This is Brat #2. I scrambled to get it, and as fate would have it: the day before my birthday. Pictures...

 

 

 

 

 

And even came with one of these.

 

 

Now that you have seen her beauty shots:

 

 

 

 

So, hard-top 1984 GL auto. The transmission is dead, (duh) so that's close to the top of my list. The seats are gone, but I'm not upset about that, because I have some in my other Brat. Other than the rust pictured... it's in good condition relative to what most of you northerners are used to. Those are the only bad spots I've found so far. I'm going to be honest: I have done rust repair before, but that battery tray...  Any advice on that would help. I have access to a mig and all the equipment. I just need you guys to dot the "i".

     I absolutely LOVE the seats. I don't know whether they were a recover job, or what, but they sure look and feel good. More pictures tomorrow. It's late and I'm tired. 7 hour round trip.

 

I'll try to keep up with pics on this one, as it is at my house versus my fathers. I just moved, so I have a nice un-molested garage ready to be tormented

Edited April 1, 201412 yr by BratRod

Spent all day working on the Brat. First shift was 12am to 5pm. Then went to dinner. Took a break and watched some breaking bad, then a friend came over and we just got done doing some more work on it.

 

Cleaned the engine bay.

 

Cleaned up fairly well.

 

Here are the very nice seats I spoke of.

 

Did some cutting on the (what used to be) battery tray. After I cleaned it, I saw that it was not as bad as it looked. Oklahoma red dirt can look like rust sometimes. Got too late to run the grinder so much of it was done with tin-snips, and a wire brush.

 

Then there is this...

 

 

This was the end of the night shift.

 

Making good progress, I think. Need to pick up some 18 Gauge steel and pick up a MIG so I can get to repairing the cut out panels.

Edited August 12, 201312 yr by BratRod

So, with school having just started again; it will be awhile till another update. I'm taking 3 college courses as a junior. It's only the second day, and I have: 2 packets to annotate, 60 pages of notes to take by the 17th, an essay to write, a rhetorical analysis to write, and some stuff for math. Needless to say I come home eat, do homework, then sleep. When I have time, I'll do some work on my other Brat so I can get the SPFI stuff going.

Update on this. 

 

I have been doing work on it when I find time away from homework. I have almost all the rust cut out; ready for new metal. I took the topper off and thoroughly cleaned the undercarriage and exterior. Still no bad spots from what i can see.

 

Ahh, the transmission. As most of you have seen: I have been posting a lot of "3at" threads, and i finally just bought a shaft to replace the sheared one - thanks to the 3at god. I spent Sunday (sacrificing a few good grades this week) putting the transmission in. I liked how easy that was, even full of gear oil. Went to start it - no cranking. Jumped the starter - nada. I was experiencing a spark issue. Disheartened, I called it a day.

 

Tonight, I brought home my spare coil. I was relieved to find that was the culprit. It fired right up! Made my day. Still have to sort out the ignition issue, but it should be cranking under it's own power here pretty soon. Hopefully the transmission will turn out ok!

 

I should be getting pics up within the next day or so. 40's next week starting on friday! It was 87 sunday

How's the metal fab coming? Sounds like you're making good progress

I have some metal over at my dads, I just haven't had the time to deal with it. Its some pretty thick stuff (16?) off an old Honda riding mower. I'll be playing with that as soon as I can trace a welder down. The SP-100 I was going to use got stolen. And I only have an arc.

 

Progress is slow, but it exists.

Depending on what tools you have to work with to form/bend the sheet metal, I would recommend buying some 18g from a metal fab shop.  They can even do large cuts and/or bends for you.

 

I was surprised how inexpensive sheets of 18g were and clean/straight material to begin with makes a world of difference in time frustration and the end product.

 

Keep up the good work.

Edited November 21, 201312 yr by tundrabrat

nice find i'd love a topper on my BRAT!

PICS!

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 Min ago

Edited November 24, 201312 yr by BratRod

The transmission is looking promising. I put it in gear, (no CV or drive shaft attached) and the shafts started to move. That was nice.

 

It runs very well (off of the funnel of gas ). I replaced the coil and vacuum advance that I rebuilt from last years troubles with Brat #1. 

Alright everybody...

 

 

We have movement. I got into 2nd gear, the transmission seems good for now. My *ahem* fuel cell (blue funnel) has limited my distance, but that is subject to change.

 

I want to thank everyone who has helped my through this. Especially silverhelme (You the man) for getting the pump shaft to me. Time to clean, weld, and tidy up the wiring.

A little tinkering done tonight. Painted the shift console. Also sized up my new battery tray. From a Honda HT4213, it was painful, but Subaru<Honda. It's so perfect... I'm a little scared. I haven't done anything but cut it, and bend a part to get into the engine bay. Looks promising!

