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phenryiv1's 1989 325iC Project - SETA 2.7i Swap Complete and Running!

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    #76
    I have been watching your build, hope the seals are what you need. I would love to lower my car but am concerned about the oil pan, how close is your pan to the street?

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      #77
      Originally posted by rcsoundn1 View Post
      I have been watching your build, hope the seals are what you need. I would love to lower my car but am concerned about the oil pan, how close is your pan to the street?
      REALLY close. I have a skidplate to install, plus those H&Rs will raise me up considerably.
      Patrick Henry

      1989 325iC build: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=316880


      Comment


        #78
        Originally posted by phenryiv1 View Post
        A couple close-up shots of the rear coilovers and swaybar.

        Pat, just re-reading the thread and, though I know you know this, I'm gonna have to bust you on calling those "rear coilovers", lol.

        You work at a more manic pace than I do. I thought you sold the rallycar so you could spend less time working on cars, haha....;)
        Last edited by irish44j; 05-15-2014, 06:05 PM.
        Stage rally/rallycross e30 build/competition journal
        Track/street e21 build
        visit Condor Speed Shop
        visit Motorsport Hardware



        [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"] 1985 318i/M50 Rally Car - 1988 Porsche 924S - 2005 Sequoia tow pig - 2018 GTI

        Comment


          #79
          Originally posted by irish44j View Post
          Pat, just re-reading the thread and, though I know you know this, I'm gonna have to bust you on calling those "rear coilovers", lol.

          You work at a more manic pace than I do. I thought you sold the rallycar so you could spend less time working on cars, haha....;)
          They are the rear part of a coilover setup. Technically, 1 point to Josh.

          At any rate they will be off the car tomorrow.

          And you are correct. I am approaching done-for-now status and will be driving it on the street soon.
          Patrick Henry

          1989 325iC build: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=316880


          Comment


            #80
            BIG (3-day) weekend for progress.

            Last Monday my kids both had their tonsils removed and Friday was my day to stay home with them so while they took a rest, I decided to do some work on the car. If you look back at post #67 you see that I installed some 17" Motorsport replica wheels last weekend. Of course, with the coilovers so low they rubbed like nobody's business so something had to be done.

            From day 1 I never really liked the idea of coilovers but I figured that I'd get used to them, particularly once I had then set up to where I wanted them. Based on price and reviews, they were actually not bad coilovers (particularly the camber plates and rear upper mounts) and since they were part of the car when I bought it I was going to keep them there for the time being.

            I was never impressed with the height to which they were set by the previous owner and knew that at some point I would be raising them up but after installing the wheels and determining that they would rub that time became now. Or maybe not.

            Since I was not attached to the coilovers in particular, I began to research my options. Right off the bat I eliminated GCs, not because I dislike CGs but because they are coilovers.

            The two front-runners were both convertible-specific setups that have been tried and tested fairly extensively. First up was the H&R Cup Kit (Basically H&R Sport springs with supposedly proprietary struts) and second was the H&R Sport springs with Koni struts (particularly attractive since Konis are on sale 25% off through the end of May). I considered Bilstein Sports as well but at least for this month the Konis are the same price so I leaned that way. The best prices that I found were the Cup Kit at about $700 and the H&R/Koni combo for right around $650. I also wanted to go with e90 drop hats.

            My only real issue was that with the YellowSpeed coilovers my strut housings were welded to the perches up front so I would need new 51mm front housings (not always easy to find or cheap) plus I would need upper mounts F&R.

            Next step- put my coilovers up for sale. I posted them on a local e30 group on FaceBook and after a few non-starter offers someone popped up a few hours later offering to trade me for 'vert-specific H&R Sports, Bilstein Sports, e90 drop hats, front housings, all new upper F&R mounts, and 51mm housings...and cash on top on his end. He also happened to be 20 minutes from where my little brother lives and I was headed up there this weekend for his law school graduation (poor guy).

            Plan was to remove everything from both cars and the other guy would leave his parts and the cash with my brother Friday night then I'd pick it up Saturday and leave my parts, which he would get Saturday evening after Guard duty. After a few conversations on the phone and sending lots of pictures of the parts back and forth we settled on parts + $100 with me taking his rotors and him taking mine due to the retaining bolts being seized to the hubs (more on that later).

