e21 Road to Rego

Sometimes you have to question your sanity if you're a BMW person. Maybe not new BMWs; they're just for rich people. Those of us who have old ones though, we need to take a good hard look at ourselves. The e21 is a great example. It seemed like a really smart idea to get it over to Perth. It would be fun to tinker with and we'd have a back-up car for when the e87 is busy. The lack of rego put a bit of a spanner in the works though. Shouldn't be a problem (I imagine all true BMW fans calling out), just fix the worn bits and get her over the pits. Ah yes, now the fun starts...

So step one shouldn't be hard. Get the car to the mechanic to get a list of all the stuff needing fixing. Being conscientious (and a little bit vain) I figured a wash would be the best thing for it so the mechanic doesn't think I don't care. Off to car wash (no yard at our place) and get on with washing. I took the degreaser with me thinking some removal of 34 years of grime build up would be a good idea. I wash the car and start spraying under the bonnet. I'd left the engine running to keep the thing hot and to ensure I didn't have to re-start it if it got wet. Obviously, there's some electrical connections under there that are not water tight because she died. It had to be something in the ignition circuit because it cranked, but there was no spark. After an hour of waiting (spent drying the car off of course!) it must have dried out enough because she fired back up on 4 cylinders and I limped home.

I also thoguht I'd managed to stuff the head gasket. As it was running badly, it was hard to tell. I had to top the coolant up and when I left the cap off the expansion tank, it created a "foam" on top. Got myself a compression tester and they call came out the same though. I think that was just air in the system.

Since then, I made it to the mechanic (after she dried out completely) although I still haven't received the list. While I've been waiting, there were a few things needing doing anyway. The most obvious was the crack in the windscreen. No possibility of getting past inspection with that, so a new one went in. Next stop was to fix up some surface rust and staining under the radiator expansion bottle. I doubt the rust is a reason for the inspector to knock it back, but I want it to look like it's well maintained. In typical fashion though, step one for rust removal was the bleed the clutch slave cylinder! Damn thing had leaked over the years and now had air in it. A proper degreasing (in the safety of my own garage in case of failure to start) was next. Man, did it take some degreaser. 5 litres of the good concentrated stuff and it's finally getting there.

Now that it was mobile, I could turn it around and get it up on the ramps and get on to pulling it down. Someone from BMW needs a good hard slap for what they did with the brake booster. The engine slant puts it in the way of the brake booster, so rather than do a remote booster, they stuck it out on the end of a "stick" with some rods and levers from the pedal. Pretty sloppy set up if you ask me. Came off surprisingly easily though. A bit too easy if you ask me. I want my brake system to be locked down.

Expansin tank came off easy, but that's about the 10th time for it. It's the cause of all this mess, so once I've cleaned all this up, I shoudl be able to work out what the hell is casuing the leakage. It's been going on since before I bought it though, so it could be anywhere.

Got the manifolds off and again, a bit scary as to how easy the nuts were to undo. I'm expcting broken studs and hours of swearing, but apart from some scratches on my arm where I had to insert my hand up inside to get to one nut, it was very easy.

Finally... two weeks and about 20 labour hours later, I got to wire brushing the engine bay. I've given it the once over to get the loose stuff off. Now I'll be on to some paint stripper and back in with the wire wheel to give it a proper tidy up. I've got a paint system from KBS for cleaner, rust "blaster" and rust "seal" that is supposed to be the business. It better be after all this.

Whole new World

It's been a year since my last post and boy, have we had some changes! Not just in cars either. The big news is that Bel and I have moved back to Australia. Of course, the good news is that this means out with the old cars and in with some new! On the other hand though, it was said to see the e46 330xi go after 2 years of dedicated service. The other thing that had to happen was to finish off the front end of the Mustang.

I got all the old paint, grime and surface rust off the inner guards. While I was there, I cut out the rust above the tyres and welded in some new steel. Little bit of bondo and she was looking better than new. I could then paint up the top of the inner guards all in matt black. I got the Chassis Saver paint on, but since it was freezing (not metaphorically, actually freezing!) I had to rig up some heaters to get it to go off! After that, I sprayed on some Rustoleum in matt black to give it the stock look again. Looked really smooth. I touched up some of the areas that hadn't been painted white by the idiot who'd painted the rest of the car. That left the car ready for suspension again. New upper control arm and pivot, new top ball joint, replaced spring perch rubbers (as the old ones were worn through). Everything else was in good condition, so just a good clean up and some new paint brought them back to scratch.

