Author Topic: longtallsally (Read 13391 times)

longtallsally · « **on:** September 23, 2009, 08:35:48 PM »

I decided on the mighty M42 over the M20 in my latest E30.

I've spent a good portion of today going over it. Paint is about a 6 and interior is about 7.5. I have beaucoup plans and have lurked a bunch on this site as a point of reference. I'll try to update as I get stuff done.

It's a good start and my dream color, so it will be a nice project to take on and make mine.

Jorgeconrico · « **Reply #1 on:** September 23, 2009, 09:39:02 PM »

Nice. The interior and exterior colors go well together. Good luck with it.

How many miles?

longtallsally · « **Reply #2 on:** September 25, 2009, 02:04:48 AM »

184k. PO went through the motor quite a bit on some of the important stuff: timing chain replaced, guide rails, tensioner. He also just completely redid all the suspension bushings and put in the exact spring and shock combo I was planning.

Basically the plans are to finish getting the AC working, install a 13 button OBC, cruise control, and a maplight mirror. Probably a new stereo after that and we'll see from there. I guess some wheels and I'd like to eventually change the interior to black.

The only maintenance other than the AC will be to correctly wire the ellipsoids (PO didn't run the jumper between the relays) and a few other little bits.

quinn11m20 · « **Reply #3 on:** September 28, 2009, 07:01:58 PM »

That was exactly the way mine looked before the high desert south of you in barstow annihilated it. Windows were snowed and top half of the clear coat was blast beaded on FT. Irwin about 10 years ago. I have not taken it to a paint shop because they want about 2500 just to paint it original. Stupid. Just stupid. Some day she will be done again. Looks good by the way.

longtallsally · « **Reply #4 on:** November 23, 2009, 12:32:27 PM »

I guess I'll post an update.

So I just got everything back together yesterday for a bunch of upgrades. I installed:
- maplight rear view mirror
- cruise control
- 13 OBC
- "new" dash
- power sunroof
- correct "is" front spoiler
- new Kenwood Excelon KDC-993 head unit
- premium speakers all around ($10 a piece from a yard and they sound AMAZING)
- M tech 1 steering wheel

I also took every AC line out of the car, flushed those and the condenser and evaporator, and put in a new expansion valve. I reinstalled only to find a low pressure line going from the bay to the cab dead. I just put in another one and still need to refill to make sure the system works.

Today I'll be putting in a new diff as I found a small case 4.10 lsd!

Next will be SS brake lines and good fluid.

My long term projects are still some smiley headlights, recover of the interior (I want to change it to black) and if we keep the car long enough, do the paint and body.

enildeR · « **Reply #5 on:** November 23, 2009, 04:10:21 PM »

Nice ride. Yours would really look nice with the euro bumper trim (eliminates the driving lights).

You going to put on a front lip? If so, might go with the volvo one.

barre · « **Reply #6 on:** November 23, 2009, 06:35:30 PM »

How about an Mtech wheel? The lack thereof is about the only thing I'm not jealous of in your iS

. And the centercaps for your bbses? Damn that's an awesome car!

longtallsally · « **Reply #7 on:** June 25, 2010, 04:11:57 AM »

OK, well progress continues. I have a thread on E30tech also: http://www.e30tech.com/forum/showthread.php?t=84891

But here are the latest updates: I've welded a broken seat bracket, put in new half shafts, drive shaft, rear wheel bearings, and smiley lights (that I wired CORRECTLY). I'm in Germany now as well and have easy junk yard access to all the cool parts everyone raves about and pays a fortune for.

I also recovered the M Tech steering wheel in new leather, and have the caliper rebuild kits as well as SS lines to put in. I'm waiting for rotors and pads to do the brakes as I want to clean up and paint the calipers too.

There are a number of other little things like doing the LED light bar for the OBC, jumping the relays for independent fog lights and high beams to work correctly.

My next obsession after the brakes is going to be sound deadening. I'll be doing Raamat as it is the best bang for the buck and I don't want to have my car smell like a roof- it is black after all. My big goals for this car were economy and comfort in a package that is a hoot to drive. Part of comfort is quiet, so I'll be adding a substantial amount throughout the car.

Once that is done, I'll start to focus more on finishing getting all the cold weather package stuff together and installed before winter here. That will include heated mirrors and installing the heated seat stuff- which will mean most likely going through the recovering process. Also, I'll be installing the heated washer nozzles and getting the heated door lock setup installed.

Wheels and tires will be about this time and the basketweaves will be relegated to winter duty here and probably eventually track/autocross duty once I get home. After wheels and tires I'll start to direct my focus to the engine bay. The car runs great- much of why I bought it as I don't know the M42 all that well- but I'll be doing things like massive clean up to start moving to an electric fan, high temp thermostat, COP conversion and possibly removing the heater plate for the throttle body. I've already dropped the lower oil pan and sorted out that debacle (only 3 bolts laying in mine) and as I mentioned, the timing stuff has been done. After that, I'll be looking for a motor to rebuild over time and eventually install.

