Bassboy3313

The ship has landed!

The ship has landed!

The ship has landed!

The ship has landed!

The ship has landed!

The ship has landed!

So nice of you to let people leak fluids onto your brand new concrete 

I appreciate your insight on this.  I didn't realize the variance process was such a pain in the ass.  I figured it was basically asking for a "variance" to the ordinance and was decided by a local committee of tribal elders that gathered around a cauldron and stared at the smoke until the answer presented itself.

Normally all e46s have the rear manual shifter bushing bracket already on the chassis, but of course the touring did not. Went ahead and purchased the bracket from FCP Euro. Had to modify it by cutting the ears off as they were preventing the bracket from sitting flush against surface. Once good, I drilled some holes in the three tabs as well as the trans tunnel and pop riveted the brqcket on with some steel rivets. Sprayed some black paint over everything to prevent rusting as well.


I also installed the front prop shaft and installed clutch fluid line on brake fluid reservoir and finished the wiring for the clutch switch. This required adding wires to a DME plug and an EWS plug. For this. I went to the pick-n-pull and cut out some plugs with pigtails. I then de-pinned two wires to allow me to attach the new wires right into the plugs like factory.  Then just extended the wires to the clutch switch and done! Sorry no pics of that since it was tight under the dash while working. 
Hopefully will have the engine/trans installed in the chassis this week. 

Normally all e46s have the rear manual shifter bushing bracket already on the chassis, but of course the touring did not. Went ahead and purchased the bracket from FCP Euro. Had to modify it by cutting the ears off as they were preventing the bracket from sitting flush against surface. Once good, I drilled some holes in the three tabs as well as the trans tunnel and pop riveted the brqcket on with some steel rivets. Sprayed some black paint over everything to prevent rusting as well.


I also installed the front prop shaft and installed clutch fluid line on brake fluid reservoir and finished the wiring for the clutch switch. This required adding wires to a DME plug and an EWS plug. For this. I went to the pick-n-pull and cut out some plugs with pigtails. I then de-pinned two wires to allow me to attach the new wires right into the plugs like factory.  Then just extended the wires to the clutch switch and done! Sorry no pics of that since it was tight under the dash while working. 
Hopefully will have the engine/trans installed in the chassis this week. 

I do the same thing with my 3d printer. Its definitely satisfying and addicting when things you create/draw yourself actually end up working like they should, lol. 

I do the same thing with my 3d printer. Its definitely satisfying and addicting when things you create/draw yourself actually end up working like they should, lol. 

Small update with a few random things.
Got the parts in to remove the oem headlight ballast and igniter. 
On the left is the new ballast and igniter, on the right is the oem ballast and igniter.

 
I was able to mount the entire set up in the headlight housing which saves alot of room!


 
And then I added a plug which comes out of the headlight and plugs into the original chassis harness.

 
I also ordered a 3d printer and started teaching myself to draw things, which has always been a struggle for me to wrap.my head around. But! Slowly I am teaching myself and learning.
I drew up and printed these plugs to replace the ones that I filled with silicone since the spots that previously had things passing through them are not in use anymore.

 


 
All these white ones were some of the first test prints and black ones are incoming!
Here's another pic of the one that plugs the harness hole.

 
and the other 2 installed here.

 
I also got my new EMP Stewart water pump and installed it.

 
This thing is beefy and really excited to see how it performs. While I was replacing the pump I noticed that the front main seal was starting to leak ever so slightly. So I have a new seal on order.

 
I went to order the install tool since it was fairly cheap and I like to do things right and I found that it was no longer available.
I decided to draw up and print one!
Here is how it came out.


 
We will see how it works but I am confident and excited. 
Hopefully more updates at the end of the weekend! 

Back to daily duty

Thanks to @Rekpoint for the deal on the e36 racing dynamics strut brace. Got it installed this morning on the coupe. Needed just a bit of clearancing on underside of hood and for the strut tower ground lug. Otherwise fits great!

Thanks to @Rekpoint for the deal on the e36 racing dynamics strut brace. Got it installed this morning on the coupe. Needed just a bit of clearancing on underside of hood and for the strut tower ground lug. Otherwise fits great!

Thanks to @Rekpoint for the deal on the e36 racing dynamics strut brace. Got it installed this morning on the coupe. Needed just a bit of clearancing on underside of hood and for the strut tower ground lug. Otherwise fits great!

Car up in the air and taken apart.
The drivers side sway bar mount is perfectly intact. The passenger side not so much.

 

 
The ends of the cracks were drilled. Metal pounded/pulled flat, welded, ground, and prepped for a reinforcement plate.

 


I had ordered some pre-made reinforcement plates and was surprised when they were only 0.114” thick (11 ga.) Then I measured the chassis sheetmetal. It comes in at a measly 0.053” (17 ga.). 
 
Massive thanks to @Bassboy3313 for  coming over and welding, can’t thank him enough for his help.
Grade 8.8 screws were preheated to 300 F, welded, then slow cooled.


 
Since the drivers side was intact, that reinforcement plate was welded in as-is. Once both reinforcements were welded in they were painted. I am making this post while waiting for the paint to dry. I should have things buttoned up, re-grease the sway bar, and be back in action later today.


 
 

Tossed the battery back in this. Fired up and idled like I'd just driven it yesterday, even though it's been sitting in underground parking since October. Then, as one does, I decided to take it out for a beat run around the neighborhood on old gas and expired plates.
Someday I will learn to act right and behave like an adult. Today was not that day.
Other than that, no progress. Maybe bumping this thread will help get me motivated to do something with this. Unfortunately, there are other things higher on my priority list at the moment. Notably, fixing the compact and possibly moving, but in the meantime my work-life is about to become an unholy shitstorm as our 6-person engineering team has a half-million dollar project that the customer thinks should be done in two months. Goddam first-world problems.

GONE!!!

All clean and ready to rip!

All clean and ready to rip!

All clean and ready to rip!

All clean and ready to rip!

Took another crack at it with the extractor but heating it first with a torch. As I was turning the extractor with the tap handle, the entire threaded insert broke loose and fell inside the frame rail. 😳😡

Leaving me with an empty hole, a few different ideas came to mind. To keep damage to the frame rail to a minimal, I opted with opening up the hole just enough to snugly tap in a threaded coupling. Ground off the finish and applied a layer of jb weld to possibly help things hold from inside. Left it about 1/16" out from frame in order for the welds to have more surface area to mend with. 


I then welded it all around, ground it flush to frame, put a skim coat of jb weld to fill any pinholes left over and sprayed it black. Paint is still wet in pic, but you get the idea. 


Crisis averted!