Hello,
I’ve always loved odd-ball cars, and recently I’ve been considering buying a 70s-80s car, and I’m particularly interested in a Subaru BRAT - it’s kind of an icon where I live.
Does anyone have any experience with that to look for on older cars?
And is there anything to know about Subaru Brats in particular?
Also as a side-note, are there any things I should know before buying a 40 year old car?
(I’m looking at late 80s Brats with about 120k miles and 4 speed manuals, I’m planing to immediately source a spare engine, replace the clutch, seals and get it a new paint job as soon as I buy one. And no im not planing to put more then 2k-3k miles a year, it’s more of a toy)
I lent a "friend" the money to buy a brat around 1982. It was a fun vehicle. He quit paying me back after a while. Lost friend and brat. Maybe you will end up with mine.
If you can find one those were tough old trucks back in their day. It could be a cool toy for you.
40 Year old cars you better not plan on it being a daily driver unless you replace just about everything. I'm currently restoring a 52 year old car and the problems are the same. Wiring harnesses. The insulation is old and brittle. Plan on replacing. All bushings and mounts, including body mounts, front suspension etc.. Engine and transmission seals. Brake lines. Even if it was in Arizona and is rust free. Nothing keeps rubber and plastic from dry rotting. I'm doing an Impala so there is a ton of aftermarket reproduction parts. If you understand the headaches with an older car, and can find sources for old Subaru Brat parts then have fun. If you just like the Body style the newer Baja's are cool. Just plan on head gasket replacement.
Thank you for the information.
I only plan on driving it a couple thousand miles a year.
Are mechanics still qualified to perform maintenance on these old cars? I’m afraid I definitely won’t be able to perform a head gasket replacement on it by my self…
The pushrod Subaru engines were not prone to head gasket problems and are in fact pretty much bulletproof as long as you don't overheat them. Also there is no timing chain or belt, the camshaft is gear-driven. Of course in a vehicle that age anything is possible. The engines are pretty easy to pull on those if you do need to work on them. (I've done it.)
Any good mechanic who actually understands how a car works versus just pulling computer codes should be able to work on it.
I was referring to the Baja's early 2000 models for the head gasket, not a bad vehicle if you liked the Brats. Usually in the brats it's the everything else, Brake lines, fuel lines, body mounts, anything plastic or rubber. You're right on those older motors. Usually the rest of the car falls apart around them.
Yes, I owned a couple of them back in the day. The pushrod boxer engines only made about 70 hp but were practically unkillable. Aside from problems with rubber parts, the bodies on those 1970s-1980s Subarus typically disintegrated around the engine after being exposed to winter salt for a few years. (That was pretty typical of Japanese cars of the time.)