cameras ready prepare to flash

[s14brent]

update: so I talked to John the other day, told me there's a way to use my old pan. Super nice guy, I totally recommend http://hikfabrication.com/ for your skid plate needs!!!

----

Not sure why I spent so much time priming/sanding and rattle canning this thing only to last minute decided to wrap it in gold foil.



Got bored and shaved down a 1/8 hose connector for the power steering cap for both my e36 m3 and my e30. Figured I'd better do that before I forget. I'm also waiting for a stock e36 ps reservoir mount. I'm not super happy with its current location currently.



I was going through boxes and I stumbled across this vert rear view mirror I picked up a few months ago. Decided to wire it up/install it, but had a helluva time with the removal of my old mirror.



A few things happened when I ended up pulling off the mirror. The rotating ball cup ended up breaking, -old mirror is now useless, and instead of it popping out of the mount, the mount came off with it. 2/3 of the pop rivet or had broken off, and deformed the mounting holes up top. I test fitted some speed clips and found some that fit perfect. Drilled out the 2 broken tabs and used sheet metal screws for mounting. I'm not a huge fan after all that of the map light mirror. It seems very focused and dim. I guess a little light is better than none.



my check panel surround is pretty much non existent, and I already know the check panel is going to fall out during spirited driving. I guess I'll be replacing the front part of the headliner when I find one in good condition. :ugh: Also, I ordered the missing cap for the sunroof crank (in reflection)



I started to finish up the wiring inside the car (fan over-ride switch, digital volt meter, and the oil temp, oil psi, and water temp gauges). I also took this time to rewire my stereo correctly. The damn gauge panel that I used 3M 77 self spray adhesive basically came apart while being stored in the trunk of the car (you can kind of see it in the photo above).



I got as much wiring done as I could before running out of wires and connectors and I decided it was time to do a parts & hardware store run. At this point the electric fan "manual override" switch worked, and the digital volt meter worked (I threw a battery tender on after this).



Longer bolts for the rear skid plate mount. Picked up some of this contact adhesive that sounded like it'd do the job.



Applied later and letting set overnight. If there are further issues I'm thinking of just running it bare metal.



Ran the sensor wires through the firewall. this looked like a cluster f**k so i used some heat shrink



While running the sensor wires I tried to tidy up the harness to see if I can mount the cover soon. I'm going to trim the cover and testfit it soon. Almost there!



Not bad for a day and a half of progress!!

[Anthony B]

Solid progress on this, I may have to liberate some of your ideas with the manual fan switch & gauge cluster.

Good to see the work all coming together

[s14brent]

Small update, but unfortunately the car will have to be put on hold, work has been crazy busy, and there was a death in the family so I'll have to put most of my free time toward making accommodations.

I wanted to button up everything I sort of left undone. Last thing i did was wire up the gauges, but the water temp didn't work because it didn't have a ground. I changed out adapters to a nice billet piece I had from 42 draft design. (i purchased some things twice on accident due to this being done in such a lengthy amount of time)



I also swapped out the hvac control panel - mine had a few tiny cracks between the buttons up top and I finally have buttons with the actual symbols on them now!!



Ordered a pack of vdo amber bulb sleeves then realized I could have just replaced with amber bulbs.....



I ended up ordering an e36 ps reservoir mount since my work schedule hasn't really given me any time to go out to any of the junkyards. Turns out I had a bracket on the other side of the garage in the e36 parts pile. My m3 needs a new pump, and i pulled the everything from a m3 being parted out locally - somehow spaced it.



To add to the list of mistakes I made, I cut the ps line (reservoir to pump) too short, almost 1/2" so I had to go find a straight brass coupler to fix my mistake.



installed. le sigh....



made a small bracket for the oil psi sending unit. wasn't a huge fan of the e36 mount it came with.



and I finally got the skid plate mounted up, it wasn't lining up. I just needed to loosen everything up (which was pretty hard - lots of pb blaster and whacks to the loop from a deadblow). Once loose, everything lined up and bolted together just fine.

I think I want to get longer bolts for the front of the skid plate and space it down maybe 5-7mm further.

