328 Take 3

[MrFixItBuilds]

Glad you were paying attention to your temp! Wouldn’t have wanted you to go through all that work and then have an overheating event after everything!


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[gdavid]

I swapped the struts between the two cars tonight. It was straightforward because I swapped the springs as well but it was just tedious. It is pretty surprising how efficient you can become when you do the same thing for times consecutively. I want to keep the old car as a roller for as long as possible so I had to put it back together with the blown struts.
I have no idea how long it will before our MVA reopens and I can get it on the road. Once I swap the shocks I think it will go right through inspection, those ar valid for 30 days I think, it may be smart to wait a bit.

[MrFixItBuilds]

I swapped the struts between the two cars tonight. It was straightforward because I swapped the springs as well but it was just tedious.

I’ve literally been having a hell of a time getting the front springs compressed enough to get them on my konis. I even took one of them (since I’m missing hardware for the other) to a local shop and he couldn’t get it on either..

How did you do this???? You are a god!


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[gdavid]

I meant to say that I swapped the whole assembly between cars so I didn't have to load the springs. I have done it before, 3 years ago on the good set I just transplanted but they aren't koni's. I have str.t's on my vert but it came with them. I believe they are usually paired with lowering springs which would be easier.
On the set Ibdid mount, I used a really cheap spring compressor set in conjunction with tie down straps as a safety precaution.

[gdavid]

I wanted to show of my sweet custom cam timing block from Perry Hubbling, someguy2800. Now I am confident that my exhaust cam is set correctly. I you haven't read up on his e30, it is definitely worth the visit over to forced induction section.

[gdavid]

This whole project has turned into a "hurry up and wait" exercise. All MVA vehicle titling and registration is essentially shut down, they aren't doing anything, even remotely, they may be processing emergency requests for commercial stuff, but my little car is of no such case. I am certainly not complaining, in the grand scheme of things it is the smallest inconvenience, it just affects my priorities and scope of the project. I will go ahead and take care of some of the non-essential, rather than just focusing getting ready to pass safety inspection. I should have my new shock mounts arrive today and get the relatively new shocks swapped over from the old chassis. I have intermediate brake and license plate notices on the OBC which seem to be bad contacts at the bulb rather than the trunk wiring loom. I have new LED license plate lights coming from china but will hit it’s connectors and all of the bulb holders for brakes and tail lamps. The odometer is hard to read, I think it is just a backlight bulb that needs to be fixed. The airbag light is also burned out because it never comes on, it may have just been removed by the PO, in either case, I’ve scanned with an airbag reader and it is all clear.
I’ll go ahead and reinstall the AC system and swap seat components around until I have the best seat sections from the 2 cars in the new ride. Basically, I’ll use the passenger seat bottoms for each seat as they are in the best shape. None of the seats is torn but just have typically wear.
The driver window coming off the track and the whole window trim is pretty messed up. I pulled it apart, put it back on track, lubed it up and it jumped right back off. It’s been messed with before. It’s nice that the regulator rivets were drilled out for me but they weren’t able to get it right, working on something after someone attempted a DIY is frustrating. I’ll
When all of that is done, I’m going to take a shot at painting the hood and left fender from my old car from red to white. My family always did our own paint work when I was growing up. I should be able to lay down some two part base and clear with my top feed gun and a temp spray booth. I am also considering taking it to a local body shop if any are slow on work and just have it done there.
I was able to run it “around the block” and need to top the transmission off now. I also realized that I have only added 6.5 quarts so far, as I miscounted my gallon jug of fluid as a five quart instead (accustomed to the ez oil change packaging). After running around a bit, it is squirrelly taking off from a stop, probably still down 1.5 quarts or more.

I did finally wash it up the other day. It is not perfect but a white car is very forgiving and it shows well.

