Grandad-Spec '85 Slushbox ETA - Blank Canvas

[raymang]

Fuel line replacement (22 June '24):

Finished the fuel lines in the engine bay finally. Think I've gotten all of them in the engine bay (FPR -> hardline, injector rail -> tee, tee -> cold start injector). Didn't do the fuel filter -> tee as the hoses were date marked 2016 as that was when the filter was replaced. Also couldn't do the charcoal canister lines as they had the Oetiker clamps on and I ran out of hose. So I'll leave that for another time.
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And fascinatingly enough, my hose from 1984 showed no signs of dry rot or surface cracks. Amazing, I'm keeping this as a souvenir. Maybe when I roadtrip I'll bring this along as a spare haha.
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Rear brake re-do and subsequent issues (22 June '24):

Not much to update between the completion (mostly) of the AC swap and the rear brake job (again). I thought I'd be able to handle the uncoated rotor life, and I can't. Got some Zimmermanns ordered and installed. Much better.
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I also readjusted the parking brakes, and now I've got an odd noise. Quick, rhythmic slaps. Goes up and down with speed, but at max volume the slapping cannot be heard past a certain speed. Doubly so if the windows are closed, you cannot hear it at all. Have driven the car ~100km since the noise started, but nothing out of the ordinary is present.

I'm thinking parking brake related, so I will look into disassembling the whole rear end (again sigh) and seeing what's up. I gave up after 11am since I had skipped breakfast and was getting hungry. When test driving I did pull up the parking brake by 1 click to see if the pitch changed, nothing. Though I did hear a metallic ping and stopped in the parking lane immediately. Checked the road and could not see anything that had fallen out the car. For the amount of issues I've had with adjusting parking brakes, I'm also thinking to just hit up my local Euro guy and dropping the car off with him. I fucking blow at adjusting parking brakes for some reason.

[raymang]

How is the AC install going? I got mine working and leak free, but I wouldn't say the temps I'm seeing are ice cold. In stop and go traffic with 95-100deg heat it's pushing air in the 60s which is acceptable, but also needs to be run on full blast to keep the cabin reasonable.

I'm curious what your results are, my hot climate isn't helping but I think the turbo being so close to my AC line is what's really causing my lackluster performance.

I've been super tardy with my updates, but the install's done. I was tracking down a leak since the AC blew cold the day I refilled the system, then started blowing warmer each day after. I chalked it up to warming temps at first, but a cooler day rolled around and the AC wasn't much cooler than ambient so I stopped using it there and then. Tracked it down to a connection at the expansion valve, re-tightened it and the system blows much better even with lost refrigerant. I haven't gotten vent temps so that's still pending. Currently i don't know how much refrigerant I'd lost in the 2 weeks from initial fill so I can't give a full review, but the initial (non-leaky) system performance seems better than what I was seeing during the first system fill. A bit peeved that the shop said they'd find the leaks if there were any and they did not check the interior, even after I'd left the whole glovebox disconnected for easier viewing.

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https://youtube.com/shorts/RJtuiJzoiZA

With this I'm still kind of paranoid my connections from the expansion valve to the evaporator are leaky, but I can't go back and recheck without evacuating the system. So fuck it, we ball. I attached the valve with the evaporator outside the car, I think I'm good.

AC install (25 May '24 - 8 June '24):

