The Journey of Linda and Friends - the M20b31 Lives

[AWDBOB]

Stroker parts dropped off at the machine shop today! The 3.1 bottom end is fully assembled, and lookin mighty fine

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[wworm]

wait I thought this was going to be a 2.9?!
3.1! Wow!!!

[AWDBOB]

wait I thought this was going to be a 2.9?!
3.1! Wow!!!

It's .4mm bore away from being s52 displacement!

86mm bore, 89.6mm stroke x 6 = 3123! 3.123L ain't so bad considering the s52 "3.2L" is 3.152L.

[AWDBOB]

I found a used Momo hub on eBay which convinced me to keep the Italvolanti.... boy I'm glad I did. The hub got here and had been hammered off and had compressed splines. Fixed all that and it bolted up fine.

I hit the wheel with leather conditioner, it soaked up quite a bit and dang, she looks good! Don't mind the PO's radio wiring job. I still have yet to convert it over to the VDO TR7412UB-OR that's in the passenger seat.

I got some juices flowing, I can't wait to start driving this car again.

Before:

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr



After:

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[digger]

Nice chastity belt

[ForcedFirebird]

Nice chastity belt

HAHA! When the thread first opened and scrolling down, first thing I thought was "why is he posting pics of a boxing/wrestling belt?".

[AWDBOB]

Nice chastity belt

HAHA! When the thread first opened and scrolling down, first thing I thought was "why is he posting pics of a boxing/wrestling belt?".

You gotta make sure those things are comfy- Italian leather is the only way.

[AWDBOB]

I'm trying to use this stay at home order to complete a few looming tasks that I've been putting off.

Started working on getting the Smilies sorted. I installed the good passenger side, finally found a good used H1 high beam for the drivers side in Germany, and painted the rings in SEM Trim Matte Black.

I still have yet to jump the relay so the low beams stay on with the high beams (never did it when I converted to ellipsoids the first time).

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr




I wired up my VDO TR7412UB-OR head unit retaining the factory amp and whatnot. Works and sounds great....and finally no more wiring eyesore. I have a Cantaloupe BT 5908 that I was going to use, but decided to just toss this thing in since the wiring was destroyed from someone in the past.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr




My m20 engine harness didn't have a firewall grommet because Matt needed it for his 24v harness. I was never able to get a grommet over the plug for whatever reason, so I installed the harness from a lower mile parts car. No more worrying about rain driving.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr



And last but not least, my kidney has seen better days, and ECS (I know, I know) had ONE Sport Evo kidney (51132233001) on sale so I figured it was meant to be and bought that and some new clips! I need to repaint my euro grills and I'll be all set.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr



My plan is just to keep buttoning things up on the car so it's ready for the engine. I need to install the offset firewall plate for the steering shaft grommet for the Z3 rack conversion (mine is just shoved on there currently), and I have a really nice crack free dash I've been saving that I'd like to put in. I also have some matte black trim rings and am going to do red needles for an 80s Porsche cluster vibe that I'll get to when I do the dash, and need to install R134 O-Rings because I'll be installing AC back in the car with the new engine.

[mjweimer]

Much progress - love that Italvolanti wheel! Glad you found a good used high beam to complete the headlamp set-up. What do you think of the VDO radio so far?


MJ

[paynemw]

Where did you get the R134 O-rings?

[AWDBOB]

Much progress - love that Italvolanti wheel! Glad you found a good used high beam to complete the headlamp set-up. What do you think of the VDO radio so far?


MJ

Thanks! It certainly feels good to start crossing some of these smaller projects off the list.

Where did you get the R134 O-rings?

I have accumulated several of these kits over the years. Been pulling from the stash! The r134 thread lists the exact sizes you need, but these cheap little "kits" haven't let me down.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...iABEgJU_vD_BwE

[AWDBOB]

I've been putting this off long enough..... pulled the minty crack free dash from rusty parts iX today and installed it in Linda!

Nicey nice

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr



And then I pulled the dash in Linda

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr



I took the opportunity to replace the expansion valve with an r134 unit and some fancy green orings

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr




All done


Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr



And for anyone who has done this job..... getting this back bolt back in is an accomplishment in and of itself. I am proud to say I succeeded

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr




Swapped my vin tag over to the new dash and gave it a fresh coat of 303

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr



And a nice before/after


Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[Albie325]

NICEEEEEE. Having done this once, I certainly hope I never have to do that again but the result after doing it the first time is night and day. Looks great man, not an easy job

[mike.bmw]

NICEEEEEE. Having done this once, I certainly hope I never have to do that again but the result after doing it the first time is night and day. Looks great man, not an easy job

Couldn't have put it better myself! After swapping mine I apply 303 on a regular basis. I also drive around with the dash hidden under a mat, which kind of defeats the purpose of swapping in a crack free dash, but I'm paranoid of it cracking so it must stay hidden from the sun. :)

Good work AWDBOB!

[AWDBOB]

NICEEEEEE. Having done this once, I certainly hope I never have to do that again but the result after doing it the first time is night and day. Looks great man, not an easy job

Couldn't have put it better myself! After swapping mine I apply 303 on a regular basis. I also drive around with the dash hidden under a mat, which kind of defeats the purpose of swapping in a crack free dash, but I'm paranoid of it cracking so it must stay hidden from the sun. :)

Good work AWDBOB!

Thank you gents!! I have pulled so many dashes over the years, but have never set one back in by myself. It was not fun, but it also wasn't as bad as I was thinking! It's nice to go through everything when it's out. I'm doing some porsche-esque black flat trim rings that my brother makes with red needles, and got some nicer switches to freshen things up.

I pulled the drivers side vent to route the harness up and over- the main hurdle was getting the dang thing over the steering column.

I too have a dash mat that I'll probably throw on if the car is going to see prolonged sun (ie parked outside) with regular coats of 303.

One frustrating tidbit of info that I didn't consider beforehand:

The airbag and non-airbag dashes are different in the provisioning mounts for the under dash panel. I had to modify the dash and set in thread inserts since the non-airbag just has holes for clips, and airbag has screws. I just sold another crack free dash from my other parts car a few weeks back, and that was an airbag dash, like my car. I should've just used that, but oh well.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr