MyE28.com

MicahO wrote:Over time I've been quite inspired by threads like Karl's wherein a reasonably nice late-model car gets a refresh. So I had the front end repainted - hood, front quarters, nose and mirror caps. When I reassembled everything, I used new turn signals and foggies, new lower grill, new bumper trim, and I'm waiting on backordered new headlight lenses. The car looks freaking great again.

Micah, your car DOES look great!
I'm glad any small inspiration I may have provided was used for good rather than evil.

I went back to the Pick a Park to get the diff from the 88 735i there. Did some research and it is a 3.64:1 LSD. After about an hour and a half fiddling with the port-a-power and various wheel stacks, I got the diff out. Of course before hand I confirmed via diff tag it was a 3.64:1 LSD. Grand total of 2 hours at the yard....grabbed some trunk lining bits for the 750 as well.

Two hours later I had the E34t on the lift at work and swapped out the 3.15 open for the 3.64. OMG what a difference! Totally transformed the car. It's perfect!

I am trying to get the touring through the winter without cash infusion (doing a drivetrain swap), but the water pump is crapping out. So, I'm going to do the timing belt and try to get the $125 water pump somewhere for an engine never sold here (M40).

slammin_e28 wrote:I went back to the Pick a Park to get the diff from the 88 735i there. Did some research and it is a 3.64:1 LSD. After about an hour and a half fiddling with the port-a-power and various wheel stacks, I got the diff out. Of course before hand I confirmed via diff tag it was a 3.64:1 LSD. Grand total of 2 hours at the yard....grabbed some trunk lining bits for the 750 as well.

Two hours later I had the E34t on the lift at work and swapped out the 3.15 open for the 3.64. OMG what a difference! Totally transformed the car. It's perfect!

Score. Glad the T got some love.

Made massive use of my Rabbit truck today, moving the last bits from one storage unit to another. It's been uber useful since I had it bed lined last summer and I've never looked back. The topper I have on it makes it look like a turtle but it's useful.

Installed new fan clutch on the 745i and assembled some refinished wheels

Lets see.

Rabbit work again today.

Adjusted the carburetor for lean idle, lowered the idle to 800, noticed the performance bump. :-) I am a happy camper.

Split a coolant hose at the clamp. Shortened hose, didn't clamp as tight. Done.

Shift linkage came apart. Relay shift ball loosened. Twice. Today. So I remedied that with a different style rod that the ball attaches to, some red thread locker, and a lock washer. Will never have to worry about that again. Unless I need to pull an engine.

Tightened the soon-to-back-out axle bolts, and will add thread locker if they back out again.

Productive day!

Spot welded cracks on my Kleemann headers in my G55.

Not the best of welding jobs but it did the job.

Breather service on the 750 is complete. Got my silicon intake gaskets in from Max Lumens. Top notch! Can't wait to install.

On the wagoon I put in a new blower motor resistor and found the source of the squeaking from the acc pedal....the bushings are gone. So waiting to put the kick panels back on until I get that sorted.

Introduced The Ghost to AAA.

Oh HAI GUISE!!!!








Series 3 109 pls.

Also I think I slipped a cylinder liner in the Discovery. Tick tick tick pls.

1st 5er wrote:Introduced The Ghost to AAA.

Got the E32 back in the lineup retrofitting the TRE 340 in the tank.



New wiper blades too.

slammin_e28 wrote:Oh HAI GUISE!!!!



Series 3 109 pls.

Cool. But talk about yer fixer-upper... Still jealous though. Disco pickups are the coolest. I've got a link set up for Discos on a couple of the car classified ad sites over here, and they come up pretty readily, but usually in tougher shape than I'd want to deal with right now. I'm not in a hurry though... Discovery, Merc G-Wagon, e28... The right car will eventually present itself.

slammin_e28 wrote:Also I think I slipped a cylinder liner in the Discovery. Tick tick tick pls.

Sorry to hear that. I'm sure you'll get it sorted in short order though.

Some time spent on the Studebaker Saturday - I got both headlights working (crappy contacts and fuses just like any newer vehicle). The stitched leather fan belt broken on startup, so I also learned how to swap the belt on the '23. It's rather like working on an old tractor.

Then, while the kids were trick-or-treating, I drove a bunch of the moms around downtown. I think we had more fun waving to the crowds than the kids did going door to door.

I picked up new front shocks from Summit and put them on the M5, it lead to installing stainless lines and all sorts of other front end replacement of parts.

davintosh wrote: Cool. But talk about yer fixer-upper... Still jealous though. Disco pickups are the coolest. I've got a link set up for Discos on a couple of the car classified ad sites over here, and they come up pretty readily, but usually in tougher shape than I'd want to deal with right now. I'm not in a hurry though... Discovery, Merc G-Wagon, e28... The right car will eventually present itself.

slammin_e28 wrote:Also I think I slipped a cylinder liner in the Discovery. Tick tick tick pls.

