felix_666

thanks for that, but i'm not sure which o-ring your referring to, the valve is at the top of the thread unscrewed. I have a feeling there are two totally different valves, not just the inside material.

And another thing, where are these from? I know this stuff is everywhere but this is the second set of this particular shape i found on the second heaterbox, i think it must be from around the heater core?? cheers

yeah ill get grommets, i'm going tomorrow to find some that are similar. I had a look at my2002tii.com and that fella bought them from the dealer for $3 each in 2004, which seems typical of the price to rise, if you read archived threads i find that a bit.

YES i have searched for this but all the comments are on the other style valve. Its super stuck, I've tried soaking it in penatrate and sprayed it with lubricant yet the sucker wont budge (tried both). Plus I've pulled it apart and this is as far as i can get. Any suggestions? Also I'm not prepared to pay $16 a pop for the grommets that seal the hoses to the top of the box, 64 11 1 353 352, any way of using something more standard, like the right size and just cut it down?? cheers [EDIT]

yep, you get pretty good after a few goes.

Sweeto, sounds pretty similar to how i'm doing my 73 Verona, just minus the s14, i can only dream about such a thing. good luck.

Did some more painting last week: have to do something about the inside of the tank boosters and things

Nice car, but it seems strange that you bought it because it was nice and original with low miles but your doing a s14 swap etc. I rekon the s14 will be sweet its just seems stange. Are you keeping it Verona?? - i hope so, good colour and year. Keep it up.

Caliper Re-build PLEASE READ EVERYTHING, OR AT LEAST THE SECTION BEFORE COMMENCING WORK! Black = Article Red = Ramblings I have written this article because I live in Australia and you cannot simply trade calipers for $50 a pop at your local BMW specialist centre – no such thing for 02’s. For that money you will get them rebuilt excluding the kits and providing the calipers are a straightforward job. I reckon if you paid someone to do the lot it would cost over $250, easily. If I took the mentality of: “its going to save your life!”, then I wouldn’t be nearly as close as I am to being finished because I would have spent every hour at work tying to pay for everything – boring. Forewarning: The usual disclaimer applies; I’m simply reporting some of my findings and this is by no means a bible for rebuilding brakes. You are accountable for your own work. Parts that i used I will start with the calipers off the car and ready to work on, if you need assistance with this part of the DYI you are probably not up to rebuilding the brakes. You should be confident with the tools you are using and have no trouble getting the calipers off. Work on ONE caliper at a time, you’ll see why later. There are two ways of rebuilding brakes, pulling them apart or leaving them together. I have pulled calipers apart to rebuild them in the past and continued to do so despite the idea being taboo. I can’t imagine rebuilding the brakes without splitting them, you simply cannot do the same job, especially if the brakes are 35 years old there is almost certainly going to be marks on the bores, cylinders etc. The reason people believe splitting the calipers is bad is because you supposedly can’t buy the “expandable/stretch” bolts or the small flat O-rings. I bought both, the bolts from my local nut and bolt shop – they are allen screw cap bolts with a tensile rating of 12.9. The bloke from the store had a lot to say about these types of bolts but I’ll leave this for another time. And the flat O-rings from a brake service joint, the bloke there explained that these O-rings are used on old BMW’s, Merc’s and some other cars. Anyway, point is I bought them. Prepare the calipers Remove the pads. Using a plastic/wooden something-a-rather pry off the rubber seals. If you insist on using a screwdriver be careful, you will easily scratch the pistons and need to replace them. removing the old seals without scratching things Removing the cylinders This can be done via compressed air – compressed air with blocking plates and possibly using a flat edge and a hammer (the latter is for the more experienced and not recommended). Before staring give the calipers are rough clean with break cleaner and compressed air. Compressed air: There are two holes where the brake fluid enters; the holes correlate to the closest opposing cylinders. When ejecting pistons by air, cover the opposing one with something as they leave with considerable force. Don’t forget to make a note of where each piston comes from. The key to this is making a good blocking plate. It needs to cover the cylinder and have a soft backing to provide a good seal, I used blue tack but something more rubbery like rubber tape adhesive might work well. removing the pistons and protecting with wood By applying air to one of these holes you will eject one piston and hopefully move the other. The manuals suggest clamping one piston while using the air to remove the other, but I find it better to remove both as far as possible, making it easier to remove the one that isn’t shot out by the air – you’ll see what I mean. Once you have removed one piston you will need to apply your blocking plate to the opposing cylinder and fasten it with a clamp. By applying air to the same inlet you will pop the other piston, but your plate has to be well fitted to prevent air from leaking out. To remove the other two pistons carry out the same process as above. Clamp with blocking plate taking note same thing You can use a small compressor to supply the air, but it needs to be above 8 bar for seized pistons, and even still you will struggle. If possible take it to your local mechanic and get them to supply the air. Positively tapping If your pistons refuse to move you can use the following VERY carefully to get them started. This method is for the experienced only. If you have not used tools in this way you need to be really careful. Positively tap the pistons swapping sides constantly making sure you don’t cock the piston – giving them a couple of taps on each side will be enough. This will loosen them to allow you to use air again – gentle is the key. flat head screw driver that could ruin your day if you don't take car Put them back on the car If your still stuck, a last resort is to put the calipers back on the car and push out the pistons by pumping the peddle, this is a fool proof method and the reason why you should work on one caliper at a time. Splitting the halves Using the appropriate torx head and breaker bar, split the caliper in a vice. Cleaning the calipers The best way to clean the external parts of the calipers was to use break cleaner and wire wheel brushes or the a like. This will give the outside a nice metallic finish. Bead blasting gives a similar (but better) finish; you just need to find someone who knows what there doing! shiny Cleaning the pistons and cylinders requires patience and elbow grease. You can use steel wool or the green scotch guard pads to remove any stains or super light marks. If you have light scratches or surface rust you can gently use 1200 grit sand paper – anything greater will be difficult to restore. I use my Dremel and a copper brush piece (designed for cleaning soft metals like gold) to clean the sealing ring groove at the top. clean and not so clean Painting While the caliper is now in half and cleaned you can paint it with some high temp paint. Make sure you mask up the appropriate areas. Follow the instructions on the can. painting Installing the new kits This is pretty straight forward, you just need to make sure you apply the caliper grease. The inner sealing rings just push in and feed the rest of it into the groove with your finger/thumb. inserting the inner seal The piston boot/rubber needs to be put on before you insert the piston into the bore. Simple apply a liberal amount of grease inside the boot and slide it over the top of the piston, keep pulling it down past the lip of the piston, and then wriggle the boot back up INTO the lip, not past the lip. This method makes easy work of getting the boot into the right spot – refer to the picture. caliper grease putting the boot over the piston - (i'll edit this soon so its clearer) Using a small but even amount of grease on the piston it will enable it to easily slide back into the bore – make sure it goes in straight, to push it right in use a bit of wood. Now with the piston at the bottom of the bore you can apply the snap rings to keep the boots in place as the new boots don’t have the metal ring running through them like the old ones. Snap rings Reassembly This is pretty straight forward, put the new o-rings in and close the caliper haves together and put the bolts in by hand. To tighten them there is an order and torque value of , refer to the picture. Install your pads and fitting kit and your sorted. Fininto Remember: Although the brakes aren’t new they will still require a little braking in so don’t be an idiot and start abusing them. After several hundred km’s check them over.

