Wolfie

[Bert Poliakoff]

New fuel injector plugs with boots and pigtails, if needed, should be able to be picked up at a diesel tractor supply for around $5 each. That's where I bought mine and well worth it while you are cleaning up your harness

[jbd5015]

This harness is the larger unit that has the connectors built into the housing. Really fun to remove! Everything was very clean so I just did a spit shine on it before putting it on the engine.

*almost* installed the engine without putting the harness on. Glad I caught that while the engine was still on the stand, which makes getting the intake off MUCH easier! So now the engine has new gaskets for intake, exhaust, oil pan, rear main, rear crankshaft, thermostat housing and valve cover! That should keep it from seeping for a little while on all the difficult bits!

[jbd5015]

Narrowing down the possibilities of the wiring mysteries that I have.

I procured this B35 harness from Fernando years back, and the ECU it came with is from a 91 535i AUTO

Near as I can tell, the 2 plug connector near the AFM is sending signals to pins 3,4,20 with one wire, and pin 15 with the 2nd. Lookin over the diagram it would make sense for that to be a lead for a cold start injector that these cars dont have...

The round 4 plug connector on the driver side of the motor is definitely for the o2 sensor, but I cannot find a 4 plug sensor with the correct orientation. Earlier than '88 has a 3 prong with the right size plug but not enough wires, and after '88 is a threaded type connector with all female ends.

[jbd5015]

Solved the o2 sensor issue. Spliced in the connector from the donor car harness!

Also managed to re-route and extend the fuel pump and fuel level sender wires into the trunk for the new tank using matching wires from the donor harness! BOOM!

Ordered new trans mounts, clutch alignment tool and motor mount adapters. Once those arrive, the last piece to the puzzle will be fabricating a suction hose for the hydraulic system. I think Ill wait until the motor is in the car to get some better measurements.

Moving right along!

[jbd5015]

Koala Motorspot engine mount bracket adapters are in!

Only problem they cause at this point is rendering the intake manifold support bracket useless. Not sure why they don't sell a solution for that as well?

[jbd5015]

Mystery engine harness connector end, cannot figure out. It is attached to the modified harness ECU plug end, 12 pins in 2 rows. ABS? Hydraulic Control? It looks like it would go to some type of computer/control unit that would be mounted near the ECU.

[jbd5015]

Well it appears I started taking the motor apart late march of 2011!!! So that means the last time I drove it to sharkfest was 2010!!

Good news is thats all going to change! I got him running last week on thursday evening about 6:33PM (heh heh)

Still have a ways to go on the reliability and realistic driving front, but hes alive i tell ya!!

Very big thanks to carsnplanes for responding to me during the final stages of the wiring troubleshooting! That was by far the biggest learning experience Ive ever had in electrical diagnostics in my automotive career!

Cheers,

-Jeff

[carsnplanes]

Well it appears I started taking the motor apart late march of 2011!!! So that means the last time I drove it to sharkfest was 2010!!

Good news is thats all going to change! I got him running last week on thursday evening about 6:33PM (heh heh)

Still have a ways to go on the reliability and realistic driving front, but hes alive i tell ya!!

Very big thanks to carsnplanes for responding to me during the final stages of the wiring troubleshooting! That was by far the biggest learning experience Ive ever had in electrical diagnostics in my automotive career!

Cheers,

-Jeff

You're welcome Jeff! I was probably just as excited to see progress as you were!

[jbd5015]

UPDATE!!

Having put a reasonable amount of miles on the car before the cold weather hit, ive got a short list for the winter!

Transmission Output and Shift Selector Rod Seals - Trans is leaving a few drops after driving every time. If anyone has a Z3 shifter they want to part with, Im very interested.
Finish the exhaust - Ill be fabricating something for side exit, just behind passenger door. Car already has high flow cats and will also be getting some sort of stainless muffler to calm it down, but I'm LOVING the sound of the bavarian autosport tubular manifolds.
Front Bumper - Ill be fiberglassing the euro bumper I got for free. Hope to be ordering all new rubber components pretty soon. That way if I find a better bumper later on, I can transfer the rubber components.
Gauges - Im going to ditch the factory gauges and go for a set of analog round units (oil pressure, water temp, fuel level)

That should get me to pass inspection, and be able to get it comfortable enough to travel outside the county!

Hope everyone is staying healthy!

cheers,

-Jeff

[1986series6]

Jeff,

Does PA inspect emissions, and if not do they physically
make sure all emission stuff is in tact like cats?

[jbd5015]

PA has a few different takes on the emissions. In my county, its a visual inspection of equipped emissions controls and gas cap test. Fortunately, I was able to find some nice universal modern high flow catalytic converters to keep the cost down. I am also a licensed PA Safety and Emissions Inspector!

[Shipper]

How goes Wolfie, or is it just to bloody cold??

[jbd5015]

COLD!! He is also tucked behind the plow vehicle used to deal with the snow weve been getting this year!

I have ordered a magnaflow stainless muffler, and will be ordering some stainless exhaust pipe to finish off the exhaust. It will be a side exit.

I also spent some time cleaning up the euro bumper I have. Looks like i will be patching it together with some fiberglass to cover the big rust holes.

Near as I can tell, ive got a couple small leaks from the hyrdro-booster and/or steering box. I think Ill pull the booster out ASAP and send it off for a rebuild as I dont want any surprises when I start driving further away from home!

Fired right up about a month ago when I had it on the rack checking it out for leaks. Im pretty sure the booster was leaking before the motor swap, and 9 years of sitting doesnt help any of those old seals.

