Wallace

['76mintgrün'02]

39 minutes ago, majdomo said:

I find it interesting though that some folks swore by them, placebo effect maybe? Who knows. I’ll run the setup as it is for now

 

Some cars may be fleXier than others. 

 

I suppose there's more to tightening them up than some linear - - measurable - - movement.  Things resonate and vibrate and connecting sides would eliminate some of that; making it feeel tighter.

 

I'd like to have a bamboo strut brace, if not for the stock air cleaner.

 

[ray_]

2 minutes ago, '76mintgrün'02 said:

 

Some cars may be fleXier than others. 

 

I suppose there's more to tightening them up than some linear - - measurable - - movement.  Things resonate and vibrate and connecting sides would eliminate some of that; making it feeel tighter.

 

I'd like to have a bamboo strut brace, if not for the stock air cleaner.

 

Just fashion it correctly and you can ?

[majdomo]

If they can figure out how to make racing bikes out of bamboo, why not strut braces?

 

https://calfeedesign.com/bamboo/

[majdomo]

Dumb random update - had a guy show up at my door today asking how much I wanted for “the old BMW”. I asked “which one?” Lol. Neither are for sale. “Well everything has a price..” Yeah, go on FAQ and find one there, easy way to find one! “What’s FAQ?” Gtf off my lawn, no flippers here.

 

Bought a new HG kit, have some dried coolant tracks down the intake side of the block. I’m NOT rebuilding the head, for now, as I’m gearing up to build up the numbers matching block and will do it once I’m ready to marry up the ‘75 E12 head to the original block, assuming it’s still usable. If not, I’m out $60 and a day or two of wrenching to take it off again for a rebuild. I’m burning some oil but not a ton, like maybe half a quart per 1000 miles, have not done a leak down as of yet but should.

 

 

[majdomo]

Since the FZJ80 is still down at the shop, had a little time to get after the distributor on the 02 this evening. Pulled the tii distributor from the car, checked play between the gear and the distributor body - looked nice and tight, very little movement, tested and couldn’t get the .012 gauge into the gap, which is the smallest one I have. The fiber washer was still intact at the bottom behind a metal shim. However - surprise! - the distributor body was missing the rubber ring on the shaft. Huh.

 

Started pulling apart the Crane pickup from the X700 on the tii distributor to put on my stock vacuum advance distributor, but finally give up after realizing it just won’t work on the stock distributor. It’s just way different and the pickup needs a stationary platform from the tii distributor to screw into (usually used for points). The one on the vacuum advance moves, of course, and so even if it’s screwed down, it doesn’t match up to the TDC mark on the edge of the distributor body, and even after pulling all the vacuum distributor parts it still doesn’t exactly line up.

 

However, while pulling the shutter wheel from the distributor shaft, I noticed that it was a few degrees off the center of the lobes. I don’t know if this was enough to make a difference, but when putting it all back together I made sure it went back on dead center. I also put the rubber ring from the old distributor on the tii version, pulled the rotor from the old distributor (looked basically new) and put THAT on the tii distributor, put it all back together and fired it up for a test drive.

 

I haven’t re-checked timing, but I DID set at TDC before removing the distributor and marked in pencil on the valve cover using a straight edge dropped perpendicular to the distributor body. I made sure to put it back on the same way, and it started right up and idled great. And... no surging on the freeway. Weird, no? I’ve changed a few really minor things at once, so it’s hard to say which thing did it, but will have to monitor for the next few days if it’s really fixed. It also could be the Crane unit starting to fail, so I may just get a Pertronix for the tii distributor and call it a day.

[majdomo]

Talked to Shant over at Bimmerheads today. Plans are scrambled a bit but glad I gave him a call. Short story is, wanting to replace the HG is probably going to lead to rebuilding the original block with the E12 head, and getting the car painted with the motor out. Long version - no reason to replace the head gasket without rebuilding and leveling the head; no reason to do that without making the changes I want to make to the cam; and at that point there’s no reason to put the newly refreshed head on a tired bottom end. SO - start pulling stuff off the original block, going to disassemble and get it in a place to take down to the machine shop for hot tanking and honing and possible boring to +0.50 and checking of the crank and block and all that good stuff. Shop for pistons, rebuild the bottom end, pull the current motor and refresh the head, send the car down for paint, build up the original block, drop in the rebuilt engine, and off to the races. Simple, right? But $$$.

