Transmission swap and engine compartment refresh Winter 2023-2024

@#$@#...What a day....

It is not often that I can work all day and literally make zero progress. The front "z" bar bushing (tension strut bushing or control bushing) installation is an absolute PITA.

I tried the SFDon method: https://e9coupe.com/forum/threads/w...stall-compliance-bushings….45297/#post-399877
I tried the Stevehose method: https://e9coupe.com/forum/threads/how-to-fit-new-tension-strut-bushes.42764/page-2
I tried the Gary Knox method: https://e9coupe.com/forum/threads/another-compliment-thanks-to-sfdon.30554/post-246651

Still trying, no bushings yet installed. My neighbors now know my swear vocabulary though.

Tomorrow is another day and guess what I will be doing again!

It is said that Albert Einstein said that the height of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result? I forget, where did I put my meds?
 
Lance, sounds like you need the tool of choice when I was a drag racer. A bigger hammer the the two you have been using. I probably would have burned down the garage by now. Oh, what if it is attached to the house. We share your frustration.

Steve
 
boonies said:
@#$@#...What a day....

It is not often that I can work all day and literally make zero progress. The front "z" bar bushing (tension strut bushing or control bushing) installation is an absolute PITA.

I tried the SFDon method: https://e9coupe.com/forum/threads/we-get-asked-how-to-install-compliance-bushings….45297/#post-399877
I tried the Stevehose method: https://e9coupe.com/forum/threads/how-to-fit-new-tension-strut-bushes.42764/page-2
I tried the Gary Knox method: https://e9coupe.com/forum/threads/another-compliment-thanks-to-sfdon.30554/post-246651

Still trying, no bushings yet installed. My neighbors now know my swear vocabulary though.

Tomorrow is another day and guess what I will be doing again!

It is said that Albert Einstein said that the height of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result? I forget, where did I put my meds?
Click to expand...
Man. I feel your pain. Only thing worse than working all day for no progress, is working all day and going backwards, like something snapped/broke/leaked/shredded/bent/got lost/fell into some dark hole/discovered new piece was wrong part/......fill in blank if I missed something. All part of the "hobby" best of luck in a new day. :cool:
 
Another frustrating day with no success. I ended up ordering a set of two piece poly bushings from JAYMIC in the UK. I am giving up on the rubber bushings for now. I wonder if the powder coat simply added too much space to allow the rubber to work. I decided to give the poly bushings a try rather than get the hone out to shave the powder coat down.
 
Progress!

The new bushings from Jaymic came in the mail today. Installation completed in almost no time.

Time will tell if these introduce too much stiffness, but my initial impression is that is unlikely to be the case for this application. These parts were a breeze to install.

I did install the power steering box yesterday and found that I needed to reduce the thickness of the powder coating to allow the box to slide onto the locating dowels.

Poly Suspension bushing installed 2.JPG
 
boonies said:
Another frustrating day with no success. I ended up ordering a set of two piece poly bushings from JAYMIC in the UK. I am giving up on the rubber bushings for now. I wonder if the powder coat simply added too much space to allow the rubber to work. I decided to give the poly bushings a try rather than get the hone out to shave the powder coat down.
Click to expand...
Interesting that when you read through the forum posts since a while that you see something which is sooo familiar! I have had the same experience, not only with these rubber bushings but also the ones at the rear trailing arms. I also powder coated those and it does make a difference in the amount of play you have.

After making my home grown tools and frustrating myself for half a day I decided to order some ‘professional’ stuff:
IMG_3896.jpeg



It is what they say, good tools make half the work. Yes it costs something, but within a minute the bushings were out and also in again… good luck on your project!
 
Suspension is assembled, with tightening deferred until the engine is in and the car is appropriately weighted on its wheels.

I need to glue the firewall insulation in next. First piece went in okay, but would like to have some flexibility to position/re-position the parts. With decals I use soap and water to create a film to allow movement for final positioning, but not sure that will work well with the heavy foam on top of the adhesive.

I did pick up the engine, head and associated bits from the machine shop today. They have a busy shop, the parts have been with them since February, but a busy shop is a good sign. In this case the block needed to be decked, and of course the head was surfaced as well. Looking forward to starting the assembly process.

IMG_0407.JPG
IMG_0402.JPG



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Habe you installed a rusty break disk on there fresh car? :-0
Or dose that only look like on the pic?

