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Subaru Brat (Metallic Special) Build - #84237

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Welcome to my Subaru Brat Metallic Special build thread :)

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For anyone who came across my Hotshot Metallic Special and Avante Black Special build threads you will know that I like ReRe's and especially Special edition ReRe's (btw, what is plural for ReRe models? ReRis?, a Murder of Re?). While it may just look like I am addicted to bling (probably true), these particular kits that I chose do have a significance to me seeded deep within my youth....

Background

Growing up in Brisbane in the 80's was quite an experience. Much like in America - Cars had a significant impact on the culture of the country and the neighbourhood kids would often be debating who's Dad's car was fastest or talking about cars they had seen doing burnouts or racing at Magnesium drive. Some of the 'legendary' cars of the time I can recall were the Torana SLR5000, Brock Commodore, Falcon GT, and Holden Monaro and Holden One Tonner Ute, all of which were V8's in their top end guise with a throaty growl at idle and the sound of thunder when they opened up properly.

For those not from Australia - the term 'Ute' is short for Utility vehicle and these were particularly useful for backyard clear outs, moving stuff around, hobbies with motorbikes etc etc an alround workhorse that could play just as hard as it could work. Compared to now Subaru seemed like a relatively unknown brand back then and had the conotation of a 'cheapy Asian manufacturer' as opposed to a serious car manufacturer. In those days Subarus didn't have turbocharged engines let alone V8's so they were definately not cool and powerful muscle cars to us young kids on our BMX bikes.... however there was something about them, a quirky kind of 'happiness' and charasmatic flair which enticed the young mind... particularly in light of the fact that they were 4wd which was rare and cool (also useful for beach running or bush bashing).

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In Australia the Brat was known as the Subaru Brumby, when I turned 17 and got my license I had been looking at cars and wanted to buy either a Celica or a Brumby. A Celica came up at the right price so I went with that, never excercising the 'urge' to finally get a Brumby..... Until now.... :)

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Great Story.

Love it and always loved the Brumby. We run our Brats at Boondal if you still live here in Brisbane.Would be good to catch up.

Looking forward to the build :)

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Great Story.

Love it and always loved the Brumby. We run our Brats at Boondal if you still live here in Brisbane.Would be good to catch up.

Looking forward to the build :)

Thanks! I moved to Ireland around 2001 so unfortunately can't make it to Boondall. I'd love to check it out though so next time I visit Bris I will try to track you guys down.

A little bit more background

My memories of the Brumby were a bit foggy so I did a bit of a hunt around on the web. Quite an amazing collection of pictures on there. In terms of the 1:1 car it had some very quirky features, like seats in the back (you don't want to be in a rollover though) and also the spare tire was located in the engine bay. That last one I find particularly perculiar as I am sure it's not good for the rubber getting baked like that every time you drive and also if you do get a flat you would need to wait (maybe an hour or so?) for the spare wheel to cool down before you could even take it out of there LOL

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Ah the good old days before all this safety Malarky got in the way of a bit of fun..... :D

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Still the Brat has that redeaming quality of being 'Fun on wheels' and I hope to be able to capture that feeling in this build - especially with my Polycarb paint job.

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Look forward to your build mate, my first rc was a Brat, although my dad had turned it into a frog befoure I received it on x-mas day 1985.

Chris

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Look forward to your build mate, my first rc was a Brat, although my dad had turned it into a frog befoure I received it on x-mas day 1985.

Chris

Awesome!

Just one more piece of relevance folks, this weekend it will be Australia day on Sunday. Unfortunately I can't make it to Australia for the day but hopefully I can do some stuff on the Brat as my own way of celebrating.

On with the build!!!

First for me is always the unboxing. Holding the Brat box in hand you can feel it is surprisingly weighty. The box art make it look definitively 80's. I think the MS box is identical bar an extra sticker in the top left corner denoting it as a Metallic Special. There's no advertising of Hop up parts on the side panels but they do show the (included) changeable gear ratios which is nice. There is reference to 1983 on the box and also 2007 - maybe I am quite late to the party with this build??

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Awesome!

Just one more piece of relevance folks, this weekend it will be Australia day on Sunday. Unfortunately I can't make it to Australia for the day but hopefully I can do some stuff on the Brat as my own way of celebrating.

On with the build!!!

First for me is always the unboxing. Holding the Brat box in hand you can feel it is surprisingly weighty. The box art make it look definitively 80's. I think the MS box is identical bar an extra sticker in the top left corner denoting it as a Metallic Special. There's no advertising of Hop up parts on the side panels but they do show the (included) changeable gear ratios which is nice. There is reference to 1983 on the box and also 2007 - maybe I am quite late to the party with this build??

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Looking forward to this.

