E12 M535i Project - 08-21-19 Update

[leadphut]

We definitely had a tough time Putin them in.

[wkohler]

[Kyle in NO]

[Karl Grau]

Sorry to hear about this latest setback.

[wkohler]

I have been working through a list of things to get various parts of the car together. I had my instrument cluster all ready to go. Jeff Caplan at Odometer Gears replaced the gears in the speedometer. I got that back a few weeks ago, and have had the cluster on the shelf ready to go in when the time came. I had to isolate a couple of wires for the rear fog lamps since none of my wiring diagrams had them listed and I figured it out by luck. The thing that was holding up cluster installation was the short "top speedo cable." The way the cluster is installed in these cars prevents access to the back of the speedo to undo the cable, so there's a short cable (about a foot or so, which goes down to the firewall to another connection where you can release the cluster. The cluster itself is secured with a braided aluminum cable with a knurled nut on the end which holds it to the dashboard support. It's very tricky and doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to me.

The problem is that I had two of these short speedo cables. I spent over five hours last night looking for them. They were on a shelf above my workbench since February. Unfortunately, before the car returned home, more drywall fell off of my ceiling over the workbench and I had to pack everything up and move it so I could clean it up. I have spent more time looking for things in assembling this car than I have actually working on it. Around 2am, I gave up and decided to go get one out of the '80 528i in the yard. I showed up bright and early only to find that the E12 was no longer there. I talked with a few people and eventually the prep-yard manager who said, "It's flat, man." and made the gesture of putting his hands together horizontally mimicking the crusher. Great. So, back at home, I decided to tear everything apart again and then realized that while I looked in the trunk of the E24, I didn't take anything out of it, and that's when I found them.



So with that done, I turned my attention to installing the cluster. You have to drop the steering column, which I expected. I made all of the connections, tested the function and started to install it. It's tricky. Lower edge has to go in first, but it has to be tight to the dash because there are two bulbs attached to the top of the dash for illumination. I had test-fit the cluster when the dash first showed up, but I didn't get it in all of the way because it was clear that it was scraping the paint (yes, they paint the dash, which is something I was livid about, but they said they paint them all and it's to be expected - they told me their vinyl was black - and it is), so I figured I'd have one shot at it. I decided to use painters tape around the surrounding area, but it ended up preventing the cluster from going in at all, so I removed it. I tried again. It wasn't going in. I was checking all of the areas of concern and then moved the cluster to pull it out and a chunk broke off of the bezel.



There are some marks in the dash too - unavoidable, I realize, but this isn't what I paid for. I was very upset and just cannot believe that I cannot accomplish one simple task without something going wrong. I've got about eight clusters but an E12 cluster without cracks in the face is rare. I've never seen a good one in the yard and I had worked very hard on the one I was installing.

After work tonight, I made a trip to storage and looked through a couple bins of instrument clusters and found one someone gave me a few years ago that was in a filthy shed and it actually had dirt in it. The top of the cluster was open to the elements and everything was brown. You couldn't see the gauges. I blew it off outside and noticed it wasn't cracked, but it definitely had some marring. I figured I'd give it a shot. I brought it home, cleaned it thoroughly and surveyed what I had. I figure it could clean up okay. Not great, but about as good as what I already had. I started by polishing it and while it made it shinier, some of the surface issues were deeper, so I did several steps of wet-sanding followed by a few different steps of polishing and got something pretty nice, so I decided to give it another shot and move the dash around if necessary as there is a bit of elasticity. It actually went in, and it's okay I guess. Totally ridiculous.



Next, I had put the glovebox together. As shown earlier, I redid the flocking inside the glovebox. I put the lock, handle and flashlight mount back in and got it ready to install along with the rest of the hardware. Also, thanks to Jim (Motronic), I replaced the battery and thoroughly cleaned the flashlight. I installed the assembled glovebox and made a few adjustments so it would close easily (E12 latches are weak, so you don't want to slam the glovebox shut. The idea is to hold the handle out, bring it up and then release the handle).





I still have the driver lower panel to install. It's an original one, but I haven't figured out how I want to install the switch for my power antenna. I guess I could put it near the fader, but that involves a hole in the panel. It is probably the best place for it though. But, at this point, the interior is about done, I guess. I'm not sure I'll ever be happy with it but it's not for lack of trying.



It looks about the same as it did before.

[offroadkarter]

This car is coming along great, I like the more frequent updates. Although cracking the cluster bezel sucks.


I have to ask, when this car is finally "done", do you ever see yourself taking on a project of this magnitude again? On one hand, you clearly are talented at this. On the other hand, I'd understand 100% if you would never go through a restoration this deep again.

[oldskool]

Did Bundy or Gacy just give up? Dahmer or Ramirez ever decide to just pack it in? Naw man, this is serial. There is no stopping this madman.

