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Hello. My name is Dan, and today I doomsday prepped


straight6pwr

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10 hours ago, gilber33 said:

I'm assuming as a seasoned e30 owner you already know how to do the entire thing blindfolded - but if you have any questions, let me know since I just dealt with it all. 

My first reaction while I was doing it was all of the write-ups online are complete bullshit and it's not as easy and quick as they make it out to be. It sucked. 

Thanks! I've done all of the jobs that separately add up to rebuilding the rear, just never at once. My car is much less crusty than average so hopefully that keeps me from losing sanity. 

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  • 1 month later...

I'm almost to the rear end rebuilt project. I've been focusing on getting my garage and basement workshop setup for all the future projects so all my spare time has been dedicated to that. 

Workbench

the previous owner of my house left the skeleton of a workbench which, by my best guess, was built by the original owner in the 70s. pretty basic, and the top was completely warped and trashed. it was a good size, though, so i decided to modify it instead of start from scratch. 

before:

BGkdnhHl.jpg

after:

6MRD4luh.jpg

for the work surface, I ripped 25 2x4s to 3" then laminated them together using all-thread rods to clamp and hold it together permanently. then I just hand planed and sanded the top nice and flat.  on the front face, I added some tee-nuts on the back of the first 2x4 before the glue up so I have several holes for clamping/mounting tools, etc. (you can see them as pairs between the all-threads) 

i reused the drawers from a reclaimed walnut lawyer's desk and also added two shallow drawers. 

the tool-wall is just a 4x8 3/4" plywood sheet. the holders are a mix of custom-made plywood brackets, hanging screws, PVC, and magnetic strips.  its hard to believe that up until this point I worked with all these tools out of tool bags, tool boxes, and bins. 

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35 minutes ago, HipMF said:

Very nice. Only things missing are a vice and a cold beer.

 i've been trolling for a good solid vise from yesteryear, but havent had any luck finding something local, so i bit the bullet and ordered a cheapish Dewalt. I don't think I'll really abuse it to where Ill need something heavier duty.

2 minutes ago, Jdesign said:

Etsy is a hell ova drug. 

JK. Nice work man, I love the PVC holders!

lol, i think you mean pinterest.

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10 hours ago, straight6pwr said:

 i've been trolling for a good solid vise from yesteryear, but havent had any luck finding something local, so i bit the bullet and ordered a cheapish Dewalt. I don't think I'll really abuse it to where Ill need something heavier duty.

I hear this. I recently started looking for some vintage woodworking gear (chisels and planes mostly). Anything that's decent is priced like it's gold, which is fair I guess. I think you have to be in the right place at the right time to get a deal on that kind of stuff now that anyone with a pulse can look up how much something is worth in 30 seconds.

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13 hours ago, HipMF said:

I hear this. I recently started looking for some vintage woodworking gear (chisels and planes mostly). Anything that's decent is priced like it's gold, which is fair I guess. I think you have to be in the right place at the right time to get a deal on that kind of stuff now that anyone with a pulse can look up how much something is worth in 30 seconds.

Sad and true. Good deals are harder to come by. I spent months looking for a good vise. Gave up and bought a harbor freight one to hold me off. had it two months and it literally cracked in half. 😑

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  • 2 weeks later...
1 hour ago, KaiserRolls said:

This is super random but did you toss your original carpet? 

Nope! I actually just pulled it out and looked at it the other day. I shampooed it this summer before storing it. It cleaned up well, but will need to be dyed black to hide the seat rust stains. there is one tear that could probably be fixed and not seen. You can have it if you want it. I have the separate vertical piece too that goes under the rear seat.

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2 hours ago, straight6pwr said:

Nope! I actually just pulled it out and looked at it the other day. I shampooed it this summer before storing it. It cleaned up well, but will need to be dyed black to hide the seat rust stains. there is one tear that could probably be fixed and not seen. You can have it if you want it. I have the separate vertical piece too that goes under the rear seat.

