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

[rcsoundn1]

Sad to see it go, liked watching the build. Do you have an idea on price? Not that I can buy it with the 2 I already have. I am not to surprised people are making the A/C an issues, its a bargaining point, and i doubt most would fix it if the car was theirs to begin with. But we all know its expensive to fix. I would put what you have back in to give a new buyer some hope of "restoring" the A/C system GLWS

[phenryiv1]

I'm actually surprised that's such a deterrant. I pulled all that stuff out. Power steering, AC, etc. Best of luck getting it sold. Here in UT people charge a shit ton for shit e30s. it's weird. I think i even saw one for sale that was 24k... so weird to me.

I was surprised as well. Had I known it would be that much of a hang up I might have considered adding it back in over time but I just never really worried about it. At this point in the car’s age, replacing all the stuff with new makes the most sense anyway but I have no interest in doing that just to sell it as I won’t get $0.50 on the dollar for the expenses when it does sell.

[jeenyus]

I'm actually surprised that's such a deterrant. I pulled all that stuff out. Power steering, AC, etc. Best of luck getting it sold. Here in UT people charge a shit ton for shit e30s. it's weird. I think i even saw one for sale that was 24k... so weird to me.

[phenryiv1]

Since things have changed a bit, i wanted to post an update.

After years of building and really driving this car- a LOT - it is time to part ways. I am finally getting around to doing many of the little things that never bothered me enough to do- changing the HVAC surround, swapping in a working 13-button OBC, cleaning up some of the wiring under the hood, installing the trunk lining, installing the passenger side lower body trim, and many other little jobs that fell off of the radar due to having multiple cars, family and house obligations, and just general laziness.

I listed the car FS on facebook and craigslist and have had some interest but I let the ads time out while I have done some additional tinkering with the car. The biggest hangup for buyers seems to be the lack of A/C, which I never really minded but I have had 2 buyers walk away when they saw that I had removed the main underhood components (I pulled the condenser, compressor, and drier during the 2.7i swap) were not installed. I am pretty sure that I even tossed the underhood portions of the lines (the lines to the dash are there). I don't even know what wiring is still present and/or needed. I might at least physically re-install the compressor and condenser (and the drier, though it is worthless since the system is completely open) to show that it CAN all work, but I have no desire to invest the money in actually converting to R134a and getting it working at this time.

I will post up more current pictures but the reality is that the car looks about 99% the same as ever, at least from the perspective of the common enthusiast.

[phenryiv1]

That TB heather can be completely bypassed, or at least I did it on my 87 with a port towards the front of the motor. I am going to do it on my 89 when I start the T-belt job

I have been running without it for months. I drive the car in the winter about once a week but not usually on the coldest days. I have my e46 convertible and my e61 for cold days.

[rcsoundn1]

That TB heather can be completely bypassed, or at least I did it on my 87 with a port towards the front of the motor. I am going to do it on my 89 when I start the T-belt job

[phenryiv1]

Slowly but surely....

Now if I could just progress on the e36...

[95maxrider]

Slowly but surely....

[phenryiv1]

Last post for now...

I have rear headrests!

I finally installed these. I bought them a year or so ago but never had the balls to cut the holes to do the install.

Rear seat removed:



Align bracket:



Mark holes, then use a screwdriver or other sharp object to make the penetration:



Cut the holes large enough for the inserts (I used inserts from some thrashed front seats) and secure the caps on the inside. I used a 24mm socket to press the retaining ring onto the inserts.



Reinstall and add headrests!

[phenryiv1]

While testing out the cooling system flush and fan situation I developed a crazy banging in the driveline. I put the car up to investigate:



I had somehow dropped a guibo bolt!!!



I also noticed some overdue maintenance. I need to do the rear subframe bushings and I also noticed the axle boots are a but past their prime...





On the positive side I took the opportunity to replace both sensors in the thermostat housing:



These require that the cooling system be bled so I was glad that I had them on hand and had an excuse to do the install.

I picked up these custom "327is" badges. Not sure if I will use them or not but I have them.



I also happened to park beside my father's 1-owner 1993 Dodge Stealth. Not that it is an especially cool car but you don't see them too often, and especially not stock (but for the Mitsu 3000GT wheels) and 1-owner.