Sorry to hear that. I'm sure you'll get it sorted in short order though.

Ya the 109 is pretty hurting. It's no restoration though....I just want the body for the Range Rover frame.

Good news! The disco is fine except for a MASSIVE oil leak from the timing cover/front crank seal. It ran almost out of oil when getting the 109....and that's after I topped it up before leaving. The tick was starving lifters at the back of the engine.

Also....the $500 750iL is actually pretty nice underneath. I swapped in some non SLS rear struts and checked out the steering. Needs UCABs BAD and a center link at the least. Oh, and that pesky upper oil pan gasket.

Finally got a chance to get a decent battery in the 540iT and got it running, got gas in it and got it to a better parking spot.
Secured the 540's old battery in the tan car, programmed a backup keyless key fob for it, washed the outside and scrubbed, vacuumed the inside.
Then it rained.

I got under the E32 and replaced the belts, only to find that the squeal was actually what I thought it was: a bad pulley. Its the tensioner for the A/C compressor and water pump. Called around and the BMW shop within walking distance from my house will have it by 8am tomorrow. Bam! That one will be solved. BTW the belts were toast anyway.

Started changing the brakes. First off its been a while since I've done a brake job on a BMW, as the last few have been on Toyotas and Hondas. So I patiently disassembled the caliper assembly. I forgot which way the clip pops out. Duh. Anyway got it off, secured by hanging it on the spring (thanks dsmith). But the rotor screw was a real pain. It was really in there. PB blaster and some hammer time later it was finally out by using a bloody torx bit with a ratchet. I was tired so I pulled the rotor off and cleaned up. I'll finish both jobs over the weekend.

Oh- and I was fearing the UCAs on the E32, but I looked at them and holy cow are those EASIER to get to than the ones on the E28 ///M5. Maybe all E28s...

I almost never use dealer service for anything, but the new cars have systems that sometimes require it. For the Tundra I paid (doh!) $170 to have the local Toyota dealer swap 4 quarts of transmission fluid. I've got a case of the right fluid, but the more I read of the process the more I decided not to do it myself. Having paid the price once I expect I'll DIY in the future. From what I see they didn't even drop the pan, just drained and topped....

While it was there I also had them reseal three of the TMPS sensors, replace the fourth, and resync the whole system so the idiot light is no longer burning. Two of the sensors were leaking slowly, requiring a few pounds of air a couple of times per week. This is a service that Mavis screwed up not once, not twice, but three times and still couldn't fix, so back to the dealer it went.

So what does it cost to fix the system that is supposed to tell me when my tire air is low, which was slowly draining the air from my tires? $322.81. And that was with only one new sensor at $88 each - $214 of the cost was labor which one would think includes remounting the tires. But no, even though they had the tires dismounted to get to the TMPS sensors, which requires a rebalance and of course requires that the wheels be bolted back to the vehicle, they dinged me another $70 for a rebalance and rotate.

Oh, and they didn't actually rotate the tires as much as randomly bolt them back onto the truck, so tomorrow I have to swap the passenger side wheels front-to-rear to actually complete the job properly. Yay dealer service!

Finally, last weekend on the Tundra I did the oil and filter and air filter and the gigantic serpentine belt myself. It's all easy work, and I probably saved myself $250 in labor and parts (Zygmunt). So that's a positive.

EDIT - they also performed the BST recall, which I didn't request but I suppose it has to be done. Now I will not be able to powerbrake the truck. http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t ... rning.html

MicahO wrote:I almost never use dealer service for anything, but the new cars have systems that sometimes require it. For the Tundra I paid (doh!) $170 to have the local Toyota dealer swap 4 quarts of transmission fluid. I've got a case of the right fluid, but the more I read of the process the more I decided not to do it myself. Having paid the price once I expect I'll DIY in the future. From what I see they didn't even drop the pan, just drained and topped....

While it was there I also had them reseal three of the TMPS sensors, replace the fourth, and resync the whole system so the idiot light is no longer burning. Two of the sensors were leaking slowly, requiring a few pounds of air a couple of times per week. This is a service that Mavis screwed up not once, not twice, but three times and still couldn't fix, so back to the dealer it went.

So what does it cost to fix the system that is supposed to tell me when my tire air is low, which was slowly draining the air from my tires? $322.81. And that was with only one new sensor at $88 each - $214 of the cost was labor which one would think includes remounting the tires. But no, even though they had the tires dismounted to get to the TMPS sensors, which requires a rebalance and of course requires that the wheels be bolted back to the vehicle, they dinged me another $70 for a rebalance and rotate.

