TX02

Made A New Friend

2018-11-06T12:05:00.001-05:00

As it turns out, shuttling kids around in a two door 1600 isn’t as easy as one might guess. You really need four doors. The responsible thing to do would be to buy a cheap, ten year old Subaru Forester that gets reasonable fuel economy and whose all wheel drive will make light work of any weather conditions that I’m likely to encounter. Their parts are cheap and available, and SG Foresters are disposable and replaceable as one’s needs change.

Instead, I got this thing. It’s a 1970 BMW 2500 with a 2.8L M30 and a four speed. I first heard of this car a year or two ago, when my friend Paul heard that I was casually interested in an E3, and inquired on my behalf to his friend, Sam, about one that he thought he might sell. Sam’s first response was, “He knows it’s terrible, right?”

Perfect. Let’s go.

Sorry About the Photos

2017-09-12T14:27:00.000-04:00

Looks like Photobucket is charging to host images now, so it's going to be a while before I can migrate everything elsewhere. Apologies in the meantime.

Vintage 2016 Preparations

2016-05-09T10:07:00.002-04:00

I've been away from the blog and maintenance on the 1600 for some time now. My son is now two years old (two!) and takes up a lot of time, as well he should. I didn't even make it to Vintage last year, because we were visiting family. This year, however, I'm getting my fix. Here's photographic evidence of my distraction.

I've been periodically eyeing the 1600, identifying small issues for which I am attempting slow progress. The fist on the list is the battery. When I first got this car, I installed a Miata-sized dry-cell battery on it's side under the back seat. It seemed like a perfect solution, but the batteries kept dying. I'm on my 3rd or 4th one. I've tried different brands, changed alternators, and I've rewired the entire car, and still, the battery drops to around 7 volts after a few days. I suspect the under-seat solution may be subjecting the battery to undue heat, causing early failure. So, in the spirit of over-correction, I removed the Miata battery and replaced it with a 34/78 Optima Red Top dry cell, which now lives in the trunk. I ran a new E30 battery cable along the passenger side and removed the driver side cable that used to run to the old battery. For those playing at home, an E30 battery cable will just barely make it from the trunk to the passenger side firewall. I made a little angle iron brace and bent up some aluminum strap.

It's bolted together with metric hardware and my new favorite tool, an Astro 1442 riv-nut tool. It's fantastic for adding a solid mounting point when you either can't get to a nut on the other side or don't want to use a self-tapping screw.

I made the top strap removable with two M6 bolts. It was a bit of extra work, but it will pay off in ease of removal if and when I need to take the battery out.

Cables attached and tidied up.

Corrado Steelies

2015-03-28T11:11:00.001-04:00

After years of service on two different sets of wheels, I finally decided against squeezing another season out of my all season Toyo tires. They did their job, but weren't the grippiest. They were really a jack of all seasons, and a master of none. So, after searching for quite a while and flirting with some NK steel wheels, I finally found an acceptable deal on a set of VW G60 Corrado steel wheels. They're 15x6, which gives me an inch in diameter over the current E30 steelies.

The only downside to this purchase is that I bought them from an individual who already purchased and mounted tires to them. The tires are good summer Vredesteins, but they're 10-20mm narrower than I would prefer, at 175/50R15. They aren't bad, and they certainly stick to the road, but the next set will be wider.

Bass Makes Your Car Go Faster

2014-10-04T22:49:00.003-04:00

A few years ago, I traded some parts for a fiberglass subwoofer enclosure made by www.BMW2002FAQ.com forum member, Eurotrash (Jason Gibson). It has been sitting in a box for years because I had somewhat mosre pressing issues with the 1600, like keeping it moving. However, I recently bought a subwoofer on impulse, so I dove in.

Buy your sub enclosure from Jason here: http://boltonbliss.bigcartel.com/

Here it is. It's sturdily built and fits under the passenger side of the rear seat. The first thing that caught my eye was that the enclosure is made for a 6.5" sub. Since I impulsively bought an 8" sub, there was going to be some modification.