[gdavid]

I have been making steady progress spending ridiculous amounts of time on silly things that I normally would ignore like the pocket for the driver side door card that was cracked up. Transplanting is plastic pockets is awkward but it looks lot better. The window was not working because the track in the lower front was bent back. It looks like somebody bented back trying to keep the window from jumping off track but really just made things worse. Got that all straightened out and switched the entire trim out from my old car so it looks lot nicer. I spent way too much time trying to clean up the old AC condenser before I realized that a new condenser is like 50 bucks of rock auto so I'm just gonna get that. In addition to being filthy, it had a bunch of bent up fins which would kill air flow to the radiator. I swapped the shocks over I also changed the shock mounts on my vert yesterday they were completely separated. This suspension had been replaced with Koni's all the way around before I bought it but the shock mounts apparently weren't changed. It was rattling and making a lot of noise on the driver side but they both turned out to be separated. I'm looking forward to taking it for a chatter free cruise.

[MrFixItBuilds]

I have been making steady progress spending ridiculous amounts of time on silly things that I normally would ignore like the pocket for the driver side door card that was cracked up. Transplanting is plastic pockets is awkward but it looks lot better. The window was not working because the track in the lower front was bent back. It looks like somebody bented back trying to keep the window from jumping off track but really just made things worse. Got that all straightened out and switched the entire trim out from my old car so it looks lot nicer. I spent way too much time trying to clean up the old AC condenser before I realized that a new condenser is like 50 bucks of rock auto so I'm just gonna get that. In addition to being filthy, it had a bunch of bent up fins which would kill air flow to the radiator. I swapped the shocks over I also changed the shock mounts on my vert yesterday they were completely separated. This suspension had been replaced with Koni's all the way around before I bought it but the shock mounts apparently weren't changed. It was rattling and making a lot of noise on the driver side but they both turned out to be separated. I'm looking forward to taking it for a chatter free cruise.

I just had a conversation with a guy in the z3 forum about something I learned long ago about working on cars, especially old ones.

Always check replacement costs for as many parts as possible. That way you know which parts you have to try and reuse, which you can try and reuse and which of those that the effort is not worth it.

Examples of why that rule matters.
1. At 16, I spent two-three hours trying to remove a sway bar link from my strut and sway bar (two wrench type) and it was so rusted and bad, that the inner nut basically went to dust upon first attempt to remove it. I ended up cutting it off, part was 7 dollars. 3 hours and many swear words wasted.

2. Cut a part off due to similar rust issues (yay Iowa) only to find out that due to limited supply of them, they cost a fortune to replace.


I don’t get when people replace struts and don’t replace the rubber seats/top hats or strut mounts. The amount of work to get them out and redo it again isn’t worth the 30-40 bucks to get them replaced all at the same time. Which is how I ended up with spending 2k so far on suspension, mounts and stuff for my 323.


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[gdavid]

I just had a conversation with a guy in the z3 forum about something I learned long ago about working on cars, especially old ones.

Always check replacement costs for as many parts as possible. That way you know which parts you have to try and reuse, which you can try and reuse and which of those that the effort is not worth it.

Examples of why that rule matters.
1. At 16, I spent two-three hours trying to remove a sway bar link from my strut and sway bar (two wrench type) and it was so rusted and bad, that the inner nut basically went to dust upon first attempt to remove it. I ended up cutting it off, part was 7 dollars. 3 hours and many swear words wasted.

2. Cut a part off due to similar rust issues (yay Iowa) only to find out that due to limited supply of them, they cost a fortune to replace.


I don’t get when people replace struts and don’t replace the rubber seats/top hats or strut mounts. The amount of work to get them out and redo it again isn’t worth the 30-40 bucks to get them replaced all at the same time. Which is how I ended up with spending 2k so far on suspension, mounts and stuff for my 323.


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I was pretty surprised that the stock mounts weren't replaced when the new suspension was installed, which makes me suspect the struts mounts weren't either. At least the shock mounts are pretty easy to replace. As you know, the struts mounts are far more work.

As a lot of us have found, most of these cars have spent years sitting around and as they are freshened up for the road again, bushings (which a shock mounts essentially is) can appear fine but have deteriorated with age and disuse and come apart shortly after the car goes back on the road. This works out just fine as long as you aren't tracking the car or doing anything crazy, a blown bushing won't ruin the car like an old cooling system can.

