MikeDE's M42-Touring project...UPDATE Sept.24-Susp/Brakes....

[MikeDE]

Nice progress!


P.S. I instaled my E36 rack with E30 steering shaft (power steering shaft). Do not understand why you doing so.

Was your rack from a Z3???  Mine was from an E36 325i, the shaft I have is too long.

[romkasponka]

Was your rack from a Z3???  Mine was from an E36 325i, the shaft I have is too long.

No, it was from E36 sedan or coupe. When I was swapping rack on E30 M3 there was the same problem as you say. So guibo was removed and centering pin modified to go directly to other shaft eind without guibo (diameter shoud be changed or centering pin cut away) so all shaft was shortened for 1 or 1,5cm.

[MikeDE]

Today was my B-day so I didn;t get much done.  I was up early, had breakfast with the Wife and Kids, then ran around picking up my last few parts I need for the swap.  picked up the m42 catback and complete tie rods, and new crush washers from the dealer.  He very kindly swapped the (2) wrong sized washers for the correct ones.

One hurdle I was worried about the last week was the Center support sleeve on the front of the driveshaft.  For those of you unfamiliar with this little whore, it sits in the very front of the driveshaft and centers the trans output shaft so the giubo must only deal with rotational forces rather than also having to hold the DS straight, or so I think anyway, don't quote me.  On anf off for the past week I tried beating it with a slide hammer, them this morning I took it to a local shop.  He tried heating the bitch, then with the slide hammer, but only succeeded in burning the rubber out and stinking up his shop.  So I took it back home.....Just a few minutes ago after the kids went to bed, I wanted to see how 'hard' the sleeve was.  To my surprise, it was fairly brittle and easy to cut through.  With little stroke available, I locked a Metal-cutting keyhole saw blade in a pair of vice-grips and started cutting, 10 minutes later I had this:


Then instead of taking my BFH and driving the new sleeve home, i opted for a more civilized approach:


All good in da 'hood:



I also highly recommend this mod here, to rejuvenate your sloppy hole:



 
It is very tight and slop-free, I can't say for how long though.

Tomorrow I plan to have the motor in and running.......

[Gerta318is]

Nice work!  Especially with that hole.

[MikeDE]

Nice work!  Especially with that hole.

Thanks...I popped it in today.  much less motion in the bushing but the side-to-side motion still blows, I should've ordered a delrin bushing for the front.

Anyway onto today's update:


Cleaned the rack up a bit, got the knuckle in, and aligned.  The wheel sits straight and the rack is centered.  New complete tie rods installed. FYI i'm using an E36 325i rack, E30 tie rods, E30 lock plates(not the best with this but they work) and Loctite Blue.  For the knuckle, us-spec non-airbag w/ Zionsville E36 rack kit.  A small amount of clearancing was required in the upper knuckle to stop the binding.  Oh yeah, new steering giubo also.  I'm gonna eyeball them when I get them wheels back on, then after a test drive i'll make adjustments.


Got some E21 mounts.  I had to enlarge the holes in both the trans brace and trans to accept the M10 studs on the mounts.


No time to take pics while the motor was on the crane, but it's in...with a little help from my Father-n-law.  I had to remove the pass side mount to drop it far enough to get onto the drivers side mount.  I was then able to lift the motor enough by hand(still hanging from the crane of course) to slide the other mount underneath.



Checking continuity to determine which lead goes to which coil for the COP conversion:


I got a bit further and plan to fire the bitch up tomorrow....still have to bend the steering HP hose, mount the ECU, fluids, bleed the slave cyl, yada yada.

[MikeDE]

Well, at 4:58pm local time, she started up after 3 cranks and settled to a steady idle.  I had to shut it down after 5-6 seconds b/c I only had the exhaust manifold installed.  I have to make a new bracket for the cat pipe, then I will be moving to the rear.  The Subframe bushings I installed less than a yr ago have shifted.

Here are some pics from today:

Coil wiring and jamming the harness back in the cover:


Done:


New accel cable:


Just before ignition:

[Gerta318is]

Doin' work son!

[Gerta318is]

updated oil pressure relief valve questions:

1.  Do you think that this can be done underneath the car?

2.  How much force is necessary to compress that spring?  I'm a 300 lb guy ... I know if your skinny ass could compress it I could simply by leaning on it.   However, since I am not pulling the engine I was thinking of using a jack.

Thoughts?

[MikeDE]

updated oil pressure relief valve questions:

1.  Do you think that this can be done underneath the car?

2.  How much force is necessary to compress that spring?  I'm a 300 lb guy ... I know if your skinny ass could compress it I could simply by leaning on it.   However, since I am not pulling the engine I was thinking of using a jack.

Thoughts?

Not much, I think it could be easily accomplished from underneath. A jack is an excellent idea.


