JackBenny's 1991 318is Project

[jackbenny]

The weekend is over buddy, where are the updates?

http://r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=169436

Be there or be square.....or round, or some sort of equallateral triangle.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah this weekend was less than successful I'm afraid. Pictures are on the computer but I need to upload them to imageshack. There was a lot of experimentation and a lot of failure but I'll let the next post detail that.

That being said, the wire harness is in the car. A couple more parts and this thing might fire up this week....which was this past weekend's goal. :(

[bejbis]

That being said, the wire harness is in the car. A couple more parts and this thing might fire up this week....which was this past weekend's goal. :(

Like i said, if you ever need help with something just give me a ring. If i have the time, id be more than happy to give you a hand.

[jackbenny]

Like i said, if you ever need help with something just give me a ring. If i have the time, id be more than happy to give you a hand.

I know and I appreciate it. I have a bunch of people here at work that want to help as well. I just need parts. I need to order some this morning with the hope they show up by Friday.

Update coming tonight. Today's thought for the day is coolant expansion tanks. Yes, that would mean that a different radiator is in the car. Something....aluminum..y.

[bejbis]

Update coming tonight. Today's thought for the day is coolant expansion tanks. Yes, that would mean that a different radiator is in the car. Something....aluminum..y.

If you need an expansion tank built let me know, I can whip one up for ya that's aluminumy as well. Just have to tell me where you want it to go and if you want it polished or not. I dont know if you saw it at last meeting, but that windshield washer i could make one exactly like the aluminum windshield washer resivour i made. Only with proper bungs for coolant caps.

[jackbenny]

So not the update I was hoping for but here it goes....

This past week was focused on trying to get the engine started. Why? Because I want to hear the damn thing! Plus I had some parts collecting dust and figured it would be a good time to put them on the car.

I had acquired a stewart water pump a while back and thought what better time than now to through it in the car. I was actually stunned at how quick this installation took. I think remove and replace took no more than 5 minutes.



The existing water pump did not have a plastic impeller but it still wasn't as nice as the stewart unit.





There was some talk in the 24V forum about the use of a diesel mechanical fan that a bunch of forced induction guys use. Before the whole discussion about electric vs mechanical I'd like to point out that I was curious and decided to give it a shot for future reference within the community. I talked to Blunt about it and he ordered it for me. The results follow...



It's a pretty damn thin fan. The ring around the blades is nice too.



But it's incompatible with the M42 radiator. It hits the overflow reservoir on the driver's side. Still determined I decided to bite the bullet and get a mishimoto aluminum radiator.

But that would come later. For now, I decided to work on the engine harness.

But I was distracted when a friend stopped by with his latest acquisition.





I will say that it was a lot of fun and even my pregnant wife was able to enter and exit the vehicle gracefully. I wish I could say the same about myself!

I cleared off the workbench to start modifying my engine harness.



I began labeling all the connectors based off the ETK (which is not seen here but just out of frame) After labeling, I dropped the harness in the bay to see how everything would lay out. The harness would go in and out of the bay many times checking for fit.



I then started removing the plastic covers that I didn't need. Here the massacre ensured...



Another fit check...



I can't tell you how many zip ties I went through. I would route the wires and tie it to the M42 loom and then change my mind and cut them off so I could reroute again. Good thing zip ties are cheap.



Fortunately, Fed Ex dropped off a present to distract me from the spaghetti sitting on the bench.



I elected to retain my diagnostic port in the factory location of the 318is. This required lengthening some wires.



Spaz recommends a crimper in the 24V forum. I got the crimper and man does it make a difference when you have the right tool for the job.





My harness isn't the best, I know. This really was my first time attempting to do it correctly. Each wire that was lengthened was checked for continuity by the multimeter to make sure I was doing things correctly. This will all be hidden by the M3 covers anyway but I still wanted to do a decent job.

I made a spot on the loom holder for the diagnostic plug to come out and added a small grommet.





You can also see that I retained the according style wire covers for the fuel injection harness and the remainder of the engine harness plugs. A little trimming was required but it left enough space to route the starter wires down the same path. It looks pretty clean I think.

A little trimming is still needed.



The big moment came when it was time to prepare the C101 connection. I opted not to use an adapter but put the C101 plug directly on the engine harness. I ordered all the pins but didn't get the dust plugs, so I removed all that I could from the existing harness.



All the wires were labeled to which pin location was appropriate.



Here's a good shot of the work area. You can see the ETK book, a printout of my harness chart, another page showing the abbreviations for color because I can never remember it, etc...



I also had a couple of spare pins so I thought it would be good to practice before permanently destroying the engine harness. Crimper worked pretty good.



And here we go...





And now we insert the pins...



and end up with something like this...



and then clean it up a bit...



I placed it in the car was was pleased with the results so far.

[jackbenny]

continued...

After the harness was in, I decided to concentrate on the radiator install.



You can see my sad attempt at radiator brackets to try and move it forward but in the end, it was just too close for my comfort. Less than .25 inches. I think it would work well if the radiator could move closer to the front but the blade flex was hitting it with the stock radiator mounting pieces. This was the start of a disheartening weekend. The only good news is that I had a fan delete kit already so I installed it. For now I will use the stock aux fan until I can save up and pick up a spal unit.



