Project - This is going to take a while

Document your Sixer project here.

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rattusM6
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Project - This is going to take a while

Post by rattusM6 »

OK, my first post and lets start with a project.

I have actually owned this M6 since 2005 but back in 2011 it was time to take her off the road and think about restoring the old beast to its former glory.

The paintwork was looking very tired and the front wings as expected were completely shot.

Upon the initial strip down I was preparing for the worst especially as this car came with the M-Tech bodykit, excellent for trapping all that nice dirt and moisture.

Amazingly this M6 (despite the British weather) ended up being one of the most solid and rot free 6 series I have ever come across.
The inner wings were perfect, wheel arches perfect, rear quarter panels almost perfect, infact only the Jacking points and RH rear sill needed to have bodywork repairs.
This is testament to the 2 previous owns having the car constantly Waxoyled, etc.

Anyway, after 4 years delay in which the car has been protected in a zinc primer, the task of restoring has started again.

Firstly with the sale of my E30 M3 (or what my family call the loft conversion). I know I will regret selling, actually I already have.
At least I now have the funds to eventually put the M6 back on the road as good as new.

Here come some pics ...

The next job is to remove all the suspension, gearbox, propshaft, diff, etc. ready for refurbishment/replacement.

The engine will probably come out as well for a bottom end rebuild but have not decided yet. Luckily the top end has already been done with new chain, etc.

As mentioned, this will be a long process.

Regards

Kev
Attachments
Bye Bye M3, at least the M6 (seen in the background) now has the garage all to itself.
Bye Bye M3, at least the M6 (seen in the background) now has the garage all to itself.
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Zinc Primer in all its glory, car is actually Polaris Silver.
Zinc Primer in all its glory, car is actually Polaris Silver.
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Completely stripping the interior (again) was my first task and took the entire day to achieve. I have a nice full leather interior to go back in.
Completely stripping the interior (again) was my first task and took the entire day to achieve. I have a nice full leather interior to go back in.
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IMAG003.jpg
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sansouci
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Post by sansouci »

I admire your ambition. Love the "sofa" look for the interior LOL
Sansouci
84 E24 633Csi Auto, Bronzit/PearlBeige 6997510
93 E32 740il M60 Auto, Alpenweis/Ultramarine
60 528i M30 5-speed Green/Beige (crushed)
71 240Z 4-speed White/Blue (rusty & sold)
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rattusM6
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Post by rattusM6 »

Sofa in the car may come in handy if I find myself in the dog house :roll:

Some more pics ...
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Inner wings thankfully all dandy.
Inner wings thankfully all dandy.
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wattsmonkey
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Post by wattsmonkey »

Hey Kev,

Welcome aboard. We met a while back, I'm restoring my M635 in Cheltenham and it was your daily driver that inspired me to get an E36 for the family!

Cheers,

Rob
"Most of it necessary; all of it enjoyable." LJKS
'84 635CSi, dogleg...itbs and supercharger????? Eaton Mess
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rattusM6
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Post by rattusM6 »

Thanks Rob,

Yes, remember the visit, still have the leather headliner (now in black) ready to be installed at some point in the future.

Glad to hear all is well and are busy on your very own M635.
I am sure the E36 has been as reliable as a wood buring stove.


Some early pics whilst car was on the road ...

More to come once I start the task of removing suspension and trans, etc.
I also have the arduous task of removing all the underseal (waxoyl) etc that coats the underneath.
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rattusM6
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Post by rattusM6 »

Hi folks,

Some pics from underneath, lots of waxoyl and tetraseal to be removed whilst removing all the suspension and trans, etc.
Done its job but it does look ghastly.

I will check and only remove the manufacturers underseal in the areas where it is not binding to the bodywork which will indicate moisture entrapment and probably rust.
We had already checked this extensively 4 years back but NOT with all items removed.

I intend to detail the underneath to the same standard as my (now sold) E30 M3, with a combination of Power Coating, Por 15 and Eastwoods Underseal Paint (not cheap but probably the best product I have come across).

