Musings from the shop
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Bust.
Luckily it was just me in the car, and there was no other traffic. I'm fine, but the car is not.
I'm a bit wary of posting too many details on a public forum, but suffice to say that bad decisions + bad driving + bad road conditions + bad tires = shit-damn-fuck. It wouldn't be so bad if it was just the sheet metal, but I smashed the hell out of the oil-pan too, and then tried to drive it home without realizing that there was no oil in the engine. Just got the engine on the stand today, and it's not pretty.
I've been in denial for almost a week now thinking that I'd get it back on the road, but it might be time to throw in the towel on this one.
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Bust.
Luckily it was just me in the car, and there was no other traffic. I'm fine, but the car is not.
I'm a bit wary of posting too many details on a public forum, but suffice to say that bad decisions + bad driving + bad road conditions + bad tires = shit-damn-fuck. It wouldn't be so bad if it was just the sheet metal, but I smashed the hell out of the oil-pan too, and then tried to drive it home without realizing that there was no oil in the engine. Just got the engine on the stand today, and it's not pretty.
I've been in denial for almost a week now thinking that I'd get it back on the road, but it might be time to throw in the towel on this one.
I saw it at the shop today. My heart ached. Rear quarter is pretty fucked. Sucks that the motor had to go with it.
Throw a motor in and beat the piss out of it. Feel free to hit me up if you need a hand with anything (I'm talking about the car).
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Shit Mike. That sucks
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It does suck, but don't let it beat you! Got a line on a cheap/free engine that needs some TLC to be good and slap it in there and beat it like a redheaded stepchild!
Still makes me sad when I see it in the shop like this
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Sorry to see the hit, but glad you're OK. Rear quarter can be pulled if not too bad and the front fenders surprisingly can be pounded back into shape. Depends on how pretty you want it.
If you decide to put in another engine this one is not free but maybe worth a look: http://chicago.craigslist.org/sox/pts/4848052512.html
This guy is also on R3V and is parting his late model e30 with body parts in black including bumpers: http://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/cto/4854955173.html
If you decide to walk away and part it I expect that there are enough friendly "vultures" here (me included) to help ease your pain with a little $$$.
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sorry to see that Mike.
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Thanks for the support guys.
I really had my heart set on getting an M42 swapped into the E21 this winter and having a nice driver/fun machine for next summer. "Redneck stepchild" has a nice ring to it though. I'd love to have a beater/rallycross/ice racing/whatever car, but I don't know if I have the time or budget to do both. I guess we'll be playing it by ear from here out. I have another dead M42 in the garage, so if I get the other one, I'll have 3 dead ones to try and make 1 good one and another one to power this thing. Time for plan "F".
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Got the motor torn down last night and took some crappy pics on the way out the door. The top end actually looked great. I didn't inspect them too closely, but the cylinders looked okay too. The bottom end though....
The worst damage is on the main journals. The bearings were a little melty, which I'm pretty sure is not desirable. Three of them I had to pry at a little to get the two halves to separate. The last bearing at the flywheel end was actually completely fused together on one side, but I think I was able to get them all off without doing any more damage.
I'm taking some stuff in today to get a professional diagnosis.
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That is kind of cool that the two halves of the bearing turned into one!
That looks nasty, but its good that the top end still had oil in it! -
Yeah, I'm glad that the head is okay. My other one is pretty bad.
My visit to Appleton Crankshaft didn't go that well. It turns out the crank can probably be saved. The bad news is that the block is "not fixable". The main caps must have warped, because they don't fit in the block like they should. He said the big ends of the rods are probably bad, but I'll have to check them.
I've never had a machinist tell me that something was straight up " not fixable" before. For some reason I found that amusing.
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E21 is getting a valve quantity upgrade. 38% moe powah! Just doing a test fit to see how this is going to work. I have 3 engines now. One is toast and the other two need a rebuild. I was thinking of getting some low compression pistons made and going turbo right away, but now I'm thinking it will be a stock rebuild. It changes from one day to the next...
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That was my original plan, but I wasn't planning on having to do a rebuild right away. Also considering skipping the turbo and keeping it NA. I really like the sound of ITBs... Superchargers are cool too though... Lots of ideas, but for now I should really just focus on getting it in the car and running.
But hey it's just a car and you're ok! I vote lemons duty now.
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