Subaru Brat STi: Chassis modifications

Getting the engine to fit required cutting out the forward half of the underhood detail in the Brat. Lining the final drive output with the wheel wells positions the engine well forward, and the next step will be figuring out how to get the grille and lower valance (or some replacement part) to fit. One approach would be to slice off the pulleys for the auxiliary drives, but that would be cheating...

 

The engine leaves a lot of room between it and the firewall. There will be lots of room for batteries, ECUs and various bits and bobs, but the radiator will get relocated into the pickup bed under a wing of some sort.

The suspension also had to be lowered substantially from the jacked up 4X4 stance. 4 mm (about 4" at scale) were taken out of the front springs, and the lower A-arms were cut off and moved up a similar amount. In the rear it will be simply a matter of rotating trailing arms about their mounting points as if the suspension were in full rebound. I think it looks good with the Minilites; the fenders may need to be radiused and possibly flared to get them to fit properly, though.

This would be the basis for a nice mid-engine car as well; food for thought. Maybe I need another kit... Stay tuned!