should ever try what I did on a car so gone of such little value, the thing was swiss cheese for real... Originally I got the car free basically, in the end what did I make $2/hr for all my labor? haha

But love is what makes a Subaru, and some experiences can't be matched

 

At first was going to sell it, then for a long time it was a personal car of mine I thought I needed to keep, then I acquired the '86 Brat and was going to sell this one again, then the kid who found me and wanted to buy this contracted me to finish the body/paint work and basically finish everything before I gave him the car back.. so in the end I completed the full start to finish of the project all on my own, only some help from a mechanic friend a little at times i was going mechanical swaps/wiring.

 

Not All Who Wander Are Lost - by J. R. R. Tolkien was a sticker on the original tailgate of this original old Brat which had over 20 owners I think who had put it through a lot over the years!

Yes, I drove the car with a mustache bumper for a time, I still have that bumper I made..

It had 'speed holes' in the fenders for awhile, then the kid who wanted to buy it wished for them to patched back up, ha!

video of rust repair welding up bottom of door:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v608/TajMan/83%20Subaru%20Brat/?action=view&current=e16vid.mp4

Edited October 14, 201213 yr by TajMan

LOOK AT THE ACTUAL COLOR ONLY SEEN IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT, RANGE ROVER BAROLO BLACK PEARL!

UNDERBODY RUST FIXED AND COATED AND TRUCK BED LINER OVER EVERYWHERE, ALL DONE UP!

Thanks Pooparu (B&R Sign & Design) for the reproduction Brat decals

Looks great! Love the mustache.

Very nice! i'd be proud to own that!!!

Nice work, and it looks pretty good! I would so rock a mustache bumper like that. I'm sure all the ladies wanted to go for a mustache ride!

That is a great deal of work and a great result, sadly a car that rusty in Australia would end up a little square of steel. Which would then be used to make great walls or kias

 

Good to see another subi saved from the recyclers.

 

TOONGA

This turned out very nice, like seeing the car through all the different stages!

Wow the black turned out great! I remember seeing it in the primer stage.

So awesome!

nice job. Did that car used to lve in Colorado? A couple years ago I saw a beat up black brat with green wheels in Boulder and Lyons

That turned out AWESOME. Glad to see that the decals arrived.

Um, WOW!!!

 

That was a serious repair job on everything. Great job it turned out beautiful.

Thanks for all the kind words guys. It feels like for the past long while its been more people that can't understand why I would spend my time the way I do, and less people that have an appreciation and understanding of what I'm doing. I wish I even had all the pics of the steel repair! I am telling you though, everything was finished/boxed up/sealed off everywhere.

A finished product makes all the difference for others understanding now.

 

 

 

nice job. Did that car used to lve in Colorado? A couple years ago I saw a beat up black brat with green wheels in Boulder and Lyons

 

 

Not sure, VERY VERY possible.

This car had many owners, was probably around the rocky mountains and in the west more.

I had a family friend once realize that this was the Brat who a friend of his, some hippie chick, used to own and had all kinds of crazy times in over 15 years previous..

Sr, my hat is off to you. Incredible work. I am doing the same thing, but my Brat is not as bad as yours. I owned one 25 years ago and hopefully mine will look as nice as yours next Spring. You are an inspiration. I could buy a new whatever, but elected to relive my youth in an old 82 Brat.

Very good young man !!I too love taking something old and rattty lookin and makin it look good again..Hmmmmm You know,i do that every morning !!! haha,Good work.Todd

Nice job you made there. I need a Moustache bumper took, Could rock it on Movember

Wow! I had that ambition.....about 35 yrs ago.

I've talked to the new owner who has had multiple people chase him down on the road until they finally catch him in parking lots etc just to ask about the car all excited, and then people wanting to know if I have any more Brats for sale!

haha I love it, glad it draws the attention

and the work continues after that last paint job, I'm painting this red '85 Brat for my buddy Zeth a fireman down in happy valley UT. I'll also re-do his exhaust, brakes, clutch cable, etc so he has a better all around restored stock car, its very nice rust-free 130K miles.

(and that's my buddy Mike's '49 Plymouth there, cool car)

Edited October 23, 201213 yr by TajMan

So you're the restoration guru? Can I send you the Desert Fox?

I guess I am.

 

what is the desert fox? ya you can send me your project car probably

This is the Desert Fox

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=133337

 

but In all seriousness, excellent work!

This is the Desert Fox

 

Haha!

Love the custom decals from B & R Sign & Design!

now I want them on another old subaru