cameras ready prepare to flash

[s14brent]

well, i'm not super happy with this cluster of -an fittings, but its either here or under the m50 manifold (no thanks). the link fuel pressure sensor + earls adapter is on the feed line right after the one way check valve.



I also threw some -6an line separators (with a washer between) that fits the 5/16" fuel line pretty well.



I ordered a tire rack off amazon. I got tired of the STACKS of tires clogging up my little storage unit. I also bought a uv/rain protective cover. It's pretty nice!



it's finally oil pan swap time!



started by pulling the rack out and trying to match the tie rod length. my old inners were floppy so this was a good move. my steering column joints were just as bad.




i then swapped the old blown inners out and threw the AAE inners in. not the worst idea to have spares ready to go!



Now it was time to unbolt the pan.....



of course the highest bolt on the trans-pan got stripped out. literally the least room to work in. man this sucked. after the pan was loose, it was hitting the ps pump bracket.....to get that off you remove the pulley and e fan for access to remove the belt just to gain 1/4" aand then it hits the hik fab skid brace (tube). Lucky me, the hik fab brace was like fused at the mounts, soaked it overnight with pb blaster and removed the bar successfully the next morning..i hit the pipes with a wire wheel and will put a thin layer of grease on it when i reinstall.



pan was finally removed!!



cleaned up the windage tray, i'm going to have to do some additional trimming on it apparently for the harperfab pan, so its just mocked up here after cleaning up the gasket surface.



I was really hoping to have this done this week, but I screwed up and don't have the right gasket for the oil pick up. There still might be a chance, I paid the extra for Friday delivery.



I may go back to the rear of the car and fit up this piece of DOM if I have time before Friday. It was a bit rusty so i threw it on the belt sander and cleaned it up with some wd40+ red scotch brite pad. I also changed the bandsaw blade to a one thats a bit more aggressive. hopefully next post will have some finished projects!!

oh yeah.....i picked up an old sparco evo ii off marketplace for the e39 touring. I couldnt stand the blue prisma even if it has the current FIA cert.

[s14brent]

I finally had a dedicated garage day, got a few things done.

I removed the AAE supplied inner tie rods....I was surprised to see they aren't vented as this is labeled as an E46 rack that would fit both. I'm glad I removed them though, the rack was cranked to the right so I centered it and threw some rack limiters on there for now.





The SLRSPEED HD e36 inner tie rods have the venting, these are +1" and also have a built in rack spacer, so I think I'll need to test it out lock to lock for clearance before attempting an alignment again.



I drained the PS fluid from the rack, and removed the -AN fittings to transfer over to the AAE rack. Engine oil was drained as well. I guess I'll be attempting to tackle the front subframe +harper fab oil pan finally. The factory oil psi sensor was caked up with oil so I removed it to replace the copper washer, but I actually had a clean spare from the s52 I parted out last year.



The sensor on the L is the link/bosch pressure/temp sensor. No sense not to install all the necessary sensors now. It has the m10x1.0 to 1/8npt adapter on there.



It is absolutely huge and a PITA to tighten up with the manifold in place. I I think it was 1-1/16 wrench size. The -4 AN adapter behind the sensor used to be a blue fitting and was for the vdo remote oil pressure sensor, I also removed the vdo temp sensor, so now both those gauges should be removed eventually. I swapped the blue fitting with a silver vibrant fitting and threw a cap on it. It's in the perfect location to run a line through the m50 intake manifold for a turbo oil feed in the future.



next up is the Link fuel pressure sensor. I have no idea where I want to put this. I'm not a fan of sensors hanging off adapters like this, and usually prefer a remote mount solution, but this one might be placed on the feed line before or after the DW one way check valve.



I then had my remote tire guy come out and swap some tires around. I had him do a mount & balance on these since I'll be driving on these wheels primarily. 215/40 rsrr-pro's up front and 235/40 kr20a's in the rear.