            This takes up to Friday, which became a mad scramble to get the suspension off of the car for drop-off the next day.

            Removing the fronts was pretty easy. Whoever owned the car before me somehow managed to get the rotors on and off of the car with the retaining nut still in the hub:



            Looks like I need to rebuild these (more on THAT later as well):



            Zip-tied these put of the way:



            Now to separate the ball joints from the strut assembly. Back when I had my '88 325 I beat the crap out of the knuckles for (literally) 3 days using hammers, the fork separator, prybars...you name it. I finally got them all separated but not before I ruined both tie rods and one control arm. With my '87 rallyx build I learned my lesson. I had seen these ball joint separators at HF and figured I'd give them a shot. W.I.N. This thing kicks ass! Other brands sell them and this one is probably not the best made one but it is cheap and it has a lifetime warranty if you keep your receipt.



            Amazing deals on this 3/4In Ball Joint Separator at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.


            All you do is put the ball joint under tension and tap (really, just tap) the knuckle with a hammer, then add tension, tap, repeat. After a few rounds and about 60 seconds (in my case) the ball joint breaks free with a loud pop. No damage to the joint, knuckle, etc. BRILLIANT!

            I then had to deal with the minor issue of the ball joint spinning when I was trying to remove the top nut so I used a jack to put just enough pressure to create enough friction to spin the nut free. All told all 4 ball joints were done in 10-15 minutes, including moving the tools to both sides of the car.

            From there it was a simple matter of removing the 6 nuts at the upper mounts and I was home free.

            Now to the rear. First off, the lower bolt was just as simple to remove as you'd imagine. Now where is that top mount? For those (like me) who have never had a convertible it can be a bit perplexing. I checked the thunk but the boot and the extra supports seemed to be in the way of where the attachment point should be. I checked the boot but saw nothing obvious. Back to the trunk...nothing. Google...somewhere in the boot? Really? Checked again- AH there it is!



            The rubber covers were so dirty that I did not see them when I first checked. At any rate, e30 convertible rear upper strut mount attachment points are in the boot under 2 rubber covers, for future reference.

            Zip-tied the RTAs to prevent sagging at the axle (though the boot on one is torn...shit).



            Also reversed the rear swaybar links that were backwards. Not re-attached until the rear suspension is back on the car but it is at least I remedied that issue for later.



            Pile of parts:



            So about the rotors. This is another one of those times that I realize that I need to keep better track of my parts. So after realizing that the "stepped" part of the front rotors was broken on my rotors I offered to throw in some new stock-replacement rotors that I bought from Rock Auto. This would have been fine except that when I opened up the box I realized that these are some really odd rotors...



            It turns out that they were some loaded calipers that I bought on clearance back when I still had the rallycar. Well, given that I discovered the busted up caliper these will get put to good use soon enough.

            With the rotor inequity still facing us I called the other guy and we agreed to reduce the cash from $150 to $100 and he seemed satisfied.

            So here we are, just hanging out on the lift until the new parts come in:



            On to some other stuff from Friday.

            I finally installed the MTech wheel that I have had for a couple months.

            Somehow I got the idea that I needed this spacer.



            With the spacer in place the self-locking nut would cinch down tight to the wheel but the horn would not work. Without the spacer the nut would bottom out on the threaded part of the shaft without locking the wheel in place. It took about 10 tries to figure out that I was missing the washer that goes between the wheel and the nut.

            That resolved, we ended up here:



            Next up I decided to install my Z3 antenna. This was part vanity, part convenience. The power antenna was long gone an in 3 previous e30s , I never had one that worked right. The fencing foil installed by a previous owner hit the garage door when the car was on the lift, so I wanted it gone.

            As I started the install I discovered a problem...the antenna had been broken and the solder joint was bad. The antenna had been superglued back together and was complete crap. Not a fun discovery.



            Fortunately the seller was a standup guy and issued a fair refund for the cost.

            I installed the grommet anyway and filled the center hole with electrician's/plumber's putty to make a seal until I can find a replacement.



            NOW for Saturday/Sunday.

            So my youngest brother graduated form law school in the morning, we went out to celebrate in the afternoon, and then I got home in the evening with a pile of new-to-me parts:





            These are the H&R Sport 50407 spring set, specific to the convertible e30. as far as I know only the rear springs are different but I could be wrong and the rates are different F&R. Someone let me know if that is incorrect.