Once the underneath was sorted, it was time to get on with the outside. The headlight buckets just needed some paint and a polish. The fenders on the other hand, were bloody rough. The drivers side had to have all the inner side wire brushed off and repainted. the lip on the tyre side was also in bad shape, so that had to be sanded and fully redone. This was nothing compared to the passenger side though. While tyring to gently rub off some rust, i came across some bog in an old dent. After that, it just kept going! Thicker and thicker until it got over a centimetre thick! It was too much for me and I had to invest in a replacement panel. Luckily, they come quite easily from on line suppliers in the US, so I was soon sorted and applying some white paint. Sadly, Mum and  Dad arrived before I could really get it right, so I  can still see the imperfections (I'm probably the only one that notices though).

After sorting the metal stuff, I felt like the interior was a bit neglected. I took the back seat out and applied a coat of vinyl dye. It came up really well and made me thankful that I hadn't stumped up for the new upholstery. While I was in there, a new transmission lever cover and some new chrome work finished things off.

After selling the good old Audi Allroad and the 330xi (for a solid loss mind you) we dropped the Mustang off at the transport transport company and waved goodbye to the good ol' US of A. After a quick visit to the East Coast, it was over Perth and  back to work. Part of the package was access to the company car, which meant I was cruising around in a Honda Accord for 6 months. The shame was nearly as bad as the boredom! Luckily, when Belinda arrived, she insisted on us getting a car of our own. So after a quick look around, we ended up with a 2005, e87 120i. Nice little hatchback and so much more rewarding to drive than  the Honda.

After giving the Honda back, we found it a bit annoying to be without a car when the e87 needed servicing, so we decided to have the e21 323i shipped over. It made it safe and sound, but I didn't realise it wasn't registered anymore, so I'll need to get a whole lot of stuff fixed (windscreen, emissions system, etc) before it can be registered. Should be ready some time next year. So now we're back in the homeland, have bought another BMW and have a "spare" car in the garage to fiddle with and repair. Sounds like things are getting back to normal then.

Bel's New Baby

The Kilner family picked up a new family member today. With Bel moving to a new job in the resorts above Park City, the little MX-5 was never going to cut it. Sadly, after a year and a half's faithful service, we had to trade the Mazda in for something bigger and with more driven wheels. After an intensive 3 hour search where the car gods determined Bel was NOT destined to drive a Jeep, we found this nice Audi Allroad. She's done a few miles, but the price was right and she's already got snow tyres fitted.

Now Bel will be good to make the climb up and down the canyon each day.

Tearing it Down to Build it Up

Work started on the Mustang this month to get the front end tidied up before Mum and Dad's next visit in 2012. It all started with the simple idea to whip the front fenders off and apply some rust proofing. This proved to be a major exercise as the previous owner was an idiot and had painted right over everything including the panel joints. I certainly spent some time cursing him over the last few weeks.

It's been a real learning experience to get the panels off. I read the workshop manual, but it is way too general. The number of little bolts and screws was amazing. Then there was the matter of all the extra bits and pieces that had to be taken off before you can get to the bolts. Things like splash guards, brackets, lights and wiring before you even get to the mud and rust. Despite all the mud and rust, there was only one bolt that had to be cut off.

After managing to get the panels off, it was time to attack the suspension. I needed to get everything off in order to get the build up off the inner guards. After successfully making my own ball joint splitter, I got the springs off and removed the masses of dirt that had built up over the last 40 years. The inner guards turned out to be OK, but the rust holes in the top of the guards was not a good sight! I've cut it out since the photo and it's ready to have a patch welded in. I just need to go buy a welder and find the time to get organised to do it.

Now that it's all torn down, it's time to start painting the parts and put things back together. The new angle grinder and wire brush have been getting a work out and there's plenty more to go. I have all the components to strip back and clean up. I want to get them all painted before I start work on the car itself.

The original paint is a matte or satin finish in the engine bay and it's hard to tell under the guards. It seems to be black with sound deadening bitumen, but it's also got layers of paint, especially the white over spray from the stupid owner. There's also a good layer of dirt and surface rust on everything.

I've got a gallon of Chassis Saver paint which is supposed to be the best for painting over light rust. I need this as I won't be able to completely clean up the surfaces under the guards. I got this in satin to match the classic look.

The components which are hard mounted to the car will be painted in satin as well. Things like brackets or supports. I decided that the parts that are not hard mounted - like springs, control arms, shock absorbers - will be painted in gloss to give a bit of contrast. The paint shop is a bit rough (since it's the garage) and one of my biggest problems is that it is bloody freezing which is not good for painting. Can't do much about that, so it's time to push on.

Lots of News and New Cars

It's been an absolute age since the last post. Four months to be exact, and hasn't some action occurred since then!

