jetboy

Well: its getting better slowly-- each thing i do seems to be an improvement: this time: I dug around in the parts that came with the car and found what looks to be an OEM coil- all covered in grease and gunk - cleaned it up as best i could- threw it in in place of the "firebreather" the PO had installed- and damn if that doesn't help quite a bit!!!! this thing looks like its from the 70s- but i can hear it clicking away quite clearly when I remove a plug wire-- i never could hear it so nicely with the firecrapper, as i will now call those coils from now on! its workign so nice, i got to get me a nice new OEM one and I bet thats gonna help quite a bit! it always takes a bit to see how much it reallyhelps cause i got to re-tune everything everytime i change something in the chain of power-- but i think its close- its only stumbling the slightest bit now, and that might just be timing - NO LONGER THE INSTANT DOG! who would have thought the old greasy ugly black coil would rock the sleek silver beast! for those with PHH solex, i have also found this interesting fact: the two idle screws between 1/2 and 3/4 do not have lock nuts on them (at least mine don't) and as yo drive-- they vibrate and begin to turn. feck! a bit of driving and all teh tuning im doing is getting erased and im wondering what the hells going on. so got to get some lock tape or a little nut to put on there!

i second that, i run mine into the red relatively often. - probably your sending unit-(float).

i am getting the point- kinda of a : well gonna go through all the trouble anyway, might as well make a system thats BETTER than stock rather than worse, but does the job. maybe i can get a deal on two like he did. time to ebay-- nothing on craigslist!\-

I figure people do two as a safety for cold cranking - I am with you in SF and probably moving to san diego next year- not that concernd with cold- I mean, it gets a little chilly here sometimes-- but i used to live upstate new york- its a whole different level of cold - WHOLE different level. i have to do everything on the cheap in general, so maybe ill get one, throw it in the front and see if it works well, and if so, move it to under the seat. if its having troubles, buy another and do the dual in teh back. thanks! !

with your helpful note and some google searching and i found this: http://www.portablepower.com/items/batteries/SLA/2/Hawker/PC680T/SL105/37L105S4 thats about 30 dollars cheaper than dyna-batt - do I really need 2?

under the back seat real well. only 7x3x6.3 - dry cell and lighter than an optima(13.5 pounds!) - but not nearly the reserve amp hours-- but i dont even have a stereo-- so i figure as long as i remember to turn off my lights- anyone tried one?

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/select.do?vin=&kind=P&series=E21&body=Lim&model=318i&zone=ECE∏=19770700&motor=M10&trans=&arch=1 here is a pretty complete parts list with parts #s.

ive been getting a little bit of a rattle as well, sounds very similar but is more prominent when warm and less when cold. (does it sound like marbles in a can? - thats not a good one) this can be caused by abnormal firing - too advanced timing, points out of alignment etc- in any case, if it isnt just your bushing, it can be real bad and ruin your engine. so id avoid driving too much until you find out whats wrong--

thats the brand I was actually looking at- wondered if getting the 130 dollar model was really worth it over the 70 dollar (cheapest one with advance) - i also don't have points---so no need for the dwell. maybe the 100 dollar between version is a good way--

its pretty wierd that you would get no signal from old terminals/bad grounds. if they are connected at all you should get some juice, enough to light up your dash at least. they would have to be pretty damn bad to not do that-- id suggest some caution because you might have a bad short - like your main positive wire is touching a part of the frame somewhere --, which could lead to melting wires and exploding battery etc-

possibly your ignition switch - i havnt torn a 02 one down yet, but if its anything like a vw from the same era, it has 2 little springs a plate which spins to make the connection - on mine the spring was just old, got caught and snapped-- just had to get in there and replace- or you can just wire a push button! get a wiring diagram out and you can hotwire bypass your ignition switch and see if it starts that way.

any recommendations on a cheap but effective timing gun for our 02s? seems like some have a lot of bells and whistles i dont need.. or do I?

yeah - believe me I feel like a real ass when I start smoking- i feel real bad for people behind me and pretty much try to pull over ASAP to adjust so i dont kill any bicyclist i pass. that said, i think its the tone of the letter that you get, with the little questionaire, and the sort of condescending preaching going on in it. feck, if I didn't work at an arts non-prof id surely go spend 4k on getting a nice prefectly tuned engine in my car. -- but what can i do? it would be aswome if they used the money to help fix you car rather on an agency whose job is to nag at you.

I drove through arkansas twice with my old 76 - i admit I never slowed down casue I was crossing the country at the time-- and held a solid 90mph most of the way and never had to turn my wheel more than 2 degrees off center its beautiful but flat out there-- you might miss the hills of santa cruz-

ive gotten two of those, but they don't do anything. i kinda fixed the car anyway, its only when i'm fiddling with the carbs that ill get some bad smoke sometimes-- but seems like someone around here is really on it- ill go out to test and burn off a bunch of unused gas and boom! get a letter in the mail. the other day i had a bad setting on and drove right past a huge police station - i was super paranoid but nothing came of it.

well, fixed the axle-- so back in business-> and it looks like the new fuel pump is helping, when i first threw it on my carbs were all strangely set to try and compensate for the fuel - so its actually running better now that i made some adjustments - I have yet to change the distributor - but ill see how far i get with just tuning and if it still doesnt work quite right all switch the petronix out. with these type of problems it seems its often mroe than jsut one thing out of whack - everything just a little wrong makes for a big wrong result - yah for those trying to tune these beasts, i have recently had luck getting the engine all warmed up, then pulling the spark plug wires one at a time and listening for the change-- and then adjusting the idle/mixture screws until the change is consistant no matter which plug i pull. its not perfect but gets you within a range that you can work from.

Hey, I could not seem to find it in haynes, does anyone have the the torque specs for the 6 allen bolts that connect the half axle to the differential? mine is the kind with the lock nuts- thanks!

well, i put it back on. not too bad considering i only have a jack. BUT i could not find the numbers in Haynes-- anyone got them??? now its just on "tight enough to not fall off"

kick butt bri - you decide on the color then?

local bmw shop recommends "Miracle" in Berkeley for cheap effective 02 paintjobs. I guess they do a fair bit o business with local 02 types so they know how to paint them - and do a good job, even a bit of body work for 1k or so. cheaper if your willing to wait and come in when they aren't busy. thats probably what I am gonna do this summer, guess winter is busy so rather wait it out till i can get it cheap. miracle is a franchise, probably one in san jose--

drink more whiskey ---

yeah thats nice, real distinctive with the green highlights, note how it shines green a bit compared with the dull mustard of the car behind it - that's awesome - a bold choice to go but works real well I think. you are already going so bold with everything else, might as well have the paint to match--

if you didnt replace the pump, there was probably still gas in it - the pump will stay full unless you run it dry- pump air through. so no need to prime. but i agree, usally you dont need to prime them-

oh yeah, they switched the tube thickness in 74 - so BMW just sends you the new type- its probably for the best really--

priming can be a real pain if there is no gas left in your pump. id give it a shot and see if it works as it might still have enough residue inside- if you don't feel like sucking on the tube, you can get a cheap little plastic pump at most auto stores (also good for changing differential oil etc.) this is really much better than sucking because you can put it inline before your electric pump and force the gas into the pump to prime it. just make sure the high pressure side is clear so that air can escape and it should prime right up. you may need some little adapters to make the pump fit with your line-- but its a lot better than trying to suck on that shit-