Irish44's '77 e21 320i build - with M42

[MJCRO]

Love all the rust repair. Such an awesome build!

[irish44j]

Love all the rust repair. Such an awesome build!

lol thanks. But everyone loves rust repair, as long as someone else is doing it!

[george graves]

Nice! I'm so glad to see someone giving an e21 some love. Subscribed!

[irish44j]

Nice! I'm so glad to see someone giving an e21 some love. Subscribed!

I've finally made the big time when you're subscribed! ;D

[irish44j]

Hey, let's do an update. Spent the last week or so cleaning parts and replacing things. Today was like automotive Christmas, with about 6 boxes coming via USPS, UPS, and FedEx all on the same day. Pretty much everything I needed to complete the engine, redo most of the front suspension, and refresh the steering rack.

First of all, a shout out to Nick_S here on R3vlimited, who pulled a ton of parts I wanted off of his old M42 that's coming out of his e30, sold them to me for cheap, and shipped them to me in 2 total days. But the part I liked the best was that he shrink-wrapped EVERYTHING in sealed bags.....motor mounts, manifold studs/bolts, small hardware, etc. That's some pretty professional used-parts selling right there :)



Also not coincidentally (since I copied his engine that I saw a year ago in a picture), a few of the parts I got were already painted in the copper to match my engine, including the spark plug cover and the alternator adjuster bracket. Worked out nicely.

So now I pretty much have the whole engine together other than some accessory stuff and hoses (which I scored a big box of in another cheap used-part deal last week).

with the new plug cover


IM loosely installed (I'll take it off while I test-fit the engine to the new subframe mounts, just to make the lift easier


timing case all buttoned up. Dammit, forgot to get the pulley for the water pump from Nick....whoops.


Also got a bunch of parts in from Blunt Tech, and Steven was very helpful in figuring out a few things. I'm going to be replacing my IMBMParts decals on the e30 (since Danny left that company) with some nice new Blunt Tech 16" along the rockers, which will look great. Blunt is my new go-to for parts for the cars now, in general.

Also found a few closeout deals on Rockauto for a few random things: front brake rotors (though the old ones would be ok with a resurface I think), brake caliper rebuild kits, and some tie rod ends, and one new inner tie rod. The tie-rod ends are odd - same box, same part number, but they are definitely not the same. One was made in the UK, one was made somewhere else and they don't look the same. But they are both e21 fitament, so who really cares.

I had to do one inner tie rod because the old one was totally shot with tons of play. Got that on closeout too. And some new boots. So, all cleaned, refreshed, and relubed. I still need to put on a couple of the boot clamps.





old vs. new inner balljoint



cleaned up and repainted mount brackets for the rack



And....also on some random site I found a pair of NOS Konis for about $65 each, which is damn cheap for Konis. It wasn't clear if they were Sports (yellows) or not, but since this car is for cruising it doesn't much matter. As it turns out, they are the "Specials" (reds) which are adjustable but not aimed toward motorsports or high spring rates, which is fine since I don't need that (at least now).

Even had the old warranty card in it that looks 20 years old. Definitely gonna send it in just for laughs.



pulled apart the old dampers (integrated BOGEs, which were a mess of hydraulic oil), and cleaned up the strut housing, which I'll paint before putting the Konis in.



And cleaned up the stock springs, rubber isolators, and top hats - though I probably will only use the springs to move the car around, and will probably go with H&Rs once the car is on the road - we'll see.



More on "oddball stuff you get with old cars" on the new top hats. These are FAG brand, same part number on box. One is made in germany, one in India. One has a sealed bearing and one an open bearing. Again, don't really care, the should both work the same..



parts and stuff



Now I'll leave the mechanics to get to work on the car, and hopefully it'll be done by tomorrow morning. Good night!

[phenryiv1]

Really looking good. Next time you spot a CL deal like this one, let me know. I am sonsidering an '89+ 325 or a late 318is, an e36 318ti, or maybe something like a 914

[irish44j]

Really looking good. Next time you spot a CL deal like this one, let me know. I am sonsidering an '89+ 325 or a late 318is, an e36 318ti, or maybe something like a 914

will do, though I'm trying to stay OFF CL, for fear of finding something else that I'll "want" lol.