I will say I took a little longer than I'd like just locating the oil pickup tube gasket and the new crush washers for the -an fittings to the new steering rack, but i'm happy with the progress. I got the hf engine support bar on the car end of night, but I still need to unbolt the tie rods LCA's, steering linkage, and motor mounts before I really need it. I just had a friend over so it was easier to line up with a second set of hands. I also got a 48" stick of 1.5x.095 dom tubing to make the rear strut brace - iirc I only need about 36". I plan on stitch welding the access holes that I made in the rear firewall (with the original panels). I don't want any issues with tech because I'm now running fuel into the trunk of the vehicle. I also ordered over $100 in M22759/16 TEFZEL 20 gauge to wire up the link sensors & can gauge.

Hopefully I'll be able to get more of the laundry list checked off next week. I'd love to get the car wrapped up and aligned by end of month if possible, and get the car tuned on the link ecu after that.

[s14brent]

Definitely put them on the wags. Incredible wheel

as much as i wanted to throw them on the wagon, i'm going to try my best not to....the e30 was the car intended for the volks so i'll be as patient as I can to put them on there! It might be somewhat of a goal to get the car done! I'm hoping to get the front 215/40's mounted next week so that I can't throw them on the wagon LOL!
-----
I've been collecting parts meanwhile since i have to drop the front subframe, i figured i should do a small refresh of steering components. It's really easy to fall into a wormhole when you're just browsing parts while killing time on the job.



LPSR steering linkage
SLRSpeed e36 +1" HD inner tie rods + new outer heims (i've had the raw 8" tubes from when I ran the slr "mini" kit - the "super" kit uses 9" rods, and i bought new heims just for the hell of it)
AAE 3310N e46 2.8 Turns-to-Lock rack

I've also side quested a bit and think I'll be relocating a stock fuel filter up into the trunk for now. Just getting it out of the dirt-drop zone is good enough for now. I'm just waiting for a few parts and then i'll start mocking it up.

------

03/03 update:





basically used some 5/16 bulkhead fittings and ordered a 25' roll of continental 65152 fuel line and the fuel injection clamps that wont tear the hoses........m6 rivnuts to hold the brackets. i have some hose separators on the way so i'm not 100% done with it yet, but this was way easier than i thought it'd be tbh....also routed the hoses so nothing hangs down, and removed the OE filter bracket. Fuel came out clean from the old filter, I'm feeling a lot better. The one I did a few years back had me worried but I think it was from all the fuel additives and crap that was in the tank.

[econti]

Definitely put them on the wags. Incredible wheel

[s14brent]

Not much to report since I got back from vacation. I've been super swamped with work, which isn't a bad thing.

Basically etch primed the bare steel that was prepped for the welding, then shot some random black paint over it, followed with 3M undercoating. I really don't want to worry about any part of the chassis rusting in the near future.




I was doing just fine, planning on the harper oil pan swap next when I had time. I even bought a few more adapters for the Link/Bosch sensors, the old VDO oil pressure & temp sensors will need to be removed when i do the oil pan job because it only makes sense. I needed a weird m10x1.0 to 1/8 NPT adapter, also got another 1/8npt to -4an fitting, and a fuel pressure gauge adapter -6AN M/F with 1/8 NPT F on the side. I just need to order up some wire and deutsch connectors and some tesa tape for the wiring harnesses I'll be adding for them. I need to mock a lot of this up to figure out how i'll be mounting the can lambda module.

Then I stumbled across the dream set of wheels......browsing marketplace I found 17x8.5 +15 5x120 Volk TE37SL's in mag blue.



I wasn't able to get them out of my mind, so I decided to pull the trigger. Literally TE's in GTR spoke spec has always been on the WTB list, kind of crazy these popped up locally!





I already have a pair of matching 215/40/17 Federal 595RS PRO's on the way so I can rock them on the e30, but I have a burning desire to throw them on the e39 wagon for a bit.

