1983 Henna Red 323i

[kdevitt]

Quick update on the vapour blasting - parts were collected by Michael at Vapourblast.ie on Thursday. Got the first photos back from him yesterday. Will have some better before & after photos in a few days, but this should give you a good idea of what a finish he gets.

[kdevitt]

Dave managed to get through a good bit of work today - really feels like its all coming together now.

Pistons,crank and all caps and bolts cleaned and ready to go.



Crank in ready for checking oil clearances.



Plastigauge on to measure clearance



Main caps on and torqued down -



Caps off again to check plastigauge -



Measuring 2 thou. Want about 1 thou per inch dia of crank. So it's about perfect.



Clean it all up then. Measuring end float which is within spec -



Crank out again to lube bearings -



Checking piston ring end gap -



New piston rings on and piston in compressor ready to go into block



Piston and conrod in place -



Rod cap on and torqued to check oil clearance -



Cap off -



Looks good -



Also took the opportunity to have the injectors cleaned by Westward Engineering - they're done and ready to go back in now.

[kdevitt]

Its not too often that I'm completely blown away with the quality of work like I am with this - all the parts were returned to me today, price was very reasonable and a quick turnaround too.

Some before pics -























After -

[codrum]

Incredible, they look factory new. Any concern that, although clean, the older parts are fragile from years of use?

[kdevitt]

Incredible, they look factory new. Any concern that, although clean, the older parts are fragile from years of use?

Not really any concern no - vapour blasting is done at very low pressure and won't cause potential damage like other media blasting. So they should be no weaker now than they would have been when filthy!

[CorvallisBMW]

oooh shiny!

[kdevitt]

Finally, another update :)

Despite having two engines to work with, neither had a very healthy oil pump. Having gotten this far into the guts of the engine, we figured it made sense to order a new oil pump. This decision took a bit of time - turns out the pump costs more than the car itself cost me. Tried a few different sources, and nowhere was significantly cheaper than the other. So ordered from bmwclassic.com, and it was with Dave within three days. Nothing could be done pending the arrival of the pump though, and it was probably a month or so before I pulled the trigger on it.

All new parts from BMW here - timing chain and sprockets, ones on the supplied engines were slightly worn.



Sprocket heated to 200c and fitted onto crankshaft





The oil pump now in place -



Head looking nice and clean -



Timing cover on to set TDC -



Head on and torqued down -



Timing set up -





New tensioner -





Lots of progress made - need to still source a few parts such as the diff, but hopefully the nasty surprises are out of the way now.

[kdevitt]

More progress - lots of pics.



Bleed tensioner piston -





Time to start covering it all up again





New waterpump going back on -



Bought a new thermostat - not much point putting old stuff back in when you're this far into the bowels



Putting the intake and throttle body back together -





Had all the injectors refurbed -





Gave these a bit of paint to freshen them up.



Inlet manifold back on -



Lots of additional cleaning done - the vapour blasted bits make everything else look grotty in comparison. Really need to pull the finger out and get the rocker cover powder coated now.

[kdevitt]

300mm.de engine mounts going on. Didn't like the original colour on these - so redid them in a VHT paint with a metallic fleck. Not sure if it will stand the test of time, but we'll see.





With the way the budget has gone on this, some of the parts weren't vapour blasted which I would probably have done otherwise. Dave did a great job cleaning them up - but the vapour blasted stuff does show them up slightly.

Alternator bracket going on -



Alternator back on - this was originally going to be blasted, but it needed to be fully stripped down for that, and amount being spent is silly at this stage, so left it. Can always redo a few parts if needs be at some stage.



New exhaust manifold gaskets from BMWClassic.com, with the old manifold. Will more than likely put a BTB one on next year - can't justify forking out 1K for a manifold at the moment though.



Fantastic to see a load of disassembled parts coming back together





Rocker cover is always a make or break decision - so went for this weathered look.



Obviously that's the spare cover - have the other one in with Tallaght Powder Coating, should have it back next week hopefully. Went for an athracite finish, with the raised sections polished up. Clear coat will go over the whole lot. It needed to go for a chemical dipping first though - because its baffled they won't take it in before its confirmed all clean, which is fair enough. Irish cleaning services behind Dennings at the Spawell complex are doing the cleaning.

