Non-BMW Stuff on a BMW Forum
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Seam sealer will not sand. it It is soft and turns to melted shreds and smears if you use a wire wheel on it too. It's very difficult to remove. It's about like working with the undercoating. After my experience messing with it I would recommend leaving it alone lol.
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Seam sealer will not sand. it It is soft and turns to melted shreds and smears if you use a wire wheel on it too. It's very difficult to remove. It's about like working with the undercoating. After my experience messing with it I would recommend leaving it alone lol.
I’m not opposed to that. Given it’s texture, I would be concerned I wouldn’t be able to clean it well for paint to stick to it. But maybe since it’s so textured paint will stick to it really well.
Removed the dash today, was pretty straightforward other than the write up failing to mention all of the wire harnesses pass through the ducting on it.
I’m going to work on cleaning up all the wiring. I’m going to remove most of the stereo stuff since I’m going to do an amp and new speakers and will reroute all the wires a cleaner way. Also taping everything and probably use the wire loom I used in the engine bay in here too.
All of this stuff running over to the glovebox area I never used. Would it be safe to just snip them off and heat shrink the ends? The only purpose of that would be to clean and simplify things.
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@jc43089 would a needle gun be gentle enough to chip the existing paint off the seam sealer but not smash it like play dough? Even then I'd recommend that tool for most of the paint/rust removal as well. It's great for any scaly rust areas and harbor freight has 2 sizes available.
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@jc43089 would a needle gun be gentle enough to chip the existing paint off the seam sealer but not smash it like play dough? Even then I'd recommend that tool for most of the paint/rust removal as well. It's great for any scaly rust areas and harbor freight has 2 sizes available.
Not sure, I would guess poor results but maybe it would work.
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@jc43089 would a needle gun be gentle enough to chip the existing paint off the seam sealer but not smash it like play dough? Even then I'd recommend that tool for most of the paint/rust removal as well. It's great for any scaly rust areas and harbor freight has 2 sizes available.
I forgot about those. Would make cleaning up the frame rails a lot easier - which are the main spaces I need to clean up, closer to the firewall.
There was one spongy spot under the washer fluid reservoir that I could push my finger through if I wanted to.
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Not sure, I would guess poor results but maybe it would work.
Is there a special primer I could use that would adhere to the painted surfaces better if I couldn’t fully prep the seam sealer surface?
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I suspect I may need to get somewhat creative with the non-return flap found in the HVAC box. It's this:
It looks like I could open the "clip" at the top and swap in a new piece of rubber. Other than roaming the isles of Menards looking for a suitable material that I could cut up, does anyone have any suggestions of a comparable material I could use? It's just rubber.
I ordered this and the blower motor cover straps from ECS and they were both about two weeks out and I just received an email that they are now 3-5 weeks. My fear is at 5 weeks they email again and say they're another 3-5 weeks out or unobtainable. BMW of North Milwaukee had the straps in their system and those will be here in a few days, but this flap is coming from Germany. It doesn't appear to be available on any of the other online stores.
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https://www.amazon.com/SPAL-30130012-Replacement-Rubber-Shroud/dp/B019XDLULW
rubber flaps for radiator shroud pass throughs might be the right “weight/thickness”
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https://www.amazon.com/SPAL-30130012-Replacement-Rubber-Shroud/dp/B019XDLULW
rubber flaps for radiator shroud pass throughs might be the right “weight/thickness”
Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!
Got the HVAC box completely apart last night so I can clean it out and replace all the foam on it. It is pretty disgusting. Lots of dead bugs inside of it. I guess that's what happens when they didn't come with filters.
Crusty "non-return" flap:
Broken recirc flap and the other one starting to crack:
Interior wiring all cleaned up. Re-loomed all the wire harnesses. Speaker wire and RCA cables coming today and then I can run all the stereo wires to the trunk and put the carpet back in.
I was really considering doing more insulation inside the car to reduce road noise but I read quite a few reviews of the sound deadening mat and other insulations (some specifically being used in an e30) that explained how the results were negligible at best. So rather than spend the couple hundred bucks on more insulation, I'm just going to leave it and turn up the music instead.