After removing the installed wiring and fluffy stuff, I traced out the size needed and got to cutting. For those playing at home, make sure you have eye protection and a mask of some type when cutting fiberglass.

Did I mention that my car has seatbelt reels hidden under the back seat? Yeah, well, I'm going to have to make room for those.

Now to lay up some fiberglass.

At this point, many people would sand the enclosure smooth. I, however, remembered that it's going under the back seat and that I have other things to do. A coat of paint will do.

I bought a roll of self-adhering foam to keep the rattles down and placed strips of it on all sides. Done!

Keyless Entry

2014-07-17T14:07:00.001-04:00

I've never been fond of the vintage car locking system, which seems to be a product of lack of technology and cost savings. While I appreciate the virtual impossibility of locking your keys inside a 2002, I have grown tired of saying a little prayer each time I twist the key to lock or unlock the doors. Also, I never liked the reliance on the drive to lock the passenger door, which required either key locking it from the outside or waiting for them to get out and close the door, just so you can push the lock knob down.

So, armed with the excuse that I was "saving the vintage lock cylinders from wear and tear," I cobbled together a power lock system from E30 parts.

It's as basic as I can make it. I discarded the E30's somewhat complex central locking electronics and boiled the system down to a few simple components: door solenoids, a couple of 5-prong relays, and a switch. Piggy-backed on that is a $15 eBay remote keyless entry module, which triggers the lock and unlock function. Powering the system is a $10 auto parts store fused power block, which also allows for future powered additions in the rear of the car. This one is getting constant power from the battery. I have an identical fused power distribution panel under the dash, which is is fed by a relay to come on with the ignition.

Here is the wiring diagram. Basically, you need to power the solenoids one way to lock and reverse the polarity on them to unlock. 5-prong relays with the 87a terminal are the key:

The remote keyless entry unit is wired to ground the 85 circuits.

Once that was all together, I ran the wire pairs, including the trigger pair for the interior lock/unlock switch, to the cabin. In-wall, insulated speaker wire is nice to use for this, since each pair is enclosed in its own insulation. I grabbed two E30 door lock solenoids from the salvage yard for about $9/each (*If you get them, remember to keep the mounting screws) and bolted them into the doors. If you clip off enough of the harness from the E30 door, you will save the amount of wiring necessary for the doors in your 2002.

I just used a few grommets and positioned the wire bundles to slip through. Just make sure that you secure the wiring every 6-10".

No, I did not chop those giant, ugly speaker hole in my doors.

I bought a stick of 1/8" steel rod from the local hardware store and bent it to fit. You might screw this up the first time around, so be careful.

You'll need to drill an 1/8" hole in the door lock mechanism. Go ahead and oil it up while you're in there.

You will also need to drill the solenoid to 1/8".

Once it's all installed, you can enjoy simple, non-invasive, and mostly removable electric locks with keyless entry. Your days of walking all the way around to lock you passenger door are over.

It's Been a While

2014-06-25T23:27:00.003-04:00

It has been more than a year since I last posted, but, to be fair, I've been busy. Last fall, the wife and I renovated our basement (with some help here and there) in preparation for our first-born son's arrival in December. What a year!

Back to the car:

Last July, the 1602 just stopped running. One day, it was running fine. The next day, it wouldn't fire. The starter would turn, but I wasn't getting any fuel pressure. I tested for power to no avail. I tested continuity from the relay to the pump: all good. I tested the fuel pump relay: working. I also felt the main engine relay click with the key turn. Then, the car sat in silence for nine months while I encountered the aforementioned time sinks. Finally, I decided in April that I had to start diagnosing the problem again if I wanted to make it to Vintage. I swapped out ECUs and got the same problem. I then decided that it must be a fault in the harness, so I sourced a pinout diagram for the ECU. Just before tackling the Sisyphean task of checking continuity on every wire in the engine harness, Dudley and Marshall urged me to recheck the basics. So, I removed the main and fuel pump relays from the harness to test. The fuel pump relay functioned perfectly, as did the 87 circuit on the main relay. The 87b circuit gave me a strange, flickering output, however. So, we ran of to the local BMW dealership and bought a new main relay. I threw it in and the car started right up. Nine months, $12 to fix.

