Project KEEP MOVING FORWARD

[JasonWilson48]

Looking good man! its getting me anxious LOL. What steering rack do you using?

Purple Tag E46

[max.rodriguezzz]

Purple Tag E46

How do you like it? compared to like the z3 2.7 turn one?

Im always curious cuz I hear people talk about how much they dislike the 2.7 turn one that the e46 ones are the more practical way to go

ive had the 2.7 turn one for awhile and I really enjoyed it, even for daily driving. I did notice that body roll is a bit more noticeable, probably due to less time for suspension to progressively load up

[JasonWilson48]

I've never driven an E30 with a z3 rack. The purple tag is 3.0 lock-to-lock, and is great for aggressive and leisurely driving. I like it a lot. Don't think I would want anything more or less aggressive.

[Il Duce]

Looking great so far! Keep up the good work. Going to be so rewarding to get it buttoned back up and drivable again.

Here I was thinking I was productive swapping out my blower motor and aligning my hood this weekend... lol

edit: also, love the K1 choice. I've been eying a set of those as well lately. I like my ACTs but they're heavy.

[JasonWilson48]

Update #6

Next Steps:
-Steering rack grinded down and done!
-Brake lines are done!
-Heater core swapped!
-I'm rocking the old fucking brake stuff for now. I have new lines, rotors, and pads ready for when it get's sketchy!

Ok, so i missed a lot of photos of the troubleshooting, but here is where I am at, as of 2 hours ago.


Had clutch kit issues. Got the wrong kit from FCP Euro, and I installed without looking at it. Ughhhh. So I had to return this one and order a new one. Got it in, and installed the transmission.



Then I shoehorned it back into the new chassis. Also dropped it on the wheels with engine for the first time. I'm close to a first test start. I am aiming for a test on next day off on Tuesday.












Also had to get in and row the gears obviously.



And here it is with the engine in, and car on all 4 wheels.

[AWDBOB]

Nice progress! Koseis FTW. Is that a gs6-17bg 6sp from an e9x? I didn't realize there was an easy way to make them work on a 24v swap. Great option considering the extra gear and zf scarcity

[JasonWilson48]

Is that a gs6-17bg 6sp from an e9x? I didn't realize there was an easy way to make them work on a 24v swap. Great option considering the extra gear and zf scarcity

Sure is... and yeah the 6th gear with a 3.73 LSD is a good balance of low speed acceleration, and cruising on the highway. I have the conversions some where of my wheel size, trans ratio, and diff ratio.... came out to like 80 mph in 6th gear being about 3500 rpm or something like that. It isn't bad at all.

The exhaust note on the highway is kind of annoying though. I might weld in a high flow cat in the future to reduce the exhaust smells and/ or new muffler to change the tone a little.

[JasonWilson48]

Update #7

I had my first day off work where I literally had no professional or personal obligations in like 2 months. It was freaking great. I don't even have kids or pets. Not sure how y'all do it with those "obstacles" lol.

Anyway... a few nights ago I got the engine situated. I got all the way to the intake manifold going on, but then realized I forgot to hook up the fuel lines to the FPR. Got annoyed and left it after that. That's where I started today.

I pulled the manifold back off, and attached the fuel lines. Last night I had 30 minutes to replace the gaskets, pintles, and filters on the fuel injectors... so those were ready to go. I just used the kit from Race German. It was pretty simple since I setup a vice in my laundry room.

So I got the fuel rail, injectors, ignition coils, intake manifold back on, and installed the throttle body and intake boot with MAF.



After that, I installed the old battery from my wrecked car, put in the old oil filter, and added some oil and bumped the key to see what would happen. And what do you know... it turned over!!! At this point I ran to the store, and picked up gas, coolant, power steering fluid, and brake fluid.

Came back home, and added the gas. I have the radiator hoses hooked up, but not clamped down at this point. Wanted to test without coolant first.

Then I tried again. The engine was now turning over, but not starting. I realized I didn't really hear the fuel pump prime when I turned the key to ignition. I was looking around the engine bay, fuse box, and at the top of the gas tank, but couldn't see any obvious issues cuasing the the fuel pump to not work.

Then I realized how stupid I am. I never hooked up the ECU. I hook up the ECU. Turn the key, immediately hear the fuel pump prime... and the engine turns over in like two cranks! I scared myself. The exhaust isn't hooked up. I only have the collector fromm the headers hooked up. It's pretty dang loud. doesn't come across in the video, but echoing in my garage is annoying. I also live on a semi-quiet steet. So everyone got to here the first start! Here is the video of the 2nd startup I filmed. Not sure how FLICKR videos come through, so I uploaded it to YouTube as a short lol. You can tell I don't do this often.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/phiEA71wgxA

There was little bit of surging idle. However, I shut it off, adjusted the throttle body cable, clamped down the intake boot, and made sure all the vacuum connections were tight enough... tried it again... and boom it ran smooth! Also, there were zero oil leaks identified during the minute I had it running. That was a nice surprise. I think there might be some once I get it more up to temperature, but I'm calling it a win for today.

