John is cleaning up all the metal and plastic parts before building the seat bases back up - which he expects to be done next week!
1990 320i Touring
Moderator: martauto
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kdevitt
- E30 Zone Regular
- Posts: 587
- Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2006 11:00 pm
- Location: Dublin
Latest update arrived last night
John is cleaning up all the metal and plastic parts before building the seat bases back up - which he expects to be done next week!
John is cleaning up all the metal and plastic parts before building the seat bases back up - which he expects to be done next week!
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lellis
- E30 Zone Regular
- Posts: 400
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2014 11:00 pm
- Location: Nottingham
Always envious of this interior. Insane!
S38 swapped E30 Touring - In Progress..
E36 318IS Coupe
E38 740i
Instagram: http://Instagram.com/bad_e30
Build Thread: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=272997
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BadE30
E36 318IS Coupe
E38 740i
Instagram: http://Instagram.com/bad_e30
Build Thread: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=272997
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BadE30
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kdevitt
- E30 Zone Regular
- Posts: 587
- Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2006 11:00 pm
- Location: Dublin
Progress has been pretty slow on this - which really suited me with the way my CRX went off piste - but plenty of work has been going on in the background. And more scope creep.
Anyway - the car had a new timing belt done about 7 years ago - at most its covered 1k miles since then, but it made sense to replace it ahead of it doing any sort of serious mileage. On top of this, the steering rack actually crapped itself about a fortnight before the car was send over to the UK - so that needed fixing. Rather than replace like for like, I went for a purple tag as an upgrade. Bought one and never even unwrapped it - just threw it in the boot. Figured it was worth having it refurbed, so sent it to Sam Calver who specialises in this sort of thing. He uses OEM seal kits, and blasts and repaints the rack. Turns out mine was unusually clean - so just needed the seals to be replaced.
After that, the car was transported to the best in the business for these - Dan Harborow - who is clearly well known around these parts!
Dan was tasked to look after the timing belt and water pump as well as the rack upgrade. Car wasn't with him long when....
Turns out the cause wasn't anything too severe - coolant had been drained out years back when there was a small leak spotted once the dash came out, we're guessing the jubilee clip here just wasn't tightened up properly.
That said - there were still multiple coolant leaks...
Dan found some ports blocked off incorrectly, as well as the wrong bolts used for the gearbox which caused the most significant leak.
Looked a good bit better after a clean up -
Rack and new hoses in place -
While he was there - he also rerouted the washer hoses correctly - my mistake
New lollipop bushes and mounts were done - as well as engine mounts -
And undid a bit more bodgery...
And ready to roll out again... back onto a transport truck
Was great to have Dan working on the car - well and truly an expert on these - and plan on spinning back over again at some stage for some more work.
Anyway - the car had a new timing belt done about 7 years ago - at most its covered 1k miles since then, but it made sense to replace it ahead of it doing any sort of serious mileage. On top of this, the steering rack actually crapped itself about a fortnight before the car was send over to the UK - so that needed fixing. Rather than replace like for like, I went for a purple tag as an upgrade. Bought one and never even unwrapped it - just threw it in the boot. Figured it was worth having it refurbed, so sent it to Sam Calver who specialises in this sort of thing. He uses OEM seal kits, and blasts and repaints the rack. Turns out mine was unusually clean - so just needed the seals to be replaced.
After that, the car was transported to the best in the business for these - Dan Harborow - who is clearly well known around these parts!
Dan was tasked to look after the timing belt and water pump as well as the rack upgrade. Car wasn't with him long when....
Turns out the cause wasn't anything too severe - coolant had been drained out years back when there was a small leak spotted once the dash came out, we're guessing the jubilee clip here just wasn't tightened up properly.
That said - there were still multiple coolant leaks...
Dan found some ports blocked off incorrectly, as well as the wrong bolts used for the gearbox which caused the most significant leak.
Looked a good bit better after a clean up -
Rack and new hoses in place -
While he was there - he also rerouted the washer hoses correctly - my mistake
New lollipop bushes and mounts were done - as well as engine mounts -
And undid a bit more bodgery...
And ready to roll out again... back onto a transport truck
Was great to have Dan working on the car - well and truly an expert on these - and plan on spinning back over again at some stage for some more work.
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kdevitt
- E30 Zone Regular
- Posts: 587
- Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2006 11:00 pm
- Location: Dublin
Part of the scope creep here. One of the older pictures in the thread - but this was the lower valance I got as part of the Tech II kit. You might spot the little screw holes in it
When I had the car painted, I asked for this to be repaired and provided the correct clips. In the giddy excitement of collecting the car I never noticed they hadn't repaired it - they just put two fresh wood screws in place. So with the car in the UK I figured I'd get this resolved. You can see in this picture that the hole was still present. It might seem like a tiny thing to fix - but with the valance screwed in place, it was also pulled out of shape, so needed to come off and have a proper repair. Turns out if had also distorted the metal valance which sits behind the plastic piece.
This gives a good idea of how much it was pulled in by -
John used a bit of gentle manipulation to get the valance back into shape
Not pictured - but John drilled out the holes in the metal for the correct fixings to be used, so this will all fit up as it should.
The plastic valance itself went off to his mates at the Car SOS bodyshop, and is ready to be refitted.
Also worth mentioning I picked up these trim bits from Octoclassics - they are mental money new, fitment was good -
When I had the car painted, I asked for this to be repaired and provided the correct clips. In the giddy excitement of collecting the car I never noticed they hadn't repaired it - they just put two fresh wood screws in place. So with the car in the UK I figured I'd get this resolved. You can see in this picture that the hole was still present. It might seem like a tiny thing to fix - but with the valance screwed in place, it was also pulled out of shape, so needed to come off and have a proper repair. Turns out if had also distorted the metal valance which sits behind the plastic piece.
