Smackley's Alpine vert grocery getter

[smackley]

Rebuilding an old set of +'96 /M control arms with e30 ball joints.



Hacked up some old struts, and installed Koni inserts.



Picked these up from a local shop that was stripping a '97m3.


Craigslist find.

[smackley]

Since the engine was still free hanging, I went ahead and did the oil pan gasket. I used a cork one, but put a little coating of RTV. The old gasket was burnt to a crisp, and the previous owner appears to have just put gobs of RTV on the OUTSIDE of the oilpan to try and stop the leak. It took forever to get it all off, but it cleans up nice.

[smackley]

Time for another distraction.

Back in the summer of 2015, our team's Chump e30 met the outside wall at turn 10 of VIR. Our team captain was brave enough to see if we could repair the damage to the car's body. The nose took a good hit, and bent all body work forward of the firewall. We decided we'd cut it off, and weld on the front end from a donor car.

This was a very painstaking process, but we are getting close to getting her rolling again. We have more pictures of this process than I know what to do with, so I'll just post a couple so you get the idea.





donor car

[smackley]

Team captain's time lapse videos of the chump repair:

Lifting the car at the track after the damage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qchT9hyzysU

Some of the repair process:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9VbHW8HubI

Pulling the motor...again...because it died...again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D49...ature=youtu.be

[Twelve80]

Sean, you need a bigger garage! I'm gonna start that build thread for that rust bucket budget track e30 here tonight.

[smackley]

Sean, you need a bigger garage! I'm gonna start that build thread for that rust bucket budget track e30 here tonight.

Good. My hands still have grease/oil stains that will probably never wash out.

[smackley]

Back to the vert:

I finished the power steering rebuild last week.

These white plastic o-ring protectors were a pain to get on the pinion gear. Pro-tip. Warm them up in a cup of very hot water for a bit before you attempt to put these on.


Some people had a hard time getting the final seal/gasket out of the rack housing (the last gasket you remove, that the rack slides through inside the housing). I found an easy removal method instead of the "find a long rod that can catch the lip of the gasket...bang with hammer" method. Just take a shop rag and stuff it down the driver's side of the rack housing, then take a long socket extension and force the rag through the gasket. It should be enough friction to just pull the gasket and nylon washer out with it.

All done.


Subframe re-assembled with new engine mounts and all new hardware. Pro-tip: don't pre-assemble steering rack like I did here. It makes forcing the rack over the steering knuckle a very curse-word-prone process. Just get the subframe up enough to just barely start the threads on the subframe bolts, then angle in the steering rack as you slide it into the steering knuckle. Also, steering rack-to-subframe mounting bolts go up in towards the engine with the nuts on the top side of the bolt. This makes removing them possible without having to raise the engine/lower the subframe fully...should you need to remove the rack later.

[smackley]

Subframe and rack installed:


New tie rods and boots:


...and another new box of parts arrived!

[smackley]

I also discovered that my front ABS sensor connectors have crumbled to pieces. The connector inside the car is that orange 2 pin barrel connector type, and since I'll have to splice in the e36 wheel speed sensors, I may as well cut these out.


I'm going to try to crimp on a Delphi 2 pin weatherproof connector and see if that works.

[smackley]

Thanks to MrSlacker for the suspension sale, and quick shipping! I picked up a set of H&R cabrio sport springs.


I added e90 drop hats in hopes to find just the right ride height for this combo. Everything seems centered (caster) in the wheel well.


Brakes and hardware installed.


DS2's installed, and dropped it on the ground for the first time in months!

[TimeMachinE30]

There is a lot going on here. Well done.

[smackley]

There is a lot going on here. Well done.

Yep, always a lot going on. More than I really have time for. Thanks!

Now on to some small updates:

With the back end finally in the air, I began the rear 5 lug swap. I snagged a couple trailing arms from a 2.8l Z3, which were complete with brakes, cables, axles, etc...just in case I needed any of that. I pressed out the hubs, and cleaned up the calipers to go on the vert.


I have a bunch of pics of this process, but I'll just link a few. I ended up using the threaded rod from a spring compressor, linked with some dies/piping, to "press" out the hubs and wheel bearings. It saved me the headache of removed the whole trailing arms, again.




New FAG bearings pressed in. I used the old bearing to get it recessed into the hub.


I also noticed that the new hub seemed a bit wobbly after pressing it into the bearing. I had read some posts where people feared they had ruined their new bearings when pressing in the hub with a slide hammer, or brute force. On closer look, it was just that the inside inner bearing race was not pressed all the way onto the wheel hub. I added a rear bearing die of the same diameter of the inner race to the back of my "jig" and torqued down on it a bit. That really helped press both inner races together and tightened up the new bearing. In the end, I think the cv axle and outer cv nut would have had the same effect. Short story, don't freak out if you think your brand new wheel bearing and hubs seem wobbly.

[Das Delfin]

I had no idea a 5 lug swap was that easy. Your car looks great on those wheels btw!

[smackley]

Tanks

I had no idea a 5 lug swap was that easy. Your car looks great on those wheels btw!

Thanks! I like the DS2's on the e30. I think they almost look original to the era...almost.

The install is pretty easy. If someone is competent enough to press out/in a wheel bearing, they can do this whole job in a weekend. The hard part was finding all the parts needed for the rear end. It seems that z3 6cyl rear hubs are getting harder to come by, let alone pay the price for new ones.

I could also have shaved a bunch of time if my OCD didn't sidetrack me into cleaning every part, and dunking every bolt/hardware into a vat of rust remover.



Brakes are now mounted, with new ebrake hardware. The e30 stuff would have worked fine. I had a spare set of e36 ebrake shoes lying around, and they appear to be identical. The only difference was those little springs that retract the shoes; I reused my e30 springs there.

The rotors were OE type z3 2.8 rotors, OE caliper bracket and calipers, and a spare set of e36 M3 pads I had lying around. The pads appear to be the same part number as the z3 stuff. I guess the only advantage the m3 had was the caliper piston size and the vented rotors.





I found the rotors for $9 a pop from Prime Choice Auto (included shipping). I was afraid for that price they'd be horrible junk. They look just like a centric rotor, so I was pleasantly surprised. Now driving on them for a while will be the real test.

[smackley]

Well, after 4 years it's finally my 100th post on the R3v. That's pretty weak contribution for a site I utilize so often. I'll have to make the next 100 more effective. That said, lots of updates for this thread today.

I rebuilt the axles. Boot kits are nearly expensive enough to make me believe buying a whole rebuilt axle could be worth it. Either way, I think they were certainly in good enough shape to just repack the bearings and add some new boots.


Wheels finally went on after bleeding the brakes and torquing down the rebuilt axle nuts.



I also added some rear mud flaps that I picked up from an early model coupe. They don't line up perfectly, but they at least have the OE look.



Then, finally put her on the ground on all fours for the first time in months!!




Ride height looked great. Wheel caster looked right. Tire width looked spot on. Only one issue popped up...steering rack still leaking...

F@CK!

I've spent way too much time on this to still have this happening. I'm sure I screwed up one of the bajillion little gaskets or seals in the rebuild, but I am NOT taking it apart again. I think I'll just do a power steering delete. It turns great without the power steering pump ruining the fun.

Anyways, that's the update for today.