I got this circle shaped sunroof trim piece for the sunroof crank. I never actually had a cover so the handle would sort of just flop around. I actually want to replace the whole front liner. Not sure how much of a bitch that's going to be.



meanwhile I think a break would be good, I'm trying to rush things and making more mistakes

[CorvallisBMW]

That hose looks kind of pinched, you could shorten it where it meets the radiator neck by ~1" and still have lots of engagement on the neck.

[JZM3]

this is great, nice work. Keep it coming!

[s14brent]

That hose looks kind of pinched, you could shorten it where it meets the radiator neck by ~1" and still have lots of engagement on the neck.

you're right, I'll have to trim it back a bit.

this is great, nice work. Keep it coming!

Thanks man

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

I had no idea I'd have time this weekend to pull this front headliner from a local part out. let alone install it.



No wonder the check panel was having issues staying in place



closer up



I used the same "pliobond" glue for the edges lightly. It actually looked like the stuff BMW originally used. I'm going back to the dude I got the headliner from, my sunvisors have some tears in them so I didn't reinstall those, here's a pic of the replacement liner installed.



new (to me) visors installed!!

[s14brent]

It's funny how I keep thinking no progress will be made, but all the small things add up so quickly! I wiped the dash down with meguiars vinyl cleaner. It's starting to look and feel like a car again!!



After doing some searching, I found out who made the gauge pods, a company called euwerks. I ended up using a hole saw behind the gauges as the diy/install thread for it suggested.



i don't believe this was the final stage of the install, just one of the in-between photos taken. I left the stereo out since I won another nakamichi cd400 on ebay, but have to wait for it to come from "ze motherland".



I installed a new clutch slave cylinder sort of one of those "while you're there" things. Since I need to bleed the system, now was a good time to do the FC brakes. I got the kit from Avery (?) - everything was super simple.



Then I found out I ordered the wrong FC brake pads over a year ago, so I'm stuck with some hawk hp+ in base model fc sizing. I decided to go with hawk HPS pads this time around - might be better for street driving with non-abs and all.

I knew the wheels wouldn't clear, but I didn't realize it was going to need a 15mm spacer to clear. (picked up a full set of ecstuning 15mm hubcentric spacers locally for a good deal)



barely any clearance



I'm playing with the idea of kamotors flares or look for maybe just look for new wheels. I might mount the hankooks just to see what I have to work with. maybe raising the car and a fender pull might be enough.


meanwhile....since I'm waiting for brake pads, I went ahead and installed my UUC front sway bar. I decided to try and reuse the garagistic spacer (meant for stock sway bar), I found a large washer(s) that fit the gap perfect. I have a feeling I didn't even need to use the spacer for clearance. If it bugs me in the future, maybe I can have the whole spacer shaved down flat on a lathe. Right now I'm wondering why I didn't just do this in the first place.



Its been in the triple digits temp-wise in Las Vegas. I'm not sure how much more I can possibly get done, all I know is the idea of cutting & tack welding the new exhaust components under the car in these temps sounds like a huge bag of NOPE!

moved the catch can for a third time today. got the engine harness covers on for the most part, and threw on the uuc front strut bar finally after owning it for like 2 years.



pretty stoked how clean this looks



trimmed the s52 plastic cover and busted out the nice camera

[s14brent]

not much of an update, but made a little progress.

changed the front skidplate hardware to countersunk bolts.



much better



spaced down for optimal clearance.



in other news, i got my new tires from tire rack. i totally fu***d up on e30 front tire size. I may just use them for the rears. ibshouldawent2054516




a local e30 guy was clearing out his garage, picked up subframe with akg toe/camber adjustment and garagistic (i believe thats what he said) subframe bushings. I went ahead and placed an order for garagistic differential reinforcement plates,l trailing arm reinforcements and sway bar reinforcement plates. I'll prep the rear subframe for welding when the parts come in. The trailing arms will probably have to be done whenever i drop the existing subframe in the car.



I started to bolt up the front end again so it looks like an e30 again!! Had to make a few modifications to the front valance to fit with the additional 90 degree fitting at the oil cooler. I still have a bit of gap on the passenger side, not really sure why.....



