Boris3

Just to follow up. I Used a drill and expanded the drain holes on the top of the OEM gland nut just enough so that an angle grinder wrench would fit. All good! https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-Spanner-Wrench-and-Lock-Nut-Combination-Kit-48-03-1050/202803503

No title, but seller is plate blocking?? So it has tags..and (expired) registration?? Or swapped plates from another car.

The challenge with used trucks with 200k+ around here is that typically they are often rust rotted: rockers and cab corners on Chevy and GM especially, also Ford; frames on the first gen and beds on second gen Toyotas; and pretty much everywhere on the used Dodges. Add in that a new truck costs upwards of $35-90k depending on how tricked out you want it and you have upward price pull on the used market. Factor in potential issues with Chevy/GM transmissions (4L60E) in the used 1/2 tons, and the head/plug issues in 5.4l older Ford 1/2 tons, etc means maintenance and service records are key. Some of the smaller dealer lots also price flip trade ins from the larger dealers or auctions which adds to the fun. The Toyota "premium" can lead to silly prices on used Tundras. I'm kind of looking for a lower mileage second gen in decent shape to replace my 2003, but between price point and that at 161k my motor seems to be just breaking there's in no rush. By the way I could use an access cab passenger-side front door, paint code 1E3 if anyone has a line on one.😀 Best advice in used truck buying seems to be head/look south. Though with the Texas flooding in 2017 this put a dent in the used southern truck market and you have to be careful with flood salvage. Good luck in the hunt.

paging @gilber33 just in case the thrill is gone and you want your garage space back.

low mileage e46 325i but again tan interior https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto/d/milwaukee-2004-bmw-325i/6837331608.html

Well, it's an E30 hungry group around here. Either the cars are bought pretty, slighty sad ones are rescued from years of PO abuse and rebuilt, or if an e30 is bought/relegated to parts status it's quickly picked clean by our friendly group of WI Bimmers "vultures". Sorry no connectors.

Enter the world of proprietary gland nuts and shock design. Koni shocks are similar to oem shocks in that the shaft is roughly the same diameter (22mm?) and thus fits through the hole in the top of the gland nut with a little bit of clearance to spare. The bumpstops are external and end up resting on top of the gland nut at full compression. BiIsteins use an inverted shock design with the the narrow diameter shaft and bump stops both inside of the shock body itself and a much thicker piece extending out of the shock body up to the sock tower. The result is a very different gland nut with a much wider opening. Plus the bottom of the Bilstein gland doesn't sit as tight on the Koni strut body and the threads are about 1/4" shorter than the OEM nut, which means altering the length of the internal spacer to use with the short body Koni to make sure the nut locks the strut in place. To deal with the larger hole I could fab an insert piece SAE washer to fit/weld inside the Bilstein gland nut but by that point it just makes more sense to use a pipe wrench on the OEM nut and be done with it. Notching the oem gland nut would work if there was a thicker lip but as mentioned earlier it's thin. When trying to chisel off the old OEM ones I "notched" and destroyed much of the lip. Revisit cursing point in prior post above. The idea of Zach welding on some sort of tabs to the gland nut is an interesting possibility for a plan B. Once again I'm just overthinking things. I could never do this for a living, projects for customers would never get done. I'll try pipe wrench first. I've got a bunch of duct tape to wrap the aluminum sleeves so I don't score the threads. Thought about using antiseize on the gland nut threads to help lubricate the install but then again I don't want the gland nut to back out. Ah, there I go again...

