1996 BMW E36 328i Coupe - we have history...
Discussion
Scoobydrew95 said:
I suspect it almost entirely overheated due to the lack of fan shroud. It would have been pulling barely any air through the rad.
Whens the Pre/Mot?
Looking forward to seeing them both back on the road!
Yes, seems pretty obvious now! I don't think it did any permanent damage to the engine when it went, but I suppose that remains to be seen. Whens the Pre/Mot?
Looking forward to seeing them both back on the road!
I dropped it off this morning, but they didn't get to it today. Hopefully will be sorted this week. It needs the airbag light diagnosing and sorting, and it seems the 'pliers-to-open-the-bonnet' might be an MOT fail too. There's a spare cable and handle in the car so I might have to pay the man to fit that as well. To be fair I can't really be bothered with it!
buy_cheap_pay_later said:
Yes, seems pretty obvious now! I don't think it did any permanent damage to the engine when it went, but I suppose that remains to be seen.
I dropped it off this morning, but they didn't get to it today. Hopefully will be sorted this week. It needs the airbag light diagnosing and sorting, and it seems the 'pliers-to-open-the-bonnet' might be an MOT fail too. There's a spare cable and handle in the car so I might have to pay the man to fit that as well. To be fair I can't really be bothered with it!
It should be okay - the m52s are fairly sturdy. And i imagine with the aging system it just found the next weakest point! I dropped it off this morning, but they didn't get to it today. Hopefully will be sorted this week. It needs the airbag light diagnosing and sorting, and it seems the 'pliers-to-open-the-bonnet' might be an MOT fail too. There's a spare cable and handle in the car so I might have to pay the man to fit that as well. To be fair I can't really be bothered with it!
Haha i don't blame you. The small jobs are the most challenging at times. I'm really putting off doing the snub nose on my car. In theory a simple job. Fingers crossed though, for a pass soon. Specially with the nice weather!
Some good progress on the track car today. The radiator had arrived and the wings had been repaired, so it was time to start putting things back together.
I’ve primed the new bits but I’ll paint them on the car so I can paint over the fixings on the bottom.
The latest chinesium radiator looks good. It’s the same size as the original radiator that went in this car, which is a promising start. It also has proper blanking caps for the sensor holes, so I have a bit of confidence it will be able to contain the pressure.
There was a bit of a geometry issue at the bottom of the fan cowl with the new radiator, so I had to cut the bottom tabs off and improvise a bit. It’s pretty secure.
And into the car:
Back to the wings. They went on without too much drama.
On the advice of the welder, I uncovered as much rust as I could see, applied Kurust and then seam sealer.
Once that’s gone off I’ll be able to get some paint on it.
It’s so close to being driveable now. I need to refill the coolant, get some fuel in it, do the paint, put the arch liners and undertray back in, wheels on, and it’ll be ready for MOT, alignment, and then some gentle driving to see what falls off first!
I’ve primed the new bits but I’ll paint them on the car so I can paint over the fixings on the bottom.
The latest chinesium radiator looks good. It’s the same size as the original radiator that went in this car, which is a promising start. It also has proper blanking caps for the sensor holes, so I have a bit of confidence it will be able to contain the pressure.
There was a bit of a geometry issue at the bottom of the fan cowl with the new radiator, so I had to cut the bottom tabs off and improvise a bit. It’s pretty secure.
And into the car:
Back to the wings. They went on without too much drama.
On the advice of the welder, I uncovered as much rust as I could see, applied Kurust and then seam sealer.
Once that’s gone off I’ll be able to get some paint on it.
It’s so close to being driveable now. I need to refill the coolant, get some fuel in it, do the paint, put the arch liners and undertray back in, wheels on, and it’ll be ready for MOT, alignment, and then some gentle driving to see what falls off first!
Today is a momentous day.
Trixie the track car drove out of the garage this afternoon, after about 8 months up in the air and major surgery.
Yesterday I painted the new bits on the bottom of the wings and waxoyled inside and underneath.
