The complete repair, rebuild, repaint, and v8 swap of my early model sedan

[JGood]

Use washers or nuts under the head of the bolt to space it up far enough that the threads don't stick out past the end of the nut you are trying to weld. That way you don't have to worry about welding the suckers together.

I did this on the starter in my old 325es. I got tired of using the 5ft extension to go in through the grill. I did it up on the work bench so it was a little easier than what you are dealing with, but the concept it the same.

Awesome, I'll do that.

Lol, I actually get some sort of odd satisfaction from gathering all of my 3/8" extensions and swivels, and breaking trans bolts loose from 5 ft away. Well, until the socket slips off the bolt...

[OoPEZoO]

I have a beautiful scar on my right knuckle from the first time I removed the transmission from the yellow car. Socket slipped off and I caught my knuckle on the edge of the stamped sheet metal transmission support. Sliced it right down to the bone. Seriously fucking gross. Superglued it, taped it, put a latex glove on, and went back to work.

[JGood]

I have a beautiful scar on my right knuckle ... Superglued it, taped it, put a latex glove on, and went back to work.

Can't imagine why.... Lol

[JGood]

Not really much of an update today... just spent some time cleaning the 1/4 panel area, there's lost of rust and corrosion that needs attention before it gets welded back on next weekend. So that's all I'll be working on until then.

I ordered an e39 540i flywheel and an m52 Sachs Sport clutch. I have no idea if this will hold the power of the m60, or how long it will last. I think I'm the first to try this particular combo. Hopefully by the time I'm ready to drop the engine in the car, someone else will have already found out, lol.

Also ordered the vert strut tower reinforcements, and a stock e30 trans brace (had to modify mine for the m50/g260 swap, need a stock one for the zf. They are only $20 from BMW, who woulda thunk?) Also ordered the e34 V8 booster mounting bracket, which was severely overpriced at $68.

I made up for it by getting all of the other e34 V8 remote booster parts for $80 shipped, which arrive today:



Only piece missing is the upper stabilizer bar, which I actually already have.

[White325is]

You gonna add the vert reinforcement plates on the body that go behind the front wheel??

[JGood]

You gonna add the vert reinforcement plates on the body that go behind the front wheel??

Nah, but I considered it. If I was going to track this car, I would have. I think the extra welding done on my side support strut will be good enough. Gotta draw the line somewhere or else the spending gets outta control!

[White325is]

Blahhhh, can't be that expensive. Shit, you could make something out of steel im sure.

[JGood]

Blahhhh, can't be that expensive. Shit, you could make something out of steel im sure.

$50+ per side, they need shipped from Germany. The main reason I didn't get them is I just felt like it was $100 that was unnecessary. I'm not an engineer, but I think the main purpose of those parts is to help alleviate the collapsing effect from not having a solid roof (basically the center of the car trying to sag). Those parts seem like they tie the rockers into the strut tower /wheel housing area. I also think they are designed to work with the bottom reinforcement pieces that the verts have, that go near the jack point, which are NLA. I think all of those parts together help tie the front of the car to the center of the car, to help prevent that sagging.

Considering how much metal I replaced and reinforced (with 20 gauge vs. the 22-24 the factory uses), I really think I'll be fine. If this was a track car or a no-expense spared build, I would have ordered them and put them on. But theres a list of about 30 things I could use for the engine swap that are "just $100 parts". Like I said, gotta draw the line somewhere, or next thing you know I'll be cutting the roof off and welding on all kinds of M3 parts like Garey!

I'm not good enough with metal working to make something that would fit as well as this...

[JGood]

Not much new. I've been working on the linkage for the remote booster setup. It's certainly not a bolt in affair. The V8 takes up a good portion of the engine bay, so not only is there not room for a booster, there's really not even room for any type of brake linkage in the stock location. So, I'm mounting the e34 linkage over about 3" towards the fender. This requires some modification to the pedal assembly. Had to space the master cylinder away from it's mounting points by about 3/4", and the brake linkage will go in the gap that was created by doing so. Also had to cut the factory accelerator pedal linkage mounting point, so I'll need to come up with a new throttle linkage. Shouldn't be too hard. I did half to cut some new holes in the firewall, that will need filled, then I'll need to try to make the new holes the same size as the factory grommets so I don't have any leaks.

I'm still working out the kinks, but I believe it will work like this.




You can see the clevis in this pic, kinda hiding because you're looking straight down on it, kinda looks like part of the MC.

[JGood]

I felt like people were getting bored with the V8 swap-related updates, so I went back and found some more rust for you guys...


Passenger side rear wheel well this time. The last of the 4 corners of the car!










This is the metal cover for the fuel hoses in the wheel well. I may need to replace this part.

[JGood]

Lower holes patched. Will hit the upper one tomorrow. Then Sunday is the big day for the quarter panel, I'm hoping to get it fully welded in place and maybe even begin some bondo work.

[Jean]

amazing as usual!

[Bimmer guru]

wow. i just read through this entire thread. you have got some serious dedication. keep up the good work!

[MR 325]

Keep up the good work Mr. Crazy Man.

[JGood]

Switched up my pedal box design a bit. I made a bracket for the clutch master cylinder, which provides enough clearance for the brake linkage. Everything seems to be working good, no binding or clearance issues. Took about 6 hours worth of measuring, cutting, grinding, bending, tweaking, etc... to get it to this point. I'll wait until I get the booster bracket and verify the whole system works together before I clean it up and paint it.