Kev
Attachments
E30 M3, gives a clue to how the rest of the car looks like underneath, this is the level of detail I would like to achieve on the M6.
E30 M3, gives a clue to how the rest of the car looks like underneath, this is the level of detail I would like to achieve on the M6.
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Realised I was dyslexic whilst at a toga party dressed as a goat.
85 E24 M6 - 14 years
92 E30 M3 - 11 years now sold
06 E46 M3 - 2 years
13 Ford Grand C-Max, the family wagon
99 E36 323i Sport Touring - now sold
02 E46 Alpina B3 3.3 - 1.5 years
M6 chris

Post by M6 chris »

Looks a really good car to start with if your m3 is anything to go by it will be amazing when finished. I recently restored my m635 and it's well worth it when it's done, refitting those door handles will keep you busy for a while alone!! :D
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rattusM6
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Post by rattusM6 »

Ta Chris,

Refitting everything is surely going to test my sanity as I will be doing most of it myself to keep costs down.
Don't worry I have just the right amount of OCD to have taken pictures, logged and tagged everything that was removed, with the help from the ETK if I get stuct on re assembly of some items.


Kev
Realised I was dyslexic whilst at a toga party dressed as a goat.
85 E24 M6 - 14 years
92 E30 M3 - 11 years now sold
06 E46 M3 - 2 years
13 Ford Grand C-Max, the family wagon
99 E36 323i Sport Touring - now sold
02 E46 Alpina B3 3.3 - 1.5 years
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Tim Bradham
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Post by Tim Bradham »

I'll be following this rebuild, hope you have fun in this re-birth! Tim
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rattusM6
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Post by rattusM6 »

Thanks Tim.
As mentioned this will take me a while to complete, well I say a while, it will probably need to be up and running by next late spring as it may be used for a european road trip being organised with friends as part of our 50th birthday celebrations, we shall see.

Kev
Realised I was dyslexic whilst at a toga party dressed as a goat.
85 E24 M6 - 14 years
92 E30 M3 - 11 years now sold
06 E46 M3 - 2 years
13 Ford Grand C-Max, the family wagon
99 E36 323i Sport Touring - now sold
02 E46 Alpina B3 3.3 - 1.5 years
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rattusM6
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Post by rattusM6 »

Spent today:
  • Removing Exhaust System
    Purging and Removing Fuel System and Fuel Tank
    Removing Drive Shafts and Differential
Is it me or is that rear diff really heavy.
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Realised I was dyslexic whilst at a toga party dressed as a goat.
85 E24 M6 - 14 years
92 E30 M3 - 11 years now sold
06 E46 M3 - 2 years
13 Ford Grand C-Max, the family wagon
99 E36 323i Sport Touring - now sold
02 E46 Alpina B3 3.3 - 1.5 years
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olympia57
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Post by olympia57 »

Pah .....
One and a half tins of spinach and you do it this way ........

Image
Enjoying your thread .
Don
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rattusM6
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Post by rattusM6 »

Thanks, maybe I will put it all back on the car this way 8)
Realised I was dyslexic whilst at a toga party dressed as a goat.
85 E24 M6 - 14 years
92 E30 M3 - 11 years now sold
06 E46 M3 - 2 years
13 Ford Grand C-Max, the family wagon
99 E36 323i Sport Touring - now sold
02 E46 Alpina B3 3.3 - 1.5 years
wattsmonkey
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Post by wattsmonkey »

I had an interesting experience with offering up the subframe/diff assembly with my son doing lowering duties on my admittedly homicidal jack as I made sure everything was lining up as it should. I suddenly found myself supporting a lot more of the weight than I was expecting as I puffed out the repeated instruction to "Twist the handle, then pump it up, but do it really quickly!"
"Most of it necessary; all of it enjoyable." LJKS
'84 635CSi, dogleg...itbs and supercharger????? Eaton Mess
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rattusM6
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Post by rattusM6 »

Maybe I will put it back on piece by piece afterall :shock:
Realised I was dyslexic whilst at a toga party dressed as a goat.
85 E24 M6 - 14 years
92 E30 M3 - 11 years now sold
06 E46 M3 - 2 years
13 Ford Grand C-Max, the family wagon
99 E36 323i Sport Touring - now sold
02 E46 Alpina B3 3.3 - 1.5 years
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Da_Hose
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Post by Da_Hose »

I used a lift table. Went in easy as pie. A transmission jack would work great too.

