I found this in flagstaff for 500.

the owner said it threw a rod.

I towed it home and started it.....knock knock...

I pulled the ea71 and started to dismantle. as i was removing the oil pan i found the sump tube laying in the bottom. after splitting the block and finding the main bearings fried i inspected and polished the crank.

i replaced the main and rod bearings and put her back together forinspection..

she rean so good that for a whle i did not want to convert to 4wd and drove her stock for almost a year.

I loved the brat so much but could not fit the family on off road adventures so her fate was already spoken.....here ar the fun pics....

Donor 84 brat i picked up in havasu...2 ea81s an ea 71 and an extra tranny in the back.......and she ran.

Now that will be a cool Wagon when complete.  Love the crossover exhaust.

Wait, isn't your avatar that same car?  Am I missing something?

project is completed except for interior and paint. Pics were from the build period. I used the 84 as a donor. parts used are the front struts capped at the bottom with 5" of the origonal 79 strut cases, rear end...Had to fabricate the mount and used shocks from an aerostar van that i blew up and never mounted them, the tie rod ends(3" overall width to match the rear and had to extend the controll arms 1.5" on each side by drilling and welding3/8 flat bar fabrications.

the engine was torn down and i ported the heads and had them milled, ground the cam journals and used a set of ea 71 .025 pistons that I miraculousely scored on e-bay for 90 bucks. 

Tranny is the original 84 gutted and fitted with a single range gear assembly as it was lower geared. 

4wd and low are cable driven with a schwinn bycicle gearing lever set up on the console( I did not want to cut and fit an awkward shifter) and thicker cables( I can drive it in low without 4wd ingaged...Heh Heh).

Front end was modified to fit an 84 nissan truck radiator which is cooled by the original subie electric fan and a secondary fan switch powereing two more fans including one for the oil cooler.....this has been an adventure and alot of work but well worth it