Breiti
 
@Breiti, you are right, the brake rotor looks out of place in the re-finished wheel well.

I did replace the wheel bearings and races and cleaned the grease that was fully packing both the front hubs (no idea why people do this) so in that sense they are serviced and ready for action.

The calipers were rebuilt and new rotors installed within the last 4k miles (they are essentially new by miles, but not years) and I have not experienced any braking vibration that would require them to be cut. I may yet decide to do it just to start fresh.
 
boonies said:
@Breiti, you are right, the brake rotor looks out of place in the re-finished wheel well.

I did replace the wheel bearings and races and cleaned the grease that was fully packing both the front hubs (no idea why people do this) so in that sense they are serviced and ready for action.

The calipers were rebuilt and new rotors installed within the last 4k miles (they are essentially new by miles, but not years) and I have not experienced any braking vibration that would require them to be cut. I may yet decide to do it just to start fresh.
Click to expand...
As long as they are in good shape just clean them with iso alcohol before mounting the wheels and you're good to go. They'll surface rust within days anyway.
 
Quick question- were the compliance bushings that you had a problem with recently purchased from Walloth and Nesch?
 
Rusty disk tend to e pretty fast overheating.
In a extreme situation you wink get a strong fading.

I had such a situation once years ago with my Tahoe and a big boat in the back downhill on a narrow and road a bus comes against around the corner.

Break feels perfect on normal situation.

Never, NEVER rusty disks.

Breiti
 
sfdon said:
Quick question- were the compliance bushings that you had a problem with recently purchased from Walloth and Nesch?
Click to expand...
Stevehose said:
Unless he didn't use them, he got the soft MTC ones from me that I used, I had an extra set.
Click to expand...
I had a set from W&N, but after discussion on here I got the MTC's from @Stevehose. I didn't try install the W&N, and of course you know the story of trying to install the MTC's. I suspect that the powder coat thickness was too much to overcome.
 
Working on the the engine today and I opened up the oil pump to check the inner and outer rotors. All well within specifications in the "auto books" specifications (see below). But there was no specification that I could see for the pick-up tube that interfaces with the rotors.

Is this wear on the aluminum housing a concern (sorry for the clipped picture)? It is slightly larger than .51mm, but less than 1mm.

oil pickup tube housing2.JPG


Oil pick-up tube housing 2.JPG


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A design update for these oil pumps was a ss shim to address that wear. I think the blue books has the info.
 
Well I have my answer, @sfdon's emoji says it all
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@Ian C , I was looking at the books last night and made that assumption as well. Apparently the early aluminum "oil pump cover" will fail over time as the steel rotors of the pump spin and wear away the aluminum. It is interesting that the rod and main bearings that I removed (clearly original) were in great shape...

Searching now for a replacement, and will check the blue books to see if there is a reference to a replacement that will fit. From reading various posts about oil pumps, it seems the concern is the location of the pickup tube in the pan (and of course the security of the hardware holding the gear to the pump.
 
Blue books (Pages 11-41-1 & 11-41-2 shown below) indicate part numbers that are NLA... and also indicate that a new oil sump (pan) may be required when using the new pumps.

1716823520365.png


Real OEM indicates that oil "pump cover," which is the BMW description for the pick-up tube assembly that bolts to the pump itself (P/N: 11411278387), is both the original specification, and the same part number is used for the replacement, but with an "intermediate plate" to take up the wear.

As I look at the wear on my "pump cover," I wonder why not simply buy the intermediate plate to sandwich between the pump and the "pump cover" to eliminate the wear?

Meanwhile I am searching for a replacement "oil pump cover" as that would be the best case, still planning to obtain the intermediate plate.

Look forward to any input on the option and also is the Blue Book statement that a new sump (pan) really necessary if an updated pump is needed?
 
From memory my oil pump rotor and housing clearances were as specified, and I had similar wear to the cover that you have. I read somewhere about the shim which is present in the later pumps and is a retrofitable part. thought it was blue book but cant check for a few more days. Anyway I took one from a B35 oil pump and installed it in my pump as a precaution really, and so far so good. My oil pressure is a good 60psi till warmed then around 40s at 3000rpm at temp, 20 at idle at operating temp. I was a bit nervous given its the heart of things, but I thought if the factory was doing it......
The other thing I did while in there was replace the relief spring and check the piston condition and that the bleed hole was clear
 
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