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Survivor - 30K mile Brat

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Picked up this 1983 Subaru Brat with just under 30K original miles on it.

 

It was owned by a much older gentleman that is moving into a nursing home and sat in a garage since about 2001 when CarFax showed it has 28,743 miles on it at the time.. currently it has 28,868 miles.  Seats under the covers look like they've never been sat on directly.  Only aftermarket piece I saw was the rails on the bed.

 

Car had a tune-up in July 2013, and according to the receipts it received new hoses, belts, fluids, carb rebuild, fuel pump, ignition stuff, heads were pulled and new gaskets and springs put in.  Thing runs great.  Problem I've found so far is the turn signals do not work .. assuming it is the flasher relay.  Nor does the fuel gauge.

 

It has the automatic 3-speed, fun tops, no A/C, and no Power Steering.  So looks to be just the basic model.

 

As for plans on it.. I'm gonna gonna turn it into the most badass offroad Brat there can be.. chop and shorten the bed, put onto a Ford Bronco II frame with some 38" mud terrain tires, clip the front end and wedge in a diesel motor shooting some stacks out the bed floor, then some 5pt harness seats.. toss a bunch of the leftover parts into the scrap pile.  Be sure to see the build thread on it!  This thing will look TOTALLY different!!!    :headbang:

 

Here are photos I took today:

 

7QRYiCi.jpg?2

 

abfhnuY.jpg?1

 

e52xTWk.jpg?1

 

ILf00x8.jpg?1

 

XbX8F4F.jpg?1

 

9N8VsHT.jpg

 

7w33vYr.jpg?1

 

fZtQqDI.jpg?1

 

f1REmXG.jpg?1

 

 

btw; joking about the plans for it!!  I'm going to keep it stock, add in a spare set of jump seats/headrests I have and keep it well maintained  :D

Edited by epix

Should I send you the bill for the heart-attack you gave me? lol

 

Pristiiiiiiine. Sucks about the seats, though. How's the auto? 

It's a GL because of the fun tops (a/c and power steering would be options). It has 1985-87 valves covers on it, does/did it have rear seats?

 

I'm thinking it is an 86 or 87.

 

Nice find for sure...

Edited by tundrabrat

Picked up this 1983 Subaru Brat with just under 30K original miles on it.

 

It was owned by a much older gentleman that is moving into a nursing home and sat in a garage since about 2001 when CarFax showed it has 28,743 miles on it at the time.. currently it has 28,868 miles.  Seats under the covers look like they've never been sat on directly.  Only aftermarket piece I saw was the rails on the bed.

 

Car had a tune-up in July 2013, and according to the receipts it received new hoses, belts, fluids, carb rebuild, fuel pump, ignition stuff, heads were pulled and new gaskets and springs put in.  Thing runs great.  Problem I've found so far is the turn signals do not work .. assuming it is the flasher relay.  Nor does the fuel gauge.

 

It has the automatic 3-speed, fun tops, no A/C, and no Power Steering.  So looks to be just the basic model.

 

As for plans on it.. I'm gonna gonna turn it into the most badass offroad Brat there can be.. chop and shorten the bed, put onto a Ford Bronco II frame with some 38" mud terrain tires, clip the front end and wedge in a diesel motor shooting some stacks out the bed floor, then some 5pt harness seats.. toss a bunch of the leftover parts into the scrap pile.  Be sure to see the build thread on it!  This thing will look TOTALLY different!!!    :headbang:

 

Here are photos I took today:

 

7QRYiCi.jpg?2

 

abfhnuY.jpg?1

 

e52xTWk.jpg?1

 

ILf00x8.jpg?1

 

XbX8F4F.jpg?1

 

9N8VsHT.jpg

 

7w33vYr.jpg?1

 

fZtQqDI.jpg?1

 

f1REmXG.jpg?1

 

 

btw; joking about the plans for it!!  I'm going to keep it stock, add in a spare set of jump seats/headrests I have and keep it well maintained  :D

 

 

Damn you made me cry when i read you were chopping and modding that great stock Brat. Just about had a heart attack until I read the last sentence.  Keep it garaged like the nice gentlemen before you did.  Do show it at local shows but for posterity sake please keep the survivor just the way it is. When the little modding devil gets you tempted to start hacking and modding this beauty, play this:

 

  • Author

Not sure if it ever had the rear seats.. no big worries though as I have a very clean extra set I'll be installing along.  

 

Personally I don't mine automatic trans.. do wish it were a 4-speed automatic though!  Most of my driving will be to car shows and around town so not having the extra gear wasn't a deal breaker.

 

My other Brat is a 1986 5-speed.. 

iNKqckx.jpg?1

Fantastic find.  The heads appear cleaned up; were the gaskets replaced at some point?

Sweet rig dude.

 

Now do what I do...

 

Give the car a wash once a month, wax twice a year,  and let it sleep indoors.   :)

You'd have to be some kind of a monster to cut that thing up. I'm so glad that was a joke.

I guy years back here on the board had a 26k mile brat, figured it was the lowest mile gen 2 brat in USA, his name was Skip..could it be his.......There was a gen 1 brat on the board a few years ago with a plow with 16k mile from Lake Tahou area....

You'd have to be some kind of a monster to cut that thing up. I'm so glad that was a joke.

 

 

yes really, i was getting prices on a group buy of pitchforks if he wasnt.

I just noticed that the hub cap centers are even still blue. Wow.

Nice BRAT! did you end up selling the brown one you had? What car shows do you take yours to? Tdodge41 and I both take our subies out to a few shows when the weather is nice. 

  • Author

Sold the brown one to a guy in Marshall.  

 

Just local shows like Coldwater Michigan and the big one at Lane Automotive in Watervilet.  Probably will take it to some Kzoo/GR area ones this summer if I have the time.

  • 1 month later...

You'd have to be some kind of a monster to cut that thing up. I'm so glad that was a joke.

AMAZING! I've been looking at these for several years and have never seen one in better shape.

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