1990 325i Calypsorot Restoration

[heroeant]

After that i installed the wheel bearings, new rotors and wheel studs. everything went smoothly, i didnt took a picture but after that i torqued the wheel bearing nut, locked the nut and put the dust cover in.

[heroeant]

today I rebuilt the brake caliper, I have to do one by one because I dont have an air compressor to remove the brake piston, I cleaned everything and painted the caliper, I got new guides and dust caps, i also installed the ss brake lines.
I was bleeding the caliper when the grommets on the brake reservoir decided to crap out making a big mess, so i will continue rebuilding the brakes and then properly bleed the brakes when I get the new grommets.

[E30stan]

Nice work, especially for a new member!

[heroeant]

Nice work, especially for a new member!

Thanks, it's my first e30, but all the info on the forum is really helping.

[heroeant]

Today I changed the brake reservoir grommets, it wasn't difficult at all, just a messy job.



then I removed the driver side brake caliper and started with the rebuild. I brushed off the rust and dirt, then I washed it with some degreaser after that I painted the caliper.



after the paint dried I installed the the seal and dust boot (I didn't took pictures of that but I think it has been covered before around here) then I put the caliper back on the car


and that's it for now I still need to do the rear brakes, but I also need new rear tires, so I ll wait to do that for now. next weekend I will start doing the timing belt and water pump replacement.

[heroeant]

here are some pics from the timing belt replacement

I finally got around doing the timing belt job;
I started disassembling all the front to give me room to work and that's when I noticed the front radiator support damage.
It's not so bad, but now I know why my fan clutch blades were broken.

Then I continued disassembling the rest and It was a good thing I followed advice from you guys, because the belt tensioner was shot and the belt was loose and rubbing the cover







the rest is just the basic timing belt, water pump and crankshaft seal replacement. I put everything back up and my car ran a the first try without any problems, well it started leaking a lot of fuel from the filter hose
so I changed the filter and hoses, the previous owner didn't used fuel injection rated hose.
my car has been running good except some loud whine from the fuel tank, I think the fuel pump will need to be replaced really soon
next I will be changing spark plugs and start with the cosmetic aspects of the car.



BTW I got the gates racing belt just because it was cheap around December when I bought the kit

[Cephas]

Nice work!

[heroeant]

In the past few weeks I have been working on the front valance and bumper.

the damage



So I got a new valance and started working on it, I haven't done bodywork before, so it didn't came looking as great I would like it but it looks way better than before.





I also took out the auxiliary fan, it wasn't working to begin and also I would be installing an electric fan instead of the clutch fan


Then I washed the front and rewraped the wiring loom


here is the valance installed
I still need to get the brake ducts cover and lower lip


then I started fitting the bumper but it wasn't aligning well, and the bumper shocks looked okay until it took the one on the driver side, so instead of the shock doing its job, It bent the mounting plate and the frame rail opening inwards.


So now I will get a used straight shock and try to fill the gap until it sits right.

[heroeant]

I also replaced the spark plugs, but then this happened


so I replaced the spark plugs wires, but when I ran the engine the car shook too much, so I also replaced the engine mounts and that seemed to help the issue, then I installed the electric fan, and with all the wiring done, I tested the wiring and the fan worked but the new 82/88 switch wasn't working, so now I'm waiting for a 2 prong 82c switch, I ordered 2 so hopefully one will work.

[MoreMayhem]

You seem like a patient man. It's good that you are taking the time to do things right. I feel that your patience and work will soon have a great reward in a reliable, fun to drive e30. Mine took a ton of catch up maintenance to get it where it sits today, but the reward has been a super reliable e30 that I've now enjoyed for over 3 years of daily use.
My crappy attempt at a thread:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=241515

[heroeant]

You seem like a patient man. It's good that you are taking the time to do things right. I feel that your patience and work will soon have a great reward in a reliable, fun to drive e30. Mine took a ton of catch up maintenance to get it where it sits today, but the reward has been a super reliable e30 that I've now enjoyed for over 3 years of daily use.
My crappy attempt at a thread:
http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=241515

Thanks, hopefully soon I will catch up with all the maintenance, I enjoy driving it but there is always something that needs to be fixed next, now I'm with idle issues, it runs rich and low idle, it sounds like a small block.