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Date: 5-5-08 10:21
From: H_Krix in Atlanta, Ga 
Subject: Re: 5-speed & assorted.... stuff  
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| HarryPR wrote: | You're making great progress, Harrison!
Looks like you'll be starting it up soon. Any hope of making it to V@V with it? |
Thanks Harry, Probably not much chance of me making V@V anymore, mainly due to the cost of the remaining components I need to get this all together. She'll probably be running by then, but without an exhaust or new tires.
I did get the engine & trans in this past weekend, along with new steel fuel lines and a new rear brakeline. Bending the fuel lines was an exercise in frustration, thats for sure. I started off using the factory tabs that bend in place, but they didn't like fitting around the lines too well, so in the end I riveted them in place with isolated rubber grommets.
All that took up most of my day. In the end I was able to drop the engine and transmission in with the help of my friend Joe, but thats about it. No trans mounts or driveshaft yet.
Next weekend I'm away for a wedding, then a vacation the week after, then the next weekend is V@V. I have a week off where I'll be doing work on the car, but even if some miracle does happen, I don't really want to make its maiden voyage one of 500+ miles round-trip. Next year, for certain.
Pix soon... _________________ 
click signature above for my resto blog
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Date: 5-29-08 02:32
From: H_Krix in Atlanta, Ga
Subject: Engine back in, fuel lines run, etc etc etc
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So, I do have shots of the engine going back in with the 5-speed transmission, but they're not on this computer (or my camera for that matter) so those are going to have to wait.
No matter, plenty of shots of other random junk:
Apparently when I get frustrated with things, I paint valvecovers. crawling under the car repeatedly and going out to purchase random little missing bushings and washers for my 5-speed install got me a little annoyed, so I did this:
My girlfriend says its too much red, and that it kind of overpowers the engine bay. Another friend of mine (who, oddly, drives a Nissan 300zx) says it might be too "Rice." Meh, changing then only takes like 5 minutes anyways. If I had the correct fuel pump, I could bolt up a header and crank it, but I pulled the pump out of a 325i instead of a 318, so I need to make another junkyard trip first.
A few more pics of my throttle cable set-up here. Like I said in the earlier posts, I used a tii throttle bracket with a few new holes drilled in. I also removed the spring on it, since the gas pedal and throttle body already both have return springs on them. With the tii one in place, the whole mess got really difficult to articulate.
Parts used were:
- e30 325i throttle cable
- 2002ii throttle bracket
- 2002 pedal linkage
- Custom brackets (see earlier post)
- Generic flanged bushing from O'Reiley (meant for power window regulators)
Got the MM 5-speed kit all bolted in. Fits really snug, but I didn't pound out enough of the trans tunnel for the slave cylinder, so I need to open that area up a little more still. The transmission shifts into all the gears smoothly, but I won't know if this thing is lunched or not until I start the car.
Worked a bit on making some new foglight mounts. Originally I drilled holes in the radiator support and hung the lights upside-down form there. This really isn't optimal though, since the metal there is flimsy and they bounce all over the damn place at speed. I came up with this solution:
This way, the lights mount to the holes where the plates used to bolt up for depressing the square rubber tubes surrounding the bumper shocks (square-light guys know what I mean.) Obviously, I'm not running bumpers so this works out pretty well. I'm pretty sure you could do this even with the bumper shocks in place but most people would just use the bumper in that instance. Oh, this mounting method is also very rigid.
Mounted up, they look nice. Tight fit, but enough to allow a fair bit of adjustment:
I've got a 320i radiator (I think) I'm using for the car. Its got brass tanks and fins, and was in the car when I got it forever ago. I had thoughts of purchasing a brand-new one from Ireland, but loooong ago when I first got Phoenix back on the road, my grandfather brazed a couple small leaks closed in this radiator. This had to be around 1999 or 2000, and he has since passed away. Being a machinist his whole life, I'd really have liked for him to see my completed car, but its nice knowing I have a bit of his handiwork in my car still.
Some before shots, with a few bent fins:
After stripping, and straightening the bends:
Measuring for some adapter brackets (I think I used aluminum box stock before, but I'd like something a little more elegant this time 'round):
Also, I scored a set of these:
NOS 1960's satin-black Talbots, straight from Germany. hotness.
More work and pics coming from this weekend, and maybe I'll get my engine install shots too. I'm hoping to get the car up on stands and finish up anchoring the fuel lines, putting the driveshaft in, bleeding the brake system, and checking the torque on all the suspension bolts. Fun times. _________________
click signature above for my resto blog
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Date: 5-29-08 03:25
From: oz_tom in Melbourne - Australia
Subject: Re: Engine back in, fuel lines run, etc etc etc
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Nice score on the Talbots Harrison! The whole car is coming together so sweet. _________________ 
72tii - Whitey
74 - Blacky
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Date: 6-30-08 07:32
From: J.E.2002
Subject: Re: Engine back in, fuel lines run, etc etc etc
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HKrix,
We are all waiting for the latest update(s). It has been a month, anything new? We are all waiting for the latest and greatest. Please grace us with the latest news!! We are bored.
