February 18, 200719 yr This front bumper on my 84 Brat is a big piece of crap! How did they get away selling these cars with such weak bumpers? This is my first EA81 car and wow talk about poor workmanship in the bumper area. Man I would be afraid to breathe wrong on it or it may just bend right in half. I guess I might just have to make a real one for it myself.
February 18, 200719 yr It could be worse: it could be a Mudrat bumper= pay for it and never get it or your money back.
February 18, 200719 yr why, you plan on ramming into some stuff? truthfully, it'd be tough to make something that would look any better. it may be tougher for an offroad rig, but a heavy bumper will look silly on a road rig....
February 18, 200719 yr Author No not planning on running into anything. Just better not ever bump into anything or you could destroy the front or back of your Subaru. why, you plan on ramming into some stuff? truthfully, it'd be tough to make something that would look any better. it may be tougher for an offroad rig, but a heavy bumper will look silly on a road rig....
February 18, 200719 yr i`ve pushed cars around the yard with my brat, and haven`t bent a bumper. those built in guards front and rear are strong.
February 18, 200719 yr I honestly don't think that the bumper is all that bad. Its just a plastic cover anyways. Its at least better than most of the modern bumpers.
February 18, 200719 yr Author Actually I was referring to the steel reinforcement underneath the bumper cover. Talk about thin sheet metal. It is no thicker than regular body sheet metal. You can bend it with your hands. I don't see that offering much in the way of safety.
February 18, 200719 yr Actually I was referring to the steel reinforcement underneath the bumper cover. Talk about thin sheet metal. It is no thicker than regular body sheet metal. You can bend it with your hands. I don't see that offering much in the way of safety. working on my buddies' EA81s....they definitely weren't that weak...maybe some rust has gotten to yours or something. even got a push from one of them, didn't bend at all then either...
February 18, 200719 yr Actually I was referring to the steel reinforcement underneath the bumper cover. Talk about thin sheet metal. It is no thicker than regular body sheet metal. You can bend it with your hands. I don't see that offering much in the way of safety. They call is part of the crumple zone. You want things to crumple before you bend the chassis... Plus crumple zones save lives. If the car doesn't crumple, you do.
February 18, 200719 yr They call is part of the crumple zone. You want things to crumple before you bend the chassis... Plus crumple zones save lives. If the car doesn't crumple, you do. The bumper is part of the crumple zone? I thought that it was more around the front frame rails. I ran my old '82 GL into trees and stuff (mostly not intentional) and it seemed to hold up fairly well -- dented and bent of course, but the step bumper on my truck is bent from doing that too. But it was also chromed metal, not plastic over a metal center. Did they change it by '84? Z
February 18, 200719 yr Go ahead and build a new one................ $60 and a couple of day for one just like this (less $300 winch of course)....... (yes, this is a shameless atemp to show off my bumper again)
February 19, 200719 yr The bumper is part of the crumple zone? I thought that it was more around the front frame rails. Yeah, especially nowadays, the whole car is a crumple zone. For every milisecond it takes energy to travel, say in a front end collision, through a car into the passenger compartment, the force (damage) drops exponentially. That reduces the energy you absorb. In every accident, there are three collisions...the car vs object, then your body vs car (Like your skull against windshield), then your internal organs vs you body (I.E. Brain against skull). So the goal is to have the car absorb/distribute the energy elsewhere. As a volunteer fire fighter, I've seen a wreck that should have been really bad, a car going 50+mph rear ended a semi trailer that was stopped. The car was obliterated, but once we cut the doors off, he just had a broken ankle (Probably because he was mashing the brake soo hard.).
February 19, 200719 yr Go ahead and build a new one................$60 and a couple of day for one just like this (less $300 winch of course)....... (yes, this is a shameless atemp to show off my bumper again) That's some snorkel you have sticking out from under the hood too !! Or is that a battering ram!
February 19, 200719 yr That's some snorkel you have sticking out from under the hood too !! Or is that a battering ram! Dang, you beat me to it!!! I was gonna call it a bow-sprit, since I am a nautical nut.. son of a son of a sailor, what can I say....
February 19, 200719 yr ... I was gonna call it a bow-sprit, since I am a nautical nut... ... Nautical? Nice, I Work with some Maritime affairs, and I Love Ships too... working on my buddies' EA81s....they definitely weren't that weak...maybe some rust has gotten to yours or something. ... ...Or you did get a Latin American version of that Brat... :-\ ...Sadly, but due to the Lack of Better Laws About, we get our Cars in the Market, with Shorter \ Thinner / Lesser Bumpers, and no Airbags in Some Models that are Standard in U.S.A., etc... That´s Why people here go to U.S.A. to buy Cars and bring ´em Here to Sell... its a Good Bussiness... Even my EA82 came new -Almost- from California in 1985...
February 19, 200719 yr ...Or you did get a Latin American version of that Brat... :-\ ...Sadly, but due to the Lack of Better Laws About, we get our Cars in the Market, with Shorter \ Thinner / Lesser Bumpers, and no Airbags in Some Models that are Standard in U.S.A., etc... That´s Why people here go to U.S.A. to buy Cars and bring ´em Here to Sell... its a Good Bussiness... Even my EA82 came new -Almost- from California in 1985... [/color][/size] Heh, we get alot more smog control equipment installed on US market vehicles, too.. that can rob some engines of power, although from what I hear our subarus werent that badly afflicted.. I know in 1974, when nissan went to 2.6 liters in the Z, the foreign market 2600 engine put out 161HP at the crank, where the american version (different carbs and a smog control system on the US version) only produced 139 (130 and change, i forget whether it was 131 or 139). I can ship you your safety equipment, if you ship me your unsmogged engines :grin:
February 19, 200719 yr The 82 sedan I "owned" for 3 days had a chrome bumper that looked nice. Could you stick one of those on there?
February 19, 200719 yr Heh, we get alot more smog control equipment installed on US market vehicles, too.. that can rob some engines of power ... Absolutely True! No matter what some people can Argue about; My "Free of any Control" EA82 Weberized, (that got an Almost unrestricted -just the enough amount- 2" Exhaust, with No Obstructions on "Y" Pipe, no Cathalytic, no Muffler... Just a big Box in the Muffler`s site, with same size but Internally Open, just to Decrease Noise Level, and No Any engine`s Gas Control Things, such as EGR, etc... ) Feels Faster and Really IS Faster that other EA82`s I have repaired, of Friends, etc... Even feels more Powerfully than SPFI ones, that still got all the "Smog Control Equipment" Also, with the Weber Carb, not Only it Feels more Powerfully than Ever, Also the Engine`s Noise at Full Throtle, is Soo Delightful... ...I can ship you your safety equipment, if you ship me your unsmogged engines :grin: Well... Sounds like a Nice Idea... But I don`t think that`s Possible, due to the U.S.A. Laws about emmissions... But Thanx! JesZeK.
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