 

(phew)

 

FZJ80 is still in the shop, to return on Friday, and E30 needs a clutch job, parts for which are here. SO - the 02 will be in line after all that.

[majdomo]

POINTS!!!

 

Wallace is officially running on points for the first time in probably over 30 years! Pulled my distributor today to properly check my gap (it’s at .006, which may explain my weird shimmy that comes and goes now - found my smaller feeler gauges btw), but just figured with the day off and everything, to just toss the points from my other distributor into the tii distributor to see what happens. Re-wired everything, hooked it all back up - incorrectly - and got smoke from the distributor. Thought I’d had it all right - well, no, the condenser is plugged into the - side of the coil, not +. And since I’m a dumbass and didn’t do my research, just tossed it all back together and tried firing it up to the sweet smell of much electrical smoke. Nothing permanently damaged, though, except my nice new wires. Those were toast.

 

Wiring take 2 did work, buttoned up and reset timing to the ball at 1400 RPM, then took it out on the freeway. Nice, no difference, ball shimmy when timing though is still there. Next step is to take my old distributor which has a vacuum advance and put it in the car to check if I can get it timed to the ball without it moving around. Now that I have the wiring all set, it’ll be a breeze to swap them out. Timing is now at 40 degrees at 3000rpm, feels a little high but that distributor probably won’t stay in the car for long.

 

Cleaned coolant trails off the block, monitoring for now but seems ok. Inspired by @wegweiser’s gonzo head gasket replacement at The Vintage. It will take me a little more than 2 hours, I’m sure, but knowing it’s possible to do in a parking lot at night makes it seem more realistic to do myself in my garage over the course of a long day or two.

 

EDIT - aw heck, just put the other distributor in this afternoon. Installed and timed in about 30 minutes start to finish, this time to the ball at 1500 RPM (was pinging and stumbling very badly on startup). All in at 3200 is 38 degrees. Surging pretty much gone, and the gear gap on the 017 distributor is around .003. Ball is pretty solid at 1500, as is the 0T mark at 38 degrees at 3200. Put a vacuum cap on the vacuum advance mechanism to keep the junk out. So... this may be solved, or may not, but either way I’ve had a lot of fun over the course of a lazy afternoon for free!

 

Edited September 7, 2020 by majdomo
Distributor swapola.

[majdomo]

COVID / fire / apolcalypse drive cut short today. Can’t get into the Angeles National Forest at all. Got a few cool pictures but it is extremely gross out right now.

 

Good news is, got a red center taillight to replace the yellow one that was on the passenger side, so it matches now.

 

Stay safe and cool all!

 

 

[majdomo]

Not much to report on the 02 front these days, just lots of driving and enjoying the car. I’ve found a new road or two over the mountains near home, which I’ve gone out a few times, so that’s been great. Driving it to work and back here and there. You know, like a normal car.

 

I’m selling the E30, which is bittersweet. There’s no pressing need to, but with all the uncertainty going around, I was able to get a good price for a solid, reliable driver 318is. I also don’t want to let it sit and will be awesome to get my driveway back. I’m going through smog hell with it right now, hoping it doesn’t need a new cat (even though it probably needs a new cat). Buyer is up north and being patient for now. Plus, it’ll let me focus in on the 02 and the FZJ80.

[majdomo]

Alrighty...picking up an engine hoist later today, and have started bagging and tagging items from the original numbers-matching block. I did a dry (but warm) compression check on engine in the car, and all cylinders were in the 80 range, which seems really low and could be attributed to a very old compression gauge that I inherited from a family member. Might be worthwhile to either rent or buy a leakdown tester and gauge, but it may not be as important since I'm starting to build up another motor anyway. Getting more coolant tracks down the block from the head as well, between cylinders 2 and 3.

 

Never done this before, lots of questions, but the general plan is to consider both the top and bottom ends with the machine shop, do the bottom end first, pull the E21 head off the current motor and have that refreshed with a bit of cam, then mate up the two. Of course that may change as we go, but that seems to make the most sense for now.

 

At the moment, the block is on the stand upside down, pulling the oil pan and front lower timing cover off and will continue with the disassembly and degreasing before taking it over to the machine shop.

