I'm pumped!

 I've accomplished a few things since my last post.  I installed sound deadening material on the back wall of the cab in the Brat.  I already had done the floor a few years ago when I put in new carpet, but decided now was the time for the back wall since I had the panel removed to access the fuel lines. 

I decided to run a new fuel return line to replace the small and maybe inadequate stock one.  So I used a tubing bender and made a new hard line in 5/16 to match the supply.  It is quite crowded under the dash, but I was able to work it all under and around the pedals without too much trouble.  Should have just done it when I had the dash out.

The new return line emerges into the engine bay. 

Rather than pull the tank and braze a new 5/16 nipple on, I got one of those "retrofit" return line bungs where you drill a hole, and then by tightening a bolt, it smashes flat the inside to clamp it to the tank (think rivet) with an o ring to hopefully have a no drip seal.  My thought was if it leaks, I have to pull the tank anyway and I could patch it if it was no good. 

The new location for my filter/surge tank is just ahead of the passenger rear wheel. 

The new location for my high pressure pump is right behind the stock "lift" pump that feeds my surge tank now. 

I'm waiting for a few more feet of high pressure fuel line now to complete the runs under the hood, and then I'll be ready for a test drive!

Fuel line reconsideration

 My new fuel pump was dripping gas at the high pressure side, and when I tried to snug it up the plastic cracked. place. 

 Lamenting the destruction of my second fuel pump, I also realized my gut feeling that having all the fuel stuff (surge tank, high pressure pump) under the hood right next to the engine was unnecessary risk for vehicle fire. The leaking pump really drove it home that it wasn’t some far of chance of gasoline spewing out into the hot engine at some point. So I took a step back and removed my pump bracket, surge tank and am finding homes for them back by the gas tank where they can leak as much as they like without causing me stress. Since this move was slowing down my chances of actually driving the car this October, I decided to embrace the schedule adjustment and take time to do some things the right way instead of rushing. I mounted my surge tank on the passenger side rail opposite the stock pump.  I bent a 5/16 hard line to replace the 1/4 return line and another to carry the supply from the low pressure pump across the car to the surge tank. 

I still need to bend one more line. Bending lines is super fun old man stuff. I’m also going to replace the chewed up insulation behind the seats with some more insulating sound deadening material.  

You can see my new return line clipped into place. 

It runs again!

I figured out why I was having trouble putting the gauge cluster back into place, I was trying to line it up with the wrong holes.  Age has softened the impetuousness of youth and I did not just smash it in thankfully. Know when to smash and when not to smash is the sign of an experienced mechanic. My high pressure fuel pump got dropped too much and wasn’t working, so I ordered and received my new one from rock auto. I put it into place tonight and fired the car up! Pretty excited to hear it run again this time with the cat on so it was not deafening. I filled it with coolant and started it again to let it get up to temperature but stopped quickly as I noticed a fuel leak from the new high pressure pump. I’ll try to tighten it up tomorrow but I’ve got a nervousness about having all that gas fittings and pump under the hood now. If this thing burns down my sadness will be immeasurable and my day ruined. I may move the surge tank and fuel pump back closer to the gas tank, but I think I’ll take it for a spin once before I start removing components again making it immobile again. 

Chugging along

 Matt Bengry generously donated another Sunday to working on my brat. A little hot glue to water proof some splices under the hood. 

We got the fan relays wired up, the dash reinstalled and most of the wires hooked back up. I then proceeded to turn the key forward not realizing it was already in the on position, causing the car to turn over since the brat did not have a neutral safety switch and since it was in gear it drove itself off the sideways wheels it was sitting on instead of jack stands. No injuries to the people or car involved, just a lot of laughing at stupidity and glad we didn’t have to have a near miss safety meeting. We spent the last hour of working chasing some strange key gremlin where the key functions off, accessory, run and start all work correctly, but lock functions kind of like on, but with 10v instead of 12v.

I think the switch is funky and I’ll replace it since it is still available. I’m also failing at getting the gauge cluster to go back in place. More work to do, I need to put my specialist on it.  

