Keflaman

[ose30]

Looks like all my hobby cars are model year 1988 vechiles. 944 Turbo i have owned about 12 years in next summer has circulated a lot. I am 13TH owner... When i studied things more closely i found out there has been 9 car shops who have owned it just few weeks. I managed to locate the first owner who bought car in september 1988 in Rockford IL, and brought it two years later to here. I phoned this guy and he was very surprised when he found out his old car is still around. He even sent me original IL plates and some pictures of cars early years.




My 1988 318I is a different case. I am a third owner. The second owner, a young guy, had it only two months. I have owned it three + years. So, the first owner got it almost 20 years. I suppose that explains why cars body is in excellent condition. Car have had on 4 years interval a complete anti rust protection, which most likely has saved the body. Both of these cars are my time machines to the days when i was a young guy with thicker hair. Hair has gone in most places, but i have these cars

[keflaman]

They're both beautiful cars! I can only imagine what the original owner of your Porsche thought when he received your phone call.

[keflaman]

Where we live was once farm land and I found a few horseshoes earlier this month. I asked to borrow my neighbor's metal detector and started searching the property. I found a spot with many pottery and china shards along with some Mason jar lids. In the same area I found an old toy pistol and it looked like a good candidate to see how my electrolysis bath would work on something this far gone.

The before pictures...



The after picture...


A quick search on the internet and I'm pretty sure what I have here is a post-war "clicker" toy pistol made under the Wyandotte brand name by the All Metal Products Company founded in 1920 (and bankrupt by 1956).

Obviously this toy was pretty well gone and some areas were tin foil thin and simply crumbled when I touched them with a toothbrush. Still, it was an interesting break from working on the car every day.

[ose30]

Nice find Keith

[keflaman]

Funny how we men always think we're the masters of our own destiny and then the wife comes home from work to find we (I) didn't mow the lawn like we (I) promised and BAM! Garage timeout. :mad:

So for the past several days I made some pretty heavy deposits to the significant other's emotional bank account and it appears the crisis has subsided. Okay, so maybe the anesthesia and recovery from today's lithrotripsy (11mm kidney stone) left her a little groggy and she didn't notice where I went after bringing her home.

Anyway...less talk and more pictures!

I found out the middle heat shield from a 325i doesn't fit because of interference with the "connection pipe" on the 318i/is' gas tank, therefore I would have to use the original shield that came with the car.

A bit rusty wouldn't you say?



This is becoming a regular sight...


Hmmm...a little too much amperage due to large rust deposits, so I switched to six volts and that brought it down to where I wanted.


Time check...


Nasty stuff coming off...


Since the electrolysis doesn't take off undercoating I decided to wirebrush the shield before blasting...


Good thing I decided not to sandblast! Plenty of material, but some of the pits connected in the middle.


I started out with flat hi-temp black, but decided the leftover silver caliper paint looked better. Finished and ready for install...

[ose30]

Keith, i suppose you can do it with less effort using citric acid. Just put parts overnight bath and rinse with warm water to neutralize acid. Some slight wire brush during rinse procedure and you are done

[keflaman]

Keith, i suppose you can do it with less effort using citric acid. Just put parts overnight bath and rinse with warm water to neutralize acid. Some slight wire brush during rinse procedure and you are done

Will the citric acid dissolve undercoating, tar, grease and oil?

[ose30]

Yes, in most cases, if you just brush parts lightly during a rinse procedure. When you start "acid bath" just be sure water is warm, it helps procedure to start faster. It takes about 20 seconds and then you can see how it starts to effect. After over night (or couple of hours) bath, rinse and slightly brush the parts and dry parts properly, if not, they will have very fast some surface rust on them.

Few parts after citric acid bath



After re -anodized



Nowadays Anodized parts are a bit lighter shade of yellow as they used to be. About a years ago all EU-countries denied use some nasty stuff they ealier used on anodized process. Here's few parts which were plated on good old days

That piss yellow color is very close how all anodized parts on german made vechiles used to look from a factory.

 

[keflaman]

I asked my wife to be on the lookout for citric acid AKA "sour salt" in our local stores...nothing found, but I understand beer brewers use it also and I know a place close by that may have it.

[keflaman]

Well, I took the "Little Red 3" off the lift on Saturday and took her for a quick five mile test drive to check for fluid leaks and general security. I returned with all four wheels and body panels intact and nothing gushing out from places it shouldn't. Yay!

The weather turned crappy and the rest of the day was spent installing the rear seat and other interior/trunk bits and trim. Yesterday I took her for a spirited 25 mile drive out on the highway and backroads. No major surprises and nothing unexpected other than notes where I have to fine-tune things.