And now, onto the progress report, and sorry for the lack of updates and the lack of pics, I will explain...

I wanted to wait till the motor was running to tackle any other issues, like the rear subframe bushings.  I put the rear upo in the air and grabbed my special bushing installer consisting of from top to bottom, an old serp belt pulley, (2) huge alum washers, M12 threaded rod, an old huge Snap-on socket.
I reset the bushings, they were out about a cm or so:


And to make sure I don't have to do this again:

Drilled a hole thru the carrier and the sleeve in the bushing, drove in what I had handy.  When the time comes, it is easy enough to knock the head off and drive the thread through to remove the bushing.


Next BJ were the rear brake lines.  I figured now was the best time to repolace the brake lines since I would have the subframe out anyway.  I took advantage of Blunt's deal on the Goodridge SS lines.  And sice they are TUV approved over here in Germany, I said 'what the hell'.  
Well, I started on the right side.  I cut the rubber line and used a line wrench on the hard line and a 14mm socket on the cut-off side.  The line came loose easily also on the trailing arm connection.  That was the easiest part for the next day and a half.  Moving to the caliper line, the fltting and soft line fitting were completely siezed together.  I was badly bending the line to get it loose so I said f' it.  But by then it was 3pm on Friday.  So I flew over to BMW and ordered ALL new hardlines for the rear, came to about 18euro.  So, Saturday morning, I picked up my lines and got to work.  Bent the new rear, came out very nicely:

Then installed the caliper line.

The other side went like butter and got that done in about 2hrs, yes 2hrs.  It is a royal PITFA even with the subframe hanging, and brake fluid dripping on you.

Making sure the lines sat well I moved to the driveshaft and exhaust.  Didn't stop to take any pics really, except these (2).  I just kinda aimed the camera underneath:

I Bought new springs/bolts/nuts, and a fresh exhaust bracket(below) for the cat pipe.  Don't wanna put any extra stress on the manifold.

Here is a bad shot of the new giubo, E21 mounts, exhaust bracket...


There is a pinhole in the pipe, don't ask how that happened:rolleyes: just under the band.  I have to head to my buddy's shop this Thursday to use the welder.

So after that, I hung my overpriced catback with all new rubber rings.  The bands for the iS exhaust are larger than those for the m40 exhaust so I ran home to grab one that I had lying around.  I ordered another from the dealer today.

Skip to Saturday at about 5pm. Got the Wife, see avatar, to act as my pedal-pumper for the clutch and brake bleeding.  Then started her up. Ran her for about 20-30minutes, bled the cooling system and gave it a once over for leaks.  Took it out for about 15 minutes, beating it up a bit.  Brought it back to make a toe adjustment and noticed an oil leak where the upper and lower timing cover meet, just below the tensioner plug.  Sooo, I said f' it, set the coolant to drain so I could mess with it in the morning.

Sunday Morning, I got up at 730am and started working.  It had occured to me that I had forgotten to 'preload' the profile gasket between the timing covers when installing it.  So, I pulled the COP and VC, and proceeded to loosen all the bolts in the upper cover about 1/2 turn.  Using a long screwdriver, I pushed the cover down so it was flush with the VC gasket surface and tightened down the upper corner, then the same to the rt side.  After it was tq'd I put some RTV Black over the area for extra insurance. That was about 830-900am. I  left it alone till about 230-300pm.  In the meantime, I buttoned up the rear end and made some adjustments to the front toe(still not right, i'll be getting an 'alignment', otherwise known as a toe adjustment after I do my springs/billy's/LCA's).

So I take it for another test drive, and now I see a light leak from the tensioner plug!!!!  So I brought home what tools I had in my car and waited for the kids to go to bed before I looked at it.  

I decided after adjusting the toe again, that I had maybe enough time to give it a shot before ending this roller-coaster of a week.  I pulled the plug, cleaned the threads and sealing area on the head and applied some RTV black.  Let it sit till I went to work at 5am(7+ hrs).  

Got to work this morning(25km/15mi) and damn, still seeping, Muthafugginm42bullshit.  BUT I can't be sure it's only the plug.  I can't get it to stop seeping long enough to see if my upper/lower profile gasket squishing/rtv'ing workied oir not.  Regardless, I stopped at the dealer on the way home and ordered M42 timing cover gaskets, which I believe are paper.  I am currently running the 1pc M44 metal-gaskets which IIRC, some people have found leak-prone.  I also ordered a new t-stat housing & gasket, O-ring, some adjuster cups for my projectors(non-smiley) I have had sitting around for a few months, and the band/hanger for the muffler.