I also did some grinding and removed the heat shield to get the cat to fit, you can see my addco sway bar mounted. 

Dash removal

 I removed my dash to get better access for installation of the new ecu and to also clean out the vents and replace the heater core. I found plenty of mouse droppings in the vents and a giant nest near the blower. I was able to sanitize the vents, so hopefully it won’t smell like mouse pee and blow hantavirus in my face.   I used a factory service manual to label my dash wires for splicing with the EJ ecu.

I also selected an unused function of my “telltale” light to act as my check engine light since the 82 Brat did not have one. It is the upper light which I think illuminates a halo strong the shape of the car image on the dash, I’m assuming it’s to indicate when you have the cabin lights on, but I’ve never seen it do anything. It’s visible enough to be useful and pretty enough that I can ignore it being on constantly. ;)

Brazen modficiation

 My stock Brat radiator has now been modified to accept 1.5" hose just like the stock EJ radiator.  I called around to many good independent auto repair shops in Lafayette and they all said that the only radiator repair guy they knew was Mark in Dayton and he is retired.  So I found a shop in Frankfort would said they could do it, so I had the radiator dropped off in the morning and they called me in the afternoon to say it was done.  

 

It was Jerry's Body shop & Radiator, I would highly recommend them, the end result was "a-brazing"!  

I finished up the shroud, bolted on the fans in place, and then dropped it into location.  

I found that the stock EJ hoses fit now very perfectly with only a little trimming of length from each end to shorten them up to compensate for the much closer radiator position and slightly more narrow radiator.  It is nice to know that I can use off the shelf hoses with a little trimming.  So much better than having to cobble together different size hoses and couplers.  I should probably put new hoses on it, but I'll just use these for the shakedown. It's starting to seem like a real car again, it's a great feeling to be completing tasks and crossing things off my list.  

I need to rig up a temporary exhaust, as the headers just dump right out at the moment under the passenger floorboard.  Once I get it driving I'll take it to a muffler shop and have them build the pipe to fit so I can incorporate the stock cat and resonator and O2 sensors.  A little of the iconic subaru boxer sound would be nice, but what I'm actually after is quiet enough that I can hear my radio.  

The last big project that remains is the permanent installation of the ECU and wiring harness.  I will pull the dash for install and replace the heater core while I'm in there.  I already modified the EJ ECU to fit into the space for where the 82 computer controlled carburetor controller was housed under the steering wheel.  

   

Radiator shroud & fans

 There is no room for stock EA fans, although one of them would fit with a little trimming.  I decided to build a shroud and use electric puller fans.  I want to reserve the space where the condenser goes so that I retain the option to get my AC installed and going without having to re-do any of the work for the cooling system.  Pusher fans would take that space, plus with the cyclops light on the Brat there is even less room behind the grill for extra fans.  I settled on the following design.  There is about 10" on the left side of the crank pulley where the motor sits 3.5" away from the timing belt cover.  There is about 6 inches on the right side of the crank pulley where the timing belt cover is 3.5" away from the radiator.  

 

 

A 10" fan fits nicely on the left but a 6" seems to approach too closely to the crank pulley for comfort.  So I opted to install two 5" fans on the right so the crank pulley can nest down inside, with the 10" fan on the left. The shroud serves to hold the fan in place and also to force the fan to draw air through the radiator.  If there was no shroud, some air would come through the radiator but most would just come from around the radiator.  Using a shroud essentially turns the puller fan into a vacuum that forces air through the radiator. 

I cut the holes into a sheet of 16ga steel which if I was doing it again I would probably make from aluminum and maybe a lighter gauge.  It is heavier than I anticipated.  I cut the holes and I'll decide how to secure the fans.  I may just drill through and use a button head screw, but I might also weld tabs on the motor side and use the captive nut slots on the SPAL fans.  They are lo-profile and are really quite slim, they seem high quality, I'm glad to have laid out the extra money for the SPAL name instead of a generic fan.