Excuse the sand blasting of the front end, but the German winters are HARSH. Paint and body will be done when I get back to the States in a couple years.
Recently I scored some cool stuff at a junk yard like full heated seat setup (harness, switches, elements), heated washer nozzles and full harness, rear foglight setup, and a ski pass through rear seat. I'll try to post updates, but check the E30tech one to keep up to date...

SimplyDope · « **Reply #8 on:** June 28, 2010, 06:14:22 PM »

Super clean car!

monko141 · « **Reply #9 on:** June 28, 2010, 09:47:14 PM »

Wouldn't happen to have a pic of the jumper needed to make the headlights work correctly would you?

longtallsally · « **Reply #10 on:** June 29, 2010, 04:36:39 AM »

Quote from: monko141;93991

Wouldn't happen to have a pic of the jumper needed to make the headlights work correctly would you?

I actually got it from searching on this forum. So the way I wanted the lights to work are for the fog lights to work with the parking (and city) lights as well as with the high beams when the headlights are on.

This took 2 different jumpers across 3 relays (it's not a big deal). First, to get the high beams to work correctly after converting from sealed beams to elipsoids or smileys or whatever, you will need to jump terminal 30 on relays K3 and K4 (the low and high beam relays). To do this, just put them side by side on a workspace in the same manner they plug in to the fuse panel. Turn that upside down and your terminals are labeled on the underside of the relays. Take a very short piece of wire and carefully solder it to those terminals all the way at the base of the relays. Then, install them as a unit back into the fuse panel being careful not to break your solder or push too hard to activate the relays when you don't want to. You can also pull the fuse panel up and run a jumper underneath, but that is a bit more permanent and dangerous in my opinion.

You probably know this, but it is due to the sealed beams having a dual filament bulb in the low beam. Turning on the high beams cuts power to the low beam filament and subsequently the low beam circuit thus turning them off when you switch to an elipsoid setup. When you jump terminal 30 on the relays, it keeps power to the low beams when you switch on the high beams. There are a number of writeups around on this.

For the foglights, I wanted to be able to be a little more visible in tunnels here than just the city lights, but didn't want to turn the full on headlights on (plus the ricer in me thinks it looks kinda cool). This is done by jumping terminals 85 and 30 on relay K8 (fog light relay). It is important to bend down terminal 85 so it does not connect.

http://m42club.com/forums/showpost.php?p=25280&postcount=21

That should sort you out. It took all of a 1/2 hour to solder all of these and it is easily reversible even though there is no way I'd put the car back to sealed beams.

YetiX · « **Reply #11 on:** June 29, 2010, 06:31:24 PM »

You're a complete idiot with a POS car. :p

How you doing? I'll put a profile here myself once I get the wheels on the car. Then you can return the insult!

When I tell you that LTS has serious OCD issues and puts together incredible vehicles, I am dead serious. The Jeep in the background of the first picture was a piece of 4x4 art. I've also heard about his previous E30 and how awesome it was too. This is going to be an amazing car when he's done with it.

longtallsally · « **Reply #12 on:** July 30, 2010, 05:06:17 PM »

New shoes today! I got a really good deal and couldn't pass these up (and they were less than half what I had budgeted for wheels & tires).

They need to be refinished pretty bad, but I think they are way trick and I'm pretty sure OEM, but just not available in the States. Total, I'm just about $2k under budget! WOOHOO!

YetiX · « **Reply #13 on:** July 30, 2010, 05:08:37 PM »

Quote from: longtallsally;95096

New shoes today! I got a really good deal and couldn't pass these up (and they were less than half what I had budgeted for wheels & tires).

They need to be refinished pretty bad, but I think they are way trick and I'm pretty sure OEM, but just not available in the States. Total, I'm just about $2k under budget! WOOHOO!

I wondered how long it'd be before you posted 'em up.

What size are they? They look like 16"

longtallsally · « **Reply #14 on:** July 30, 2010, 05:15:54 PM »

Quote from: YetiX;95097

I wondered how long it'd be before you posted 'em up.

What size are they? They look like 16"

Couldn't help it. I'm really happy with how they look- first time that I really decided on a rim I wanted, AND a good deal.

They are 15s, and I think 15x7, but I need to check the tire size- I'll post them up tomorrow. The pic is with the car TOTALLY loaded and we rubbed a good bit on the way home.

Ironically, the tires are MUCH more quiet than the Yokahamas on the 'weaves, which is very welcome.

On the bummer front, I lost the auction for a full headlight washer system today. Oh well, at least I got something else.