-Had a shimmy/shake through the steering wheel when braking which I had when I first bought the car. That was a disappointment considering I had replaced the entire suspension with bushings and rebuilt the brakes and turned the rotors. Maybe it was just the rotors bedding in as it didn't return with the second test drive.
-Along that note I noticed a slight vibration at highway speeds through the steering wheel which I believe is wheel related. I have another set of rims to swap and verify. It's not bad enough to even cause fuzzy mirrors, so I'll get to that when I get to it.
-The previous loud exhaust was apparently masking the whine of the fuel pump as it is definitely noticeable now. I have another unit in my parts car which would be a direct swap, but mileage unknown; or I could install the new unit sitting on the parts shelf IAW http://m42club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9856. I hope it's the fuel pump going out and not a restriction from one of the flexible fuel lines I replaced.
-The "new" muffler is definiately quieter, however, the baffle running down the center has come loose and when all the harmonics are in sync there emits a strange, obnoxious noise from the rear. I may just try to cut off the exhaust pipe at the muffler's intake and try to fish out the pipe or secure it somehow. Maybe it's time to look at a Magnaflow, but for now I'll live with it.
-The Racing Dynamics springs and Boge/Sachs shocks deliver a nice ride; not harsh and really firm up when pushing it in the corners. I have slight amount of rubbing in the rear when in a hard corner and hitting a dip. The wheels are 15X8 front; 15X8.5 in the rear with 205/50/15 Falken ZE512s all around. I think my solution here is to change the 2.5" lips on the back with 2.0" and square everything up.

So to summarize everything done since Thanksgiving (and the last time I drove it):
-Repaired rusted "pipe" and area inside R/R wheel well associated with gas fumes inside cabin.
-Replaced rusted gas tank with used, rust-free unit and installed new o-rings.
-Replaced all brake and fuel hard lines with used, rust-free piping.
-Replaced all flex lines in brake and fuel systems.
-Rebuilt all four brake calipers.
-Turned all four brake rotors
-R&R L/R wheel bearing.
-R&R front struts, subframe and rear control arms with rust-free units.
-Rebuilt and replaced all suspension components with OEM.
-Installed Racing Dynamic springs and Boge/Sach inserts and shocks.
-Replaced transmission output and selector rod shaft seals.
-Replaced exhaust system from cat-back with used OEM components.
-Rebuilt parking brake system w/new shoes, spring kit and brake cables.
-Replaced Guibo with good, low milage unit.
-Replaced drive shaft CSB, guide bushing and lubed splines.
-Replaced upper RSMs.
-Rebuilt shifter linkage and installed M3 shift lever.
-Installed new antenna mast and grommet after cleaning and lubing internals.
-Installed new fuel/air/oil filters.
-Performed E36 window switch mod.
-Installed E36 steering rack
-Deleted power steering (for now until I find the clamps I want to rebuild my hydraulic lines).

Boy, my insomnia is going to put you all to sleep.

[DesktopDave]

Funny how we men always think we're the masters of our own destiny and then the wife comes home from work to find we (I) didn't mow the lawn like we (I) promised and BAM! Garage timeout. :mad:

So for the past several days I made some pretty heavy deposits to the significant other's emotional bank account and it appears the crisis has subsided. Okay, so maybe the anesthesia and recovery from today's lithrotripsy (11mm kidney stone) left her a little groggy and she didn't notice where I went after bringing her home.

^^^LOL this...sounds very familiar.  Wish your wife a rapid recovery from us.  Sure, it's from the car guys that waste your time & support your habit...but it's sincere!

I use straight vinegar as a de-rust agent in place of citric acid.    Citric Acid might be cheaper though.  I'm told it won't dramatically  effect other metals, so it's a good solution for assemblies that might  contain alu/tin/zinc/etc.  I donate excess to the wife for household  cleaning.

It's not great at removing grease.  I usually start with green 3M pads  & oxy-clean laundry detergent or Simple Green to de-grease.

The normal white 5% vinegar works well.  I've also used Wal-Mart's apple  cider vinegar by the gallon.  Just be quick with a baking soda bath or  rinse...vinegar will flash rust naked steel almost instantly.

I'll have to look into anodizing and/or plating...that seems like the ticket.

[ose30]

With pressure casted zinc parts i would skip citric acid. It eats those really fast. This kind of parts can be found from older cars from 50's etc.

[keflaman]

I've used vinegar before, but prefer electrolysis because once the rust is gone the process stops. For non-ferrous items corrosion is removed mechanically using the mildest means first (abrasive pad, nylon brushes, etc) with liberal cleaning media such as dishwashing soap. There's really no one-size-fits-all solution for cleaning and corrosion/rust removal.

Flash rust is a problem and I've looked into anodizing, plating and plastic coating kits from Caswell or Eastwood, but for what I'm doing, priming and rattlecan painting seems the easiest and quickest solution. It may not the best long term solution, but probably the most practical for my needs.

[Marauder42]

I like the Motive type units, but it's overkill for someone like me who would use it at the most only a few times a year. In fact, I'll post pictures later to show how you can add a pickle jar in series between the regulator and master cylinder reservoir to duplicate the exact same process:).

Did you ever take said pictures?

[fixierider84]

That is quite a list of work you have done!  I am just gearing up to do the e36 steering rack swap here soon.  How is it without the power steering?  I am currently running the stock rack without power steering and I like it just fine, however I wonder how much the effort will increase with the quicker ratio....Thoughts?