Australian "BRAT"

Green_eyed_liberty · Post by **Green_eyed_liberty** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 8:47 pm

a few years on from my Blue Targa i have dived in and snapped up another Targa for another project.

if you can remember the Bluey she had 2' lift, mud tires and all round fun

meet her older sister: (coupe is my uncles)

the plan for her is somewhat different to her sister. i wish to 'copy' the American Themed BRAT to an extent. she will have the Jump Seats (will see if its possible to legally run them, otherwise decoration), the Side Steps, the BRAT decals and stripes.

sitting lower on some 16" Simmons running the ********* kit, wrx lowered shocks or coilovers up front, lowered torsion or coilovers down back.

engine wise will depend on what halfcut i can find

ahh the fun of projects

Proton mouse · Post by **Proton mouse** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 9:34 pm

I'm salivating already with just the outline of what's to come!!
Good luck with the build

Tweety · Post by **Tweety** » Mon Apr 13, 2015 11:10 pm

i'm excited and my ride isnt a Brumby/brat lol

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Thu May 21, 2015 9:56 pm

Keen to know how you get along with those jump seats!

Cheers

Bennie

Green_eyed_liberty · Post by **Green_eyed_liberty** » Fri May 22, 2015 4:52 pm

at the moment havent done alot, as waiting to build a high-roof shed so i can have a hoist.

have just been collecting parts

Brakes (JUST clear the 16" Simmons)

GC8 STI struts/springs (guessing height)

got a new front bumper and headlights

dfoyl · Post by **dfoyl** » Fri May 22, 2015 6:20 pm

Going the USDM full rear bar also, or sticking with the local type?

Green_eyed_liberty · Post by **Green_eyed_liberty** » Fri May 22, 2015 7:10 pm

if i can find a full rear in good condition i will. (i have a chrome coupe rear bumper)

if not the local type works

Green_eyed_liberty · Post by **Green_eyed_liberty** » Mon Jun 22, 2015 6:41 pm

bit of an update

playing with the Brumby again

installed the 5stud kit, the 4/2 pots and replaced the boots that needed to be replaced
(working on CV joints is a nightmare)

Proton mouse · Post by **Proton mouse** » Mon Jun 22, 2015 9:37 pm

Mate those wheels look great!!
It must be awful having to work under those conditions though, hoist and all...
Don't those black posts and beams keep getting in the way? lol
Don't talk about CV's, I have to get some custom made as I used L series LCA's with Liberty bearing hub/brake assy

Cant wait to see how yours turns out!!

Green_eyed_liberty · Post by **Green_eyed_liberty** » Tue Jun 23, 2015 7:35 pm

i got the 4post over the 2post for a few reasons.

the car needs to be perfectly balanced on a 2post otherwise death happens. 4post works any old way (within reason)

the 4post lifts the car high enough that you can easly walk around/under/through without any issues at all.
(plus i have the pneumatic lift which lifts the car off the ramps to remove wheels/suspension)

and most of all. you can store a car up on top and a car underneath. it wasnt recommended doing that with a 2post

Going to go down after dinner and install my handbrake (using a Forester unit)

getting alot of enjoyment out of this project

no real headaches yet (fingers crossed)

Green_eyed_liberty · Post by **Green_eyed_liberty** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 7:59 pm

installed the handbrake (04 XT), put in the bigger brake master.. bled the system

then went to take it for a drive.. well turns out i didnt build the CV properly, it shattered

so took them into a CV shop this morn to let the professionals handle it.

put some in some spare stubs into the hubs and took it for a drive in RWD.. didnt really preform how it imagined. something is miss-aligned in the rear (or severly warped rotor) plus i see that the brake master is weeping oil.

so a few issues to iron out

Fronts

Rears

Green_eyed_liberty · Post by **Green_eyed_liberty** » Sun Jul 05, 2015 5:56 pm

so found out the rear calipers where rubbing on the calipers. ended up machining a 3mm spacer to sit behind the ********* spindle. fixed the issue beautifully

new CV shafts went in, been driving the last few days.. seems i am getting bubbles in my overflow coolant bottle?

a bit more playing around..

dfoyl · Post by **dfoyl** » Sun Jul 05, 2015 7:41 pm

I see you have the same offset as I have on your 5-stud's. 16x7" it looks like ? Mine are 15x6" and handling is down from the old 14" pugs which had about a +30 offset instead of the standard Subaru +47 offset. I'm seriously considering 25mm spacers just to get the wheels back to where they should be.

How did you route the handbrake cables, and did you have to do any mod's to the 04 XT handbrake to make them fit ?

