Work Log: Rebirth of the Vert (Red Oktober)

[oekundar]

Update:

Carpet is now Black...pictures rule:

[ZM Blue Devil]

looking good. If you decide not to use the mats let me know.

[oekundar]

looking good. If you decide not to use the mats let me know.

Certainly will...was thinking they would be a nice contrast....got the hood of the car as well so I can continue with the work in the engine bay..

I'm still having a bit of a pickle getting to a powder coater for the thermostat housing and other misc parts....

[ZM Blue Devil]

keep at it. Rumor has it spring is only 3 months away.

[oekundar]

keep at it. Rumor has it spring is only 3 months away.

Really?....she'll be running way before that!...might even bring her up to your neck of the woods.... :D

[kishg]

Really?....she'll be running way before that!...might even bring her up to your neck of the woods.... :D

nice to see the progress!

when spring finally gets here, i think an e30 meet is definitely in order!

[oekundar]

So last night the goal was to start tackling some of the necessary maintenance. Decided to pull the hood as to make my work a bit easier...this is a fairly light hood or maybe my workouts are paying off. :D

First thing was to push the car out and powerwash the engine bay and get most of the grease/oil off parts that I will be working on....

Pics taken after she's back in her spot after the lil' hose down..





Next Pulled the following:



I don't know what that metal hose is called but I plan on cleaning it up and painting it prior to replacing it. This is a fairly easy car to get at all the belts...my only question is do I need to remove the fan to ease replacement of the belts?



Oh...anyone have/know anyone with a good used auto radiator? I'm asking for used because I plan on swapping to a manual tranny, just not now...and figure why spend a couple of hundred on a new auto radiator when it will just be coming out?

[87Blue325iC]

Nice - I like the black carpets!

[ED12123]

Nice progress. I can't believe that carpet came out so nice.

Chris

[oekundar]

Thanks for the comments....I've moved on into the engine bay....to tackle the timing belt and the other V-belts....look what I found..



Basically I'm not sure if anything was ever done on this vert...seems like a LOT of dirt past the dust shield for relatively low miles. In any case...I didn't get anything quite completed yesterday but the tear down is in full effect. There is an inordinate amount of oil buildup on the block as a whole and quite honestly before I go replacing ALL the gaskets/seals I need to get her running and properly cleaned to be able to identify the problem areas.

So I noticed that one of the nipples off the thermostat housing has broken off...its at the bottom of the housing...I'm wondering if this whole thing is replacable or if I'm going to have to work around that.

Thermostat housing is the one that blinged out




Also could someone confirm that I have the crank pulley lined up properly with the lower cam belt cover?

[Julien]

replace that cam seal. good luck

[oekundar]

replace that cam seal. good luck

Point well taken...will order it this week...hopefully I can pick it up locally.

[N2MYE30]

I just replaced that seal last week and MAN, it was a biotch to get out. Good luck.

[oekundar]

Ah...more progress or rather an update...I will be looking to purchase/order the cam seal today as well as a new valve cover gasket/seal. I had pulled the radiator, but didn't realize how bad it was until yesterday....enjoy:







Those silver lookings spots are actually light shining through the freaking thing...oh well...time to replace I guess! ;)

And I figured that while I was changing the timing(cam) belt/water pump and stuff, I would pretty up the cover...my initial goal was to just clean off the grease...then I found some paint (bought some more) and went to town...after pictures to come...here is the before in the utility sink:

[oekundar]

Update:

Here are pictures of the cleaned and painted associated parts...Duplicolor Engine paint used here. Not sure what my overall theme will be, but I'm leaning towards a Black/Red Theme with a hint of yellow to complete the Germanness (new word)





Unto the other work...after fighting with the car...I finally got this off:


here's what I find below:





So I go to work and here is where I ended last night:





I now need to order new intake manifold gaskets...as well as the O-rings for the block return, and while I wait for the parts...I might install these



:D

I'm sure there are some opinions on my colors of choice for my engine bay... ;)