Today was just a case of filling the radiator, replacing the arch liners and undertray, and of course putting the wheels back on. It was quite exciting to get it on the ground and drive it outside after so long. The diff didn't explode. The fuel lines didn't leak. The brakes worked. On Tuesday I'm going to drop it at the garage that just MOT'd Derek the convertible. They'll give it a good check over and pre-MOT and get it sorted for me.
My basic pre-MOT checks revealed that the brake lights weren't working. Checked the fuse, which was fine. Had a look in the boot, couldn't work out how they were actually connected to the loom. Eventually figured out that I'd unplugged them and tucked the loom out the way when the welder did the boot floor. Retrieved and plugged in, everything is fine. I'm so special sometimes.
Discovered I had done the same thing with the front right headlight, so plugged that in and all good. Realised I had forgotten to reconnect the side repeaters when I put the wings back on and was slightly worried I was going to have to take them off again...
Fortunately I managed to fish out the connectors without removing the wings.
The front left indicator is not working. That one wasn't my fault. One of the wires has snapped at the terminal. I'm just considering whether I can be bothered to try doing anything about it, or just leave it to the professionals this week.
Other than that, everything seems well with the old girl. She fired up quite happily after a bit of turning over, since I'd drained the fuel tank. Once it was running, it seems fine. The bleed hole in the radiator was bubbling away for quite a while. I'll have another look at that tomorrow and make sure I've got it properly bled and the coolant level is ok.
What about Derek? He still required a bit of work after coming back from the garage. They sorted the airbag warning light (seatbelt pretensioner), which was all that was required to get it through MOT. They did try and fit the new bonnet release cable that I'd supplied, but it turns out it must be for a LHD car as all the furniture was the wrong way round. Having to use pliers to pull on the bonnet release cable is apparently not an MOT fail, so I've got it back in the same condition. They also identified a coolant leak (frayed or slit pipe end) and a binding caliper on the front left.
Having got him home and removed the offending caliper, I went and got a new one from ECP and dropped off the old one to get the surcharge back. I've also got some silicone hoses on the way.
The hose connection needed a bit of heat to remove the old one, but I am a bit more confident doing that now I've done it once. Got the new caliper on no problem, then flushed the brake fluid as I have no idea when it was last done. The fluid that came out was pretty dark and disgusting.
The Gunson pressure bleeder was spot on as usual, though as the car was on the ground, I had to jack up each corner one at a time and take the wheel off to bleed the brakes before putting it back on again and moving on to the next. A bit of a drawn-out process but got there in the end.
Next up is the crucial bit to hopefully prevent any more catastrophic failures of the cooling system. The fan cowl:
That was remarkably straightforward to fit. Especially as I have the special tools to brace the pulley and unscrew the fan. It looks much better and will hopefully perform better too.
Then, as the sun was out, I dropped the roof and went for a drive. Big grins all round!
Trixie the track car drove out of the garage this afternoon, after about 8 months up in the air and major surgery.
Yesterday I painted the new bits on the bottom of the wings and waxoyled inside and underneath.
Today was just a case of filling the radiator, replacing the arch liners and undertray, and of course putting the wheels back on. It was quite exciting to get it on the ground and drive it outside after so long. The diff didn't explode. The fuel lines didn't leak. The brakes worked. On Tuesday I'm going to drop it at the garage that just MOT'd Derek the convertible. They'll give it a good check over and pre-MOT and get it sorted for me.
My basic pre-MOT checks revealed that the brake lights weren't working. Checked the fuse, which was fine. Had a look in the boot, couldn't work out how they were actually connected to the loom. Eventually figured out that I'd unplugged them and tucked the loom out the way when the welder did the boot floor. Retrieved and plugged in, everything is fine. I'm so special sometimes.
Discovered I had done the same thing with the front right headlight, so plugged that in and all good. Realised I had forgotten to reconnect the side repeaters when I put the wings back on and was slightly worried I was going to have to take them off again...