I decided to inspect the braided line on the reservoir that goes to clutch master, and it's in worse shape than i thought. One thing led to another, I ended up ordering a new clutch master, akg bushings for brake & clutch pedal, new braided hose/firewall grommet. it's probably going to be a huge PITA with the current car location.

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

offtopic...getting ready to do some work on the e36 m3. I've got an oil leak at the oil pan that's driving me nuts. I've been collecting parts for a while to take care of this. (new oil pickup, vac baffled oil pan, offset steering wheel spacer, oil change essentials and new ngk sparkplugs.) I also purchased new crush washers for the PS system.

First off tires. I took off my fiskes almost 6 mo ago due to cracking one on a pot hole. I got the wheel fixed about 3mo ago, and it's been sitting in a corner for too long. I ordered a set of 235/40 Dunlop vII Starspecs. Loving them so far. Had to raise the car to fit them though since I had something significantly smaller 205/40 on the 8" wheel prior.



test fitting the front and rear, I'm no longer running spacers. feels weird.



took the car straight for an alignment. very happy with the outcome. I took the car to get an ac recharge after. guy said I was low a full pound of freon. No wonder I was dying!!



added a few things to install on the e36.





Ever since I got the e30 gauges wired up I've wanted to install oil psi on my e36 (since I'm not sure if the previous owner welded or had a secure wire nut on the pump. I picked up the two vdo gauges locally (used) for a good price, and i had my parts list that I did on my e30, so I went ahead and ordered everything up. I love how oem looking the gauge pods are.

[s14brent]

small update. I got a smaller sized mobile swamp cooler for the garage. It's working GREAT in this desert summer. Had to hire a plumber to add a water spigot in the garage for ease of use.



Being cooler in the garage I finally moved some things around the single car garage so i could start working under the dash of the e30. I really hate going under there....my body still aches!!

While I was under there I replaced the clutch master cylinder, hardline, soft braided hose that goes to the reservoir, akg brake and clutch pedal bushings and a few grommets (3 total i think) and a new spring on the accelerator pedal.
The throttle cable is new so that one was taken care of earlier - also when I noticed all the other grommets were pretty much missing! I am leaving town for a few weeks. I didn't want to chance losing all these small grommets.





i did the clutch pedal bushing on my e36, and thought it would be just as straight forward. I had no idea the brake pedal bushing needed to be pressed out (deformed thing in pic below). I had to dremel a small lip on one side of the brake pedal to fit the new bushing also vs just crushing it in there. overall very smooth install, while the brake pedal was out I tightened the brake booster down tight since it's a lot easier to access with everything out. Everything seems very tight in comparison to prior. I can't wait to start driving this thing!!





no real picture updates from here, but the car now has both clutch and brake pedal pressure which is HUGE! I can drive the car around the neighborhood if i ziptie the o2 sensor somewhere for now!!

oh yeah....I tried to weld up the garagistic differential reinforcements, but I ran out of gas



----Small e36 m3 update.

i found a stromung exhaust locally for sale. I missed the one on my e30 soo much that i had to have it! I was hoping it would be a little louder than the dinan v2 I had on there, it is by just the slightest, but i guess I was hoping for more. Either way, love it! gotta find a home for the dinan now! sort of thinking of putting it on the cosmos sedan I have out on loan, but that's pointless and i'd rather pocket the cash.



I forgot...I threw a CEL prior to exhaust install, bank 1-3 o2 sensor went bad, luckily i had one from my e30' s52 to throw in. code cleared instantly. awesome!

I also installed a Jwest Engineering steering wheel spacer on the m3, so i could see the top of my gauges again. I wish I could put one on my e30, but with the momo to nardi adapter and the deep dish nardi, I don't think it will work, it will be too close for comfort.



I leave on the 10th, I wish I had time to get an alignment and have the exhaust welded up, but at least I have a few things to look forward to when I get back!

[s14brent]

Been a while! I'm back in vegas and I've finally started to work on the e30 again! (slow progress) The swamp cooler is great if there's no humidity in the air....which isn't the case right now.