Removal of the AC lines and other paraphernalia in the engine bay was easy. AC Solutions' video was quite descriptive and the car also came apart easily so that was a bonus. I did note that my air vent fender liners were badly cracked, but they're NLA so I'm going to be on the lookout for a partout close to me.
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Stupid condensor fan grommets were captive so I had to slice them in half and super glue them. AC compressor came off with no issues, and I didn't break the adjustment star. Nice little spare stash for the future.
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Note to self: cut the interior insulation foam if you want to take out/insert the evaporator core without excessive fin bending.
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During the subsequent evaporator removal/install I ran into my first major issue. When installing the R134A expansion valve I did not brace the valve enough when tightening the fittings, resulting in a kink in the tubing due to being made from aluminum. Great. Had about 2 days worth of delay while I had a local shop try and repair the new evaporator for me. Bent some more fins during removal so that was nicer still. Thankfully my fine motor skills were up to par and with a thin flathead I was able to mostly straighten out the fins as best I could. Not ideal, but it would do. The shop also flushed my old evaporator core so I'll keep it as a spare.
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Having learnt my lesson, we came to reassembly. Just the reverse of disassembly right? Evaporator and expansion valve were assembled outside the car so I could get ample bracing before being put back in. I still cringed every time I heard a fin bend a little, but it's in now. Used some weatherstrip caulk to seal the cover and buttoned the interior up (mostly).
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Moved back to the engine bay, and this grommet was a massive pain in my ass due to space constraints in the interior. Still, got it in eventually. Condensor went on with no issues, and the fan still worked, good stuff.
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Compressor was in, and the lines went in with little fuss. Thankful, because I'd had enough messing about with the interior.
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With that I'd completed the install and went to get the system filled. I did have a leak that was not caught by the local shop I went to, so out came the tools and I got to fastening. due to the angle of the valve with the evaporator cover, I wasn't able to get both my adjustable wrench and regular wrench in there to tighten. So I used 2 fingers instead. Tightened the fitting a bit more and ran the AC system for a few days. No more green dye, so I'm hoping that saga is closed. Still waiting to get the system re-filled because I'm planning a trip for August and most of my money has been going there instead. Figure I'll get it refilled in the last week of June. Until then I'll hold my review on the performance of the system.

[zwill23]

How is the AC install going? I got mine working and leak free, but I wouldn't say the temps I'm seeing are ice cold. In stop and go traffic with 95-100deg heat it's pushing air in the 60s which is acceptable, but also needs to be run on full blast to keep the cabin reasonable.

I'm curious what your results are, my hot climate isn't helping but I think the turbo being so close to my AC line is what's really causing my lackluster performance.

[raymang]

Miscellaneous Trip Prep (contd.):

While I wait for my AC line grommet to ship and AC belt to be delivered, I set about finishing the rear of the car so I could raise the front. Until then the AC parts will stay in their box (mostly).

Rear brakes & evap cover (25 May '24):
Got the rear brakes finally wrapped up with Pagid pads and Centric blanks. Local bolt supply store came through with some nice yellow zinc pieces, and they do stick out like a sore thumb but they work and I'm glad. Swapped out the driver side hardware too and adjusted the parking brakes with the star adjuster and the nuts inside the cabin in 1 fell swoop.
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Evap cover came in, though one of the studs snapped because I didn't fit the cover up properly before tightening. This is jank as all hell, but I used JB Weld to cover up the hole and fill it in. Will it hold? Idk, but I'm keeping it as a note in my Notion journal as a possible pain point. Caused by my own idiocy of course (as a lot of things are), but when I can properly strip this car and fix it I will.
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Front brakes (25 May '24):
I've always had a rattle in my front driver brake pads and thought it might be because the spring clip fell out. Confirmed it.
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Now I'm kind of in a fix here because I do want to fix the rattle, but I also don't want to throw away perfectly good pads and rotors (there's 0 lip on the rotors and the pads look to be ~75% life left). I do have a set of Bosch pads waiting, but I could also look to saving them for when the fronts actually need changing. Dunno what I'll do.

Oil leaks (25 May '24):
While getting the old compressor out I decided to peruse upstairs along the engine block. Seems the headgasket may be original, it's seeping along the middle cylinders. My oil level has remained rock steady in the time that I've owned the car, so I'll leave it as-is. When it gets worse I figure I'll swap the engine out anyways to an N52 or K24 alongside a manual swap.
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[raymang]

I just got my ACSolutions kit installed, fixing a few pesky leaks at the moment but very excited to see how well a modern compressor performs... I've always been underwhelmed with my stock R134 conversion and I blame the old compressor.

I am not looking forward to diagnosing leaks with my install experience, but that's for later. I ended up dinging one of the lines on the 4 seasons evaporator since I didn't brace the expansion valve enough. Sigh. Now I've got both old and new evaporators at a local shop to see if the new one can be repaired, and if the old one is usable after flushing. Live and learn I guess. Interestingly enough the old evaporator fins were in much better condition vs the new evaporator fins. Though that may be because I pulled harder during the new evaporator removal in my panic.

Glad you got those fuel lines sorted... 1984, that's a car fire waiting to happen with a 40 year old fuel line.

Line was quite the trooper. I'm just finishing up my rear brakes + the evap hose cover install before I tackle engine bay fuel lines. Very surprised I did not burst into flames any time during my ownership.

[Panici]

Glad you got those fuel lines sorted... 1984, that's a car fire waiting to happen with a 40 year old fuel line.

[zwill23]

I just got my ACSolutions kit installed, fixing a few pesky leaks at the moment but very excited to see how well a modern compressor performs... I've always been underwhelmed with my stock R134 conversion and I blame the old compressor.

[raymang]

Miscellaneous Trip Prep (contd.):

Random findings (May 10, 2024):
While I waited for the new CPS and my AC Solutions kit to ship, I set about checking the resistance on the current CPS. Came within spec, so this one with a broken plug will be converted to a spare. Just gotta remember to use a zip tie when using this one. At the same time I ended up buying some new vacuum line for the FPR and replaced the semi-tired one that was installed on the car.
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Shock tower rust repair (May 11 - 15, 2024):
Next up was some rust repair at the rear shock towers I'd been putting off for a while. You can see the discoloration peeping through the rear shock mounts.
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Some disassembly later and you can see the damage. Not too bad considering I'd known about this since 2021.
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Dremel work on both towers removed most of the scale and loose paint. I wasn't getting anymore off and decided to apply rust converter. Some nasty stuff, had to keep the garage door open for a while after applying.
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About a day later and the surface was ready. Some self-etch primer, paint, and overrun later (I tried to get the hard to reach edges) and I think this will last.
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Random findings (May 11 - 15, 2024):
On another note, I noticed my evap hose cover was never included with the car and the Konis had rubbed their paint clean off on the braids. Ordered one off r3v and I'll have it installed before I set out on the trip. Glad I caught it. Shock paint was repaired with a paint pen I got off Canadian Tire. Not a perfect match by any means (Ford Screaming Yellow), but it'll be facing away from me anyways :).
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Going through the fuel lines yielded another surprise with my oldest line being from 1984! Basically booked it to the local PartSource the next day and got 10' of 5/16" Continental J30R9 line alongside some Glarks fuel injection clamps from Amazon. Some other lines looked to be from 2007, and another one from an unknown date leading to the cold start injector. Not worth it to run them during a long trip, so I'm setting that into my Notion calendar as a task to do.
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Brake mishap (May 18, 2024):
Since I was done with the shock tower rust, I figured I'd do my long-overdue brake job starting from the back. Got the torque values from FCPEuro's video and sent it. So much for that. Root cause: over torque plus the copper anti-seize lubrication allowed me to neck the bolt and shear it off. Pretty straightforward.
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Looking at other sources, seems the caliper carrier bolt torque is incorrect (80ft.lb in the video vs 49ft.lb from Bentley). Serves me right for not cross-referencing. At least it's a regular pitch metric bolt. Ordered a set off Amazon and it should be here on Tuesday, figures it would happen on a long weekend with everything closed! On the other hand, the caliper carriers and calipers cleaned up pretty nice considering they were under a layers of brake dust (wear your masks).
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And also, don't buy your brake items way in advance and not check the package. I bought these Pagids off RockAuto last year since they were on sale. Turns out the fronts were a return scam, and someone stuffed used (well, once-installed) Textars in the box. Sigh. Got a set of Bosch BP493 off Amazon, and now this brake job has gotten way out of whack in terms of meeting my timeline.
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ACSolutions kit also came in around this time. Even if the car is on jackstands on one end, I figure I may as well get started on disassembly. They forgot to add the compressor belt in the package, but one email to them and they sent it out. Now that's good service!
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[raymang]

Miscellaneous Trip Prep:

Since I'm planning on a long road trip in August, I decided to take stock of general vehicle condition. Mainly to see if anything needed replacing and order some spare parts for the trip.

