Alpine E30 Convertible Running Log
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Preload you say? I have pretty much a full E36 front end(M3 rack, tie rods, control arms(I think), and FCABS).
Haven’t heard anything in regards to this before.
Guess I should have read @straight6pwr post above mine. I went with the centered FCABs, so I don’t think any additional aligning was necessary.
Avoiding preload on bushings is a practice that applies to some double wishbone designs too. The control arms need to be torqued while the car is on the ground so that the rubber doesn’t tear prematurely.
The PITA with rubber isnt so much avoiding preload as it is just making a tool out of threaded rods to press the bushing onto the control arm. The delrin bushings are a slip fit and the NVH penalty isn’t apparent
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I use a lot of dish soap and manhandle the fcab onto the control arm without removing the control arm from the car. Just do them both and set it down and the soap will dry with the bushing in the correct position. Clean any rust from the end of the control arm before trying to install the bushing as it can be a fight to get them on, lots of soap and twist while pushing.
For poly bushings I have had good results with the lube powerflex sells, I think I got a 6oz plastic jar of it.
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Wow, been awhile since I updated anything here. Finished last season with 198,3xx miles, shooting for the big 200k this summer. Got the car from storage today, grabbed oil and a reverse light bulb before O’Reilly’s closed, and will change oil tomorrow before a couple-hour shakedown through the driftless area. It’s good to have it back
Summer plans include repair of the fuel tank leak that I planned to fix last year, valve adjustment, exhaust leak pinpointing and repair, a new intake boot, and simplification of the brake booster vacuum lines.
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199,390 miles:
Ran over a bolt or something on the beltline in Madison today and got a flat, it's too far to the outside of the tread to get a plug so I have a pair of RT615k+'s arriving Tuesday from tire rack. I know I should probably replace the whole set instead of having tires with different amounts of wear on the front and rear, but it never gets autox'd or driven in the rain or anything so I'm not gonna worry about it too much and save the money. I'll also be swapping the good takeoff tire to the spare wheel, it has an original 30 y/o Michelin MVX marked with "Made in West Germany" on it now, it was not a fun experience driving on it and wondering if it was going to randomly let go.
I would also like to add that if you have the ability to move over for a car stopped on the side of the highway and you don't do it, you are a shitty person. I was shocked at how many people did not.
In other news, I'm going to finally get to the valve adjustment tonight if it cools off at all, this is the perfect opportunity. I'm unsure what I'm going to do about the fuel tank, I discovered that it's rusting at the welded seam above the filler neck and that's where I'm thinking it's leaking from. I really don't want to pay for the new tank, but not being able to fill the car above half is frustrating, inconvenient and isn't doing the fuel pump any favors. I highly doubt any sort of JB-Weld fix is going to take care of it, but do I have anything to lose? Stay tuned to see if I ever get off my lazy, broke ass and fix it!
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The people who dont move over are watching tik tok videos. Seems like replacing the fuel tank is a rite of passage when owning a midwest e30.
Report back on how the valve adjustment helps!
Seems like valve adjustments either provide no noticable benefit, or they make all the difference and the idle/drivability improve and cure some ailments that werent expected
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The people who dont move over are watching tik tok videos. Seems like replacing the fuel tank is a rite of passage when owning a midwest e30.
Report back on how the valve adjustment helps!
Seems like valve adjustments either provide no noticable benefit, or they make all the difference and the idle/drivability improve and cure some ailments that werent expected
Will do! The last time I did it, it made a big difference since the lash was set too tight and the car wasn’t idling as well, but I also lost a bit of power. More of a checkup than anything else to make sure nothing is up.
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Valve adjustment will make a huge improvement, although I will note that I remember my last M20 fighting me and the valves would slowly go back to their happy place which would make the engine sound a lot less happy if you will.
