30 Day Overhaul.... Gone Haywire!!!

[Clownman]

So the Thanksgiving break is proving to be quite productive. I just finished up the shops new rotisserie and I'm headed back tomorrow to hopefully put the car on it. I have to pull the glass out before and drop the doors again but other than that its ready to go.

Both sub frames are complete and ready to go back in once I finish the under side clean up. So once it is mounted to the rotis, its game on to get the thing into a rolling chassis so I can get it to paint. Attached area few pics of the rotating machine. Hope you like it.

Oh and Veronica got a new home today also, no more sitting outside!! Its a bit small but hey its better than nothing!

firefirefire90, yea I know Sultz, he is in 20th Co. and lives one floor above me. I have been meaning to talk to him about his 320i, some one else told me about it when they found out I was working on this project.

Later everyone, hope your turkey day was good!!!

Chris

[Clownman]

Ok so Christmas break is finally upon us!!! I am so happy to be done with this semester at school and with the finals!

So with that done it is car time for the next three weeks! First thing is to get the collection of parts out of the house and to the shop. The first car related item is getting it on teh rotisserie to access the underbody and get that stripped and ready to go. I think that I will be doing a lot of little things, I will be ordering the gauges and all the other stuff to go work on the dash and other bis and pieces that can be done in side. I will also be powdercoating a lot more parts, all the engine components, a few more brake brackets and other misc items that I think need a good blasting and coating.

Second on the list is the subwoofer and amp box, that can be done inside and I think I want to at least start it if anything. Plus I can do it at school and get it done in half the time.

So thats about it for the update, nothing new to report but stay tuned.... its coming!

Oh and the tranny and all the other parts are on their way from Aardvark. Who know where I can get the rear shock mount upper body bushings... the tree looking things... Need them too.

Chris

[M3M3]

time to turn to Chris! looking forward to serious progress over the holiday!

[Clownman]

So it was a productive day, I got all the glass removed which was a painful experience!!! The front and rear seals were in very good condition so I tried to salvage them to reuse but that was not happening, so I cut them out. The rear quarter windows took a bit of guessing then I realised where the mounting screws were... about 20 minutes later. But over all I got them out!!!

Then got it mounted to the Rotis!!!! I had to balance her out front to back but she spins pretty easy now.

The underbody is my next task!! I will be scraping, grinding, welding anything and everything that needs it and then applying some Eastwood's rust inhibiting paint stuff and then its getting a good coating of Gator Guard. Being on its side should help!!!!

There was also a beautiful present waiting for me at the house tonight when I got home. Jon at 666 Fabrication does beautiful work!!! All stainless and fully tig welded, I cant wait to see this thing turn colours!!! I would highly recommend him for your manifold needs!!!

MVS Wastgate Flange

Tomorrow I start scraping and also mocking up the turbo flares.... Should be another great day.

Chris

[Clownman]

Kinda got a late start today, I had to wait to order more parts. So here are the updates from today.

I guess you see new things when the car is on its side like this. There was a little crack in the rocker in front of the rear wheel so I hit it with the grinder and when I got nothing but primer and bondo dust flying off the grinder I knew it was not good. A few minutes later and low and behold a shitty patch job. Im not even sure how they did this. There are 5 rivets in the panel and its JB welded from the inside...WTF?

So yea this guy get a 5 for creativity but a huge WTF for correctness!

But to brighten my day the FedEx guy cam through with my summit order!!! A few new gauges will adorn my custom dash along with the Innovative ARF gauge, fuel, oil press, electric speedo, tach, water temp and last but not least... BOOST!!!!! I cant wait to get these installed!

One more step in a huge list of things to do... Tomorrow is another early day at the shop...

Chris

[M3M3]

surprises are expectations on an old car...

can't wait to see those guages not just installed...but reading something!

keep up the holiday pressure!

[Clownman]

Ok so today was a total bust thanks to mother nature. Predicting about 10 inches of snow at the shop in the next day... Not pleasant to be working outside in.

I have spent the last 3 days scraping the undercoating off my car and coming across all sorts of nice surprises... Like that patch above, and the floorboard replacements. One word of advice to those replacing floor pans. Please, please, please, fully weld the panels in then apply a rust inhibiting product, pain, and then seal it. Dont seal it first, it just retains the moisture and the rust grows exponentially!!! Oh and dont paint over dirt and grease. That just common sense. If your gonna spend the time to do something do it right.

Ok enough with the pissing and moaning. I hopefully will still have my car on the wheels by the 7th... we will see. I have this plan to turn my tent into a heated paint booth, we will see how that goes in a few days. Tomorrow brings more scraping and fender removal and trimming for the turbo flares. I cant mock up the front cuz of the rotisseries but that can wait till after I get it on the ground or on blocks again.

Ok onto the pics...

Also got all the bits and pieces I need for the fool injection along with all the seals, gaskets and other misc crap I need for when and if I get my motor any time soon.

Also got package 1 of 3 from Aardvark, a rebuilt drive shaft. The trans and the other bits should be here this week...

Oh and this is what is halting progress for the day... Wish I had my jeep, cuz i would still be there!

Ford Focus vs Jeep Cherokee vs Snow... Jeep Wins!!!

Also one last thing.. how long should I give my engine guy to inspect a block and head... initially he said a week and he would call but its been almost two months and I have heard nothing.... I dont wanna bug him.... So....

Later,

Chris

[Clownman]

Ok so today was a great day!!! I got a good amount of work done even though I found some more holes that were patched with JB Weld and rivets!!! Gotta love that stuff!!! Anyway not much to report... so onto the pics. If you have any questions just ask.