Firstly, and the biggest news is that there has been a major addition to Team Orange. Dad made the outrageous purchase of a classic e12 M535i! What a car it is too. The first of the real M cars for the road. 3.5 litre M30 in the still fairly light body gets this thing along in a real hurry.

Dad imported "Black Beauty" from England where it was sold by a typically crazy car enthusiast who wanted to get it away from England's salted roads!

It successfully made the journey and has since been imported, quarantined, washed and registered. Of course, being an e12, it has also burnt out its ventilation fan and has a misfire that is proving difficult to track down.

The only work completed so far is Dad covering the bottom of the car in a good layer of fish oil to keep the rust away and the remedying of the misfire. I've sourced some fresh badges for the rear and a new set of bellows for the rear CV joints and they're on their way to Dad to get installed.

In Mustang news, the old girl spent 2 months at the shop getting a new dash installed. Turned out to be slowest dash repair in history. By the time we got it back, we'd moved into our new house and Winter was long gone and it was stinking hot. I had to pick it up on the same day I got a root canal and it was 100 degrees outside. Nice timing by the workshop! Whatever; the results look really good (the dash, not the root canal) and it is a very respectable place inside the cabin now.

While it was in the shop, they also fixed the heater controls and fitted a new speaker in the new dash so the old dodgy speaker on the floor could go. I haven't had a chance to try the heater out since it's still in the thirties and there's no way to tell if it's working.

While I had the e46 in the shop getting the transmission serviced and the next worn out part of the cooling system replace and generally making a massive donation to BMW's service department, I had to fall back on driving the Mustang to work. Apart from losing several kg and nearly passing out from heat exhaustion, I also noticed the mysterious brake shudder had disappeared! Maybe the brakes were just tired and needed a couple of months to rest up? Unfortunately, it also developed a bad habit of overheating and embarrassing itself on the garage floor when I got home or stopped for any significant time. I flushed out the radiator and replaced the lower hose, but it didn't help. The fall back plan is just to leave it in the garage until Winter.

While I had the bonnet open, I took the change to tidy up a bit. I straightened out all those awful steel lines (fuel and vacuum) and re-ran the throttle switch wire to make things a bit nicer. Not a dramatic change, but all in the right direction.

In a rather strange coincidence, we developed a Mustang parking area at work during the time I was driving it. I always park over on the Southern end of the car park and then one day, there were three generations of Mustang there!

Small Steps

It's been small steps since the Mustang returned from its 2000 mile road trip. We still have a fairly firm pull to the right when you first go for the brakes which is rather disconcerting. We decided to buy in some new bushes and change the front brake drums.

It turned out the drums were chipped and worn, although the chipping shouldn't have made any difference as it was only the outside, sealing edge. I was planning on painting the drums to keep the rust away, but the spray can was missing the nozzle and I didn't have the motivation to go back and complain as we'd already been 3 times in 2 days!

We got on to the sway bar and straight away, we could see the main bushes were the wrong diameter. Back to O'Reillys but the proper ones had to be ordered. We'll get them on Tuesday. We put the old bush back in and changed the sway bar end links and bushes. The old ones were completely stuffed and the new ones certainly look better.

While we've been on the job, we changed the radio aerial for one that hadn't been snapped off, installed a battery clamp so the battery wouldn't rattle around and Dad fixed the hoses on the windscreen washer bottle so he could get some water on the screen. The washers now work so well you can clean the screen on the car behind if you want!

I also had some time to get some photos of the new head liner. It's all in and I added the new interior light to finish it off. Dad is going to get a new dash, so we didn't put the A pillar liners on as we'd just have to take them off again.

The Road Trip

Despite leaving, what I thought, was plenty of time, the mustang was just not ready for Mum and Dad's arrival. A windscreen seal held up installation of the headliner, so the road trip started a day and a half late. Dad got a service, transmission fluid change and some new wipers before he left. We also installed the new front bumper which made a top difference at the front end.

The mustang took most of the road trip in it's stride. Around 2000 miles and just some new fuses, some carby adjustment and a whole lot of fuel.

They got snowed in at Kingman Arizona and had to spend an extra night. It was pretty cold the whole trip and the heater doesn't seem to be full on.

In general, the car went excellently. It even covered the "Million Dollar Highway" which included a pass over 11,000 feet above sea level. I was proud to see the old car make it back. She's bloody filthy now and needs a good wash. Dad's already had the carby rebuilt and she's done a trip with me to work. Hardly seems worth it after Utah - Nevada - Arizona - Colorado - Utah!

