E21 Project Thread - Part 2

[straight6pwr]

also, have you changed your coolant lately? your doors says last time it was done was 1987.

[Bassboy3313]

Yup! It was changed all over the freeway the day of the fall cruise.

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[Bassboy3313]

Been busy disassembling the rear end and selling off parts I don't need anymore. Including selling my e21 3.91 lsd for $700. O_______O Never thought it was worth that much until I looked up a few that have recently been sold. Threw it out there and instantly got a seller. I can't complain about that, lol. 

I removed the half shafts and looked at the one that had disconnected. 2 of the mounting bolts to the hub axle were sheared off and the rest seemed to have backed out some how. After I get my new half shafts for the e30 diff install, I will definitely be torquing to spec again, but this time using all the threadlocker I can. Time to remove the trailing arms from the old subframe, painting them and installing them onto the new modified. Along with the sway bar and poly bushings all around.

I am also in the process of making a secondary diff mount for the new unit going in. @Jeff is helping me out on the machining for that. Along with that, I just converted my Lincoln Weld Pak welder over to MIG instead of flux core since I have a ton of welding to do this winter. I am excited to use it once I get the solenoid and regulator installed.

[jc43089]

You will be so happy with the mig instead of flux core.

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[Jeff]

Mig is way better to weld with much cleaner.

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[Bassboy3313]

Yeah I'm excited. I did get damn good with the flux core, but MIG will be much nicer especially for sheet metal work.

[straight6pwr]

holy crap 700 for a used diff? is it 2002 guys picking the e21 stuff up?

[Bassboy3313]

Yeah it was a 2002 guy who bought it. They just have to use half shaft spacers and switch over the 2002 diff cover to use an e21 diff. Which is an upgrade for them. I also rebuilt it a few years back and its only got about 200 miles since then. Looks brand new from the outside honestly. But ive seen dirty/rusty e21 lsd's sell for around the same price to 2002 guys tho.

[Bassboy3313]

Welder is finally setup. My first gas cylinder regulator took a shit after the first weld bead, so I had to buy a better one from northern tool. You get what you pay for I guess.

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[Bassboy3313]

Today I got the old rear end parts completely disassembled. Next step with that is replacing the wheel bearings in the trailing arms, paint the arms and start reassembling with the new custom subframe.

I also starting installing more outlets in the workshed since I'm tired of tripping over extension cords and having to switch plugs whenever I wanna use something. Ill be putting an outlet in garage too on other side of wall. Cleaning and organizing comes next.

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[straight6pwr]

nice. workshop mods are as good as car mods.

and how did the crab legs taste?

[B C]

Crab legs, lol

[Bassboy3313]

straight6pwr said:

nice. workshop mods are as good as car mods.

and how did the crab legs taste? 

Priceless!!!

[Earl]

straight6pwr said:

and how did the crab legs taste? 

Post of the year lol

[Bassboy3313]

All done!

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[Bassboy3313]

After further looking and comparing the H4 lights with the e21 headlight buckets, it seemed like it was going to be lots of tedious work that may not even be correct. I ended up selling those lights and picking up a set of vw mk2 smoked crosshairs instead. These come with the buckets and adjusters already attached.

Talking to a guy who has done this retrofit before, looks like just a bit of trimming on the vw bucket to fit the shape and size of e21 bucket. Then just clearance a few spots on e21 bucket and tack weld them together. Shouldn't bad. Here are some pics he sent me of what he did.

My initial thought was to just trim up the vw bucket and weld on mounting tabs to bolt to existing location on core support. That would involve a lot more careful measuring that this guy's way since using the e21 buckets will position the lights correctly to fit flush with the grilles.

That's where I'm at right now with those.

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[Earl]

Do you still need your euro parts with this fix?

[Bassboy3313]

Nope. That was one of the reasons why I decided to go this route instead too.

[Jdesign]

Those will look awesome. Good choice.

[Bassboy3313]

Ordered a 90mm wheel stud kit for black friday and also made my hvac gauge/switch panel. Added some texture which turned out to be a little overkill, but whatevs. Looks kind of military-ish.

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