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Started on some of the interior parts I got from the junkyard today. Started with the console upright, as it needed some serious cleaning, anyways. Pics will do more talking, demostrating the before and after feel. The console uprights are a little different from the LCI car I got the replacements out of. Looks like this one had the accessory cupholder, at some point, by the marks on it. I only used the right side, as the "new" left side wasn't any better than the original. Gave everything a good cleaning with some interior detailer and a toothbrush, final wipe with a microfiber cloth. Since the whole console needs to come out it got a thorough scrubbing. Poor thing still needs a good vacuuming desperately. "New" part is already installed with the old one being held up to show the massive scratches on it. Here's the cupholder a friend of ours 3D printed for us. I took the opportunity today to mark through from the under side and drill a hole that aligns with the screw that holds the console down. This makes the whole thing a bit more solid with a bigger drink in it. Looking down into the cupholder. The screw head is big because the hole is a bit worn out, so I needed a larger diameter fastener, not just longer. This had the lowest profile head. Some of the scratches/damage on the right door panel. More of the issues on the right side. Some of the left door panel. More of the same from the right side on the left side. They really beefed up the armrests on the LCI cars. This may make the swap just as worth it as the asthetic aspect. The "new" left panel. It still has some minor blemishes, but overall will make Grumpy's interior a more pleasing place to be. One difference is that the original panels have silver speaker grilles with the HK logo on the midbass. These have anthracite grilles, and the tweeter grilles have some broken tabs and fit very loosely. Not sure what I'm going to do just yet, but I know I can dremel the backs of the HK grilles and put them on the "new" panels with some corse screws and washers.
Thanks, Eddie. Chipping away a bit at a time. My wife had seen a cupholder like that online somewhere and our friend said "I can make you one of those for way cheaper!" I just wish it was a touch bigger in the lower step. My Yeti cup I put my coffee in doesn't quite fit down in it.
The key is to keeping the number of things you're chipping away at to a minimum. We've had as many as seven at one time between the two of us. I've been as high as five, she's been as high as three (all of which would fall to me when they need something), but not at the same time. Currently have four total in the stable, one of which hasn't really been touched in at least five years.
If I had the space there would be way too many of those hanging out here! 😁
The one I haven't touched in at least five years my wife has never ridden in. We think she has seen it when it was running and driving before we met each other, but it's been off the road over ten years.
That sounds like the ‘72 Fiat 124 Spyder I had. NY salt rot hit it in ‘79 and it sat in the garage until 2007 (? Or so). Never did get to it and there were kids that came along in there too. So, I bought a Cooper S instead... Much easier...
Here's a peak at what's been languishing in various garages for the last decade. Very much the same spirit as our Minis. This picture is about two years old, so the amount and type of stuff piled on and around it has changed.
The rot wasn't so bad, but the 1.7L blew, and that was a good time to ditch the 3 speed auto, too. Awaiting under the hood, now, is a 1998 2.0L cross flow mill wearing a rack of Yamaha R1 carbs and a 5 speed manual gearbox. Also some period correct goodies, like an authentic old school Moroso valve cover. 😎
Convertibles are the most fun if you have the weather for one. I tried several but around here there was too little time in which to enjoy them. BTW - your garage is neater than mine was when the Fiat was in it...
I used to drive it year 'round, it was my primary vehicle for almost two years. Had a full set of mounted snows and trudged through plenty of the white stuff. I was still in my (late) 20s at that point, so the lack of AC didn't bother me too much. Nor the minor drips on my leg when it rained! 😉
Back to Grumpy! Yesterday he got an oil change, oil pan replacement, and an AC recharge. Oil coming out looked good, this time. Just a few threads came out on the "drain plug" bolt, hence the pan replacement. I dissected the oil filter for inspection, anyways, and it was clear of any metallic debris. He hadn't been making any noises and has gone at least 15k miles in our posession, so I figured the engine was still reasonably healthy. This was just a confirmation. Still looked reasonably clean inside, as well, which is nice to see with 185k miles on the clock. I do wish I'd have had an AC compressor since it had to come off for the oil pan replacement, this one is rather noisy. Looks like there a few joints in the AC system that could use some new gaskets, as well. Super shiny Reinz brand oil pan. Fortunately it only takes a few minutes to put these cars into "service mode." I feel like I'm working on a VW again! One shiny, clean part up under there.
Needed to get the garage cleaned up some for the arrival of the "new" engine for my BMW, so I threw the door panels in Grumpy quick. I haven't done anything more than remove the HK speaker grills from the original panels, yet, and just used the silver upper trim, for now. Still a step in the right direction and beat up panels can now go in the trash.
