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1990 - 24v swap

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    #46
    MJ, cool - yea I have those spacers, PG 3 of my build. I'm not entirely sure where you'd put yours. Compare your steering shaft to mine, it doesn't appear to have the same design so you wouldn't be able to use the spacers you shared. I have seen people install poly steering shaft couplings but that doesn't provide any additional length. Do your retaining bolts fit in the groove of the input shafts of the rack and the output shaft of the top side of the column? If so, you should be good to hook.

    However, I have heard of subframe spacers but I think people mainly use them on M6X builds. Regardless, sorry for being chatty but glad you figured some shit out.
    Last edited by paynemw; 01-05-2018, 09:02 AM.
    Paynemw
    1986 Toyota 4Runner SR5 - Sold!
    the ebb and flow of 325is ownership - In RVA
    1988 BMW 535is - RIP but my dream BMW

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      #47
      Originally posted by paynemw View Post
      MJ, cool - yea I have those spacers, PG 3 of my build. I'm not entirely sure where you'd put yours. Compare your steering shaft to mine, it doesn't appear to have the same design so you wouldn't be able to use the spacers you shared. I have seen people install poly steering shaft couplings but that doesn't provide any additional length. Do your retaining bolts fit in the groove of the input shafts of the rack and the output shaft of the top side of the column? If so, you should be good to hook.

      However, I have heard of subframe spacers but I think people mainly use them on M6X builds. Regardless, sorry for being chatty but glad you figured some shit out.

      Here is a slightly blurry pic of where the spacers installed - top of the rack (bolt is installed backwards at the moment ignore that):




      They just make up the difference of the thickness of the rack. Some folks use washers and some have used other forms of spacers. I think the difference in height is ~14mm.

      Yes, the retaining bolt for the lower u-joint fits into the groove of the rack splines and the upper bolt fits as well although there is no groove in the steering shaft - the u-joint is designed to allow clearance to the full spline diameter. Yeah, it worked out and it will all bolt up with no binding.

      No worries about being chatty - this is how we figure stuff out.


      MJ
      Last edited by mjweimer; 12-04-2021, 03:23 PM.

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        #48
        Originally posted by mjweimer View Post
        Test fit the Z3 rack today and came upon a strange find.

        Can anyone spot what is not quite right in this picture?






        MJ
        that rack looks super clean. Is that a z3 reman?
        Originally posted by Good & Tight
        It takes real man to mount a big woman, all you haters are just scared boys.

        Comment


          #49
          It is not a reman, it is the rack from the parts car. Has ~114k on it but is very clean and the fluid looked good.


          MJ

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            #50
            Regarding the shifters: ZF gearboxes have a longer throw to engage gears than Getrag ones. (crude generalization but applies to the typical gearboxes in E30 builds) Using your short shifter stick or the Z3 1.9 stick will lead to pretty long shifter movements. You want an E36 328i, M3 or Z3 6-cylinder shifter or a short shifter with similar lever ratio to have a good shifter feel. Propably you already knew but just wanted to make sure.

            PS. Great build!
            Last edited by Skarpa; 01-07-2018, 12:05 AM.
            E30 Armo "330i"

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              #51
              Originally posted by Skarpa View Post
              Regarding the shifters: ZF gearboxes have a longer throw to engage gears than Getrag ones. (crude generalization but applies to the typical gearboxes in E30 builds) Using your short shifter stick or the Z3 1.9 stick will lead to pretty long shifter movements. You want an E36 328i, M3 or Z3 6-cylinder shifter or a short shifter with similar lever ratio to have a good shifter feel. Propably you already knew but just wanted to make sure.

              PS. Great build!
              Skarpa - thanks for the info. I have not looked into the details of the shift lever much so that is helpful. There are a couple of used levers in my parts stash from the U.S. E36 M3, E46 M54 (and even the E21 320i) so I should be able to try them and see what works best.

              I've been following your awesome restoration build and continue to be impressed!


              MJ

              Comment


                #52
                Been a while since an update - lots of little stuff getting done over the past several weeks and more parts sourced. I really think I have everything now...

                Finally figured out why my RF camber was positive = bent strut housing. It is bent in the area behind the bearing spindle. Luckily fellow R3v'er AWDBOB is fairly local and had a good used pair of housings available. They are in great shape but fought hard during disassembly, the gland nuts took lots of heat and Kroil before coming loose. They are now cleaned up and ready for welding of swaybar link tabs.

                Grabbed the iX booster out of the parts pile - forgot how rusty is was...




                Cleaned, scuffed and rust converter applied. I have been using Fertan which is popular with the British car crowd.




                Painted:




                As mentioned in a prior post there was a lot of seam sealer applied over the panels that were replaced during the repair of the wreck. They did not prime the metal before applying the seam sealer and surface rust was visible at the edges...I feared what might be underneath.

                I had to come up with a solution for a grinding/painting booth in the garage to protect the other cars and parts from dust and overspray....this is what I came up with:




                1-1/4" pvc and 3 mil plastic sheet. So far has been working great, I have been able to work on clean parts on the bench while grinding away in the bubble.




                More to come....
                Last edited by mjweimer; 12-04-2021, 03:32 PM.

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                  #53
                  I cannot begin to explain how horrible it has been to get all of this seam sealer removed. A wire wheel on a drill works great but most of the areas are too tight for that process so it has been a lot of manual scraping and liberal use of a heat gun. Too add to the fun, the lines on the ABS pump are so tight that I am afraid to remove them for fear of breakage and I've had to work around it...

                  I'm beginning to think I've lost my mind starting this mess....if there wasn't rust in/behind/between all of these areas I wouldn't be so concerned with getting it all clean but that's not the case and I need to make certain the rust converter can do its job.