J.E.2002
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Date: 6-30-08 10:43
From: H_Krix in Atlanta, Ga
Subject: I wish I had more to show...
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Well, June kind of sucked for me as far as work on the car was concerned. Between a friend's wedding & bachelor party, along with getting sent to Las Vegas for a week and a half for work, my weekends were otherwise occupied and I couldn't get a lot done.
I would have been able to fire the car this past weekend, but my Odyssey battery has decided to go flat on me. I have no idea why, considering half the circuits in the car aren't even fused up yet, there can't possibly be any power draw outside of the tests I've been doing to make sure my wiring isn't bunk. I tossed a charger on it Saturday night around 6pm and let it sit until 10am Sunday, but the battery still only showed 5v. It will be running during this week on a 2A trickle charge so hopefully it isn't kaput.
I also need to sit down with my MS board and program my sensors into it with easytherm. If I can get the coding done this week and the battery takes a charge, we could be running on Friday or Saturday... knock on wood.
Speaking of wood ( snicker) I managed to find another project worth doing while I waited for my battery charger to do tis thing. I had originally planned on bleeding the clutch and brakes while the car was in the air, but it turns out I had the clutch MC in upside-down. That thing is a BITCH to remove while the transmission is still in the car, and I ended up scraping up the undercoating around the MC pretty bad. Since I had to repaint it, and since I didn't want to put the MC back into the car around the wet paint (and, subsequently, couldn't bleed the clutch without the MC in the car) I decided to employ the "Slackey" method of building my own center console.
I did work car stereo install for several years, so I know my way around MDF pretty well. For anyone looking to do this, here are a few tips:
First: screw together 2 pieces of MDF and cut your sideboards as one piece. This will make it much easier to make them as identical as possible.
If you don't have a router (like me) and you want rounded edges on your console, angle your jigsaw and cut along a 45 degree angle first.
The follow up with a DA, grinder, sander or the like, and finish with rough sandpaper:
Test fit constantly. I'm not going to have any exposed screws on my console (more on that in a later installment) so I need to make sure the fit is perfect. If you want to screw yours together for the time being, wood putty will hide the holes very well, especially once covered in vinyl.
The "faceplate" was the hardest piece to test fit. this would change size depending on how the bottom piece in the shot above was angled
Finally, when you've got it all set, spray the joints with primer or other fast-drying paint. Don't use a brush because you don't want to knock anything out of alignment...
...this way, when you take everything apart, you have nice clean lines where everything should go:
Other than that, I have the radiator and electric fan hooked up:
The fan came off an old Mercedes from a junkyard, and had a nice rock-guard to go with it. This thing is like a jet turbine, it puts out so much more air than I was expecting. I took an 89 degree switch from an e30 and put it in the threaded plug at the bottom of the radiator. This will control the fan on and off through a relay in the car.
I also hooked up my fuel pump and fuel filter, as well as all the wiring that goes with it. I'm running an in-tank pump from a 1990 318is wired to the MS board. No shots of that unfortunately (which sucks because my fuel filter bracket is SO COOL) because I forgot my camera.
Currently the car is still up in the air waiting for driveshaft install and alignment, brakes/clutch to be bled, and final check on a few things like rear axle nuts, safety wire on front struts, and a few errant cotter pins. To be perfectly honest, I keep finding other things to do besides plug in the ECU and turn the key, because I'm scared shitless of firing this thing for the first time.
Hopefully, this weekend will consist of the following (this is more a list for me than you guys):
- Install clutch MC, bleed brakes & clutch.
- Install / align driveshaft
- fill transmission w/ fluid
- fill diff w/ fluid
- fill engine w/ oil
- fill radiator w/ coolant
- safety wire front struts, cotter pin center link, torque and pin rear hubs
- paint rear drums black (why did I paint these silver??)
- mount up rusty header, plug in ECU, check fuses, twist key and pray.
I really hope my battery isn't toast. I have no idea what could be sucking the juice out of it right now. Guess I'll find out on Friday when i get out there if it took a charge. Otherwise I'm pulling all my fuses and setting it up again just in case... _________________
click signature above for my resto blog
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Date: 6-30-08 01:01
From: cjreents in Portland, OR
Subject: Re: I wish I had more to show...
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Nice work on the center console - would love to see it when you're finished!
- Chris _________________ '71 2002 M20 Conversion Blog
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Date: 7-9-08 07:10
From: H_Krix in Atlanta, Ga
Subject: Weekend... progress?