In early May of this year, I was rear-ended by a rental truck with an inattentive driver. In a defining moment for irony, he hit my third brake light. The light housing pushed into the rear panel and left a nice dent. Since it wasn't too bad, I waited until after Vintage to have it fixed.

The bumper was also pushed in a little on the driver's side.

In primer:

I also had them fill the holes for the 1602 and Roundel emblems. When the tail panel was replaced in the 1980s or 1990s, it appears that the 2002 panel was more easily available, so they just stuck the emblems where the 2002 had them. Given the chance to correct that, I had them fill the holes. I plan to source the appropriate emblems and drill where necessary.

Done!

Vintage 2013

2013-05-28T10:37:00.001-04:00

I made the drive to Vintage 2013 in Winston-Salem, NC. It was good to see everyone again and meet some new people as well. I caravaned down with a group of locals.

Leaving DC:

Coffee and a quick timing adjustment for Dudley at Marshall's place:

Parking lot at the hotel:

Day 1 Autocross Event (I wasn't brave enough to risk breaking my car 300 miles from home):

Day 2 Show at Westbend Vineyard:

A Glas 1600GT:

A genuine 2002turbo:

I won the trophy for "Best Patina"

The drive home:

Had a little hiccup on the way home. I noticed a drip from under the car when we stopped for lunch. This little hose under the intake split, so we had to repair it. Thankfully, we didn't need to remove the intake to do it.

Twenty minutes later, we were back on the road.

Great weekend!

Google+

Third Brake Light and a center Console Before the Roadtrip

2013-05-28T09:37:00.002-04:00

In a nearly unacceptable deviation from past performance, I had the 1600 roadworthy with a week or so to spare before heading off to Vintage at the Vineyards. I considered breaking something, forcing myself into a right-up-to-the-last-minute repair scenario, but I decided to break from the norm and tackle a few small convenience tasks. The first of these two was a third brake light.

As many have noted, the 1600/2002 brake lights are not exactly bright. Some overcome this with a modern-style third brake light in the rear window, which I find to be a little too modern-looking. Others use a vintage, European, bumper-mounted red fog light as a source of extra braking luminescence. I prefer the latter option, but vintage fog lights are usually around $100.

Enter: K-Mart. Behold, the $4 trailer light.

I painted the white, plastic backing of this thing flat black and wrapped a stainless steel tie around it for a little accent. Of course, the next step was to mount it, so I pounded a mount out of 1-1/2" flat stock. I shaped it to bolt between the bumper and the body, so I wouldn't have to drill a hole in my European-style bumper.

After painting it, I installed the mount. only to realize that I should have made it a bit taller.

I also made this little bracket to attach the light to the bumper bracket.

With a small extension piece to correct the hieght, I mounted and wired up the light. Since it grounds to the mount, I only needed to run one wire through the license plate light wiring grommet to the brake light circuit.

Next up was the console. I wanted to update my accessory and radio functions, so I threw this console together.

The old speaker grill conceals a newer-style stereo.

Also, I modified the driver's side engine mount to limit lateral engine movement.

Gratuitous engine shot:

Look, Ma! I'm on Jalopnik.com!

2013-05-21T12:24:00.002-04:00

I was interviewed by Patrick George of Jalopnik.com recently. Basically, it was an excuse for two car guys to spend an afternoon talking about and driving the 1600. Enjoy.

http://jalopnik.com/1967-bmw-1602-the-jalopnik-classic-review-507685267

Vintage Preparation

2013-05-12T23:05:00.001-04:00

In a few weeks, Vintage will be held in North Carolina. It's an annual car show that caters to vintage BMWs, which means that the largest participant group is 2002 and 1600 owners. a few years ago, I threw together my newly bought 1600 (with a lot of help from local 2002 friends) and was able to make the drive to North Carolina to attend the show. Since then, I've been 2 for 3 on Vintage attendance.