My original speedo was in miles, so i converted just the speedo from my later model parts car and realised when putting it in that the new one had the crosshair thing - looks ok, just need to work out how to zero it.

Re-built the old speedo with the aid of the parts car, fiddly job but i got there.

I had thought of this even though it is rather unorthodox considering the nature of the wheel.

Every inch is being painted including some rotisserie work except the rear cabin. These things take time especially when your getting a sweet deal, only gets worked on during Saturday mornings so i reckon a month and half isn't too bad.

as close as it gets to new brakes these days, would have prefered a darker colour but this was all i could find.

As the title suggests. Whats the best way to fix/restore the chrome on the pictured wheel.

Have to stick with original colour, would be a sin to change. Plus i really like the colour.

Car went to the painters at the start of the week, should be back during March some time. All the seats are at the trimmers in Richmond now, should be back in a month and looking good. Something like this, but in black.

Looking good, thats some quick painting, dropped mine off the other day and they said i'd be lucky to have it back by march some time. Oh well, patience is everything.

Bit of work Don't try this at home kids, just buy a compressor the not so common home made tool tested out the new springs today, a little low... ...joke... just fitted the dolly painters next week.... hopefully.

Bit of work Don't try this at home kids, just buy a compressor the not so common home made tool tested out the new springs today, a little low... ...joke... just fitted the dolly painters next week.... hopefully.

Those ebay ones have been on there before and a question was asked like: are these original E21 seats and the reply was something strange like, no but yes, anyway ask questions. Those other ones are pretty racey, fairly different in terms of period - obviously. I picked up some sweet Scheels from the bay.

Those ebay ones have been on there before and a question was asked like: are these original E21 seats and the reply was something strange like, no but yes, anyway ask questions. Those other ones are pretty racey, fairly different in terms of period - obviously. I picked up some sweet Scheels from the bay.

New front suspension. Sports Billys and IE stage 2 springs. The springs are much shorter than i thought they were - it looks like a good 2", hope its not too much. Just waiting to find some safety wire so i can tie the springs to the top plate.

Couple of newly acquired items. Also decided to stick with the E21 LSD i've got and put it to use and sell the regular one Only need some nice wheels now. Original Scheels from an RS2000 Escort. From what I've been told and seen in the original parts manual these are one the two styles of Scheels that were offered. They will hopefully be re-trimmed in perforated leather.

Used prepsol, which was the guys who sold me the stuffs recommendation. It's just a cleaning agent, nothing special. I emailed the Por-15 people and he seemed to think the stuff hadn't set (after one week i seem to disagree), but he agreed that it shouldn't scratch that easy and something was up. He also said that the surface might not of been rough enough, but again i don't agree as the parts were like sandpaper.