Ratch's 318iS Resto is back!!!

[B7]

Looking forward to Sat then Ratch? Should be well sorted now.

[goosiegander]

Any updates?

[Andyboy]

Where is the post-slag? Not seen him here for months.

[Royalratch]

Been busy busy busy with other projects, namely this:




But the E30 is not forgotten. I need source a better fitting steering linkage for my E36 rack conversion as there is a tiny bit of play.

Having a nice 4.10 LSD shipped over form the USA as mine is loud to say the least now - should be here for Jan.

And need to get my Alpinas refurbed as I suspect one may be buckled. Cunting winer last year there were potholes everywhere.

I am never far!

[redcar]

Hi Ratch, How did you get your steering linkage to clear the m42 manifold?
What holes did you use on the subframe and did you have the spacers above or below the manifold?
Also what linkage are you using?

Thank you.

[chewy320]

Great thread. Keep it up!

[Royalratch]

Hi Ratch, How did you get your steering linkage to clear the m42 manifo?
What holes did you use on the subframe and did you have the spacers above or below the manifold?
Also what linkage are you using?

Thank you.

There's loads of threads on here on how to do this but I found it a bit of black art. You can use an an E36 UJ to the rack (obviously) and an E30 UK to the steering shaft (obviously) but the trick but comes with the fact that you now have linkage that may be too short or long to allow you to slide comfortably onto each end pin.

Too long and you'll get annoying play and every time you hit a bump and it will foul the exhaust manifold.

Too short and it won't mount onto the rack or shaft sufficiently to clamp down and be safe.

You are supposed to fit a spacer of anywhere between 6mm and 8mm in place of the rubber damper between both UJs to give you the perfect fit - which is what I did but its still not right. As far as mounting it in the subframe tabs, mounting the rack above the spacers (needed as the E36 rack has narrower tabs than the E30 subframe) may get you some valuable slack to slip the UJs on whereas mounting the rack below may take up some slack if its sloppy. Some people say there are bump steer issues if mounting in the incorrect position but I suspect this is boyracer talk as it's a nominal difference.

Zoner DanThe sells a solid linkage with is a bolt in fit and is supposed to clear the manifold and give you a direct feel as it loses the damper, You supply him with an E30 and an E34 UJ and he'll sort you out.

It's worth it - the E36 rack is great, plus they're newer.

[daimlerman]

Some people say there are bump steer issues if mounting in the incorrect position but I suspect this is boyracer talk as it's a nominal difference.

I cured 'bump steer' on my Daimler V8 saloon when I discovered that the steering rack was just one,yes one,millimetre higher on one side.
Steering mods need great care to ensure that manufacturers geometry is retained,exactly as designed.A single millimetre is about two thumbnails in thickness.....

[redcar]

Hi Ratch, How did you get your steering linkage to clear the m42 manifo?
What holes did you use on the subframe and did you have the spacers above or below the manifold?
Also what linkage are you using?

Thank you.

There's loads of threads on here on how to do this but I found it a bit of black art. You can use an an E36 UJ to the rack (obviously) and an E30 UK to the steering shaft (obviously) but the trick but comes with the fact that you now have linkage that may be too short or long to allow you to slide comfortably onto each end pin.

Too long and you'll get annoying play and every time you hit a bump and it will foul the exhaust manifold.

Too short and it won't mount onto the rack or shaft sufficiently to clamp down and be safe.

You are supposed to fit a spacer of anywhere between 6mm and 8mm in place of the rubber damper between both UJs to give you the perfect fit - which is what I did but its still not right. As far as mounting it in the subframe tabs, mounting the rack above the spacers (needed as the E36 rack has narrower tabs than the E30 subframe) may get you some valuable slack to slip the UJs on whereas mounting the rack below may take up some slack if its sloppy. Some people say there are bump steer issues if mounting in the incorrect position but I suspect this is boyracer talk as it's a nominal difference.

Zoner DanThe sells a solid linkage with is a bolt in fit and is supposed to clear the manifold and give you a direct feel as it loses the damper, You supply him with an E30 and an E34 UJ and he'll sort you out.

It's worth it - the E36 rack is great, plus they're newer.

Yes thanks
I have the e36 rack on but the steering linkage is very very close to the manifolds,

It is the uj which is close to the manifold

How far is yours from the manifold?

[Royalratch]

Mine hits it at full lock applied fast - like I said, it's not sorted.

Answer is DanThe's linkage or have the corner of your UJ machined. It must be an M42 thing as the boat anchor boys don't seem to have this issue...

[magpie]

nice car Ratch ,dedication

[redcar]

Mine hits it at full lock applied fast - like I said, it's not sorted.

Answer is DanThe's linkage or have the corner of your UJ machined. It must be an M42 thing as the boat anchor boys don't seem to have this issue...

Ok cheers, I don't think another type of linkage would work as its only the uj that is touching

Think I'm going to try poly engine mounts

[Royalratch]

I'd machine the corner of the UJ down.

[redcar]

I'd machine the corner of the UJ down.

