'88 325i Touring #001 resto - 03/2012 rimz porn

[beemerbird]

Cost of paintless dent repairs is very similar to what bodyshops charge to clag the dent with filler, I know which id prefer!

Too much filler means you get less on the bridge

Surely you have that the wrong way round?

[DanThe]

Indeed, I used over 1kg of P40 for MOT repairs on a poor old 405 recently, even though a hell of a lot of grot came out it certainly wasnt 1kg!
Oh, and just for the record, "I dont recommend bodging cars but when pennyless motorists are forced upon you there isnt much choice"

[e30topless]

Indeed, I used over 1kg of P40 for MOT repairs on a poor old 405 recently

nothing wrong with a decent "cold" repair.. it's much safer than burning the french turd to the ground with the mig

[DanThe]

Id prefer to mig anything, and usually refuse bodywork of most kinds, but related peasants prevail in some situations

[Duke137]

Id prefer to mig anything, and usually refuse bodywork of most kinds, but related peasants prevail in some situations

It is a crying shame mate because this thread proves just how good you are with the welder

[capri_rob]

Started early this morning and re-adjusted the handbrake AGAIN.

Then fitted up the new plates :





Back one I'm happy with but the spacing on the fixings isnt perfect on the front.

Pretty faithful reproduction of whats in the brochures from the time, but I do like the proper dealer plates so will probably get a Blue Bell Wilmslow set done at some point soon.

Then went and got this :





Been a long time coming.

Handbrake efficiency is still an advisory but this should improve as the shoes bed in and I'll keep an eye on it. Other advisories are due to be sorted as a matter of course anyway.

Merry Christmas

[TouringTash]

Good on ya fella.

[Alex]

Well done

how longs it been without an mot ?

[capri_rob]

Only since October officially but the tester on the last MOT gave so many fail points as advisorys it was pretty much worthless.

This one I know is pukka

[bss325i]

Happy days!

[tomislav]

Merry christmas for you then!

[capri_rob]

Time to tackle the cylinder head


Suprisingly the manifold nuts that were still there came undone without any issues with the engine stone cold.


The worst dizzy cap I've ever seen - Stamped "87" so I'm assuming its the original. The Rotor arm isnt as bad but why anyone would replace one and not the other is beyond me

Unfortunately one of the bolts holding the dizzy cap in place wouldnt budge, had to break the dizzy cap to get it off then the bolt sheared off so need a new timing belt cover


Genuine BMW Timing belt in suprisingly good condition.
The same cannot be said for the tensioner which is fooked.
Water pump seemed OK too.
Its all being replaced anyway.


Lookin pretty empty

Head and exhaust manifold have been delivered this afternoon to the machine shop. I'm having it pressure tested anyway and refaced/skimmed as necessary.
It doesnt look to have been off the car before.

Spent £220 at GSF on a headset, head bolts, Febi Rockers, New viscous fan coupling, thermostat and some other bits I cant remember and then a further £45 at BMW on new studs, nuts, clips and various other dealer-only bits.

The GSF bits are going over to the machine shop tomorrow and they are fitting new guides as necessary and will build it back up with all the new bits so all we have to do is bolt it back on.

All being well it will be going back on next week.

Got some prep work to do in the meantime getting the block face super clean, flush the rad, clean and paint the inlet manifold and rocker cover, change the oil and filter and some other tidying bits whilst the engine bay is half empty.

[Simon13]

nice work, was the camshaft worn? are u buying a new stick i didn't notice it on the list

[capri_rob]

I gave it to the machine shop as one lump and asked them to test it first and then tell me if they find anything other than what I've asked them to do.

town325i has done most of the work and he reckons the cam's not too bad but the rockers definately need replacing so have ordered the febi ones from GSF today.

Hopefully it won't need a new lumpy-stick but guess I'll find out in the next few days

[TouringMatt]

Top work

[Simon13]

if the rockers are worn so is the cam make a new spray bar a 100% or if you don't want to pay out the £38 odd that bmw want, then drill out the holes slightly on the old one and throughly de grease it and blow it out with an air line - after you've drilled it!

Thats why the cam and rockers wear blocked up spray bars from people not changing the oil when they should.

[capri_rob]

Have asked the machine shop specifically to acid dip the spraybar and blast it through - will have a go at drilling it when I get it back and blow it through again.

I priced one in the dealers today but £40 for a short length of pipe with a few holes in it is just taking the p1$$

[csl]

I priced one in the dealers today but £40 for a short length of pipe with a few holes in it is just taking the p1$$

It is a p1$$ take. Im sure they were about 17 quid a few years back!

