shifter prob

[normboudreault]

Quit your bitching and get back to work?!
And stop hitting like a girl on the ice. If you didn't bleed or lose a tooth, you're doing it wrong!!

Dean

Dean, you're right... Just trying to justify the slowdown in progress. here....

This thread is epic! Also slightly painful. I'm not talking about your ribs...though I do empathize.

You have no idea how much I wish I had a garage like that. 

Keep up the good work; thanks for taking the time to post it all. 

Thanks Dave, really appreciate it - as long as you guys are bored enough to put it up with the thread, I'll keep posting... 

Dam Norm
Hats off to you, your still playing hockey. I gave that up about 5 years ago after the injuries kept mounting up and that public liability insurance cost increase closed 75% of the rinks making it really hard to get rink time!
My best injury was when I lost the bottom front 4 teeth, something about opponents stick, boards my face etc etc.
Fortunately my girl at the time was a nurse and she gave me an address to a 24 hr dentist over the phone. Got there ended up being a psychologist!

Funny now!!

Rohan - I would call it quits after four lost teeth!! This rib thing is a PITA.. Just cracked 'em while I was diving for the net.. BS injury really.. But Im 42..with the mind of a 20 year old... so every once in a while I break something...It's the 3rd time for ribs.. my wife just rolls her eyes and gives me sh*t.... hahaha....Im so happy Im married... 

[Darky]

Dam Norm
Hats off to you, your still playing hockey. I gave that up about 5 years ago after the injuries kept mounting up and that public liability insurance cost increase closed 75% of the rinks making it really hard to get rink time!
My best injury was when I lost the bottom front 4 teeth, something about opponents stick, boards my face etc etc.
Fortunately my girl at the time was a nurse and she gave me an address to a 24 hr dentist over the phone. Got there ended up being a psychologist!

Funny now!!

Rohan - I would call it quits after four lost teeth!! This rib thing is a PITA.. Just cracked 'em while I was diving for the net.. BS injury really.. But Im 42..with the mind of a 20 year old... so every once in a while I break something...It's the 3rd time for ribs.. my wife just rolls her eyes and gives me sh*t.... hahaha....Im so happy Im married... 
[/quote]

I didn't loose the teeth, i was really pissed off. So in the car park of the shrink I put them back in! Couldn't eat apples for a year though! 
I just can't get rink time here except at midnight and start work at 6 am, so it doesn't work. There's only 2 rinks left here in Melbourne.

But every couple of years USA and Canada play at a concert centre here, which is great!

[normboudreault]

You put them back in?  Im sure that isn't how I picture it.... 

As for hockey rink time isn't a problem.. We play Tues and Thurs from 1-2:30. We get really good turn outs, two full lines at most games.. but it will be a few weeks atleast before I venture back. Al I need is a hit I dont see coming and I'll be hurting again!!

[normboudreault]

Gentlemen...Been a little slowed down with my wuss hockey injury..however Im feeling much better and I have gotten things done...
This next update focuses in on  the engine bay... 

Here are some recap pics taken earlier showing some of the progress...

I started cleaning the grime out even before I pulled the engine out... The whole engine bay was covered in grease/dirt..

Just a couple of examples..





This stuff was a b*tch to remove...I went thru lots of rags and dollar-store toothbrushes and hours of work little by little as work progressed. The absolute best stuff, which I discovered only once I starting using the POR15 is the POR15 degreaser. You mix it 50/50 with hot water and the grease just dissolves. It by far the best and easiest stuff Ive used. It made cleaning so much easier. And no, I dont have ANYTHING to do with the makers of that stuff!! It just works!

Much cleaner and grinding out the rusty areas... This work started back in September...






Some of the last of the sound insulation being removed and cleaned...



Rusty area on the far left...




Lots and lots of little areas and spots to grind off the rust...





Finishing up cleaning the battery connection area...





Now time to get comfy... 
Started just with a first coat on the rust spots...


With all that done I starting on the RH side...







Man I love this stuff....

In order to properly do the LH side I need to get the MC and brake booster out of the way...



Removing the MC is just two nuts.. I felt highly confident handling that... 



Brake booster without MC...



Now getting the brake booster out isn't hard it just requires crouching under the dash to loosen four bolts and a retaining clip. You'll need around a 10' extension for your socket to get them out..


 
Three of them come out fairly easily but the 4th is an PITA... You'll need the extension, a flashlight and some luck..
In this pic Im trying to highlight the access hole you need to put your extension thru...Epic fail I think....



Before dealing with the bolts you need to disconnect a spring...



