E21 project

[dukedkt442]

JB welded the broken valve stem and filled the tire to 28 psi, enough to more easily roll, then used one old girl with triple the engine and horsepower to pull it up the drive to work on. Eventually it’ll move to my shop out back.
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[dukedkt442]

Pulled the plugs... just a tad rich and oil foiled? also where plugs should be gapped mean= 0.026”, these ranged from 0.040-0.048”!!
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[dukedkt442]

Then pulled the cam cover. To say I’m impressed is an understatement! The previous owner definitely kept up with his oil changes and maintenance when it was in use. The cam journals are mirror-smooth! It’s in better shape than my F150 5.4-3v was at 150k to pull the cams and do a full timing job, and that was fed a steady 3k mike OCI since birth too!

I don’t often get to use my speed drive, but when I do, I revel in the joy.
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[dukedkt442]

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[dukedkt442]

Sorry for the multi-posts, I can only upload 5 images per post.

Hopefully the is the worst of the wiring issues but I doubt it!
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[dukedkt442]

FCP, ECS, and Rock Auto order placed today. I was surprised how cheap parts are for this car! Ordered everything I *should* need to get it started.

[dukedkt442]

Got a little bit more done today:

Change the 18 year old oil (which didn’t look too bad actually, no water so that’s a good sign). Add just shy of 4 quarts 20w-50 and 0.3 qt MMO. New (to me) filter that is 18 years old or more that came with the car. The dipstick tube was a bit cruddy, so I wire brushed it and shot it with Brakleen while the drain plug was out and let it drain. As the radiator was dry, I added some straight water to it to check for leaks; I ordered all new hoses, but would be nice to know if the radiator or block has a leak before pulling out the pressure tester. It’ll get flushed out when the hoses get done. The old cap was SHOT so it received a new one. I did not feel like getting it up in the air, so I remove the air box to change the oil filter from above, which gave me a chance to check for vermin nests that would get inhaled. The oil filter seal was glued fairly well to the filter adapter, I had to crush it with my filter pliers in order to get enough bite to remove it. No nests so far, but I do need to get a vacuum to the intake. The stock METAL (metal parts... it’s sure been a while!) airbox was rusty, so I quick wire brushed it and shot it with sweet, sweet Ospho. The lower intake boot was also shot so I ordered one of those, $18.

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As pulled
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After wire brush
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After Ospho treatment
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After freshwater rinse
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[cgifool]

Coming right along, gotta walk before you can run!

[goinstrong]

I recommend flushing the heater core as well before starting it up. Even without fluid in the radiator that may not have been drained or flushed when it was put in the “pasture” for all those years!


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[dukedkt442]

I recommend flushing the heater core as well before starting it up. Even without fluid in the radiator that may not have been drained or flushed when it was put in the “pasture” for all those years!


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Aye good idea. I'll probably see if it'll pop before even adding any coolant, no need wasting coolant yet. But when it fires, yes a full flush will be in order. The radiator drained on its own at some point; after filling with water, I noticed it wet at the lower hose, but haven't pressure tested it to see if it's the hose or the radiator. I'm hoping for the hose, as I really don't feel like brazing the radiator right now. No, Barr's Stop Leak is not an option.

Spent some time splicing back together the mess of chewed/shorted fuse block wires. Hopefully it was vermin-caused. I spliced in somewhat longer pieces of wire than what was needed, to make it easier to remove the fuse block in the future if needed. I used heat-shrink weather-proof connectors and heat shrink tubing to make all connections, and then wrapped with tape. While in there, did a quick Ospho treatment of the battery tray and shot it with primer/paint, along with the air box. I went with industrial gray rather than black, simply because I wanted to. Hopefully one more thing preventing a start-up is taken care of.

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[goinstrong]

Making progress!!


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[dukedkt442]

Finally had some time to get the car up in the air and start tearing in to it. I was hoping to get it to make some noise this week, but I can see I'll be getting sidetracked. Cleaning/painting various parts (might as well while they're out), remove parts I don't need, etc. While I have access, I'm replacing the water pump, therrmostat, all coolant hoses, and the timing chain tensioner.

Drained the fuel tanks; took out about 6 gallons of turpentine and dumped it in the '84 GMC (that thing'll run on most anything lol). Very surprised that the tanks are sediment free! While out, I hit the crossover guard with acid, primer and paint.

Tried turning over the engine by hand, to no avail. So, I pulled the radiator (check out that goooo!!!), condenser, fan and fan pulley so I could get at it from above, and then pulled the rocker cover to check for a stuck valve. I needed a cheater pipe on my breaker bar, but it turns out I was simply fighting valve spring pressure! Pretty remarkable that this thing with 240k miles and plugs OUT was tougher to turn by hand than the Ford 5.4L 24v F150 with the plugs IN when I did the timing job in that a few years ago. Next up on the agenda is to completely gut out the AC system (I'll never use it in this car). I do need to make a new lower radiator support, as mine is quite nonexistent. The rest of the underside is surprisingly clean all things considered. While up in the air I also drained and filled the diff, whose fluid also came out pretty clean. I'd assume it had been changed before, but it got some nice, new, tasty Redline 7w-90. I didn't like the old drain/fill plugs, so I dug out my worst UBG plugs off my E83 (or perhaps from the E46?) to use. Unlike the originals, these have o rings, and a much larger hex, so less likely so strip. I'm also going to pull the intake to replace its gaskets and refinish it, along with the rocker cover, while its off... gotta make it pretty!

