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

[phenryiv1]

BIG few days for me.

So I got tired of not having all of the parts that I needed to finish the top- namely the shocks and sleeves that assist the actual top mechanism- no thte cover. These were mentioned back on the page when I had the top installed but at $100 for all 4 parts, I was waiting until better weather to order them- plus I wanted to hold off until I got free shipping for those, some seat repair parts, and a few other odds and ends. Fortunately or unfortunately, I spent enough for free shipping at ECS Tuning, which was th eonly place that carried everything that I needed in this round of acquisitions.



Once things came in, I took time off from work last Friday and started the top repair process. Nothing about it was difficult but it was tedious. I only did this because I was putting off my e36 rack swap, but I got one side done.

Old v. New:



Installed:





I also finally installed the weird slotted fastener that I was missing. This was a real b!tch to install, even using a 90* ratcheting screwdriver.



That is all for this post- more after my next meeting when I get into my new lift and the e36 rack install.

[rcsoundn1]

What is the pic of that red handled item? I to need to do this on both my cars. Reason why they are not done is cost, and its not a "have to do" as opposed to a TB, which is next on my car.

[phenryiv1]

What is the pic of that red handled item? I to need to do this on both my cars. Reason why they are not done is cost, and its not a "have to do" as opposed to a TB, which is next on my car.

Impact screwdriver: http://www.ecstuning.com/ES11416/

I need(ed) it to remove the set screws from my wife's Acura front brake rotors but it will be useful here and there on the e30. It was one of those things that I had wanted for a while but was waiting until I had a larger order to save on shipping- same for the Motive bleeder.

[bradnic]

are you planning to de-rust the top compartment? pulling the top assembly out is super easy. getting it aligned after it's back in is a different story lol.

[rcsoundn1]

I thought it might be that. I to am doing the same thing for those types of tools.

[phenryiv1]

are you planning to de-rust the top compartment? pulling the top assembly out is super easy. getting it aligned after it's back in is a different story lol.

Probably will do it. The top was not fully adjusted due to the missing fasteners so the installer said to bring it back after I had everything in. I will probably pull the top, POR15 the tub, then do my best to realign it. After that I will take it to the top installer for final alignment.

I also need to adjust and align my windows.

[phenryiv1]

Okay, more info as I got the final pictures uploaded.

So a few months ago I sold my Atlas TD6MR ( http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/At...e-Scissor-Lift ) lift and went with a Ranger BL-5000 ( http://www.bendpak.com/Shop-Equipmen...k/BL-5000.aspx ) lift. The TD6MR was very useful but I found that at times it was in the way for some things I wanted to do, plus the lift was just over 1000 lb., making it impractical to move, even in my own garage. For example, if I wanted to just pull off 1 wheel I had to align the car on the ramps, align the life left/right and front/rear, align the lifting arms, and then lift the vehicle. Because of the ramp (a requirement with my lowered WRX) I could not just roll a jack under it, plus the ramps themselves got in the way when I was trying to do minor things. I often moved the ramps once the car was up on the lift.

I bought the BL-5000 due to the portability (I can move it into the driveway, to the other bay in my garage, and out of the way entirely. I can also toss it in th eback of my truck and take it to another house to help friends or family- the whole unit is simply not very heavy or large.

So anyway, the lift arrived and there were a few initial quality issues- several cheap parts that were defective and caused headaches and delay in working on the e30- in particular the e36 steering rack. After a few calls to Ranger all was rectified and I got it working. Here are a few pictures:





Easily fits under my lowered e30:





We have liftoff:

[phenryiv1]

From there I moved to addressing the PS issues- leaks everywhere (rack, pump, lines, etc.).

Old PS pump:







The directions from here on R3v ( http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=66247 ) were pretty good. I did a few things differently but in the end it was a very simple process in terms of effort but had a few "figure it out" moments that I did not anticipate.

First off, I had no issue removing the tie rod ends, even without using the tie rod clamp that I brag about all the time- I simply loosened the nut, tapped the knuckle with a hammer, and then whacked the top of the nut with a piece of wood on top of it and both tie rod ball joints dropped right out.



The next step was simple as well- remove the old rack. Because this car had new tie rods (and the old rack had inner only and they were shot) I wanted to be careful to be able to reuse these. Mission accomplished, but with a few headaches (more later).

My first departure from the R3V directions was that I left the tie rods in place and dropped the whole rack as an assembly - tie rods, knuckle, rack, etc..



In HINDSIGHT it would have been easier to remove the tie rods while on the car, but hindsight is 20/20. The knuckle came right out with the rack and was not an issue.

[phenryiv1]

Modifying the e30 steering knuckle for the e36 steering rack swap:

On to modifying the knuckle.



I bought the Dungeon Motorsport kit ( http://dungeonmotorsport.com/ ) and found it to be good but still requiring some work beyond what the directions indicated.

I used a grinder to remove the rivets:





Then used a bolt to drive out the remaining piece of the original connecting "rod" between the 2 parts:



Success!



Separated parts, with the Dungeon kit:



And now the bad news...The bolt in the Dungeon set was too large to fit in the hole in the knuckle.



Time to modify...bolt size is 25/64" in diameter:



Drilled out with a 13/32" bit:



It fits!



