Hello. My name is Dan, and today I doomsday prepped

[Jdesign]

straight6pwr said:

lol, i think you mean pinterest.

Or This Old house, whatever you and Bob Vila feel is best for inspiration. 

[straight6pwr]

Jdesign said:

Or This Old house, whatever you and Bob Vila feel is best for inspiration. 

Tim the Tool Man is my inspiration.

[Jdesign]

straight6pwr said:

Tim the Tool Man is my inspiration.

EEUUUUUHHaaa??!!

[gilber33]

Jdesign said:

EEUUUUUHHaaa??!!

I can only assume that everyone read that in Tim Allen's voice in their heads (or outloud).

[HipMF]

straight6pwr said:

 i've been trolling for a good solid vise from yesteryear, but havent had any luck finding something local, so i bit the bullet and ordered a cheapish Dewalt. I don't think I'll really abuse it to where Ill need something heavier duty.

I hear this. I recently started looking for some vintage woodworking gear (chisels and planes mostly). Anything that's decent is priced like it's gold, which is fair I guess. I think you have to be in the right place at the right time to get a deal on that kind of stuff now that anyone with a pulse can look up how much something is worth in 30 seconds.

[Jdesign]

HipMF said:

I hear this. I recently started looking for some vintage woodworking gear (chisels and planes mostly). Anything that's decent is priced like it's gold, which is fair I guess. I think you have to be in the right place at the right time to get a deal on that kind of stuff now that anyone with a pulse can look up how much something is worth in 30 seconds.

Sad and true. Good deals are harder to come by. I spent months looking for a good vise. Gave up and bought a harbor freight one to hold me off. had it two months and it literally cracked in half. 

[straight6pwr]

bench done with the addition of a vise. havent reefed on it, but construction seems good for the price of less than $100. the reversible jaws, and top anvil surface are are nice bonus. i consider this car-related because i used BMW head bolts to attach it to the bench. 

[KaiserRolls]

This is super random but did you toss your original carpet?

[straight6pwr]

KaiserRolls said:

This is super random but did you toss your original carpet? 

Nope! I actually just pulled it out and looked at it the other day. I shampooed it this summer before storing it. It cleaned up well, but will need to be dyed black to hide the seat rust stains. there is one tear that could probably be fixed and not seen. You can have it if you want it. I have the separate vertical piece too that goes under the rear seat.

[KaiserRolls]

straight6pwr said:

Nope! I actually just pulled it out and looked at it the other day. I shampooed it this summer before storing it. It cleaned up well, but will need to be dyed black to hide the seat rust stains. there is one tear that could probably be fixed and not seen. You can have it if you want it. I have the separate vertical piece too that goes under the rear seat.

Consider it had! Not sure when I’ll be down there next, but I need to ditch the beige

[straight6pwr]

she's up!

still lovin these cribs I built for the e34 trans swap. yeah they take up more space than a jack stand, but they are more stable and easier to use

almost everything went smoothly with disassembly.

small snags - 

when i went to hammer the subframe pins up through the chassis they wouldnt budge. took a closer look inside the cabin to find that the holes had been filled with body filler when the car was originally painted. i've removed these pins on two other e30s and have never seen this before. *shrug*

nice to see 30 year old hardware that looks like the day it was assembled. 

also had one of the subframe bushing sleeves stuck in the body. i've "been here done that" so I tried the first stage of removal - putting a lag bolt through the side of the sleeve (i did not have a big enough bolt to run up through the hole.)

first i grinded a flat on the sleeve so I could drill a hole. make sure you drill through both sides of the sleeve. 

then i ran a concrete lag bolt (hardened) through. then just put a long screwdriver or other sturdy pokey object from the cabin down through the hole and give er some hits. 

after a bit of wrestling, the subframe is out! 

not a bad process. i'm a pro at removing my exhaust and driveshaft because of my driveshaft woes, so this only took about 4 hours. i also got lucky in that the rear ABS sensors and ebrake cables just popped right out of the trailer arm without a fuss. 

is anyone out there in the land of wibimmers still powdercoating parts?

[Boris3]

Interesting, I've had filler in the bolt holes of both of my e30s when I did the subframes. The bushings had never been done before so maybe that's the difference?

Great suggestion on removing the sleeves if you've got enough sticking out. I've tried the big lag bolt approach with mixed results, and when it didn't work ended up using small flat bits and other drill bits just to ream out the sleeve.

[B C]

I had the same type of clay stuff above my mounting pins also.
 

I like those cribs!