914 would be cool, though probably cost more to do than an e30. 318ti....not my cup of tea personally. All the performance and rear suspension of an e30, but without the e30 good looks :)

You should find an e24 or something!

[Nick_S]

Sorry about the shipping mishap. Also I noticed in your picture one of the tabs for spark plug cover is missing. Did you not get that also? Man I'm blowing it. Haha. I'll get you another box out on Monday.

[slammin.e28]

Oh shit, just clickedy and read over. Very nice work!

Question, this car didn't happen to come from the north (Basic city) side of Waynesboro, or surrounding area?

Looks a lot like (right down to the rust) one I looked at a couple years ago that had been sitting under some treed in front of a ghetto house.

[phenryiv1]

Oh shit, just clickedy and read over. Very nice work!

Question, this car didn't happen to come from the north (Basic city) side of Waynesboro, or surrounding area?

Looks a lot like (right down to the rust) one I looked at a couple years ago that had been sitting under some treed in front of a ghetto house.

Came from Harpers Ferry, WV. It had been there for many years.

[slammin.e28]

Damn. Was hoping it was the one I looked at. Probably got scrapped for meth money. :(

[irish44j]

Sorry about the shipping mishap. Also I noticed in your picture one of the tabs for spark plug cover is missing. Did you not get that also? Man I'm blowing it. Haha. I'll get you another box out on Monday.

lol, no worries. I'm not sure if it's missing or I just dropped it while unpacking the box in the total disaster zone that is my garage. In any case, I have extra tabs in my parts drawer, so no worries on that either way. I'm sure it'll turn up under a workbench when I'm cleaning up 2 years from now

[irish44j]

Oh shit, just clickedy and read over. Very nice work!

Question, this car didn't happen to come from the north (Basic city) side of Waynesboro, or surrounding area?

Looks a lot like (right down to the rust) one I looked at a couple years ago that had been sitting under some treed in front of a ghetto house.

yep, as Pat said it sat on a hilltop in Harpers Ferry for about 6 years after the p/o died and the widow had other things to worry about (like, horses and farm and stuff). Luckily it sat on deep gravel the whole time so no grass or water buildup under the car at all, hence why there's so little rust!



Pat was nice enough to tow it to his house for a few weeks until I could come up and trailer it home :)

[phenryiv1]

^^^^^^^^

You and your damn ninja photograghy...I never see a camera in your hand.

[irish44j]

We've been in "pathetic DC winter storm" mode here, getting a whopping 3" of snow followed by a shitload of ice. Yay. I let my wife take back her garage spot (temporarily) so now the garage is pretty crammed between the e21, the engine on the stand, all my workbenches, a stroller, and her 4Runner. Not a big issue since it's cold as hell out there anyhow. But I press on regardless.

Went by my great uncle's farm yesterday to visit, and also to pick through his thousands of tons of scrap metal (mostly in giant stacks out in the snow currently....grr). Probably could have found "exactly" what I wanted, but I got tired of falling over stuff and a high risk of tetanus, so finally grabbed some 3" u-channel bar. This is heavy duty stuff, but it was only a 4' piece so it would fit in the "utility" vehicle I had there at the time, which was conveniently able to easily get down to the barn out in the field where all the metal is :)



Here's the bar. Way overkill for the engine mount/subframe modifications, but it's free and it's in my garage, so I'm just going to use it.



After some cutting and grinding (more trouble since this crap is so thick), finally got one side into a size and shape that I think will work well.







mocked them up on the engine mounts (on stand, with engine upside down) and looks like my angle is a pretty good match. So once I cut the other one, and then clean up the pieces from all that surface rust, I'll tack weld a couple places and see how it looks then. Maybe tomorrow, we'll see. I need to clearance the piece a bit more to make it easier to actually tighten the motor mount nut underneath it, but that shouldn't be a big deal.

Will need some minor adjustment, but it's a good start.