84 633csi 5 spd

[captain awesome]

Well my temp and fuel gauges no longer function, so that is neat. Instead of messing with the cluster again Friday I decided to install the new speakers. These are a house brand for Crutchfield called Sound Ordinance. They were cheap and seem to get decent reviews. So far I haven't got to test them out much, but I'm sure they will be leaps and bounds better than the previous ones.

[Shipper 01]

How have you secured the baby seat? Shots??

[captain awesome]

How have you secured the baby seat? Shots??

The seat belt is looped through like normal and settles nicely in the pocket of the seat. Leg room for the passenger is tighter but not completely terrible. My oldest child's booster seat however doesn't fit quite right so I'm still looking for an alternative. I don't have any pics at the moment, but if can remember I'll snap a couple.

[captain awesome]

I snapped a couple pics, but there's not much to look at.





The seat is for my 2 year old. Her feet are obviously higher up so the passenger front seat has to be moved forward a bit so she comfortably have some leg room. The most she really rides in the car though is a mile or two tops but I wouldn't hesitate to commute longer. She is able to climb up and then I can buckle and adjust straps from the driver seat.

[Shipper 01]

I've got a 2 year old as well. How did you connect the rear restraint for the child seat beck to the rear of the car? Or are you just using the car's seatbelt alone? I was thinking I'd need to go through the parcel shelf and put an eye bolt through the rear trunk floor to hook the rear child seat restrain to.

[captain awesome]

I'm just using the seatbelt alone. You could probably rig up a restraint connection point if that's a concern. I don't think I've had a vehicle that we have ever used the restraint connection on but I know it's a preference for most.

[captain awesome]

Thanks to Ralph, I now have a good set of climate control switches. It wasn't as bad as expected as far as install time, but I'm definitely going to have to find out why it's binding at the flap on the upper and lower switch when slid to the right. They are lubed heavily but still give more resistance than I think is necessary. For now I'll take it easy until I can get in there and find out what's binding.

[songzunhuang]

Thanks to Ralph, I now have a good set of climate control switches. It wasn't as bad as expected as far as install time, but I'm definitely going to have to find out why it's binding at the flap on the upper and lower switch when slid to the right. They are lubed heavily but still give more resistance than I think is necessary. For now I'll take it easy until I can get in there and find out what's binding.

Looking good! Ralph is a lifesaver.

We will keep these 84's alive yet!

[captain awesome]

Thanks to Ralph, I now have a good set of climate control switches. It wasn't as bad as expected as far as install time, but I'm definitely going to have to find out why it's binding at the flap on the upper and lower switch when slid to the right. They are lubed heavily but still give more resistance than I think is necessary. For now I'll take it easy until I can get in there and find out what's binding.

Looking good! Ralph is a lifesaver.

We will keep these 84's alive yet!

Ralph is good people for sure. I got my factory antenna installed right before dark that he helped me acquire as well. Also my sunroof trim cover and visor brackets. Feeling like some stuff is getting knocked off the list now.

Unfortunately I pulled my heater blower to lubricate the bearings only to find out it's too late. One of the bearings has worn out beyond what any lube can fix. No biggie, found one in the classifieds that should do the trick.

I also pulled the tail light covers and scrubbed them nice and clean. Replaced a couple bulbs, and noticed that the passenger side has a reflective silver coating but the driver side is all black. I think the silver lining must have disintegrated over the years, so I plan to paint the inside white for both sides. I've read that white is the best reflective color you can use, so that's what I'm going to do.

[///Moe]

Speaking of child seats..
There was in fact an oem solution to this once, a child seat special made from the factory to fit in the back of the E24 with factory harness etc. Similar shaped as the rear bucket seats and seems to fit right into them, according to the pictures in the parts catalog. The oem workshop manual even have an instruction on how to fit them and how to modify the headrests to fit the extra harness.

I guess they are outdated compared to todays standards and very few would actually use them because of that, but it would have been a cool accessories to have as a collectors item. I can't remember ever seeing one over the years of going through the internet in search of E24 related pictures and information, let alone heard of anyone who has one.

Have anyone ever seen or heard of one, or have a picture of what it looks like in real life? Or does anyone have the modifications suggesting their car once had one? One of the modifications required to fit the harness was to cut a rectangular hole in the bottom of the rear headrests backingplate, for the harness to go through. If you look closely most E24's equipped with headrests in the rear should have outlined marks to show you where to cut if you were ever to install one. Don't know about the ones without headrests in the rear, but probably something similar on those.

[captain awesome]

Speaking of child seats..
There was in fact an oem solution to this once, a child seat special made from the factory to fit in the back of the E24 with factory harness etc. Similar shaped as the rear bucket seats and seems to fit right into them, according to the pictures in the parts catalog. The oem workshop manual even have an instruction on how to fit them and how to modify the headrests to fit the extra harness.

I guess they are outdated compared to todays standards and very few would actually use them because of that, but it would have been a cool accessories to have as a collectors item. I can't remember ever seeing one over the years of going through the internet in search of E24 related pictures and information, let alone heard of anyone who has one.

Have anyone ever seen or heard of one, or have a picture of what it looks like in real life? Or does anyone have the modifications suggesting their car once had one? One of the modifications required to fit the harness was to cut a rectangular hole in the bottom of the rear headrests backingplate, for the harness to go through. If you look closely most E24's equipped with headrests in the rear should have outlined marks to show you where to cut if you were ever to install one. Don't know about the ones without headrests in the rear, but probably something similar on those.