                  The inner-most fender support was replaced from the RF corner to just past the upper strut mount, the entire lower radiator support was replaced and some of the torn spot welds just forward of the door were repaired. Based on what was replaced, it looks like the car went into a ditch nose first and shoved the wheel *just* into the drivers side floor.

                  Some shots of the progress, you can see some of the rusty areas:













                  On another subject AWDBOB and I did some parts swapping and I ended up with a set of headers (that have been nicely powdercoated). For reference, these are the Speed Daddy Ebay pieces that many have used on their swap projects.

                  I don't think these would clear the front subframe without some modification - mines notched so a non-issue.


                  A lot has been said about the quality of these headers, overall they seem well made with clean welds and smooth port transistions. I checked the flanges and they are nice and flat too. Having said that, they are not perfect out of the box:




                  Nothing that cannot be easily handled with a little massaging. Still debating whether I will run these or go with something different. I need to think through the rest of my exhaust before making up my mind.

                  Last edited by mjweimer; 12-04-2021, 03:44 PM.

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                    #54
                    Originally posted by mjweimer View Post
                    They are now cleaned up and ready for welding of swaybar link tabs.
                    Glad the housings worked out despite the gland nut fight. By the above I think you mean "ready for welding of coilover ring seats in preparation for Ground Controls" :D

                    Bummer those headers hit at the bottom tube, but it does look like they're at an easy place to bend out to fit. I was going to merge after the collectors with a Vibrant 10355, put my O2 bung right after the merge, and run 2.5" the rest of the way back with a Vibrant bullet style resonator in the mid section and a single in, dual out Magnaflow out back.


                    Thanks again for the g260! You've supplied the majority of my M20 parts- I'm going to need an mjweimer sponsor decal to complete the package.
                    1990 Brilliantrot 325iS Build Thread
                    1989 Zinnoberrot M3 Build Thread

                    Comment


                      #55
                      Your swaybar might hit the headers. Just a heads up.



                      Comment


                        #56
                        Originally posted by AWDBOB View Post
                        Glad the housings worked out despite the gland nut fight. By the above I think you mean "ready for welding of coilover ring seats in preparation for Ground Controls" :D

                        Bummer those headers hit at the bottom tube, but it does look like they're at an easy place to bend out to fit. I was going to merge after the collectors with a Vibrant 10355, put my O2 bung right after the merge, and run 2.5" the rest of the way back with a Vibrant bullet style resonator in the mid section and a single in, dual out Magnaflow out back.


                        Thanks again for the g260! You've supplied the majority of my M20 parts- I'm going to need an mjweimer sponsor decal to complete the package.
                        Ha - one of these days I will try a set of coilovers. Yes, the header pipe bend should be and easy fix - I have access to a tubing bender and a qualified brain to run the equipment.

                        That is exactly the Y-pipe I have been looking at and it should work out perfectly. The Z3 wiring harness utilizes one rear O2 sensor (front will be deleted) so my O2 bung will work fine at the merge and I can fit a converter in the stock location with an S-bend from the merge to the center of the car.

                        I'll work on an appropriate decal ;D

                        Originally posted by ZekeTheSneak View Post
                        Your swaybar might hit the headers. Just a heads up.
                        Thanks for the heads up - I have heard this could be an issue. Seems Garagistic makes a nice spacer that could help with this.



                        MJ

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                          #57
                          They sure do^ also the lower the car the more the swaybar leans into the headers.



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                            #58
                            So 7 months later...an update. The project is not dead, just slowed down by some other car and garage projects.

                            So when we left off.... I was killing myself removing seam sealer from all of the nooks and crannies so the rust could be abated. This took far too long but in the end it was all removed.

                            I used Fertan rust converter on previous projects and did the same on the wreck.




                            It turns all of the rust black and it is able to be painted over once the excess is removed and dry.








                            Next step was masking off the areas not needing paint and shooting some primer. I used a tan 2k epoxy primer from SprayMax, followed up by SEM seam sealer in the appropriate areas.

                            https://www.spraymax.com/en-us/produ...poxy-primer-1/

                            https://www.semproducts.com/product/...-sealers/29372













                            Last edited by mjweimer; 12-04-2021, 04:02 PM.

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                              #59
                              With all of the areas in primer, the next step was to shoot SEM rocker panel spray in the wheel well (no pics) and then shoot the Alpine white and black in appropriate areas.


                              I used Spraymax 2K color matched to AW2 over all primed areas and once cured SEM semi-gloss black for the lower valence and wheel wells.


                              https://www.semproducts.com/product/...ip-guard/guard


                              https://www.spraymax.com/en-us/produ...tage-topcoats/


                              https://www.semproducts.com/product/...ip-guard/guard




                              The pictures are not exciting but at least everything is properly protected from the elements and looks much better in person.













                              After the paint had fully cured I applied some 3M cavity wax into the hidden areas of the old repairs. This should keep moisture from creeping into the areas impossible to paint but exposed from the previous welding/grinding.



                              It's hard to get pics of hidden areas but the upper fender mount has decent access. The wands used to apply the wax have excellent coverage.






                              That's all for now. The project is once again going on hold thanks to a leaky N52 in my Xi touring. Believe everything you have read about N52 engines leaking oil and how much fun it is to remove an Xi oil pan.


                              I should be able to get back into the wreck sooner than later and I should have all the parts needed to make major headway.






                              MJ
                              Last edited by mjweimer; 12-04-2021, 04:08 PM.

                              Comment


                                #60
                                Great progress. I haven't heard much about the N52 leaking oil, but that's kind of a bummer to hear. My next car will be an e91 manual. Hopefully I can avoid having to drop the oil pan.

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