What did you do to your vehicle today?

[BIC_BAWS]

Bought a wet vac... I think I'm going to buy some silicone to temp seal it until my gasket gets here.
Looks like it's leaking from the broken foam gasket and the rubber black thing.

All clean.. just hoping for no rust and no electrical issues

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[320icar]

I think every single bmw I’ve owned over the years has had some sort of trunk leak, even after replacing tail like gaskets and trunk seals. I just gave up

[77civic1200]

The black rubber part you circled isn't meant to do anything for the water, its just a cosmetic cover so you can't see the side of the light with the trunk open. The foam gasket with the large gap is whats letting water in.

[conandoyle]

Get my new DBA5000 & 4000 installed front & rear, EBC bluestuff, and stoptech SS brake line.

[320icar]

Do you reuse the factory Brembo calipers with those two piece rotors?

[conandoyle]

Originally Posted by 320icar

Do you reuse the factory Brembo calipers with those two piece rotors?

Yes. I reused all the stock brembo calipers.

[hud 91gt]

Replaced rear upper control arm on TSX due to a service bulliten where stock arm doesn’t keep camber within limits. Managed to get within .07 degrees of the other side using my iPhone. Now I feel like I wasted $100 for a real alignment. Haha

[Berzerker]

Using the level?

Berz out.

[hud 91gt]

Yup. I did a full alignment with the Z using strings and iPhone. Curious to see how that one turns out. Camber is pretty straight forward. Toe gets complicated.

The level is only as accurate as your floor is flat. I knew my garage pretty wonky so I had my
Last alignment stats. R + L differentiated by .7. So I just did the math.

[CCA-Dave]

With the pedal spot basically figured it out, it was time to make a plate for the top side, weld on a steel plate on the bottom side, and drill the mounting holes. With the pedals now sitting at the proper level, I had to figure out how to make the accelerator cable work. The setup of the accelerator cable took three different versions before I came up with something that I’m happy with. Presuming you want to use the stock cable, in the stock tube, you have to find a way to make the system pull relatively horizontally, instead of pivoting and pulling down. Next, you have to sort out the pedal ratio, so it’s pulling enough cable through the travel of the gas pedal. You have to ensure that your setup pulls enough cable that you get full throttle…and finally, the whole setup needs to be adjustable enough that once you setup the brakes and have them bled, you can adjust where the gas pedal sits for best heel-toe use…and then adjust the pull, ratio, etc all over again. It looks a bit hokey, but I think this third edition meets all the requirements.


I moved the brake light switches to the inside of the car, and after this photo tweaked the brackets so that they sit in a cosmetically-acceptable manner.


The project was paused for dinner, while I worked out how I was going to do a grommet to pass the front brake line forward through the firewall. I can’t use the factory grommet spot, due to the pedals interfering, and I forgot to weld up the stock brake master holes. A wiring firewall grommet was my original plan, but it didn’t fit the brake master hole that well. So, off to the milling machine with the factory brake master!


Pedals in, lines plumbed, brake light switches sorted, and the dead pedal has been modified for best fit.



My summit racing order arrived, and I built a bracket to house the brake bias adjustment knob. If I was using the car primarily on the track, I would have mounted the knob in a spot where I could reach it while harnessed into the car. But, with it’s use on multiple surfaces, I’m far more likely to adjust the knob for tarmac, gravel, snow and ice, and leave it after some minor changes. I’ll need to loosen the harness slightly to reach it in this position, but the cockpit of the car is pretty damned busy and this was the best choice.



My steering-wheel spacer also came in, but it had a weird lip on it that interferes with my quick-release. I don’t use my mill that often, but when I do use it…it’s the best thing ever. Something doesn’t fit, and ten minutes later it fits perfectly.



I will still need to move the shifter back by about 2”, and perhaps water jet a new handle for the hydraulic handbrake…but when those are completed, I think I’m done the changes to the cockpit.

[hud 91gt]

Was always curious how much you would actually use a mill. Kind of answered my question, ha. What kind of machine are you using? How big is it? My throttle linkage was a PITA, I can hardly imagine three pedals. ha

[CCA-Dave]

Depends on the time of year, and the project. I literally bought the mill for the hydraulic clutch conversion, where I knew I needed to make (likely) multiple mounting adapters until I had it all working correctly:


That particular project took four adapters. The first one I had 3D printed, and I milled out the three aluminum ones. Each new adapter incorporated changes I couldn't have anticipated without it "in-hand". From a time perspective, the milling machine paid for itself on that single project, simply because I didn't need to wait for a machine shop to make each one for me. From a dollar perspective, it probably still owes me a fair chunk of change :P

Most of the year, for a home garage enthusiast, it's more of a paper-weight in the way. But when you need it, my gosh is ultra handy. I do need to buy a lathe though. In squamish I had keys and access to a buddy's, but in Port Alberni the lathe access is a little more challenging. Lathe in 2018 I think.

For my mill, I bought a Busy Bee Tools CX601. It's the largest mill I can still move with an engine hoist, which at the time of purchase was an important consideration. I was renting, and had to be able to move the mill without a forklift. It uses full size tooling, and the bed size was quite good.
https://www.busybeetools.com/product...out-cx601.html


I do tend to joke around that it's a glorified drill press taking up way too much space in the shop, but just the other night it saved my butt on the front suspension job I was working on. When you need it, nothing else will do, and it's absolutely amazing.

