m42b32
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Posts posted by m42b32
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Saw your car at a Brew City Cruise Night one time last summer, looks so good. Can't wait to see what's coming next!
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Looks like two different cars in the pictures, ones got body colored mirrors, dents on the fender, and what looks to be a later style valance while the other has black mirrors, an early valance, and looks generally cleaner.
- Boris3 and industrialsized
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I believe my car (1991 318is) is as you describe as well, the solid pipe from the connection after the cat through the muffler so there must be a bit of a discrepancy between the cars and the diagram, I believe mine is held together with a flange between the cat and resonator however (I might climb under it tomorrow because now I'm curious) so it is entirely possible that what you said is what happened with yours? I'm no expert mechanic by any means but I would guess some exhaust sealant would work pretty well at sealing it up
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You mean #15 on the diagram?
When we install exhausts on the cars at the shop I work at, we use an exhaust sealant on the connections. Those old GM exhausts came in like a million pieces with these short slip joints you put clamps over, leaks everywhere guaranteed unless you use a sealant. I can't remember who makes it, I don't think what we use is anything special so its probably Permatex or something, but it works very well and would probably work in your case as well.
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i like the not busy part for when i inevitably fall on my face. sounds like a great bike build (the trek), mine is definitely a frankenstein bike.Definitely worth a look, they have a 10ish mile loop that is fantastic and you will almost never see someone on the outer part of the loop, a bit technical in places but overall very fun.
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Never done a cyclocross race but for mountain bike trails, DEFINITELY check out the John Muir trails, they are a network of single track trails that are absolutely fantastic and generally well cared for. Usually not very busy either. I have a friend that is very into cycling and I could ask him about trails and things if you'd like
Back before I had a car I built a few bikes. I took an old 1970's Japanese ten speed I bought for 30 bucks and built a cheap fixed gear/single speed out of it for a college bike (I will never call it a 'fixie', I like the simplicity and reliability and that's why I built it) as well as a 1985 Trek 560 road bike with a Frankenstein drive-train (18 speed, 2 front 9 rear, down-tube non-indexed friction shift, really takes a while to get used to but it works perfectly)
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Wow, congrats on the awesome car! Very rare indeed
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My car is a Florida car (Not the salt spray part) and it is clean as a whistle underneath, the only problem is that anything made of plastic must be handled with more care than an ancient manuscript...
On a more relevant note, can't wait to see the progress!
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Hopefully you will be back in time for the E30 meet in May?
The one on May 10th? I really wish I could be, I will be in Michigan for the Formula SAE competition that weekend. I will definitely be at as many of the brew city cruise nights as possible though!
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Same site I used. Read it and you start worrying about profile gaskets and bolts sucked into and damaging the oil pickup.
When I opened mine to replace the cracked lower pan after buying the car I found two upper pan bolts were missing...and not loose in the bottom of the lower pan. Just gone. Still can't figure that one out. Did some PO/tech working on the car think they were extras???
What a convenient place to keep them haha. And yeah they make the m42 sound like ticking time bomb, at least the more common problems are well documented.
Speaking of common problems, I think I was miss-judging the source of my oil leak (Its like a greasy swamp so it is hard to pinpoint) and I'm pretty sure I have narrowed it down to the filter housing gasket and especially that o-ring. The oil is then running down the front of the engine and behind the crank pulley making it look like the upper pan gasket/front crank seal are the main culprits
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Just swapped in a different m42 into my sedan and when I cracked the lower pan off there were 4 bolts in there...I think the upper pan shifted due to this and the oil pickup is now sucking in air not allowing proper pressure to build. Glad you caught yours at just one bolt.
http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/M42_Sump_Bolts
I found this when I was looking up why the bolts fall out and what to do with them to prevent it and they described the exact same thing you mentioned. How could you tell that the oil pump was sucking air? I am paranoid about those bolts now haha
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Im happy to hear you had a safe and uneventful journey, when will you be back with us in Packerland?
Thanks! I will be back near the middle of May after the semester ends, looking forward to being back home for the summer again. Maybe this time I'll be able to make it to a cruise/show/meet or something
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A bit of a big update for the last few days!
I replaced my lower oil pan gasket to try and fix a pretty big oil leak:
Pretty sure it is the lower pan gasket (mostly at least) and I figured it would be good to crack it open anyway
Just about had a heart attack...
Turns out this is pretty common on the m42, it is a bolt holding the upper oil pan to the block and apparently it isn't uncommon to find multiple
I put the bolt back an re-torqued every one I could get to including the bolts for the oil pickup. Almost all of them were correct thankfully
Cleaned up the whole lower oil pan and the mounting surface on the upper pan:
Decided against using any RTV on the gasket since the surfaces cleaned up so nicely, it will be much less of a project if I have to open the pan again and it should seal just as nicely
All torqued down and filled with Castrol GTX high mileage 10W-40 and a new Mahle oil filter
I drove it around for the rest of the afternoon running errands and did find some oil leaking down onto the pan but from what I can tell the lower pan gasket is sealed nice and tight. I think I may have to do the upper pan gasket and front crank seal but for now I am just going to keep an eye on them. IT is MUCH MUCH less leaky than it was before though
Now for the fun bit....
I loaded up the car and set off from Milwaukee, WI to Bethlehem, PA.
Into Illinois
And then Indiana
(Gary, Indiana sucks)
Didn't get a picture of the Ohio sign but here is a panoramic view of the entire state
And by the time I got to PA it was dark and I managed to find a pretty large snow storm which added another three or four hours to my trip, had to stop regularly to clear the snow and grime from my headlights and grille
Thinking about some mud flaps on all four corners...