So, since I've installed a new-ish M42 with a few weeks to spare, i spent this weekend doing a few preparations for the trip. I'm sure that I'll be irresponsibly fixing something the night before, but I'm doing what I can now to hedge my bets.

After I successfully test-drove the car sans hood, I bolted on the hood and took the car to work. On the way home, I noticed the temperature rising. I opened the hood and felt a lot of hot air coming out. The quiet 12" electric puller fan was just not cutting it, so today I swapped it out for a 16" fan that I barely fits in front of the radiator.

To squeeze it in there, I had to make a new mount for the radiator.

I don't currently have a voltmeter in the car, but I need to monitor the charging system. It so happens that I recently bought some digital voltmeters for my wife's E30. I cut a piece of scrap sheet aluminum and filled the space left by a missing dash chrome panel. It's missing because I need all four of them and they cost $75 each.

The final product doesn't look all that great, but it's functional. That's pretty much my car's theme at this point.

Then I washed and waxed her, which is kind of like vacuuming pet-stained carpet.

Whatever.....I love this car.

New(ish) M42 Installed and Running

2013-05-05T23:00:00.003-04:00

With a little help from Dudley, I finished installing the accessories, wiring and plumbing for the newer M42. I have to admit that I kind of liked test-driving it sans hood. The display of the functional parts and the work to install them was kind of satisfying and the staring people showed more curious interest than confusion. However, let's hope that driving like this doesn't become the next stupid automotive trend.

Previously, I noticed a small fitment issue with the M42 radiator. I already removed the snorkel from the passenger side to make room for it, but the driver side still hit the curve in the forward firewall, which kept it from being any further forward. So, I cut a section out to make a tighter fit.

Once I filled it with the appropriate fluids, I took it for a test drive. I have to admit that I kind of liked test-driving it sans hood. The display of the functional parts and the work to install them was kind of satisfying and the people staring showed more curious interest than confusion. However, let's hope that driving like this doesn't become the next stupid automotive trend.

Mind the wind noise, but listen for an interesting induction chirp.

Another without the wind noise.

M42 Installed.....Again

2013-04-28T21:50:00.005-04:00

One of my reasons for upgrading to the M42 a few years ago was that I could conceivably replace an M42 a lot easier than an M10 and for considerably less money. I hadn't planned on having to replace the engine so soon, but it was a lot easier the second time.

Picking up where I left off, I bolted up a few more parts to the M42 before installation. These included the upper and lower intake manifolds, oil filter mount, the wiring harness, and the A/C compressor mount (not that I have A/C....yet).

Then I bolted up the transmission. This was decidedly easier than wrestling it into position from under the car.

Then I bolted the subframe to the engine, while still on the crane. Next, I dropped it to the ground, slid it under the engine bay and lifted it up through the engine bay. This was easily the smoothest and quickest engine install that I've ever done.

I still have to hook all the wiring, plumbing and accessories up, but this is progress.

A Few More Baby Steps

2013-04-25T22:20:00.002-04:00

Just a few more things checked off the list. I installed the water pump and thermostat.

Then I drilled and Helicoil'd four of the valve cover bolt threads. Yeesh. I also took the opportunity to repaint the valve cover and upper intake.

A once-over with the palm sander does wonders for detail.

The gap in the ribs on the upper intake is from an ill-fitting strut brace rubbing the intake.

All bolted up:

I also bolted in the coil-on-plug conversion plate along with the coils.

A Little More Progress on the New(ish) Motor

2013-04-22T20:41:00.001-04:00

After finding a stripped valve cover thread in the newer M42's head, I drilled and tapped it for a Helicoil.