Jose
1987 M6 - My dream car
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rattusM6
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Post by rattusM6 »

Nothing done, just some more pics.
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Fuel tank will be refurbed to good-as-new
Fuel tank will be refurbed to good-as-new
IMAG1059.jpg (159.69 KiB) Viewed 15910 times
Realised I was dyslexic whilst at a toga party dressed as a goat.
85 E24 M6 - 14 years
92 E30 M3 - 11 years now sold
06 E46 M3 - 2 years
13 Ford Grand C-Max, the family wagon
99 E36 323i Sport Touring - now sold
02 E46 Alpina B3 3.3 - 1.5 years
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rattusM6
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Location: Wiltshire, United Kingdom

Post by rattusM6 »

and a couple more ...
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Realised I was dyslexic whilst at a toga party dressed as a goat.
85 E24 M6 - 14 years
92 E30 M3 - 11 years now sold
06 E46 M3 - 2 years
13 Ford Grand C-Max, the family wagon
99 E36 323i Sport Touring - now sold
02 E46 Alpina B3 3.3 - 1.5 years
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rattusM6
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Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2015 5:40 pm
Location: Wiltshire, United Kingdom

Post by rattusM6 »

Jose, I may get the use of a small scissor lift :wink:
Realised I was dyslexic whilst at a toga party dressed as a goat.
85 E24 M6 - 14 years
92 E30 M3 - 11 years now sold
06 E46 M3 - 2 years
13 Ford Grand C-Max, the family wagon
99 E36 323i Sport Touring - now sold
02 E46 Alpina B3 3.3 - 1.5 years
wattsmonkey
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Post by wattsmonkey »

Fair play: that is looking very tidy underneath, you must have been dreading a few rust-related surprises!
"Most of it necessary; all of it enjoyable." LJKS
'84 635CSi, dogleg...itbs and supercharger????? Eaton Mess
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rattusM6
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Post by rattusM6 »

Known rust areas on first inspection:
  • Both Front Jacking Points
    Rear RH Jacking Point (LH looks fine)
There is bound to be some more once the underseal has been removed where necessary, we shall see.
There is evidence of previous welding around the front jacking points (for MOT purposes I guess) so will see if this needs to be completely re done.
Realised I was dyslexic whilst at a toga party dressed as a goat.
85 E24 M6 - 14 years
92 E30 M3 - 11 years now sold
06 E46 M3 - 2 years
13 Ford Grand C-Max, the family wagon
99 E36 323i Sport Touring - now sold
02 E46 Alpina B3 3.3 - 1.5 years
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rattusM6
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Location: Wiltshire, United Kingdom

Post by rattusM6 »

OK, Summer Holidays now done and dusted, time to get back to the business in hand.

Yesterday the removal of the all-in-one Gearbox and Bell Housing, really hate those Star Bolts.

Today, the removal of the Rear Trailing Arms and Rear Subframe.

Issues encountered:
RH ABS cable would NOT feed through the chassis no matter how much I tried and the car is high in the air so could not really access from inside the boot.
The LH ABS cable popped out from its chassis hole with no problem at all inorder to disconnect, so cannot figure out why the RH is such a problem.
Ended up removing from the hub instead which basically means a new ABS Sensor is now required on that side.

Big thanks to the Crows Foot spanners on those pesky brake lines.


Kev
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Realised I was dyslexic whilst at a toga party dressed as a goat.
85 E24 M6 - 14 years
92 E30 M3 - 11 years now sold
06 E46 M3 - 2 years
13 Ford Grand C-Max, the family wagon
99 E36 323i Sport Touring - now sold
02 E46 Alpina B3 3.3 - 1.5 years
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Da_Hose
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Post by Da_Hose »

I've never had the transmission off. Seems like that would be a major undertaking.

Jose
1987 M6 - My dream car
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rattusM6
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Post by rattusM6 »

Jose,

As mentioned, I hate Star Bolts, if you dog-ear them then you are f@*cked.

There a 2 bolts that live at the top of the bell-housing and could NOT be removed from underneath the car (well not safely in my experience anyway).

So, I needed to remove from the engine bay the fan coupling, airbox, hoses, etc, so I can drop the engine and gearbox as much as possible to access the bolts.

Due to lack of space around the bulk-head, even after dropping the engine as much as possible, I found it best to use a ring spanner rachet compatible with star bolts and then a nice big ring spanner over the end to get enough purchase to crack the bolts from underneath the car.

After that the gearbox came away nice and easy.

Kev
Realised I was dyslexic whilst at a toga party dressed as a goat.
85 E24 M6 - 14 years
92 E30 M3 - 11 years now sold
06 E46 M3 - 2 years
13 Ford Grand C-Max, the family wagon
99 E36 323i Sport Touring - now sold
02 E46 Alpina B3 3.3 - 1.5 years
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Da_Hose
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Post by Da_Hose »

On Wheeler Dealers they had an M3 in the shop with the same difficult to get to bolts. His solution was to have the car high up in the air and use an endoscope so he could see what the hell was going on up there and put a nice long extension on the ratchet. Here is a youtube of the episode. Look at about minute 16.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PvPp_-JBmU

Jose
1987 M6 - My dream car
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