-Jeff

[amibuggnu]

G'day Jeff,

Glad to see you & Wolfie are still a winning team. It's been a long time!

Filthy's still here, it's doing alright after all these years too.

Your weather is certainly making news over here. You'll be pleased to know I'm in shorts & thongs at the moment, another beautiful sunny day in Capital City.

All the best mate!

-Ellis.

[jbd5015]

Ellis!

It only took a pandemic for me to find the time and motivation to get the car up and running again.

Lots of folks have had much worse weather than me in Central PA. We are accustomed to getting snow and ice. It is finally starting to melt and I can see most of my lawn for the first time in 2 months!

Glad to hear you are enjoying the weather down under! For those not in the know, thongs are what us Yanks call 'flip-flops'.

cheers,

-Jeff

[jbd5015]

Fabricated a rear bumper beam out of 2" pipe. Utilizes the factory mounting bolts and fits the new look of the car pretty well! I should be able to massage it in a little further when i run into some money to finish the body the way I envision.

Installed my rebuilt brake booster last week as well! Master6 (Jay) offers a great turnaround service at a steal!

Ordered two more Michelin Pilot Sport 4S sneakers to match the pair I got for FREE from a friend. They were take-offs from an M3 that happened to have 7 or 8/32nds of tread left on them. SCORE!

Last things to button up are the front bumper and air dam install and the completion of the exhaust system. Then the car will pass safety and emissions inspections!

Looking forward to putting some miles on the car this year!

-Jeff

[e24mpwr]

Glad to see things progressing!

I need to get my Mini back together and out of my garage so Cosmo can return and get some love.

[jbd5015]

Lee! What the heck are you doing that needed the subframe removed? Dont forget to put new stabilizer bushings in NOW if you havent! Thats a bear of a job to do with the subframe in the car.

Got the euro bumper and M635 air dam installed this past weekend! Waiting on my magnaflow muffler and a license plate. This build is getting close to a point where no BIG jobs are needed.

[e24mpwr]

Lee! What the heck are you doing that needed the subframe removed? Dont forget to put new stabilizer bushings in NOW if you havent! Thats a bear of a job to do with the subframe in the car.

I'm kinda doing everything suspension. One front control arm bushing was bad and one front shock on the opposite side was rattling. I know there are some hacks to do the control arm bushings in place, but since the car is all-original at 93K and I knew the damn subframe was probably coming out, I decided to do pretty much everything in the front and match up the back with new shocks and stabilizer links. Front is new shocks and the soft bits, steering links, stabilizer links, swaybar bushings, both control arms with both ball joints on each side, control arm bushings, etc. I'm not doing springs, wheel bearings or axles (the axles look fine, which surprised me for some reason), but pretty much everything else I can think of in the front suspension is getting the treatment. The swaybar and control arm bushings are PowerFlex street. I'm hoping the Koni Special Active shocks live up to their reputation - it was a PITA to get a set (but that's another story). Here's a pic of (most of) the pile:


You're one of the people who originally inspired me to do some of my own stuff btw. I'm not fast at all (most of what I'm doing is the first time in one or more ways), but working through it. I can't really diagnose things worth a damn, but if it's nuts and bolts I seem to figure it out. Next time we talk ask me about my spawn's X5 .

[jbd5015]

If you havent yet, invest in a MAP gas torch. Best part about how you are attacking that is not having to re-use old parts! Glad to see I've made a good influence somewhere! Ive since sold my MINI after buying a house and living a few blocks from work. Working for a sales and service dealership has its perks of not needing a daily driver anymore. I get to drive a different car every week!

[e24mpwr]

If you havent yet, invest in a MAP gas torch. Best part about how you are attacking that is not having to re-use old parts! Glad to see I've made a good influence somewhere! Ive since sold my MINI after buying a house and living a few blocks from work. Working for a sales and service dealership has its perks of not needing a daily driver anymore. I get to drive a different car every week!

I'm fortunate not to live in the Rust Belt, and I've got a pretty grumpy impact wrench, so I haven't needed to consider a torch yet. Honestly, I don't love the idea - I'm the guy that would wind up setting things on fire

[jbd5015]

Highly recommending to everyone to put a set of michelins on their cars! Night and day difference! Ive never driven an E24 that gripped this well. The Pilot Sport 4S is a fairly ridiculous tire choice for this car, but I got a full set for effectively half price!

Also did another brake pressure bleed and an alignment. I had a little air in the rear brakes. Having upgraded to the E34/E32 set-up, I was expecting the pedal feel to be different. After getting all the air out, the pedal feels just like it used to, which is a confidence builder!

'83 did not have ABS. Now having a rebuilt booster and the bigger rotors and calipers and tires that actually stick, no fear going in for a late brake!

Muffler should be on in the next week or so, then Im ready for some longer trips! Hope to take it down to see Anita and help her troubleshoot a running issue on the B9.

[jbd5015]

2021 has been a good year for Wolfie!

So far Ive been to Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, Winchester VA, and up to Vintage at Saratoga in NY. The odometer hasn't worked in years, so Im not sure how many miles ive put on the car, but all that matters is that Wolfie makes it there and back!

Here is a link to some photos from the weekend at Saratoga. I found a back road that took me up to a little place called Lake Desolation.

Cheers,

-Jeff

[Shipper]

Good to see a 6'er in its natural habitat.

[e24mpwr]

Great to see Wolfie on the road!!