The Blunderwagon - 89 325iX touring 3.1L stroker

[kronus]

(to be clear the CV design itself is still different and the e34 boot will not mount onto the e30 CV, but the E34 CV will be a complete wholesale replacement onto my drive shaft)

[D.Martijn]

I will upload photos later since I am on my phone, but, e34 driveshaft CV confirmed for being a 100% direct replacement. :)

OD matches (94mm), splines are identical, bolt circle is perfect. Ordering a replacement boot has never felt this good.

(to be clear the CV design itself is still different and the e34 boot will not mount onto the e30 CV, but the E34 CV will be a complete wholesale replacement onto my drive shaft)

So if I understand correctly, you just swap CV's and boots and you are ready to go? That's great news! Thank you for figuring this out. If mine of my uncle's decides to tear, I know what to do :)

edit: it might be a good idea to make a dedicated post in the iX section.

[nando]

man, I feel like I should just buy one while they're dirt cheap. There are so many parts I passed over before, that either went NLA or went up to astronomical prices..

[kronus]

So if I understand correctly, you just swap CV's and boots and you are ready to go? That's great news! Thank you for figuring this out. If mine of my uncle's decides to tear, I know what to do :)

yup! that is correct.

edit: it might be a good idea to make a dedicated post in the iX section.

I will do that once I've got the assembly verified. The last remaining variable is, does the E34 CV clear the E30 subframe?

man, I feel like I should just buy one while they're dirt cheap. There are so many parts I passed over before, that either went NLA or went up to astronomical prices..

do you also have a CV driveshaft?

[kronus]

The photos, as promised.

E30 inner race slid onto the E34 driveshaft -



E30 and E34 CVs, demonstrating height, diameter and bolt circle match. Both CVs are around 67mm tall from the face of the housing to the end of the metal shield.



You can see that the E30 CV steps down before it gets to the boot - my last worry is that the E34 CV may not clear the E30 subframe due to not having this step.

E34 CV after some time in the parts cleaner. This one has around 234k miles on it.









The cage has some wear. I'm planning to use the E30 CV's internals in the E34 housing unless someone tells me that's a super dumb bad idea.



Your daily bonus WTF - here's how I found the coil lead when I got the car.



Here's what was under it:





fucking guy.

[kronus]

Oh, for posterity, a note on how E34 CVs are assembled.

The housing has two machined grooves on the outside. Those go toward the front of the car, away from the diff. The boot slides on that side.

The cage has a machined groove. It goes away from diff.

The inner race has a raised ring section around the splines on one side. It goes toward the diff.

[D.Martijn]

I don't think that there will be a problem regarding clearance for the subframe. there is quite some space between the original CV joint and subframe.

[kronus]

a little more progress today, but mostly on the motor. yawn.



Pulled the valve cover and adjusted the valves. About a third were spot on, a third were pretty loose, and a third were really tight. Kinda weird.



All buttoned up with new rocker shaft covers, a new valve cover gasket, new spark plugs, new NGK wires, and some of these:



which I cleaned up on a wire wheel because they were disgusting.

I also disassembled most of the front timing and cooling stuff since I don't trust the timing belt and water pump install. A lot of stuff was loose, the front cover has a crack, and the radiator was the smallest one I've ever seen in an e30.

It's all coming out in favor of an E36 radiator with new hoses, new timing and water pump stuff, gaskets that aren't made of gasket maker, and bolts that have actually been torqued down.

Once I have the motor baselined, I'll feel a decent bit better about it. I think I have an about 75% healthy iX driveline scattered around the shop now, and with some more-correct assembly it should at least become a driver.

I think the plan is to get it up and running, register it and get some driving in before going deep into sheet metal repairs. I have to like the car before investing that sort of effort.

[D.Martijn]

Nice little update!
The stock is radiator is pretty small indeed, but I've never had overheating problems before though. Did not know you can fit a E36 rad into it. Are these a lot bigger?

Man, I hope you will enjoy driving this thing as much as I do. I would really like some more updates on this over the future + I love sheet metal fab stuff lol

btw, is this some super rare factory option?

[D.Martijn]

double post.

[nando]

Isnt an E36 radiator the same thing? As a late M20 rad anyway.

[kronus]

Isnt an E36 radiator the same thing? As a late M20 rad anyway.

It is, but that’s not what came out of here. I didn’t grab a photo, but this radiator was as narrow as an m42 core, and stopped at the lower radiator hose instead of continuing down to the bottom of the rad support. Cold weather spec? Botch job by whoever did all the other botch jobs? Idk.

[kronus]

Nice little update!
The stock is radiator is pretty small indeed, but I've never had overheating problems before though. Did not know you can fit a E36 rad into it. Are these a lot bigger?

It is substantially bigger than what was installed, yes. Not sure what radiator you have.

Man, I hope you will enjoy driving this thing as much as I do. I would really like some more updates on this over the future + I love sheet metal fab stuff lol

I hope so too. The only other ix I’ve driven was so much of a pile I walked away from a clean, manual sedan out of a dry state for 3k. They really do need to be maintained.

btw, is this some super rare factory option?

Yup that’s the wrenching juice reservoir. Good spot!

[D.Martijn]

It is substantially bigger than what was installed, yes. Not sure what radiator you have.

Here's a picture of mine when I redid the timing belt. Pretty sure I have some receipts of the previous owner when he replaced it.

I hope so too. The only other ix I’ve driven was so much of a pile I walked away from a clean, manual sedan out of a dry state for 3k. They really do need to be maintained.

I just love mine and I know my uncle loves his. You can take corners fast, accelerate coming out of them and it just takes off. I know my brother had a hard time following me with his Golf mk7. My only gripe is when it's wet, it tends to understeers. I guess that's what's expected though because of the 4wd

Yup that’s the wrenching juice reservoir. Good spot!

Looks like I'll need to retro fit this then!

[kronus]

Here's a picture of mine when I redid the timing belt. Pretty sure I have some receipts of the previous owner when he replaced it.

yeah, the one I pulled out is about 2/3 the height of this one.