Kief's Summer Project

[kief]

Yes it'll stain you pretty good, but fortunately it wipes off pretty good too right when you get it on something. I believe the consistency is thinner than rustoleum. I wore gloves, but still got a little on me. It dries in just a couple hours (cures overnight), but I had no problem with it getting thick on me while I was working. I just poured out the amount I need during the two sessions, and it's all been poured in a mason jar with some saran wrap between the lid.

I've also heard about the UV issue. However, I just recently read that it won't harm the durability of the product, just the appearance (making it lighter). I don't know how true that is, but it's what I heard. Fortunately, I'm only using it under the car, where the sun never gets to it.

I was about to get some bmw strut mounts with camber plates on ebay, but of course, my dumbass missed out on the auction. They sold for like 12 dollars, plus 15 shipping... some incredible deal... Now I'm rethinking what I have to do... I know the back of the car will have some more camber with the drop, and I wanted to even it out on the front. Now I'm thinking I should get the weld-in camber correction for the rear, and install that. It'd be less tire wear, but probably a little worse at a track. Maybe I should just get strut mounts for the front and leave the chassis alone... Any input is greatly appreciated.

[kief]

I am very pleased with the ball joint boots I received today. They are made by Energy Suspension, and the model number is 9.13102. I decided to get the octagonal style ones just for looks...

I had taken good measurements of the oem ones, and decided on these.
the hole for the pin is just a bit smaller than the pin on the control arms, so they stretch around that; and the base hole pretty much is the exact same diameter. I think they are PERFECT for this application.




The boots compress nicely in place... I think they were made for this car!!!





No annoying clips to worry about is very nice! I think they'll also do a good job of keeping stuff out. Hopefully by the time I need new control arms, they aren't crazy expensive. Does anyone know the trend on bmw part prices? Do they seem to go up fast?

[kief]

guys, sorry, I've been an absolute update scrub.

I have all the parts that I need finally. Unfortunately, I don't have the kmac camber plates yet, but hope to be getting some in the near future. In the mean time I'm using oem strut mounts. The rears are all together, but unfortunately, I'm not even there yet on my car at the garage...

The fronts will be done tomorrow, and I'll post an update showing my diy fabbing skills on some little part i needed...

but less talk, more pics


now, pardon me, but that is some dope-ass stage1 supsension yo

[kief]

I've also been checking out the other hot projects as of now.

All I have to say is... SAFETY FIRST. If wattsmonkey crushed himself to death, that wouldn't have been very cool.

The other thing I have to say is, great work you guys. Even though we all have separate lives, we are all working on the same damn car.

[kief]

but seriously, let's remember to double, and even triple check our "jack work" because cars usually weigh, about 20X more than a human, and that's a lot. Because we can usually only lift like 0.5X our own body weight.. on average? Thats some guestimating, but remember

Don't crush yourself with your car. Or your very heavy m30 engine either. Cause that could probably kill you too.







ps, when I check my "jack work" I learned from other people, to goto the side of your car, and PUSH IT! Try to tip it like a cow! I push the shit out of my car when it's up on jack stands and make sure it's solid! I also have my jack under the crossmember just in case. okie i'm done now

[kief]

Finally got all the struts together

The fronts needed some "dust boot collars" because otherwise, the dust boots would slide down too far.

So, while some people only see this (mason jar lid):



I see THIS:

primed and painted to hopefully prevent rust.


They are from some smaller mason jars, and they work perfectly for the job. No joke, the boots fit perfectly over them, and here's how it looks



I cleaned up these strut mounts that I got. Cleaned out all the old grease with brake cleaner. Then I used some lucas xtra heavy duty grease on them. It seems like it almost might not be thick enough to do the job, but I know it's the right stuff for bearings, so I'll give it a go.



Finally


I really hope this actually drops my car a little. I always thought that my car would look wayyyy better a little lower.

[kief]

Well guys, nothing really new here. Just wanted to do a quick update, and let you know that I'll hopefully have a better one tomorrow. I got the control arms back from the shop today with the new bushings pressed in. $75 can you believe that, for 4 bushings... Oh well. I hope to get the whole front suspension back on tomorrow, and that would be a great update to post. I also get my truck inspected tomorrow, so please wish me luck.

Once I got my control arms back, I greased em up with the xtra heavy duty. I put it all round the ball joint, and then put it all round the inside of the new boots I got from energy suspension, and put the boots in place. Everything is ready to install back on the car. Hopefully I get an update tomorrow posted, showing my sunroof back in place, and some other good things...




till tomorrow...

[kief]

Sorry again for the bad updates.

I was very busy yesterday getting all the front suspension on the car. That is done and here's the only pic I got



Another thing that took me a LONG time to do was the sunroof. I almost forgot how to put it back together. The trick is that you have to move it forward and backward, before you have all the parts on the track. Fortunately, that's all done and lubricated. I also was about to put the panel in backwards. FYI, it doesn't quite fit if you do it backwards, the front is narrower that the rear.


