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Paint Color suggestions for respray 81 Brat


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My 81 Brat is back from the mechanics with lots of new parts-brakes, steering, suspension, electrical. Still drives like a 40 yr old Subaru!

Time for a respray of the original faded in areas (hood mostly) Blue paint. I have bought Eastwood GM Mulsanne Blue but am thinking of also spraying the tailgate, hood center bulge and side vents, and roof (A pillars and area above chrome side rails) and fender bulges gloss black to match the roll bar, front brush guard, lower valence, and rocker panels (which are in Rocker panel black textured paint to hide the rust repairs). 

Question is stick with the blue all over or add the two tone blue and black?

 

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Two-tone paint jobs can look great when done right.

All too often I see the "boy racer" (ricer) who have modified their Audi or Infiniti with the flat black hood, roof, and or trunk... it just looks bad.

Same thing where people paint the bumper between the radiator grill and the under-bumper-grill on a modern Subaru. You don't have an Audi R8....

Just don't go to the dark side listed above...

Plan out your paint, maybe draw it out or render it.

Personally I really like the Targa style decals that came stock on the Brats.

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If the vehicle wasn't offered from the factory with some sort of two-tone look, my personal opinion is to follow that template.  If I were doing a BRAT, I'd be looking at the white/orange one SoA owns, and recreate that color scheme with my accent color of choice.

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Yeah , that sounds nice. And our man on the east coast did just that and also the go-kart to match. Doug in NH. 
 

Same feelings about the two tone and connotations. 
 

It’s sounds pretty cool though , the way you laid it out. I’d try it in a photo program first though.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 5 months later...

So just got this back from the mechanics who did the brake work in the spring. The front rotors were still pulsing so I had them take another try to fix it. They had it since July 5! In the end, they didnt charge me anything and they were not able to get the rotors turned. I think it just sat in their lot for five fricking months! 

Sorry for griping but WTF! 

They claimed that this model needs to have the rotors turned while on the car? Is that true?

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BS !! Just search for rotors. That’s my opinion , but you may have already tried that. 
 

Always can upgrade to 80’s vented disks with a little more searching and a little money- not much. Then you may have an easier time finding rotors in the future. 
 

To me items like brakes , rotors , and general consumables I stock up what I can. I’ve already lived the 70’s ownership where you couldn’t get parts from the dealer after 20 years or maybe less. So you tend to stock up when the wall hits you. 
 

Sounds like warped rotors to me and maybe now a sticky caliper or two. Find the rebuild kits while they are still out there. 
Maybe place the items in the guys hands and instruct him to return the removed parts to you. Keep them on their toes. 
 

Best of luck with it. 
 

Since it’s done so much sitting maybe give the wheel bearings some thought depending on when they were done last. Might as well spend the money right and take care of each corner as best as you can. Bearing , dust seals , brake pads and rotors. Then don’t sweat it for another 100k which you’ll never do anyways now that it’s so classic. 
 

All just my opinion. Enjoy ! 

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Bearings were done in May so all good! I drove it to the dump with yard clippings-looks like they tried the spare hubs and rotors as a used pair was in my parts box in the cab. It is driveable-just passed the safety inspection. I have a vented rotor set and used hubs and calipers from a 1983 Brat if needed in the future.

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