1991 BMW 325i Coupe - Build Thread - The end is in sight!

[grantlacey11]

i cannot WAIT to be able to buy all of these parts for my car!! keep up the good work!! looks great.

[MaksV]

thanks.

[MaksV]

yay more updates.

Powerflex FCABS came in


finally got all the springs out. what a bitch. slipped and tore up my hand on one of them. another trick - get it tight and smack it once, cause those collets dont always want to come out.


Bolt that holds the cam gear cover on. didnt have the right socket and ended up destroying it. whatever will just order another one, along with other stuff.


next unbolt those two 10mm bolts


and its out. No clue how to get the gear off? does it just screw off? help?


nice and empty


some shitty degreaser and a bucket of water later


not much but its a start. Then I started to clean components



before and after


it definitly pay to be meticulous and inspect stuff - look what I found - thankfully its only one of the 12 so shouldnt be too expensive


Exhaust side done - with the broken one set aside


I moved on to trying to clean these bad boys but its not really working. is there a better way to do this other than wire brush and letting it soak in brake clean? different pads to polish with? any help is appreciated



we need to be respectful to the environment. no need to waste. Anyone know where to recycle brake fluid?



Thats it for the day.

Please someone answer these for me?
1. how to remove cam gear?
2. where to recycle brake clean?
3. how to get gunk of valves?

more updates coming soon....

[MaksV]

not a whole lot of updates for the day. Figured out how to get the gear off. A few taps with a rubber hammer and off it came, go the old gaskets out of the other piece and bought some Berrymans chem dip. not really impressed, after soaking for 30 minutes it didnt really get anything off the valves, but cleaned the springs and other pieces pretty well. left an exhaust valve to sit in there overnight as an experiment. maybe it just needs more time. we will see... A few pics:




and for 10 bucks on ebay got some pigtails for my elipsoidals, as mine only came with them on the driver side....

[StereoInstaller1]

Use a wire wheel on the bench grinder to remove that crap, valves are tough.

[MaksV]

Use a wire wheel on the bench grinder to remove that crap, valves are tough.

I do have a power drill with wire brush attachments.

[StereoInstaller1]

eh, you are gonna want one on the bench grinder.

It makes cleaning studs mighty easy!

Just get a HF cheapie, should be no more than $10, and you already have a bench grinder.

[MaksV]

well I will be dropping by there to get a $10 bottle jack (that will hopefully hold my engine up while I swap motor mounts) and I will have to grab one of those, and a brake drain botle as well.

[MaksV]

So got some more work done today. This Berrymans stuff really does work but its takes time - like days, not hours to do its magic.

here is the test intake valve I let sit for 48 hours compared to a dirty exhaust valve:


so now I prepped (with a brush) all the exhaust valves to go into solution - they have 3 days of time before I have to do the intake stuff. I figure its going to get as clean as its going to get and thats that. I numbered them by using loops of galvanized steel to indicate what number cylinder they belong to.



now it was time to start cleaning the actual head - starting with the outside
half clean, half dirty


and all clean




and not clean - how do I clean this part? cant use a wire brush so what is the next best tool? I also have no way of dunking this thing and letting it sit




thats it for the work today got home to this

Steve hooked me up with the parts I need to replace the broken rocker


and Anthony@BimmerBrakes hooked me up with a good deal on some stoptech pads and fresh rotors.


thats it for now. Gonna have my last final Wednesday but then the real fun starts.

[MaksV]

another little update- Today with the removal of the valve seals (needle nose pliers work great) - I have officially disassembled the entire head - we are now down to one piece of metal. Also after 48 hours the exhaust valves are still covered in carbon which makes me sad - I wll give them another day but I would really like to move forward with a reconstruction of this thing so we can get going. Also I took some time and rebuilt my 19# injectors.

A few notes on injectors:
the rebuild kit from Mr. Injector is nice but it doesnt include the pintle caps (which will break) so I had to go to O'riellys auto parts to get a rebuilt kit from them - 3 bucks an injector - including all o rings and pintle cap - but it doesnt include the filters, which the mr injector kit does. So at the end fo the day I am left over with enough o rings to rebuild another set of 8, 2 extra filters, and no extra pintle caps- I guess Iwill just sell off that stuff later.

pics:



and all done:

[SkinnyVT]

I used engine degreaser on my cylinder head, brake fluid can be disposed of with your old oil.

[MaksV]

I used engine degreaser on my cylinder head, brake fluid can be disposed of with your old oil.

brake fluid can be, but I am aksing about brake cleaner....

I have bought some roloc pads and am gonna try that in conjunction with brake cleaner. the issue is not grease but rather carbon buildup.

[MaksV]

some more new parts:

Volvo MAf and wire - there will be more information on how to do the conversion and tuning when I actually get there - probably early January


aluminum Roloc pads


Koni adjustable rear shocks finally came in


So I got some work done today as well. 3 days in solution and the exhaust valves are still not clean - I really need to start on the engine monday so I really need these babys to clean up - I am going to set up a seperate bath for the intake valves tomorrow so they can soak at the same time. cause sunday night I need to reassemble everything
.

So with nothing important to do I decided it was time to actually inspect the car from underneath. Damn she is a dirty wh0re underneath. I realized that I needed some sway bar bushings- so another call to Steve got me the parts I need to arrive sometime early next week. Anyway here are the pictures.



eek everything is oily


my oil pan - this is why e30's need skidplates- need to place my order.



shit is dead


super shitty oil filter


oil cooler?


ugly stock headers - hopefully have the test headers from Anthony by end of December



destroyed sway bar bushings - got new ones ordered


rear shock assembly


diff is pretty clean


old RTABs - no worry I have new poly ones and new bolts with the camber/toe kit



All in all the car is pretty bad underneath but that was to be expected. I stopped by to get another gallon of BreakClean.

[MaksV]

and I am finally done cleaning the parts of the head. It will be reassembled on Sunday.

I am still waiting on the bit to hold the roloc pads, and then its struck me I should let the head itself soak a bit. so here is my homade tank - some degreaser + water - let that sit for a few days.




clean intake valves



gonna let the exhaust ones sit till Sunday.

[MaksV]

so last minute update for, I guess yesterday at this point.

Spent some time on cleaning the actual head itself after its 24 hour soap soak. used the roloc pads - work good.

also checked in on the exhaust valves- it seems nothing can get to them. Ohh well I will give them another 24 hours to soak and am going to reassemble everything tomorrow.

Some pictures - lots of updates later in the day


fresh out of the bath


Aluminum Roloc Pad and holder- total price 25 bucks off ebay for 5 white pads, and one holder


cylinder 1 - this one was not too bad to begin with but we got a lot out of there


I will go over it again tomorrow but this is the best for now


back in your bath


exhaust valves current state