Project KEEP MOVING FORWARD

[JasonWilson48]

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 !

https://www.etsy.com/listing/8563789...hoCqJUQAvD_BwE

Here is your prize for the quickest trans swap west of the Mississippi

[Panici]

Nice work Jason.
Nothing like the feeling of that first test drive!

[JasonWilson48]

Update #9
This will be a short one... Haven't had much time in the past few weeks to dedicate to the car.

Update from last post

1) I did more toe adjustments and it is much better. Still pulls to the left, and getting on it the throttle from like 40-70 is a little squirrely, but I'll set up an actual alignment in the next few weeks when I have a day off or WFH.
2) Power steering line came in the mail. it has been staring at me sitting in my office. Looking to tackle that next, so I don't have to leave a piece of card board under my car anymore.
3) The rear bumper and trim are still off the car. I need to sand down whatever goop the last person put on there, and do some plastic welding.
4) I was able to cobble the bumper and trim on the car good enough to take antique registration photos. So the car is officially road legal in PA.
5) I did a first past deep cleaning of the interior with a carpet steamer. Carpet looks a lot better, but needs another pass when I feel like it.
6) I took a longer drive to work the other day (about 30 miles round trip). Everything seemed okay. Only issue I'm having are with the brakes. They are dragging pretty bad, and the rust on the rotors might be too much to knock off. I'm just going to swap the new rotors, pads, calipers, and soft lines I have waiting in my office. Not in a huge rush to do that though.

Registration photos. Don't mind the old crappy tires, and one very small one lol. Just needed it good enough to look stock.









My test drive to work next to some of my coworkers' cars




Grocery getter in the rain. This actually cause my fan to stop working. Car started getting warm about 1/2 mile from home. Temps never got above 225 F though. I did some troubleshooting with the "official electric fan" thread, and found fuse 18 blown. Replace fuse 18 and then Fuse 19 blew again right away as I shorted the radiator switch. Figured out my ghetto zip tie method around the fan plug was shorting out the ground and hot on each other. Cut and wired them together properly, and covered with electrical tape. Then replaced Fuse 19, and we were all good to go.



And a beauty shot with the element

[2mAn]

This guy finished rebuilding his car before the USPS would deliver his r3vlimited stickers...

[Panici]

Is it just me, or is your driver's side front wheel sitting pretty far back in the wheelwell?

Almost like the opposite effect of when folks run the offset M3 front lollypops.

[JasonWilson48]

Is it just me, or is your driver's side front wheel sitting pretty far back in the wheelwell?

Almost like the opposite effect of when folks run the offset M3 front lollypops.

I don't know. It could definitely be pushed back. This chassis is straight, but the body panels are rough. That side of the fender closer to the driver is pushed in a bit. Once I get a proper alignment, and get it up to 100mph, I'll see if i notice anything else.

I'll try to take some more straight on photos from further back to see if I can get a better shot of the wheel well.

[Panici]

I don't know. It could definitely be pushed back. This chassis is straight, but the body panels are rough. That side of the fender closer to the driver is pushed in a bit. Once I get a proper alignment, and get it up to 100mph, I'll see if i notice anything else.

I'll try to take some more straight on photos from further back to see if I can get a better shot of the wheel well.

What do your front control arm lollypops look like? Do they have offset bushings (possibly installed backwards)?

[JasonWilson48]

What do your front control arm lollypops look like? Do they have offset bushings (possibly installed backwards)?

No, I went with normal lollipop bushings. So no chance of installing backwards. I'll get under there, and see if something happened to the bushing though. You have me curious now.

[JasonWilson48]

Update #10

Things have been slow moving since I got the car running and driving. It is true what they say, that the last 10% of a build takes 90% of the time... or something like that lol. I hate all the small detail work.

Anyway let's run through it... with pics!

Covered the seats in leatherique and let them bake for a few days. Cleaned them off and threw them in the car. Also, used the rear bottom seat carpet from the parts car for now, since the other grey carpet for that spot is still covered in mouse piss/poop. Needs to be deep cleaned more.





Washed the car for the first time. Found out the sunroof drains are clogged. What a surprise /s... Anyway, tried polishing some of the hood and roof to see how it looked. Honestly, not terrible. Didn't have time to clay bar. Going to clay bar and polish some more the next time i wash it. I know there is like barely any clear coat left, but fuck it. I'll polish the base coat lol.





Replaced the windshield wiper stalk and passenger side window motors, with parts car stuff. Now both wipers and window work. Great success!

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2sgpBnL]

Got some used fog lights. And at the same time, replaced power steering reservoir, and the pump supply line from reservoir, and the clamps. Also, found out my lower radiator hose was leaking slightly. Replaced the clamp and it seems like that did the trick. Been a few weeks and I can say my car officially has zero leaks.



The trunk still smelled of mouse piss after I deep cleaned it... so I went a step further and just removed the sound deadening. Sprayed down one more time, scrubbed a bit more, and viola! The next day, came back, and no more smell. My whole car officially smells NORMAL.

Also the in the rear strut bar I forgot I had from the parts car. And got a front strut bar while I was at it.











Finally got rear bumper fixed. Used epoxy and plastic welder to fix the broken off bumper hanger tabs on the sides. Then I fitted it up and also mocked up the rep MTECH 1 wing from the parts car. Looking sweet. I'll paint match the bumper one day, but for now I don't care. I didn't get many pictures of this either, but I hobbled together the trim pieces from this car and the parts car to make on full non-broken set of side trim. I'll get better pics of that in my next post.











Also, got ahead of myself and got a Italvolanti wheel and hub for a good price on Facebook. Shouldn't be doing cosmetic upgrades yet, but it was smaller diameter wheel and feels better that the old crumbing rubber one. So I think it justified me buying it now lol.



Been commuting to work in it more. My other coworker brought in his G8 the other day. Super clean.



Also, replaced all of the lights in the dash and HVAC panel, replaced ODO gears, and cleaned the fuel and temp gauges grounds. The temp gauge is working better, but not perfect. And the fuel gauge is still wonky. I think I need to replace one of the fuel sending units. Forgot to get photos of all of this.

Also, took off the roof rack since I am not constantly stacking parts on top of the car anymore, and am driving it often. The rack was supe helpful for stacking a bunch of shit up there while my garage was packed full of stuff.



Next steps:

0) Disconnect battery and put on tender. Get married and go on honey moon.
1) Final interior cleaning, and put back the center console.
2) Replace sunroof panel/tracks from parts car. Current sunroof still won't open and has obvious rust I can see. Same time I clean out the sunroof drains.
3) Swap a/c interior lines, and join the e36 a/c lines to E30 lines. Got new o-rings, drier filter, and expansion valve. So maybe I will have working a/c by end of summer lol.
4) swap over radio, and speakers from parts car. Only the passenger front speaker works right now. Haven't had any tunes while driving. Might move this further up the list.
5) Work on getting interior more put back together

Future next big projects come winter:
1) rear subframe bushings
2) LSD from parts car
3) all brake lines
4) calipers, rotors, and pads (I keep putting this off lol. Might also move up the list, so I can have more confidence while driving fast)

[2mAn]

Step (0) is important! Where are yall going to 'consumate the marriage'

[JasonWilson48]

Madeira, Portugal