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[dukedkt442]

Scoped the cylinders, very impressed with their condition! Still have the cross hatching!

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[dukedkt442]

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[dukedkt442]

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[jr02518]

Welcome to a E-21 learning curve! Take your time and get a tetanus shot. I have been through the fuel system refresh, thank you "OLD MAN", www.realoem.com with your vin number is the place to start.

[dukedkt442]

Had an hour to kill today between changing spark plugs on one of the tractors and the outboard on my boat and before a 1pm meeting, so I got a little bit more done on the E21. I removed more of the AC system (from the firewall to the compressor), removed most of the old coolant hoses, and got both the water pump and AC compressor ready to be pulled. I also removed the old car alarm horn on the inner fender. The water pump is sandwiched between the compressor's mounting bracket and I've removed 2/3 of the bolts (the only one remaining is underneath and behind the rusty idler pulley, and I didn't feel like getting down under the car in all the grit that's fallen). I have a new water pump enroute, along with all the hoses. Man, I'm enjoying all the space that will be opened up with the AC out of the engine bay! Once running, it'll be nice not having the added weight of the AC system, that old mammoth compressor (which is seized) looks HEAVY. One of the bolts holding the alternator's adjustment arm to the fuel distributor's mounting bracket sheered yesterday (steel + aluminum + 39 years of NY elements = galvanic corrosion city), but with the water pump out of the way, I should either be able to either 1) get my vice grips on the sheered bolt, or 2) get a nut on the end of the sheered bolt and fill the nut with weld, in order to removed the broken bolt. I'll attempt #1 first simply out of laziness of dragging the welder out, but #2 has always been my go-to for broken studs/bolts, and works a lot better than the right angle drill.


After getting the engine turning yesterday, I've decided that I won't be pulling the head at this time, but will pull the intake for cleaning/painting. The filth-pit that is the engine bay and engine will also receive a thorough pressure washing and cleaning, because I refuse to put new parts on such a disgusting mess. I also found a can of duplicolor paint that looks to be a good match to the Saphirblau paint, which will come in handy when I hang new fenders and start some preliminary body work. Oh, also got the frozen "secondary" hood hinges freed up yesterday, so I don't think I'll have to cut off the old and make new hinge pins, as long as I can sufficiently clean up the scale with a small wire brush with the hinge together. I'll have to see how that goes.

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[dukedkt442]

This site is far too annoying for posting pictures so most of mine will be missing.

Pulled the cam sprocket to replace the chain and guides. They weren't that bad!
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Refinished the rocker cover
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[dukedkt442]

Used the welder to extract a broken bolt in the alternator bracket. Welded a 3/4" nut to the broken stud, got it cherry red, and it spun out nice using the "2 steps forward 1 step back" method. The welder is my #1 go-to for extracting broken studs in aluminum, no reason to try anything else. I used tap magic to chase the threads and clean them up. Took less than 10 minutes to get it out, and then tapped.
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[dukedkt442]

Dealt with the metal worms yesterday! Installed (and repaired the wiring for) the alternator, installed hoses on the t-stat, replaced the heater hoses, and pulled a front and rear wheel to look at the brakes. Ordered all new brake hardware fore and aft. Set the new radiator in place to make sure I didn't FUBAR the mounts when I welded in a new rad support (I used 2" angle iron). Also welded in some 1/8" flat steel patch panels to the passenger side frame.
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[dukedkt442]

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[dukedkt442]

Front brakes rebuilt, new hard and soft lines installed, but needed the lift to put a new axle in the MK6 and a new prop-shaft in the E83, so the E21 had to go out behind the barn for a little while. I'll probably put up a soft carport over it because I haven't gotten a chance to repair the holes in the rear quarters. Because it was just me pulling the car, I had to put the tractor into Lo-Lo-1st and idled it so that it did a whopping .125 mph out back, and then walked back and forth between the tractor and the car making steering corrections.
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- - - Updated - - -

I'd put juice to it, and found 1) the hazards won't turn off (probably the switch) and 2) I don't seem to be getting power to the starter solenoid. I haven't looked further to see why I'm not getting power, or pull the intake for better access to the starter in order to confirm the no-voltage condition (I may not be getting good contact to the terminal with my voltmeter sneaking my hand in). That's a project for another day and time.

[BMW Fabricator]

With your elaborate and details posts with a generous amount of photos...I am completely hooked. I hope you are doing well and able to share updates on this project when time allows.

I have a 1980 E21 320i... lots of rust issues to tackle soon, glad I came across the Ospho Rust Treatment and One-Step Rust Converter products. POR 15 I have heard of many times.

Looking forward to future posts.

[lanceboyle]

Looking great, and thanks for all the photos!! They are wonderful little cars and it's so cool to see the progress. It's super helpful to see all the work being done too (might have to refer back to your thread a few times myself...) keep it coming!

Seconded on the Ospho & One-Step. Body is very clean, but the trunk seal is leaking pretty badly and I need to stop the rust before it gets any worse (and, obviously, fix the seal).

[dukedkt442]

Thank guys! Sadly, I need to turn the corner on this project. It is now for sale.

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...2#post30570252