patsbimmer1

.... Is this dial up or what?...

Alright. With that kerfuffle behind us. Back to business. 

 
It is amazing how much room I have to go higher but how much further it is already off the ground compared to jack stands. 
 

Some marks on the floor for next time. I’ll do the same with gray paint for the e30. 
 

It is! It’s back on the road after a very long engine-out refresh I did over the winter/summer. A build thread is coming, just need the time to organize the photos now that the adventure is done.

A bit of a photo dump. Finally got my wheels on, and of course I went with a tried and true wheel choice for the E36. Apex ARC-8 in 17x9 et30 with a 225/45/17.






 

Some other miscellaneous truck upgrades mods.
Did a mechanical decon of the paint two weekends ago and did one layer of Jescar paint sealant and then two layers of Collonite 845 wax on top. Will keep me sane until I get the truck corrected in the spring and then coat it.
Rear wheel liners. Minimize some dirt getting into places and just looks cleaner in my opinion.
Before:

After:

Front struts came in. Ceramic coated front and rears.

Bed decals removed. I was semi torn on this because I didn’t not like them, but I think with these fender badges having the red accent around them for the “sport” edition, it looked a little busy on the side. I like the way my parents truck looks with bed decals. Can always added them back if I want.


Exhaust tip was crusty, was going to repaint it black, but essentially had to destroy it to get it off because it had welded itself to the exhaust pipe. Just bought an eBay one, looks good to me. I don’t know how far out it should stick? This looks fine to me, but maybe it needs to get pushed in further.


Sold the truck cap a few days after getting the truck. Purchased a Truxedo ProX-15 bed cover. Like that it sits a lot more flush. These tonneaus are crazy expensive for some of the nicer one. This one fit the bill being about $500.

And my ricer mod. Found these emblem decals on Etsy for $20, figured for that little it was worth a chance. I didn’t dislike the blue oval, but wanted to see what it would like in this color rendition. I like it, but don’t love it. Real way to do it would be to pull them out and disassemble the badges and paint them. They’ll do for now.


Suspension installed hopefully soon. Just waiting on the wheels to come in, was approved for sponsorship on these new to market wheels. Went a little outside my normal comfort zone on the color, but I think it will come together nicely.

Hit a mileage milestone. 8000 miles under my ownership which I'm realizing now is over $1/mile in just maintenance 🤦‍♂️

I want to see pictures of the 48 Willy's and an 86 El Camino that were faster than you...

I also had a failing headliner so i tackled that job at the same time. very tedious project, but doable. considering the cost to DIY is like $75 compared to 600+ for a shop, it is worth it. apparently volvo used 'environmentally friendly' glues that just dont hold up over time.
I used this ebay vendor for the headliner material. it comes shipped in a roll (important), was a close match to the grey, and was the correct size to do the headliner + sunroof panel. i ended up using two cans of 3M headliner and fabric adhesive.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/280980573545?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649
this diy was great for the process of gluing on the new fabric: 
 
this is how the old material looked as it was falling apart

to get the headliner board out you have to remove: visors, oh-shit handles, sunroof switch/dome light panel, cargo net clips, rear dome light, rear trim at the tailgate, A pillars, D pillars, front and rear seats, one half of the cargo area carpet/plastic covers/spare tire foam, seat belt retractor. you also have to pull all of the wiring that is glued to the top of the headliner off. its a stupid design, the harness connects somewhere inside the dash so there is no way to unplug it, you have to just leave it hanging. 

the panel will barely (not really) squeeze through the rear tailgate. you will be bending the edges pretty harshly to get it in and out.


no pictures of the process of gluing the headliner fabric on, see the youtube DIY above. it turned out 8/10, with a couple of wrinkles and the areas where the handles go are too stretched. but in reality,  no one will notice unless i mention it. 

the fabric was a good match. I think it was actually nicer stuff than the original. much better texture, better cut resistance, a slight sheen. 

probably the worst bit of this job was reattaching all the wires to the top of the headliner. after putting the headliner back in the car, you have to lay the wiring back across in its original position and hot glue it back into place. i used gaffer tape to hold it in place as the glue set. the wiring runs across the front windshield area, and also snakes backwards and across the center of the car to the two rear dome lights. a simple harness plug in the a pillar could have made this 1,000,000 times easier. 

 

headliner back in place. the four cargo net clips have bolts inside so they hold it up best while you attach everything else. 

and voila. 

I swear getting parts in the mail is like crack. Sometimes I get so bored I toss in an order for small cosmetic things, because they’re satisfying to replace. Noticed my rear trunk release handle was cracking, so I rationalized a water leak was possible. It must be replaced!! Then I decided to fix the driver cup holder because it wouldn’t come out. Busted it apart and found the retainer wheel had fallen off. Now I can go through drive thrus woohoo! Also replaced the cup holder trim because I scuffed up the original one getting it off, damn soft touch… didn't hurt since the original one looked like someone blew a snot rocket into it.
 

THE BEAST HAS LANDED. So awesome that IND had the Karbonious box in stock. Luckily grabbed the last one! 
SO EXCITED FOR ALL THE NOISE!  