I thought I had checked the condenser price a while back and believe it was around $80, which isn't too bad but I was trying to limit the parts order at the time and didn't realize just how beat up mine was.

[gdavid]

I'm continuing to work through little items getting the car ready for state safety inspection.

The driver side mirror was discolored all around the edges, and the motor was really slow to adjust so I'm swapping this out with the guts of my old car. I could have just popped the good mirror on it but I may as well make it right while I have the time. I got both all apart last night but ran out of daylight and energy.

I swapped tires and wheels around to transfer my ~80% tread life tires from my old red car onto the rims for the new ride. For the past 9 months or so my rims were mismatched on it after I managed to dent a 15" wheel in a pretty nasty pothole in the dark one night. I'm still a bit perplexed as to how I managed to dent a wheel with that high of a tire profile but it happened. That was a set of style 6's, the newer style of bottle caps that no one likes and I was waiting to find one for next to nothing and the car got mangled first.

It is admittedly silly to spend the time and effort to clean 15" wheels and remount the tires as the wheels are basically worthless and new 15" tires are like $40 a piece. In my defense, my friend owns a tire machine and balancer so it make it a little more sensible. The new car came with style 41 which look ok but nothing with that much sidewall is going to look good. I'd like to put a set of 17" on the car which would allow a larger set of brakes but I'll wait for something to fall in my lap. There is something to be said for the cheap replacement cost of tires for a daily driver and the narrow tires are better in the rain as well, so staying with the 15" would be sensible. Sensible is boring.

My new AC condenser should arrive today, which allows me to install the AC and also remount the auxiliary fan.

This thing is about the most pedestrian and boring build going. I still have future plans for subtle mods and updates but I'm really trying to focus getting it 100%, compromise free functional and clean first. The old car had started out very presentable when I bought it after I discovered the hidden rust really just killed my motivation and in the end I'm glad I didn't dump any more money into the car than basic maintenance. I had bought replacement rocker panels for it and was going to dig into it but as a daily driver it was hard to pull the trigger on pulling it apart for such a big project. This new ride is now so clean underneath, that is really enjoyable to work on and I'm (foolishly) optimistic that I will be able to keep as grime and leak free as a pampered weekend toy.

[MrFixItBuilds]

I swapped tires and wheels around to transfer my ~80% tread life tires from my old red car onto the rims for the new ride. For the past 9 months or so my rims were mismatched on it after I managed to dent a 15" wheel in a pretty nasty pothole in the dark one night. I'm still a bit perplexed as to how I managed to dent a wheel with that high of a tire profile but it happened. That was a set of style 6's, the newer style of bottle caps that no one likes and I was waiting to find one for next to nothing and the car got mangled first.

It is admittedly silly to spend the time and effort to clean 15" wheels and remount the tires as the wheels are basically worthless and new 15" tires are like $40 a piece. In my defense, my friend owns a tire machine and balancer so it make it a little more sensible. The new car came with style 41 which look ok but nothing with that much sidewall is going to look good. I'd like to put a set of 17" on the car which would allow a larger set of brakes but I'll wait for something to fall in my lap. There is something to be said for the cheap replacement cost of tires for a daily driver and the narrow tires are better in the rain as well, so staying with the 15" would be sensible. Sensible is boring.

I hear you on this. My 323 came with a set of 15s, 16s and 17s. The tread on two of the 17s are in ok shape for a while, the front two have cupping (one is pretty bad) due to the ages suspension and alignment needed. Either the 15s or 16s have almost new Michelin’s on them right now, the other has low tread.

I hate the idea of spending money on new 17s (my budget has kind of ballooned on the project to my wife’s dismay) when I have perfectly good tread on my 15/16s, but I just like the 17s so much better. This is why I skipped on just upgrading to bigger brakes right now, even though I ended up spending money on new front calipers, just because I didn’t want to end up with rims I couldn’t use.