Consider it had! Not sure when I’ll be down there next, but I need to ditch the beige

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  • 2 months later...

she's up!
WO4ue7Wl.jpg

 

still lovin these cribs I built for the e34 trans swap. yeah they take up more space than a jack stand, but they are more stable and easier to use

i1vMGFpl.jpg


almost everything went smoothly with disassembly.

small snags - 

when i went to hammer the subframe pins up through the chassis they wouldnt budge. took a closer look inside the cabin to find that the holes had been filled with body filler when the car was originally painted. i've removed these pins on two other e30s and have never seen this before. *shrug*

LiDVbhrl.jpg

nice to see 30 year old hardware that looks like the day it was assembled. 
NQW6xahl.jpg

also had one of the subframe bushing sleeves stuck in the body. i've "been here done that" so I tried the first stage of removal - putting a lag bolt through the side of the sleeve (i did not have a big enough bolt to run up through the hole.)

first i grinded a flat on the sleeve so I could drill a hole. make sure you drill through both sides of the sleeve. 
HQgeeGvl.jpg

then i ran a concrete lag bolt (hardened) through. then just put a long screwdriver or other sturdy pokey object from the cabin down through the hole and give er some hits. 
gWipilnl.jpg

after a bit of wrestling, the subframe is out! 

BNNIhIKl.jpg

not a bad process. i'm a pro at removing my exhaust and driveshaft because of my driveshaft woes, so this only took about 4 hours. i also got lucky in that the rear ABS sensors and ebrake cables just popped right out of the trailer arm without a fuss. 

is anyone out there in the land of wibimmers still powdercoating parts? 

 

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  • straight6pwr changed the title to Hello. My name is Dan, and today I dropped it (my subframe) like its hooot

Interesting, I've had filler in the bolt holes of both of my e30s when I did the subframes. The bushings had never been done before so maybe that's the difference?

Great suggestion on removing the sleeves if you've got enough sticking out. I've tried the big lag bolt approach with mixed results, and when it didn't work ended up using small flat bits and other drill bits just to ream out the sleeve. 

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2 hours ago, Boris3 said:

Interesting, I've had filler in the bolt holes of both of my e30s when I did the subframes. The bushings had never been done before so maybe that's the difference?

Great suggestion on removing the sleeves if you've got enough sticking out. I've tried the big lag bolt approach with mixed results, and when it didn't work ended up using small flat bits and other drill bits just to ream out the sleeve. 

I was thinking early/late models for the difference. I know one of the other e30s never had the subframe bushings done before I did them. The other two were 87 and 88 models

1 hour ago, B C said:

I had the same type of clay stuff above my mounting pins also.
 

I like those cribs!

I ended up just doing POR15 with a topcoat on my rear frame+ arms.

which bushings are you installing?

I may do por15, but with the car not driven in the winter it seems pointless. Look how clean they've stayed for 30 years on their own. 

Powder is for odds and ends like the diff cover, subframe support brackets, etc

I got revshift 80A poly bushings for the subframe, trailing arms, and diff

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a little more progress today.

in my haste to remove the subframe bushing pins, i forget I borrowed mike's homemade puller tool which is a through-bolt style. this required me to backtrack and take that lag bolt back out lol

ts4BBXph.jpg

was worth it, as the tool worked great, thanks @HipMF !

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fully extracted, no burning or mess.


XGhHZcRh.jpg

the workbench is now full of mini projects.


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the "subframe overhaul" consists of: 

clean everything

replace passenger side rear wheel bearing

replace subframe/trailing arm/diff bushings

reseal differential (output seals, rear cover gasket, sensor gasket and fill plugs crush washers) 

install new ebrake cables

install rear brake lines (body to subframe SS soft lines) 

install new rear sway bar bushings and end links

install ebrake rebuild kit (shoes and springs) 

maybe powdercoat odds and ends

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  • straight6pwr changed the title to Hello. My name is Dan, and today I shadowlined
  • straight6pwr changed the title to Hello. My name is Dan, and today I doomsday prepped

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