Fortunately I managed to fish out the connectors without removing the wings.
The front left indicator is not working. That one wasn't my fault. One of the wires has snapped at the terminal. I'm just considering whether I can be bothered to try doing anything about it, or just leave it to the professionals this week.
Other than that, everything seems well with the old girl. She fired up quite happily after a bit of turning over, since I'd drained the fuel tank. Once it was running, it seems fine. The bleed hole in the radiator was bubbling away for quite a while. I'll have another look at that tomorrow and make sure I've got it properly bled and the coolant level is ok.
What about Derek? He still required a bit of work after coming back from the garage. They sorted the airbag warning light (seatbelt pretensioner), which was all that was required to get it through MOT. They did try and fit the new bonnet release cable that I'd supplied, but it turns out it must be for a LHD car as all the furniture was the wrong way round. Having to use pliers to pull on the bonnet release cable is apparently not an MOT fail, so I've got it back in the same condition. They also identified a coolant leak (frayed or slit pipe end) and a binding caliper on the front left.
Having got him home and removed the offending caliper, I went and got a new one from ECP and dropped off the old one to get the surcharge back. I've also got some silicone hoses on the way.
The hose connection needed a bit of heat to remove the old one, but I am a bit more confident doing that now I've done it once. Got the new caliper on no problem, then flushed the brake fluid as I have no idea when it was last done. The fluid that came out was pretty dark and disgusting.
The Gunson pressure bleeder was spot on as usual, though as the car was on the ground, I had to jack up each corner one at a time and take the wheel off to bleed the brakes before putting it back on again and moving on to the next. A bit of a drawn-out process but got there in the end.
Next up is the crucial bit to hopefully prevent any more catastrophic failures of the cooling system. The fan cowl:
That was remarkably straightforward to fit. Especially as I have the special tools to brace the pulley and unscrew the fan. It looks much better and will hopefully perform better too.
Then, as the sun was out, I dropped the roof and went for a drive. Big grins all round!
Court_S said:
That’s good progress on both cars.
Have you got any track days booked in yet?
No, the track car is at the garage now for pre-MOT and MOT. I don’t want to tempt fate by booking anything until it’s back on the road and legal! Have you got any track days booked in yet?
I think I’d like to get a few miles on it on the road first as well, just to shake down and get used to any new noises etc.
shalmaneser said:
The E36 convertible is such a handsome car, especially with the M-Sport kit and in that colour.
I’m not at all biased and I thoroughly agree! 
A bit of news. Track car has passed MOT, so they’re both back on the road. I’ve been driving around in Derek when the sun’s been shining, and he still puts a massive grin on my face. He’s got a little coolant leak, which seems to be a frayed hose end. I’ve now got some silicone hoses so I’ll stick those on at some point.
Today I took Trixie the track car for a road test because I haven’t driven her any great distance since doing all the work. She handles fine and isn’t as harsh on the road as I thought she might be. However…
When I opened up a bit, I found that as I changed up at higher speeds, the revs would stay high and then increase, whilst the speed stayed constant and a distinct clutchy smell wafted in through the open windows.
The clutch is a standard road-going clutch that came with the conversion kit when I turned her into a manual. So it’s done every single track day I’ve ever done in this car. I guess it was going to go at some point. If anyone needs me I’ll be perusing performance clutches…
I haven't done an update in a while. It's not that nothing has happened, it's more that I've lost the motivation to write about it. I still want to record this journey, but I don't have many words at the moment, so this will be brief.
I mentioned that the track car's clutch was cooked. I bought a kevlar M3 clutch from CG Motorsport and a lightweight flywheel from Driftworks, hoping to give the setup a bit of longevity. To be fair, the roadgoing clutch that was in there was the one I put in when I converted it from auto to manual, so it's done all of my track days. It's had a hard life. Anyway, it needed replacing, so replace it I did. First, some words of encouragement from Pelican Parts:
Excellent.