One end of the spring loops around a retaining bolt and on the other end is a retaining clip.. as shown here, removed..



And still in place...



Gently pushing the clip off (while prying it open at the same time) is the way to do it...

With all that done you get one more piece of junk on your work table...



and whats left...



With that out of the way I cleaned up that whole corner. I set aside the fuse box as much as I could and cleaned in behind and managed to get everywhere. Without removing the brake booster there is just no way of doing it right...

So a few more flicks of the paintbrush and...











I put two coats on and it will all be final sanded prior to being painted... Looks nice black methinks... 

[Tgoode318]

I love this thread! 
I dont love all the work you had to do.. But i love watching it ! I used to think rust was the end of the road, game over. But now I have hope, It CAN be BEATEN!!  I feel if the time ever comes ill be ready to tackle some rust  . You almost make me want to go get another rusty gold** 318 and strip it all down lol... On second thought, I think ill just stay here and watch. 
Keep up the great work.
-TG

[normboudreault]

I love this thread! 
I dont love all the work you had to do.. But i love watching it ! I used to think rust was the end of the road, game over. But now I have hope, It CAN be BEATEN!!  I feel if the time ever comes ill be ready to tackle some rust  . You almost make me want to go get another junker 318 and strip it all down lol... On second thought, I think ill just stay here and watch. 
Keep up the great work.
-TG

Thanks man... Live thru me amigo - it costs so much less that way!! LOL...

[normboudreault]

Drove down to the US to pick up my fuel tank and other goodies last week. The fuel tank is made by a company 10km from my home - the cheapest I could get it in Canada was 350$ Cdn.. I ordered it for 190$ Cdn in the US - shipping to the border included... Pathethic...

Anyways, nice OEM spec fuel tank:







The connector doesn't come with it so I refurbished mine...





Nice lick of jet black..



Setting that aside I started on the complete refurbishing of the brake system. Along the way I discovered I have a gift for brake bending...

Note in case you don't know: BMW BRAKE LINES DO NOT COME PRE-BENT.

I bent my lines exactly like the OEM lines. I also used BMW lines for lengths that demanded it and non-OEM stainless steel lines which are 10X less expensive and exactly the same... I also bought the spacer thingies...

Once bent all lines received three coats of paint as well as the spacer thingies... just because...



Those two in the pic are the center ones beneath the fuel tank. I had to order the 3 meter one from BMW that runs from the splitter to the front... it was 50$ which is cheap considering a 20cm line cost 35$... go figure...

For bending I used a brake bender which was of limited usefulness trying to duplicate the OEM bends.. Better was my vice grip and some steel pipes I have...



New splitter and lines installed...



With new stainless steel braided flexible lines..



To think it used to look like this: 



The hardest line to bend was the 3 meter line.. After about an hour of cursing I found the trick to perfectly replicating the line..

Make the first bend and then tie-wrap the old line and new lines together. Keep them together as you copy the bends using whatever necessary... It worked fantastically well.. End result was a new line that I could clip into the original holders with ease..

You can kinda see  how I did it here...


Installed (runs downwards from the spiltter to the front)


Added new parking brake lines:


Installed:


Cut the wiring for the ABS sensor wires and filled the rubber grommet with rubber undercoat.. Small touch but nice...



Installed the new rubber bushings to my fuel filter mount which I had previously refurbed and installed fuel filter..
(you can see the brake line just below)






With that done I installed the new fuel lines (these DO come pre-bent) which I had also thrice coated with new paint to the new brackets.. Brake line was also clipped on...





Fuel system next for those of you who made it thru this update!! 

[normboudreault]

Pretty quiet around here! Que pasa?

But Ive been busy and took advantage of the lack of snow to pull the doors off my parts car yesterday. No pics of that
but I can say it is possible to pull off an e30 door and replace it all by yourself.. All you need is a jack to pop the door off its
hinges once you've removed the bolts and pin.

Here they are nice and warm in the garage...



Had I been smarter I would have left them outside because I decided to grind down the little rust there was right away...
So I dragged them back outside ground away the rust and brought them back in...

All cleaned up...


Por15'd..


Man Im happy I bought the 2nd e30.. Both my original doors were rusted out and I couldn't find 2nd hand replacements...
Two hours of work and I have two good as new doors ready to go!!

Also decided to have a look at my headlights.. I pulled them out of the shed and cleaned them all up.. I removed about 25 dead
spiders and their egg pods..yuck....

Cleaned and polished...


Removed the metal rims and wire brushed them clean and repainted them...


Then did this... 


Pretty cool...