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🥳SOLD BMW E24 633CSI - BMW M30B32 🧪SOLD HCH ES9 - 1.3 LDA
👽BMW E30 325IC - Toyota 1JZ-GTE ⏰ HONDA EF9 CIVIC SI - JDM B18C5
☠️BMW E36 318i - Ford 5.0 FE302 🚴♂️ GT-Labomba - 26x2.75 Freeride
🤹♀️SOLD BMW E36/7 Z3 - BMW M54B25 🧓SOLD BMW E10 2002 - BMW M10M05 -
When I bought a new tank it was only ~$190 off of Rock Auto. But I’m guessing the verts have different fuel tanks than the coupes.
Was that including shipping? And no, I believe all the 325i’s have the same tank. Which one did you get? When I priced it out it came to a good bit more than that if I remember right.
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https://www.rockauto.com/en/parts/spectra+premium,BM1B,fuel+tank,6268
Price has gone up since I bought one, but still only ~$200
$25 shipping
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Hit a milestone today... little hard to see but that’s the big 200,000!
Had a great evening of spirited driving to mark the occasion, and the clouds even cleared a little for a nice sunset and some neat photos.
I’m not really sure why some of my photos keep getting rotated when posting on the mobile site, kinda weird. Also, sorry for the compressed image quality, my phone is a dinosaur and doesn’t like playing nice with big files.
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Sigh.
Guess I’m not going to the brew city cruise night. I was around 5 minutes away, coming down the off ramp when this happened, pedal went to the floor but I was able to pump it up enough to stop. Looks like both caliper bolts came out somehow, mangling the brake shield and shearing the soft line. Got REALLY lucky with this one. Could’ve been a lot worse.
Saw @Partiallypurple drive by, car looks great man! That whole group looked awesome for that matter.
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Dual circuit masters and an emergency brake can be a real lifesaver. Glad you’re alright
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Dual circuit masters and an emergency brake can be a real lifesaver. Glad you’re alright
Thanks, me too. Could’ve ended a lot worse. Definitely taught me the importance of loctite.
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Glad you're ok! Easy fix if your soft line comes off on the other end.
I’m hoping it does, the caliper was replaced recently so there shouldn’t be any corrosion. Backing plate got mangled, but can just get bent out of the way if it’s an issue.
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Sigh.
Guess I’m not going to the brew city cruise night. I was around 5 minutes away, coming down the off ramp when this happened, pedal went to the floor but I was able to pump it up enough to stop. Looks like both caliper bolts came out somehow, mangling the brake shield and shearing the soft line. Got REALLY lucky with this one. Could’ve been a lot worse.
Saw @Partiallypurple drive by, car looks great man! That whole group looked awesome for that matter.
Thanks man, I was going to stop, but I was leading everyone to the event, and none of them knew where to go. Glad you were able to stop safely still, and glad it should be an easy fix!
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Odometer: 200,407
Didn't post an update when I put the car back together, but got it back on the road two weekends ago. LOT of air in the lines, took two full bleedings and a few hours to get it all out and even still, I think there might be a small bubble somewhere so I'll give it one more go-round next weekend when I'm back home again. Might have to invest in a power bleeder.
Picked up a good condition used blower motor about a month ago from a 70k mile Z3 and tossed that in at the same time, aaaand of course it only works on high. Me being me, I didn't even think about grabbing the resistor out of the Z3. New one is getting here tomorrow and will go in next weekend as well.
It also appears that I have a habit of jinxing myself, because when I took the car for a shakedown after the brake repair, the odometer decided it was done odometering. Guess that's what I get for posting a picture of the 200k mile mark lol. I did approximately 200 miles that weekend and will continue to record approximate mileage until it gets fixed. If I have time next weekend, I'll pull the cluster to see which gear stripped and get it on order, and check the SI board battery type as well. My SI lights have never worked and I'm assuming that's the reason, but I'm no expert. Anyone else here ever deal with the battery replacement and have advice or tips? I do plan on having Batteries Plus do the actual replacement so I don't risk damage to the batteries or the board.
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