2010-03-10T05:21:39Z Greg Donarum Copyright 2010, Greg Donarum SPHPBLOG


The last thing to go on are the new steerings links.



It's now officially back on the road.
]]> http://donarum.com/cars/index.php?entry=entry080405-193303 2008-04-05T00:00:00Z 2008-04-05T00:00:00Z Mike Hannigan sent me a shortened drive shaft. I then called Dave Varco for everything else. He sent me the trans mounts, a new 215 clutch, slave cylinder, and various other hardware.

Kunkel's in Bel Air resurfaced the flywheel.



The new mounts from Dave bolt in a few inches behind the originals.



The slave cylinder was connected using an Ireland Engineering clutch line. Make sure you tighten the hard line before installing the trans. It's tough to get in there afterwards.



Connected the new clutch from Dave.



The trans fits nicely after a few well positioned hammer blows. I filled it with Amsoil ATF.



I am using a four bolt setup. Some people use the 3 bolt shaft from a 320i. Shouldn't really make a difference.



The shift tower is from a 320i. We cut off a few inches with a chop saw. A hammer flattened out the area where the new mount holes had to be drilled. We used the chop saw again to cut a few inches out of the shift linkage. Gavin then welded and ground it to perfection.



At that point the drive shaft and shifter can go in. It's almost ready to roll.]]> http://donarum.com/cars/index.php?entry=entry080401-190921 2008-04-01T00:00:00Z 2008-04-01T00:00:00Z
I then moved on to the struts. They've been cleaned up and painted with black rustoleum. A good trick I learned was to warm the cans in warm water in the sink. You get a better finish if the can is a little above room temperature. New Bilstein sports arrived from Ireland Engineering.



New ball joints were connected to powder coated steering arms. I also got a set of powder coated dust shields from KC. The springs are Ireland Stage II.



The strut mounts are new OEM parts.



I put the stock rotors and brakes back on. I have a set of Volvo calipers, but that's a project for another day. Everything was tied together with an Ireland sway bar.



The ride height with the Stage II's and 185/13s is 23.5" to the lip in the front...



...and 23" in the rear.

]]> http://donarum.com/cars/index.php?entry=entry080309-184704 2008-03-09T00:00:00Z 2008-03-09T00:00:00Z


I picked up a set of used, but never installed, sport seats locally on ebay for about $100. These are made by 3A. They are basically the kind of thing you get from PepBoys for $250 or $300. They are pretty good looking and seem like a quality seat. They weigh about 35 lbs each which is the same as the stock seats, so I am not saving any weight. I would like to buy a more quality set of racing seats someday, but these should work fine.



The seats came with rails. The mounting width of the seats is narrower than the stock rails, but only by about 1.5 inches. That means that they would not simply mount to the existing rails and that attempts to center them on some flat stock would interfere with the car's brackets. I decided to use the stock seat rails because they seem stronger than the aftermarket rails and because I like to use stock parts where I can. I obtained two 1/8"x3"x18.75" pieces of steel for each side to run between each stock seat rail. I then offset the seats toward the center of the car so that the inner set of seat bolts go through the stock center rail and the steel plates. The outer seat bolts go through holes in the steel plate. The plate is then bolted to the stock seat rails on the outboard side. There is an FAQ that is very helpful at BMW2002FAQ.



The outboard side is visible. A scrap of carpet or something can cover that.



As you can see these seats definitely look better. They put the occupant at about the same height as the stock seats, but provide a lot more lateral support.



The project took me about six or seven hours spread over a few days. Most of that was measuring and drilling holes.



The seats seem comfortable. We'll see how they feel on a long trip with the new Stage II springs and Sport shocks.

]]> http://donarum.com/cars/index.php?entry=entry080108-122532 2008-01-08T00:00:00Z 2008-01-08T00:00:00Z


I am really happy with it. The hardware in the picture spent a night or so in a gallon can of parts cleaner that I got from Salvo Auto Parts.

My passenger side motor mount seemed to be splitting apart so I bolted up the one that Casey gave me. Here is a picture of the whole assembly going back in. I will install the steering later. I need to mess with the transmission first.



Installation is the opposite of removal as they say. I supported the part under the car with a jack and scrap 2x4. I lined up the driver side motor mount first and then raised the jack until the passenger side mount slipped into place.



The new Ireland sway bar mounts come with longer bolts to compensate for the thickness of the aluminum blocks.



After torquing everything to the published specs I removed the cradle and straps that I used to support the engine during the swap.

Next up are the struts and suspension arms.




]]> http://donarum.com/cars/index.php?entry=entry071220-100305 2007-12-20T00:00:00Z 2007-12-20T00:00:00Z


I then disconnected two of the bolts at the flexible steering coupling. I loosened the driver's side engine mount nut and removed the nut from the passenger side mount. I then supported the subframe with a jack, removed the six bolts, and carefully lowered it. Here is a picture of the old subframe. I need to degrease the steering box and swap it on to the new subframe.