Getting Set for the Big Road Trip

With Mum and Dad's arrival in the US of A, the Mustang's got to be ready to hit the road. They're going on an epic 12 day road trip through Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming.

I finished off the wheels with their hub caps, threw on the new rear bumper, installed the shiny chrome door lock knobs, replaced the liner in the trunk, touched up the scratches on the paint and drove her down to the shop to get the head liner installed (complete with new windscreen and seals). We're just waiting to get her back so Dad add the final touches (front bumper, new interior light and windscreen wiper blades) and head off into the wide blue yonder!

Retro Treads for the Stang

I finally got around to picking up some wheels and tyres for the Mustang this week. Those polished alloy wheels were pretty bad and once I had them off, it turned out they are generic four stud wheels, so the hub diameter and the offset were all wrong.

I got a set of old steel wheels and gave them a clean and a coat of paint. My workshop/bathroom came back into serious use again! A set of Cooper Trendsetters with their nice little whitewall sets off the car nicely. I also have some original Mustang hub caps, but they will stay in the cupboard until the car rolls out as they are worth too much and are too easy to steal.

As with all things on the Mustang, a simple job like changing the wheels turned into a 3 day event. First I had to get the new wheels there which involved a shopping trolley and a ride to the parking lot. Once set to go, it turned out the lug nuts and the tyre spanner weren't friends, so everything had to be packed into the Mustang so I could get down to the store and buy a new tyre spanner. Luckily I got a 4 way spanner because it then turned out the 4 of the 16 nuts were 13/16 while the remainder were 3/4!

They all on there now though and looking quite sweet. Just have to sell the old wheels off and get them off our patio. Headliner and new windscreen seals are booked in for Monday and then Dad arrives Wednesday to go on their road trip. Hope the Mustang's up to it!

A Return to Action

We had a big return to action on November 7th with Dad and myself driving the e12 at Wakefield Park in the final round of the BMWDCNSW Supersprint Championship. Wakefield Park surprised everyone with a beautiful day of 25 degrees with no rain (or snow, ice, etc). The practice session was very disappointing with the car understeering everywhere with both Dad or I at the wheel. An inspection after showed that the front tyres were work down to the canvas with a big flatspot on the passenger front. We quickly swapped out the rears for the front (even though they are the wrong size and rubbed on the springs!) and we were back in action. The "new" front tyres weren't much better, but at least we could get around the track.

The afternoon sessions started to heat up and times started to fall. We were down in the 1:20 - 1:22 range but the main competition was in the 1:21's. As the day wore on, the engine sounded less and less healthy. The GPS telemetry showed a dramatic drop off in acceleration compared to the previous round. It was the equivalent to having about 300 kg dumped in the boot (I know this because I went out with Dad in one session and the drop off from engine performance was about 3 times more than with my added 100 kg).

The time crept down in the final sessions and I managed to break into the 1:19's and Dad down into the 1:21's. Sadly, neither of us bettered our times from previous rounds. I'm putting this down to work tyres and low engine power. As a reality check, I previously did a 1:19.0 on road tyres prior to the new injection system. I'm convinced that once we get the engine tuned and new tyres, there will be an easy couple of seconds for the taking.

Over all and excellent day despite the troubles. I couldn't stop smiling all the way back to Sydney. We couldn't of done it without Matt and Mum who were out pit crew and changed transponders and numbers for us.

E12 Getting Serious

While the Mustang has been getting prettied up with interior trim, the e12 has been getting more serious on the track front. A new roll cage has been installed to improve the safety department. There was much internal debate in Team Orange as to the best way forward for cage. My initial thoughts of a simple bolt in 4 point were in stark contrast to Dad's idea for a welded in full tower-to-tower cage! We ended up settling on a bolt in 6 point cage with harness bar and side intrusion bars. Looks fantastic and should do the job if the worst happens.

There were some fiddly issues such as the glove box not opening anymore, the rear window winders not being able to be turned and the sun visors not being able to be lowered. The rear windows are not a problem as they haven't been lowered in years. The sun visors are annoying, but a pair of sunglasses should fix that. The glove box was more of an issue. The latch for the bonnet is in there, so it has to be able to be opened. In the end, the glove box was just taken off. We'll work something out later.

Dad's biggest concern was that the extra weight would slow him down! Luckily, the new engine components were shipped last week, so the build can commence as soon as they arrive down under.

Interior Coming Together

The interior on the Mustang is starting to come together with some slow and patient work by the "Chief Mechanic" (me). Slowed down mainly by the poor workshop facilities (my bathroom) and the lazy and incompetent staff (me again), it's been a slow process. Luckily, the addition of the e46 has taken the pressure of the Mustang so things can stay apart for longer.

