Almost done, but a couple problems: gear grind & brakes locked

[Inspar8r]

now you just need some LEDs

and wider rubber ;)

[surebimmer]

I would repalce the input and output shaft seals, shift selecter seal.

[grib]

Quick update on this - over the weekend I checked the MC and booster fork. I think you guys were right, the fork was a turn or two too long. There was also something strange with the MC - there is a little slotted plate in one of the ports where the reservoir plugs in. It looked like the

Anyway, the brakes are fixed - thanks for everyone's input!

Not so good news on the transmission. Everything seems to point to the synchros on second gear being really, really toast. (I probably have a "money $hifted" ZF.)

Fortunately there is a shop locally who will fix it for about $700. They seem to know BMWs/the transmission pretty well so I am confident that they know what they are doing. Has anyone else had this issue with a ZF320? Seems pretty common on the E36 M3 forum. Anything else they should replace while the transmission is opened up?

[rede30]

have you tried adjusting the fork at all? I really think you should check that, everything seems to point to this. The brakes wont be stuck all the time, driving it for a shot while will make it worse. Just take off the clip, pull the spring off, and screw in the fork.

[grib]

I'm going to try capping off the booster and running manually to isolate the problem to the booster. If that doesn't help then I'll start tearing stuff apart and replacing parts.

Thanks for the help. BTW: love the new sig pic Kyle.

[surebimmer]

That's the correct way. Don't know what to tell ya.

[grib]

There is a check valve netyen the booster and the intake manifold. Do you have that in place?

I do. Right now it's set up so that air can be blown from the booster to the manifold - is that correct?

Thanks,
Matt

[surebimmer]

There is a check valve between the booster and the intake manifold hose. Do you have that in place?

[grib]

Sticking Caliper?

Don't think so - it seems to be all four, or at least two on the same axle (car doesn't pull at all from it).

Is there a check valve anywhere in the brake Master Cyl. or Booster?

[surebimmer]

Sticking Caliper?

[grib]

Check the stop on the floor for the clutch mine was adjusted way out and had to be screwed back in to get a perfect clutch . I am running stock clutch master and e36 m3 slave with stock lines .

I tested the clutch on my downhill driveway this afternoon. The friction point is about 2-3 inches over the floor - so I don't think this is the problem, unfortunately. (Would have been an easy fix...)

Any other ideas?

[grib]

RE: transmission, why did you have to bend the rod?

I bent the selector rod slightly just to be sure it cleared the guibo. It also seems to shift better at this angle with the ZM shifter.

Check out this article for more details.

http://understeer.com/shiftlever.shtml

Eric - thanks for the suggestion on the stop. I'll try completely removing that and the floor mat to see if it helps. :-|

[grib]

Did you cut 7 cm off the 320i booster rod? The side that is inside the car that connects to your brake pedal. You would have to grind down the shaft making is shorter and smaller in diameter and rethread it for the adjuster.

Sounds like rede30 is right, you may have the brakes engadged and not know it.

Thanks for the replies. I cut the rod down to approximately the length of the e30 booster. I'll double-check the length this afternoon. I'm not sure this is it, because when the car is first started I don't have the problem. It only occurs after I have been driving for a few minutes and braked several times. If the problem was the booster rod being too long then it seems like the brakes would be locked all the time.

[ericzz]

Check the stop on the floor for the clutch mine was adjusted way out and had to be screwed back in to get a perfect clutch . I am running stock clutch master and e36 m3 slave with stock lines .

[BigD]

you need to adjust the booster fork, probably?

+1 sounds exactly like it (probably due to not downsizing the rod [enough])

RE: transmission, why did you have to bend the rod?