[Simon13]

i remember when they were about £11 more like. One phrase "mobile Tradition" the prices went spastic.

E36 parts prices are half the price! but thats how it goes

[brettski]

Nice to meet you today Rob i hope everything goes ok with the cylinder head.

[capri_rob]

And you Brett - would like a spin in your motor at some point - bring it to one of the midlands meets later this year

[brettski]

Anytime mate you should of said!

[csl]

Anytime mate you should of said!

Yeah...wheres those pics at anyway?

[brettski]

Ash i still can't figure out how to load the pics hopeless i know! I'll figure it out one day....!

[Alex]

Looking forward to the updates

[B7]

Well done for doing it properly Rob. You'll be amazed at how different it'll run and how nice it'll feel when finished.

[capri_rob]

Trev looking at the state of the dizzy cap the new one I have should be worth about 10BHP on its own - I'm amazed it would run at all looking at the state of the contacts!

town325i reckons the head hasnt been off the car before so has never been skimmed so theres plenty of meat on it if need be - but we took it off stone cold and unbolted in the correct sequence so shouldnt have warped and just need re-facing.

Was quoite obvious when the manifold came off that it has been blowing out of no 1 and no 6 as the manifold were blackened around the ports - so it may have gone slightly "banana shaped" as we thought. Machine shop have said they will also check and re-face this and get it back to flat as well.

There was slight movement in the exhaust valves as expected so the shop are going to sort this.

Looking forward to seeing the difference when its bolted back together

[capri_rob]

Just ordered a pair of the Burton RS engine mounts :

http://www.burtonpower.com/fp292.html

Should be a bit easier to fit with half the engine missing

[Simon13]

injectors getting cleaned?

When i bought the C2 touring, it had done nearly 170k and i sh!t you not it was on the original dizzy and poss rotor but i can't remember now. Had 92 stamped on it and it ran fine. But i gave it new plugs - NGK BPR6ES you must buy these! and a new dizzy, rotor it really woke it back up. Wheel spin in the first 3 gears giving it jip on cheap/worn rear tyres. It wouldn't do it before i gave it a service.

[Andyboy]

The cap and rotor on my 730i (Motronic 1.3) lasted until 237'000 miles and 18 years. One day it started to misfire when cold, and that was the cause. The good old days when Bosch made things properly!

[capri_rob]

injectors getting cleaned?

When i bought the C2 touring, it had done nearly 170k and i sh!t you not it was on the original dizzy and poss rotor but i can't remember now. Had 92 stamped on it and it ran fine. But i gave it new plugs - NGK BPR6ES you must buy these! and a new dizzy, rotor it really woke it back up. Wheel spin in the first 3 gears giving it jip on cheap/worn rear tyres. It wouldn't do it before i gave it a service.

Injectors being posted to Injectortune on Monday ( assuming I can get them out of the Manifold tomorrow )

Got to pick up a set of plugs and cheap oil filter from ECP on monday. I only ever use NGK's

Am gonna drop the oil out of it tomorrow.

Plan is to put it all back together, put some fresh but cheap oil through it to flush it through ( being as I can't get the black stuff in there hot until it goes back together and I don't want to start it up with the old oil in place ) and then change it again with the expensive semi synth and genuine filter I have in stock.

I've always had good power increases from changing shagged dizzy caps & rotor arms - its a no brainer

town325i has just dropped round with the rest of my GSF bits - machine shop have pressure tested the head, skimmed it today as apparently it did need it and done the valve seals today. Should be able to pick it up Monday.

[capri_rob]

Only other thing the tester mentioned was that it seems to be running lean - CO of 0.22 and HC of 119.

Oh yeah - I've discovered the cause of this and know how to fix it.

It helps if you do up the big jubilee clips at each end of the AFM bellows.

tw@t

[Simon13]

You have to reface the head, if its 8 thou then its 8 thou, i wouldn't worry you can plough miles off the heads and be ok.

If its 20-40 thou taken off then be worried!

[capri_rob]

Had a tidy up today :


Super grubby inlet

Stripped now - Injectors going to Injectortune on monday


Frag for blasting and possibly powdercoating - havent decided yet.


Bought this coolant pipe ages ago and although the part number stamped on it is identical to the super rusty one off the car its slightly shorter and the mountings are in slightly different places. Hmmmm


And this is the "coolant" that was in it Believe it or not it is sort of blue in colour although it looks black but had a ton of crap in it. Rad needs a thorough flushing before it goes back in.

[Duke137]

Nice progress mate keep at it