91 318is Field Rat

[captain awesome]

So to keep my mind at ease, I pulled the driver strut housing to check the gland nut. It happened to be loose as well, so it was worth the effort. I'm hearing noises out back now, but not sure if they are just normal or something to consider worrying about. I've looked around and checked the obvious fasteners but nothing loose that I can see. Tonight I made a quick battery hold down bracket with some J hooks. I think it will pass tech. The corner near the positive cable looks like it's touching, but it's not. Just the angle of the photo.

[captain awesome]

Last night I spent some time cleaning up the one good e21 Recaro and attaching both outer brackets. It feels nice and snug, and still leaves room for my helmet. I then took it for a spin which reminded me of the awful clunk on the passenger front strut area. After pulling everything apart, I found the gland nut had somehow backed out and wasn't threaded anymore. After tightening it up and reassembling everything the clunk is now gone. Next up will be a battery tie down since I have an autocross meet in a couple weeks.

[captain awesome]

Mine reads about 4-5 mph faster than gps. From what I've read it is "normal" as many came from the factory this way. It has to do with the cluster itself and not the speed sensor.

At least they are consistent.

New update:

Apparently my fuel sender is toast since it only reads in the 1/4 tank range even after a fill up.

ABS wires were fixed and functional yesterday, however this morning the light was back on. Hmmm.

Rear defrost button will lock in place once depressed and getting it to spring back requires removing the button to relieve pressure. The good news is that it still works.

I've developed a "clunk" or "pop" from the passenger front wheel area. I've checked all basic fasteners usually associated with the noise, but have yet to track it down. I'll pull the strut assembly this evening and see if maybe the gland nut hasn't loosened.

It's time to order a new rad cap since the current one isn't sealing well. It's hissing and fluid is managing to spurt out. Either that or I order new o-rings.

[mike.bmw]

Another thing I did notice is my speedo reads about 5-7 mph faster than a gps reports, is that normal?

Mine reads about 4-5 mph faster than gps. From what I've read it is "normal" as many came from the factory this way. It has to do with the cluster itself and not the speed sensor.

[captain awesome]

First fill up for the scuzzlebutt.



So I haven't driven this car a ton, but what little I have since Thursday night has given me a smile from ear to ear. Progressively this week I'll try to whittle down the cheap and easy fixes on my list, but mostly just put some in some seat time. I haven't been this excited to drive a car in a long time. Another thing I did notice is my speedo reads about 5-7 mph faster than a gps reports, is that normal?

[captain awesome]

Went home on my lunch and swapped the seat belt receiver. I adjusted the placement and tightened the lower rad hose clamp. The drip is now gone. Decided to drive the car to work which is about a 15 minute trip with mostly stop/go traffic. Went through the Wendy's drive through, sat in traffic some, shifted some gears, watched the temp gauge like a hawk, and made it without issue. As I pull in to the parking lot the temp is a hair over the half mark, so I decided to let it idle, and check to see if and when the fan will kick on. Mid way to the 3/4 mark it kicks the fan on low. I apparently wired the wrong speed to the temp sensor, so I'll swap that out tonight even though it dropped the temp on the gauge immediately. All in all it was uneventful and dirty. This thing needs the herpes scrubbed out of the interior real bad like. Also, if anyone has a spare brilliantrot coupe passenger c pillar/sail panel with shadowline trim let me know.

Glamour shots.

[captain awesome]

Nice project! Fun to see it come to life. You're making progress quickly. I'm jealous of those front sports seats - I have the comfort version of the same pattern and have been looking for a set of sports for months.

These seats are not in that good of shape currently. I would recover them or my spare set of Cardinal reds, but the Recaros are so much lighter. If you have ever picked up a "sport seat" you would find out there isn't much sport to them other than more bolstering. I guess it depends on what your purpose with the car is.

[captain awesome]

Great Job, you have come a long way with this one! Glad to see that you got it going, and will be ready to see that turbo on there! Are you still planning on making it to Hallett?

Yes and no. I planned the No Excuses BMW event, but later found out I've got a vacation to Vegas planned that same weekend. There are a couple of High Speed Touring days I may try to squeeze in instead. Also there's an autocross meet in Neosho next month that I "should" be able to make with the e30. I'll be running these crappy tires, but at least I'll have some fun.

[TFJR]

Nice project! Fun to see it come to life. You're making progress quickly. I'm jealous of those front sports seats - I have the comfort version of the same pattern and have been looking for a set of sports for months.

[e30s50dan]

I'm also working on my red 318is. Looks a lot like your !

