Jan. 7, 2009 - Current Status Report
So its been a year or so since my last update. Lets see, I'll just try and fill in some gaps, in no particular order.
Over the summer I wrecked my motorcycle (totally not at fault, some dumb bitch cut me off BAD) and shattered my thumb. I kept my engineering internship at Combustion, Science and Engineering (a fire protection firm), but really couldn't get any
work done on the cars. Now I'm at the point where I have resurrected the grey car from the dead, and am using that as a daily driver. My goal is to clean out the garage over winter break, and put the black car down for some much needed maintenance. Since last time, I've put in a 3.73 lsd and the 750 big brakes (with crossdrilled front rotors. SCORE!). So it goes and stops real well. But it still needs a lot. I have some stuff waiting already, and more parts to be ordered, but I wont bother posting what until I actually get them in. Oh, and the motorcycle is broken again. I fixed it and painted it, but now it seems not to have spark. So when I get the car in for fixing, I'll bring the bike back from college park (where I go to school) and get it running again too. Sigh, so much to do.
On the grey car, its a 528e thats been in the family for 21 years now. It was the first car I ever learned to drive on, and it feels great to be driving it again. Its a manual, its got a K&N cold air intake, cherry bomb exhaust (HIGHLY recommend cherry bomb mufflers for etas, they sound deep and throaty, awesome really), its also got an I throttle body (bigger) with intake matched, D'sylvia chip, and a stereo. It's still slow as piss, but for an eta its not bad, its REALLY fun to drive (lots of torque), and gets 37mpg if I can keep it at 65 and am real jusicious with the gas. I figured I'd post some pictures, since I've made more progress on that than the other car lately. It still needs trunk weatherstripping (hence the dessicant in the pictures), a trim piece, one new tire, and maybe a new SI board (gauges go silly sometimes), but I just put in new coolant temp sensors and switches, and a new heater control valve so I have heat on the highway. Its nice. Anyways, here's some shots. Sorry about the small size, just click on em and they get bigger. Weshots is really douchebaggy about linking directly to the large pictures, dunno why. Eh, fuck em. Here they are:
Oh, and here are some pictures of the bike. Its Interlagos Blue, that new BMW M color. I like it. The paint didn't come out perfect (in fact, the pictures look better than in person), but its alright, its all one color, and its a friggin 16 year old bike, so its never gonna be a show queen. Here she is:
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Dec. 11, 2007 - Long time no news....
Hey anyone who reads this:
Sorry about the lack of news, but there has been a substantial lack of
news lately. The timing chain thing turned out to be a bad AC
compressor, I pressed the AC button and smoke started pouring out of my
hood! AHH! So I pulled it. No AC, but whatever. Never had good AC
in a car of mine anyways.
Lots has been fixed and broken in the intervening time, so I'll just
start with where its at now. Runs great, no problems that I have with
it. Starts every time, and given a little time to warm up on those 20
degree mornings, runs without too many complaints. Still needs some
items though. Lets see, it needs...
Center link
Drivers side door lock cylinder
New Seats (I have beige sports seats that I'm gonna re-dye. Sweet!)
Dashboard Computer (light bar broke)
New front brakes (Have the 750 swap waiting)
New front main seal
Driveshaft center support bearing
Diff mount
Stereo problems
Slight coolant leak
Slight power steering leak
Oil pump
Valve adjustment
I think thats it for now. As of late I have been working, trying not
to fail out of school (we'll see how that goes), and attempting to pay
my own rent. I also just bought a bike, a 1993 suzuki GSX-R750W. 0-60
in under 3 seconds, 160 on the highway. Possibly the best purchase I
ever made. Have to pay dad back for that over winter break, he kindly
fronted the money for me and I rent drained my bank faster than I
anticipated. Thus I have to pick up some more hours at my job.
Oh, I'm working at the Machine Shop for UMD. Playing with welders,
lathes, partial CNC machines, forklifts, pickups, band saws, etc. Very
very fun.
The supercharger has taken a bit of a back seat, but if I can find a
heated garage and maybe a dry month this winter so I can ride the bike,
I'd like to tear the car down and finish it. But we shall see.
And now, Pictures!
Sexy!
