The Yoga E30 Sedan Chronicle

[Butler]

Got my hands on a set of front floor mats.

Before shampoo -



After -

Meh, better. But not perfect. Tan kinda sucks like that. :(









I wish I had found a car bow earlier! I can't find anything local that is worthy. I did find a website that sells mega sized bows just for this application.... Do you guys have any ideas? Her birthday is this weekend!

[CorvallisBMW]

Wow, nice find! It looks cherry.

A big bow would be cool, or maybe hide it under a car cover and pull it off in front of her, showing off the shiny new paint.

[Butler]

It will definitely be "wrapped" in a car cover! :D

[Butler]

:D

She loved it to say the least. Score!

[craiggroves91]

:D

She loved it to say the least. Score!

Win!!
Good looking car and girl

[Butler]

Thanks man.

I stumbled upon the deal of the year - $250 for brand new Bilsteins. Yup. :D



I couldn't say no. The front suspension is totally mush so some shocks were going to happen eventually anyway. Now I need to order some control arms and new bushings.

[Butler]

Finally got around to installing the Billy's and control arms.

What's pain in the fucking ass control arms can be. Jesus it took for ever to figure out what the hell I was doing.

Tips:

CABs- lube them up with dish soap and then force them on to the control arm using downward force while in a vice. Bushing and lolli pop in the vice of course.

The 22mm inner ball joint- loosen the motor mounts and lift the motor an inch or two. It makes the drivers side a breeze. The passenger side is one of the hardest parts of the whole job. I used a combination of 22 wrench to break it loose then a big extension, from the top, to get it off.

Tie rods- don't bang on the threads to break it loose from the strut housing. I mangled my threads and had to go buy a thread chaser. So agrivating! The tie rod end bolt is an M10 and the bolt is a 17mm FYI.

Started with the rears!



Then pulled it in the garage to do the fronts and CAs



It was a good learning experience.

[Butler]

OK, so bad news. What I thought was an oil pan gasket leaking turns out to the be head gasket. FUUUUUUUUUUUU

Im so pissed. I had a friend offer to help do it our selves and I think that would be the best possible move at this point. I'd like to swap it but I don't think thats realistic.


:(

[e30austin]

Shitty! Should be able to find a good M20 for a decent price. A top end refresh isn't too bad, either.

[Butler]

It starts



I got the coolant drained and the radiator out.




Moar tomorrow



Probably sent while at work using Tapatalk

[squidmaster]

Good luck! It's a dirty job. It's a good idea to clean out the oil ports and cam oil sprayer.

[BROKINBIMMER]

H.G. job isn't too bad on an M20. If you read up on it enough, you could probably do it in a day with an extra set of hands...

[Norwegian]

Sweet!! good luck dude! i'm doing the exact same thing you're doing.. :)

[Dalejandrino]

Probably sent while at work using Tapatalk

hahahaha

[Butler]

Here is my update from Saturday/Sunday work -

Getting the manifold off














I gotta say that I'm damn proud of this. I've never been this deep into any of my cars before.
:D