-Dave

[BIC_BAWS]

Just picked up drive belts and gaskets.. finished parking and found out my coolant just went.

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[bcrdukes]

Nice. BMW still living up to its reputation.

At least it happened at home.

[BIC_BAWS]

Filled it up with distilled water, there's a slow but steady leak coming from the hose that is attached to the bottoms of the expansion tank. It's either the hose, the connection between tank and hose, or the actual tank.

Also burned like 1.5L of oil LOL.

But I did end up mounting my new tailights, and found out that it came with new gaskets. Welp just received my order of a set too. Anyone want a set of e46 taillight gaskets?

Only issue I found was that when mounting a relay box, the rear liner doesn't fit anymore.

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[westopher]

The expansion tank is a common place to crack. If you don't have records of your whole cooling system being done in the last 60k, you need to just replace all of it anyways, before the car leaves you on the side of the road.

[UnknownJinX]

Originally Posted by BIC_BAWS

Just picked up drive belts and gaskets.. finished parking and found out my coolant just went.

Damn, that is a big leak.

Also, you gotta polish up her lights! Gotta make her look good.

Originally Posted by BIC_BAWS

Also burned like 1.5L of oil LOL.

How long did that take? Make sure you check your oil level at least at every other fill up.

Funny how my 1999 Corolla burns more oil than my RX-8, and the latter actually has a reason to burn oil.

Originally Posted by westopher

The expansion tank is a common place to crack. If you don't have records of your whole cooling system being done in the last 60k, you need to just replace all of it anyways, before the car leaves you on the side of the road.

Yep, the plastic tanks can crack after a few years. Look around and you may find some aftermarket aluminum ones.

Do BMW cars come with a coolant level sensor unit? I know my RX-8 does, except the sensor has a reputation for breaking down(at least on the older ones), LOL.

Might want to replace the cap as well.

[coneZONE]

Originally Posted by UnknownJinX

Also, you gotta polish up her lights! Gotta make her look good.

only the problem is his lights are clouded on the inside of the lens hahaha

[Fafine]

its cheap to replace just the lens, like 30usd for the pair on ebay

[Akinari]

Originally Posted by UnknownJinX

Funny how my 1999 Corolla burns more oil than my RX-8, and the latter actually has a reason to burn oil.

That gen of 1ZZ-FE had small piston oil drain holes, so they'd get clogged easily. Just gotta add cleaning additives like mad to get it cleaned up and the piston rings unstuck.

[CCA-Dave]

Next up on my agenda is getting the brakes back on, which means first addressing the suspension that's sitting on the floor. It's high time I got around to fitting the Silver Project upper camber plates, as they've been collecting dust on a shelf since before my move. For those of you who aren't aware, these are direct fit for 73+ super beetles, but require some adjustments for 71 and 72 super beetles. The adjustment is to simply open up the large strut tower holes slightly on the body. The strut towers are made from two stamped pieces of metal welded together, and in my case it was just a matter of cleaning out where one layer was slightly skewed from the other. About 2min work with a die grinder on either side, and then some primer and paint for the, now, exposed edge.




Hmmm...it would seem the bump stops in my winter setup are toast :P



The local performance parts shop, Lordco, had some Energy suspension bump stops I figured I could make work. Problem though, they don't fit the upper washers too well...




Nothing a flap disc on an angle grinder can't solve! I forgot to take a photo of all the urethane coating the white wall of the shop...that's going to be fun to clean off.



After reassembling everything I realized that without the factory bump stops and cover, I was leaving the upper strut seal exposed to the elements. On my winter setup, and plans to hit Thunderbird Rally in February, and maybe some ice racing, this isn't an ideal thing to have! Off to Lordco again, to see what else I can find in the performance department...



"But Dave," I can hear you saying, "that is an off-road truck shock boot." Ah yes, it would appear that way. But funny enough, if you cut the top six ribs off it, it becomes a VW Part!



...alas, we end there as I head off to Big White Rally in Kelwona.

-Dave

[320icar]

Wait, you were up there too last weekend? Should have grabbed a beer

[UnknownJinX]

Installed the G1 flasher a couple of days ago. I set it to only flash when it senses above 0.8G of braking force.



(Yes, I realized one of the wires snapped loose. Had to get the whole thing out again just so I can reconnect it.)

Also changed the trunk weatherstrip and wiper blade inserts. Hopefully the trunk doesn't leak anymore.

Originally Posted by Akinari

That gen of 1ZZ-FE had small piston oil drain holes, so they'd get clogged easily. Just gotta add cleaning additives like mad to get it cleaned up and the piston rings unstuck.

Supposedly they released rings with an updated design, but obviously it requires tearing the whole engine down.

At least it was a good prep for my RX-8 ownership.

[CCA-Dave]

Originally Posted by 320icar

Wait, you were up there too last weekend? Should have grabbed a beer

Yeah. I'm the field producer for the TSN coverage. Was there Thursday through Monday.

-Dave

[coneZONE]

My clutch chatter went away after i changed my lower transmission mount loool