Found one on the drivers side just like this one so I go look on the passenger side and low and behold the same thing... Needless to say this will get patched correctly.

Drew out the initial marks and cut lines

For those cutting into the rear fenders be aware that there are two panels bonded together in there, only cut what you need.

With both panels cut out and ready to be welded back together

Cut the inner fender into fingers that will bend and allow the contour to be followed then weld then together along the outer seam

All welded up and the fingers cut off and ground down. You dont need to grind it completely smooth because the flare will cover it, and the extra weld will ensure the panel stays together.

Wheel assy mocked up along with the flare... I cant wait to get them on!!!

Well thats it for now cuz its dinner time!!!

Later,

Chris

[Clownman]

So yesterday was a total bust because I had a piece of metal stuck in my eye that bothered me all day so I just sat at home and did nothing. I got it out and everything is ok and yes I was wearing safety glasses and everything.

Today, although raining I was still able to get the patch panel on and the other side cut up for the rear flare. Not much is happening besides all that stuff. I'm ordering all the engine bits and pieces from Ireland tomorrow and will hopefully get more word on my engine tomorrow.

Anyway on to the pics!!! Although not much to post about....

I was amazed at how much that piece of crap hurt! Not near as bad as the laser for PRK though but almost. I'm so lucky it was not in the center of my eye!!

Driverside rear flare cut out and patch panel done!

More to come tomorrow!!!

Later,

Chris

[Guest]

That sucks, I've had that happen twice now. One time even with safety goggles and a face shield... Luckily last time(last week) it came out on it's own 30 minutes later, the first time it did overnight. Now I wear swimming goggles any time I need to look closely at what I'm grinding.

[Clownman]

Ok so as my Christmas Break comes to a close I still dont have a rolling chassis. Well I could have but I want to do this right the first time and not have to worry about it ever again. Therefor my only limiting factor was the weather, with it begin in the low 40's and all over the 30's it is very difficult to get paint to stick to metal or anything for that matter.

But alas I still got it all prepped for the media blasting and completely stripped and ready to mount the flares. The last days were filled with more and more scraping of undercoating and interior tar paper and assessing previous patch jobs to the floor pans. I hope to have it in primer and painted by summer and then it game on. I have all the parts and pieces coming in slowly but I should have all the pieces to throw it together pretty easily with some help.

So as a final update for the break here are the final few pictures....

These holes will be used as a cross brace that ties the b-pillar together with some DOM tubing and will be used to mount some 4 or 5 point harnesses... I'm not quite sure if it will work but it may or may not be put in.

All of the gauges will find a home in the front of the dash. I will be forming a fiberglass mold and setting them all in there as a press fit. This is a very, very rough lay out or how they will be positioned.

Another top secret project is a set of fluid holders, clucth, brake, and oil catch can. They will be in the place of the original brake fluid res and be attached through a mounting block and held in as a press fit.... Stay tuned for that one.

And as with every evening that I got to work on my car this winter I drove towards the sunset.

Well school starts on Tuesday, I will be here at school working on small projects and adapters for the engine components. I hope that all following this had a great holiday season, I'm looking forward to a great new year and maybe even a drive in my car.

Later guys,

Chris

[justinevert]

Hey CM,

Very impressed with the status so far, I would be leary of having the car on the grass, things tend to sink in mud and I did not see that you put your 4x4 tires on your rotiserie. You have got a lot done so far in a few months than I got mine done in 3 years (I am on year 5 but seeing the light at thend of the tunnel.

I like the dash set up though I don't know how you are going to fit all the gauges in there, woould you consider having the speedo, tach, oil pressure and fuel gauge up in front and the rest on the console. If you really want to standout, rotate the tact to have the shift point at 12 o'clock.

As for the media blasting I am doing that now, are you going to do it or farm it out. If solo, it will take time, the German paint is rather tough to cut through. I am using soda which is very green that it disolves with water but slow, do not use sand unless it is absolutely needed it will warp thin sheet metal.

As for the engine I would JetHot all the exhaust parts as much as one can afford, turbos are hellaciously hot, so count on laying down some heat shield marterial as well. If possible use AN fittings for all connections, like you said do it right and not have to worry about it, it does add a bit of bling but it's worth it.

Regards

J.E.

[Clownman]

So while I sit here.. not doing homework... I came up with an idea for a new break fluid reservoir... well as Marshall would say scope creep took over and I wound up with this bad ass thing!!! It will mount where the original was but not look so old and crappy. The 90* fittings will have clear tubing over them for a fluid level check. Should be done in a few weeks.

Left is the Clutch Res(only need one port on the bottom), Center is the Brake Res, and Right is an oil catch can... I have all the canisters made and just need the fittings and to cut the mounting plate out.

Back to school work now...

Later,

Chris

[Clownman]

On another side note, since I will be running an electric speedometer I needed a way to get the signal from the transmission to the sender. Well neeedless no one makes a chevy hall effect sensor to BMW transmission mount... Duh... So today in my 2 pree periods and after school I made my own. I am learning so much down in the shop from the guys, today I learned how to cut threads on a manual lathe! Pics with the sensor and transmission side plug to show just what was needed.

School's still going well btw... but on to pics!

V/R

Chris

[Clownman]

SO I just got a call from the guys house where my car is at, and I guess the winds were a bit to strong last night. The car cover and car/rotisserie assembly all got blown over in the wind. He said that the car is on its roof with the rotisserie still attached.... Going to assess the damage now. Ill post pics tonight.

Chris