Alpine White Zender Kit E24 633CSI

[Jdesign]

Update!

Wheels have been a slow process as I have been busy with other projects. But I have some images to share. I am really close now. I just need to finish polishing the lips and assemble them!

I had to make spacers for the logos in order to get them flush to the hex's. I cut slices of PVC and used ______ to bond them all together so they wont fall off.

Before

Spacers

After

I also coated all the wheel hardware with a high temp transparent clear that I tinted gold/yellow/orange. I was really trying to match the centercaps with the materials at hand. 3 batches later I gave up and settled on this. Its slightly darker than I wanted but it still looks nice. Next time I will just buy gold plated hardware. 

[Jdesign]

I finally have new springs, front struts, and rear shocks. 

I started installing them a few days ago but have been hitting some speed bumps along the way due to a combination of missing and seized parts. 

FRONT

I was able to break all the bolts loose with minimal effort. Before I removed the main assembly I broke the strut cartridges loose while they were still on the car. I figured this was better than fighting them on the ground. One side had a blue Bilstein bellow which was covering the strut shaft but was severely dry and torn. The other side was completely exposed although I found reminisce of  a bellow once I had it all apart. 

See the difference between having a bellow and not. Its unclear the history here, but I think the passenger hub/knuckle (Image on left) was replaced at one point, or the driver side (Images at the right) was exposed to elements more often than the passenger side(i.e. parking two wheels on the grass often or for a long period of time) as not only was the collar solid rust in color, but the whole hub assembly was much rustier that the other. 

Spring comparison:

Upon pulling the cartridges out, which were almost airtight in the strut tubes, I found out that the old struts were really nice(at one time) Bilstein B8's. Check out the old labels.

 

The replacements I purchased were the touring models, which are vastly different from the B8's. I was about to learn the differences. First off, the strut shaft diameter is much larger on the B8's as seen below. On top of that the overall strut housing of the tourings was smaller about 1-2mm, they had stamped end plates vs. the threaded B8 counterparts, and the housing was about 5cm taller.

This wasn't an issue until I went to insert it into the strut tube and the collars that came with the tourings only threaded in halfway before cinching tight on the cartridge. This will hold, but Im not thrilled about the amount of threads exposed to the elements. 

I posted on an E24 page on Facebook and received confirmation that this is how they fit and I should not be concerned. I will be purchasing bellows to cover the threads so Im not really worried about the threads as there is plenty threads in the tube holding the cartridge in.

I forgot that I needed bellows and bumpstops as they all crumbled when removed. So those are on order and will halt reassembly up front until they arrive. In the meantime I cleaned and painted the strut tubes/hubs and recoated the wheel wells in rubberized undercoating.

Up next; My struggles with the rear Shocks.

[Jdesign]

REAR

How hard could this be? Its only 3 nuts and 1 bolt per side!

WELL......I thought t he hardest part about the rear is that the top of the shock is mounted in a very confined space. Right behind the rear seats the is a small access hole that took a combination of swivels and extensions to get to the front nut. This is 1 of 3 top nuts that holds the shock assembly in place. the other two are accesses from the trunk, and you have to remove all of the carpet paneling and contort yourself to reach them with a standard box wrench as there is not enough height to fit any other tools in there.

Heres the access hole:

a closer look

what I used to get the nut which isn't even visible in my pictures:

 

Here is a view of the shock top from inside the trunk:

On to the lower bolt......

So, I learned something interesting that BMW must have also learned after the E24, E28, and E34. It is unnecessary to have the rear shocks sleeve or dowel pin into the rear swing arms. Doing so will cause issues if the suspension is old, worn, or corroded/rusty. Something this car is. 

The first side came out without a fight. The second side though, the second side fought me for a few hours,......................... then days. HEAT, BANGING, PRYING, PENETRATING OIL, SCREAMING, AND CRYING, all proved useless. What eventually broke the dowel free;  TIME. I let the dowel soak for two days. Every time I walked past I sprayed it with penetrate again. Finally on the third day, I got a very large 4x4 block of wood, pressed it against the shock, and wailed on it with the largest BFH I had. 15mins later I was the winner at the worlds most annoying High Striker.

Here I am trying a useless method. I got that pickle fork all the way in there and the shock mount rubber was the only thing that was deflecting.

  

Heres what the easy side looked like. 

And final success with a comparison image. I have since got the car on the ground but haven't had a chance to drive it due to the weather. 

[YoungCR]

I’ve give up trying that on parts cars, same experience where one comes off no problem.

[Jdesign]

YoungCR said:

I’ve give up trying that on parts cars, same experience where one comes off no problem. 

I enjoy a good challenge.

[Jdesign]

Also, I forgot to add I am 98% done refinishing the Style 5 BBS wheels for this car. 

Before on the right, After on the left

[Jdesign]

I got one wheel bolted together but not loctite and torqued yet. My hunt for tires has begun. Anyone that has a lead on a set of 235/45r17’s let me know!

[Jdesign]

Just a little compare and contrast

[suspenceful]

Jdesign said:

Just a little compare and contrast

*** before vs. after photo ***

This is the kind of stuff that I live for.

[SteelBlue]

Jdesign said:

Just a little compare and contrast

@GunMetalGrey @GunMetalGrey

[YoungCR]

What did you use on the insides of the barrel? Looks great!

[Jdesign]

Just a satin black high temp aerosol.

[Jdesign]

I got tires for the wheels this weekend. Bridgestone potenza 245/45R17's. I hope to install them this week when I get the tire machines hooked up.

 

This is the same size tire:

[Jdesign]

More progress.

I needed to get this off of the lift about a month ago but I was still waiting on parts. So I tossed it together and put it back on the ground. Over the holiday I found some time to revisit it again and install the parts that finally showed up.