Interesting
Thank you

[mwggriffiths]

Hey Ratch, awesome work

I've bumped this from the blue to ask about your rear suspension: judging by the rest of the thread you seem to have done it properly! Did you go for the standard ride height in the end? Which spring pads did you end up using? (My understanding is that there are two different thicknesses 10mm and 3 or 5mm)

The finally exceedingly cheeky question is could you measure your rear ride height for me? Either from the jacking point to the floor or top of the wheel arch to the centre of the wheel.

Thanks in advance: )

Matt

[bss325i]

The finally exceedingly cheeky question is could you measure your rear ride height for me? Either from the jacking point to the floor or top of the wheel arch to the centre of the wheel.

Thanks in advance: )

Matt

Ride height should be measured from the bottom of the wheel to the top of the wheel arch.

[mwggriffiths]

The finally exceedingly cheeky question is could you measure your rear ride height for me? Either from the jacking point to the floor or top of the wheel arch to the centre of the wheel.

Thanks in advance: )

Matt

Ride height should be measured from the bottom of the wheel to the top of the wheel arch.

Why?

That measurement will be affected by the nominal tyre size, how close the fitted tyre is to that size (very few 205's are actually bang on 205),tyre wear, tyre pressures and probably a few more things that've slipped my mind!

Hub centre to wheel arch negates those errors for a more consistent measurement across a range of vehicles

The floor to jacking point is a quick and dirty method to work out how much rake there is on the sills as standard - it's a good way to prove if the back really is lower than the front, or whether the exhaust just gets more exposed as it goes back.

[Royalratch]

Cars in storage at the mo - will get it out in April.

Ride height is standard as I have not got round to fitting all the new dampers / springs etc.

So it's totally stock MTEC (-15mm) suspension with 16" wheels and 205 / 50 / 16 tyres.

[mwggriffiths]

Ah OK, it was worth a shot! Cheers anyway.

Once again: Some fantastic work you're doing here

[bss325i]

The finally exceedingly cheeky question is could you measure your rear ride height for me? Either from the jacking point to the floor or top of the wheel arch to the centre of the wheel.

Thanks in advance: )

Matt

Ride height should be measured from the bottom of the wheel to the top of the wheel arch.

Why?

That measurement will be affected by the nominal tyre size, how close the fitted tyre is to that size (very few 205's are actually bang on 205),tyre wear, tyre pressures and probably a few more things that've slipped my mind!

Hub centre to wheel arch negates those errors for a more consistent measurement across a range of vehicles

The floor to jacking point is a quick and dirty method to work out how much rake there is on the sills as standard - it's a good way to prove if the back really is lower than the front, or whether the exhaust just gets more exposed as it goes back.

Why? Because thats how you accurately measure ride hight!

How will measuring from the bottom of wheel ie the rim NOT the tyre be effected by tyre size or pressure? There is no measurement of the tyre at all.

Measuring to the centre of the wheel is not always possible and is also very hard to pin point the centre to an exact mm unlike the edge of a rim.

The floor to jacking point method on the other hand would be effected by tyre size and pressures.

[mwggriffiths]

Why? Because thats how you accurately measure ride hight!

Measuring to the centre of the wheel is not always possible and is also very hard to pin point the centre to an exact mm unlike the edge of a rim.

My mistake, I read it as measuring arch gap to the tyre like the stance guys would be interested in! Apologies!

Both methods you need to get the measuring device absolutely vertical to ensure an correct measurement. At least if you measure from the hub centre you can be pretty sure about that point, and its only the arch point you have to worry about, rather than having to consider both arch and wheel rim points, make sure they're tangential to the ground and at the highest point on the tyre. Do that and it should come out the same I just think my method is more fool proof, but now I've re-read yours I can understand your point of view too.

The floor to jacking point method on the other hand would be effected by tyre size and pressures.

It would indeed, hence I said it was quick and dirty The advantage is that it is a direct measurement of ground clearance. Mine is only 130mm front and 160mm back

[bss325i]

The method of measuring from bottom of rim to top of wheel arch is used on every wheel alignment system i have used including Hunter and Beisbath ones as used in BMW dealer workshops.

Also, when calibrating ride heights on BMW's with self levelling rear suspension this method of ride height measurement is used.

In fact today i had to use this method when setting the ride height on an F01 730d after replacing the ICM module.

Its also easy to get the measurement vertical as you are measuring the furtherest of two points ie the top of the wheel arch and the bottom of the rim.
If you don't measure straight then the measurement will be less then the maximum possible.

[Royalratch]

Damn. Almost a year since my last post. Been mad busy with work and other bike projects but the E30 has had some on/off love.
Last time we spoke a hasty and completely unnecessary blast to Paris (is it ever?) resulted in a cracked head - I was on thin ice as it was overheating but in a weird on / off way.



A refurbed head and brand new radiator have been fitted and a look at the cylinder bores reveals an otherwise healthy motor - nice factory cross hatch honing still in place. Good evidence of regular oil changes apparently.



Good head.




I've mainly been parts hoarding for when I get some time to attack again and the time has come.