I'm changing the color and have m tech bumpers on now.working on the body now

Good luck with your project

[Dgerry]

Great Job, you have come a long way with this one! Glad to see that you got it going, and will be ready to see that turbo on there! Are you still planning on making it to Hallett?

[captain awesome]

Wednesday I spent half an evening chasing down why my windows and blower weren't getting power. Apparently the new m20 starter solenoid wiring is different than the stock solenoid as it doesn't ground the unloader relay. It was a frustrating situation, but with a little troubleshooting and the internet we are all fixed now.





The Deatschwerks dw200 pump came in yesterday before I took my lunch, so I spent a minute or two poorly soldering the connector and getting it all fit to the assembly. After dropping it in the tank and connecting lines I filled a few gallons of gas in the new tank and turned the key a few times to try and prime some fuel. Once the go juice made it to the injectors, it sputtered to life, and settled right into an idle.

Yeehaw!

No check lights other than ABS and brake lining. After starting it a couple times looking for leaks, smoke, fires, etc. it was time to install heat shields and the exhaust with all new rubber bushings and hangers. Surprisingly the exhaust wasn't as terrible to put together as I suspected, so I spent a few minutes checking lug nuts, tightened the battery cables snug, and topped off the tank with 3 more gallons of gas.

I'll try not to type up a novel, but overall I'm super stoked on the outcome. I forgot to connect the o2 sensor, so about 5 minutes in the check engine light came on. I stopped at a low lit area, plugged it in, and back to normal. Temps rose to the midway hash mark and didn't budge past that. The fan didn't have a chance to kick on once. I revved it out a bit, and it's exactly how most people describe the m42. Not gutless, but not a powerhouse either. Shifting is nice and crisp with a shortish throw. The m20 flywheel and clutch felt great. I ran a loop through a roundabout seeing where grip starts to let go, and if not for the shitty older tires I think it would have stuck much better.

Things I need to address:

The driver side seat belt won't clasp, so that's first up on the list.

The e21 Recaros will be pulled from the attic to start figuring out mounting brackets.

Steering input is great, but I need a real alignment done.

The lower rad hose has a slow drip as of this morning.

There was some oil dripping from the driver side tie rod boot.

ABS wiring on the driver side needs repair.

Brake lining light is on, but I've already repaired wires in the rear, and the sensor up front is new. I don't think the sensor up front pushed into the pad properly, so I'm going to assume that's the issue.

Steering wheel is too high. What the hell is up with the stock position? I'll figure out some spacers to drop the column and see if that helps enough. It's also time to order a proper steering wheel.

Needs a radio, but for now it's low on the list.

Heater blower makes some racket, wish I would have known this before reinstalling the motor/trans.

One of the cluster lights is out, and the odometer gears aren't working. Not surprised there. I'll mess with this stuff when I install my crack free dash.

All exterior bulb connections need cleaned.

Tires. re71 probably will be on the menu.

Megasquirt first, and then TURBO.

I'll take snap some more pics this afternoon as it was late last night when I got it all wrapped up.

[captain awesome]

Coolant is in, brakes are bled and feel good, but the slave cylinder doesn't want to cooperate. I removed it from the bell housing and bled by hand, but I'm still getting air back in the line somewhere. I'll try to pick up an oil can to reverse bleed it tomorrow and install heat shields and cat portion of the exhaust. The muffler can wait until I take it around the block for the first time. Fuel pump should be here Thursday.

[captain awesome]

Been slowly knocking stuff off the list. I split the casing on the coil wires so they could be routed to the valve cover area. I left the extra wire length for now to make sure I have the correct ones where they belong before shortening. Then the e36 fan didn't quite line up with the rad at the top mount holes. I believe it was tweaked a bit in shipping, so I spent some time carefully getting everything aligned. One of the mounting holes also needed to be enlarged for the fastener to expand properly. The e-fan plug was far from reaching the aux fan plug, so I extended it roughly over a foot. It looks stock now and functions properly. I also added spades for the temp switch now that it's a 2 pin, hopefully I connected the proper ones.







I then cut and installed all new fuel lines in the engine bay, connected rad hoses, air intake, throttle cable, etc. One thing I noticed was that the new intake boot had an extra hole, but nothing connects to it. After some reading I found that they came plugged from the factory, so I found a plastic plug in my spare bits that worked perfect.

Next up on the list will be mounting exhaust, bleeding brakes, coolant/bleeding, and waiting on the new Deatschwerks fuel pump to arrive. So friggin close.

[captain awesome]

Thanks guys. I was looking at my spare harness, and it was disconnected too. I figured it was better to ask than chase a non start issue.