CPS checks (May 5. 2024):
Got to the CPS and saw a bead of silicone along the top edge and feared for the worst. Yep, I'm going to need a new CPS. Ordered a Bosch one and I'm now waiting for it. Luckily the engine harness plug cleaned up fine, that didn't stop me from getting a bunch of Junior Power Timer plugs from Mouser.
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Cracked smiley reflector swap (May 5, 2024):
Continuing on with the vehicle condition, I remembered I never replaced my cracked low beam projector with the spare I had lying around. So I got around to it. Quick little disassembly and she looks pretty fresh, I am going to get new adjusters in the future, but for now this will do. You can see on the old reflector where I had to reseal the reflector with metal bonder since the old glue fell apart.
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Bosch reflectors that came from Schmiedmann had the plugs adapted to the sealed beam plug from factory. Pretty cool, and would have saved me money back when I first got these smileys, but ah well.
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Also new parts! AC Solutions kit should ship next week. I got the 4 seasons evaporator and the Nissens condensor for cheap locally so I tried to save some cash there.
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[raymang]

Steering Rack Swap (April 27, 2024):

Update on the rack swap, it's in!
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IMG_2061 by Aryaman Gogoi, on Flickr

I got started initially, then work asked me to go for field visits. Not wanting to leave the car half-disassembled I got a local shop to finish the job. Parts list:

• AAE 3310N rack with E36 outers
• New Sunsong lines with Rein reservoir
• New OEM steering joint giubo

Rack brings the E30 steering speed in line with my dad's X3, and this cool 330i loaner I got when my dad's car was in for work. Bimmerworld is accurate when they say this is ~2.8 turns LTL.
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One caveat, the brochure does say this one should use CHF11S. But the rack came pre-filled with ATF so I'm not sure what that was about. Had the shop flush the system and refill with DEXRON 3 and so far so good. Had an odd vibration through the steering wheel that would go up and down with revs, turns out the high pressure line and return line connections at the rack were very slightly contacting each other. Some bending by hand and the vibration is gone.

Next up is going to be the AC kit. Thinking I may go for the AC Solutions kit and swap to the late model single pressure switch setup while I'm there.

[raymang]

You should add an analog clock in there. It’s plug and play for that silly digital clock that’s in there and looks 100x better

In the plans! I just need to get one lol, I’ve been neglecting the interior for a while.

[raymang]

I really like an early model in that colour. Looks like a very clean car overall.

Ever thought about doing a manual swap? Old 3 and 4 speed autos are really dogs.

I swapped my M20B25 and it really transformed the car.
It was the first time I had ever taken a transmission off, and I did it in my driveway.

Thanks! I do like the Polaris silver even though it kind of blends in, it has a cool shine when polished thanks to the alu flakes. It will need a repaint eventually, it’s pretty tired.

I do have plans eventually to manual swap. It’s running pretty good and I did do a drain and fill last summer so I’m gonna keep the auto for a while. I was kinda mulling that if I do a manual swap I’ll do a 24V or N52 of the sort at the same time.

[Panici]

I really like an early model in that colour. Looks like a very clean car overall.

Ever thought about doing a manual swap? Old 3 and 4 speed autos are really dogs.

I swapped my M20B25 and it really transformed the car.
It was the first time I had ever taken a transmission off, and I did it in my driveway.

[2mAn]

You should add an analog clock in there. It’s plug and play for that silly digital clock that’s in there and looks 100x better

[raymang]

just check with the indies up there. here in regina alvey's is good for work on euro cars, but they don't really do anything modified. i have had custom exhaust done at odd man out, they are a subaru focused speed shop, but work on a load of platforms and have a dyno now.

edit : precision auto is really well known for euro work here but i can't afford them lol. also cws tuning is a great shop but were closed for a while, i think they have re-opened.

Appreciate it! Yea eurotec up here is who I take my car to, but Alan also doesn’t like doing any modifications. I may be looking for a shop to do my Z3 rack swap due to work hence my asking. Exceed up here is good, but they said their tech hasn’t looked at my request yet which is giving me pause.