I got back and had to fix a few things on the e36 m3, had a bad precat o2 and needed a battery charge since it sat in the heat while I was gone. I also found a paint matched pre-facelift nose panel. I like the recessed kidney style even thought it backdates my car more.

I also found a small oil leak at the oil cooler thermostat on the e30 which I took care of immediately. short video of car running. not sure why it sounds so quiet (must be muffled by phone case!)



The nakamichi wiring harness came in, wired it up. and now I've realized I don't get any radio stations due to my lack of an antenna. (will look into a z3 or other upgrades when I have time to care)



I have to check out my digital voltometer wiring, I think I pinched one of those small wires somewhere.



I also sold my condor "tall" shiftknob, I didn't like how long the shifts felt even with the z3 shifter. I also had a zhp collecting dust. I like the way it looks/feels.



The race bucket is starting to irritate me, (how it doesnt match the interior at all) - I might look into some recaro ls/lx series seats in the future.

I also misplaced some of the hood mounting pieces. I went to the junkyard and found a 86 325e with the front end still in tact. I grabbed the pieces off of that, probably won't paint match since I'm anxious to just throw a hood on and go off for an alignment and have my exhaust thrown on.

I have to raise the car a good inch before I take it out though.



This is the current ground to skidplate clearance.... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[s14brent]

small update:

I found some wheels locally, was told they were enkei 92's but I think they're some cheap knock off since they are 8.5" wide and the center design looks way different. Swapped the two front tires for the falkens I had on the other set of wheels. I'm not mad they're not 92's, I didn't pay much for them and I like the way the car looks so much better now.



They cleared the front fc caliper with the same spacer setup as the rota's had.



The rest of the exhaust pieces came in over the weekend.



Decided to try and get the exhaust done before the weekend, so i can try to get an alignment and recharge the ac.



there were a few issues I ran into, but overall I'm happy with my first (half an exhaust) made so far. I'm hoping the exhaust doesn't have any drone

the exhaust will connect to the headers via 2" sleeve/clamp joints and there will be one more sleeve post resonator (2.5")so that the exhaust can break down in 2 pieces. I'm going to have to figure out hangers after I get it all mocked into position.

[spiDmang]

nice work!

[efficient]

Nice progress

[s14brent]

^Thanks guys'!!

Haven't had time to finish the 2nd section of the exhaust, but I made the front half all pretty!! (my dewalt 14" chop saw disc needs to be replaced, it should arrive here today or monday!)



So I found a 3.46 e28 LSD locally and had to grab it. I know a 3.25 would match the s52 better, but I think this will be better suited for the auto-x and small track days that I plan to do. I think it the gear ratio calculator put me at 75mph at 36xx rpm in 5th gear. I already feel first gear is useless in my e36 m3 with a 3.23 lsd just daily driving - which is why i got rid of the S3.38 I was going to swap into the e36m3.



I got lucky the owner changed the two output shaft seals and the input shaft seal beforehand, but I guess he opted for a S2.93 for his s50 e21 swap.
I have a local buyer lined up for my S3.73 (no cover/no output shafts) so this shouldn't have set me back too much! I ended up pulling the S3.73 out the next day!

I got the diff out (a lot faster than I thought it would take) and took them both to get degreased/pressure washed at one of those self-serve places. (my m20 had a leaking rear main seal and covered the transmission, tunnel, and all the way back to the differential in all sorts of nasty.) I didn't want any of that dirt/debris to fall in when removing the covers or output shafts.

sidenote: i love this wrench.



The output shaft swap was super simple, I used a pry bar to pop them out, but pretty sure I could have just used my hand to pull it out. Cleaned them up a little bit before reinstalling into the e28 diff. Used a vary of wire wheels to make them look new again. After clean up, regreased seals and a light coat of redline 75w90 on the actual shaft and they slid right in place.



Now, I'm just waiting for a new cover seal and drain/fill crush washers to arrive from pelicanparts and I'll swap the covers and install the diff into the car and hopefully finish the exhaust soon! I can't wait to start the break in process!!

[nickflic3]

Always wondered what happened to this car! Glad to see it alive (almost) and well!

Will stay posted for updates. Great work so far man