[deansweet]

Nice job on this part:


They are like $40 from the bmw dealer... I could not find an aftermarket version that was less $ and mine was so rusted on it twisted as I tried to get the one off my old tank,

[Jay-Vee]

Still following you mate, looking like it's coming together real nice! Those engine plans are pretty exciting too

[normboudreault]

Thanks! Engine is off to the builder on Thursday but no clear plan on what I want to do exactly.. Will speak with the rebuilder and figure things out.. Can't wait!

[normboudreault]

Well not sure if anyone but Jay-Vee is following this thread anymore but here goes another update...

With the bottom all done up I refurbed the fuel expansion system...

Just after I pulled everything out, including fuel lines...


All out...


Underside resprayed..


I ordered new fuel lines (fuel overflow and vent). They pass thru the metal tube . They were a b*tch to get out...
To get the new ones back in was near impossible. I didn't take any pics but I wire brushed the inside of the tube
to smoothen it out as it was rusty.. I then used a metal "fish" securely attached to all three tubes and with the
help of my dad pulling and me pushing got them thru. That was the toughest bit yet...

Back in with new fuel lines and clips and reservoir painted black just because...


Fuel pipe in..


Remember this?


This looks better..


This looks even better still...


So with that done I've basically decided to keep the charcoal filter setup.. At the beginning I'd swore Id turf it but
Ive decided to keep it..Does no harm and its stock.. So cool...

Btw..

Transmission, differential and driveshaft were brought to Eastern Transmission here in MTL for complete rebuilds... Super nice people there and a great reputation for quality work.. Transmission is in for an inspection and respray and whatever needs fixing...

All the rear subframe components were brought to Speed Automotive for new bushings and new bearings... Same rep for quality work..

Ive also brought the M42 to Ben at Performance Automotive for a complete rebuild. Top notch reputation and super nice guy to boot.
Spent over an hour discussing options with him and we haven't yet begun... Its gonna be fun...

Here she is on her way...


(Thats Is number two in the pic outside unfortunately... too tight in the garage with her in there...)

Next update whenever...

[keflaman]

I'm also here for you. I admire your determination.

[normboudreault]

Thanks keflaman... seems like youre the only one!!

With the brakes lines all completed (at least the rear portion) and the fuel lines in it was time to
deal with the fuel tank.

This as you'll recall was when I got it back in October...


It was very good right out of the box but remembering the sorry state of the original...


I decided I'd put a few extra coats of silver paint...

Three coats to be exact.


Then I waxed it.

Im funny that way...


I had broken the first bolt I had tried to remove when removing the fuel tank...


So I drilled it out and kinda fooked the threads while doing so..
So I tapped a new hole and voila..


 

Isn't this stuff better than porn??   


The electrical lines that run to the fuel pump..(on the left)


were all cleaned off and checked and re-tapped...


and tie wrapped to the bolt frame I had earlier re-tapped..


Above and in the pic below, notice the lines running to the access hole..There is a groove in the underbody just for these two wires to sit in when you set the tank back on..It ensures they aren't crushed when you torque the tank in... Guess how I know that??

The vent hoses (all new) had been run through the guide pipe which was the hardest part of the project so far...


and I clipped in the brand new charcoal canister vent line that runs from the engine bay, up over the tank to one of the plastic vent hoses as seen above..that one only got two extra coats of paint...



Here it is running to front all clipped in and cozy...


I had also set up my new fuel filter and newly refurbed holder..


Which was pretty but stupid... The whole setup was in the way while trying to fit the fuel tank in position...
I had to remove it all to get the tank bolts to align...

Take it all off if you do this yourself...

With all the underbody elements squared-away I started preparing the tank itself...
 (See the thin line on the tank with no tubing on it? It needs a 2"piece to connect
to the vent line... Guess when I figured that out???)






The fuel tank rests against two hard foam pieces that cushion it against the underbody.. The originals were a shambles so I improvised..



and in position against the underbody...

Above you can see the 2" piece of fuel tubing I put on the vent line after Id realized I'd forgotten it...of course Id spent 20 minutes getting the tank on first only to realize I had to remove it to get that piece on....

To be honest having the whole setup on the rotiserrie is the ONLY way to go'
but I did remove the original laying on my back with the car up on jack stands so if some of you are stuck to do it that way, my sympathies!!   



Setting the tank up is tricky because the vent lines must be connected before you bolt it in...No a huge problem but I double checked everything and still had to fit it in three times cause Id forgotten something or screwed something up...

Here she is finally in place..








What a gorgeous site...



Next up...Refurbed diff and tranny are ready for pickup!!!

[keflaman]

Waxed the gas tank. That's attention to detail!