Radiator looks pretty damn cool though! :)

I bled the brakes too. There are no pictures of this because it was a complete disaster. I pressurized the system with the bleeder and everything looked ok. Until I noticed brake fluid dripping off the master cylinder onto the ground. Yep the seals between the master cylinder and the reservoir appear to have gone bad. Some fluid did hit the paint in the engine bay and while it is extremely tough paint and didn't dissolve, there is a light blue stain. I was pretty pissed at this point and should have stopped but I kept going. New seals are on the way as well as new fluid. The bleeder worked pretty good too so maybe this weekend will be a different story.

I also wanted to install the steering wheel...mainly because the box is in an awkward place on my other workbench. I got a Nardi Deep Corn alcantera unit from my wife for my christmas gift. You have probably seen it on JAnderson's car and I would like credit to go to him as he was the inspiration for it. In order to have the horn work, you need the contact ring from the existing steering wheel. Wow was that pain in the ass to remove!



This is the only picture I really got of it. There is a procedure in the 318 service manual for removal. I took it and added it to the Nardi adapter. Some grease is still needed as it squeaks a bit but overall, I like this wheel a lot.



I really did the red accents.

So that's where I'm at today. I need a coolant expansion tank but I'd like something nicer than the fender mounted e30 unit. I don't have a battery up front so that location is clear and might be a good place for the E30 M3 unit. I've also looked at some Canton and Moroso aluminum pieces as well. I think that might look great in the bay. But as always I am open to suggestions and recommendations.

And I look forward to hearing them :D

[Lof8]

Nice work with the harness and cover. I need to do this sometime soon. I didn't realize there was a spot in there for the relays. Got any pics of the final product?

[bejbis]

So that's where I'm at today. I need a coolant expansion tank but I'd like something nicer than the fender mounted e30 unit. I don't have a battery up front so that location is clear and might be a good place for the E30 M3 unit. I've also looked at some Canton and Moroso aluminum pieces as well. I think that might look great in the bay. But as always I am open to suggestions and recommendations.

And I look forward to hearing them :D

You probably missed this as we posted at the same time. Your work is looking good, the end is almost near :) Oh, and when you get done. Mind if I borrow that pin tool to remove the pins from the x20 connector? :)

http://r3vlimited.com/board/showpost.php?p=1989544&postcount=409

[red911turbo]

Bummer about the fan blade man!! I have just over a half inch of clearance for both the engine and radiator. I have the stock m20 radiator and as long as I make sure my motor mounts are good, I think I should be fine!! :) I'm very happy with the fan blade it self too! Very thin and since it has the supporting ring around the outside of the blades, I don't see it coming apart like the stock blades supposedly do!!

Great looking build, excited to see it done!!

Cheers,
Chris

[Wh33lhop]

I love the fanless 24V motor--I've swapped water pumps in about 10-15 minutes, and the serpentine belt takes about 30 seconds to remove. It's genius.

Good progress, I've followed your thread from time to time and am anxious to see it come to a result. Also looking at that radiator--My (new) M42 radiator just took a dump so I'm going to have to rob my (dead trans) super eta of its radiator for now. But I forsee a Mishimoto in the near future, sick and tired of the flimsy OEM crap. And as for the fan, I wouldn't sweat it. I picked up a "used" (new in box) SPAL 16" off ebay for $30 shipped, if you wait you can find good deals on them. The clutch fan was a valiant effort to pave a different path, but in the end there are only benefits to swapping to E-fans.

[ZM Blue Devil]

Amazing. Inspiring. I'm in love.

[jackbenny]

If you need an expansion tank built let me know, I can whip one up for ya that's aluminumy as well. Just have to tell me where you want it to go and if you want it polished or not. I dont know if you saw it at last meeting, but that windshield washer i could make one exactly like the aluminum windshield washer resivour i made. Only with proper bungs for coolant caps.

Serious? I'd like to put it in the passenger side by the firewall...where the battery used to go. That's the E30 M3 style, right? That would be sweet. Doesn't even need to be polished. Let me know. :)

[jackbenny]

Bummer about the fan blade man!! I have just over a half inch of clearance for both the engine and radiator. I have the stock m20 radiator and as long as I make sure my motor mounts are good, I think I should be fine!! :) I'm very happy with the fan blade it self too! Very thin and since it has the supporting ring around the outside of the blades, I don't see it coming apart like the stock blades supposedly do!!

Great looking build, excited to see it done!!

Cheers,
Chris

That may be the magic combination then. I'll have to pass that on to Blunt. It's a good fan and looks to be a great option for those who still want to retain their mechanical fans.

A noble effort I suppose. ;)

[GK-E30M3]

Awesome

Ps. Repaint your Hood Hinge

[jackbenny]

Awesome

Ps. Repaint your Hood Hinge

yeah, yeah, yeah. It's on the to do list. I'll probably take the hood off to polish and do it then.

Any thoughts on something like this for a coolant expansion tank?

http://www.joesracing.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idProduct=748