My name is Earl, and I have a Stainless Steel bolt fetish =)
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I got my Ground Control rear shock mounts installed Saturday.
Here is the set of e46 m3 vert mounts that I replaced (less than a years worth of driving on them)
New versus old
Installed top plates
Then installed the shocks with the mounts
Also installed the new lower shock mounting bolts
After that I removed the rear sway bar to sandblast, repaint (not happy with how it looks from before), and then to prepare for the new bushings, brackets, end links, and hardware.
I noticed that the under side of my diff surface rusted through the rust reformer/paint and that my trailing arms are starting to do the same around the edges. I have been thinking of dropping the sub frame again to replace all of the bolts with new and this has me wanting to repaint it all again. I am not sure why said rust reformer would not have neutralized the rust like it looked like it had=/
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After that I got the thermostat and housing installed with the gaskets, as well as the water pump pulley
The pile of scrap from the end of the day
After that I cruised up to Oshkosh for Collins BBQ=)
I now have an m44 crank pulley on the way and will have my new steering wheel and misc parts within the next month.
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After that I removed the rear sway bar to sandblast, repaint (not happy with how it looks from before), and then to prepare for the new bushings, brackets, end links, and hardware.
I noticed that the under side of my diff surface rusted through the rust reformer/paint and that my trailing arms are starting to do the same around the edges. I have been thinking of dropping the sub frame again to replace all of the bolts with new and this has me wanting to repaint it all again. I am not sure why said rust reformer would not have neutralized the rust like it looked like it had=/
also
I spy an engagement ring
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A while back I was working on getting some vinyl cut to make my custom "Touring International" badges. A guy on Instagram saw my idea and told me he could make me a set of badges from lexan. He told me that he made a "BMW Compact" set by hand painting it from the back side and painting black over the top. I asked how much he wanted to do them and said he would make my "Touring International" badges and send two "BMW Compact" badges to me for free. I was excited. He never sent me any teaser pics but he mailed them from Europe around a month and a half ago. I was excited for them but lost hope because we both thought they got lost in shipping. The mailman came yesterday and dropped them off and I couldn't wait to open them.Â
They turned out amazing. I thought he simply hand painted them from the back but it is much more than that. He actually machined the letters out from the back and then painted them in. This makes them 3D just like the OEM badges. I will take pictures of the backs when I get home and also some of the "BMW Compact" badges.
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Neat
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More front and back pictures of the badges
Saturday I started by installing my m44 crank pulley
I was very happy to see that the trigger wheel was the same as the m42 pulley. I never even thought to make sure before switching over.Â
After that I threw the intake manifold on temporarily to get it off of the bench and to see how it is all coming together.
It is much bulkier than I would like but it is about as good looking as it is going to get without making a log style manifold.Â
After that, John arrived and decided to attack the rear wheel bearings. These were a nightmare. Getting the hubs out was pretty quick and simple. The inner races were on them pretty tight and pounding them out wasn't working. We set them to the side so that we could work on getting the outer races out of the trailing arms.Â
We were having a terrible time removing the snap ring for holding in the bearings. We ran to Napa to get a snap ring pliers in hope that they would work great. Well the pliers design for holding the tips wasn't exactly up to par and they kept turning when we were removing the snap rings. I ended up getting fancy with a straight pick and two screw drivers to work them out.Â
After that, we figured the outer races would come out with brute force. That wasn't working. We then tried multiple ways of pulling them out of the arms with no luck.Â
The piece of uni-strut bent before the race even budged.Â
We went off to the hardware store and bought a dremel, figuring it would be our saving grace. It worked excellent for removing the inner races from the hubs. We moved onto the outer races and couldn't quite reach all the way through.Â
The new neighbor to the shop then came home and upon introduction, recommended we use his air chisel. He walked on over with it and zipped them out in a matter of seconds........I should have introduced myself sooner.Â
After all of that, John pressed in the new bearings. I brought the hubs to work so that they can be sandblasted and repainted. I will install them Saturday afternoon.
How the car currently sits
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Yep rear wheel bearings suck, I got one out on another e36 by cutting the outer race with a die grinder which took hours. On mine I took the whole control arm to my neighbors shop and he pressed them out no problem. Way easier to remove the control arm than fight with that bearing on the car.
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What hasn't been gone through on this car???!
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You'll never be able to see them anyways man.
It lays frame ffs haha
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