If you lived closer I would give you a set of the 15/16s I have in trade for your extra midpipe. Hmm. I’ve been wanting to do a east coast road trip, but not with a 3 year old.

The vert also has like new copper cs5s on 15/16s. (I think 15s).

Sensible is boring.

This thing is about the most pedestrian and boring build going.

This makes me laugh, because I’m in the same boat. I could easily spend 15k on my car today if I wanted to, but I don’t think I would survive long enough to pay the bill/get the parts.


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[gdavid]

Here is the car as is stands now and the result of tonight's project.

[gdavid]

I realized that I made a really foolish mistake when I was putting things together a couple weeks ago. Fortunately, no ill effects in the long run but a pain in the neck.

I must have snapped off the very end of one of the AC bolts into the AC bracket when I pulled everything apart on one of the two cars. I failed to notice when cleaning the parts and when I went to install the compressor tonight, I realized that I could only get three bolts started. I immediately recalled that the trigger wheel on the harmonic damper prevents access the the front 2 bolts of the AC bracket into the block. So I had the pleasure of removing the Jesus bolt and damper just to swap out the compressor bracket. Sometimes you just have to pay the price of being stupid.

In my vert, I'm running the m54 (edit) damper which doesn't have the trigger wheel and would have been much easier.

[gdavid]

After last night's bracket delay, the compressor, hoses and charging went smoothly. I had one leak that was pretty easy to find at the refrigerant dryer, pinched o-ring. After replacing it the charge was really simple. I use a venturi style vacuum pump from harbor freight as well as a 134a manifold from there as well. The venturi pump is great, I have another one incorporated into an oil change system. The manifold set works fine, I did have to replace the quick connect fittings on the high and low pressure side. For some reason the original, low side connector wouldn't connect correctly on every car. I also have an electronic leak detector which is handy. After having the tools, taking on an AC job is much easier. I can't recover a full system but in most cases that you are repairing a system, it has lost its charge anyway.

[gdavid]

The project is really creeping along at this phase. I've swapped the seat components around to use the best sections of each upholstery. Basically, I'm using the upper and lower sections from both passenger seats on the frames of the two fully functional frames for the best looking set of seats. I've cleaned up all of the lighting connections that were giving intermittent notifications on the OBD.

Along the lines of something a little more fun, I picked up a set of 17" wheels that should dress it up a bit and allow me to put some larger brakes on. I agree with the conventional wisdom that the stock brakes are plenty but I think it will make it look a little sportier and a little better responsive braking won't hurt. The wheels aren't fancy but are in pretty good shape and they look nice in my opinion. They cam with snow tires for a e46 or e90 and probably won't fit on the car right now at 225/50 but they should be able to fit with 225/45 which is the stock size of the e36 m3 front wheels. It should work fine. They also came with a set of 18mm wheel spacers. This is what the wheels look like, not mine but the same model, size and finish. They remind me of the z3 style 42 one piece wheels which are available in a 16", and I considered getting, but I wanted to go with 17" and didn't want to pay what the two piece 17" are worth or take on a refinish job of them.

[gdavid]

I buttoned up a few little things today and snapped some pictures. I responded to a WTB classified ad, gave a pretty above market price and it motivated me to get some pictures. I've always intended to keep this car for a long time but anything is up for grabs for the right price. I need to get rid of on of my e36's and have grown fond of my vert as impractical as it is. This thing's makes the most sense but won't be as fun till I manual swap it. Anyway, here are current pics. I'm most smug about the new windshield trim, I never got around to replacing them on my other cars and they were all dry rotten. The new trim looks great.

[gdavid]

More

[gdavid]

Yet more

[gdavid]

And more

[gdavid]

And the remaining work to be done. I'm curious how my modivation will hold up to finish before I fan get it inspected and registered, the plates aren't legit yet.

[MrFixItBuilds]

Car looks great man! Ha ha. I love the white. I wish my coupe was white or blue, but hellrot is better than black to me!