After a wax.
Full Frontal
The camera loves you!
I wanna be inside you...
Photo Shoot!
My girls...
Wife, meet mistress. Mistress, meet wife.
Nice little fleet I have going...
I swear she tries to kill me...
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Apr. 22, 2007 - Sidetracked!
Well, since last time, I have messed with the distribuitor. The car runs much better. I also put in working temp sensors for the alternate fan, and a working fan clutch so the car cools well. I fucked up the steering in 3 inches of sleet in Philly on st pattys day (I'll write about that later).
However, all progress has temporarily been emergency halted, I think I might have a bad timing chain on my hands. So, I'll let you know what happens. I'm in limbo right now, with no car.
FUCK!
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Mar. 25, 2007 - Differentials!
I spent the better part of the evening putting in a differential tonight. It is a 3.25 lsd from an 88 535is/A. Things went smoothly, and it helped out the drivetrain a lot. No more clunks, no more diff whine, that old one was shot. Hanging the rear end out around turns is so satisfying... So anyways, now I got an lsd. Sweet. Just gotta get it through emissions and then finish the blower. At this point I'm just waiting for warmer weather.
Since last time I've done some other fiddly interior shit. The light switches were half-assed, so I got a new panel for them, and a new bulb for my fog light switch. Not much, but the little things add up.
More as it comes.
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Feb. 27, 2007 - Exhaust
Cat is done and in. This thing sounds MEAN! I like it! I got two small pissy leaks up front where the slip joints are. I'm either gonna weld em, jb weld em, jury rig it, or just wait until after emissions and run straight pipes. Don't know just yet. So current plans are to get it through emissions. I think that it will pass just fine, here's hoping *cross fingers*. After emissions, sometime soon it comes apart for the supercharger.
Right now I feel like I gained about 15 hp on the butt dyno. That damned stock cat was so clogged and restrictive. The extra top-end power however has unearthed a problem with the car-the sway bars are simply inadequate. Before power tapered off nicely at the top end and it didn't matter, but now if you get on it coming out of a corner, the weight shifts and the rear end steps out. No good. So my timeline for getting swaybars has been pushed WAYYYY up, same with the diff.
Oh well, just need some money. Car runs awesome.
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Feb. 13, 2007 - So...
Sorry about the lack of any shit getting done, things have been, well...busy. So anyways, the car failed emissions worse the second time. WOO! I am getting a cat hopefully by the weekend, and an 02 sensor. It seems to work, but I feel that its robbing me of a little mpg, and with FI I'll need all the help I can get. Also, I am getting an odd clunk out of the rear end. I feel that its either the diff or the diff mount, and I know that the diff makes a funny whining noise. So I'm just going to put in a new seal on the 3.25 lsd I have and probably throw it in while I have the car down for the blower.
So, expect progress to start being made again soon.
*crosses fingers*
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Jan. 11, 2007 - Quick update
Spent the better part of 4 hours today taking the intake manifold off. That means manifold, fuel rail/injectors, every single vaccum line, breaking three plastic connectors to various wire looms/sensors, airfilter/afm/throttle body etc.
But its off! Fucking finally.
I didn't feel like putting it back together to get it home (it was 1 1/2 miles from home) so I got my friend to tow it home with his f250 diesel. I have an e12 manifold, and im using the short, 2 inch flanges from the intake ports to be bolted to a steel box shaped to fit the space we have, and then bolting the eaton on top. I dunno if the supercharger will clear the hood, but we'll find out i suppose. Big, BIG project, but I have some really good ideas about what I want to do. So, I guess we'll see. Its gonna be me and Ted, because Ted also knows what he's doing, and he can weld better. I figure a week to get it bolted, then back to school and a months worth of stolen nights and weekends getting the fuel delivery sorted.
I dont think it'll run again until I have the blower on it. So exciting!
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Dec. 5, 2006 - Getting up to date...
So, lets get all caught up to where we are now, eh?
After getting it, work needed to be done. I'll make it quick. I've been working on the car for about 5 months now. No real mods yet, my goal was to get it back to where it was when it rolled off the showroom floor. So its a restoration of sorts; I want the car to be as mechanically sound as possible. Lets see...