[s14brent]

Finally had some time to work on the rear strut tower reinforcements. My buddy RED totally helped me out with welding tips and fitting up the reinforcement plates, mig welding thick to thin (basically everything). I'm super grateful because the fitment was pretty poor and the strut tower fits flush all around making it much easier to weld.

First off I removed the giant tacks i made holding the towers in and did a lot of clean up & prep.....this friggin m18 wire wheel angle grinder thing scares me....especially while curled up with it inside the trunk




had to cut some access holes in the rear firewall and ran some beads (free handed) on the strut tower reinforcements



mine^ vs reds v (i need a lot more practice)



did a lot more prep even after the photos above were taken, and red helped mig stitch-weld them in while i was on the wheel well side on fire extinguisher duty. It really is a two-person job. this thing would have went up in flames doing it solo.







I'll be going out of country on a vacation soon, but when I get back I want to weld in some dom tubing to tie the strut towers together. It will need to be base painted after that and possibly some new undercoating in the wheel wells to prevent any rust, so this is the best time to do that. After that I'll start to drop the front subframe and tackling the harper fab oil pan upgrade. I'll be installing the front reinforced subframe and possibly those solid akg motor & trans mounts that I got a while back. I'm pretty sure I'll want to drive the car as soon as its running with the new pan but I'll also be trying to figure out where to mount all the sensors/wiring for the LINK ecu. I'd really like to get the car on the standalone and then just enjoy it fully, so the wagon might be hitting a drift event in february or march to keep me sane.

[s14brent]

Man that sucks. Could've been way worse though on the positive

100%

brutal, but that first line had me prepared for worse haha, so I'm glad it wasn't.

Sorry about that.....nothing catastrophic, just highly inconvenient

--------------



big a** die showed up. I actually ordered a few of these to see which one would show up first LOL.....



it did cut a decent amount but its only on the maybe the top 6-8 threads. I'll place an order with MRT in january for a full set of spares to keep on hand. (they didnt have any spare parts for sale for cyber monday so i figured i could wait).



I decided to leave 6-3/4 threads on the rod side exposed with the re-threaded piece all the way in. The rod is long enough that this will cover all the adjustments needed and not run into the same issue as before.



I did take the time to clean the torringtons again.....hate doing this, one year i'll end up removing them LOL



rear subframe is back up thanks to help from a friend this time around. I also got 27mm/32/36mm wrenches so i can put some torque on the locking nuts this time around (and a bottle of the orange loctite).
I probably won't have time to work on the car until maybe thursday only this week. I need to find my rearswaybar endlinks again, somehow they got lost in the abyss. I'll also try to upgrade some more hardware "while i'm there" but theres no deadline now, might put off an alignment until January - I think the next thing to tackle is the front subframe and install the harperfab oil pan. I was thinking maybe an oil evacuator might be a good purchase since the oil in the car is relatively fresh.

[2mAn]

Yea Im glad it didnt break while you were sideways somewhere... pain in the azz for sure but could've been a LOT worse

[Northern]

brutal, but that first line had me prepared for worse haha, so I'm glad it wasn't.

[econti]

Man that sucks. Could've been way worse though on the positive

[s14brent]

Not the update I'd love to share, but i'll start from the end of the last post. TLDR: Don't 0 out DTM style heims (irp or mrt)




secondary calipers need to be bled again.....shouldnt take too long.



motul 2l bottles are the devil. I may switch to torco RGO 85w140 + their type F modifier moving forward per Ray @ kaazusa



i had to run out to HF and get a set of their metric line service wrenches. I should have stopped here and realized there wasnt much thread left on the adjusters. I will say adjusting toe/camber is so much nicer this way.




made it to the alignment shop......but barely.....heard a giant clunk passing over the rail road tracks nearby.....turns out i ripped out the adjuster :(



^ from here.....to there v



I will be taking it all apart again (dropping out the rear subframe) and starting over. This is just.....fantastic. I was really hoping to make it to the IFO drift event on Sunday. I'm hoping to get it all back together before end of month/year, and have another alignment setup in January. Just thankful nothing was seriously damaged. I'm annoyed, MRT has apparently revised this part and made the adjuster longer to match the outer heim.......but its the same cost for shipping as it is the part.....I'm going to see if my parts are reusable first and then decide if i should order an entire spare assembly to keep as a spare/backup or just the two revised pieces while the subframe is down/out again.

