914er's project "SPOILED BRAT" progress thread

[06wrx4me]

Awesome!!

[FyrHazard]

I just found this thread and am promptly subscribing! That thing is nice. Good work. I've always liked the Brats.

[78sti]

Hi there

I found this thread surfing the net and am sorry to say that a wrx motor can fit in a 78 brat (brumby here) as I have done it about 6 years ago.

It is a crap load of work though as the rails have to be widened quite a lot!

My brumby has a 98 wrx motor and drivetrain 5 stud conversion, wrx brakes (4 pot) 450hp turbo and lots of other bits along the way

If you want any info let me know

Total cost of my ute was about 15k aud but I did everything myslef.

Cheers Troy

[mycologist]

Hi there

I found this thread surfing the net and am sorry to say that a wrx motor can fit in a 78 brat (brumby here) as I have done it about 6 years ago.

It is a crap load of work though as the rails have to be widened quite a lot!

My brumby has a 98 wrx motor and drivetrain 5 stud conversion, wrx brakes (4 pot) 450hp turbo and lots of other bits along the way

If you want any info let me know

Total cost of my ute was about 15k aud but I did everything myslef.

Cheers Troy

[Trainrex]

Hi there

I found this thread surfing the net and am sorry to say that a wrx motor can fit in a 78 brat (brumby here) as I have done it about 6 years ago.

It is a crap load of work though as the rails have to be widened quite a lot!

My brumby has a 98 wrx motor and drivetrain 5 stud conversion, wrx brakes (4 pot) 450hp turbo and lots of other bits along the way

If you want any info let me know

Total cost of my ute was about 15k aud but I did everything myslef.

Cheers Troy

Very very cool, but it looks like you accidentally put the steering column on the wrong side!

[ninefourteener]

Holy crap..... that is amazing!

Did you have to replace the whole front subframe with a later-year Brat model?? I've heard that that is about the only way it can be done??

Or did you just notch the framerails?? Is there anything left of the framerails? How far did you have to cut into them??

[78sti]

The rails were moved/ pushed out from in front of the crossmember by removing a wedge shape peice from the inner guard, cutting through the bottom radiator support and cutting through bottom half of headlight frame (around the chasie rail). The the rail was pushed accross and everything was welded back up and strengthened and made to look like nothing had changed.

The crossmember had massive modifications as well as the engine hit the crossmember on the edges and a huge cutout was required for the exhaust up pipe.

The gearbox only just fit (about 5mm) and the motor and box was actually lowered in the car a little to fit. I probably should have put a larger tunnel in.

After that everything else was pretty much straight forward!

The build took me 1 year to do the modifications/ conversion and about another year to do the body work paint and interior.

[78sti]

A bit more on motor options.

-ea81 turbo out of later brats but not that exiciting!

will drop straight in but you will need the gearbox as well, the best box for this is a late 80's 5 speed this will bolt to this motor and the front driveshafts will fit straigh on (i think) all you need to do is make a suitable gearbox support crossmember, mount and shorten the linkages and get a longer tailshaft made. You may also need to mod the steering coupling where it comes out of the rack.

-Ea82 turbo not worth the trouble.

-EJ22 sohc this would be the best option as it will fit with minimal modification, I am sure a performance shop could do something special with this also, you may be able to use these heads on a wrx motor with custom cams? or I have also seen these supercharged.

Use the gearbox that comes with this motor the front driveshafts do line up and can be made to fit by using second hand bits from other subarus. Again tailshaft, crossmember and linkages will be required.

-EJ20 turbo dohc as you are aware this requires massive amounts of work but I did not want to settle for anything less.

I would suggest what ever you do CHANGE THE GEARBOX these old boxes will brake with and sort of power in front of them. It was common in the 80's to upgrade these to later boxes even with the origional motor.

[ninefourteener]

Man.... that's a pretty impressive build. I dunno man.... I haven't even had the time to put it back together after the paint. Its to the point now where I just want to get it registered so I can drive it loll.

[ninefourteener]

So...... I found these pair of Brats for sale on KSL. I'd love to have them both... but I have no place to put them..... and man.,..... these things are ROUGH.... WAY worse than mine was when I bought it.... and they haven't run in YEARS...... just about like every other Brat you see.

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218...=subaru%20brat

Anyway.... I was able to convince the owner to sell me just the brush guard for $50. I have NEVER seen one of these for sale... EVER.... ANYWHERE. OEM Brat parts are tough enough to find.... but original aftermarket parts from the 1970s??? .... are damn near impossible.

I bet I could sell this thing on eBay for over $300.... yay me!

Anyway.. I HATE the look of the front bumper, and I've vowed not to use it.... but this should help me get through inspections, and look pretty damn cool too. I'm going to add a cross bar to serve as a "bumper"... which should just be a matter of welding a straight pipe across the middle of it that is the same width as the car. Then, I'm going to have it powdercoated chrome to match my new OEM rear bumper

So here it is.... in all of it's infinite uglyness..... but it's not rusted through, and should look fantastic after a good sandblasting and powdercoat.

Got my OEM BRAT decals installed yesterday evening as well!!!!! Custom made by B&R sign in Oregon..... in SILVER Still haven't removed the application tape yet.. more pics to follow in the next day or two though!!

[ninefourteener]

Man...... I got SOOOOOOOO much done today...

1) Peeled off the contact paper for the new decals
2) Popped about 1000 little bubbles and smoothed it out.
3) Got the headlights working, high and low beams (that has NEVER worked since I've owned it)
4) All marker lights on all 4 corners working (also never worked)
5) license plate lights working for the first time.
6) installed a 40 amp circuit breaker to replace bad fusable link
7) cleaned and replaced fusebox (badly corroded) and installed all new fuses.

Still to do:

1) overheating problem (knew about that when I bought it)
2) Horn
3) powdercoat new front brush guard chrome
4) tires
6) paint wheels silver to match stripes
7) seats
8) seatbelts
9) pass inspection.... get it registered

Today's pics:

[Mikie13]

Badass!!!

Throw some Hellas or PIAAs on the crash bar!

[Sinister]

she's lookin good!

[ninefourteener]

Badass!!!

Throw some Hellas or PIAAs on the crash bar!

Thanks man!!

I dunno..... I LOVE the look of the front end of this car so much.... It's my favorite aspect of this car, and the reason I insisted on a 1st gen Brat..... I hate to clutter it up.

The brush guard (or crash bar) is really just an "attempt" to make it legal and get it through inspections, while still maintaining the integrity and good looks of the front end.

Because I REFUSE to put the front bumper back on (although I still have it, just in case the inspection folks give me a hard time)... it is so f-ing ugly, and such a huge design flaw on these cars.

[Mikie13]

Thanks man!!

I dunno..... I LOVE the look of the front end of this car so much.... It's my favorite aspect of this car, and the reason I insisted on a 1st gen Brat..... I hate to clutter it up.

The brush guard (or crash bar) is really just an "attempt" to make it legal and get it through inspections, while still maintaining the integrity and good looks of the front end.

Because I REFUSE to put the front bumper back on (although I still have it, just in case the inspection folks give me a hard time)... it is so f-ing ugly, and such a huge design flaw on these cars.

I agree with you on the looks. It looks great and will look great with the brush guard on it IMO. Hopefully it does work out for you. IMO, I don't think lights on the bar would clutter it up at all...but then again, its your Brat