Alternator wired up -





On to the transmission - 2 new seals in the gearbox



Getting the engine ready to set up the flywheel, keeping the original one.





New Luk clutch kit and release bearing -





Few small bits needed now including temp sensors and a slave cylinder.

[kdevitt]

Now the fun really begins -

Getting the last few bits bolted together -



Gearbox on -



In case you've forgotten what the car itself looks like -



First attempt to get the engine in. Some people have apparently fitted these without any bulkhead / transmission tunnel modification - was not expecting this to be the case with mine.



Not much spare room to play with here -





Initial stuck it into he front mounting hole on the engine mounts - doesn't allow the rad to fit. Didn't want it in that position as it sit too far out forward - but helps show the lack of space with this engine



Exhaust manifolds also hit the steering linkage - still need to pick up a slimline one. Was going with Ergen Motorsport - any other suggestions are welcome though.



...and it hits the brake and clutch lines



..um...and the bulkhead...



Looks great though





Back out came the engine -



Removed some sound deadening - will need a bit of work on that surface rust when its going for its respray. Also removed the brake and clutch line.



Fitted up the new rubber mounts - went for OEM M20 ones courtesy of Murphy & Gunn.



Engine back in - still not enough room. No chance of getting it on the back hole of the engine mount. Need 20-30mm more room to go back



So engine out again. More sound deadening removed. More work with the big hammer.



Didn't attempt a third re-fit - think it still needs a bit more room freed up though.

[kdevitt]

Things are really picking up pace on this - will be back on the road in no time at this rate.

Dave refitted the engine again -



Still no joy - so out with the persuader again to 'reshape' the bulkhead



Then some primer and matt black paint to tidy things up a bit



Engine back in for the 4th time - and its now sitting comfortably on the correct mounting point



Plenty of clearance to the bulkhead -



...and the rad









Some slight issues have arisen - nothing critical thankfully though

Lack of room between the inlet manifold and servo. Going to go for a clio servo rather than trying to shave the manifold





Also need to remove some sound deadening from the transmission tunnel - the bellhousing is tight against it



Exhaust manifold is still catching the steering linkage - going to shave the linkage to make some room



But all in all - it looks great. Can't wait to see the new rocker cover in place

[amcink]

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[kdevitt]

Quiet day on the updates front - I did manage to collect my oil filter housing, fresh from vapourblasting by Michael at vapourblast.ie

Interestingly (and unfortunately) I just needed to buy a brand new oil filter housing for my M3 - a garage overtorqued a bolt for the alternator and cracked it, so I had a brand new part to compare against. It really is as good as new.



In response to how to keep it new looking - Michael came back with the following:

As regards keeping the finish, as they are aluminium they will degrade over time, just as they did from the factory, but when this happens a drop of Aluminium polish should bring them right back up.
Quite often I often spray WD40 onto parts that have been blasted. This protects the finish pretty well and then when it's "show time" a drop of carb or brake cleaner and a clean rag will get the WD40 and accumulated dust off.

[kdevitt]

Bit of a change of focus with tonight's updates -

I did a recolouring on the interior a few years back - I was very impressed with the results at the time. A combination of factors have resulted in me re-doing it though. When the car was sat up during my few years in Sydney the interior wasn't cleaned at all, and there was some slight cracking on the leather - nothing major, but it had gotten a bit tough. I also have done a heap more interiors at this stage, have the appropriate fillers, compressor, spray gun and sealants, so can get much better results.

My iPhone has decided to revert to woeful quality photo resolution - so apologies in advance.

Here's the rear headrests as they were - (think someone pointed out they're actually cabrio ones. Can do a swap some day when I've un-bankrupted myself)



This is after 3 coats of colour, and three of sealant





Got the full seat back done - you can see how the rear bench behind looks in comparison.





Need to take the front seats apart to do them properly - a job for the weekend. Also collecting my rocker cover on Saturday, so am looking forward to seeing how that came out.

[kdevitt]

Few more updates on the interesting stuff -

Combo of an M20 gearbox mount and bushes does the job perfectly - the parts were only borrowed though, so need to put through an order for some new ones.



Result of this is a bit more room for the servo / inlet manifold - so no Renault parts dirtying up my car anytime soon now!





Steering linkage is still very much on the tight side though -





Went to collect my rocker cover from powdercoating yesterday and it was sitting on the floor of the company, untouched - not impressed!