[wkohler]

I have to ask, when this car is finally "done", do you ever see yourself taking on a project of this magnitude again? On one hand, you clearly are talented at this. On the other hand, I'd understand 100% if you would never go through a restoration this deep again.

I'm flattered you think I'm talented at this. I don't have as positive an outlook on how things have been going, but I guess that is normal for me. I have learned a lot during the process of this car so far. I'm not quite done yet and it's mostly down to the details and ironing out kinks at this point. I am going to give some thought as to the next step. I have some big plans for the M5 and I'm not quite ready to tackle it yet, though I will definitely have a better plan for managing that project and I won't be stupid and put some arbitrary deadline in place for it. I do want to spend some more time familiarizing myself with the car and dialing it in the way I want it mechanically a bit more before I dig into it, so that should give me a break. This particular E12 has fought me every step of the way with every aspect of the project. Also, I spend a ton of time looking for things. It's a car I took mostly apart six years ago, so nothing is really fresh in my mind. Amazingly though, it does seem to come back a bit. As a result, I have a hard time being positive and I think that's affecting my outlook as a whole. Or everything I just wrote is bullshit, but we all know that's not my style.

Oh, so, there is actually an update in this.

After I got the cluster installed, that meant that the engine would run and the charging system should work and whatnot. Obviously, I've had the engine running before, but not since the dash was installed. I didn't really have everything buttoned up, but I figured I'd better at least drive the car around the block, bed-in the pads and see how things are working. It was kinda interesting to drive the car, but I wasn't really impressed. It's a bit stressful considering I put all of this together and there's some uncertainty. The brakes worked well. The car moved okay. I put about three miles on it. I didn't realize I had actually done that, but when I re-traced the exact route in the touring because I didn't believe it, it did actually come out to that.

So, let's start out with a photo of it on a road!



First time it has been out of my driveway under it's own power since August, 2010.

Leroy had said he wanted to come finish the front lockstrip/trim on Sunday. I was kinda surprised about that. I called when he said, but he wasn't able to make it. We tried for Monday and while I had everything ready to go, he was stuck at the shop until 9 pm, so we aimed for Tuesday. Success! He showed up around 7:15 or so and we got to work. I had a new front lower trim piece I got from Brian back when I bought the car and also had an original refinished. I had new corner pieces, just as I did for the rear, as it was obvious the refinished ones were junk. We tried the rope method but we had a hard time getting the rope in the groove and then it still didn't want to pull the trim in around the corner. So, we worked it with the hook tool and a bone tool. It worked out okay. We learned something on the rear that using glycerin as the blue binder suggests is the key to any success. Stuff is amazing. He keeps some in his tool box for his suction cups to condition them and it just made an impossible job possible, though still difficult. He lubed the seal up really well and we were able to get that lower trim piece installed in about 25 min. It was at that point where the one I had that I thought was actually good was poking out at the corners, so we had to go with the refinished one. It wasn't really a big deal. Once it was installed, you see how it actually conformed to the windshield, seal and car much better. While the center of the trim can be slightly tweaked, mostly due to the polishing process, having he correct profile on the corners is what actually makes the difference.



Then, after the lower strip was in, it was time to do the lockstrip. Do that first, then the lower corners. The rear window taught us that this was necessary due to the new seal. I had put the strip in very hot water, but with the ambient temps in the 50s, it cooled down quickly. Well, due to my incredible fashion sense and flawless exercise thereof, I own a top-of-the-line professional garment steamer. With this, we were able to massage the corners making both the gasket and the strip more pliable. It worked wonders with the rear window getting the top corners seated. The only negative is that it lessens the effect of the glycerin. Either way, it was more important to have the steam. You will notice that the lockstrip was not trimmed. It shouldn't be. The only time you should have lockstrip left over is after trimming for the rear. We had about three inches remaining.



All that was left was to do the corners, which was pretty frustrating, but between the two of us, working together, we were able to get it done - and done pretty well.





The most difficult part of doing the corners was working around the seams in the gasket. There was some extra material in there we weren't anticipating. I think all things considered, it came out pretty well. We finished around 10:30pm.





Total time invested in doing the installations for front and rear is about 9.5 hours. Leroy had quoted me $250 to do the job, but he made three trips out and after the second trip, I knew it wasn't going to be $250 - it really shouldn't be. I asked him what he wanted and told him that I didn't think $250 was fair for the amount of work and time he put into it. I gave him $300 and felt fine with that. He did a great job and exercised great care. Nothing was damaged or scratched and after the B7 experience, this made a difference to me. While it was a pain and an intense project, I have to say it actually went pretty smoothly given what we were up against.