Then I cleaned up the bottom end and bolted on the E30 upper and lower oil pans.

The studs are there for two reasons. First, they are really helpful for holding the gasket and pan in place while you're Loctite-ing your bolts. Second, some of the holes were mildly stripped, so I chased the threads a little deeper and installed the studs for more bite.

Next up, reinstallation.

Drastic Measures

2013-04-21T21:58:00.004-04:00

I've been battling an intermittent overheating problem since I first installed the M42. I've replaced the thermostat twice, the radiator twice and the water pump once. I've flushed and bled the coolant system more times than I care to remember. Still, I keep getting air in the pressurized coolant system, which ultimately allows for a hotspot and boils the coolant, producing more air.

So, I'm replacing the only thing I have left to replace: the engine.

I'm guessing at this point that the head gasket is leaking and allowing air to get from a cylinder to the coolant system. So, I found another used engine. In all fairness, one of the reasons that I originally had for doing this swap was that a future engine swap would be easier. This is already proving out in that I found a cheap replacement motor that just happens to have a warranty on it's newly rebuild head.

So here is what I bought:

It's from an early E36, so I have to swap over the E30 oil pan and intake manifold.

So, let's get to work.

After wrestling with the engine from the top, I gave up and returned to the tried and true "from the bottom" drivetrain removal method. Here we are after a weekend of work:

A little cleanup is in order.

After a little cleaning and some touch-up paint:

I also started on refreshing a few gaskets on the E36 M42, just because it's easier to do most of these when the engine is on a stand.

New rubber timing chain cover outer profile gasket and tensioner plug crush ring.

Prepped to receive the E30 oil pan and intake, once they are clean:

A Little Distraction

2013-02-14T08:42:00.001-05:00

It's been a while.

A few months ago, I was finally able to convince the wife that she'd be much more comfortable in an 80s 3-Series BMW than in her 2002 Corolla. When the right deal came up for a 1991 325i sedan (read: four-door), I jumped on it. With the sale of the Corolla, I even had some parts money for the newly acquired E30. I now have a fully German garage. All is right with the world.

For updates on the E30 project, see HERE.

Don't worry; I'll be getting back to the 1600 soon enough.

Yes, I Use My Roof Rack

2012-08-29T10:01:00.003-04:00

In the year and a half since I built the roof rack for less than $100, and subsequently modified it, I've used it quite a bit. Since it wasn't expensive to build and the parts can be easily replaced for very little money, I'm not afraid to haul furniture, lumber or, in this case, a lawnmower.

Modern Seatbelts

2012-08-12T23:27:00.000-04:00

It should come as no surprise that I constantly want to drive my car. Even in August and without air conditioning, I find myself trying to convince my wife that we should take my car (instead of her Toyota) to the grocery store, to run errands or for any reason that I can conjure. Additionally, the roof rack gives me an excuse to opt for the old Bavarian fräulein over the obviously more sensible Corolla when there's a chance that we may need to haul something back to the house that wouldn't fit into the trunk. There's a simple explanation: the 1600 just wants to be driven. She begs you to push your foot into the accelerator pedal just a little more in an on-ramp loop. The M42 likes to stretch its proverbial legs on even the shortest of trips. "Please," she says, "drive me with abandon, nay WRECKLESS abandon." So, it has been with that sense of wreckless abandon that I have piloted the car for the last 2+ years with the weakest of seatbelts.

That, or I was just too busy making her go, stop and handle to ever get around to upgrading the seatbelts to something better than the eBay VW lap belts that I've been using.

So, I finally bit the bullet and ordered up a set of retractable seatbelts from Al ("Bluedevils" on www.bmw2002faq.com). Al sent me a set with new retractors and Autoflug hardware. The kit is really top quality. Following the instructions on the FAQ, I drilled the holes to mount the reels under the rear seat. For those of you playing at home, you'll need a 7/16" drill bit, a 1/4" drill bit and a 1" hole saw. Here's an image of the holes. What's missing is the 1/4" hole just above the mounting hole. This is for a pin that keeps the reel upright, as it needs to remain vertical to operate properly. The 1" hole is for the nut and washers to fit on the other side of the bolt.