This weekend I will be pulling the covers, thoroughly cleaning them, and using the paper gaskets with RTV Black all-around.  As for the tensioner plug, I will be pulling that AND the tensioner. Cleaning the threads on the head and plug, RTV again and I will be trying a rubber O-ring(with RTV of course) instead of the metal crush washer.  I will also be inspecting/resurfacing the sealing surfaces on the head and plug/bolt.

I will let you all know what happens.

[MikeDE]

FRI:

Update on the leak:
 
After work I went right to work on it.  I have the timing covers off and  cleaned up, same goes for the timing case.  I found that I have a stripped M8 thread in the timing case, for the upper most bolt on the lower timing cover, exhaust side.  I have to pick up a helicoil tonight after the kids go to bed.
 
I'll have some pics tomorrow....

SAT:

Picking up where I left off Friday, I ran all over the place Saturday morning to find an M8 helicoil.  I stopped by (3) shops but they either had none or they were too big, the other larger 'Home Depot'-like stores looked at me like I had nine heads when I asked them if they had Helicoils.  Well actually I had to explain what they were first.  Anywhere that woukld actually have them are specialty places here in Germany, so they were all closed on Saturday.  

So when I finally got into it after lunch, I chased the threads with an M8 tap. I managed to clean out some of the junk in the hole.  I tried an M8 from what I think was from a rear swaybar link.  A little longer to hit the threads deeper in the hole.  I dunno whether it was the different bolt or what, but I got it to hold the torque of 120in/lbs or whatever the Bentley said.

Here is everything torn down and cleaned up:


Getting ready to start RTV'ing and reassembling:


Cases torqued down and sealed(I hope):


New t-stat housing sealed up:


And everything back together:


I just have to fill it with Coolant and bleed it tomorrow, then we'll see if it's sealed up this time.

[MikeDE]

It APPEARS to be sealed this time, and there is no longer any leak from the tensoiner plug either.  The residue on there was most likely the seepage from the upper timing cover's lower-most bolt.
 
Next installment will be Brakes & Suspension. Then onto the rest of the little projects that I have planned like Electric puller fan w/ stock wiring(lo & hi speed), cleaning the engine bay, tucking the wires on the drivers side (if I ever find a good brilliantrot fender), replacing the pad on the inside of the hood with some other insulation, heat shield for the exhaust manifold, and a detailing that it needs sooo bad, fresh(er) front sport seats, dying the interior black...the list is definitely longer but I can't remember it all right now.



Now that the engine is taken care of, I have turned my attention to a few others things that i've had lying around for a while.  I bought a set of Euro non-smiley projectors from Learningcurve86 found in a yard out here.  They looked very clean in the photos and I wasn't disappointed when I got them.  I had a set of these on the car when I bought it but swapped them for the Smileys that were on my Seta.  I decided that I wanted the projectors back, so here they are:

I painted the trim rings black and polished the high's a bit just to remove the film on them. And yes, my hood is still misaligned.

I also wanted to throw in a set of black brake ducts just to see how it looks:





I also started sanding my MSW mesh's, but had no more desire to do so after 10 minutes so i'll have to jump on those another day.

[Gerta318is]

Where are the updates on this thread ... It's been four days since your last post!

[MikeDE]

Where are the updates on this thread ... It's been four days since your last post!

Sorry, been busy Polishing this faded bitch....I'll have pics tomorrow.  I really wanted to wait till the MSW's were done but that won't be till next week or so.  So, I actually gave my 'weaves a cleaning.

I cleaned the engine bay a bit too AND made some new heat insulation for the hood. I currently have the big blanket and I hate it.  So I made some templates and cut some new pcs from some foil/stryofoam heating insulation.  I will also be fashioning a heat shield for the exh mani in the near future.  I wanted to wrap it but i'm still too worried about cracking from excessive heat, the heat shield will lower underhood temps enough.

[Gerta318is]

Keep up the good work.  I'm living vicarously through your build and Monty's.

[MikeDE]

Keep up the good work.  I'm living vicarously through your build and Monty's.

Stay tuned, I just picked up more brake fluid so I can install the front SS lines.  I can't take any real pics till later as no one is home help me bleed the brakes.

I finished cutting the new hood heat insulation last night, and I will be installing the heated washer jets that came off of my parts car also.

I still have to polish the taillights, and I have been hunting for some unripped sport seats.  I found what appears to be a good pass. side seat in France and am awaiting better pics to be sure.   I would KILL for some uber karo(318is plaid)sport seats BUT I would have to have the covers for the rear split folding seat made custom.  For that, I think I would need (2) sets of normal(sedan) rear seat covers to make it happen. The Touring has altogether (6) individual pcs that make up the rear seat:  (2) small sides by the pillars, (2) folding seat backs and (2) flip forward seat bottoms.  The last plaid int I found was from a smoker car and was filthy, plus the yard wanted way too much.