turbosubarubrat Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 I'm using a harbor freight flux core. I can goob together pieces of angle iron and stuff, but this thin sheet is killing me. I have one of the 90 amp flux units and it sucks(had to get it replaced twice). I bought a little 110v Lincoln mig thats about 30 years old so it still as infinite heat and feed controls. Works amazingly well on sheet metal and larger stuff up to 3/8. Just have to go slow and mover around where your welding at so the metal doesn't warp. I got by with using the harbor freight welder for awhile but will never go back to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmoss5723 Posted April 16, 2015 Author Share Posted April 16, 2015 I got the parts to use shielding gas with my welder. I'll try to set it all up in the next few days and hopefully it makes the difference that I'm looking for. In other news, I replaced the headlights on the BRAT. I had bought very nice halogen replacements for all 4 lights on a closeout a year or so ago and put them on the shelf. I needed to fix some non-functioning adjusters so that I could get my headlights to point the right way, so I figured I might as well put the new lights in while I had it all apart. After replacing the lights and setting all of the adjustments right, I drove away and found my lights were pointing too high! Apparently I wasn't sitting level when I adjusted them, or something. I'll retry another night... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmoss5723 Posted April 23, 2015 Author Share Posted April 23, 2015 I got the patches welded into the bed of the BRAT. The MIG set up with 75 Argon/25 CO2 and the thinnest wire the welder would push worked WAY better. After welding them in, I did a tiny bit of Bondo and hit it all with primer. On Tuesday I stripped all of the rest of the old bedliner out with Aircraft stripper. That stuff is terrifying. If you drip that anywhere you don't want it, too bad. The paint will be gone. So needless to say, It worked very quickly and easily and was 100x better than using the angle grinder with a wire wheel. I removed all of the bedliner on the sides and bottom of the bed. I just passed the wire wheel over the back of the cab because it was not peeling off nearly so badly and I am puttin ghte jump seats back in anyways, so the chance of that bedliner getting beat up seems pretty slim. My plan to further prep the surface for the new liner is to wipe the whole bed down with lacquer thinner a few times to make sure there are no residues or dust. Then I'm going to get a high density foam roller cover and roll this goop in there! Now if this stinking cold snap would break, I could get out and finish this project. I can't very well paint it if the temperature is below freezing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmoss5723 Posted May 1, 2015 Author Share Posted May 1, 2015 (edited) Bed liner is in! Pics coming tonight or tomorrow. Tonight I will re-install my roll bar since I got new hardware for it at lunch today. I cannot for the life of me figure out what I did with the old hardware after removing the roll bar for bed repairs last fall... Next step is jump seat installation. I'm looking for input on a few different options: 1) Drill straight through the frame and bolt them down. I like this option because I can weld the nuts to the bottom of the bed and easily remove the seats from the top side when necessary. My question thought, is this: is the tubing of the frame strong enough to hold up to this? Seems pretty thin... 2)Use U-bolts over the frame and bolt it down. This seems annoying because I'd have to crawl underneath the car if I want to remove the seats, but I don't have to drill through the wimpy jump seat frame. 3) Other options...? I want it to be strong and safe (as safe as seats in a truck bed can be...). The seat belts have sturdy mounting points, so do I really need the seats to be that tough? Keep in mind that I will not have anyone in these seats on the highway. Just cruising 25mph or less in town and maybe for some light wheeling. I picked up the steel for my winch bumper! I got (1) 60" piece and (2) 18" pieces of 5" C-channel to make up the main piece of the bumper. Mounts will be 3" C-channel attached to the stock mounting points. Stock mounting points will be beefed up with .25" plate welded along the unibody frame rail. Hopefully I have time to get it all fabricated this weekend. Edited May 1, 2015 by jmoss5723 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mechanical_misfit Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 Option 2 but use some big washers. I've done that and used grade 8 hardware. The brat I did it in does lost of two tracking with fat dudes in it and it seems fine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mechanical_misfit Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 I meant option 1 sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmoss5723 Posted May 15, 2015 Author Share Posted May 15, 2015 (edited) It turns out that I am bad at keeping this thread updated. I do too much stuff at once and don't take enough pictures. I got my jump seats in with big washers and bolts. It was really no big deal. They seem solid, are removable, and look good. Here is the bed after stripping: And here it is all finished: I have both bumpers off and new bumpers halfway fabricated. Hopefully finishing fab this weekend. Things are moving slowly. Wife, baby, work... In other news, I found a 12V siren in the basement. It has a steady tone and a warble tone. I haven't heard it yet, but if the steady tone doesn't sound so much like a siren that people will think I'm an ambulance, I might use it as a BRAT horn. It is 115dB at 10 feet. Hella Supertones are 118dB at 2 meters. So I get the idea that it is loud. Edited May 15, 2015 by jmoss5723 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmoss5723 Posted May 15, 2015 Author Share Posted May 15, 2015 (edited) Turns out the siren is pretty high frequency. The warble sounds just like an ambulance and the steady tone is the same but just steady instead of pulsing. Now I have to figure out what to do with it. I can't NOT use it for something Edited May 15, 2015 by jmoss5723 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmoss5723 Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 My bumpers are almost finished. They are taking me forever. I hate them. And while I almost never say this, I should have just paid to have them made. This is my first attempt at fabricating something that needs to be aesthetically pleasing and it has been a nightmare. I