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gilber33

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14 hours ago, KaiserRolls said:

https://www.amazon.com/SPAL-30130012-Replacement-Rubber-Shroud/dp/B019XDLULW
 

rubber flaps for radiator shroud pass throughs might be the right “weight/thickness” 

Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

Got the HVAC box completely apart last night so I can clean it out and replace all the foam on it. It is pretty disgusting. Lots of dead bugs inside of it. I guess that's what happens when they didn't come with filters. 

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Crusty "non-return" flap:

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Broken recirc flap and the other one starting to crack:

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Interior wiring all cleaned up. Re-loomed all the wire harnesses. Speaker wire and RCA cables coming today and then I can run all the stereo wires to the trunk and put the carpet back in. IMG_4614.JPEG

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I was really considering doing more insulation inside the car to reduce road noise but I read quite a few reviews of the sound deadening mat and other insulations (some specifically being used in an e30) that explained how the results were negligible at best. So rather than spend the couple hundred bucks on more insulation, I'm just going to leave it and turn up the music instead. 

 

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On 10/8/2021 at 12:56 PM, gilber33 said:

 

Here it is. @GunMetalGrey can you share what you did the clean up the seam sealer? 

 

Man, I want to do another engine bay like that again, I appreciate you bringing up the photos again!
I believe I used a wire wheel to strip the seam sealer off. I used Eastwood seam sealer with lacquer thinner on my finger to smooth the new seam sealer. 
Very therapeutic activity when it goes properly haha 

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7 minutes ago, GunMetalGrey said:

Man, I want to do another engine bay like that again, I appreciate you bringing up the photos again!
I believe I used a wire wheel to strip the seam sealer off. I used Eastwood seam sealer with lacquer thinner on my finger to smooth the new seam sealer. 
Very therapeutic activity when it goes properly haha 

Do you recall how removing the seam sealer went? Was it a shit show? Did gum up or with the wire wheel did it come off pretty easily? 

Your engine bay was much cleaner and, I'm assuming because of the swap, has much less stuff in it than mine does. So I'm not even sure if the extra work to remove the seam sealer would be noticeable. 

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A wire wheel on a grinder will take off seam sealer. On a drill it probably won't do much. Wear a full face shield. Also check clothing for little bits of wire that will stab you later. Can't say much about painting over it. Good so far, but my car doesn't get used...

Seam sealer as a structural component is an interesting thought. I suspect that the flexibility of the seam sealer would allow the two panels to move slightly relative to each other before it resisted. Since the panels are spot-welded together, they won't be able to move, so the force would be transferred through the weld without the seam sealer doing much. Could be wrong, but that's the best I got.

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I think my RMS is totally fine. Looks like the leak from the bottom is coming from transmission. All of the lower transmission bolts smelled like transmission fluid (disgusting). I have ATF PTSD from a 240 I bought from @The Full Banana a long time ago that had a leaking transmission pan gasket and it took several attempts to get it sealed and that meant laying in ATF on a cold parking garage floor each time. It was awful. 

Anyways - the area behind the clutch was totally dry, but the transmission was soaked and it looks like there's a little trail where fluid looks like it's leaking from whatever this thing is: 

Edit: After looking at realOEM that circle thing does not appear to be any type of seal. It must be leaking down from the input shaft seal and making it look like that's where it's leaking from. 

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Behind the clutch is completely dry:

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Hi everyone. One question (for now):

  • When I removed the master cylinder it pulled the push rod out from the brake booster. I looked at it last night and it doesn't look like it's something that can be easily (if at all) reinstalled. The OE brake booster looks to be unavailable. I know people modify or install other brake boosters for engine swaps. Can anyone recommend one that's affordable and would be close to an OE replacement and hopefully have minimal modifications? 

 

It looks like the 924/944 booster is the go to for most engine swaps. Is there any reason you couldn't use this with the stock m20?

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Talked to a friend who shaved their bay and their advice was fire and a scraper to get excess sealer off and then a wire wheel. Took about a half hour to do this much. It’s a pretty efficient approach. Dirty as hell, but it should move along. 

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And can anyone identify this connector? I’m pretty confident I’ve never had it plugged into something. Located somewhere behind the front left corner of the lower valance.   

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8 hours ago, Boris3 said:

Given the location here’s a guess. There is an outside temp sensor that fits in the e30 325i/s drivers side plastic brake duct, the sensor plugs into a connector with wires that feed info to the onboard computer on your dash. 

My car didn't come with brake ducts or a ambient temp sensor anywhere so I would have never guessed that! Thank you!

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On 11/2/2021 at 10:57 AM, gilber33 said:

Hi everyone. One question (for now):

  • When I removed the master cylinder it pulled the push rod out from the brake booster. I looked at it last night and it doesn't look like it's something that can be easily (if at all) reinstalled. The OE brake booster looks to be unavailable. I know people modify or install other brake boosters for engine swaps. Can anyone recommend one that's affordable and would be close to an OE replacement and hopefully have minimal modifications? 

