e34 drift project

[bebout]

Well I figured it was time to start another one of these. I have been away for a while, but now I'm back. First off, I picked this piece up about two years ago. I was getting a divorce and needed something cheap. What better than a ragged out 95 525i... Well I didn't really care, I just needed something to carry me away from a bad situation. Anyway on to the pics.

The ugly girl when I brought her home.












Decided to fix the paint on the hood since this was my dd.







Then I noticed this...




So I pulled this to fix.




And also found this...




And this...




Cleaned and back together.




Interior shot back then.




Deleted the muffler and put some chrome tips.




Picked up some camaro wheels for $50 from a friend.






Drove it a little while and noticed that oil and fuel consumption was getting ridiculous. So I did a compression test.

Cyl. 1 - 195psi
Cyl. 2 - 75psi
Cyl. 3 - 190psi
Cyl. 4 - 175psi
Cyl. 5 - 175psi
Cyl. 6 - 115psi

Got laid off due to work being slow, so I parked it. A few months later I moved to NC from GA and left the car at my mom's house. After a week in NC I got a job and another daily driver. Picked up an 04 Jeep Liberty Renegade fully loaded with 116k for $3500.




Then I got a house and decided it was time to revive the e34 for a fun little toy. Went down to GA to start pulling the engine.








Searched all over the area here and couldn't find a decent deal on an M5X anywhere. Decided to look in GA and picked up an M52 with 127k out of a 97 E36 auto that had been totaled in the rear for $400.




Loaded the car up on a trailer like this and brought it to NC along with the new engine.




Old engine out.




Cleaned up.




The top end of old engine.




The top end of new engine.




Both knock sensors looked like this. Both got replaced.




Got bored waiting on parts to arrive and refinished the wheels.




Cleaned up some parts that have to be swapped over.




Have to swap the pan over as well. It got cleaned before going on.




New engine mounts compared to old oil soaked mounts.




Cleaned up all the bolts for everything too.




Cleaned the shift selector rod and replaced all the bushings and washers in the linkage.






Lower gasket set showed up so I got everything back together and replaced front crank seal, lower timing cover gasket, oil pan gasket, oil filter housing gasket, rear main seal, oil pick up tube gasket, water pump o-ring, t-stat and t-stat housing gasket.










Pulled the old cam sensor to swap over and this is how it came out of the old engine. I'm guessing something is missing some material in there...




Back together. Put an aluminum water pump pulley on since the oem was cracked slightly on one of the bolt holes.






Will add more tomorrow.

[tptrsn]

Too nice of a restoration for a drift car!

[bebout]

Interior is getting torn out since it is falling apart. I figured the cleaner the engine is the easier it is to spot a leak. Will eventually add boost but that's down the road. Will add more pics when I get home from work.

[jalopi]

well it's always nice to see something different

[bebout]

Had an old set of e38 control arms lying and had heard that the uppers along with the e34 lowers moved to the outer bolt hole on the subframe will widen the track width of the front. Along with longer tie rods and trimmed steering stops this will allow for more steering angle on the e34. So I tried out the arms to see if it would work. It does indeed, but I need to order all new control arms (bad ball joints on all) and make a proper inner tie rod.


Mocked up.






Will get better pics of this when I get the new arms and proper inner tie rod made. Put everything back to stock on the front suspension for now. I need to move the car around and drive it first. Well went to take it for a spin, and I was very disappointed. For some reason my clutch will not disengage. I thought that maybe it was the slave or master cylinder so I replaced both. Bled the system every way possible and have no air in the line. Clutch still won't disengage while running or not. I have pedal pressure, but it doesn't feel right. I'm beginning to wonder if I put the clutch disc in wrong. I plan on tearing the trans back out just to make sure, but I figured I would just order a new clutch kit and lightweight flywheel since I'm in there already. In the meantime I think I'm going to focus on gutting all the unnecessary items. It's suppose to rain all week so I probably won't get much done.

[jalopi]

what are your plans for the tie rods?

[protomor]

I remember when I was so meticulous that I cleaned bolts.

[JesterMX6]

following so i know what to do with my E34 when the time comes

can't wait to see more

[bebout]

what are your plans for the tie rods?

Probably go with these and heims, unless there is something better that someone knows of.

http://www.colemanracing.com/Tie-Rod...eel-P4057.aspx

I remember when I was so meticulous that I cleaned bolts.

LOL. My cars and tools are the only thing that I'm that way with.

following so i know what to do with my E34 when the time comes

can't wait to see more

Thanks.



Been slowly pulling the interior apart when I get home from work. Weather hasn't been the best, so I haven't done much. I've got the rear seats, passenger seat, center console, and all the crap in the rear window. I've been debating on whether or not to pull the hvac system out of the car. I've already removed the a/c components from under the hood. Would like to have heat and defrost when the temps get cold though...

[jalopi]

those tie rod tubes are probably the cheapest part of that planned setup. heims and spacers'll add about 100 bucks on top

my guess is that for under $50 you can have a local machine shop drill/tap some aluminum hex for the threading of the OE tie rod sleeve. then add in a few jam nuts and boom you've got a custom tie rod that won't wear through heims every 6 months to a year

[bebout]

I was thinking of using these with oe type joints. I've had heims on other vehicles and never had any issues of them wearing out fast.

[beat328i]

Clutch still won't disengage while running or not. I have pedal pressure, but it doesn't feel right. I'm beginning to wonder if I put the clutch disc in wrong. I plan on tearing the trans back out just to make sure, but I figured I would just order a new clutch kit and lightweight flywheel since I'm in there already.

If you did put the clutch disk in backwards, you might be in for a treat when you go to remove the transmission. I've heard horror stories of the clutch disk heatwelding to the input shaft of the transmission, making it extremely difficult (read: impossible) to remove the tranny. I hope, for your sake, that hasn't happened.

Good luck!

[Jarods17]

I thought you were supposed to use e32 7 series front upper arms. That is what a guy at my local drift track did.