cheap M3, whats the worst..

i had forgotten all about the electrolysis thing. the results look great

sadly i think ive taken a step too far tonight. whilst sat having a beer with the neighbour i got stuck into fitting a bush

DSC_0923.JPG


and another

DSC_0925.JPG


one arm totally rebushed with lemforder ball joints :D

looks like i wont have to cheat and sent it away for someone else to do
 
had a seriously back breaking day today

removed the ball joints from the other new arm and inserted the new ones (after a small panic when i couldnt find one of them)

all four new ball joints are now in

DSC_0931.JPG


next i set to the trailing arm bushes, all i had to do was remove them as the car currently has poly items which i will put into the new arms

lots of drilling, then put a bolted a bolt through the core and twisted it out. sawed the metal casing and chiselled it out. both of those are out. one was BMW branded, not sure if it was original or not, and one was febi (one of the worst aftermarket brands in my experience) which goes to show you what life is like for these 36s

DSC_0929.JPG


DSC_0930.JPG


i thought i was going to pack up and move on to levelling the ground inside the the "garage" ready for the floor to go in. spent hours doing that feeling like i was going to die.

finished that but was feeling stubborn (didnt want to tidy up the tools there and then) so carried on with car bits

next was the subframe. the mounting bushes needed to come out. same process as before and it wasnt fun.

got two out

DSC_0932.JPG


one more thing, i got the complete handbrake mech off the new arms which is a real pig but all components are out and its easy to see how/why they seize. my are refreshed now, but im too tired to even think about what the next stage is
 
Didn't have much car time today. The remaining sub frame bushes have got me stumped though. Will have to try a brighter idea tomorrow.

Have a look at the diff flanges, both are six bolt so evo diff can go straight on.

Need diff oil but the BMW boards seem to almost blindly recommend one product without any justification other than its what opie sells :-(
 
it was m12, the same size as the bolt hole. i added washers in there too and they were pushing/pulling 1/2 drive sockets. the washers were deformed and some of the thread was damaged but the rod was 1m long so i could shorten it.

a combination of that, an exhaust clamp and a towing eye... and they went in and out pretty easily. the difficult part was aligning them.

these subframe bushes are nylon cased, so hard to hammer and they have a rubber/goo jacket so arnt likely to ever move anyway. im going to have to hand saw out all the rubber and then chop apart the case :(

after that the new components want paint.

the rest of the old stuff has to be removed.

then i fit the new bits

itll be roadworthy again then :D

next will be find body parts and then put some money aside to then get new MAF and lambdas
 
need some advice. firstly, does anyone have any experience of whether rust converter is a good primer? the manufactuer "FLAG" gives conflicting info. the parts are all painted in rust converter, i dont know whether im best off adding primer and then painting or just painting.

next question is about BMW parts. how fast are they likely to be able to get bolts in for me? i want all new bolts on the rear ideally for saturday.

the trailing arms, spring platforms, subframe and trailing arm hanger have all been ground down and painted

DSC_0937.JPG

DSC_0938.JPG

DSC_0939.JPG

DSC_0940.JPG


oh, and the adjustable camber arms are in da haus

DSC_0941.JPG


new diff oil and drop links tomorrow and im almost ready
 
Ive not kept tabs on car costs for years. I gave up on keeping tabs on costs completely shortly after starting the house. The bm hasn't been that dear, just into four figures with the bits I can remember off the top of my head and ive only driven it a few times and done about 200 miles I think, most of that was just bringing it home.
 
Need info on the paint and bolts, lets not talk about money!

Car costs can be odd. Last October/November the golf wanted tyres, water pump cambelt and all tensioners and then two rear calipers in quick succession, but ive not lifted the bonnet since and have done about 15k in it.

Just accept that cars will be a continual massive outgoing for your money, esp if you actually like cars that work well.
 
i know. with VW i have bought countless single nuts bolts and clips, i have loads of invoices for them.

shame though, but not the end of the world.

ive not had time to search more about the primer issue today. in theory i need to just primer and paint it.... means ive had to paint it THREE times.
 
Omg shattered! Primered the new bits and then went outside and started to remove the remaining old stuff.

I think I'm four bolts away from sub frame coming down. Exhaust and hand brake are off, pic to follow. Can anyone else think of anything I may have for got? Diff flange is done too
 
shoes said:
They sold me calliper bleed nipples singularly and also some 'o' rings singularly admittedly. I find the parts dept. a bit hit an miss, there's a real old guy who works there who's always helpful and double checks everything. his twelve year old counterpart isn't so diligent/caring/friendly though
Click to expand...

Will vary it seems. In Birmingham vw dealers wouldn't order bits if you gave a part no, they would only order if you went through the catalogue with them.

Back home a set of fasteners will come in a bag of 20 for example but they'll do them singularly. BMW were not interested today, I think he switched off as soon as I said 1994
 
so i started with this. nice and pretty, rust converter
DSC_0942.JPG

ended up with that. paint tomorrow
DSC_0943.JPG

did the other bits and decided i had enough time to start stripping the old bits off. thankfully they came off very easily. the nearside must have been off at some point. as another reflection of "performance cars after the first six owners" the ball joints on this side dont match the ones on the other side. not original, worn, crap
DSC_0944.JPG

now we have this
DSC_0945.JPG

DSC_0946.JPG

off side arm off, everything disconnected. diff flange, how on earth have i got this far through life without a 16mm spanner! thank god for 3/8 crow foot sets
up its tailpipe
DSC_0947.JPG

and a beer guided missile
DSC_0948.JPG


i think im left with the four subframe bolts. i was being bitten to death by gnats, i was tired and clarkey has reminded me ive not done the speedo cable!
 
mine will be molly coddled, esp once the paint is done.

whilst the garage is being built it will live under a cover. currently the underside is all waxoyl'd so that will stay good too.

im going to plug away at the rest slowly. the rest SHOULD be minor stuff like the lights, lambdas and maf. then ill have a full on M3, full of brand new components for less than a second hand one which wouldnt be as awesome
 
it had better perform well, the whole thing is a bit of a gamble that i went into on a bit of a fancy based on my want of something german, 6cyl, ideally rwd.
 
Ive been doing a lot of reading about the geometry the car came with and how the character can be improved. Lots of rear toe will make any car turn in dull
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom