The Blunderwagon - 89 325iX touring 3.1L stroker

[kronus]

couple projects for the next few weeks as I get it driveable

- assemble 1 working cluster. the Si batteries in both clusters I have are dead from sitting unplugged. (is there a recommended way to store them so that this doesn't happen?)
- rewire CEL, trace it out to make sure it's wired like factory
- isolate and fix battery drain issue
- reassemble interior (mostly center consoles left at this point)
- get rear rotors turned, all calipers blasted and rebuilt, reassemble with new pads and SS lines
- make new clutch hardline, replace clutch hard/soft lines and clutch slave with new parts
- get a chrome kidney, I really hate the black one. (anyone wanna trade?)
- pull rear bumper and hitch, patch hitch wiring hole, re-texture and repaint the rear valence while the bumper is off.

significantly shorter list than what I started with :)

[kronus]

pulled it out of the shop yesterday to move some stuff around, gave it a quick rinse and actually got to look at it in daylight!







takeaways - I've got two different diamantschwarzes here. the touring is a shade lighter. almost none of its windows have matching codes.

[kronus]

The only 100% CA-legal way to do it is to get it tested at the only smog lab in the state, which is in LA. They run a few grand and have a pretty long wait list, probably composed of Integrales and 959s.

As for the plan on electrical, there's really no way around it. going to find relevant diagrams, redraw them in order to internalize what's going on, and get tracing.

the car also drains power badly with the battery connected, I suspect the main relay is switching on when it's not supposed to.

[bradnic]

What a great thread. SUB'D. What's the plan on the electrical? Can you really smog a euro spec car like that in Cali? Just curious

[kronus]

there has been progress.

cleaned up and repainted the driveshafts -



assembled the rear CV. This took some modification, as suspected. The new rear shield would not clear the subframe, but it was very close. Grinding down the "rim" of the shield and the double-bolt-washer things to be even with the CV housing did the trick.







I then installed it and installed the heatshield over it and forgot to take a photo. durp.

Folks came by the shop and helped me with the transmission and TC. This is what we came up with to get the new TC bushing into it -



Trans and front driveshaft and TC and exhaust and all that business went in -



Thanks to McGyver and chriso for the help!


Coolant, trans juice, TC juice went in, the exhaust went on, and it's a runner!




Unfortunately, there are some electrical gremlins to sort out before I try to smog it. The cluster is all sorts of messed up, and the CEL is inop.

[2002tiiguy]

Heres an ix pressure plate, i can do some measuring if anyone is interested

[2002tiiguy]

kronus, for the bushing, i think i cut out the old one and then used a balljoint press c clamp to push the new one in

[kronus]

That is the plan, but it looks a little tight. Might end up needing to space the diff down a bit, which would suck but is not the end of the world.

[D.Martijn]

I'll take a look, thanks.

Also, primered and undercoated my booger weld job last night in prep for the trans to go back in, and got my driveshafts cleaned up, primered and painted. All that stuff's boring, so no photos yet.

Trans, TC and driveshafts should be going in this weekend if I can get the bushing swapped, and then I can finally drive it for real.

So I assume you are now using the E34 CV joint for your rear driveshaft?

[jeenyus]

I'll take a look, thanks.

Also, primered and undercoated my booger weld job last night in prep for the trans to go back in, and got my driveshafts cleaned up, primered and painted. All that stuff's boring, so no photos yet.

Trans, TC and driveshafts should be going in this weekend if I can get the bushing swapped, and then I can finally drive it for real.

I'm waiting on a gargistic TC bushing in 80a poly. Looks like a great piece, so i might be in the same boat this weekend. Mine will be much easier to push in though, cause it's not metal sleeved.

[kronus]

I'll take a look, thanks.

Also, primered and undercoated my booger weld job last night in prep for the trans to go back in, and got my driveshafts cleaned up, primered and painted. All that stuff's boring, so no photos yet.

Trans, TC and driveshafts should be going in this weekend if I can get the bushing swapped, and then I can finally drive it for real.

[jeenyus]

can confirm

also, anyone have any really super excellent 100% great ideas/tips for pulling out the TC bushing that aren't "have the specific OEM BMW tool you need for just this purpose"?

I just got a little hack saw, took out the bushing, then i sawed through the metal sleeve and banged that bitch out with a hammer. Took maybe 30-45 min to get it out. To put in the new one, freeze it and then get some grease to slide it into place. Make sure the geometry is lined up or it will get slightly stuck.

IF you want pictures for reference it's in my thread somewhere.

[parkerbink]

In '80 I drove from Santa Monica to Newport Beach for a carb for my first '71 2002. Was over a 2 hour trip on the San Diego parking lot then.


lol

[kronus]

heh, maybe if he wasn't 2 hours away.

I think a shopmate has a generic bushing puller tool. will see if I can rig it to work. the offset hole is a pain.

[parkerbink]

Borrow the tool from Ryan G?

lol