            Anyway, I did a quick install in the rear and had that set up within 5 minutes.





            In the front I hung the strut assembly from the strut towers but ran out of time to do the bottom portion of the install.

            Sunday I decided to attack the struts up front. Not sure what happened to the pictures but it was basically the reverse of the removal with a few exceptions. I unbolted the endlinks in the front to lower the control arms to allow the ball joints to seat in the housings, then used a jack to compress the assembly enough to re-attach the swaybar endlinks. This greatly simplified the installation versus whatever ramshackle method I used in the past.

            With the struts bolted up I decided to try to remove the rotors, just for the fun of it. The night before I had shot PB Blaster into the bolt hole from the rear of the assembly, then I had tapped the bolt repeatedly with a hammer to try to loosen them up. One came right off bit the other one simply rounded off. Damn. Oh well- a problem for another day.

            I cleaned up and re-installed the Motorsport Hardware wheels studs, then masked and painted the dust shields. I hate them but am too lazy to cut/grind them off at this point. Some of those pictures are the pictures that disappeared off of my phone...





            All that done, I re-installed the wheels and took it for a short drive. Other than forgetting to torque the lugnuts on the front left wheel (resulting in a very, very slow trip back to the house to tighten them), the results were awesome.

            The coilovers were very comfortable and I really liked the ride and handling but with my desired wheels they were too low plus I simply like conventional springs and struts better than a coilover setup. In the end I got the exact setup that I wanted, plus cash in exchange for something that I really was not thrilled to have. With the H&Rs my wheels/tires do not rub and the overall stance looks better than the slammed look that I have with the coilovers. I am very happy with the outcome.

            With this stuff settled I can focus on getting the top installed and working on the motor rebuild.

            Some "beauty: shots after my trip up and down the road:









            Last edited by phenryiv1; 05-22-2014, 07:45 AM.
            Patrick Henry

            1989 325iC build: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=316880


            Comment


              #81
              Need to mark this for when I replace my side/bumper trim.

              Shop getBMWparts.com for discounted Genuine BMW Accessories! Designed with fine precision and inspired by sheer performance - we offer the full line of Original BMW Accessories for your Ultimate Driving Machine!


              Also need this nut & washer combo: 31106774714 (nut) 33311125916 (washer) for steering wheel.
              Last edited by phenryiv1; 05-20-2014, 10:56 AM.
              Patrick Henry

              1989 325iC build: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=316880


              Comment


                #82
                Easy upgrade that really looks pretty cool, I think. I finally installed my ZHP shift knob and leather e-brake handle along with some custom shift/brake boots from Fuzz Fabrics.











                Nothing spectacular but I like them.

                All I am waiting for now is the Gorilla flush mount fill valve adapter so that I can air up my tires and the car will be off to the upholsterer for the install of the new top.
                Patrick Henry

                1989 325iC build: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=316880


                Comment


                  #83
                  you're out of control ;)

                  That height looks a lot better for sure.

                  Random question: did the car happen to come with the STOCK springs in a box or anything?
                  Stage rally/rallycross e30 build/competition journal
                  Track/street e21 build
                  visit Condor Speed Shop
                  visit Motorsport Hardware



                  [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"] 1985 318i/M50 Rally Car - 1988 Porsche 924S - 2005 Sequoia tow pig - 2018 GTI

                  Comment


                    #84
                    Originally posted by irish44j View Post
                    you're out of control ;)

                    That height looks a lot better for sure.

                    Random question: did the car happen to come with the STOCK springs in a box or anything?
                    No, but I have some. What do you need?
                    Patrick Henry

                    1989 325iC build: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=316880


                    Comment


                      #85
                      Oof, are those shifter boots period-specific or something? They make my eyes hurt.

                      ________________________1988 528e Rally-xmobile___________________
                      2014 WDCR Rally-X MR Season Champion, 2014 NE Div. Challenge MR Winner

                      Comment


                        #86
                        Originally posted by 95maxrider View Post
                        Oof, are those shifter boots period-specific or something? They make my eyes hurt.
                        Some E30s had houndstooth seats but in a blak and white pattern. Since my interior is tan I wanted to pull in the tan but have the houndstooth motif.
                        Patrick Henry

                        1989 325iC build: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=316880


                        Comment


                          #87
                          Originally posted by phenryiv1 View Post
                          No, but I have some. What do you need?
                          not sure, considering playing around with some other springs. These H&Rs were perfect for Summit since it was so smooth there, but I may want to get a bit more height and stiffness for the Frostburg venue, since I spend a lot of time on the bumpstops there.