Friday night I had a chance to install my lip and side skirt extensions and Saturday morning I took the time to deep clean my wheels which were in dire need.
The lip install was pretty straight forward and fitment is probably a 3/5 at best.  It's what I'd expect from a $300 lip.  It's not full carbon and took some persuading to fit.  It came with spots to drill for the OE mounting points and most were roughly correct and a couple weren't even fucking close.  Overall I'm happy with the look of it on the car.  I didn't take any pictures of the side skirt extensions but that was very easy and fits well.  It came with an abundance of self tappers to install them and it's mounted very well to the car.  So well that after I told my kids not to step on them I found a foot print... and it's still attached!
For the wheels I took them off, soaked them then sprayed them down with Chemical Guys Sticky Citrus and let that sit for 15 minutes or so.  After that I went at them with a nylon wheel brush then rinsed them with a pressure washer.  I sprayed them down a second time with the Sticky Citrus and did some more scrubbing and rinsed again.  After they dried I used Griots 3-in-1 Ceramic Wax to try and make clean up easier later on.
I'm really impressed by how well the Sticky Citrus worked and I fee that it helped lift the brake dust and dirt more effectively than other products I've used but I did end up using almost a whole bottle.  I don't think my wheels have ever been this clean!  We'll see how effective the Griots is.  I've waxed my wheels in the past but it neve really helped repel contaminants or make cleaning them easier.  The last picture highlights how filthy my wheels were prior to me washing.

Must be nice having a garage. Wonder what that’s like.
 

I'll actually be up that way in September I believe with my family!

Forgot to add. Did an AutoX style track school at Road America the Monday after the vintage weekend. Only lost out to a guy in a corvette with autoX experience. So proud on that matter.
Also participated in my first real AutoX here at the Northern Wisconsin State fair grounds put on by CVSCC. Very fun. Did about what I expected, although it’s a poorly run event and they screwed me with my fastest time being a DNF and not marking my slowest time as a DNF when it should have been. (Got stopped mid run due to someone messing up ahead of me.) and my fastest was flawless. Unfortunately no photos or videos from the local event. I’ll buy a go-pro for next year.

I wish we had Scheels down here.  I loved Scheels.

They consider it a cost of doing business. Alot of people "think" they will return their used oil but actually don't. @pynacl can weigh in.
But the amount of new customers they attract with a warranty like that probably outweighs the amount of people returning their old stuff. 
For those of you that didn't know. Scheels actually does the same thing, Buy a new pair of shoes, wear them for a year then return them for a full refund. Grab a different pair of shoes, repeat. As long as the shoes were originally purchased at Scheels, they will take them back! 

Both companies meet or exceed load certifications that are voluntary in the U.S. and Rotiform specifically makes a line of motorsport quality wheels.  So other than being heavy and having nthe perception of being "fake" wheels I don't see an issue with either.  It all boils down to purpose.  Street use?  Both are perfectly safe for any street loads.  Track use?  Maybe go with a lighter weight option.

I would love to see how FCP makes this possible on their books.  I'm sure it's a small percentage that actually uses it but fuck, they've gotta make the money back somewhere.

This message sponsored by Fitment Inc.

Hit 165,500 miles and it was time for an oil change. I decided to go with the Liqui Moly 10W-60 oil change kit from FCP euro. That way before I store it I can get a 100% free oil change using their lifetime guarantee and PayPal’s 12 free return shipping labels a year for up to $30 a piece. 
I was able to crack this out 30 minutes ago as the oil arrived a few minutes before that.
Also grabbed a black stone sample for the oil. I think the $30 is worth it for a piece of mine. Would also like to hear if 5k per oil change interval is too much or just right. As the last time they said try a 5k Interval. Doesn’t hurt to see how the RBs are wearing after 11,750 miles either. Excuse the dirty car, I cleaned it afterwards…

I've been driving it. And so far the Bosch fuel pump has been working. I returned the Delphi and OEM pump to FCP. I ended up using stainless steel "hobby wire" to secure the pump to the housing by wrapping the pump and the housing then tightly twisting the ends and folding that over. I felt the most confident in that. 
After driving the car some it was getting hot with the AC on when in slow traffic and even then still running a bit warm. The aux fan was not turning on with the AC and traced it back to the fan to body harness connector not staying secure. Replaced that with a new connector. 

Also swapped in a new engine fan clutch with an Behr clutch rather than the Uro one I put in there originally and realized that the fan that came with the car is from an early model. So I got the correct fan. 

And then keeping with tradition of recycling parts between @The Full Banana and myself, I bought his MaxJax from him since he has decided he no longer wants a garage. I have that set up, waiting on some DeWalt Anchor Epoxy from Grainger to finish installing the anchors. And the only good place to put the lift was centered with the overhead door. But that meant the garage door opener robbed me of about 12" of lift. Out with that and in with a wall-mount unit. 
 

That looks incredibly fun. Now I have a real reason to go to Mexico besides Tequila sampling

More pictures and videos when I'm back in the country tommorow but in short this trip is fucking awesome!  These trucks are extremely capable and regularly run the Baja 100 and 500.  Today we did 75mph on the beach then hit speeds up to 70mph in the canyons later on after crawling up and down massive ditches and mountain switchbacks.
It's through a company called Wide Open Baja and they are for clients who want a ready made team for Baja.  People like Patrick Dempsey, Will Turner and many more have paid to drive their cars and get the support team.  The support we had following us is the same team that supports the races and these guys fucking rocked!  They also do tours like this for people who want to try the trucks out in more of an adventure setting as opposed to full race.  Here's the truck we've been driving!

FINALLY pulled the trigger and bought a Dynavin for the E46. This was a mod that I always put off because of the expensive $900+ price tag, but finally I pulled the trigger and did it. 
It was so worth it! It makes daily driving the car so much better. The quality of the unit is amazing. The Applecar play is super fast and the touchscreen is easy to use. The steering wheel controls all still work, and the radio looks like it could have come in the car from the factory. I also ordered a brand new OEM tray to relocate the AC controls rather than using their bracket they make. 
(also bought a new OEM tray/coin collector to make the center console area completely brand new looking! 
 

I've been using liquimoly in all of our cars for years now and haven't blown anything up.  It lubricates.