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Well, a parts shipment I was waiting on last week didn't show up until yesterday because of the holiday weekend, so I wasn't able to put the car back on the ground and try to start it.
I've been waiting on driveshaft bolts and cotter pins for the rear axle nuts (went with BMW ones because I've heard horror stories of non-OEM ones snapping off.) Now I can toss the driveshaft back in and tighten up the rear hubs, bleed the brakes and clutch, and put my car back on the ground!
Which means its time to twist the key. I've been pouring over MS stuff all week, and I'll probably toss up my MSQ file on Friday to see if you guys can take a look at it before I try to start the car.
This past weekend I finished installing the clutch cylinder (bleed screw DOWN) and made a new hardline for it as the braided line I was using before no longer fit in the new orientation. That project sucked. I'll have shots of the hardline soon in case anyone is interested - forgot to take them when I was under the car.
Project Center Console is shaping up to be nearly as complicated as my Intake Manifold project... There are 36 bolts and nuts that hold this thing together! Along with a bunch of custom aluminum plates for the joints to keep everything hidden, and countersinking the bolts, this has taken a lot of time.
I wouldn't recommend this method unless you're crazy like I am, have a bunch of free time, or just really hate exposed screws in upholstery. I like the stock look of the '02 console, but I've always hated the screws just sitting there on the side of it.
one of the harder pieces: the faceplate
An example of the countersinking. Bolts are inserted here and then covered in epoxy to hold tight. The holes are then covered in wood putty:
Some of the more complicated brackets that hold this all together. This is all so I don't have exposed screws!
There are over thirty bolts keeping this all in one piece:
My friend Joe (I'm using his basement garage for this project) made this out of my scrap pieces while I was working. I think he's just trying to find excuses to use his new nail gun:
 _________________
click signature above for my resto blog
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Date: 7-9-08 05:44
From: oz_tom in Melbourne - Australia
Subject: Re: Weekend... progress?
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Consle looks awsome mate! I really like the design of it. _________________
72tii - Whitey
74 - Blacky
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Date: 7-16-08 01:19
From: H_Krix in Atlanta, Ga
Subject: Brakes... why did it have to be brakes...
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My friend is trying to convince me to do the brakes on his Mazda Protege 5 so he can save a couple bucks. I just got finished with rebuilding the braking system on my e36 and I politely told him "There is no god damn way. I hate brakes more than anything else on a car"
To which he replied, in his best Indiana Jones voice (we'd just watched Last Crusade a few days prior) "Brakes... Why did it have to be Brakes..."
If you laughed at that, I thank you for your pity.
So on Sunday I decided to start dumping fluids into (and, subsequently, out of) the car. First up was, of course, brakes.
Problem #1: Upon filling the system up, it leaked in about 9 different connections. Turns out I hadn't gone through and snugged everything up. So I went through wheel by wheel and connection by connection and did just that.
Problem #2: After pumping a bazillion times, I couldn't get fluid to the rear cylinders. Ended up having to buy a one-way bulb pump and sucked the fluid through the lines.
Problem #3: First two rounds of pumping did absolutely nothing. Searching the FAQ showed that my rear drums were not adjusted correctly, letting the pads move in and out without building any pressure in the system. So I had to break loose the big 17mm nuts on the backing plates and adjust the shoes.
Problem #4: Front Girling calipers turned out to be on the wrong sides of the car. Had to block off the lines (with fluid going everywhere) and swap while trying to keep brake fluid from eating my front subframe. Lost some paint on the steering arms, which sucks, but nothing too awful.
After that... hey! We have pedal! Only thing is now I'm getting a drag in the pedal when its released - it won't spring back and feels like something is scraping in there. I rebuilt the master and it moves smoothly, so I don't know if its my booster thats just been sitting too long or what. Pedalbox is rebuilt with all new busings, but I did use the old bolt. Anyone think that could be the issue?
Coolant went in fine - no leaks - but I'll know better about that once the system gets some pressure in it. Hopefully my homebrew bypass pipe hold tight.
Oil went in... and then promptly all over the floor because the machine shop left out the front-most exhaust stud on the head that blocks that oil passage. There's a bolt there until the correct part arrives.
Transmission and diff oil went in without much drama, thankfully. My battery is now alive again thanks to a replacement charger (old one was dead.) Still need to safety-wire the front struts before I drop it back to the ground, but I need to find safety wire first...
Driveshaft is in but I think the diff is pushed too far forward causing a kink in the driveshaft and misalignment. Needs to be moved back probably 8mm or so to be perfect. No sense in getting that wrong while its still up in the air, but its gonna be a bitch to crack those torqued bolts loose while I'm laying on my back...
