3.2L Goodness

I'm still waiting on a rear main seal for the s52, so I spend today cleaning up the engine bay a bit. I cut off the M42 ignition coil brackets, welded in the euro coolant tank bracket and gave the passenger side a fresh coat of black. Gonna pick up some gloss black tomorrow to finish it up and do the other side as well.

^ yee haw there cj!!


the powdercoating oven plans do not look too difficult to fab up, and the materials cost isn't bad at all.



df

Do you think you'll have that powdercoating stuff ready any time soon? Let me know, I'm scheduled to drop off my valve cover tomorrow at a local place.

not by tommorrow, no. probably not before the end of the month, but maybe before bimmerfest. maybe.

i have to see about sourcing the parts and electrical stuff. i know i can get the rest of the materials pretty readily. most of the stores are closed this time of night, and during the day i'm in and out of peoples crawlspaces killing termites.



df

lol, I know you wouldn't have it tomorrow. But if you're not gonna have it for a while, then I'll just drop my VC off tomorrow. I'm sure I'll have plenty of other stuff to get powdercoated once you get set up.

Do you have good access to your steering rack? If so, maybe now is a good time to swap in a z3 rack if you have the cashola?

Yeah, the access will never be easier than now. I never seem to stumble upon Z3 racks, though. Not like I have much money to spend on one anyway.

Seeing this thread makes me want to do this to my car....

I'm so fed up with the E36 right now. But thats another story...

Welded on the other side of the coolant tank bracket, ground down the welds from the M42 IC brackets and gave it gloss paint. Looks great, garage lighted pictures don't give it justice.

Trying to find a way to delete the ugly washer fluid tank while keeping function. Looking at making a reservior out of a water bottle and hiding it somewhere, just have to find a good spot. I don't care if it's ghetto, the washer reservoir makes the engine bay uglier.

I also dropped off my VC for some wrinkle red powder

Looks good! I should have welded my brackets on

Cj, i gotta commend you for picking up welding so quick. I've spent the last 3 days in my schools welding shop learning myself to weld, and I gotta say it isn't as easy as it looks. You're using a wire feed gun right?

Originally Posted by crisscross

Looks good! I should have welded my brackets on

Thanks

Originally Posted by drive by72

Cj, i gotta commend you for picking up welding so quick. I've spent the last 3 days in my schools welding shop learning myself to weld, and I gotta say it isn't as easy as it looks. You're using a wire feed gun right?

Yeah, I'm using the cheap wire-feed setup from HF. I think it's great. Works awesome for small stuff like this.

Did you buy a welder? A gas one?

Looking good btw.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Bimmer App

^Thanks Matt. It's a wire-welder.


Only had a few hours but I did the oil filter housing gasket, rear main seal, and painted the other side of the engine bay today. The engine and transmission will hopefully go in tomorrow. I feel like this project is taking forever, but it's been less than a week since I got the S52. Maybe I'm just really excited.

WTF, I need to stop leaving for weeks at a time. I guess our striker race is off then?.

Yeah :/



I've a pending sale on the internals. Need money for a new clutch and tires.

Love it cj! keep up the good work! I know the feeling about seeming like forever, I just found out yesterday about replacing my vanos and it feels like next saturday is 3 years away lol.

Engine is in!



And you can see the nice new paint, too. There is bad news, though. Two of the header threads are stripped (the threads in the head, not the studs). They came like that. They're not completely shot though, I'm gonna see if I can find bolts of the same size and try to run the threads.


I think I'm changing my mind about the red valve cover, though. I think I'm gonna call the guy and change it to black.

i'd suggest not doing that cj...use a tap at the very least. a blind tap would be ideal to use.

however, a proper fix would be to use a helicoil repair kit.

and woulda been easier with the motor out.



df

I'm terrible with that stuff. :/



There's like maybe 3/4in of good threads before it gets bad. I think a normal bolt would keep going, but I'm using a nut on a stud, so the nut starts running down the stud.

Get a tap, CJ. You're wasting your time trying to clean it up with a bolt. All you'll do is make it worse. And +1 on the Heli-coil. Best possible option.

Damn it, of course the threads are M7. Will I even be able to find a tap for that size?



Honestly, I just want to bolt it on and forget about it. 10/12 nuts ain't bad right?

Alright, will this do the trick (along with a t-wrench)?

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...&storeId=10051

Originally Posted by cj.surr

I'm terrible with that stuff. :/



There's like maybe 3/4in of good threads before it gets bad. I think a normal bolt would keep going, but I'm using a nut on a stud, so the nut starts running down the stud.

I had this exact problem when I swapped my headers in. It went it cross threaded and before I noticed it, it was too late. I ended up getting the stud snug, then running the nut down the stud until it tightened up. I figure as long as it stays I'll fix it when I pull the motor, which will eventually happen.

The engine is barely in, I can pull it back out in a few min if I have to.


The only taps I can find are 7mm-1.0, I hope that's the right thread pitch.

And I can't find a stud remover that's 7mm around here. Can I use 1/4in one, maybe?

Joey, were you able to install the stud without a stud tool?