 

 

 

 

We'll see how it looks when the clear cures, and the sun is up so I don't have to use the flash. May be driving this by summer/spring. 

 

One thing that needs to be dealt with is that the drive shaft was very dirty. After cleaning it extensively, it would appear that the pitting is too much for the output shat seal to handle - as it is slowly leaking. 

 

The Weber may need a rebuild, too. Definitely needs a seafoam treatment.

Edited December 3, 201312 yr by BratRod

Duplicolor Vinyl and Fabric spray on the console? 

Glad to be of help. The rear seal on the trans is an easy change to stop the leak.

Duplicolor Vinyl and Fabric spray on the console?

Glad to be of help. The rear seal on the trans is an easy change to stop the leak.

Im just worried that I may have to replace the driveshaft input, due to the fact that it's pitted pretty bad.

So I met up with a board member and this happened

 

 

 

Power racks

 

Those were some much needed parts. 

 

Im on holiday break and hoping to make a little progress on this thing. Not having a welder is killing me.   Everything is almost prepared for new metal. Anyhow, I figured id fix some smaller stuff... with my new parts collection.

 

 

 

Also replaced the AC/Heater control panel... Finished results later.

I'm pretty lousy when it comes to documenting work that I do on this thing. It's back together now.

 

I didn't get the chance to test fuel pump or anything else. After many hours; I have contained some non structural rust issues. Lots of wire wheeling, naval jelly, heavy primer, canned under-coat. Repeat. The battery tray is trimmed & fitted. Hopefully soon to be welded.

 

Now onto my excuse for not using my VERY valuable time over winter break on the Brat.

 

  

 

 

 

 

This is the shop my friends dad owns... I was surprised. I went to help him work on his 1980 Courier. All Snap-on tools. 200gal(?) compressor. It was beautiful. I'd never been inside a real shop, before. Always been a driveway kinda guy. His dad was really cool and gave me free reign over anything in the shop. To top it all of... they are right next to GasMonkey garage. I can stand at their fence and see what they're working on. Thus, I heard screaming V8's all day.

 

I also spent the weekend swapping 4.3s between 4WD Blazers. The bell-housing bolts are an absolute nightmare to get to, and if you look at an S-10 forum... you will see that most pull the engine and trans together. That was done outside in freezing windy weather. I also wasn't paid. Although, I may be walking away with a 4L60-E (my dad's friend needs one) and an S&K socket set as payment. Have to go back this weekend. Fun fun.

So Took a gamble on a clutch kit on Ebay. Normally I'd be pretty leery of "Factory OEM original NOS...." type stuff, but it worked out. The seller only specified "1985 Brat clutch kit," and with all the other clutches that are out there like the 23 spline 225mm and the 21 spline 200mm and so on it gets hard to find a good clutch when nobody knows what they have. Anyway, the box got here today. Measured the disk: 8 7/8, 21 spline. I was very happy. Obviously not for this Brat, but for my other one. Just figured I'd post it here. Only tape broken was the big box; everything else was still sealed. Friction disk, Pressure plate, pilot bearing, and throw-out bearing. All Subaru! For the low-low price of $80 shipped! Much happiness. 

 

 

On a side note... I cleaned the gas tank out, and it's now running under its own power. Once the weber gets rebuilt this thing should come alive... as much as an automatic can.

Edited January 30, 201412 yr by BratRod

Nice Job!  keep up the great work.  I think I could take time off my sube for a mustang or two.. So long as they are 43 years old and older.

Nice Brat, have you made anymore progress? Have more pics?

Yeah, I've done some more work. I'm just horrible about documenting it. I primered the roof because it was bothering me. Cranked the front end up. Cleaned the Weber. A/C acts like it wants to work. I have a can of r-12 I'm gonna throw in, and hope for the best. I've been playing mobile mechanic since January which had eaten my weekends up. That's coming to an end soon, though.

 

Once summer hits; I'll be doing the SPFI, P/S, dash swap, and possibly getting the other brat ready for paint.

 

I'll make an effort to get pics, soon. P.S, you should check out the jumpseats on CL. They're a little pricey, but you won't get them cheaper without a road trip.

You've got a lot to do this summer. Can't wait to see the progress! I'm going to have to do some A/C work also. What is Brat #1? Thanks for the heads up on the CL listing but I already have seats, headrests and belts, they just aren't installed yet. Plan on making some kind of quick in/out system for the seats.

Here are some pics. 

 

 

 

older pic

 

 

Starting to do some body work on the tailgate. None actually done in this picture. 

 

 

Here's Brat #1 

 

 

Lucky dog, you've got two nice Brats! Looks like Brat #2 has already been lifted.