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Here it is. @GunMetalGrey can you share what you did the clean up the seam sealer?
Man, I want to do another engine bay like that again, I appreciate you bringing up the photos again!
I believe I used a wire wheel to strip the seam sealer off. I used Eastwood seam sealer with lacquer thinner on my finger to smooth the new seam sealer.
Very therapeutic activity when it goes properly haha -
Man, I want to do another engine bay like that again, I appreciate you bringing up the photos again!
I believe I used a wire wheel to strip the seam sealer off. I used Eastwood seam sealer with lacquer thinner on my finger to smooth the new seam sealer.
Very therapeutic activity when it goes properly hahaDo you recall how removing the seam sealer went? Was it a shit show? Did gum up or with the wire wheel did it come off pretty easily?
Your engine bay was much cleaner and, I'm assuming because of the swap, has much less stuff in it than mine does. So I'm not even sure if the extra work to remove the seam sealer would be noticeable.
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A wire wheel on a grinder will take off seam sealer. On a drill it probably won't do much. Wear a full face shield. Also check clothing for little bits of wire that will stab you later. Can't say much about painting over it. Good so far, but my car doesn't get used...
Seam sealer as a structural component is an interesting thought. I suspect that the flexibility of the seam sealer would allow the two panels to move slightly relative to each other before it resisted. Since the panels are spot-welded together, they won't be able to move, so the force would be transferred through the weld without the seam sealer doing much. Could be wrong, but that's the best I got.
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I think my RMS is totally fine. Looks like the leak from the bottom is coming from transmission. All of the lower transmission bolts smelled like transmission fluid (disgusting). I have ATF PTSD from a 240 I bought from @The Full Banana a long time ago that had a leaking transmission pan gasket and it took several attempts to get it sealed and that meant laying in ATF on a cold parking garage floor each time. It was awful.
Anyways - the area behind the clutch was totally dry, but the transmission was soaked and it looks like there's a little trail where fluid looks like it's leaking from whatever this thing is:
Edit: After looking at realOEM that circle thing does not appear to be any type of seal. It must be leaking down from the input shaft seal and making it look like that's where it's leaking from.
Behind the clutch is completely dry:
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Hi everyone. One question (for now):
- When I removed the master cylinder it pulled the push rod out from the brake booster. I looked at it last night and it doesn't look like it's something that can be easily (if at all) reinstalled. The OE brake booster looks to be unavailable. I know people modify or install other brake boosters for engine swaps. Can anyone recommend one that's affordable and would be close to an OE replacement and hopefully have minimal modifications?
It looks like the 924/944 booster is the go to for most engine swaps. Is there any reason you couldn't use this with the stock m20?
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Talked to a friend who shaved their bay and their advice was fire and a scraper to get excess sealer off and then a wire wheel. Took about a half hour to do this much. It’s a pretty efficient approach. Dirty as hell, but it should move along.
And can anyone identify this connector? I’m pretty confident I’ve never had it plugged into something. Located somewhere behind the front left corner of the lower valance.
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Given the location here’s a guess. There is an outside temp sensor that fits in the e30 325i/s drivers side plastic brake duct, the sensor plugs into a connector with wires that feed info to the onboard computer on your dash.
My car didn't come with brake ducts or a ambient temp sensor anywhere so I would have never guessed that! Thank you!
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Hi everyone. One question (for now):
- When I removed the master cylinder it pulled the push rod out from the brake booster. I looked at it last night and it doesn't look like it's something that can be easily (if at all) reinstalled. The OE brake booster looks to be unavailable. I know people modify or install other brake boosters for engine swaps. Can anyone recommend one that's affordable and would be close to an OE replacement and hopefully have minimal modifications?
It looks like the 924/944 booster is the go to for most engine swaps. Is there any reason you couldn't use this with the stock m20?
stock booster still available
https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info/34331157416.htm?pn=34-33-1-157-416-INT
i got the part #34331157416 from Real OEM based on a 1990 325i coupe build date 01/90
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=1113-USA-01-1990-E30-BMW-325i&diagId=34_0703
Dan
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