The first step was the completion of the interior panels. The paint on the trims and new arm rests made a huge difference for what was small change. The door trim panels themselves are still the old ones. I just gave them a bit of a clean and stuck them back in. Yes, they have a crack or two and all the chrome is gone, but they still look decent enough.

With the panels done, it was on to the steering wheel which I had previously prepared with a few coats of varnish. The wheel itself went in quite easily and looks awesome. The horn button is a piece of work though! The pieces they sent didn't seem to work and then the wheel itself came with a different electrical connector which was supposed to solve the problem. Don't get me wrong, the button makes the horn work fine; it just keeps the horn on continuously which can be a little annoying and distracting for other drivers! I think I have a work-around involving electrical insulation tape, some drilled out washers and a great deal of swearing.

Finally, the front seats. I purchased some new vinyl upholstery and after reading the instructions in the "trusty" Ford workshop manual, got to it. The work shop states (roughly) "Remove existing upholstery and install new upholstery with dog clips." Yes, that is what I did. It just neglected to mention the multi-layer install, removing securing wires and the amount of skin I lost on those bloody dog clips. The results were well worth it in the end and I no longer cut my rear just getting in on those old seats.

Still to come, headliner, front end suspension (can anyone say "Unsafe at any speed"?) and new tyres. Fun, fun, fun!

Another New Addition

Although we're hardly short of transport, we added another new member to the team. After a huge day of test-driving e46 325xi's, we found the only 330xi in the Salt Lake area. It was a good 40 minutes drive away, but he was the one we'd been looking for. We got a 2003 with 88,000 miles on the clock. He's got the usual stone chips and scratches for the age, but is solid underneath. It is going to be a huge difference compared to driving the Mustang!

Dad Fires at the Creek

The e12 made a fabulous re-appearance at Eastern Creek on Saturday with Dad taking the old girl out for a run at round 4 of the BMWDCNSW Supersprint championship. Although he started the day pretty conservatively, the times tumbled in the afternoon. With a best time of 2:08 only a few seconds off the e12's record at Eastern Creek, it was a fine show of form from both car and driver.

The end result was a third in class which puts Dad within 2 points of the Class B championship lead. With two rounds left and his times coming down rapidly at each event, chances of a strong podium or a win look very good.

Dad's son-in-law (otherwise known as Hak) kindly volunteered to flag marshall to meet Dad's commitment to the volunteer. He also managed to sneak in the photos and some cool videos. There's a top one at the link below
EasternCreek7August2010013.mp4
What a noise this thing makes!

One Door Done

I managed to get the door trim and the arm rest on to the passenger side door. It was an absolute bugger of a job as one screw hole in the arm rest didn't line up with the actual foam of the arm rest. The screw kept going out of alignment. Bit of work with the round file and some oversize washers saw it get attached eventually.

Also got a couple of coats of varnish on to the new steering wheel. It is going to be way nicer than the crappy old split one and safer as it won't have the loose cover on it.

Starting to Shine

I managed to get a straight day at working on the interior of the Mustang. I had to go and work in the car park at work as I was sanding and painting. It was bloody hot, but at least I had good light and no other cars to worry about.

I finished off the passenger door and got some undercoat on that pretty easily. I ran into a bit of a problem with the top coat. I think I tried to go too thick too early. That left a big run which I'll have to get back to and touch up later. The driver's door went much easier. I went a lot lighter with the top coats and ended up with about light coats and nice finish,

While I was painting, I hit the rear side trims with some new paint and got them back in. It made a great difference. I also threw some paint on the rear parcel shelf which made things match up a bit. All up, the effect was really good. Just have to get the door trims back on to finish up that part of the car.

Finally, I got the driver's harness in as well. Some tweaks to the mounting design made a huge difference and I managed to get it installed with a minimum of swearing.

I was absolutely wrecked at the end of the day. It was 34 degrees and I was feeling light headed from dehydration on the way home. Not a good option driving a Mustang that likes to bump steer itself around its lane on the freeway!

Forward Progress

Finally, some forward progress on the Mustang last night. I managed to get one of the harnesses installed. It's not perfect by any means, but it's in and a lot safer than that single lap belt.

I also got some time to wire brush the passenger side door trim where it was all "rusty". Not sure if it was rust or 40 years of built up arm sweat (gross!) but it came off with a wire brush and wire wheel on the drill. There's a before and after shot below. All I have to do now is get some time on it to get the paint on.

Also got under the rear to check that leaky area in front of the axle. The good news is, it doesn't look like fuel. It is a red oily substance. Looks like transmission fluid to me, but I can't work out what it's doing way back there.