So, what's next? Well I need to sort out some issues, do some tuning, put the rocker trim on, do the inner fender liners, figure out where the horns go (I can't remember - they were pulled in 2010 and the panels to which they attached have been replaced), get a couple of things done so I can mount the rear spoiler (two holes so I can get to the outer studs), install the striping set and figure out what I want to do about this:



That's a NOS headlight wash/wipe retrofit kit with instructions. I bought back in March. The part that has me not jumping to install it is that I have to modify the grilles (templates included) and I am not very confident in my skills in that department. I also have a standard washer tank but I think this would be a very cool addition to this car and virtually unheard of in this condition. I was gung-ho about doing it until I actually sat down to get started.

[tig]

Looks fu*king sweet on the road Chris. And now that I've tried doing two windshields myself I totally appreciate the pain you went through getting that lower lockstrip in. Unlike you, I completely pussied out and someone else did it for me. Those corners look as tits as possible.

I'm curious to hear more about the driving experience and why you were underwhelmed. Not aligned? Stuff loose?

[Collin380]

Chris, the car looks great!!!

I just wanted to share my experience on having the front and rear glass done on the E12. My glass guy installed the locking strips onto the gaskets prior to installing the glass on the car. I actually bought the tool for the strips, and he just smiled at me when I brought it out to him. After placing the strips on the gaskets, he used a cord around the inner lip of the gaskets and worked them on. It actually took him less than an hour to install both on the car. After finishing he explained to me that his father, a second generation auto glass installer, showed him how to install the glass on the older vehicles which required the locking strips and trim.

Best,

Alex

[bkbimmer]

Chris, the car looks great!!!

I just wanted to share my experience on having the front and rear glass done on the E12. My glass guy installed the locking strips onto the gaskets prior to installing the glass on the car. I actually bought the tool for the strips, and he just smiled at me when I brought it out to him. After placing the strips on the gaskets, he used a cord around the inner lip of the gaskets and worked them on. It actually took him less than an hour to install both on the car. After finishing he explained to me that his father, a second generation auto glass installer, showed him how to install the glass on the older vehicles which required the locking strips and trim.

Best,

Alex

That is how you HAVE to do it on classic porsches and e24s and such.

[Kyle in NO]

I'm curious to hear more about the driving experience and why you were underwhelmed. Not aligned? Stuff loose?

He was paranoid the entire time that some rogue VW Jetta was going to careen into it again.

[Yar]

Congrats Chris!
It has come a long way, can't wait to see it soon.
Maybe StPaddys weekend?

[wkohler]

Figured I'd address a couple of the previous comments first:

We had to put the windows in the way we did. Rear was roped in, but without the trim. The front couldn't be roped in because of the dash. I couldn't install the dash with the glass in the car, so it was 6 of one, half-a-dozen of the other. It took a lot of time, but they came out pretty well considering. It has also been one of very few things on the car that have worked out well so I'm trying to be positive. The last people spent about the same time ruining everything on the B7 Turbo.

There's still a lot of adjustments needed on parts of the car. I don't imagine many things can be completely taken apart and put back together with new parts and feel perfect from the get-go. There's a really-serious dead spot at the 2500 RPM mark and everything is pointing to the AFM being the culprit. I haven't driven the car in over six years and while it was a really nice car then, everything sat a while. It has an eyeball alignment right now and that's fine. Neither of the control arms or radius rods are torqued right now since I wanted to make sure the front settles where it needs to now that all the crap is in the car. Everything about the car is different and I put it together so I'm naturally stressed out and concerned. Also, with the way things have been going, I just haven't been super positive on the car, so that affects the experience.

I mentioned at the end of the last update that I had this headlight wash/wipe setup. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Seemed like a great idea at the time, but given that one of the factory wiper grilles is NLA, it meant having to modify my own, and they're not super cheap either. I borrowed a rotary tool from Ray since mine was burned up in the explosion at my grandma's house and I haven't felt like buying another one. Well, I've had that on the shelf for a couple months now and decided I better give this a shot. I got the right side grille that was in the car when it got hit and gave it a shot with the included template from the instructions. I used some masking tape and started cutting.



Not bad.



I did the final bits with a couple rat tail files and was satisfied. I'm glad I did the practice one since I got to see what worked and what didn't. What speeds were most efficient. For me, the best option was using the cutting disc to cut out the straight bits just inside the lines, then a razor blade to cut the corners. Then I used a grinding cone to remove a bit more material around the edges quickly (on the lowest speed on the tool). Then I used the files to make everything as close as possible to the template.

I didn't take anymore photos, but I felt confident to move onto the real thing.



I tidied that up a bit more. I felt pretty good about that.

Then, I had to drill four holes in each grille for the squirters. A 14mm hole for the squirter and a 3mm hole for the locating pin. I couldn't have done any of this as effectively without the great help from Eddie in T.O. who went through all of this recently. With his help, I had a fantastic template and made quick work of that. I decided that it would be best to make a small hole and use that grinding cone to open it up to fit the squirter. Worked great, though oddly, there was a slight variance in location of the pin on a couple of squirters. That was interesting.