I was buoyed slightly by the fact that I know I've done this before. I was the one who put the clutch in there and put a gearbox on where there was previously an automatic transmission. I did the bolts up, so surely I could get them undone...
Yes.
I remembered a pearl of wisdom that I received from somewhere all those years ago when I did the conversion, which was that lifting the front of the engine to tip the gearbox down would give the necessary clearance to get it off. So off it came.
Clutch and flywheel off, and new ones on...
The sun was quite strong outside the garage door when I did this, which my rudimentary photographic skills failed to compensate for. Sorry for the terrible photos. Also, during this procedure I removed the saggy heat insulation material from the transmission tunnel. Time will tell how much I will regret that decision.
I had a track day booked at Mallory Park on 24 July, but given that I was changing the clutch the weekend prior to that, and the instructions said to give it 500 miles to bed in, I bottled it and cancelled. That means that I haven't driven it on a track yet, since the entire rear subframe was replaced and it's had a new clutch and flywheel. I also haven't been organised enough to get the alignment done. At least I haven't got to drive it in a competition tomorrow...
Oh, wait...
I'm driving in the Quckk60 tomorrow at Mallory Park. What could possibly go wrong?
I'm writing this from a hotel somewhere not too far away from Mallory Park. Tomorrow I will go and take my chances in the competition, as thoroughly underprepared as I and the car both are. Wish me luck!
I mentioned that the track car's clutch was cooked. I bought a kevlar M3 clutch from CG Motorsport and a lightweight flywheel from Driftworks, hoping to give the setup a bit of longevity. To be fair, the roadgoing clutch that was in there was the one I put in when I converted it from auto to manual, so it's done all of my track days. It's had a hard life. Anyway, it needed replacing, so replace it I did. First, some words of encouragement from Pelican Parts:
Excellent.
I was buoyed slightly by the fact that I know I've done this before. I was the one who put the clutch in there and put a gearbox on where there was previously an automatic transmission. I did the bolts up, so surely I could get them undone...
Yes.
I remembered a pearl of wisdom that I received from somewhere all those years ago when I did the conversion, which was that lifting the front of the engine to tip the gearbox down would give the necessary clearance to get it off. So off it came.
Clutch and flywheel off, and new ones on...
The sun was quite strong outside the garage door when I did this, which my rudimentary photographic skills failed to compensate for. Sorry for the terrible photos. Also, during this procedure I removed the saggy heat insulation material from the transmission tunnel. Time will tell how much I will regret that decision.
I had a track day booked at Mallory Park on 24 July, but given that I was changing the clutch the weekend prior to that, and the instructions said to give it 500 miles to bed in, I bottled it and cancelled. That means that I haven't driven it on a track yet, since the entire rear subframe was replaced and it's had a new clutch and flywheel. I also haven't been organised enough to get the alignment done. At least I haven't got to drive it in a competition tomorrow...
Oh, wait...
I'm driving in the Quckk60 tomorrow at Mallory Park. What could possibly go wrong?
I'm writing this from a hotel somewhere not too far away from Mallory Park. Tomorrow I will go and take my chances in the competition, as thoroughly underprepared as I and the car both are. Wish me luck!
skylarking808 said:
We have some faith in you and the car! (Hope the clutch works as it should)
Interested to know how you get on as usual.
Thanks for your kind words. First timed practice was fairly significantly slower than last year! I think perhaps I’m lacking confidence in it a bit as I haven’t driven it much this year. I’ll get a bit braver! Interested to know how you get on as usual.
Gallons Per Mile said:
Good job on the clutch, want to do the one on my E46? 
If you don’t mind it going back on with fewer bolts than came out Well, either side of the shower, I’ve put in better times than I got last year, which I’m happy with. I think that’s the end of my day after elimination round one though.
I’m familiar with Mallory, but I haven’t figured out the chicane because it’s never used on track days. I think I’ve lost a lot of speed there on every round. Even if I nailed it though, I’d struggle to find the 10 seconds I’d need to top the class!
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