While the car was hemmed up for a while i finally installed my black kick panels and the black armrest/pocket on the passenger's side:





Also, the passenger door sail window trim was missed during the re-spray. The driver's side is black but the passenger was red. I did a meh job of painting it black:









I started gutting the spare tweeter housings for my Dayton tweeters but lost interest. Maybe another day:





Finally installed a proper convertible passenger visor. The old one was from a coupe and it had the wrong base:



Garagistic PS delete and lock-less glove box handle:



I am not sure why I never replaced these before but the Hella license plate lights are cheap and really do look a lot better than the yellowed, fragile ones that were in there:

[phenryiv1]

So a lot has happened since the last post. The cooling fan issue has been somewhat resolved by going with a new fan switch installed in the A/C fan port in the radiator and adding a dedicated relay to handle power duties.



Still looking to add the manual override switch and some status indicators but things are currently working.

Went with the switch recommended in the electric fan thread in the 24V subforum:



The thermostatic controller is a weird part that apparently has a high fialure rate, regardless of brand. I hacked it apart and discovered that the connection between the power wire and the circuit board had corroded.



This is the gasket that failed, leading to spewing coolant everywhere.



Fortunately that went and not the head gasket.

I bypassed the TB heater for the time being:







While doing my drain and flush and fill process I accidentally overtightened the radiator drain:



Remedy:





While all that was going on I cleaned up the passenger side fender area a bit and painted the washer tank:





I ended up replacing the tank and the wire harness for the washer as well but I can't find the photos.

[phenryiv1]

You mentioned something about going to 7000RPMs, and when I read the thread it didn't look like the bottom end was rebuilt with higher quality bearings or a scrapper. So by compulation of your comment on the prior page and his engine build discussion on page 29ish plus the fact that I just spun a rod on my 2.7i build deemed it ok to say something. I'm not an engineer by any means, but revving a non built 2.7i SETA regularly over 6500 without better bearings, no scrapper could be fatal. With a built engine with forged rotating assembly- no concern of hitting 7000. My apologies for providing relevant and important recommendations to the owner of the thread in a non threatening or demeaning manner. On a side note, I wish your e28 was still killing it.

No problem- I can see why you recommend it but it is way too late to do that install without pulling the pan. And that is doable but not realistic at the moment. I actually had a crank scraper for my rallyX car but the issue of proper alignment scared me out of installing it. And to be honest, I had to put a new pan on this motor before install and I SHOULD HAVE had baffles welded in AND I should have added a scraper, just for a margin of safety but I got in a rush (the install assistance lined up all in a hurry and I was not quite ready) so it went in as it was.

[95maxrider]

You mentioned something about going to 7000RPMs, and when I read the thread it didn't look like the bottom end was rebuilt with higher quality bearings or a scrapper. So by compulation of your comment on the prior page and his engine build discussion on page 29ish plus the fact that I just spun a rod on my 2.7i build deemed it ok to say something. I'm not an engineer by any means, but revving a non built 2.7i SETA regularly over 6500 without better bearings, no scrapper could be fatal. With a built engine with forged rotating assembly- no concern of hitting 7000. My apologies for providing relevant and important recommendations to the owner of the thread in a non threatening or demeaning manner. On a side note, I wish your e28 was still killing it.

No worries! The chip in his ECU lets him go to 7000, but I don't think Patrick spends much time above 6000, as the car doesn't see racing duty. I wasn't sure if I had missed something in the discussion or not, because such a strong recommendation for a crank scraper seemed to come out of left field for an otherwise healthy motor.

[dasmanschaft012]

How much? Might not be bad to keep it around if the electronic fan situation fails.

$40 shipped for both?

[paynemw]

You mentioned something about going to 7000RPMs, and when I read the thread it didn't look like the bottom end was rebuilt with higher quality bearings or a scrapper. So by compulation of your comment on the prior page and his engine build discussion on page 29ish plus the fact that I just spun a rod on my 2.7i build deemed it ok to say something. I'm not an engineer by any means, but revving a non built 2.7i SETA regularly over 6500 without better bearings, no scrapper could be fatal. With a built engine with forged rotating assembly- no concern of hitting 7000. My apologies for providing relevant and important recommendations to the owner of the thread in a non threatening or demeaning manner. On a side note, I wish your e28 was still killing it.