+- Madison Motorsports (https://forum.mmsports.org)
+-- Forum: Technical (https://forum.mmsports.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=4)
+--- Forum: Member's Projects (https://forum.mmsports.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=12)
+--- Thread: Das Race: My '97 M3/4/5 (/showthread.php?tid=10430)
Re: Das Pace: My '97 M3/4/5 - D_Eclipse9916 - 03-27-2015
.RJ Wrote:Edit: why the hell doesnt DJ have air tools?
Because 99% of the time electric tools are quieter, easier to use (no lines snaking around), and easier to fit into places. Also has the plus of being able to easily throw in my trailer and use at the track...
(who uses the shit out of his electric 1/2 impact, 3/8 impact, grinder, etc).
My electric impact has taken out rear wheel bearing nuts that are ~250ft/lbs. Anything else I just use a breaker bar and jack handle. After years of racing, motor swaps, head swaps, chassis tear-downs and building motors I haven't really needed one enough to spend the money. Honestly my 3/8 impact is my favorite power tool.
Re: Das Pace: My '97 M3/4/5 - V1GiLaNtE - 03-27-2015
D_Eclipse9916 Wrote:.RJ Wrote:Edit: why the hell doesnt DJ have air tools?
Because 99% of the time electric tools are quieter, easier to use (no lines snaking around), and easier to fit into places. Also has the plus of being able to easily throw in my trailer and use at the track...
(who uses the shit out of his electric 1/2 impact, 3/8 impact, grinder, etc).
My electric impact has taken out rear wheel bearing nuts that are ~250ft/lbs. Anything else I just use a breaker bar and jack handle. After years of racing, motor swaps, head swaps, chassis tear-downs and building motors I haven't really needed one enough to spend the money. Honestly my 3/8 impact is my favorite power tool.
I've found my Ryobi 1/2" impact has served me extremely well. Lots of torque and I've found it fits a lot better in places where an air tool just wouldn't fit given the size of the tool or the airline trailing behind.
Re: Das Pace: My '97 M3/4/5 - SlimKlim - 03-27-2015
I'd love to finally pick up one of those Ryobis just to make pulling wheels and rusty suspension components that much easier. I also really really really want one of those small 1/4 drivers that makes quick work out of all those small tedious bolts.
Re: Das Pace: My '97 M3/4/5 - V1GiLaNtE - 03-27-2015
The Ryobi with th lithium ion batteries and charger was quite affordable. Make sure you get those batteries and not the regular nikad or whatever they are called.
Re: Das Pace: My '97 M3/4/5 - *insertusernamehere* - 03-27-2015
Jake Wrote:Everything is going swimmingly. I un-bolt the compressor (I think, whatever it is with the pulley on it) and it won't come off. My thought is not to check for another bolt, but rather "probably old gasket stuck, grab the mallet!" and I give it a few good taps.
Well, on the upswing of my last tap, I kinda got too vigorous. And I smacked the mallet against the timing chain guide. And it went *ping!* and a large chunk of it went flying across the garage as I explored the depths of my brain's knowledge of curse words.
![[Image: do-want.gif]](http://www.themarysue.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/do-want.gif)
I felt it for you when I read that. Smh.
Re: Das Pace: My '97 M3/4/5 - Jake - 04-02-2015
Reassembly has begun!
Got the lower timing cover removed last night. There's a bitch of a water pipe that attaches to it (just presses in) that is metal and thus not flexy for removal. It took DJ prying with screwdrivers and me pulling on the cover to finally get it removed, but it came off and nothing broke. Success.
Speaking of broken, both timing guides were on their way to "yer shit's fucked" status. The intake side was missing the clips that hold the guide to the dowel pins, and the exhaust side was broken on the top (where I hit it) and the bottom (where I definitely did not hit it):
![[Image: d2wt3L0.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/d2wt3L0.jpg)
I pulled lots of chunks out of the oil pan... there are probably some more little bits in there that I will not get to remove until the oil pan comes off for a new gasket... which will not be part of this project, but will be coming up soon.
