What did you do to your e21 today?

[cgifool]

Raining the last few days, no work on the car.

BUT! Yesterday my caliper seal kits arrived, and today a nice box of fine used parts from another forum member arrived, which included a pair of new ball joint boots, just the things I needed in order to get moving again while I wait for the rain to stop.

[320iAman]

Sold

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Randy

[cgifool]

Today I installed the new wheel bearings and dust seal in my left front wheel hub.

[320iAman]

Bought a pair of supports to replace the supports for shift plate to the transmission on my backup Getrag 245 5 sp.

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Randy

[cgifool]

Today on my left front strut assembly: I removed some old white overspray on the strut spring, painted the strut housing and backing plate, and reassembled (but did not yet reinstall) the thing, with a NOS Bilstein HD insert and a new strut mount on top. The rubber spring pads were in good condition, so I just cleaned them and dosed liberally with BMW Gummipflege (I love this stuff).

For r&r'ing those top strut mount nuts, I don't have an impact wrench, so instead I use some of my very favorite and most useful hand wrenches, a Hazet deep offset box wrench set.. With these I can easily loosen and tighten the 19mm nut with one while holding the 8mm rod part with another. (big fan of Hazet tools..)

[cgifool]

Last night I painted my caliper with some por-15 metal-color caliper paint.

[bassboy3313]

Today I sold my rebuilt 3.91 lsd with 200 miles on it for $700. Happy days!

[cgifool]

This evening I got my left front strut two-thirds reinstalled (loosely).

Unfortunately I made a boo boo putting the wheel hub back on and the dust seal's spring came out, and before I could deal with it, my night ended prematurely when the baby pooped herself awake and started screaming bloody murder.

[320iAman]

Picked up some new Front Brake Caliper Halves Securing-Bolts 12.9 ~ $8 for 8 / 12.9 Bolts ($.95 ea/free ship), 12.9 Bolts are stock with Ate and Girling Calipers, some these get stretched and need replacement as the torque is going down due to the bolt being stretched.

Torque values for M8[13 mm]

Strength Values and Maximum Torque lb/ft(Nm):
4.6-7(9.5)
4.8-10(13)
8.8-18(25)
9.8-18(25)
10.9-26(35)
12.9-33(45)

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Randy

[cgifool]

Yesterday I sorted out the remaining issues with the left strut and got it all back together loosely, and replaced the brake line as well, but leaving the tie rod hanging (doing the rack mounts, a boot, and tie rods after the right strut is all done).

After that, I installed a new rubber bushing in the right side of the accelerator pedal linkage, which had been completely missing for no obvious reason.

This evening, I loosened all the bolts on the right strut, but removed the entire assembly, rotor and all, in one big piece this time, to be taken apart at the workbench and loved upon at my leisure, instead of on the ground in my driveway.

Afterwards, I spent some time on my back under the rear of the car, looking over the cracked subframe bushings and general grime, and realized it seems like maybe I should just pull the entire rear subframe unit in one big piece so I can get it all fixed up with a lot easier access to everything.

[cgifool]

This morning I spent a nice half-hour tearing down the strut assembly I removed last night.

I got it nearly all the way apart without too much drama, but the strut insert is stuck in the housing - no reason to think the tube is bent, probably just rusty. spent some time searching the forums for ways to get it out, doesn't seem like it'll be that bad unless it's just incredibly crusty inside.

One thing I can tell is that someone had this strut apart before and didn't do a very good job of putting it back together. (doubled zip tie on the accordion boot that didn't hold, butchered reused gland nut, and the cup-shaped washer that's supposed to go under the strut mount bearing was instead squashed between the strut rod and the top spring perch. Wouldn't be surprised if there's no oil in the strut tube. The old strut mount bearing was very notchy.

CAN'T WAIT to see how it rides after I finally get all this stuff finished, can't understand how this thing worked as well as it did up to this point!

Ready for love:

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[cgifool]

Yesterday I started by dropping the rusty brake rotor into my electrolysis tank to be de-rusted.

Then, I managed to extract the stuck strut insert by hanging the strut upside down in the vice, attaching a piece of a bolt-grip puller to the strut rod, and hammering downwards on both sides with two 5-lb sledges. After only a half dozen blows it finally budged and came loose. Surface rust on the strut insert as expected. Only a tiny amount of oil came out. I bet the rust was either caused by someone not refilling the oil, or because the accordion boot had come loose and allowed some water to enter the strut tube from above.

Anyhow, once I got the strut completely disassembled, I spent some more quality time with some WD40, scotch-brite, and wire brush, removing all the surface rust from the strut housing and the control arm, cleaning well, and painting with a couple coats of black "semi-matt" rustoleum.

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bubbling rust bucket

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[320iAman]

Nice work on the derusting.

Replaced a pair of shift lever bushings or shift tower mount set-Meyle on the backup Getrag 245 5 sp , have a rubber boot and shift linkage coming in for less than the rubber boot price here and then sum.

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Randy

[cgifool]

Tonight I cleaned up all the pieces that came off my right front strut when I disassembled it the other day, de-rusted the hub, and de-rusted/repainted the backing plate.

[cgifool]

Last night I started reassembling my right front strut, after having it all apart and rejiggering and shinying-up as needed. Wheel bearings all replaced, repacked, and adjusted.

