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My 1986es project

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    My 1986es project

    Only have minor plans for this car. I like the way the M20 drives, so I am going through and replacing broken stuff. Some parts are getting upgraded when replaced. Bought the car from the second owner, has somewhere in the neighborhood of 150K miles, odo stopped at about 116K. The speedo wasn't working, I traced it to the speedo itself being dead, couldn't find any cracked solder joints, etc, so I bought a used one off of ebay, that one seems to work, though it needs odo gears also. Some of the pics you may have seen from my thread when I bought the car, but I'll repost them anyway.









    All this is going into the car:



    The front valence was just beat, and I don't really car for the look too much anyway. I got a new lip from Blunt, that is low on the list though for install.



    I thought this was cool. I tore the front suspension apart and found the original Bilsteins. These were built/installed while the Berlin wall still existed. These things were just toast, passenger side didn't dampen at all, and the driver's side was seized.



    Installed some stuff.



    Cut up and modded some other stuff. I messed up the passenger side a little and cut one part a little too low, had to go back and weld up a couple of beads to make sure the sleeve was properly supported. Thinking about going back and bridging the two beads, but I don't know how much heat the tubes can take before they warp. I am not an experienced welder and I only have 110V flux core at my disposal.



    Shop is a disaster.

    I have these washers left over from the old struts. I am wondering if I need to use any of them with the GC setup. it looks like the top hat will be a little loose even with the nut bottomed out. Anyone know for sure? ETA: GC said to slip one of my left over washers that were originally on the car on top of their perch to take up the slack.





    Anyway, car is stuck like this for now since Lemforder LCA's were on backorder, and BMW obviously doesn't send you new lock nuts when you buy their LCA's. Turns out I needed FCABs also, though that isn't terribly surprising.



    After I finish the suspension, I need to replace the last two rubber brake lines that are over the diff, then rebuild the shift linkage since it is crazy loose.
    Last edited by Grackle; 08-24-2015, 10:18 AM.

    #2
    Congrats on the e30

    You should also consider knocking out the timing belt & water pump if you don't know when it was completed last. It needs to be done every 4-5 years (or 60K miles) on our cars.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by Bimmerista View Post
      Congrats on the e30

      You should also consider knocking out the timing belt & water pump if you don't know when it was completed last. It needs to be done every 4-5 years (or 60K miles) on our cars.
      Thanks!

      I have a receipt from the previous owner that has it done in 2012. Mileage I am not too sure on since the odo was broken. He didn't primarily drive the car everyday so it seems likely (according to him) it is well under mileage. I am still going to do it within the next couple of months once I financially bounce back from this.

      A lot of the parts under the car were original. The passenger tie rod and inner ball joint were totally dry and popping. As were the sway bar links. I thought the rubber brake lines looked really bad, so I bought a set of braided lines. I replaced the rears and while the Wife was helping me bleed them, the driver's side front split and started seeping. Just in time eh?

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        #4
        Couldn't stand the thought of my hacked perches anymore. So I took the strut housings back apart and cut them up some more.





        Now I have to find someone who can weld the perches on since I don't trust my skills/setup to do it well enough. This means unfortunately the car will have to spend another weekend on jackstands.

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          #5
          Looking good!
          My shocks/struts/springs are next on the list.

          As an owner of an 86 325e....check if you have the sheet metal or aluminum shift carrier before you order parts. Mine has the sheet metal carrier.
          Last edited by doorman; 08-26-2015, 07:55 PM. Reason: I'm old

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by doorman View Post
            Looking good!
            My shocks/struts/springs are next on the list.

            As an owner of an 86 325e....check if you have the sheet metal or aluminum shift carrier before you order parts. Mine has the sheet metal carrier.
            Oh it is too late. There was only one listing for my car at ECS and that was the one I got. I wasn't aware there was a difference.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Grackle View Post
              Oh it is too late. There was only one listing for my car at ECS and that was the one I got. I wasn't aware there was a difference.
              I know there was a changeover year and don't remember which!!

              If you look up under the car it'll be obvious.

              Comment


                #8
                According to ECS it is September of 86, mine was built in June of 86, so I ordered my parts based off of that. Hopefully they work out.

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                  #9
                  Ten hours worth of work later I now have a driving car again.

                  Got my rear lines installed.



                  Got the housings built back up and on the car.



                  I only lowered it about 3/4" I will go lower but I was pretty tired by this time and was glad to have it mobile again.







                  I need to install the front valance, and get the new odo gears installed as well. Car rides really nice with the GC coil overs and Bilsteins. The height it is at now the oil pan won't clear my floor jack, lol. At least it is level now, it had a lot of rake to it before, I suppose it is because the front was so worn out. My ABS light is going off now, I either crunched a wire somewhere or it has something to do with the fact that I now have a working speedometer in the car. Not sure yet. Unfortunately my strut tower bar from IE doesn't fit, the car was a two owner car, and I can't find any evidence of it being wrecked. So I am not sure what do to about that, I guess I could mod the bar to fit, I measured it before I bought the bar and it seemed like the car checked out, but it doesn't fit. So far what I have done to the car:

                  Replaced speedometer
                  new FCAB's
                  New FLCA's
                  Sway bar endlinks
                  tie rods and bellows
                  new vbelts
                  replaced all rubber brake lines with braided lines
                  new upper strut mounts
                  GC coil over conversion
                  Billy sports front and rear
                  350 springs front 450 springs rear
                  XXR 531's
                  Dunlop DZ102's in 205/50/16
                  Last edited by Grackle; 08-29-2015, 07:17 PM.

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                    #10
                    Lowered the car some more, drives a little funny cause it is toeing out a bit now since it is lower. Got the diffuser installed. Which wasn't a bolt on deal because the sheet metal it mounts too was so bashed up. Not that I am surprised, all the original front valence mounts were broken when I removed it.



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                      #11
                      Pulled my dash apart. Been having a problem with the cluster lights. The one for the speedo and fuel gauge works. Howver the tach/temp side doesn't. The bulbs look fine so I swapped them side to side and it stayed the same. So the bulbs aren't the culprit. I measured them with my DMM and they have continuity, so I guess the mount for the holder is bad? I have no idea, it should work in its current state but doesn't.

                      I took the HVAC controls apart. My OBC's back light is dead, and the fan speed switch was just loose on the panel (knob wouldn't stay on). Turns out I was missing the collar that locks it down. The knob didn't push on all the way also, looks like someone lost the collar and tried to rig it by gluing the knob on. Good job cletus. I bought a used panel off of ebay before finding this out. The panel I got isn't in as good of shape as my current panel. I figured it out and was able to salvage the parts I needed to fix mine.





                      The other problem I have is my A/C switch doesn't consistently latch. Sometimes I have to press it a few times to get it to keep the compressor on. The panel I bought came with a nicer better switch, but it came out of an 87 and doesn't have the two diodes that mine has, so I have my doubts it is safe to use.



                      So anyone need some HVAC control parts? :p

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