I'm freaking pumped!

I then maneuvered some stuff around in my garage, and cleaned up a bit. Took some photos.








Next Steps:

1) Clamp down radiator hoses, add coolant, and bleed system.
2) Bleed brakes and clutch
3) Add power steering fluid, and bleed system.
4) Attach driveshaft
5) Hookup wiring to radiator and fan, to verify it all works at temp
6) TEST DRIVE!!!

Hopefully I'll have more updates in the next few weeks. Unfortunately I am getting very busy as my wedding fast approaches. The race is on to get it driving before then.

[Panici]

It's alive!
Hell yeah.

[2mAn]

Update #7

Not sure how y'all do it with those "obstacles" lol.

Pets are easy to neglect, kids not so much and wifey is touch and go (literally ) ... I get a solid 2-4 hours a WEEK... usually a Fri/Sat Night when I escape into the garage.

[BadDays]

This is motivation for me to get my car done quicker, Holy smokes!

[Northern]

Absolutely flying on this reshell

[Panici]

Absolutely flying on this reshell

Looks like 6-ish months from when he bought the shell.
Pretty impressive stuff when it's not your full time job!

[JasonWilson48]

Update #8

Recap from last post

1) Coolant system good
2) Brakes and clutch good
3) Power steering is good (but I have a slight leak in the low pressure hose)
4) Driveshaft is on
5) Radiator switch and wiring work great!
6) Now for the not so fun part. The first test drive...



So the first time I pulled it out of the garage I didn't think too much about when the clutch engaged. However, the first time I tried pulling down the driveway I realized something was wrong. The brand new clutch was full on slipping. I had to rev it up to 3500 rpm to get going in 1st. Sooo... I dropped the trans.. FML...





Only took two photos that whole time... I was so aggravated that I had to drop a trans on jack stands right after I had the engine fully out. I debated with my friend on if it made more sense to just pull the engine... and thankfully he talked me out of it.

Anyway, the problem was the new clutch kit I used. It was supposed to be the same part, but the clutch disc was like 4-5mm thinner. This was definitely the problem. Anyway... I began to drop the trans on Friday night, and I had everything back together for the actual first test drive Easter morning. I was impatient and annoyed I wasted money, so I threw the old clutch and pressure plate back in. They worked fine before the crash, so I hope they just last me a few more years before I have to do a clutch job again.

Drove it around the block! Everything seemed fine minus the alignment is still not great. But no weird noises or new leaks!



I was so down when I had to pull the trans, but driving it around the block afterwards got me pumped! Got the front valence and the lip on!



Then I fitted the exhaust. Here is another weird YouTube short of that lol

https://youtube.com/shorts/yOFKxohNEGI?si=lU7zbStXqU-QncJz

Got all the wires sorted for the lights, and the toe alignment good enough.



Then took a spare set of headlights with bad brackets, and swapped them into good brackets that came with the car.





Got the, fitted with the grilles. Really need some SEM trim paint now lol.



Stole the license plate off the wrecked car for a longer test drive.



Stopped by my neighbors house to show him the car and say hi.





Admired my nice new shift knob with the shitty interior after the long test drive. No leaks except that stupid power steering line. Made me happy!





Removed the crappy tint. Back to fishbowl status.











Then took some beauty shots with the hood back on for the first time. I still need to put the side trim and rear bumper back on... But those are a little messed up from whoever owned this car before. So I need to mcgyver some solutions there. Thinking a lot of super glue or jb weld with a lot of new clips.





Alright! Next Steps!

1) Adjust toe some more, and better align steering wheel
2) Order and replace power steering line
3) Get the rear bumper and trim affixed.
4) Take photos to get it legally registered
5) Deep clean interior more with steamer and bleach. Put sport seats in.
6) Long shake down drive (50+ miles)

[max.rodriguezzz]

HELL YES DUDE!!! Im so happy to see it alive !

looks like I got walked, no complainants tho, im sharing your victory with you

as someone whose pulled their transmission out on jackstones MANY times.. maybe its the masochist in me, but I've come to find it to be an enjoyable process. Entire getrag 260 out in just about 45 minutes. My method for putting it back in is even better. I do it barefoot, but say with me now... I do it barefoot because im not the strongest of individuals, so I use my arm strength to lift up the heavy gearbox side, then lay on my side/hip almost, and I use the side of my thigh/leg my to lift and support the rest of the transmission, then use my feet and the grip of the bareness to help guide/push the bellhousing into the output shaft. It works extremely efficiently and using this method im able to get it in in just barley about 2 minutes. Although admittingly, ZF's are waaay heavier than getrags.

anyways, good shit man, i cant wait to see everything get wrapped up and finished !