I used the tape trick to keep the nut in place while I fished the bolt through.

Once I got everything tight, I sprayed the newly exposed metal with a rust-proofing primer. Notice that I had to drill an extra hole to get the nut on.

Then I reinstalled the interior panel and bolted the pivot point in the threaded hole. I had to cut a hole in the panel, as no seatbelt was there before. The forward anchor bolted into the original sealbelt location.

Then I put the rear seat back in and the genius of Al's design was evident.

I also took the time to wire up the trip odometer button on my speedometer.

Now I have a trip odometer and I don't have to disassemble the cluster to recalibrate the speedometer.

Made it to Vintage this time

2012-05-28T17:18:00.001-04:00

The wife and I loaded up the 1600 and made the 335-mile trip down to Winston-Salem, NC for Vintage. With the exception of one quick stop to readjust the electric fan temp switch, the drive was thankfully uneventful. Here are the stats:

Distance From Home to the Event: 335 Miles
Fuel Economy: 33 MPG
Average Moving Speed: 56.8 MPH
Maximum Speed: 84.4 MPH

While at the event, I took almost no pictures, except for a a few documentary pictures of a pristine `67 1600 that had all of 11,000 miles on the odometer, which reminded me of all the original `67 parts that I need to find.

On the way back, we took a short (four hour) detour to Tennessee to pick up some furniture that used to belong to my wife's great-grandmother. The day involved about nine hours of driving, but it took us through the Blue Ridge Mountains and across North Carolina, a bit of Tennessee, most of Virginia and back to Maryland.

Then, we picked up a vintage rocking chair and a 1910 Singer sewing machine. For the record, a rocking chair on your roof will significantly decrease fuel mileage.

With the fan switch adjusted properly, the temperature held at a nice, steady and safe point.

This, of course, makes her a happy car.

Running Again! (and much smoother this time)

2012-05-23T23:51:00.002-04:00

A few days ago, after finishing the wiring, I started up the car. I was hopeful of the performance of the new injectors, but was immediately let down. the M42 stumbled and refused to hold an idle. After a few inquiries to the right sources, I set about testing sensors and checking the function of various parts. At Jake's suggestion, Jay and I wired up the M42's check engine light and did a "stomp test". This is a simple procedure that involves stomping the throttle five times with the key in the "On" ("FAHRT" on the ignition) position. The M42's ECU will then begin to blink in sequence to give you a set of fault codes. The single code that we received pointed us in the direction of either an air-flow meter (AFM) failure or a vacuum leak.

Here is the Check Engine Light that we wired up. I have to say; having my car tell me what is wrong with it is a new thing to me.

We tested the AFM to find no problem with instructions from the guys on www.m42club.com.

Once that was done, we began searching for a vacuum leak after I hurriedly ordered new manifold gaskets. A little carb cleaner found the leak on the #3 intake runner. Once removed, Jay found this gnarl on the mating surface.

I can only assume that the manifold was dropped at some point in it's life. The possibility that this has always been a leak point makes a lot of sense about how the car has acted in the year since I've had this engine.

Jay carefully filed the lump smooth and we resinstalled everything with new gaskets.

Dudley and I bolted everything back together, torquing the intake to about 20 ft-lbs. She started right up and settled into a nice idle of about 800rpm.

Also, I made a plug to go where the heater box used to be. I'll be adding a modern HVAC system to the car later, which won't need this giant hole in the firewall.

Note the piece that was ground away to fit the glove box.

I used some closed-cell foam as a gasket between it and the body and I used a little RTV to seal things up on the inside.

