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

[FredK]

I use something around the same quality as the HF. It works great. Or, solder and heat shrink like Garey said, if you're good at soldering.

[MR 325]

Solder and heat shrink... just sayin'

Garey

Yup!

[JGood]

if you're good at soldering.

Yeahhh, I think I'll go the crimp route, I trust my crimping more then I do my soldering. Might be a different story if I was working on a bench, but not with a few inches of wire under a fuse box in an engine bay...

[Jean]

Solder and heat-shrink it, you can move the fusebox up and then put it all back down yeah? :)

[JGood]

This is really a picture-less stage of this whole rebuild/swap process. I'm just sanding. All night, every night. But I took some pictures anyway.

All of the jambs, doors, hood, trunk, engine bay, etc... are all sanded and ready for paint. The only thing left to do now is the exterior, the stuff you'll actually see. Which should go quick, they are all big smooth surfaces that just need scuffed, all of the body work has been done.

Let me tell you, a color change on a sedan is no joke. 4 doors worth of door jambs is a major PITA.













Also picked up a belt tensioner and new pulleys for the engine, and installed the serp belt. Along with a 14mm drain plug in the factory oil return in the oil pan, since I'm not using the stock oil filter housing. Two small steps closer to a running engine!

[OoPEZoO]

After all that custom work and learning to weld, you are getting scared off by a little soldering? Come on man, you're better than that. Solder and heat shrink is the the best and easiest solution.

If push comes to shove, I'll even come up and do it for you. I solder all day long at work.....mostly with tweezers under a microscope. Wires are a breeze.

[JGood]

LOL, I'm not scared of doing it. I just want a solution that will last 10 years and 100k miles. I don't want to deal with bad connections like I did with the m50 swap. And after some research, the opinions seem to be split 50/50 between what is better in an engine compartment... a crimp or solder. But the general consensus seems to be that either one done properly will be fine. I just figured my chances of doing a solid crimp are better then the chances of soldering properly. I'll do it either way, doesn't matter to me - whatever has the best chance of being trouble-free for a long time.

[broke30]

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/TE-Connectivity-Raychem/B-155-9002/?qs=a4BpuNp2zsPfHhgXjMTjD9zJU56LMLyA9hRHTaPaeT4%3d

Solder sleeves, they work wonders and all you need is a heat gun. Its solder and heat shrink together, one step. No crimping crap, and for you, no soldering. You'll thank me later

Max

[JGood]

Transmission degreased with Purple Power, de-corroded with acidic mag wheel cleaner, then painted with VHT engine paint.





Some more body work. Yay.





Some more rust. Yay.

[bmwmech1]

Transmission degreased with Purple Power, de-corroded with acidic mag wheel cleaner, then painted with VHT engine paint.

Told you... no big deal and BLAM! Brand new transmission...;)

Garey

[JGood]

Yeah, it wasn't bad at all. Next up is the diff.

[JGood]

Got the 3.25 LSD ready to go this morning.







Clutchmasters FX100... Rated for 325 lbs/ft... We'll see if it's enough.





Parts from blunttech... Service with a smile!

[drutt23]

Lolz at the the box. "1 Stuck Piece" directly under a stick figure poking another stick figure............

[series88]

cancer rust is never fun. Good job on getting the car back on track though

[JGood]

Nothing new really. I've spent the past week or two trying to find someone to weld my block for me. I found a crack right near the starter. I've just about exhausted all my options for someone coming to my garage with a TIG welder to weld it up for me. Tried finding a welder to rent, or a shop with a somewhat portable welder that I could pay to come do the work, etc... Next step is to disassemble the engine and haul it off to a shop to have them weld it. It's one thing after another with this project.





Got the coilovers installed. I originally planned to shorten the struts and run 325ix shocks. So I went and bought some used 325ix Bilstein HD's on this forum. Of course, they showed up completely blown and unusable. At this point I'm already in the hole too far to keep buying shit, so I just reassembled the struts with my normal length Bilstein's. I'll probably be riding on the bump stops, oh well.