Oh, and they didn't actually rotate the tires as much as randomly bolt them back onto the truck, so tomorrow I have to swap the passenger side wheels front-to-rear to actually complete the job properly. Yay dealer service!

Finally, last weekend on the Tundra I did the oil and filter and air filter and the gigantic serpentine belt myself. It's all easy work, and I probably saved myself $250 in labor and parts (Zygmunt). So that's a positive.

EDIT - they also performed the BST recall, which I didn't request but I suppose it has to be done. Now I will not be able to powerbrake the truck. http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t ... rning.html

Hi Micah!

Everytime I read a post like this it just reminds me why I like to work on my cars myself. Any why I like to own cars I can work on myself. So much noise out there!

I pulled the oil pan on the 750.

What an adventure. A fun filled adventure.

slammin_e28 wrote:I pulled the oil pan on the 750.

What an adventure. A fun filled adventure.

Really? Didn't look that bad when I was under mine this weekend. I guess you're keeping yours then?

End of last week I finally pulled the intake manifold off the 05 Tundra to fix the secondary air intake failure on it since last December. CEL light has been on since, and goes into limp mode every other start or so. Parts are not cheap, and the dealership charges about 3000 for this job. I found all the parts ( pump, driver, 2 different valve sets) for about 850- and took me about 5 hours not really knowing what I was doing. When I pulled the pump out- it was full of acorns. Those damn squirrels- I am getting a pellet gun for sure. I threw some dryer sheets and peppermint Altoids in the death valley area before installing manifold as a deterrent. Pesky varmint likely will have a comfy bed and fresh breath now...



Pump and valve 1 in D.V., other two valves behind engine ( and big PIA to get too):

rmiddendorf wrote:

slammin_e28 wrote:I pulled the oil pan on the 750.

What an adventure. A fun filled adventure.

Really? Didn't look that bad when I was under mine this weekend. I guess you're keeping yours then?

Eh...I think so. It needed to be done anyway. Even if I do parts it, I wanted to drive it and get it sorted because the drivetrain/engine is the most valuable part to me.

Lower pan removed...you can see where the gasket was sucked in where the upper pan meets the block.



Drilled holes in the back of the upper pan at the bellhousing to get the last two bolts out. What fun. Can only get in there with a 1/4, 10mm flex socket. I suppose you saw my tale of woe running all over the Valley finding one. Finally borrowed one from a friend who has a shop here local. To explain, I live 40 mins from work, otherwise I would have just gone to the shop and gotten the tool I needed.....and in hinds sight I would have been done quicker doing that.

Oh well....it's getting done. It really is a cool car.

MicahO wrote: EDIT - they also performed the BST recall, which I didn't request but I suppose it has to be done. Now I will not be able to powerbrake the truck. http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t ... rning.html

I did some testing, because I knew you guys were worried. The good news is that the BST-recalled vehicles can still powerbrake. If you are driving with the throttle applied and apply the brake, you've got about 2 seconds before fuel delivery is cut. But if you start with the foot on the brake and then apply the throttle, you get to use both to your heart's content. Yay!

It was the E36's turn after it got new shoes last week, sometime before it should have needed them thanks to a lousy alignment the last time new tires went on.

But today was oil change, which got me under the car and ended up removing the infamous clutch delay valve, which appears to be a flow restrictor, not a valve at all, I noticed the selector shaft was leaking so I checked the tranny oil and sure enough it was low. First drive without the CDT was inconclusive, we'll see later how much difference if any it makes. Cost per mile for M and R skyrocketed up to $.043. Low enthusiasm for it but it has been the Ultimate Commuting Machine.

The good news is some things never change, leaky selector shaft seal and same old odd procedure for bleeding the clutch, no new tricks to learn there at least.

The ZHP had a birthday -



Also caught a block of wood off the back of a landscaper's truck last night, and here it's just about a month since I had the front end resprayed. Only damage was a pinkie-nail size paint chip in the very lower part of the nose, then some loud bonking as it passed under the car. Could have been far worse as it looked like about an 6" length of 2x10.

I woke up at 4am today, it was 57 degrees and will be falling fast. So, I spent a couple of hours and replaced the timing belt, water pump and t-stat on the touring. Tonight I should get the new hoses and coolant in and be ready for winter.

I kept getting the yellow oil light on the E46 325xiT and would continually check the oil. It was always within an acceptable range.

It must be overly sensitive because I topped it off right to the top of the range and now no light. I would think the light wouldn't come on until it was down below the lowest mark on the dipstick.

Oh, and by the way, I'm glad I have an oil dipstick.

My E34 gives me Engine Oil Low at 1/2 quart low.