Very clean bit of deep pile Indigo carpet. I've found a place that make custom mats that should match perfectly in colour and design. I await the results. I'm also removing my mini-install of Genesis Profile amp under the passenger seat and going back to factory noise.



First up was to tackle the immense power my refurbed M42 is putting out.

So I grabbed a set of staggered Alpinas off BarryBSS325iSportSSiSSPortBS. The fronts had dodgy rubber but the rears were very fresh. So I kept those and added them to my freshly rubbered fronts - ContiSports all round. The remaining set of 4 found its way to a man in Oz for decent dollars.

Next up - Diff. My current small case open diff has been destroyed by the M42. I don't know how it lasted so long but it whines like a bitch. Enter 4.10 Medium Case LSD. I got this from a seller in California, off a 68,000 Kilometre Auto so I was expecting good things. I don't know if he cleaned it up or they're all like this in Cali but I was pleased to say the least!





Insides - I assume this is all good stuff - nothing weird looking. I know its good because when I spin my old one it gurgles and is notchy and stiff. The LSD is super smooth. Result.





Side by side - old diffs are truly horrible things. There must be some ind of coating you can put on (not paint) that can stop this shite happening.



New gasket, fasteners and correct oil all went in / on...



...which was a complete waste of time because fitting this thing was the biggest ball ache ever!

Removal was super easy. Car had front wheels up on mini-ramps and back cross member high on axle stands - plenty of room to work. WD40 soaked on all the major bolts overnight and the next day driveshaft bolts, diff bolts and prop nuts all came off with no bother. Diff comes out. It brought the prop out with it because some idiot hadn't tightened the prop locking ring when replacing the centre bearing last year. It had to be adjusted for the bigger Diff anyway so whatever. So I spent the ENTIRE following afternoon trying to fit the new Diff. Up it went no probs, prop bolts up and length tweaked. Now I know the 4 top bolts can be fiddly to locate as they have to be dead aligned before you can tighten. The 2 rear M10s went in like butter as did the large bushed bracket bolt. 19mm Flex Head ratchet spanner is a must for this job.

But the front 2! FFS! No matter what I did they would not go in straight. I was super careful to line them up dead centre with the subframe and not force them in unless they were square. But they would always go in at a crazy angle. In the end I gave up and removed the Diff. On closer inspection the first 1 or 2 threads seem damaged. Long story short the diff cannot be fitted how it is. The bolt is an M10 with a 1.5 pitch and I don't have a tap to run from behind to 'straighten' it out.

Basically, the only things I can think of are:

1) Have a machine shop drill a bigger M12 bore and use M12 bolts.

2) Move internals to a clean Medium case - how hard is this?

3) Countersink drill the first .5mm - 1mm of thread to remove the damaged thread, thus letting the bolts engage with the correctly threaded part.

It is a fairly easy job if this shit doesn't happen but it always seems to happen to me.

[Royalratch]

Biggup to Bazza for the phone support - and the Zone on the other Diff thread I wrecked lol!

[capri_rob]

Nice update ratch - that diff looks like new

I dont envy you changing it on the car - the only time I've ever swapped diffs around is with the beam on the floor - and the bolts were bastid tight then

[Royalratch]

It's easy with the right tool and 24 hours of WD40.

Any thoughts on the bolt issue?

[capri_rob]

I'd be inclined to try option 3, then option 1 if that doesnt work - swapping the internals over sounds like a right ballache and would be a shame to do being as how clean that casing is.

[Andyboy]

Easy. Put the front two in first, around 4-5 turns. Then have the diff on the jack and drop the other two in. Fiddly but doable. What I have is four diff bolts with the heads cut off. Screw into the diff with fingers, raise diff into place so that the studs go through the subframe holes and one by one replace them with the correct bolts.

[Morat]

Powdercoat!

[pnd]

still persevering with this old shed despite the usual is problems I see.

[Royalratch]

still persevering with this old shed despite the usual is problems I see.

WTF kind of comment is this on a resto you utter utter knob?



@Andyboy - That is what I did dude. The front two will not engage at the correct angle so no amount of tweaking is going to help - unless I misunderstood?

By contrast, I got the old one off and back in less than an hour.

Its going away to be repaired now.

[Speedtouch]

Can't you just run the bolts in from behind to clean out the threads?

[pnd]

still persevering with this old shed despite the usual is problems I see.

WTF kind of comment is this on a resto you utter utter knob?



it was a joke especially after the is head issue you suffered. Perhaps you are over sensitive -actually I quite like is's and your car is a cracker but then again as I am a "knob" maybe I am wrong about both.

[Royalratch]

Can't you just run the bolts in from behind to clean out the threads?

The bolt fouls the diff bracket after only a few Mills.

[Royalratch]

still persevering with this old shed despite the usual is problems I see.

WTF kind of comment is this on a resto you utter utter knob?



it was a joke especially after the is head issue you suffered. Perhaps you are over sensitive -actually I quite like is's and your car is a cracker but then again as I am a "knob" maybe I am wrong about both.

Apologies but this is the problem with interwebs - you cannot infer tone - your message read as offensive. More smileys mate!