This gives a good idea of how much it was pulled in by -
John used a bit of gentle manipulation to get the valance back into shape
Not pictured - but John drilled out the holes in the metal for the correct fixings to be used, so this will all fit up as it should.
The plastic valance itself went off to his mates at the Car SOS bodyshop, and is ready to be refitted.
Also worth mentioning I picked up these trim bits from Octoclassics - they are mental money new, fitment was good -
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kdevitt
- E30 Zone Regular
- Posts: 587
- Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2006 11:00 pm
- Location: Dublin
So its been a while since this job started - but collection day finally arrived last week.
... and some customised cleaner ....
Took a while to have a look around the car, and the quality of the work is excellent. Decided to make a few days of it while I was over - and first stop was Caffeine & Machine. Once on the road I quickly discovered that I had no indicators at all - which despite the stereotypes - was a significant issue. Then a coolant light.... then a low oil pressure light when I came to my first stop... then a horrible scraping noise which cleared again... and then discovered I had no dash lights. Despite these, the engine sounds fine (as fine an M20 ever sounds) and the temps stayed where they should be. Took it handy and pulled up at C&M for Daikoko Nights.
Grabbed something to eat and popped back out to have a look around. And then noticed I was missing a centre cap on one of the BBS wheels. Had obviously flown off at some stage of the drive. Wouldn't be until the following day that I discovered these are now NLA. Had a decent night kip and a proper breakfast and came out to the car in the morning to discover my indicators had sprung back into life. Topped up the coolant - since the system had been worked on I suspected a small air lock initially - but Dan had mentioned my radiator needed replacing soon.
Took a few of the obligatory C&M photos while I was there, and then set off again.
Was basically outside Diddly Squat farm on my way to the Farmers Dog when the indicators gave up again. Spent an hour or so there and then off to RAF Midlands Museum in Cosford. Just prior to arriving, the scraping noise returned. Quick look and it was the plug cover at the front of the engine catching the fan, which was easily sorted. Walked around the car and....
Another one gone...
Anyway - RAF Cosford is definitely worth the trip if you're into that sort of thing - thought I'd taken loads of photos but seems I didn't
Spent the night in Chester before catching the ferry home - all non-eventful - except for the coolant light coming back on as I drove off the boat. Didn't particularly enjoy having to start stripping bits of the interior again given how tidy it was. Tested the hazard switch which controls the indicator circuit and it was fine - turns out my flasher relay had an issue. Happened to have a brand new one in the shed which I'd bought for the CRX - which was one problem solved. Tested the light switch - and that was dead - well the rheostat was - hence no dash lights. Tried a clean up but no joy - so a fresh one was ordered. Seems to be just a case of them giving up from lack of use.
Next step is a new rad, a new power steering pump and an oil flush, going to ensure the right grade is in there and do the pressure sensor. If that doesn't fix the low oil pressure issue, then its rebuild time unfortunately. Hoping thats not needed though and I'll just get to drive it a bit.
... and some customised cleaner ....
Took a while to have a look around the car, and the quality of the work is excellent. Decided to make a few days of it while I was over - and first stop was Caffeine & Machine. Once on the road I quickly discovered that I had no indicators at all - which despite the stereotypes - was a significant issue. Then a coolant light.... then a low oil pressure light when I came to my first stop... then a horrible scraping noise which cleared again... and then discovered I had no dash lights. Despite these, the engine sounds fine (as fine an M20 ever sounds) and the temps stayed where they should be. Took it handy and pulled up at C&M for Daikoko Nights.
Grabbed something to eat and popped back out to have a look around. And then noticed I was missing a centre cap on one of the BBS wheels. Had obviously flown off at some stage of the drive. Wouldn't be until the following day that I discovered these are now NLA. Had a decent night kip and a proper breakfast and came out to the car in the morning to discover my indicators had sprung back into life. Topped up the coolant - since the system had been worked on I suspected a small air lock initially - but Dan had mentioned my radiator needed replacing soon.
Took a few of the obligatory C&M photos while I was there, and then set off again.
Was basically outside Diddly Squat farm on my way to the Farmers Dog when the indicators gave up again. Spent an hour or so there and then off to RAF Midlands Museum in Cosford. Just prior to arriving, the scraping noise returned. Quick look and it was the plug cover at the front of the engine catching the fan, which was easily sorted. Walked around the car and....
Another one gone...
Anyway - RAF Cosford is definitely worth the trip if you're into that sort of thing - thought I'd taken loads of photos but seems I didn't
Spent the night in Chester before catching the ferry home - all non-eventful - except for the coolant light coming back on as I drove off the boat. Didn't particularly enjoy having to start stripping bits of the interior again given how tidy it was. Tested the hazard switch which controls the indicator circuit and it was fine - turns out my flasher relay had an issue. Happened to have a brand new one in the shed which I'd bought for the CRX - which was one problem solved. Tested the light switch - and that was dead - well the rheostat was - hence no dash lights. Tried a clean up but no joy - so a fresh one was ordered. Seems to be just a case of them giving up from lack of use.
Next step is a new rad, a new power steering pump and an oil flush, going to ensure the right grade is in there and do the pressure sensor. If that doesn't fix the low oil pressure issue, then its rebuild time unfortunately. Hoping thats not needed though and I'll just get to drive it a bit.