Family Fun Car

[Danny]

Alright so not much of an update here but more of a call for help. I attempted to remedy the previously documented hesitation at high rpms with a bremi cap and rotor set and some ngk wires and now I have a no start issue. This is what I’ve tested:

-CPS ohms out within spec
-Coil is getting power
-As previously mentioned all cap rotor and wires are brand new
-Plugs are new since the engine was installed
-I’m pretty sure I’m getting plenty of fuel since I can smell it like crazy
-New fuel filter
-New main relay
-New fuel lines

I ordered up another MSD since they’re cheap and it could be the issue. I’m leaning toward DME but I don’t rwally wanna drop the cash unless there’s nothing else I can test. Any ideas?

[Danny]

Hows the diff working out besides potential bad VSS? Hope its working out for you guys!

Sweet progress tho!

Threw some new fluid in it and seems to be okay. I’ve only driven it for maybe 5 miles but I didn’t hear any weird noises or anything so I’d say it’s good.

Still don’t know if it’s a bad VSS I’m just gonna try that first lol.

[ohthejosh]

Hows the diff working out besides potential bad VSS? Hope its working out for you guys!

Sweet progress tho!

[Staszek]

This looks like fun!

[Danny]

Here's an after of everything done now.



Haven't messed with the speedo yet. I think I may swap the VSS from the old diff into the new one to start.

[Danny]

Got the car back from the exhaust shop. Guy did a nice job with a single 2.5 inch pipe through a resonator into a magnaflow from my S50 car (we didn't want it to be TOO loud on track, my dad is old). Also got an alignment done.

Took it for a rip around the block and had a couple issues.

Issue 1: Had some intermittent stuttering at 5k+ RPMs, mostly in third gear or higher. Seemed to get better with each lap around the neighborhood. I'm willing to chalk this up to bad gas from sitting for a long time. Something to keep an eye on, however.

Issue 2: We swapped in a later model 7k cluster into the car and now the speedo does not work. VSS in the diff seems fine and the plug is secure with no breaking of the wires. I only wired up the black wire from the C104 to the ECU to get the tach working. I know one of the wires in the C104 is also for the OBC/Econometer control. Is it necessary to hook up those wires to get the speedo working? If not, I may have a bad VSS in diff or I need to pull the cluster out again and take a look. Any insight?

Pics coming soon.

[Jean]

Nice!

[Danny]

Got the fan mounted and wired up, tach was swapped, wired and works, put it on the ground for the first time in months and it moved back and forth in the backyard. Ripped out the entire interior and mounted our Corbeau fixed back seat. Going to get it on a trailer and take it to an exhaust shop. Then it'll be time to bed the brakes and sign up for an event!

[Danny]

Subframe out



Working on getting everything separated. So much crap on the axle bolts.



Burning out the old bushings.



Ready to go back in. Condor Speedshop bushings on the diff, TAs and subframe. (Seriously, shout out to these guys. Every single thing we've got from them has been direct fit, no hassle, no bullshit. Awesome company.)



Brother in law working on the rear brakes, using brembo blanks and Hawk HT-10s.



And everything back in. Stainless steel brake lines, and new fuel filter while we were working in the back.



Front brakes done too. Same treatment as the rears, stainless steel lines, brembo blanks and Hawk HT-10 pads.



Got the clutch and brakes bled, driveshaft hooked back up and everything spins with no weird noises. Woohoo!

Really all that's left is putting the electric fan in and wiring it, sticking the new cluster in and making the tach work, pulling out the rest of the interior and putting in our Corbeau fixed back seat, and trailering it to an exhaust shop. All in all we're pretty close to this thing seeing some track time and the goal of having all the work completed before the end of the year certainly seems attainable!

[Danny]

Thanks man. Yeah I haven’t gotten too much time with the car since that post. Because of all the fires overtime is kicking my ass. I was hoping someone could shed some light but no such luck yet.

Yeah we used a fuckton of rtv too lol

[Melon]

Dang, my car is an '87 ETA, but I think the harness is from an '89 325i, I don't have that connector.

Did you use any sealant on the oil pan, other than the two supplied gaskets?

[Danny]

Got some more work done the last few days. Subframe and trailing arm bushings have been replaced and subframe reinstalled into the car with a 3.73 LSD. Chopped the eta downpipes so we can use it to graft an exhaust to. Shifter is all done. Stainless steel lines run.

Really not much left before it goes to the exhaust shop.

Now, I'm trying to figure out my tach wiring since this is either an 87 or 88 I harness (I don't know for sure) into an 86 eta. I have the following pictures and I'm hoping someone can help me out a bit with the wiring.

First picture is the glovebox with the three pin connector (C104 I believe). Second picture is a black connector from the engine harness. I know through my research I have to connect the black wire from the C104 to the black wire from pin 6 on the ECU or pin 14 of the C101 I think. My question is, looks like the second picture has a black wire in that connector. Can I just put those two black wires together and call it good? The black connector has a green tag that says '515' if that helps.





Any help is appreciated!

[ak-]

Yay!

[Danny]

Well we got the radiator in, coolant hoses run, the fuel hoses plumbed and plugged the harness in.

Started first try and sounds good. Whoohoo!

Picked up a used 3.73 LSD from a member on here. Looking forward to getting the rear suspension done so we can take a drive in this thing.

[Danny]

Okay finally got a bit of work done on the car.

Got the IE pan baffle installed.



IE Crank scraper installed.



IE Stage 3 springs installed with Koni SAs.



And hey the engine is in!



Some other stuff happened too, got the front end buttoned up with some Condor offset LCABs, new lemfoeder CAs and Tie-Rods and some IE fixed camber plates.

Heading over to try and get the engine fired now.