89 325i Cirrusblau Metallic m30 Project - Round 2

[e30m3s54turbo]

Ecology has 3 m30s. I might have drive by there soon. Any e30 in the yard?

I had Frank take one of my m30 heads worked on in Kernny Mesa. Some exhaust valves were replaced.

Keep up with body work. You impress me with the hard task of body work!!!!!

[ThatOneEuroE30]

God you Guys are lucky. Local yards haven't had a bmw for months

[marshallnoise]

Raul, there is an early vert and an 86 eta in the yard. Thanks for the encouragement.

The Chula Vista Ecology always has BMWs. Tons of them. Just a long haul from Oceanside.

[marshallnoise]

Got some work done tonight. Just spent about an hour on it. I am proceeding very carefully because I am not sure if I am going to use the original strut tower support or the red one that is attached to the new part already. It is tough getting to a couple of those spot welds. In the end, I will use the path of least resistance; that is whichever will be the least amount of effort.









I pretty much have the front portion and the sides ready to separate. I plan on placing my floor jack under the piece that's left and hoping that reveals any more spot welds at the bottom.

[2mAn]

dude, you're crazy! :rofl:

[marshallnoise]

dude, you're crazy! :rofl:

Tell me about it! Don't really have much of an idea about what I am doing. I figure these things are metallic Legos. LOL!

[bradnic]

I figure these things are metallic Legos. LOL!

Now that's quotable. Carry on.

[marshallnoise]

Back at some work tonight.

Here is the floor jack under the piece that is to come out. It is definitely still stuck on there by a few more welds. Finding them...that's the trick.


Grabbed the cut off wheel and found this one which is on the inside where the outer frame rail meets the strut support.


There are a couple more. These are on the outside. You can see where I drilled some pilot holes to let the spot weld cutter do it's work easier.


And the same spot with some more spot weld cuts made.


Put the floor jack under it after making two more spot weld cuts on the bottom (chin) of the piece, it popped up.




Now, where the back of the strut tower support meets the back part of the frame rail is impossible to get to with the spot weld cutter or cut off wheel. Since my experience with the red piece lent a bit of insight into how it could come apart, I just bent the piece up and down, twisted it and shoved it until it popped out.


Victory!


Joe Dirty...man the gunk in there was astonishing. No wonder these cars rust away everywhere else in the world.


Same as above.


Cleaned up a bit (more scraped and vacuumed). You can see where the back piece was torn from my wiggling about. Not sure how I am going to fix that...but I am not too worried about it.


Spent some time with the flap wheel.


Little more time with the flap wheel.


Gently set in there. But you get the idea.

Now before I can go welding the red piece in there, I need to fix one slight aberration. In the washed out picture above, you can see what looks to be a u-channel sitting inside the frame rail. On the left side of it, you can ever so slightly see a bend in the u-channel. This needs to be pounded back into a straighter "u" shape. Its not like the red piece sits in there at all (it doesn't), but I want it to be straight. On the inside, you can see a small divot that caused the bend in the first place (kind of visible in the first picture). The metal in there is tough as shit. I think the best way to go about straightening it is to cut wood into the size it should be and just use a BFH to pound it straight.

Open to suggestions.

Oh, and I might as well bust out that new welder I have had for about 6 months and see if I can weld...

[marshallnoise]

I have been pondering how to go about fixing the slight bend in the frame rail prior to attempting to start welding the car back together. Searching online, it appears as though I can probably use a heavy duty C-Clamp and pull the bent in piece back into shape. When I am prepared to do that, I will take pictures.

In the mean time, I have decided to pull the head off my motor and see what I am working with. Spent a few hours yesterday removing the harness, water pump and front cover...which gave me some hell. I will get back out there today and get the head pulled since that's all I have left to do. I kind of feel like I have he cart before the horse though...





















Distributor would not come out at all. It was pretty well seized in there. I used heat and PB Blaster to try and free it. Then resorted to some blunt force trauma to get it loose. Then it finally broke free. Need to source one of those now.

[Ether-D]

Might the rotor mount thing be the same as an m20 one? Idk.

Cart before the horse? Maybe a little, but if you're into reworking the motor and not so into doing frame repair right now, well then just do what you feel like doing. It all has to be done anyway, right?

Looks like there's progress. Great pics too.

[marshallnoise]

Might the rotor mount thing be the same as an m20 one? Idk.

Cart before the horse? Maybe a little, but if you're into reworking the motor and not so into doing frame repair right now, well then just do what you feel like doing. It all has to be done anyway, right?

Looks like there's progress. Great pics too.

You are right. It all does need to get done. I can talk myself into and out of most anything so that's all that was about.

I am not sure about the distributor piece. It very well could be the same piece as the m20. I didn't find it on realoem, but I must have not looked hard enough.

I was planning on getting out there today, but a headache pretty much sidelined me today. Meh. Waffles.

:ST1G:

Edit: I loved Franklin when I was living in Nashville. Graduated from MTSU. That thar is my old stomping grounds.

EDIT 2: Found the part number...11311288027; bout 25-30 bucks. Or cheaper from a junk yard. Easy as pie to get to one. I knackered up the bolt too. Might just do the JY thing.

[Ether-D]

I went to MTSU for a year. Then I didn't anymore. Franklin is cute, but too many yuppies. We do have a real kickass used e30 parts outfit here though. Can get just about anything for just about nothing, same day.

If that piece is the same as an m20 one, I have several of them and will send you one. LMK.

I can talk myself into and out of most anything so that's all that was about.

^I have this too. I call it my "excuse generator". I just do what I want to do and come up with 50 reasons why it's the rightest thing to do. I hardly ever disagree with myself...

[marshallnoise]

I went to MTSU for a year. Then I didn't anymore. Franklin is cute, but too many yuppies. We do have a real kickass used e30 parts outfit here though. Can get just about anything for just about nothing, same day.

If that piece is the same as an m20 one, I have several of them and will send you one. LMK.



^I have this too. I call it my "excuse generator". I just do what I want to do and come up with 50 reasons why it's the rightest thing to do. I hardly ever disagree with myself...

Yeah there are a lot of yuppies in Franklin. Nothing as bad as Brentwood though. Or West End.

I used to wait tables at the O'Charley's in Franklin. Never was any good at it

The part number for the m20 is different than the m30. But thanks a ton for the offer.

Excuses are the bain of our existence, aren't they?

[marshallnoise]

It really is the small things. Everything has to be done and all of it takes time...either now or later.

So I grabbed the bolts from the disassembly of the engine so far, placed them in clearish cups and labeled them for a 24 hour dip in Distilled White Vinegar and salt solution. Once done, I will clean them up with 0000 steel wool, dip them in baking soda/water solution to neutralize the acid and baggy them in a bit of WD40.













For the larger items, I will use Vinegar and a pot on a hot plate. This moves things a long a lot quicker. I cleaned up my older e30s calipers that way in a solution of citric acid. In 4 hours they were cleaned up from being black.

One thing I definitely can advise against is cleaning up an aluminum rack of motorcycle carbs (that sat for 16 years) in a pot of boiling lemon juice...in the house. Wife about murdered me. :crazy:

[E30NJ]

Did the same thing with vinegar for the battery acid that leaked all around and in my glovebox flashlight. Worked like a charm!