Buying a used Subaru Brat

A Brat can be one of the easiest to maintain and drive vehicles that was ever produced. I have owned nearly a dozen and have 3 now. I have a 77 or a Gen.1 and drive an '82 or Gen 2, also the first year of that car. The '82 is a one of car, none of the other years are like it in many ways and there are parts that will not interchange, it is also one of the most desireable Brat's. When considering buying a Brat, the most important consideration is rust! If it has any in anything but the front fenders, pass. It is very difficult to really stop it once it has started and most of the Brat's that spent there time in the snow states are rotted to pieces. Mostly the rockers, floors, the upper shock mount in the rear wheel well, also one of the most difficult to fix, and the front strut towers, impossible to fix!A lot of these places were collectors of water or were not kept up and salt and other road chemicals crept in and ruined them. There is some after market parts available for these cars, but they are hard to find and some are of dubious quality. I have seen many that a lot of time and money was spent on them only to have it bubble back through in a couple of years. This means finding a car from the southern tier of the country. My '82 was delivered to San Diego and spent the first 20 years of its life there. It has no rust at all. I striped it to bare metal and sandblasted the underneath before restoration just to be sure while correcting the collection places that are known to exist.
Most of the mechanical parts are still available either through the usual parts suppliers or through speciality shops. Parts that are getting hard to gee by are the ones that break or wear out first. These are things like rubber and door parts, hinges in the Gen 1 are really prone to wear and cause the doors to sag, usually the drivers door. Trim around the bed which was a really bad idea, is usually really dented up especially the piece on the tailgate. These parts are getting very scarce in nice condition. Mechanically the Brat really shines, it is not ungemon to get descent performance out of an engine long after 200,000 miles. Don't let it having 125,000 and being a solid car scare you away from it, it is much easier to repair the running gear than the sheet metal. This brings up another point, if you are thinking of changing engines, make darn sure you get all the electrical harnes and geponents that go with that engine or you are in for a really hard way to go. My '82 was the last year without a geputer, the next years engine was made to run with an 02 sensor and the brain. I have seen EJ engines installed in them, and when done correctly they really move, but it is not a job for the non-Subaru fanatic. I prefer the EA-81 engine to the later EA-82 because it does not need timing belts and for the extra parts it benifited very little in horsepower. They are however cheaper and easier to gee by and Brats from 85-87 will have one anyway. Ask questions, the first one I bought I asked about rust 3 times and was told it had none, when I first saw it you could poke your finger through it in several places, tell the owner it is a deal breaker. I should have walked away from it, but I had already paid for it. Make sure you can inspect it if at all possible, if you are going to keep it like I am mine, then it is worth the effort to make sure you won't be chassing rust for the entire time you own it. With the T-tops out and the rear slider open they are a blast to drive and there is almost no where they won't go. You will find out why everyone wants one. Good luck and hunt down south!