 

It looks like the 924/944 booster is the go to for most engine swaps. Is there any reason you couldn't use this with the stock m20?

stock booster still available

https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info/34331157416.htm?pn=34-33-1-157-416-INT

i got the part #34331157416 from Real OEM based on a 1990 325i coupe build date 01/90

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=1113-USA-01-1990-E30-BMW-325i&diagId=34_0703

 

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1 hour ago, straight6pwr said:

stock booster still available

https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info/34331157416.htm?pn=34-33-1-157-416-INT

i got the part #34331157416 from Real OEM based on a 1990 325i coupe build date 01/90

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=1113-USA-01-1990-E30-BMW-325i&diagId=34_0703

 

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I should have clarified - when I said unavailable, I meant out of stock or backordered everywhere I looked. FCP has the 944 booster in stock and will pair that with the e32 7 series master cylinder which is a supposed upgrade for the e30 (and it's cheaper than the e30 MC). 

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  • 1 month later...

Rust fixed, sanded, seam sealed. 

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Put this together for painting in the garage without getting overspray everywhere. It worked as well as it could have. In between coats I was able to hang out in the garage and watch the packer game. This morning there was a strong paint smell, but no paint dust on anything. It was a more enjoyable experience compared to painting the car.

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Bought this on Amazon for ventilation and it worked really, really well. 

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And primed!

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Wait a couple days and then I can wet sand it and spray color. I'll dismantle the paint booth and set it up at a later time to spray the spare hood and hood hinge thing. 

This also happened to me. Ordered a new fuel vent pipe that goes from the charcoal canister back to the gas tank and the first one arrived bent in half (on the right) to fit in the box. 😆 They ordered and sent me a new one right away. Somebody actually thought that was an appropriate action to take to make it fit in a box.

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On 12/13/2021 at 10:51 AM, gilber33 said:

Rust fixed, sanded, seam sealed. 

This also happened to me. Ordered a new fuel vent pipe that goes from the charcoal canister back to the gas tank and the first one arrived bent in half (on the right) to fit in the box. 😆 They ordered and sent me a new one right away. Somebody actually thought that was an appropriate action to take to make it fit in a box.

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That's pretty funny/sad. I expect there was a shipping department "discussion"... 

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I'm starting to go through the engine bay wiring harness from the fuse box, and there's some stuff I want to get rid of. For example this is I believe a brake pad wear sensor connector? IDK, it's never been connected to anything. But here is where it splices into the harness. Can I cut it, put a small piece of heat shrink over the individual wire ends and then another piece over the two and tuck them back into the harness? 

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Similar question for other things - the ABS stuff that I'm no longer using. Can I cut the wires, cover the ends and tuck them away? Leave the wires in the bundle in case at some point in the future, after I'm long dead, my daughters are like, "Dad sure was a huge dum dum poopy face, let's put the ABS back in the car!". 

 

And a pic of the bay all painted and polished! Not perfect by any means. I believe I did not give the pre-paint prep spray enough time to evaporate and the first coat had some blemishes. But I said fuck it I'm going to gob the paint on and cover it up. Turned out fine. 

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Cut the ABS harness on the engine side and pulled it out through the firewall inside the car. A few wires left that go into somewhere else: 

red/yellow on engine side. appears to go to the ABS relay. however, it didn't go through the firewall and looks like it went into the twist lock connector that engine harness connects to. 

blue wire inside the car. wire diagrams says it makes it way to the alternator.

green/red wire inside the car. power from the ignition. 

Red wire on the engine side. Diagram says it goes to the relay, but it seems like it goes straight to the power junction block where the main battery lead comes into the engine bay. 

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The good news is that it seems like none of the ABS wiring is integrated into anything else. Other than receiving power from the car, it stands on its own. So these wires will likely get clipped and then heat shrinked over the ends. 

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I keep making progress so I'm going to keep posting some pictures. It's a lot of fun to go back through all of these pages and remember where the car was and where it's going. I've actually forgotten about a lot of the things I've done, changed, etc. 

Things went in the other direction the other night. Switched the ratchet from loosen to tighten. Body harness going back in freshly re-taped and loomed. 

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Modified Porsche 944 brake booster. 

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If anyone is looking for a tap and die kit, the Husky kit from Home Depot is awesome. And affordable. 

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Larger master cylidner. 

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I'm going to print a small spacer to go between the 944 booster and firewall. This one is flat on the back and it's pretty tight with the clutch master hose. 

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I bought new connectors and terminals and have replaced the coolant level sensor and brake fluid reservoir wires and connector. Will do the same with the fuel pump connector and wires. The fog light and horn connectors both crumbled this time. I have new hella oe style horns that just use spades and found some fog light pigtails on ebay. The side marker light wires fell apart. Fixed one and will do the same on the other side: 

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Still looking pretty clean in there. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Came up with a solution for subpar light output on the e30 when all other options were unavailable or undesirable. Once I install them and confirm fitment and function, I am going to offer them as kits (minus the projectors). Been working on these for a long time and just received my stack of SS mounting plates in the mail yesterday. 

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  • gilber33 changed the title to Non-BMW Stuff on a BMW Forum

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