Now, heres where I need help!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully I can find this while I'm working today, but I wanted to start the car and flip it in the garage so I can work on the rear. However, I can't find this one big connector:


That huge one that goes into the black port, on that box. This isn't the ECU, but an additional box that connects to the OBC. I can't find the plug on the car that goes into the box! I'll do some more research, and try to figure it out, but I looked all over, and didn't see it on the car.

[kief]

Car runs great, I temporarily put fenders and the front bumper on, and drove it around, and got it broken in again. The new shocks and springs are great!

Now I just have to clean everything up.

[tschultz]

That OBC brain sits under the dash nest to the hood release lever. The connector should be right there!

[kief]

That OBC brain sits under the dash nest to the hood release lever. The connector should be right there!

fortunately, that was easy to find. At the time, I was thinking it should go on the passenger side, not drivers side.

I have the car in a partially back together stage. I also figured out the misfire problem I've been having almost forever now. I suspected spark plug wires, so ordered some bosch ones. However, upon further inspection before I received the new ones, I realized that the oem ones could be fixed.

The end of the wire that connects to the distributor, has an L shaped tip on it. On almost all my wires, the tip seemed to have separated from the wire, but I couldn't tell because of the rubber boot covering everything on the wires. So I cut the rubber boots off the distributor end, and reassembled the tips on the wires. They worked good without the rubber boots, and no more misfire! It was so bad previously, that the 6th cylinder spark plug lost its center electrode. Now with my old set of ngk spark plugs, the car has never run better.

Has this problem been addressed before? I was too lazy to search

[kief]

I also have these

[Da_Hose]

I'd like to see you report that the K-Mac strut top bearings are great, as I'd love to add adjustability to my strut tops as well.

Unfortunately, every review I find says they are not. Good luck if you use them.

Jose

[tschultz]

So is this bad boy driving now?

[kief]

Yeah, it's doing great. I got it inspected, and it's back to being my primary car again since I sold the truck. Still running as reliable as ever, except the oil level sensor is leaking from the wire coming out of it, and oil stop-leak hasn't worked.

Here's the current state. I park under a tree, so it shades it nicely, but gets crap all over it at the same time. Looks kinda funky with no airdam, but I'm too lazy to do anything about it.





I should really cut those zip ties which holds the heater controls in place

[kief]

I of course want to turn this into a project car again, hopefully before too long, because its current state is pretty ridiculous. But apart from new seats, the only interior I would really want is some door cards after I get the whole thing repainted, including interior

I still haven't figured out if this car is a lost cause or not, but the rust isn't bad, it runs great, and it passed inspection with no problems, so that's all good.

If anyone's interested, and lives near PA, I may be willing to sell this car for somewhere close to $3000. I've advertised it on CL on and off in the past, but it's still with me.

[tschultz]

Does no glovebox cause your glovebox light to kill your battery?

[kief]

I don't think my car ever had a glovebox light. Just that little rechargeable flashlight that was past it's life.

But nope, I haven't had any battery problems yet, however, I did get it recharged about 3 months ago. Still, I don't think there's any drain, since there's no lights shining while it's off, and it still cranks strong.

I was a little scared that not having the auxiliary fan which was attached to the AC radiator, and also not having the AC blower inside, would cause problems, but after checking all the fuses, everything still seems to work including heat (blower).

[kief]

Got the kmac camber plates installed and set to max camber and caster. They seem to work good, however, they came with those top plates which just bend up if you try to tighten them at all, so I didn't use them. EDIT: Apparently, those plates should have spacers where the studs go, preventing any space from being there. Mine didn't have any spacers, they are just flat round metal plates. I guess if I ever strip the studs, I can use the plates with some washers or something to get back to some good threads. Otherwise, I don't see them being necessary at all.

Back to the kmacs, they seem good, but as I was expecting, I really don't think they make a huge difference. I think the extra caster makes you have to put a little extra effort into steering around curves, but maybe I'm just imagining that. The camber isn't too noticeable, and the rear wheels still looks to have more, but I'll take whatever I can get. I'll report back if I have any issues.

[kief]

Quick update

The kmac camber plates have been great. Those metal rings they supply with them are totally unnecessary, especially considering the problem I previously had with the rings not having the spacers they needed. The plates haven't gotten out of adjustment at all, they are just fine.

The car is for sale too, look in the "for sale section" No longer asking 3000, $1900 is the new price. I just washed it today, and it's the same as always haha, but that rust around the wheels needs fixed in the next year or 2, unless you just want to turn it into a beater for a few years then get rid of it for scrap metal price.

It's cheap, and I hope I find a buyer willing to pay my asking price. Also looking for a motorcycle, but a beemer is out of the question haha, they are worth way more than this car most of the time.

It's much easier to look around underneath without the airdam on it too... More airflow through the radiator too... The positives of not having that cracked up airdam are endless, except I think it looks a little better with it.....