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On 1/12/2017 at 1:37 PM, patsbimmer1 said:

I'm starting a new project soon for my dad.  He lost compression on his e46 330i and Mraz told him they *thought* it was the head gasket but wouldn't know for sure until they replace it.  It has really low compression in all cylinders and they said they had never seen this before hence the "we start with this then see what happens" plan.  With a $3,000 estimate to find out if they're right he called me.  So, it sit's in my garage while I try to find time to tear it apart.

So I had a chance to look at this yesterday and found that there certainly was low compression on all cylinders.  I started doing a wet compression test and the numbers improved significantly.  Compression was 175ish after doing a wet test and the engine sounded like it was actually making compression as I did more cylinders.  After testing them all the engine actually sounded like it cranked real strong so I tried to start it.  After a few cranks she fired right up!  I opened up the garage doors to clear out all of the 0w40 I used for the wet test and let it run for 10 - 15 minutes.  The car idled fine, revved fine and no CEL.  I did find a couple injectors leaking at the rail which makes sense because my dad had been complaining of a fuel smell and the valve cover gasket has a slight leak.

What I concluded was that my dad let the car sit for a month or so because of the fuel smell.  This let the cylinders dry out and me doing a wet compression test re-seated the rings.  

My Dad and his Fiance were ecstatic!  He's now convinced this is going to only be a warm weather car for them and he's in the market for a cheap AWD car.

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For those of you who were wondering, Condor Speed Shop has started working with the supplier of Treehouse's eyeball arms (no longer in business) and you can pre-order for not a bad price compared to what Treehouse used to charge, should be shipped soon too. 

https://www.condorspeedshop.com/products/solid-control-arm-mounts-e30-e36-pre-order?variant=28913539905

 

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1 minute ago, Earl said:

I was actually going to mention that Treehouse disappeared from the internets when I went to see about getting replacement inserts a few months ago

Since it sounds like the supplier is the same, id be willing to bet the inserts from Condor would fit! They said in the thread somewhere on r3v that they were going to offer replacement inserts eventually, so I was planning on picking up a few pairs just to have spares. 

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36 minutes ago, KaiserRolls said:

What's the benefit of these vs offset solid CABs? Space saver for long tubes?

Clearance, stiffer due to less bushing material, and that's aboot it. 
Except for the ultra lightweight mod of the aluminum ones. 
They do come in both centered and offset varieties.

You are pretty much required to use these with certain 24v swap headers. 

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bimmerworld also has these, for a few more dollars. I ordered some on Black Friday for a better deal, because at that point they were the only place that was selling them.

glad to see there are more options out there.

i am putting them into my e30 for exhaust clearance, as mentioned. currently, the exhaust is resting on the standard arms which i believe is transferring a considerable amount of vibration and noise into the cabin. i've had one guy tell me the increase in NVH is tremendous and i will regret it, while others say its not really noticeable. we shall see. i certainly have very low standards as to what is acceptable NVH so i can't imagine it will be a problem. one thing everyone agrees on, though, is it sharpens the steering a little bit.

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4 minutes ago, straight6pwr said:

. i've had one guy tell me the increase in NVH is tremendous and i will regret it, while others say its not really noticeable. we shall see. i certainly have very low standards as to what is acceptable NVH so i can't imagine it will be a problem. one thing everyone agrees on, though, is it sharpens the steering a little bit.

Oh yeah, big time. You take away any sort of dampening on the rotation of the arm as well, so any good bump just transfers through the chassis itself instead of a softer bushing. 
Sadly on Wisconsin roads it leads to bent things. My caster is decently far off on one side compared to the other, which it had not been when I first put them in. Makes me wonder what the weak link was. 

I agree, it does make the steering fun (offset bushings) which is primarily because of the caster. Depending on tire size and sidewall you can feel the car lifting up from the caster when turning, and when coming back to center you can feel it sink down once it rocks off the edge. Combine that with a tiny bit of toe out and it gets really fun! 

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6 minutes ago, GunMetalGrey said:

Oh yeah, big time. You take away any sort of dampening on the rotation of the arm as well, so any good bump just transfers through the chassis itself instead of a softer bushing. 
Sadly on Wisconsin roads it leads to bent things. My caster is decently far off on one side compared to the other, which it had not been when I first put them in. Makes me wonder what the weak link was. 

I agree, it does make the steering fun (offset bushings) which is primarily because of the caster. Depending on tire size and sidewall you can feel the car lifting up from the caster when turning, and when coming back to center you can feel it sink down once it rocks off the edge. Combine that with a tiny bit of toe out and it gets really fun! 

what toe and camber settings do you run?

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