Ready to reassemble:



Back together:





I had to do some grinding on the knuckle to prevent binding. Ultimately I did not do enough but it is easily accessible with a Dremel (or even a file) so I will hit it again now that it is back on the car. This is the lower end (near the rack) and I needed to take a little off of the top end, up near the steering shaft.

[phenryiv1]

Swapping over the tie rods was a PITA. First off, removing the tie rods out of the car was difficult- the new e30 tie rods were installed and I lacked a thin enough wrench to grip the flat parts of the inner toe rods. Ultimately I VERY CAREFULLY gripped with the thinnest set of vice grips that I could find but then I ran into the issue of the rack articulating while I tried to turn the vice grips. I finally put on 2 sets of vice grips and turned them in opposition until one side gave way, then I thought to rotate the rack to the full-stop position and hold it in place to allow the other end to be removed. Took 45 minutes the first time- I could do it again in 5- less if I took them off with the rack in the car.

All together!



Next up I installed my new (reman) PS pump. I found my nicest adjuster and painted it black:



New/reman pump v. old:



Pump installed:

[phenryiv1]

And, rack re-install. This was a fairly short process that was not at all difficult but took some thinking to get right.

The Dungeon kit came with a set of 1/2" spacers to fill the gap in the tabs on the subframe- the e36 rack mounting points are not as tall as the e30 points. Different posts state that the 1/2" spacer works but that the best solution is (4) 1/4" spacers. not having any 1/4" spacers, I went into my parts bin to find washers that added up to 1/2" thickness. I wanted stainless or galvanized but I only had 4 of them- not thick enough. Then I went into my salvaged fasteners buckets and found 4 washers form a set of head bolts. Added up, 2 of each per side added up to 1/2" and were divisible by 2, making for (4) 1/4" spacers.



Install of the rack was easy. I installed the knuckle first, then slid the rack into place, then gently closed the tabs enough to free up my hands to insert the bolts with 2 washers each top & bottom. The washers go between the rack and the tabs.











Last up was bending the lines. I got all of the lines in place with the banjo bolts loosely in place and then from there made my bends. I had to make a few bends after testing the rotation of the knuckle, just to be sure that the lines cleared the knuckle when it was turning. I used a block of wood and gentle taps with a hammer plus easy use of a prybar to get the clearance that I needed.





That is NOT a kink in the line on the right- just a reflection.

I still need to Dremel the upper knuckle a bit but I am pretty happy with the overall results.

[95maxrider]

Good god, that looks like a massive clusterfuck. Did you contact the Dungeon guys to talk about your fitment issues?

[phenryiv1]

Good god, that looks like a massive clusterfuck. Did you contact the Dungeon guys to talk about your fitment issues?

Not yet. I'll email them this week. But it really was a simple fix. Of course, if you don't have the tools it might be a dagger.

[rcsoundn1]

did you bend your rack mount tabs to get the rack out like the DIY on here suggests? I was trying to find where you sourced your top from in your thread? was it an ebay top? And if you dont mind me asking what did that lift cost? I am looking into getting one like that. Do you feel safe getting under the car and torquing on some bolts? does the lift feel solid or shake when you are working on the car under it?

[phenryiv1]

More updates from the weekend (I got tired of typing yesterday):

I posted a few pages back about a full brake refresh that was in the works- reman'ed ATE front calipers, F&R pads, rotors, SS lines, flush (duh). While I was tired of working with the steering rack or was just letting my ADD rule the day, I also finished up the front brake refresh. I ought new blank rotors and pads, sensors, and hardware from RockAuto and was waiting for a good time to do the install.



First of all, there is a special place in hell for the people who developed the allen head rotor retaining crews. Allen and Torx bits failed, EZ-Out failed...finally drilled it out, hammered the back of the rotor to break the "stepped" part of the rotor where the screw attaches, and then used a chisel to remove the leftover rotor material from behind the screw. I sprayed it with PB Blaster and used vicegrips to grab the head of the bolt.



Result: The head sheared off, leaving the shaft in the hub.

Well, that sucks. I have done the same thing before and the screw backed out. This was the first structural failure of the screw itself. Since I have wheel studs it isn't as big of a deal as if I was using lugbolts but it is still a PITA.

I moved on, replacing the calipers, adding SS lines, installing the new pads and sensors, and bolted it back up:





I started to do the rears last night (just rotors, pads, lines, and hardware, plus lubing the calipers) but the allen screw on one side stripped so I stopped for the night.

In other news, I did a few other things:

Added my fuse box identifier:



And replaced the damaged oil drain plug and crush washer. You can see in some of the shots of the car on the lift that there was a ton of PS fluid under the car but I used a bunch of cat litter on it at the end of Friday's work. Saturday AM there was oil everywhere under the car- probably the same area as a 9" plate. The car has had so many leaks that it is difficult to tell the source but I wiped everything down as much as I could and then checked later in the day. It turns out that the oil pan had taken a few shots and the crush ring was in bad shape. I replaced it and torqued the drain bolt to 20 ft./lb (just over the recommended 18) and nothing has leaked since.

Old plug/washer:



I also fixed my passenger side sun visor but I forgot to upload the pictures.