My name is Earl, and I have a Stainless Steel bolt fetish =)
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Fridays plan was to pop the axles back in and get the sway bar installed. I got the axles in and then realized that I want to either replace them or get them looking like new. My previous paint job isn't holding up so well. I still kept them in because I planned to put the back of the car back on the ground.
I popped the end links on the sway bar and it was looking great
I then tried to struggle and install it alone and realized that the paint isn't going to hold up to what it needs to. I took the end links back off and will be getting it powder coated. Since the two things I had planned didn't work, I packed up and headed off to a friends so we could cruise to Automotion. The weekend was beautiful and it sucks to be back to work.
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I spent all Saturday at the shop.
John came out and did some welding and grinding in the bay=) He did a really good job
I finished part of a project I have been thinking of. BMW used self tapping screws for multiple areas in the front of the car. The ones that I wanted to change over to m6x1 are the headlight mounts and the fender mounting holes. I got the easier of the two done.
I started off with the ugly hardware
I then drilled out the threads
Then ran an m6x1 tap through them
The finished product
I will be sorting out the fender mounting hardware next. There isn't enough material to drill and tap for those so I will have to get creative with the use of rivnuts/nut-serts/blund nuts.
The next thing I did was remove the seat belt mounting bars to get them powdercoated.
Most of the rest of the day was spent cleaning the front floors of the car. I want to look for any surface rust from salt and water soaking in the carpet during winters. The passenger side is rust free and I am now looking at the drivers side.
Other than that I ordered my brake pads through CaTuned and will be placing some other parts orders this week=)
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The floor looks to be Silver, I thought this car was Black.
What kind of wizardry is this?
10 years of storage etched the...... I got nothing.
WHY YOU NO DONE YET?!?!?
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haha I know how much of a pain that stuff is to take out so I am avoiding it. There were no spills or evidence of salt on the floor itself so I think it is safe. If there was any salt or dried residue I would definitely remove it. I wasn't even planning to dig this far into the interior at this point so I figure a good cleaning and light rust search is good for now=)
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It will get sprayed.
One panel at a time
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Thursday I went to pick up my latest Fastenal order.
It included hardware for my fenders, headlights, and hood, as well as these
Rivet nuts=) This is the only viable option I could think of for converting the fender mounting hardware to m6, versus the current self tapping screw style.Â
Friday my WBR pads came from CaTuned
Igor is a really awesome guy and is there for help and advice any time I need it=)
Saturday was a little disappointing, but wasn't completely unsuccessful. I didn't get near as much as I wanted done, but enough was accomplished to be happy with.
I started by installing some of the rivet nuts after picking up more Downstar hardware
I messed the first one up by placing a star washer in between the handle and the rivet nut. This drove the star washer into the rivet nut and gouged up the top. I will be replacing that one and ordering some extras.Â
The second one I snapped the bolt off since I didn't pay attention to it only being a grade 8.8=/ I ended up drilling it out and got another one installed. The other four that I installed didn't go too bad. It seems that there is a fine line between crushing them the right amount and over crushing them, since the metal folding inside can cause interference with inserting a bolt.Â
I have eight more to install. Four of them are puzzling me because the hardware is actually threaded into a clip instead of into the body like I though. I will figure it out some way or another.
After that I my rear calipers and carriers, touched up the paint, put on the new pads, and then installed them. It got dark by the time I got them installed so pictures will come Friday.Â
During the time the touch-ups on the calipers were drying, I thought I would see how my headlights will look with the modified mounts and Downstar hardware (excuse the super dusty headlight)
I am really happy with how all of this hardware is coming out.Â
I also vacuumed up all of the large debris in my drive side foot well and will start the hunt for rust. I don't really want to have to take up the sound deadening since this has all already taken way longer than I would like. I am thinking I can spray any surface rust with reformer and come back at a later time to redo deadening=)Â
Throughout the day my John did more welding and grinding in the bay during my other friends absence. He got a good chunk done and it is coming along.Â
I have an exam and Scooters this weekend so all of my progress will be getting done Friday afternoon.
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Rivet nuts are awesome, we have the big tool at work instead of using a bolt to draw it in. We use them for hanging conduit on the walls which are 4" foam panels with aluminum facing.Â
Tips, grease/antisieze the threads of the pulling bolt, and use the exact drill size that the package calls for, some need letter/number drills rather than fractional.
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