[majdomo]

Getting started, making a little progress. Finally managed to get the oil pan off, then removed the oil pump, lower timing cover, tensioners, and timing chain. Looking to pick up a hoist this week to get at the flywheel end of the block, to pull that off. Was left with this:

 

Oil pan and lower timing cover ready for degreasing. There's a ding in the oil pan, so that may not be worth keeping, although it's original to the car so may just clean it up and see how bad it is.

 

Original oil pump, chain, shims and assorted bolts. I'm going to degrease this and check the clearances on the rotors per the Haynes manual. I'm tempted to reuse this if it works fine, since a new one is at least $300 for the E21 version (assuming the pickup is good).

 

This pin looks bent, compared to what it should look like. I thought this was supposed to be straight but the bend in it looks pretty...deliberate? I'll definitely open this up and potentially replace the oil pressure relief innards, and look for a replacement on this assuming the clearances check out.

 

 

 

[majdomo]

Few quick updates. Holding off deconstructing the original engine in favor of switching the whole intake and carb system over to 38/38. Was able to source a new Cannon intake for a reasonable price, and just picked up the new 38/38 from IE earlier today. IE jetted the carb to what I *think* is in the motor now (should be stock cam and pistons for a 75), but will throw that on there and see where that puts things. While the coolant is out, going to re-adjust that annoying heater valve. The engine rebuild can wait a little while, I want to see how this changes / improves response and drivability.

 

Oh, also, bought a set of E21 Recaros.  Will need a little bit of love but really looking forward to getting those in the car.

 

So that's about it, for the time being. Figuring these are all things I want to do anyway, and if I end up having to rebuild the engine, I'll want to do that around the 38/38 rather than the DCOEs. Seats are another matter altogether - that was more of an opportunity I couldn't pass up.

 

I did have the pleasure of spending about 30 min on the phone with Jeff Ireland last week, talking carbs and heads, pistons, etc., completely unplanned and in between my meetings on zoom. Very generous of him to spend his time talking me through a few pointers on my project!

Edited December 3, 2020 by majdomo

[majdomo]

So...it's been a year since bringing Wallace home! Traveled many miles and much time under the hood in that time. The car has come a long way, but there is plenty more to do and finally had the time and parts to get started. I've decided to swap out the dual 40 DCOEs for a single 38/38 with a Cannon intake. First thing though was having to pull off all the current parts, dumping the coolant (including the block), and lots and lots of cleaning and I'm still not even close to done. The 40s, intake, and center pull linkage (with the hookup to the gas pedal) are all for sale, if anyone is interested.

 

Biggest question, though, is finding some very minor coolant tracks on the block. I have a head gasket kit here, but don't know if I should pull the head and replace the gasket, pull the head and have it machined and THEN replace the gasket, or just not worry about it for now until I'm ready to build up the numbers-matching block with new pistons, rings, etc. and putting the E12 head on it then (after a trip to the machine shop). So many decisions. However, here's a photo of the coolant tracks:

 

I haven't cleaned it up much, just to get some opinions on it before going further. Any thoughts?

 

Some more photos, general view after yanking the radiator and pulling out the condenser, and pulling the stock starter which I'm replacing with an SR441X. This was on the project list for a long time:

 

 

Dual 40 DCOE 2s, will post as for sale later:

 

These are the only identifying marks on the intake. Interested if anyone's familiar with this?

 

General view, intake:

 

I also have a video of the engine running with this setup, in case anyone's interested.

 

For now, though, need to decide on the head before going a whole lot further.

 

EDIT - some quick googling brings up a 12-3093 Redline dual intake, though it looks like this may work with 45s as well. Out of stock pretty much everywhere, but mine is missing the intake heater inlet/outlet - the PO bypassed it and I'm replacing with the stock routing on the underside of the Cannon.

 

Edited December 28, 2020 by majdomo
typo / intake

[Son of Marty]

That leak doesn't look to be persistent if it was mine I'd just keep a eye on it, after all you can pull the head easy enough in the car if push comes to shove, JMHO. 

[majdomo]

7 minutes ago, Son of Marty said:

That leak doesn't look to be persistent if it was mine I'd just keep a eye on it, after all you can pull the head easy enough in the car if push comes to shove, JMHO. 

Leaning the same way. I've pushed the car hard over the last year and it hasn't gotten worse, so thinking along the same lines.