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

[Will_NZ]

Didnt realise you had a bolt off front end like mine, makes getting the M60 motor/box out in one unit SO much easier!!! :-D

[Jean]

Jelly!

[JGood]

Got some more work done. First thing I did was pull the manifolds off and fix the leaks. I am hoping, very much so, that this finally fixes my problems with the car stalling, not adjusting fuel trims, running rich, etc...

The problem was the 3" to 2.5" reducers that I put on the manifolds. I did this under the car, without properly cleaning the metal, in a very limited workspace. The results were this, a jungle of little weld balls. It didn't actually weld, it was just kinda popping and arcing a bit, there was never any penetration.






So I grinded all that crap down, cleaned it up, and went over the entire area with a couple of layers of big thick beads of weld. Probably not the best way to do it, but it won't be leaking, and it's not visible with the manifolds installed. It would have been much better to cut that whole area out and rejoin the two pieces, but then my hard work to get that down pipe aligned properly would be down the drain and I'd be back to square one. I wasn't about to tackle that again without a lift.




I cut off the old 3-bolt flanges and ordered a set of v-band clamps from the Boost Depot. They are nice, with male and female interlocking sides.






I then pulled the trans off the engine to inspect the clutch and flywheel, to make sure my shuddering problem wasn't an issue with the clutch. Although I'm not thrilled with the hot spots on the surfaces after only 5k miles, I don't think it's enough to cause an issue.

[LJ851]

OMG !!! :o


New weld looks WAY better, hope it solves your problems.

[JGood]

OMG !!! :o


New weld looks WAY better, hope it solves your problems.

LOL, I know! It was so frustrating. The wire was just popping and cracking, and the more I tried, the higher the piles of crap got. It was almost like I had the gas turned off, a bad ground, a clogged tip, and the settings turned all the way down on the welder. Even then, I'd think it would weld better then that!

[deutschman]

I'v had to get down and do welds like that as well. Welding up side down in a dark cramped space is a bitch. You most likely already know this, but I found the best way to go about welding exhaust components is to tack them together, remove them, and finish weld them on a bench. Its seams like a bit more work, but if you consider messing your welds up an having to grind them down and re-weld them, its faster.
Love this car! I cant imagine an e30 with a v8 in it. Must be a blast!

[JGood]

I'v had to get down and do welds like that as well. Welding up side down in a dark cramped space is a bitch. You most likely already know this, but I found the best way to go about welding exhaust components is to tack them together, remove them, and finish weld them on a bench. Its seams like a bit more work, but if you consider messing your welds up an having to grind them down and re-weld them, its faster.
Love this car! I cant imagine an e30 with a v8 in it. Must be a blast!

Yep, I eventually came to that realization as well, and did it for the rest of the exhaust (although that leaks everywhere as well, and will be re-done). Problem is, those welds were on the exhaust manifolds. They had to be in place on the engine in the car so that I could weld on the down pipe appropriately. So I tacked it in place, but then couldn't remove the manifolds. In order to remove the exhaust manifolds from the engine, you need to remove the engine from the car. The car was all back together at that point, I didn't want to tear it apart again. Oh well.

Thanks for the compliments! It is a ton of fun to drive.

[Jean]

I can weld better than that!!!! J/K man :) Hope you figure out the shudder problem though!

[JGood]

I can weld better than that!!!! J/K man :) Hope you figure out the shudder problem though!

I think it's just a conistent string of bad luck, in the form of bolts coming loose. I had my 4 diff bolts come loose 3 times. I finally got to the point where they remained tight, but I still had a shudder. I replaced the engine mounts (which were new) with poly mounts, and the shuddering went away about 90%. Then when I went to pull the engine, I found that one of the transmission mount bolts was loose, giving the trans cross member a good 1/2" of movement. I had checked the trans mount bolts back when the shuddering first started, but apparently it came loose after that.

It's all new hardware, I'm not sure what the deal is...

[Jean]

Maybe your car is lost brother of my e34? I have a completely new front/rear suspension, EVERY single bushing I replaced front/back/top/bottom and it still isn't "tight".....

[JGood]

Maybe your car is lost brother of my e34? I have a completely new front/rear suspension, EVERY single bushing I replaced front/back/top/bottom and it still isn't "tight".....

Curse of the m60 powered vehicles?

[Jean]

Curse of the m60 powered vehicles?

Lol!

[Garageaholic]

Wow, Justin. Just catching up here. It looks like you are slowly re-building this car. But i'm glad that you're working to get all the tiniest bugs out of this car.

Those hot spots on your flywheel. Did you feel that when shifting during clutch engagement? I'm curious if I have that on my flywheel even if I'm not necessarily feeling the shuttering that you're feeling.

Good luck with that 2.93. I feel that you'll enjoy that much better than the 3.25, especially on the long roads.

[JGood]

Wow, Justin. Just catching up here. It looks like you are slowly re-building this car. But i'm glad that you're working to get all the tiniest bugs out of this car.

Those hot spots on your flywheel. Did you feel that when shifting during clutch engagement? I'm curious if I have that on my flywheel even if I'm not necessarily feeling the shuttering that you're feeling.

Good luck with that 2.93. I feel that you'll enjoy that much better than the 3.25, especially on the long roads.

Nope, the clutch felt 100% perfect at all times. It actually felt like a stock clutch, which was surprising. Only problem was the shuddering while letting out the clutch, which I'm now convinced was a combination of various loose drivetrain parts.

Can't wait for spring time, we need to do another m60 e30 get together. This time with videos! :evil:

[dmoney(AB)]

this unboltable rad support stuff is awesome.
might have to make it my spring project.