My "Great White Buffalo" restoration.

[goskidmark]

Futt Bucked.

Today seemed to be promising until I decided to take crap apart and I found more broken crap.

The tread wear is low, so it should still be good right? I did not even catch that until I took the tire off to replace the rotted brake line.



New thin spring pads.



I took the thin spring off and replaced it with the thicker one. Who ever put these on mixed up where all the springs went. Who knows what brand they are, but now I know the rates of each spring.



Cleaned up and mashed fresh grease in the passenger side. Driver side will happen tomorrow.



The front left caliper is beyond repair. The piston is stuck. So I will be ordering two new ones. The brake pads were brand new. No wonder why it was pulling to the right when stopping.



Tomorrow the rest of the rear sub-frame bushings will come out. Hopefully.

[doorman]

That tire is toast!!!
Any signs something was wrong with it?

[goskidmark]

That tire is toast!!!
Any signs something was wrong with it?

Surprisingly, no. I can't believe it did not blow out on me.

[goskidmark]

Pow.

I got these bastards out. It took my press and the claw, but it was worth it. Never again. Ever.

[goskidmark]

Check that off the board.

90% Complete. The Diff cover has been on back order since last October. I might just have to weld, grind, and paint this one. None in stock according to ECS and BMW. Hurry up Germany, I need my damn cover!
I also still need to assemble the new brakes and hardware. I will also attempt a paint trick I know of on the output shafts.

[matias9]

great work , im interested on the dashboard , were you get the voltmeter and which model of air/fuel meter you are using. y saw the post where you say but it is from 2010 , he still doing that gauges , which models you get?.


you personalizated to make it fit there? or the guy sell , a plug an play on the dash.

[goskidmark]

great work , im interested on the dashboard , were you get the voltmeter and which model of air/fuel meter you are using. y saw the post where you say but it is from 2010 , he still doing that gauges , which models you get?. you personalizated to make it fit there? or the guy sell , a plug an play on the dash.

They still do all kinds of restorations. The BR website:

http://www.bavrest.com/instrument-clusters.html

I sent and E-mail requesting what I wanted done, and then he gave me a quote.

The downsides:
My original cluster was a VDO and the cluster I received back from them was a Motometer. I really didn't care since it was fully rebuilt and customized "Minus the Logo I requested under the Tachometer." the way I wanted it. The face plate was not secure enough for my linking. While installing the rebuilt cluster the face plate popped off with little to light handling. These are by no means deal breakers for me. I am just sharing my experience with you.

I'm just glad that there is still someone that still does this sort of restoration. I don't know of anyone else who would perform this type of work, or who has this kind of talent/experience with this type of job.

[matias9]

thx for your answers and experience /advice. its important for me because i dont live in US. so maybe im going to put in contact to ask a quote for the volt meter mod and a/f bar. and do my own installation.
your cluster its great as is and add some important info keeping the original look.

[goskidmark]

Front brake rebuild.

I started rebuilding the front brake calipers from scratch. The front right was replaced by the previous owner, but he did it wrong. No caliper guide pin boots. The pins were frozen and needed Thor's hammer to release them. Thanks Thor, I owe you a soda, even though you don't know what that is.

Fresh. Both sides are equal. I don't like to half-ass things.


I have to wait for one more boot to come in from Pelican, since I ripped one in the process of pressing it in the bore. The Sailor awakened in me and I yelled out some precise provocative language.
The drivers side was the original, so it had some pitting corrosion in the bore. It was not that bad, I should have taken a picture. You can see the design differences between the two.


I turned my attention to the broken diff cover, and cleaned it up to use it until my new cover comes off of back order. I spent an hour cleaning that cover, cursing about how my new cover should already be here.

Before.


After.

[goskidmark]

Differential cover was cleaned, and the new bushing is installed. Torqued the bolts down to 35Ft lbs.


I'm still worried about this fricken chunk missing off of the filler hole. I'll have to check for leaks after a few miles.


Installed everything with no help. I had to use two jacks.



Blurry picture of how the new bushings set.


More to come when I get more wrench time.

[doorman]

Did the diff cover leak before?

That little chunk missing shouldn't (I hope) cause any trouble. You fill to the bottom of the plug, maybe a bit weepy from the fluid splashing inside.

I feel your pain putting the subframe in solo!!
I ended up doing the diff separately.

[goskidmark]

Did the diff cover leak before?

That little chunk missing shouldn't (I hope) cause any trouble. You fill to the bottom of the plug, maybe a bit weepy from the fluid splashing inside.

I feel your pain putting the subframe in solo!!
I ended up doing the diff separately.

It had to of leaked. There was no rubber o-ring on the filler plug that was also stripped. The cover's vent tube was also clogged; for god knows how long.

[goskidmark]

Finished with the brakes. I rebuilt all four calipers and put in new ceramic pads. All new hardware and pads were used for the E-brake as well.


The brake reservoir was in bad shape, so I pulled it off and cleaned it up as much as I could. There was a lot of gunk at the bottom. I had to come up with a way to flush and clean the forward tank because I could not get cue tips in the slot. New bushings were installed as well and it does not wobble like it did.


I installed the new wheel. Don't mind the seat, it's not even bolted down. I still need to finish the sport set.


Updates are slow now due to work getting crazy and working long hours, including weekends. I can't wait to get this thing back on the ground. It still needs a lot of work, but my board of things to do is getting smaller.

[goskidmark]

One oil leak tracked down and down for rebuild and repair.



My wife helped me out squeezing the air out of the brake system. I might have to take the wheels back off to inspect the new parking brake assembly one more time. When applied they don't hold as they should. The new tires on the rear look nice. Time to order the front two.

[doorman]

Love the wheels!!!


Did you tighten the nuts under the e-brake handle a bit more?

When I did my rear subframe I read somewhere that the e-brake should hold the car when approx 4 clicks are heard when raising the handle.