Lovely worktop BTW :)

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Popping the cover and now I can see why this box is heavy... it's jam packed with stuff inside! There's lots of shiny bling bling between the regular chrome parts, chromed chassis, and also the metallic hardbody. There's also a set of bearings throne in there too.

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Underneath the chrome parts is the polycarbonite shell, plastiglass for the hardbody and a few roll cage bits

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Moving along and we find suspension components and the wheels which are an interesting split rim design. I'm looking forward to seeing how these go together

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Finally the rest of the 'loose' parts are an aerial, bumper, wheels, stickers, manual, and the intriguing maroon accessories box which turns out to be full to the brim!

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Moving to my kitchen table, I moved the parts from bags A through E in to their own containers and then started with step 1 which called for the very pretty chromed frames

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The frames are a reasonably complicated casting which are joined in the front by aluminium inserts, in the centre by a combination of plastic and steel and at the back by the gearbox assembly. I found it easiest to build one side of the frame first and then join the second side on to that.

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Step 2 of the build calls for 'Metal parts' from the tasty looking metal parts bag:

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In this case it's these parts we are looking for (the Dubro driver does not come in the kit):

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And assembled like so:

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Quandry build threads have become one of the simple joys of Tamiyaclub for me - even when the build is not so simple!

Looking forward to this one :)

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Great stuff.

Pitty you not back in OZ but that's life. Let us know when you come out for a visit and we will have some Ales talking about the amazing Brat/Brumby.

Another huge feature of the 1:1 Brat is that it was the first utility in America if not in the world to feature bucket seats from what I read.

Love my Brat and is so awesome on the beach.

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I am really starting to look at the Brat myself now as there have been a few in threads lately. Plus who doesn't enjoy a 'Quandry Build' :):):)

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I need to stop reading your build threads mate as I really have to many tamiya's om my want list and I'd left the brat off as I only really used mine as a frog .... Which my lovely wife bought me last x-mas. Although that mettalic special would be a nice addition to my collection.

Chris

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Lucky I already have one of these otherwise I'd be tempted by your tgread to get one. Looking forward to the same detail you had in the other threads. Are you going to consider any mods om the gearbox?

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Lucky I already have one of these otherwise I'd be tempted by your tgread to get one. Looking forward to the same detail you had in the other threads. Are you going to consider any mods om the gearbox?

So far no mods planned, I did put bearings in there though.....

!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY TO FELLOW AUSSIE TC MEMBERS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And on with the build... The next steps involve breaking in to the very tasty metal parts bag..

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From this we pickup the radius and steering arms/knuckles and then go on to fit them with pins, suspension arms and fittings

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Now with the suspension arm assemblies ready and assembled it is time to fit the front body post and also fit the front friction shock assembly.

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First I put toghether the body post

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Included in Tamiya's generous 'grease pack' is a standard tub of 'Anti Wear' grease. Tamiya instruct us to smear this around the shock pistons, fit the spring, and then install them inside of the chassis rail. The angle brackets are then affixed over these in preperation for the suspension arms to be attached.

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The suspension arms work as a clever lever against the sprung piston. I really like this design although it would be nice to have oil damping included also... oh well.

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Interestingly some of the nuts used to secure the suspension arms can not be done up with the Tamiya tool as it fouls against teh chassis rails. I did find however that the spanner that comes in the Avante kit does a great job, so for anyone who is planning on building a Brat - now you have an excuse for buying an Avante also! :)

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After securing the radius arms, Tamiya instruct us to mount the front bumper

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The next area we focus on is the gearbox, and in step 7 we are focussed with a key decision - what gear ratio to use? There are three options made up of different spur gears and different pinions. I chose to run with the 'high speed' option, because I am installing a GT motor which already has a lot of torque available.

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Interesting configuration... I have not used a setup like this before..

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The gearbox uses stamped metal side plates and also a quite 'thin' design which is different to the other Tamiya boxes I have worked on. Tamiya do rely on some plastic bushings with this configuration, albeit running on metal inner bearings. I first did a mockup of the gearbox, and then later went through an applied relevant grease etc.

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And finally a few self tapping screws then sees the gearbox affixed to the chassis proper.

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More updates tomorrow!

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Step 10 in the Brat build instructions is to trim the axle boot and grease the dogbones with AW. This reminded me a lot of the Wild One axle setup, so I decided to hold on trimming until I could fit the components and in that way hopefully get it just right.

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So I moved on to fitting the rear suspension arms

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Tamiya tell us to pin the axles which is handy as then stuff isn't falling out when you're test fitting or moving in to place.

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Good to see a step by step build. Ive built dozens of these and always enjoy em. Not just me that builds cars over the manual!

Pity tamiya didn't chrome the roll bar tree - missed a trick in my opinion.

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