In other news....I found a set of generic seats on eBay for next-to-nothing. I need to fabricate a set of mounts. They should be good enough for now. Maybe I will look for something nicer in a few years.

]]> http://donarum.com/cars/index.php?entry=entry071211-233919 2007-12-12T00:00:00Z 2007-12-12T00:00:00Z
]]> http://donarum.com/cars/index.php?entry=entry071112-215323 2007-11-13T00:00:00Z 2007-11-13T00:00:00Z


Now I have a beautiful but bent Arizona sub and a rusty but straight New England piece. At this point my boss told me about All Strip LLC in Edgewood, MD. They did a great job on the parts.



The black POR-15 is drying as I write this.


]]> http://donarum.com/cars/index.php?entry=entry071010-231903 2007-10-11T00:00:00Z 2007-10-11T00:00:00Z


Most of the undercoating was still good.



I then used steel wool and paint thinner to prepare the surface for Herculiner truck bed liner. The stuff is like brownie mix. I used a disposable paint brush to put a heavy coat in the spots where the undercoating had chipped off. I then took a small roller and applied a coating to the entire wheel well.



While the bed liner was drying I got the new parts ready to go in. New Bilstein Sport shocks and Stage II springs were delivered from Ireland Engineering earlier this week. Notice the difference between the blue Ireland springs and the black BMW springs.



Here are the results. I can't wait to finish the front end and get this thing on the road.




Afterthought: The Herculiner did a great job of filling in where I was missing undercoating. I don't think I would recommend it though because of the texture. Since it is meant for truck beds it has a non stick texture. It's tough, but it'll mess up your knuckles if you're turning wrenches near it. I am using POR-15 for the front wheel wells.]]> http://donarum.com/cars/index.php?entry=entry070820-233400 2007-08-21T00:00:00Z 2007-08-21T00:00:00Z
The rear diff mount has two bushings which I replaced with urethane parts from Ireland Engineering. I found it easiest to cut out the center of the old bushing and notch the outer ring with a hack saw blade. Then it was fairly easy to press it out. Use a lot of lube on the new bushings. The lip of the mount is very sharp and can easily cut up the urethane. We pressed the new ones in with our 20 ton press from Harbor Freight.



After scrubbing the underside of the body I reinstalled the mount.



The trailing arm bushings were fairly easy to press out, but it's a two man job because of the awkward shape on the arms. I pressed the bushings back in with a large C-clamp and plenty of bushing lube. I bottomed them out against the flange, but it made reattaching the arms rather difficult. It may be best to test fit the arms as you are getting close to bottoming out the bushings.



Because the bushings may have been pressed in too far, we had to bend the mounting brackets out a little in order to refit the arms. Everything moved freely after being torqued down.



The new subframe mount from Ireland Engineering comes with a urethane insert. This is a simple bolt on part.



The new sway bar and urethane bushings are also from Ireland. This is a tricky install. The bushing clamps are held on by two self tapping screws on each side. The screws mate with a nut that is welded to the bracket. DO NOT use these screws to pull the bracket in towards the subframe. They will strip. I managed to strip one of mine. The word on the message board is to use a long bolt to draw the bracket in while also using a c-clamp or vice grips. I think in the end the way I fixed my stripped bolt may be the way to re-engineer the entire thing. I shaved off the welded on nut with a hack saw and file. I then used a regular bolt with a real nut to mount the bracket. I liked it so much that I may go back and shave off the other three and replace them as well.



The "new" rear end is a 3.91 LSD from a 320i. It has a 2002 rear cover, but everything else is stock 320i. This method requires that you use a 320i CV joint on the inner end of each axle with a spacer which I got from Ireland Engineering. It also included the required bolts. I explained the axle rebuild a couple months ago.



When you mount the rear to the subframe do not torque it down. It's mounted in slots in the subframe so that it can be adjusted forward and back. Toque the subframe mounts to the body first. Then install the drive shaft. The rear will find it's happy place based on the driveshaft and can then be torqued down. After the springs and shocks are reinstalled you can install the axles. I had to the use the existing shocks and springs since I haven't found the cash for the Ireland Stage IIs and Bilsteins that I plan to use.



At this point the brakes can be reinstalled and the wheels can be remounted.

After that was done I slid the sway bar ends onto the bars. I used a wooden block, hammer, and bushing lube to install them without stripping off any more paint than I had to. I tightened them down at 40mm from the end of the bar. We'll have to adjust them as we drive the car. The suspension is hanging from the lift so DO NOT install the links at this point.



With the car back on the ground I bounced on the rear bumper a couple times to help is settle. Then I installed the sway bar links.



At the moment I am not sure how tight to make them. I am going to try to figure that out and then edit this to include those instructions.

All in all, the rear end looks great. We'll see how it reacts to the road soon.]]> http://donarum.com/cars/index.php?entry=entry070723-140135 2007-07-23T00:00:00Z 2007-07-23T00:00:00Z