                          The RG318 guys in Germany use IX springs for rally, but I'm thinking the vert stockers may be similar due to the weight of the car. Gotta do a bit of research though. What springs do you have?
                          Stage rally/rallycross e30 build/competition journal
                          Track/street e21 build
                          visit Condor Speed Shop
                          visit Motorsport Hardware



                          [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"] 1985 318i/M50 Rally Car - 1988 Porsche 924S - 2005 Sequoia tow pig - 2018 GTI

                          Comment


                            #88
                            Originally posted by irish44j View Post
                            not sure, considering playing around with some other springs. These H&Rs were perfect for Summit since it was so smooth there, but I may want to get a bit more height and stiffness for the Frostburg venue, since I spend a lot of time on the bumpstops there.

                            The RG318 guys in Germany use IX springs for rally, but I'm thinking the vert stockers may be similar due to the weight of the car. Gotta do a bit of research though. What springs do you have?
                            AFAIK, Vert fronts are the same as non-vert. Vert rears are the same as ix rears.

                            I have some stock "I" springs here.
                            Patrick Henry

                            1989 325iC build: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=316880


                            Comment


                              #89
                              Started work on the 2.7i motor. I got the 2.5 stripped down to a fairly bare bottom end:



                              Top end parts off and ready for cleaning (ignore the fact that you see an eta valve cover- I had it on there while I painted the "i" VC a while back):



                              Got to work stripping the SETA 2.7:







                              Just about ready to start cleaning the block:



                              2.5 top end parts waiting to be cleaned:



                              I am also getting ready to start prepping the car for paint. I was going to replace the top first but I don't want to send the car to paint with a new top installed so I am doing the paint first. I want to do that before the end of the month, then leave the car to cure for a week(ish) and then take it off to have the top installed. I don't want the upholsterer having to work over totally fresh paint if I can avoid it.

                              I was very undecided on color. With the tan interior I was thinking go real 80's with the color scheme and do black on the tan interior, and of course nothing says "I am a prick" in 80's-speak quite like a red e30 convertible, but now I am leaning toward blue. I had my hesitations about the black top (which I have already purchased) and a blue body but I looked over a lot of pictures lately and think that it will look fine. I'd have preferred to buy a blue top for on a blue car but I think that the black will be good.

                              I started a thread about paint colors here:



                              Leaning heavily toward LeMans blue. Sure, it was never an e30 color but I am building this car to drive and I like the color so I don't need to justify any purists with the color choice. I am still not set on it (I like 2 other BMW blues as well) but if I was forced to go to paint today it would be LeMans Blue.

                              I actually found a model building site with a LeMans Blue e30 convertible:





                              These were the best shots of an e30 in LeMans Blue that I could find:





                              And of course, R3Vlimited's own "Cabriolet" has a beautiful Avus Blue Metallic sedan as an example of a very similar color on an e30.

                              So for now, it looks like LeMans Blue, unless something convinces me otherwise.
                              Last edited by phenryiv1; 06-10-2014, 07:37 AM.
                              Patrick Henry

                              1989 325iC build: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=316880


                              Comment


                                #90
                                Trying to determine how many of each of these I need, particularly #10 and #7 (which baffles me).





                                No. Description Qty Part Number Price
                                06 Clip 6 51131876128 $0.59
                                07 Grommet 2 51121867907 $0.46
                                07 GrommetD=6,8 8 51131916449 $0.50
                                08 Cap nut M4 6 41335480120 $0.20
                                09 Clamp 6 51131829904 $0.42
                                10 Clamp ? 51131932865 $0.48
                                11 Grommet ? 51121867907 $0.46

                                Need to get that ordered along with my Euro trim and "is" front lip.

                                Shop getBMWparts.com for discounted Genuine BMW Accessories! Designed with fine precision and inspired by sheer performance - we offer the full line of Original BMW Accessories for your Ultimate Driving Machine!
                                Last edited by phenryiv1; 06-02-2014, 09:00 AM.
                                Patrick Henry

                                1989 325iC build: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=316880


                                Comment

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