Dudley and I took the car out for a test drive and she runs smoooothly. So, I'm almost ready for the roadtrip to Vintage.

Front Swaybar, Wiring Finished, Wipers On and Other Small Details

2012-05-20T21:38:00.001-04:00

Progress has been made on a number of fronts. I finished up all but a few details in the wiring, installed the new front swaybar, installed the muffler, made some improvements to the emergency brake cable setup, put the interior back together and took it for a test drive; all with help in no small part from Dudley.

First, the emergency brake cable adapters:

I started with a spare spacer from the inner control arm joint.

Then I cut it into three pieces.

Then I ground them down to 31mm each. Since I needed a total of 35mm of spacing, I planned on using 4mm thick washers that had an ID that was close to the brake cable boss.

Now the emergency brake engages with 4-5 clicks of the handle.

Next, I installed the 22mm swaybar:

See the difference? I bought new 22mm swaybar bushings from www.racetep.com, though Ireland Engineering sells them as well.

Then I got to the wiring.

The 1600 harness didn't have a single relay, so I added five of them.

I also wired up the tach adapter and adjusted the wipers.

Dudley and I threw the interior back together and I wired up the gauge cluster.

After realizing that the dome light wiring should have been done before the headliner was installed, I decided on an alternate course. I mounted two small LED lights in each footwell. I'll likely add more later, but I like this look so far.

The muffler got a coat of high-temp paint, but no tip. I like the stock, lower volume exhaust, if I could just get the engine to idle properly......more on that later.

I still can't stop looking at the rear discs.

There are still a few things to get done before Vintage, most importantly getting the M42 back to a smooth idle.

New Fuel Injectors

2012-05-09T23:29:00.002-04:00

When I installed the M42 last year, I refreshed all of the intake seals and took care of the mess under the intake. One thing that didn't make the budget (other than a water pump....argh) was the fuel injectors. So, after a little research and some lengthy thread-sorting at www.m42club.com, I bought some reconditioned Bosch 0280155710 injectors, which were OEM for a Ford mustang of indeterminate year. They're match the stock M42 injectors in output, dimensions and plug type, but have a much better spray pattern. They require a 1/2 washer around their base to mount, but no one will see that.

Here you can see the extent to which one must go to remove and replace fuel injectors in an M42. You have to remove the upper and lower manifolds, electrical connection to the fuel rail, a few vacuum lines and fuel lines.

Then you can remove all of the clips and remove the old injectors. Guess which ones are the new injectors.

I had to remove the O-ring at the spraying end of each injector to fit the washer over them.

Then, I installed them in the fuel rail and mounted the apparatus on the lower intake manifold.

.....and installed that assembly on the head.

Once I got everything bolted back together, it was clear just how hidden the new injectors are.

I also installed my salvage yard-find 19mm rear swaybar. I modified the end links that I had (yes, still rubber bushings for now) with spherical joints from http://www.vxb.com/. I have the matching 22mm swaybar for the front, but I haven't gotten to it yet.

I'm still staring at those disk brakes, though......

Rear Disc Brakes

2012-05-06T23:22:00.000-04:00

I have a confession: I am terrible at adjusting brake drums. No matter how many times I try, I always seem to end up with dragging brake shoes or non-functional brakes. In the blue-moon chance that I get a brake drum adjusted properly on my car, it's a sure bet that I won't be able to repeat that on the other side.

There. I'm glad to have gotten that off of my chest. Phew.

So, in order to circumvent my Krypton-like resistance to brake drums, I took the entirely rational step of replacing them with an over-engineered technological upgrade: disc brakes.