Center console is ready for vinyl. I painted all the panels with primer, then topcoated in gloss black to protect the wood and prevent any water warping down the road. Also, this way, if there's anything exposed it won't show up as glaring tan color against the black vinyl.
Man, I'm really getting tired of working on this thing... _________________
click signature above for my resto blog
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Date: 8-4-08 07:15
From: H_Krix in Atlanta, Ga
Subject: Re: Brakes... why did it have to be brakes...
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| ibjettin wrote: | | How did your door panels turn out?? |
Doorpanels and center console work have taken a backseat to my girlfriend's summer class schedule. She went back to school to get a Doctorate in Pharmacy, and this summer has been filled with organic chemistry classes at 7am. Needless to say, she doesn't feel much like being a seamstress when she comes home from work in the evenings. Finals are soon though, so hopefully I can get that wrapped up.
I went to start the engine this weekend, and was about halfway through setting up my megasquirt when the gateway PC I was using decided it was a good time to crap out on me. It went to a bluescreen and won't even boot in safemode right now, so I think I've gotta reinstall the OS... which will subsequently delete my in-progress megasquirt file.
After that happened, I decided to do something else and install my carpet. Everything but the kick panels are in right now, as I found out I need shallower speakers to fit in the Bill Williams brand kick panel fiberglass mounts. I also rebuilt my e-brake with some large washers to stiffen the mounts, and a few bushings I had laying around to try and take the slop out of it. It was also sitting about 2" off-center to the left, so I took care of that too. Only 3 clicks to full lock now, which is nice. I also repainted my W&N strut brace to match the body color and wheels on the car.
No pics, unfortunately, as I seem to have lost my digital camera somewhere. When I got home, my girlfriend said "your breath smells like spray adhesive."
lovely.
Next weekend will be my last weekend on the car for a while, as my company is sending me to China to oversee some graphics we've done for the Olympics. I'll be gone from the 17th until the 30th. At least all this time spent with paint, bondo and glue will prepare me for the air quality in Beijing... _________________
click signature above for my resto blog
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Date: 9-3-08 06:58
From: oz_tom in Melbourne - Australia
Subject: Re: Brakes... why did it have to be brakes...
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Any movement mate? Please tell me that sweet as console is all covered now! _________________
72tii - Whitey
74 - Blacky
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Date: 9-22-08 07:22
From: H_Krix in Atlanta, Ga
Subject: Re: PDF of the trunk side panels
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| Todd21 wrote: | H,
Did you ever get around to creating patterns for the trunk side panels? I'd like to have something to go by.
Todd |
Not yet. I've since learned that the side boards were only included on round-light cars, as the side supports made mounting these in square-light cars something of a pain in the ass. I can fit the factory boards in my car by bending the nonsense out of them, but the thicker material I used to cut copies won't work unless it gets severely shaved down. I'm currently looking for an alternative to this...
Its been a while since I posted anything. I've been very busy with the rest of things going on in my life, so unfortunately Phoenix has taken a backseat for the past month and a half or so. A trip to China along with a few conventions really took up my schedule, along with a newfound affinity for propmaking. I should really finish one project before starting on others, but alas...
Things I have completed:
Carpet is installed, after sitting around for nearly three years in its boxes. The blue looks great, and I'd really love to put the doorpanels in as well,but they aren't finished yet. Ditto for the center console, but hopefully that will get wrapped up this week. Along with this went the passenger-side seatbelt assembly, but I had to stop there as I can't find any more of the fine-threaded bolts to mount the rest of the belts in with...
Kickpanels are installed (much props to Bill Williams on these pieces) They're a little shallow for the speakers I want to use, so I may have to add some spacers. On that note...
Speakers are wired in, with crossovers mounted. Tweeters have been rewired in the dash and everything there is set to go once I cut the carpet in the kicks for the speakers and mount them up.
Sunroof seals are in and the glue should be dry by now. I should be able to install the rails and cables in next week, and hopefully I won't scratch the ever-loving piss out of the roof like the last time I tried this.
Trim is being polished. I balked at the price of new stuff - $160 a side for quarter window lower trim and nearly twice that for upper door trim. Granted I'll have to come up with some sort of replacement for the felt liner and squeegee on these parts, but I'm betting I can come up with some sort of replacement. So far the polishing is turning out great. I'm going with 400, 600, 1000, 2000, and Mother's aluminum polish after that.
Hopefully this weekend I can get the gas pedal mounted up, bleed the clutch, finish the last piece of carpet, and maybe start on either the quarter window glass / door seals / sunroof. Need to start making progress again!
I'll have pics of some of this stuff up soon. _________________
click signature above for my resto blog
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Date: 9-29-08 07:27
From: H_Krix in Atlanta, Ga
Subject: Console finished!
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