1989 325i Rescue

[Poorhouse]

Left this parked for the summer after the steering rack debacle. I was disgusted with the whole thing at that point. Plus I had the other E30 to fix up for sale and the
Dodge pickup to engine swap. Both those projects are done and sold. This is the only "fun/project" vehicle I've got. Enough time has passed that I'm over being frustrated about the rack and ready to move on.

Order a replacement rack from Detroit Axle. Sprung for the Z3 rack with has the quickest ration for an E30.
Plan to pull the trans and see why the clutch is making noise on engagement/disengagement.

Started some cosmetic repairs first. Hoping to be able to do some painting before it gets to cold.

Going to pull the bumpers, trim, grill and mirrors. Paint the trim, grill and mirrors with SEM trim paint.
Paint the rockers with SEM chassis paint.
The big issue will be repainting the front bumper cover and valence. This car had been hit in the front. The valence was a used piece that was originally red. The white is peeling exposing the original red. The bumper cover is an R-dot replacement that is also peeling. The hood is an aftermarket replacement. The paint is completely checked with surface rust coming through on leading edge. I'm going to wait for a clean OEM used hood before doing anything.

I failed to get a good before pic. This shows some of the peeling.





Front disassembled. Core support looks great. Damage apparently didn't get very deep.





Rear torn down. No rust and VIN stickers still on quarters.

[Poorhouse]

Installed reman Rack Dr. E36 rack. Blew passenger side seal in 30 seconds. WTF!?!

[Poorhouse]

Tried bleeding with the normal process another couple times and getting no air out I bought this thing.
Burped up a massive amount of air in the first 5 minutes.
Took it for a 20 minute drive last night and temp was rock steady below the half mark.



Front corner jacked up to make sure it was highest point in system. Was also hoping this angle might help anything trapped in the heater core to escape.



Burping.



Did manage to break my drivers seat on the drive. :facepalm:
I have another set of seats here for another project I'm going to use.

[Poorhouse]

Car has been running great. Temp gauge just below half, heat nice and hot.
Go for a cruise this morning. Temp gauge to red and no heat. Still have an air bubble. Crazy it stayed hidden for 2 weeks.

[jeenyus]

Just about lost it to a fire today. Fuel feed line ruptured at the fuel reg. Thankfully it happened at the shop while getting an alignment. When they were starting to back off the ramp it let go. Engine was nice and cool and they shut it right off. I drove down and replaced the line there. Drove home and all was well.

Scary Larry. Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[dmanb2b]

Ronals for sure...I miss mine!

[Poorhouse]

Just about lost it to a fire today.
Fuel feed line ruptured at the fuel reg. Thankfully it happened at the shop while getting an alignment.
When they were starting to back off the ramp it let go. Engine was nice and cool and they shut it right off.
I drove down and replaced the line there.
Drove home and all was well.

[Poorhouse]

Couple more pics for the Euroweave vs. Ronal debate.

[laidback93]

I would have said Euroweaves a year ago.

Now that I have a set of new Ronals on my E30...

[Poorhouse]

Clutch successfully bled last night. It is making a bit of noise when depressed, but only partially depressed. Like right at the engagement point, once the pedal is all the way down it's quiet.
If it's a noisy t/o bearing I would think it would make noise the entire time the pedal is pushed?

Other than that the clutch feels great.

Also fiddled with the exhaust and got it sealed up a bit better. The aftermarket center section is pretty crappy. Keeping an eye out for a good stock one.

Need to schedule an alignment then I can start driving this thing regularly.

[iwantspeed]

ronals for sure

[Poorhouse]

Still haven't driven it much. Was waiting on Hagerty to finish their underwriting process. Good to go, covered for $12k.
Going to my mechanic buddy's shop tonight to have another go at bleeding the clutch. Apparently the slave has a pocket that holds air
and doesn't get flushed out with the pressure bleeder. He has some tricks to try. Whatever the outcome it will be nice to work on it on his lift
instead of laying in a pool of brake fluid.

Pics from last night. I've been treating the leather with Leatherique the last 4 days while letting it cook in the sun.
Looks much better and is maybe a little softer.







Ronal or Euroweave.

[Poorhouse]

Hey now.

[dmanb2b]

Looks great...I am so bummed I had to put my Ronals up FS. They are going to a good home. Keep up the good work!

[mike.bmw]

Success!

Any one else run additional grounds? Where did you run them?
I have the one from driver chassis leg to alternator only at this point.

My M42 has at least two that I know of. One from the alternator and the other from passenger side engine mount bracket to frame rail.

Congrats on a successful first drive!