can make a good weld, but it is the cutting and shaping that is giving me the trouble. Maybe I'm too much of a perfectionist? If there were any EA81 cars around here, I'd try to sell these to recoup my costs and get something nicer built by a pro. I'll put photos up once they're all finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falconer315 Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 Any pics of the bumpers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmoss5723 Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 (edited) The BRAT has been long overdue for a new exhaust. The current one is in very nice shape, but hangs really low since I lifted the car. The current exhaust is moving to the Ski Wagon, and I'm putting a new exhaust on the BRAT. I really like the sound of the current set up (1 7/8 or maybe 2 inch pipe all the way back with a Magnaflow muffler). It seems to perform fine and the sound is great - mild-mannered at idle and a little growly when I'm on the throttle. I'm wondering if I should just do the same configuration on the new exhaust, or if I should try something else. Anyone have opinions? I'm considering going a little louder... Edited August 31, 2016 by jmoss5723 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
65stangy Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 I was looking at your jump seat install and was wondering if you have some close up pics of where you actually bolted. I have a set I am getting ready to add to my 86 and am interested in how other people did it. I was also curious about your roll bar...did you fabricate it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmoss5723 Posted September 4, 2016 Author Share Posted September 4, 2016 Sure! I'll take some pics later today. It was simple for me because mine had the seats originally, they had just been removed at some point. So I just had to find marks from where the old welds were cut and I knew that's where I needed to line it up to bolt it. The roll bar is OEM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
65stangy Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 Thank you. I was concerned about strength. While I do not plan to have passengers other than slow in town stuff, I would like it to be as safe as possible. It did not appear that the boxed channel that is on the under side of the bed could be reached for an attachment point without welding a long tab on the front side of the seat frame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmoss5723 Posted February 23, 2017 Author Share Posted February 23, 2017 The BRAT is getting a heart transplant! I just scored a 180k mile 1994 FWD Legacy with a very nice running Phase 1 EJ22. $100 for the whole car delivered to my house! I'm also quite happy that the interior is a perfect color match to the BRAT and the seats are pretty clean. The original seats in the BRAT are very tired, so this will be a nice upgrade. As excited as I am, this whole project will have to sit for a little while before I can dig into it. I'm in the middle of a major remodel on a portion of my house. And just about the time I get that finished, my third child will be born this summer. Realistically, this will be a project for next winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmoss5723 Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 (edited) In preparation for the EJ swap, I'm starting to compile a parts list and I started thinking about adding a transmission to the list. I already have an EA82 series 5spd D/R trans, but I'm thinking that it would be pretty sweet to replace it with an RX full-time 4WD trans. Today I'm working on figuring out if my axles, driveshaft, and rear differential will be compatible. I'll also have to figure out which clutch kit to get. I'm presuming that my original EA81 shift linkages that have been modified to work with the 5spd D/R will also work on the F/T 4WD transmission, but that is a bridge that I can cross if/when I get to it. Gosh. This is getting complicated! Edited March 6, 2017 by jmoss5723 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureSubaru Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Is the final drive ratio the same on RX trans and the brat? I'm partial to the low range for trail use / mud/snow. But thats just me. On road, the RX trans would add some fun factor I'm sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmoss5723 Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 Is the final drive ratio the same on RX trans and the brat? I'm partial to the low range for trail use / mud/snow. But thats just me. On road, the RX trans would add some fun factor I'm sure. I don't recall, but it is on the list of things to check. The RX trans has low range, so no worries there. My BRAT is like 90% on road and 10% off road. I'm hoping to have it fun on road but not give up much off road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureSubaru Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Cool! never got my hands on any RX stuff. I had thought they were like an EJ car, single range full time AWD. That makes it more fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmoss5723 Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 Full time 4WD wiht a locking center differential and low range gearing. In theory, it is awesome. However, some people seem to prefer the 5spd D/R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventureSubaru Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 I like the idea of AWD all the time for the snowy winters (Assuming it ever sees winter driving) since it makes it so much more capable. We get lake effect snow up here all the time (It snows almost every day) and the mix makes AWD all the more necessary. Better than my 4runner since running 4wd on pavement is no good. AWD is great for consistent driving in those conditions so you're not jumping back and forth between fwd and 4wd. The standard ones are not much more capable than a honda in the snow until you pull the lever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru Scott Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 Start searching ebay JDM for a dual range EJ trans. Best of both worlds and no adapters, etc. They don't come up often, you have to keep your eyes peeled. Sometimes they don't even know it's a dual range, just look at the pics for the shift lever!! I got one with under 50k miles for 700, shipped. It came from Canada, so maybe you're close enough to pick up for about half the price! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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