Green_eyed_liberty · Post by **Green_eyed_liberty** » Sun Jul 05, 2015 8:09 pm

dfoyl wrote:I see you have the same offset as I have on your 5-stud's. 16x7" it looks like ? Mine are 15x6" and handling is down from the old 14" pugs which had about a +30 offset instead of the standard Subaru +47 offset. I'm seriously considering 25mm spacers just to get the wheels back to where they should be.

How did you route the handbrake cables, and did you have to do any mod's to the 04 XT handbrake to make them fit ?

i will be getting new wider barrels done to bring the offset back out. so from 16x7 to a 16x8 or 8.5

i drilled two holes in the rear wall above the trans tunnel, run the two cables through with rubber grommets. then bolted the new handbrake in (new holes into the trans tunnel with M10 bolts and decent plate underneath to spread the load), also bolted down the cable retention clamps behind the handbrake (OEM Forester style). under the carpet, and most of it is under the factory center console

dfoyl · Post by **dfoyl** » Sun Jul 05, 2015 8:45 pm

Going from 16x7 to 16x8 is going to mean 215 or wider tyres, which will mean your rolling diameter is going to be taller than stock (throwing your speedo out). Unless you're planning on rubber band wheels - I worked out 8" rims would mean 40 profile tyres, and 215/40/16 aren't common (there are options out there, but companies like Bridgestone don't do anything in that size).

(16x7 means you can run 195/45, which is only 1.16% taller than stock).

My handbrake run is essentially the same but I used a Liberty - however the travel of the Liberty handle doesn't clear the top of the console AND when dis-engaged it hits the plastic cover in the middle of the console. Would be great to see a photo of yours with the cover removed if possible.

Green_eyed_liberty · Post by **Green_eyed_liberty** » Mon Jul 06, 2015 8:39 am

dfoyl wrote:Going from 16x7 to 16x8 is going to mean 215 or wider tyres, which will mean your rolling diameter is going to be taller than stock (throwing your speedo out). Unless you're planning on rubber band wheels - I worked out 8" rims would mean 40 profile tyres, and 215/40/16 aren't common (there are options out there, but companies like Bridgestone don't do anything in that size).

(16x7 means you can run 195/45, which is only 1.16% taller than stock).

My handbrake run is essentially the same but I used a Liberty - however the travel of the Liberty handle doesn't clear the top of the console AND when dis-engaged it hits the plastic cover in the middle of the console. Would be great to see a photo of yours with the cover removed if possible.

when i pull the vynal out to replace with carpet. i will get a few pictures for you

henpecked · Post by **henpecked** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 9:21 pm

Green_eyed_liberty wrote:at the moment havent done alot, as waiting to build a high-roof shed so i can have a hoist.

have just been collecting parts

got a new front bumper and headlights

How are the new headlights going for you ?

did you get HIDs ?
Are the inners "spoties" ?
If not HIDs did you alter the wiring to run all bulbs together on "high " ?

cheers

Green_eyed_liberty · Post by **Green_eyed_liberty** » Sun Jul 12, 2015 4:34 pm

henpecked wrote:How are the new headlights going for you ?

did you get HIDs ?
Are the inners "spoties" ?
If not HIDs did you alter the wiring to run all bulbs together on "high " ?

cheers

i went back to the stockies for the moment as the light output from the aftermarket headlights where crap (could of been the stock wiring)

dfoyl · Post by **dfoyl** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 12:21 pm

>i drilled two holes in the rear wall above the trans tunnel, run the two cables through with rubber grommets. then bolted the new handbrake in (new holes into the trans tunnel with M10 bolts and decent plate underneath to spread the load), also bolted down the cable retention clamps behind the handbrake (OEM Forester style). under the carpet, and most of it is under the factory centre console

I did a bit of work on replicating this on the weekend, except I cut off the "reverse J" handbrake cable guide/channel from the Liberty and bolted it to the stock MY design. This way I can use the OEM factory nutserts for the stock handbrake instead of bolting through the transmission tunnel. My initial problem was the left and right brakes weren't pulling an even amount as the factory clamp uses a lock in design on one side and bolted down on the other side - and the lock-in side had pulled out due to insufficient engagement. I corrected that, but the other problem of insufficient engagement on the handbrake cable still exists. I routed the reverse J channel so it was tilted about 45 degrees towards the back of the car (instead of the factory design which comes out basically heading straight up), but the amount of travel just isn't sufficient.

dfoyl · Post by **dfoyl** » Mon Jul 13, 2015 12:27 pm

I'm thinking of changing the routing so the cables run under the car (in the driveshaft channel) so (a) they can't be seen under the carpet (vinyl), and (b) it means the handbrake cable is pulled up and back rather than around and up. The only problem I can see is possible interference with the driveshaft (exhaust is far enough away) and running bolts up into the cab to hold the cable retention plate. The cables sitting under the vinyl makes the vinyl not attach to the locking pins on the floor near the driveshaft channel (vinyl doesn't stretch enough).