I ended up just doing POR15 with a topcoat on my rear frame+ arms.

which bushings are you installing?

[straight6pwr]

Boris3 said:

Interesting, I've had filler in the bolt holes of both of my e30s when I did the subframes. The bushings had never been done before so maybe that's the difference?

Great suggestion on removing the sleeves if you've got enough sticking out. I've tried the big lag bolt approach with mixed results, and when it didn't work ended up using small flat bits and other drill bits just to ream out the sleeve. 

I was thinking early/late models for the difference. I know one of the other e30s never had the subframe bushings done before I did them. The other two were 87 and 88 models

B C said:

I had the same type of clay stuff above my mounting pins also.
 

I like those cribs!

I ended up just doing POR15 with a topcoat on my rear frame+ arms.

which bushings are you installing?

I may do por15, but with the car not driven in the winter it seems pointless. Look how clean they've stayed for 30 years on their own. 

Powder is for odds and ends like the diff cover, subframe support brackets, etc

I got revshift 80A poly bushings for the subframe, trailing arms, and diff

[straight6pwr]

a little more progress today.

in my haste to remove the subframe bushing pins, i forget I borrowed mike's homemade puller tool which is a through-bolt style. this required me to backtrack and take that lag bolt back out lol

was worth it, as the tool worked great, thanks @HipMF !

fully extracted, no burning or mess.

the workbench is now full of mini projects.

the "subframe overhaul" consists of: 

clean everything

replace passenger side rear wheel bearing

replace subframe/trailing arm/diff bushings

reseal differential (output seals, rear cover gasket, sensor gasket and fill plugs crush washers) 

install new ebrake cables

install rear brake lines (body to subframe SS soft lines) 

install new rear sway bar bushings and end links

install ebrake rebuild kit (shoes and springs) 

maybe powdercoat odds and ends

[KaiserRolls]

Don’t forget new lock plates for the axle nuts

[straight6pwr]

KaiserRolls said:

Don’t forget new lock plates for the axle nuts  

optional, at best. wheres the axle gonna go if the nut falls off?

[jc43089]

straight6pwr said:

optional, at best. wheres the axle gonna go if the nut falls off? 

Axle can't come out but the wheel hub can come off.  The brake rotor would probable keep it from coming totally out though

[straight6pwr]

jc43089 said:

Axle can't come out but the wheel hub can come off.  The brake rotor would probable keep it from coming totally out though

my comment was sarcastic, but thanks for making sure no one tries something dumb like that lol

[straight6pwr]

putzed a bit before dinner. 

i DIY'd a subframe bushing puller so I didnt have to burn those out as well. 

1.12" 3/8 threaded rod, with a few different size washers and coupling nuts

2. 4" 1-1/4" steel pipe

3.a socket that fits (18mm, 19mm? dont remember)

heat the trailing arm first to help the bushing slide

voila.

I also DIY'd a rear hub puller. i used a bearing separator last time with success, but didnt want to take a trip to the store for one, so this is what I put together. It uses a pair of main bearing caps, some door hinges, and two scrap pieces of steel. basically anything will work so long as its steel and doesnt shift around on you. 

just crank down the bolts to force the hub out.

voila! this rear bearing was in pretty good shape, but the grease is definitely showing its age. 

to remove the stuck race from the hub, I dremeled a slot about half way through, heated the race, then struck the slot with a cold chisel. it cracked the race and I could slide it right off. 

finally, to pull the wheel bearing out, first remove the big ass snap ring (not shown) then attached your puller. I purchased a FWD bearing puller kit from Amazon for cheap which worked well both times Ive used it. 

had to bust out the cheater bar to get this to even budge. its not recommended to use an impact gun as you will greatly reduce the life of the threads on the tool

voila!

lastly, I got out all the new parts to inventory and see what I missed.

Seen here:

Turner Motorsports rear sway bar reinforcement plates (my last e30 torn the mounts, dont want to deal with that again)

R3vshift poly TA, subframe, and diff bushing. 

ECS rear SS brake lines (chassis to subframe. the other 4 are installed)

Sway bar bushings and links

New rear wheel bearing and associated hardware

Ebrake hardware rebuild kit, shoes, cables

Diff resealing items

Diff studs

What I so far can tell i'm missing: one axle nut lock plate, new locknuts for the subframe bushings, brake fluid, crush washers for the diff fill plugs, new allen screws for ABS sensors, o-ring for speed sensor. 

Anyone know what kind of lube they include with poly bushings? I think Ill need more than they sent.