So with that done, I pulled the front of the car apart again, swapped the headlight rings (these were used, as I did not get rings with my kit - they cleaned up very well after lots of elbow grease), attached the motors and then wired everything up. I routed all of the washer hose. I used the stuff that came in the kit, which isn't white-white, but it's NOS, so that was kinda fun. Interestingly, there was JUST ENOUGH to do the whole car.



It looks a bit more complete under the hood now. I still need to fit the covers for the back of the headlights and the battery tie down from the wiper kit. Of course, I also need a battery (this one belongs to Alex ). Also, the front rubber seal isn't installed and the distributor is a spare I swapped in to test the drivability issue. Other than that though...



I also fitted the decals on the right shock tower.



Here's what the car looks like with the wipers.



Yeah, that's pretty good. It basically looks about the same as when I got it, so I decided I needed something for it to fly under the radar. I decided to work on that tonight. It was supposed to be today, but I spent too much time dealing with the asshole that reupholstered my seats.







Then I turned the car around.



Missing something.



There it is. That heat gun laying on the floor is on sale for $11.99 at Harbor Freight. It's not UL listed, but it did a great job for my needs.



The heat gun was critical for being able to wrap the tails around the panels AND for forming the stripe to the recess for the door handle. But something is still missing though.



Oh yeah, that. I put the car on ramps just to make it easier for me to work on the front spoiler. I jacked the front up and then set it down on the ramps.

I still have a piece to do on the rear spoiler, but I can't put that on the trunklid yet. Two holes need to be made on the underside of the lid, providing access to the outer studs. The original trunklid had them, but they weren't transferred to the new one and I didn't even think of it being an issue, so Mike will have to take care of that.



So, that's how it sits right now. Not really much left to do I guess.

[Das_Prachtstrasse]

Quality job on the stripes. They're not an easy thing to get right first go or sometimes even 107th go so accolades for having the balls. Are they NOS or remans? Judging by the dry floor, you applied them dry without soap I'm guessing? They really take that car from basic model to 'oooooooooohhhh look at the colours it must be something special' model, and I like that.

[leadphut]

So very nice.

Love it, long time.

Really developing an impressive car collection.

[vinceg101]

Awesome job, Chris.
Much jealous at how much closer you are to finishing than I am.

[tig]

Dayum.

I sure hope you bring this to St. Paddy's day. I want to fondle it.

[wkohler]

Thanks guys. It certainly has improved a bit. All it really needed was a good wash. Came right back.

Quality job on the stripes. They're not an easy thing to get right first go or sometimes even 107th go so accolades for having the balls. Are they NOS or remans? Judging by the dry floor, you applied them dry without soap I'm guessing? They really take that car from basic model to 'oooooooooohhhh look at the colours it must be something special' model, and I like that.

Thanks. I actually applied them wet but I didn't overdo it on the water. In one of my jobs, I do a lot of vinyl signage on muslin, which is a bitch and a half. This was pretty simple actually. I was a bit concerned because it didn't come with transfer paper but it worked out fine. I have a squeegee with a piece of felt on it I use when we do signs that don't have die-cut letters so I used that here and it worked very well.

I will get some real photos in daylight today.

[hugh1850]

[white chocolate]

The entire car looks great, but man, those stripes!

[Adam W in MN]

Stunning quality and attention to detail, and it's sad to think this thread might be running out of updates! The story can't end!

[Corner Carver]

That's sooo sexy.
Truly awesome Chris.

[Karl Grau]

Awesome progress!
The stripes look great and I can't express how impressed I am that you did it yourself. I've had e30 Hartge stripes sitting around for years because I don't have the balls to even think about trying to apply them without professional help (and i'm talking shrink and pro vinyl guy) .

Dayum.

I sure hope you bring this to St. Paddy's day. I want to fondle it.

Me too. I would even move everything out of my garage so it could park undercover.

[waxonwaxoff]

Looks great, Chris! Your garriage is something else!!

[Collin380]

Just stunning...Great job!

[wkohler]

Thanks! I took some photos of it outside today. Just in the driveway, but it was kinda tough getting work done since for some reason, all I wanted to do was look at the car.












The trunk spoiler isn't finished yet. Still a stripe, roundel and badging that need to go onto it, even though it's technically acceptable as is.

[leadphut]

Pure wow.

Wow.

Wow.

I could never drive it.

[hugh1850]

Pure wow.

Wow.

Wow.

I could never drive it.

This. Except the last part. Exceptional!

[tig]

Pure wow.

Wow.

Wow.

I could never drive it.

This. Except the last part. Exceptional!

This is the second thing I like about Kohler: He drives his cars.