Yeah, admittedly the last OEM ones I removed were originals from the 233k 318is: heat, PB Blaster, pipe wrenches, BFH, chisels, cursing etc. Wish I would have seen that tire option for removal, what a great idea. By comparison removing the Bilstein gland nuts with their notched ring that have been on the race case since 2007, and were last removed in 2014 took about a minute. The challenge with the e30 gland nut pictured in the first post is that there is only about 2+/32" of a metal lip lip to grab onto with a pipe wrench. The e34 looks like more meat to deal with. Are the strut tubes threaded on the outside and the nut fits over the tube, or is it like the e30 where the strut tube is threaded on the inside and the gland nutsfits into the tube? What will add to the challenge is that I'll have the Ground Control aluminum threaded sleeve on the strut tube. The sleeve runs to the top of the tube and I'm cranking the gland nut all the way down so it holds the Koni in place as well as sits flush against the top of the threaded sleeve. So caution needed as I tighten the gland nut so I don't screw up the aluminum sleeve threads. I'll tape up the sleeve in case the wrench slips. The threads on the inside of the strut tubes have seen better days so the gland nut can be started by hand but not much more than that. After cleaning up the threads on the tubes its been getting easier and I've been able to test fit the gland nuts on the empty/bare tubes and use the pipe wrench tighten them all the way down so it will work and didn't chew up the lip too badly.

Thanks. That's beefier than other OTC versions of that tool I've seen and 2x the price. The reputation of the cheaper ones is that they tend to either sheer off the pins or the bolt that holds the arms. This looks worth checking out.

So I'm replacing my old Bilsteins with short body Koni struts on the e30 which means using an OEM gland nut in the strut tube. I've removed e30 OEM gland nuts and the go to here is a pipe wrench which pretty much trashes them. My question is how to install the gland nuts without trashing them. Bilsteins of course use a totally different gland nut due to their shock design. Pity since these are easily removed with their wrench (under $10) which I have. Before I grab the pipe wrench for an install are there any suggestions? There used to be a BMW 4 pin tool years ago and those I've been able to find are $100+ which is just silly. I've seen suggestions that a 2 pin angle grinder wrench or motorcycle clutch tool can work but they typically aren't strong enough to exert any real leverage necessary to crank the nut down. Here is a picture of the OEM gland nut so you have a sense of what I'm talking about. Just want to make sure I'm not missing a magic tool or easy trick.

Decided to cut the strut tubes 1.5" for better suspension travel. Shortened and rewelded strut tubes back from Zach in a very fast turn around. They're sitting at an angle on the workbench in the pic which distorts the lines a bit but everything is clean and straight. Thanks Zach! Now need to paint, fab some spacers for the short body Koni's, put everything together in the GC kit and install in the car. .

The club magazine tries at times to be all things but does skew older with $$$$ = the demographic more likely to buy/lease a new BMW and that is more BMW "lifestyle" oriented. The bmwcca race coverage pages are a nod to another focus and a holdover from an earlier time. Occasionally there are aspects of the magazine that I find interesting typically the historical stuff and some of the columns (Farnsworth, Siegel, Jenny Morgan when she was still in, Mike Miller). I'm in the club to support the Badger Bimmer track events that got me started and because of the people I've met over the years. As for car-related periodicals I find Grassroots Motorsports more to my liking. Coverage comes closer to things I'm more likely to do to a car or things I'd purchase. Plus they always have cheap subscription deals that come with tshirts and other swag.

Doh, drilling a shallow hole...should have thought of that. I got mine off with a three jaw puller, but between the walking tool and not having a solid pull surface against the rubber (like the picture of the tool) and with only the jaws on the lollipop I tore up the CAB in the process. Might work for @Jdesign since his CABs are pretty much new.

Badger Bimmers has a membership list around 900 I think. Might be worth reaching out to see if there would be any interest in them floating the idea. Unlikely that there would be enough folks interested but you never know what people are willing to spend their money on be it vanity plates, appearance, go fast bits, and/or maintenance.

Low mileage e30 1991 318is in MI, rust free that could use a little bit of work. Best case re the M42 engine noise is that just needs a new timing belt tensioner https://www.ebay.com/itm/1991-BMW-3-Series/223425475540?hash=item34053233d4:g:GhsAAOSwrNdcdfXH:rk:15:pf:0&LH_ItemCondition=4