1978 e21 m20 turbo swap, AKA What did I get myself into

[Earl]

I thought you were going to make skirts to cover the well!

[bfinley]

Spent the day tearing down the old m10 motor and drinking beer in the shop. I'm planning to clean it up maybe paint it and then weld it into a coffee table or something.

For having 36 years of wear and tear she wasn't in awful condition

[RamRod E28]

Coulda sent me a text im always down for working on bmws and drinking beer as well lol also found this vid for a little inspiration.

[bfinley]

Ah! Next time I will do so !

[RamRod E28]

yeah dude do! I shall b down tomorrow to help john on his e30

[bfinley]

Really wallowing in the "what did I get myself into" mood this evening. Took the grinder to ever rust bubble in the paint I could... Rockers are gone, front fenders will probably be replaced along with the floor pans.

Gonna make a big push this weekend to get the glass out and then buy paint stripper. We're going to take her down to bare metal

[B C]

When a car goes down to bare metal, what is done to prep it for paint to prevent humidity in the air from propagating microscopic rust spots that will grow under the paint?

[jc43089]

I have been thinking the same about my e36, why did I take my summer daily apart... If you want to use my sandblaster you are welcome to.

[bfinley]

Snap said:

When a car goes down to bare metal, what is done to prep it for paint to prevent humidity in the air from propagating microscopic rust spots that will grow under the paint?

Primer? Not really sure

John thank you, we'll see where I get with the glass over the weekend

[wasnt m3]

There is a product called Gibbs you can use to treat the metal. Some guys I know that are into hot rods use it on bare metal. Somehow the stuff is body shop safe and is able to be painted over. Pretty amazing.

http://www.getgibbs.com/

[RamRod E28]

And then there's me with my e28 I had a simple plan and stuck with it

[jc43089]

So I ordered new flywheel bolts and didn't realize that the single mass flywheel uses the same bolts as the automatic, just so you know and don't spend 30 bucks on them like I did, you will have them because the engine from mike was hooked to an auto.  If you end up using a dual mass flywheel setup I have a set of the longer bolts for that that you can have too.

[B C]

The flywheel bolts are one-time use so dont feel bad about getting new ones

[jc43089]

Snap said:

The flywheel bolts are one-time use so dont feel bad about getting new ones

Only because they come with loctite preapplied right?  They aren't stretch bolts as far as I am aware, I could be wrong on that though.

[B C]

You may be correct, the Bentley manual doesn't specifically say they whether they are torque-to-yield or not, but they do specify to use new bolts in section 4-58.

Im sure plenty of people have re-used them without issue but boy wouldn't that really blow to have to tear it all back apart within a few hours/days of doing a trans+clutch job. 

Bassboy had a 240sx that had something similar happen.

[jc43089]

I have reused them before, not saying that I am right though, I have seen that in the manual as well.  I assumed they are not TTY because it is a straight torque spec rather than torque then degrees like the head/ rod cap bolts.  Bentley also says not to reuse the bolts that hold the axle shafts to the differential.  Previously I just degreased them and put a little red loctite on them, It also needs the loctite to seal up or it can leak oil because the holes go all of the way through the crank flange.

[YoungCR]

I have been told by technicians not to reuse the flywheel bolts, so the Bentley is correct.

[Bassboy3313]

If you want to throw those 2.0L pistons, rods & crank my way I will gladly get them out of the way for you.

[bfinley]

Bassboy3313 said:

If you want to throw those 2.0L pistons, rods & crank my way I will gladly get them out of the way for you.

I was going to weld them up into a table or something.

I'll trade you for those decals email me your shirt files too and I can get started on them.

Update: all glass except the door windows are out, I think I've found all the rust holes that need to be fixed, the main debate now is patch or replace...

There are some significant holes in the front fenders and new rockers are pretty much a given.

I need to shuffle money around to get the 2.7 from Mike, I really hate getting paid once a month...

My shop mates are making a run to steel mart so I should have some sheet steel to practice welding and making patches.

I'll need to get a lesson in POR15 from Mr. Menard as well

[jc43089]

Just brush it on! it self levels pretty nice, I use KBS Rustseal, available at Napa.  Similar product, some have said it's better, I just use it because it's easy to get and extremely durable.