New parts that Arrived:

• Brake Rotors
• Lemforder Rear sway bar links
• Lemforder Rear trailing arm links
• Sachs Front shock bellows and bump stops
• Sachs Rear shock bellows and bump stops

New Vs. Old

With the new rotors I will be installing new pads. So I decided to repaint the calipers too. Originally I had a seized front caliper that I tore apart and replaced the seals when I first got the car running. Taking it off and prepping it for paint I noticed that the piston's gasket/boot (not the seal) was not all the way on in one spot. I fought with it for over two hours, taking the piston in and out reinstalling the seal. Im to the point now of just buying a new caliper. If you look at the bottom (or top) where the perimeter of the seal is close to the casting you can see its deformed. No matter what I try it always deforms right there. I cleaned all the mating / sealing surfaces many times. Grrrr.

[Jdesign]

Well, I hope this is the right caliper. I looked at all the images and there are a few casting lines that vary, but all the mounting locations are the same....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Disc-Brake-Caliper-Friction-Choice-Caliper-Front-Left-Reman-fits-82-88-BMW-528e/332964655046?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

Crazy thing is that I was struggling to  find a reman caliper for under $100. I stumble onto this one and its $53.91 and there are like 40 of them on eBay. I buy it, and went to look that the listing today, the price jumped up to $122. LOL  Maybe it was a mistake and they thought it was a rear?

Also realized I was sent the wrong rear brake pads. So I am ordering a different set today. I was reimbursed for the wrong ones and was told to keep them. I don't even know what they are for.

**EDIT** I googled it and they are pads for an E12 based car: BMW E3 E9 E12 E24 528i 530i 2800 Rear Disc Brake Pad 

More pics to come as I get everything back together!

[YoungCR]

Ughh why are those calipers so expensive! You could buy a brand new 540i powerstop calipers/brackets and decent rotors/pads from Rock Auto for $130-$140. Same setup I bought for my e34 bolts right up, no cores on the calipers.

[Jdesign]

Because they are now NLA? IDK but I also learned that E24's came with about 4 styles of front calipers depending on the cars year and model. They also have the same rears as E30's (I thought those looked familiar).

I also didnt know that 4 piston was a standard. 🤯

Via Bigcoupe.com:

_A big point to note is that BMW is a big fan of part sharing so many other models share the same parts and parts can be interchanged. Consequently brakes can be fitted to an E24 that also fit and E28, E31, E32, E34. There are however some considerations that have to be made. 

Let?s look at the standard brakes for comparison?_
1.Early E12 > 1982 based sixes have a dual system with two master cylinders and four pot calipers at the front. These were the same fitted to the M535I e12 M car and are considered a good system. There is even a brake balance controller in there. 

2.E24 1982 ? 1986 cars had a single master cylinder mounted on the passenger side connected to the brake pedals via a bar that runs across the bulk head. The system also has a brake accumulator or brake bomb that pressurizes the system giving massive power. The calipers are single piston units with 282x25mm discs.

_3.E24 1987 ? 1989 cars had the master cylinder on the same side on the driver?s side and does away with the brake bar. Consequently the brakes have a much firmer feel. The calipers and discs are the same size.

4.E24 M635csi 1984 - 1989 had the same basic system as above depending on year, but had four piston calipers at the front and 300x30mm discs. These were significantly more powerful then the standard system. 

All post 1982 sixes shared the same rear discs and calipers which are 284x10mm and the calipers are also found on the E30 325i.

BMW E24 Braking options

Front
Model Disc Size Piston Size Wheel size required
E24 / E28 628, 635csi 282x25mm 1x57mm 14?
E24 / E28 M5,M635csi 300x30mm 4x40mm 15?
E34 525,530,535 302x22mm 1x60mm 15?
E34 540 / E32 735, 740, 750 302x28mm 1x60mm 15?
E34 M5 3.6 315x28mm 1x60mm 16?
E31 850 pre 1993 324x30mm 1x60mm 16?
E31 840 post 1993 324x30mm 4x42mm
E31 850csi / M5 3.8 345x32mm 4x?_

[Jdesign]

Rear end is all buttoned up. I am waiting on the front caliper still and the front spring clips which should arrive today. 

 

I also test fit the wheels and realized I will need a spacer in the front for the center cap to clear the hub cover. This is fine because I needed to make a hub centric ring for them anyways. Tonight I will mount the tires and hopefully get it on the ground!

[Jdesign]

And.... Items have arrived.  I cant wait to install them tonight and finish up all the suspension and brakes!

[Jdesign]

Items have been installed.

Sorry for the shitty pics. I got an adapter lens for my phone and was messing with it.

I love how you can see the zinc clips through the wheels with the red calipers. It matches so perfectly.

Also a picture of the test fit without tires.

I had my friend Connor come last night and take a look at the paint. He runs his own detailing business and does really high end cars (Ferrari's and such). I was curious as to getting the pin stripe off, getting the car resprayed, wet sanding it, or having him detail it. I was looking for a professional opinion.

Upon inspection, as I have already noticed, the car was resprayed at one point, and they just went over the factory color. So there is a thin layer of white on the outside, then the OEM alpine under that. Its hard to determine if its actually the correct Alpine but as you can see, the wheels were matched to the paint code, yet they are MUCH brighter than the car. Why it was completely resprayed is unknown, but when it was painted, the pin stripe was done immediately after too, so when its removed, you can see the red pigment from the stripe has leached into the white. So it will need to have a pin stripe or a respray no matter what. In the end, we decided that I will personally continue to polish the paint out, but he is going to set me up with some supplies that will make my life easier. He told me what I was using was basically garbage lol.