So, I had the lower timing cover removed and figured now was as good a time as any for a new front main seal:
![[Image: NHLaY4y.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/NHLaY4y.jpg)
Took a few minutes with some Brakekleen to de-sludgeify the cover. The BMW logo here wasn't visible before, probably thanks to years of leaky oil filter housing gaskets and valve cover gaskets:
![[Image: 0wk52if.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/0wk52if.jpg)
And finally, I got the lower timing cover back on the motor (with new gaskets) and all the bolts threaded back in where they belong. I need to torque them down still, as I didn't have torque specs with me last night and didn't want to over-tighten anything.
Tonight's work is going to involve torquing the LTC bolts down, cleaning up the block surface in preparation for the head gasket to go back on, re-installing the water pipe (and new gasket) to the head, and installing the new exhaust manifold hardware on the head.
Then, Saturday will entail getting the head back on, installing the cams/lifters, and timing the motor (thank you in advance for the help on that, DJ). Once those big tasks are out of the way, I'll get the intake/exhaust all buttoned back up and probably should bolt the hood and bumper back on.
Yay, progress!
![[Image: 0EnSOnd.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/0EnSOnd.jpg)
Re: Das Pace: My '97 M3/4/5 - Kaan - 04-02-2015
nice! :thumbup:
Re: Das Pace: My '97 M3/4/5 - Jake - 04-03-2015
More progress.
- Lower timing cover is installed AND torqued down.
- New crank bolt is installed (torque spec of 300 ft-lbs, DJ's wrench stops at 250... we got it to 250 and he spun it another 30* with a breaker bar)
- Crank pulley re-installed
- Water pump and WP pulley re-installed
- Auxiliary fan re-installed
- Bumper re-installed
- New knock sensors installed
I started scraping the block to clean off the old gasket and made some progress. Going to keep cleaning it tonight. My razor blade isn't working too too well but I also have a 1500-grit sanding block that should help out as well.
Re: Das Pace: My '97 M3/4/5 - navin - 04-03-2015
If you any Scotch Brite red scuff pads, use that + Brake Clean to basically wet sand the old gasket off.
Re: Das Pace: My '97 M3/4/5 - D_Eclipse9916 - 04-03-2015
navin Wrote:If you any Scotch Brite red scuff pads, use that + Brake Clean to basically wet sand the old gasket off.
You don't really want to use that on the block. I use it for oil pan cleanings and then clean the oil pan, or for stuff that is easy to cntrol the dust going places. The aluminum oxide is not good for your bearings if you let it fall in the oil passages.
Re: Das Pace: My '97 M3/4/5 - navin - 04-03-2015
I guess I could see that, I usually just tape off off anything I don't want dust getting into and make sure to keep the pad wet to minimize the dust.
Fuggit just get those 3M Roloc discs.
Re: Das Pace: My '97 M3/4/5 - SlimKlim - 04-03-2015
navin Wrote:I guess I could see that, I usually just tape off off anything I don't want dust getting into and make sure to keep the pad wet to minimize the dust.
Fuggit just get those 3M Roloc discs.
Are the Roloc discs made out of the same material as the Scotchbrite pads though? They seem similar. I used the rolocs and they worked really well but they did create a lot of dust.
I was just extremely careful to plug all of the passage ways up and used a narrow tube taped onto my vacuum to suck up all the dust I could. I'm hoping the "clean out" oil change takes care of anything that did fall down there. Idk if that was the best methodology but I guess we'll see.
Re: Das Pace: My '97 M3/4/5 - rherold9 - 04-03-2015
:thumbup:
Re: Das Pace: My '97 M3/4/5 - *insertusernamehere* - 04-05-2015
I may have missed it in a previous post or not understanding the process here, but when you did the aux fan and re-installed the bumper did you use that as an opportunity to do the clutch fan/water pump or any other front engine stuff as well? Cause I would think it would be more of a pain to do all that in a smaller space.