Still need to brush off the rotor after electrolyzing it for a few days, most of the rust comes loose but it still needs to be physically removed. It doesnt all come off from inside the vents because I cant figure out a good electrode - since the process is mostly "line of sight", but fortunately I don't really care anyways, just doing it for fun really.

Don't think I'll do anything to the caliper at all for now except clean and paint. Really prefer not to have these things apart unless there's a problem..

Dang it, now that I've said that I feel like I'm letting myself down so I'll probably at least replace the outer seals.

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[Somjuan]

Shiny! I'm loving seeing your progress here

[John Adkins]

Started detailing the underside of the hood this weekend. Paint thinner and careful use of acetone works well. Removed then cleaned and polished the two roller thingies and the metal catch. Will prime and spot paint as necessary. Luckily I have no rust.

[cgifool]

Started detailing the underside of the hood this weekend. Paint thinner and careful use of acetone works well. Removed then cleaned and polished the two roller thingies and the metal catch. Will prime and spot paint as necessary. Luckily I have no rust.

Nice! Do either of those products damage the paint at all? Ive been wondering how to remove the hood foam whenever the time comes.

Tonight I started with re-securing the metal heat shield between the exhaust downpipes and steering rack, which had been hanging loose at and bent at one end so it wouldn't easily go back together.

Then I reinstalled my clean and freshened-up right front strut, including (as with the left strut before it) all new: strut mount, NOS bilstein hd insert, accordion boot, ball joint boot, inner & outer control arm bushings, wheel bearings, dust seal, and brake hose.

I didn't end up doing anything to the caliper or pads except brush off well. I have a strong feeling I'll be buying new calipers, rotors and pads before long, so I really didn't feel like doing any more to it this time around.

I finished off the evening by replacing the old rubber front sway bar mount bushings with new eurometric poly ones (using the supplied grease).

Next up: R&R the steering rack, replace torn boot and squishy oily old rack mount bushings, tidy up

[320iAman]

Snagged a new Shifter Knob for my backup Getrag 245 5 Sp, cost $4.69 with free expedited shipping, I bought this and the price jumped to $29.95, after my purchase, 2 left on e bay.

The modification is use a little masking tape over the first few threads, its super tight after that,,MTC with 5 sp button for this is $42 or so and plastic

The Super Solid shift knob is translucent with metal flake--Black Old Skool Series Custom Shift Knob translucent with Metal flake made by American Shifter .com Portland Or.

They have an online shift knob builder program here too, where you can design your own shift knob.

http://www.americanshifter.com/



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Happy Hunting, Early Bird gets the worm

Randy

[John Adkins]

The under side of our hoods are coated with 30 years of baked on hydrocarbons emanating from the engine. Soap and water with not remove it all. Mineral spirits do a good job with lots of elbow grease. Use acetone for the more stubborn stains, but rub lightly and sparingly or you will find yourself down to the gray primer. Experiment with terry cloth, a plastic dish scrubber, and 0000 steel wool. Scrub lightly, wipe quickly, repeat. I have the feeling that the hood foam will come off easily with a plastic scraper, finishing up with mineral spirits. Is new foam available? We need to meet sometime for the monthly coffee and cars meet at the BMW dealership in North Dallas, first Saturday of each month. Our E-21's would steal the show! Cheers, John

[Thecatmilton]

The under side of our hoods are coated with 30 years of baked on hydrocarbons emanating from the engine. Soap and water with not remove it all. Mineral spirits do a good job with lots of elbow grease. Use acetone for the more stubborn stains, but rub lightly and sparingly or you will find yourself down to the gray primer. Experiment with terry cloth, a plastic dish scrubber, and 0000 steel wool. Scrub lightly, wipe quickly, repeat. I have the feeling that the hood foam will come off easily with a plastic scraper, finishing up with mineral spirits. Is new foam available? We need to meet sometime for the monthly coffee and cars meet at the BMW dealership in North Dallas, first Saturday of each month. Our E-21's would steal the show! Cheers, John

I used LA's totally awesome under the hood on both of my cars. A little bit of scrubbing was required but it came out alright.

[John Adkins]

Cat, do you ever go to the Coffee and Cars monthly meet in Dallas? I've been once and plan to go back sometime after the holidays. John

[John Adkins]

Poured a can of Techtron Fuel Injector Cleaner in the tank, then jumped on I-44 north out of Wichita Falls to give the car an Italian Tuneup and have Thanksgiving with my father in law in Oklahoma City. Traffic was relatively light so I was able to drive eighty miles an hour much of the time. Love the M-10 sound at speed. Got back home this evening; engine running and idling smoothly; nothing broke on the car on a 300 mile round trip.

[cgifool]

After a few days out of town I broke down and ordered some more stuff today:

front brake pads SYL semi metallic, $9 shipped
front vented rotors, C-TEK, $54.90 for 2 shipped
front ate vented calipers Cardone 19-876, 19-877, $70 for BOTH shipped (this after I tried ordering from autozone and found that despite being orderable at $70 apiece, they're not actually available.)

[Somjuan]

Long story short, I found a pair of e30 sport seats today. They're having issues staying in the upright position, but halfway through dismantling and nothing is broken or bent! The gas charged 'shocks' are even good, everything is just caked in gross hair/grease crap. A quick cleaning and a painting and these things shoild be good for reupholstery!