I haven't seen those, but considering modern child car seats "expire" over time you couldn't legally carry a child passenger in one. All current ones have an expiration date, and after that point it's supposed to be tossed regardless. Of course no one is going to check, but if you were to get in an accident it would cause some backlash. At least in the US that's how it goes.

[captain awesome]

Had an interesting lunch today. I planned to try to detail the interior a bit after replacing the rear driver side upper arm pad thingy. The old was cracked, but the new one looks nice and fresh. Unfortunately the landscapers for work showed up and began blowing grass everywhere so I decided to mosey on over the car wash only to find out it was recently closed. Well that's unexpected.

I then decide to cruise by the local oil station and see if they had a quick opening. A week or so ago I bought the filter, but haven't had the time to do the full change so I offered it up to speed the process. They couldn't figure out how to get the oil filter out! Seriously!? Instead of spilling the beans and explain "how" to do their job I said just put some fresh oil back in and I shall be on my way. It seemed as though something this simple was a problem that it was a sign to not let them further do some form of damage I would just have to repair. It was mentioned multiple times that I need to schedule an appointment so they could get it "unstuck" but I refused. I'm sure they are great people, and generally knowledgeable about most cars, but even a quick google search could have given them all the info needed. Oh well. On a somewhat positive note, they did vacuum the car and I managed to wipe down a few panels.

[captain awesome]

I've been holding off on doing any work on the car until my new shop is built. Finally broke ground this week, and hopefully will be pouring concrete after Tuesday's inspection.

It's a 24x24 with one 9' standard garage door, one 36" entry door, and a decent sized window to hopefully let some light in. Should be plenty of space for me to work on my bikes as well as cars when needed.

[songzunhuang]

Going to be nice to have all that space for tinkering! I just have to do mine in the driveway or move the cars out of the garage to tinker in the shade.

[captain awesome]

I'm pretty excited. Before we moved last June I had a small one car garage and then the large shed. It's going to be huge compared to what I've gotten used to.

More than anything though I will just be excited to have decent lighting and power. 100ft extension cord is a pain to mess with.

[Ralph in Socal]

Very nice Derrick. Hope the car is doing good for you as well. PM'd.

Ralph

[sansouci]

I am quite envious regarding your new shop/garage. Are you going to install a 2-post lift? Air Compressor? Lots of stuff like this in www.garagejournal.com.
Keep the build shots coming!
--Ken

[captain awesome]

No lift. As much as I would like to have one, it's just not in the cards. I don't want a tall building, and the footprint they take up is more than I'm willing to give up.

I will have a larger air compressor that will be stationed outside of the garage to cut down the noise. It hasn't been purchased yet, but will be hopefully purchased before the end of the year. I've got a smaller one to get me by until then.

[captain awesome]

Termite spray done and I passed pre-pour inspection yesterday. Concrete will be here Friday AM. Framers start Tuesday and should have it dried in for me to start the rest Wednesday. I'll be doing the metal roof, siding, trim, soffit, interior finish, electrical, insulation, etc. when time allows.

[songzunhuang]

What's going to happen to that little brown barn in the background? Are it's contents going to be swallowed up in the new structure?

[captain awesome]

That's my garden/construction tool shed, and will hopefully remain one. I'll probably push it up against the back of the new garage, and shove my air compressor in it. Keeps noise down and also takes up less space in the garage. That's the plan at least. I wish my riding mower would fit in it too, but it's just not large enough. A future lean-to might fix all of this though.

[captain awesome]

The main pad was poured and finished today. Sunday the forms will be pulled, and new ones put up for the driveway pad. Monday if rain holds off that will be poured and finished.











I also bought a euro front bumper today. Needs some work, but I'm excited to get it here and fit it.

[captain awesome]

Forms were pulled on the main slab, and new forms set up for the driveway pad.











Framing materials show up today, and hopefully the rain can hold out so they can get started framing tomorrow morning. Trusses will be here Wednesday, so by that afternoon it should be dried in. Roof metal will be going on Friday before I head out to see some flat track racing at the Springfield Mile.

[captain awesome]

Framer had to postpone until tomorrow which hopefully still allows me enough time to sheet the roof Friday.

Last night I finally pulled the trigger on some wheels and tires through Discount Tire Direct. $295 in rebates later I've got a set of Beyern Mesh 17" and some Hankook Ventus all seasons. The tires I've been running are cracked and the worst of which being my driver side front. When it gets damp out all traction is lost. I've been running them longer than necessary but watching for a good deal to pop up. I've bought a few sets from Discount Tire before online and when everything ships to your door for under $900 ready to mount it's hard to argue the deal. Hopefully I get them in before the weekend.

[captain awesome]

So the new wheels came in today. First impression is they are way nicer than what I currently have on. They "feel" lighter, but didn't do a weight comparison. One thing I didn't expect is that they don't require any hubcentric spacers. Yay!

The drive home required loading down with the 4 original wheels/tires as well as a new hitch receiver for the wife's Jeep. Even with the added weight, the ride was night and day. The old tires were worn wonky, had cracks, and were definitely harder than they should have been. Any hint of moisture on the road turned it into an ice rink. Tread depth wasn't terrible, but until I put the new tires on I didn't realize how harsh the ride used to be. It's like a Cadillac now compared to before. Grip is a whole new beast as well.

Basically I should have done this a long time ago. It made a huge difference in my confidence of road feel.



Loaded down here, but when I get around to adjusting the Bilsteins in the rear I would like the ride close to this.





Personally I'm not a fan of the silver color they come with, and think they need some BMW center caps or stickers to cover these. I've been contemplating copper, gold, or a darker silver for painting the centers. That's a bit down the road though.