Well, Eddie, since you asked for it...and all these are getting attention instead of that 82 Rabbit 'Vert I posted above...lol!
My daily is a 2003 325i Touring (wagon). An opportunity presented itself to pick up a 3.0L from a ZHP package car, which has slightly more aggressive cams than the stndard 3.0L. My car is just the 2.5L, but is 5 spd manual, rwd, sport package. I've had the 6 spd trans that matches the 3.0L for about 2 years and never got around to installing it, so now there's even more reason. Should be good for about 35% power increase with the headers that came with it, and a tune. And the 6 speed will give me a much needed overdrive. The family hauler/sports car balance. Just rolled 170k miles this week. The powerplant upgrade.
I’d be clearing out the garage too, if that showed up on my door step.
That will be a prized car when the swap is done. People periodically write into the BMWCCA magazine as to how desirable those cars are. Yours will be unique in that world... Looks like another car to enjoy!
Now, if I could only get cams and headers for my 2.4L low output Jeep engine, I’d have an ideal winter machine...
See, my winter machine is old school Jeep with 4.0L power. I had a Wrangler with a 2.5L and with 31" tires it was awful! My 94 Grand Cherokee with 32" tires does just fine with good old inline 6. Need to get a braking issue sorted on that before I can take the BMW apart...Too many projects, not enough time or money!
Need to do the rocker replacement and enlarge the wheel wells on the other side, yet. Just finished a 5 speed swap which is when the brakes went to crap, and it makes no sense. Also have some axles with 3.73 gears go in and help with the bigger tires even more.
A coworker hooked me up with some Dip Dissolver, and it is the way to go! Spray it on, let it sit, spray again, let it sit, blast with the pressure washer, done! Finished up the last of the winter wheels in about 30 minutes. Be warned, it will discolor black plastic and rubber. Despite my diligence in going after the tires they are still discolored a bit.
Grumpy got some love today! I have no idea when his last supercharger service was done, so it needed to be done. The t-stat housing had been weeping a bit, so a new t-stat and housing were in order, and of course a water pump and coolant flange to the block while servicing the SC. All went fine and dandy, had it all done and things cleaned up in about 4.5 hours. Pics and more in depth onfo below. The parts for today's endeavor. Parts were sourced from Way Motor Works and FCP Euro for this round. Front end stripped down in about 30 min. I really need to get a new rad carrier for this poor guy, this one is in such sad shape. Found some damage on the MAP sensor line from it rubbing... ...so I sleeved it with some heater hose. Found evidence of an unwelcomed passenger at some point. Fortunately they only seemed to be after lodging, no meals. One grubby supercharger on the bench. I took some time and cleaned things up a bit. No ugliness in the oil that came out of either end, though the amounts seemed a bit light. The water pump drive felt nice and tight, and what I could see of the drive gear through the oil hole looked to be in great shape. The tag on the unit had a build date in January of 2003, so it appears to be original. This was the most concerning thing I found, a significant amount of the coating gone off of one of the rotors. With over 187,000 miles I'm perfectly happy that this is the wost of what I encountered. This was all the oil that came out of WP side of the SC. Not much more seemed to go back in, though, and this was pretty darned clean. And, yes, I did replace the crank sensor o-ring while I was in there. I ended up putting the coolant flange on the block and tightening it just enough that it would still move around, then put the SC/WP assembly back on. That gave the flange some wiggle room while installing the SC, but made sure the seal to the block stayed in place. Once the SC was bolted down I tightened the flange bolts.
Next oil change the oil filter housing and oil cooler seals need to be replaced. Slowly but surely he's getting there!
So updates all around! Finally got the brakes sorted on the Jeep, so I've been driving that for a bit. Of course right after I got the brakes sorted it started having a cold start issue. Turned out the ECU was dying, but I got lucky and scored a remanned one at the junkyard for $40! Now I'm installing the snorkel I got for Christmas.
BMW has been sitting for the last 2 weeks with a dying fuel pump. I have the new pump, just haven't gotten around to it, yet. OTH the garage is cleaned out as I was building my wife's Christmas present in there. That means thw VW is actually outside under a cover.
And, finally, for the actual subject of this build thread, Grumpy got a minor facelift for Christmas. The Ebay Chineseum JCW grill set doesn't fit too bad, though there is a pretty big gap around the main grill on the hood. For $40 I'm not complaining as it still looks far better than the poorly Plastidipped stock grill. This just ties into the lower bumper grill so much better! And a gratuitous shot of the Rabbit's powerplant since it was accessible.