And here is my car after about 900 miles and 18 hours at a rest stop right before my destination, I really like this picture actually
I was hoping to never let this car see the salt and snow but seeing as it's my only running vehicle I had no choice, hopefully it will be fine over the next week or two in the winter weather. It looks like it won't be dipping below freezing here in PA anymore (And the town ran out of salt haha, what luck!) so I should be good in terms of keeping any rust at bay.
Overall, after a total of over 900 miles and an entire day's worth of driving I can honestly say I am never selling this car, every time I got out I couldn't help but turn around and stare for a bit and I loved every minute behind the wheel, it ran and drove absolutely beautifully!
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Look into mustang and camaro shocks. They are cheaper than the bilsteins and also offer better performance
Never heard of that as an option, you did mustang shocks on your ti right? They're a direct replacement?
Got more done on the car today, I need to buy new H4 bulbs for my headlights because one isn't working right, not burnt out though which is odd.
Replaced the rear differential mount with a Powerflex purple bushing (middle between street and race hardness)
Really clean inside the diff, pretty happy about that
Bushing wasn't as bad as it looked on the car, still replacing it though as the rubber had softened significantly
Powerflex bushing installed, went together extremely easily. New cover gasket installed and everything torqued to spec, filled it with Redline 75w-90 gear oil.
No clunking when going from a stop or over bumps, responsiveness on acceleration and deceleration is definitely better as well and the ride quality hasn't changed at all
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Well, I'm home for "spring" break which means the e30 is officially out of storage! At the end of this week I will be loading it up and driving about 1000 miles back to school. Before I go I've got quite a lot to do. I ordered a bunch of parts and over the next few days I will attempt to finish everything
Last night I did the rear shock mounts. Drivers side took about 20 minutes total:
New heavy duty RSM's with ECS Z3 reinforcement plates
And then came the passenger side aka satan's top nut. Took a few hours and ended up removing the entire shock to get it off:
\Original bmw shocks with 144k on them, total junk. Once I get some more money I will be replacing these with Bilsteins
That explains the clunk I was getting in the rear...
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From the single picture it actually looks like it could be a really clean shell!
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Its simply supply and demand as BMWben put it. Think back to the late 70's when you could buy a 1969 Camaro Z28 for less than a grand and beat the crap out of it and have a ton of fun: now they go for $75k simply because the demand has increased (thanks to baby boomers and nostalgia) and the supply has decreased because most of them have rusted away or beaten to death (...not that I was around in the late 70's, but I have spent a lot of time with muscle car guys that were and have heard a lot about it).
E30's are following a similar route for sure. Spec e30 and lemons have taken a ton of e30's off the streets and thanks to the popularity of the e30 M3 and the general awesomeness of the package offered by any e30 the demand for them has increased dramatically in the last 5 years. I wouldn't be surprised if a really nice condition, stock, late model 325is is going for $15k in ten years.
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CaTuned just came out with set of stainless lines. Great guys to deal with
http://www.catuned.com/p/106/catuned-brakes-brake-lines-bbk#.Uu77Tsvnav0
Hadn't seen these, thanks!
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I have a set of coated Balo rotors for the car (much cheaper than others, OEM supplier to Audi and generally good reputation) and OEM Bosch pads. I have a quart of ATE super blue, bought it right before it was banned, for the fluid flush but I might have to pick up a quart of the gold to top it off just in case. I did some research and a full set of ATE rubber lines is only $75 compared to a $95 minimum for braided stainless so I may just go with the rubber and spend the difference elsewhere, I've got some time to look and see if it is worth it
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Id spring for some OE non-stainless brake lines and save some money. Thats just me though.
Would the difference not be noticeable? I figured that while I was replacing the lines I might as well upgrade while I'm in there, but if it isn't worth it that would change my mind
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I had Royal Purple Synchromax in my g250 and then switched to 50/50 redline d4 and redline 75w-90NS (only because of gear rattle with lightweight flywheel) and it was much quieter, most likely the noise reduction was due to the increased viscosity though. I use Royal Purple XPS oil in the engine though and it is fantastic. Check my build thread for head pics after 45k miles.
Ive heard much better things about their engine oils (Saw your pics, incredibly clean!) Its more just the synchromax I have heard sub-par things about, it seems to break down/thin out much faster than other equivalents
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Well, its been a few months since I've done anything, I got aircraft paint remover and have been slowly working on the wheels and man is progress slow. Two are disassembled and I have begun stripping one of the faces but haven't had much time to get it done, hopefully I can get the ball rolling and have them ready to go by the spring.
I am preparing for a massive overhaul weekend on my spring break in March, I've got everything for a full brake job (except the braided stainless lines), brake fluid reservoir grommets are leaking so those will be replaced too, lower oil pan gasket and oil change, rear differential mount, rear shock mounts, trans/diff fluid change with appropriate redline fluids (I have two quarts of royal purple sychromax but have heard a number of negative things so I am going with redline...anyone want to buy the sychromax?), pulling the cluster and fixing the speedo needle since its like 5 mph off, and tie rod ends/front end alignment. This is all in preparation for the 1000 mile drive back to school, should be interesting for sure haha.
Two things:
recommendations on braided stainless brake lines for someone on a budget? Ireland engineering has a full set (DOT approved, teflon lined/braided/coated) for $95 that I am considering
My radiator looks quite old and is possibly original, do E30's have the same radiator failure expectations as e36's? Mine already has a new t-stat/water pump/hoses/fan clutch.
EDIT: Also need to fix the drivers side headlight, wont light when you turn the switch but if you hit it hard enough it will blink, most likely a connection issue.
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Completely forgot the Delorean was from 1982, definitely add that to my list
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Pretty sure group B rally started in 1982, so basically all of the homologation specials
Modern E9 Design Concept
in BMW Discussion
Posted
It looks like that goofy Nissan concept from a few months ago. I am not a huge fan of the retro/modern combo because it just looks fat to me.