[s14brent]

well i finally started on the rear subframe swap. what a huge pain in the butt....



pulled the old setup out



fresh bearings....again....



parking brake hardware installed. i actually used one of the e46 springs (upper) because the one that came with 318ti hardware kit was small and fully coiled across making contact with the adjuster wheel.....weird.....but i dont like to play with springs with that much tension tbh...."you'll poke your eye out son!"



10x MH extended studs cleaned and reinstalled with the hub, loctite applied and double nutted to spec



assembled and looking pretty.



I got caught up in a little side questing.....replaced garagistic secondary diff mount bracket hardware. They included 5/16" bolts/nuts. I swapped them out for grade 8 m8's/flanged nuts and locking washers. Putting the fresh subframe assembly in was more of a PAIN than I remember.....I'm not sure why it was fighting me so hard this time around. fresh zimmerman rotors and brembo oe pads for the primary rear calipers. Reusing the BOSCH pads on the secondary calipers for now. I'm hoping to button this all up by Sunday.



reinstalled and looking good. Meanwhile, I need to bleed the brakes and fill the diff, bolt on the rear section of the exhaust and hope everything will be all good to go by tuesday (alignment appointment).

[Northern]

I like the left side because you don't need to do a bunch of ratchet action to get the clamp off, Although if the angle of that tab is wrong I could see it pop off like you're saying.
Also means you can replace just the t-bolt if you ever destroy the threads (guilty of this... I covered one of my vibrant ones in welding spatter and wiped the threads off it when I ran the nut off the first time)

[s14brent]

Can we get a chip check

i'm only used to that term being used on poker/blackjack tables......pretty sure that's not what you meant here LOL

Brings back memories of buying cheap vbands for various exhaust/downpipe stuff. Realized 3" is more of a range than an actual measurement and nothing every plays nicely together lol.
I still have a few of the non-stepped/non quick release ones somewhere that I should purge from my inventory...

Funny enough, the actual clamps included with the cheap/flat v-bands are better than the ones that came on the stepped ones......not sure what the heck is up with that.



The cheap v-bands came with the clamp on the right which holds the bolt in place. the clamp on the left -the bolt falls out (and also takes up more physical space). Makes no sense to me as they are both made by evil energy or whatever.
---------
i thought black friday sales would be minimal this year but the list keeps growing more expensive......so far i bought a bunch of welding consumables, another link pressure sensor and the 2m can extension cable.....a can-lambda mounting bracket, and have a growing cart on DW to at least relocate/change to a 10micron fuel filter setup. I still haven't placed the DW order yet because I'm not sure where I want to mount the fuel pressure sensor yet, but i'm thinking of just mounting both inside the trunk for future surge tank install....I would need to weld-in the rear strut tower reinforcements first though if that's the plan.



i lost track of time clearly.....powdercoating doesn't fit the time line unfortunately.....vht rollbar paint applied (over the eastwood rust encapsulator) on the trailing arms. My current reinforced trailing arms on the car was rattle canned 6 years ago and they held up decently (i think). I'm hoping to start assembling them by Wednesday..I'll start taking out the current setup hopefully on Tuesday!

[Northern]

so i ordered a 2pk of v-bands and these ones came with flat sealing surfaces vs the stepped ones.....so i had to order the same one initially.....weird. yeah the pipe looks like crap inside. part of the reason why i wanted to replace that whole section tbh.

Brings back memories of buying cheap vbands for various exhaust/downpipe stuff. Realized 3" is more of a range than an actual measurement and nothing every plays nicely together lol.
I still have a few of the non-stepped/non quick release ones somewhere that I should purge from my inventory...