Looks awesome. Can’t wait to drive mine again. I need to order another round of stuff and likely return a few things I haven’t used yet, and need to drop my fuel tank for welding reinforcements.. but I just hate to place orders and spend the shipping on many little orders vs one large order.


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[gdavid]

There are two vents on the passenger side of the gas tank held on by crimped bands there are miserable to reach but doable. You need to drop the tank about halfway to reach them. Some guys weld reinforcements with the tank in place, but I wouldn't.

[gdavid]

Car looks great man! Ha ha. I love the white. I wish my coupe was white or blue, but hellrot is better than black to me!

Looks awesome. Can’t wait to drive mine again. I need to order another round of stuff and likely return a few things I haven’t used yet, and need to drop my fuel tank for welding reinforcements.. but I just hate to place orders and spend the shipping on many little orders vs one large order.


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White is my first choice for maintaining a car this age or any car I plan to keep for a long time. Avis blue is very pretty as.well. Hellrot cars look(ed) nice as well. I would never own a black car, I can appreciate one that is clean and straight but they are difficult to maintain and are hotter as well, I don't see the appeal or of black interiors for that matter either.

[MrFixItBuilds]

White is my first choice for maintaining a car this age or any car I plan to keep for a long time. Avis blue is very pretty as.well. Hellrot cars look(ed) nice as well. I would never own a black car, I can appreciate one that is clean and straight but they are difficult to maintain and are hotter as well, I don't see the appeal or of black interiors for that matter either.

My 08 535 was black, and I hated it. It was always dirty. I’d wash it, and the dust from fields would land on it right away. I just gave up trying to wash it after someone put a nice dent into the fender.

I grew up in California and know first hand how hot cars get when we used to burn ourselves on the metal buckles of our 79 suburban as a kid. Some people say black interiors are “hot” but i found it really depends on the exterior color of the car.

My moms suburban was a forest green with tan leather interior, and we used to have to put towels down in the summer. My dads white Volvo with black leather interior didn’t. My white Grand Cherokee with black interior never was hot.

I prefer black interior because tan carpets just get way too dirty and the stains show. The carpet on my 323 was naaaasty, and it took like 4 separate steam clean sessions to get it to look like new again. Other than that, I like tan too. Here’s a picture of the floor mats in the car after I started steam cleaning round two.








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[gdavid]

I've been going over the car really looking for anything that will cause it to fail inspection. Everything should be good to go, my airbag light comes on as it should and goes back out, previously the bulb had been removed. I also ended up having to swap out the whole cluster because the odometer readout was too dim. I tried replacing the bulbs behind them but it didn't help, the display itself is failing. The cluster from my old car was working with the exception of a couple of burned out bulbs and somehow it had a crack at the top of the cluster lens. I married up the two good halves of each cluster and installed it. This caused the mileage tamper light to come on which took me several tries to reset. You have to use the hidden cluster menu and test number 9, however you need to unlock test 9 first via test 15. Thank goodness for a good write up on a z3 forum, there is no way I would have figured it out on my own.

Another random but potentially show stopper for inspection was the gear selector indicator, somehow i broke it swapping the pre-facelift shifter into this car (the car had a ridiculous fake wood shifter and the entire assembly was a sticky mess). Between the two cars, I had enough working bits to put it all back together including the led bulb that slides with the shifter. Of course the best solution to this whole issue is manual swapping the car but that just isn't in the cards right yet.

My wheel and tire plan is to keep the newish 15" tires on it until I wear them out and then put new tires on the 17" rims at that point. My current driving habits are drastically different with nearly 100% telework. I typically put about 450 miles on my commuter each week, these days I'm getting 3 weeks to the gallon. If things don't change, the tires will age out far before wearing out, hopefully we will be returning to something close to normal soon.

Our inspections are good for 90 days and I'll still be at a standstill until our MVA reopens. The mail in service is open but reportedly on a 3-6 week delay so I don't want to tie my title up in the mail in case the service centers open up in the mean time.