Welded drivers seat back together
New gauge cluster
New CV joint boots
New center tie rod (twice, don't know why the first one failed.
New wheels (Antera 5 spoke 16's with Sumitomo ZZR II's)
Fixed fuse box woes, replaced fuses
Shadow Lined the taillights
New rear seat
New vacuum lines
Grounded block to body (fixed the coolant temp gauge, no overheating)
New engine coolant temp sensor
New radiator
Tightened steering box lash
New clutch master cylinder
Flushed coolant, brake fluid, steering fluid
Fixed anti-lock brakes
Put in stereo (JBL 5 inches/crossover to tweeters in rear, MB Quart fronts with crossover for premium tweeters, Alpine head unit)
New front shocks
New plugs
AFM wiper adjustment
AFM idle mixture adjustment
New idler arm
Adjusted valves several times
Put on homegrown harge airdam from an e30 that we made to fit an e28
As of now, I have more work planned. I'd like to put in a lighter flywheel, I have to get the climate control lights in the center console working, I'm going to put an alpine sub in, I have a few exhaust leaks to corral, I want a chip, headers if i can find/afford them, and then hopefully soon I will custom install an eaton m90 with my dad. We're gonna use a rrfpr and bigger injectors, maybe an anti-knock sensor if i can rig one up. I'm hoping that at about 8-10 psi which is doable on the 8:1 compression ratio, I can get around 300 whp. Not an unrealistic dream, and damn that would be nice. I'd also like a UAS keyless entry system (real slick, only a hundred bucks.). I also have to put in the rear shocks (kyb adjustbles) which I have, just haven't gotten around to, put in the steering box I pulled from a wrecked 535is to fix the slight play, Put in the 3.25 LSD after I put in a new seal, and check the front passenger side suspension/steering assemble to chase down the looseness/clunk over bumps that I get sometimes.
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Dec. 5, 2006 - The beginning of a saga
Well, this is an introduction to my automotive tale. It began around, oh, I'd say june-ish of 2006. My father stumbled across an Ebay auction for a 1987 black on cardinal 5 speed 535i. It was located in the mountains in North Carolina. Well, apparently the God of Speed was smiling down upon me and we won the auction for around $750. The car was a basket case, but having driven a 1982 528e, my love affair with the e28 was firmly established and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to own a machine such as this. We rented a U-haul car carrier and drove down in his 1991 F-150. It was like perfection in a day, gorgeous weather and a road trip with the old man. We played Hendrix, The Who, Steely Dan, I swear I've never been happier. Well, we get down there and the car is sitting in the driveway. It was old, dented, worn and in general severely neglected. The auction had said that the car would start and run, but had an overheating problem.
I got in the car and started fiddling. The car was in pretty poor shape seeing as how random interior bits were broken/missing and the drivers seat was flopping around like a wet noodle. Looking under the car was a different story, the undercarriage was flawless, not a hint of rust. The car had probably never seen snow. It was rough around the edges, and through the middle for that matter, but I saw something there. Somewhere, deep down, there was an incredible machine in there waiting to be released.
Shortly before handing over the money we found out that the car had no traceable paper trail, making it almost un-titleable in Maryland. I was crushed, I HAD to have this car. My father refused to buy it for $750, at this point it was a parts car with an unknown engine and transmission. He said it was worth $300 for parts only. After a heated debate over price, we were both pretty pissed, seeing as how we had driven 7 hours to find this out. The Owner caved, and we ended up getting it for $300. I started it, and backed it out. It started right up, and ran like shit. It was rich, stumbling, and surged at idle. But I loved it.
After getting it on the trailer, we began the long trip home. I was about as happy as a kid on Christmas, knowing what I had. I must have turned around to look at it 200 times on the way back. We got home around dinner, and parked it by the setting sun at the bottom of the driveway, where it sat for about 3 months. I didn't have time to work on it, having a full time job and not knowing what to do about the title.
Long story short, after a legal-rigamarole and some nimble stepping I got the car titled and on the road, and that's where the story really began...
by oneeyemonkeypie
With the car before working on it.
by oneeyemonkeypie
Good times.
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About Me
Chronicling the epic journey of one e28 from near scrap to total road sex
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