The parts collection includes the following:

Discs from the front of a Mk1 VW Jetta/Golf

Carrier brackets from the rear of a Mk3 VW Jetta/Golf

Calipers from the rear of a Mk4 VW Jetta/Golf

Pagid brake pads for VW Mk4 Jetta/Golf rear brakes

Rear brake lines from a VW Mk4 Jetta/Golf

Brackets from Jake (http://classicdaily.net/)

6X M10 X 1.5 X 20mm Allen Socket Cap Screws

2X M10 X 1.5 X 20mm Flat (Countersunk) Allen Screws

4X M10 X 1.25 X 20mm Allen Socket Cap Screws

4X M10 X 2mm thick washers

I also had the wheel hubs turned down by Tom at www.02Again.com to fit inside the new discs.

First, I bolted the brackets to the trailing arm. You have to grind out a piece of the shock boss support to get the bolt in, and you'll likely do a better-looking job than I did.

The bolts are the 1.5 pitch allen heads and the flat-headed countersunk bolt.

I used a regular-head bolt for the bottom mount because the hardware store only had two of the fine-thread (1.25) M10 allen head bolts. It would have looked a lot cooler with matching bolts, for everyone that climbs under my car. Looks like I'll be waiting another year for that Ridler.

Also, here's a fun fact: You'll need 15" wheels to fit over these brakes. So, if you have a set of 14" E30 Steel wheels, you'll need to do a little clearance grinding on the calipers. Have fun with that.

Here you can see the few millimeters of clearance between the wheel and the caliper.

When you bolt it all together, put the 2mm thick M10 washers between the bracket and the carrier.

A note about the carriers:

When researching this conversion, I kept coming across the requirement for Mk2 Jetta/Golf carriers. Since I bought the discs, calipers and carriers from a single person that had collected them from the salvage yard, I had no way of verifying the donor car parts source. So, I ventured to the salvage yards to verify, but I found that I could rarely find a Mk2 Jetta or Golf. The few that I did find had drums in the rear, so I was confounded.

Then I pulled a rusty carrier from the rear of the much more common Mk3 Jettas and Golfs. The Mk3 carrier was identical to the supposed Mk2 carrier that I bought. This mean one of two things: either the original parts requirement is for Mk3 carriers and not Mk2 carriers, or the Mk2 and Mk3 carriers are identical. Either way, you can safely assume that Mk3 carriers will work.

For the brake lines, you'll get them looking like this:

Bend them until they look like this:

The advantage to using these lines is two-fold. They replace the hardline that goes along the trailing arm, eliminating one connection (read: leak opportunity) and they have a banjo bolt connection to the caliper, which is a lot easier to thread into the caliper than a hardline.

Sidenote about the Pagid brake pads: The used calipers came with used pads that had these little shims to keep the pads in place. The Pagid pads did not come with the shims and actually didn't need them. It's a detail, but I can imagine someone getting confused about trying in vain to shove pads in with these shims in place. If you were actually able to do so, the pads would never move.

I used stock emergency brake cables. They work fine, but as I discovered, need 30-35mm of spacing to work properly. I had to improvise with a few spare m10 and m12 nuts. Maybe I'll remove and paint them later, you know, to stay in contention for that Ridler Award.

So, after bleeding them (without having to remove the caliper - woohoo) and adjusting the emergency brakes, I've got self-adjusting, way-overengineered brakes. Now that I have the ability to stop, on to obtaining the ability to go.

UPDATE: Those spacer-nuts are hideous. I have since made a proper spacer that does the job as looks much better. See here: http://tx02.blogspot.com/2012/05/front-swaybar-wiring-finished-wipers-on.html

One more note: The discs have a countersunk hole for a flat-head allen bolt to hold the disc in place when the wheel is off. Since the disc is now mounted on a turned-down BMW hub, there is no threaded hole. However, I might drill and tap this hole just to regain the intended though unnecessary feature.

Rewiring Started

2012-04-23T10:14:00.001-04:00

I began the Sisyphean task of installing the wiring harness. Okay, that might be a little hyperbolic, but rewiring is a daunting task.

This will be more organized by the time I'm done, I promise.

I also cleaned up the hood locking hardware and replaced the wiper motor with the right one for this wiring harness. Check out the shiny new windshield washer nozzles.