Also taking notes, cause I will be doing this when summer comes now. Le sign.
Re: Das Pace: My '97 M3/4/5 - Jake - 04-05-2015
*insertusernamehere* Wrote:I may have missed it in a previous post or not understanding the process here, but when you did the aux fan and re-installed the bumper did you use that as an opportunity to do the clutch fan/water pump or any other front engine stuff as well? Cause I would think it would be more of a pain to do all that in a smaller space.
Also taking notes, cause I will be doing this when summer comes now. Le sign.
So the radiator and regular clutch fan come out as part of the disassembly process. I had replaced the water pump last summer, but had to pull it out to remove the lower timing cover. If you are not pulling the LTC, the water pump can stay installed - as can the aux fan, AC condenser and bumper. You only have to remove those last three items if you are going to remove the timing cover - the extra space at that point is helpful.
Just don't break your timing chain guides like I did and you'll be fine
Re: Das Pace: My '97 M3/4/5 - Jake - 04-05-2015
Made some progress yesterday - big thanks to DJ for advice and my friends Henry, Daniel and Stephen for helping lift the head (carefully) onto the car, handing me tools, and helping bolt some things back on.
I finished cleaning the block yesterday morning, and had some friends come by to help install the head. It's heavy and awkward, and three people really make the process easier - two to position the head, and a third to guide the main timing chain up through the head. The head gasket is held in place by two pegs that stick out of the block, and the head then fits on the same pegs for alignment.
DJ has always cautioned me/us when working on his cars to not move the head much on the new gasket and block surface as that can scratch things up and not allow a good seal. Thankfully, we were able to line the head up with the block and drop it onto the dowels on the second-ish try. Great success!
I got the head bolts installed - 22 ft-lbs of torque the first round, then 90* and another 90* per the Bentley. DJ had to help out with the last round of 90* torquing but we got the bolts on there and sealed up. Lifters and cam trays went back in easily. Cams were installed as well. Two dots face up, align square to the head, not the block! (Thank you, DJ
)Sooo here lies the next problem. There is yet another timing chain guide - this one goes between the two cams, more or less - that was broken when we removed it, and nobody noticed until I went to re-install it yesterday. So, progress has been halted until I can buy another guide. I'm hoping one of the BMW dealers near me has it in stock and I can run out over lunch to grab it. If not, I'll express-ship it from FCP.
Once I get that guide, we can finish installing the timing chains/VANOS, time the motor, and complete reassembly.
I did take some time last night to get the exhaust manifolds back on (with all new hardware) and delete the cruise control as it never worked anyway and #becauseracecar. Also managed to sell my AC components within 11 minutes of posting them to a BMW Classifieds group on Facebook. Oh, and I sold an old head unit. Yay!
The main drive belt tensioner bolt (which allows you to compress the tensioner and install the belt) managed to round itself out... fack. The older-style bolts require a regular hex socket (8mm) and they strip massively easily. BMW has an updated bolt that uses a torx socket which is far less prone to stripping/rounding. We started drilling the old one out yesterday and I have to finish removing/replacing that as well. Argh.
Re: Das Pace: My '97 M3/4/5 - Jake - 04-06-2015
Timing chain guide has been ordered and will be at BMW of Alexandria by 1:00 pm today! Cost the same as ordering it online and paying for fast shipping.
Re: Das Pace: My '97 M3/4/5 - Jake - 04-08-2015
It looks like a motor again!
Big thanks to Joey and DJ (Joey for helping reassemble, DJ for sarcastic commentary mixed with helpful advice) last night - got a LOT done and I think this'll make it to the show, assuming I can get past one other big hurdle.
We got the motor timed, VANOS reinstalled, exhaust manifolds fully bolted on, valve cover installed, coils installed, and thermostat installed all last night.
My biggest hurdle is pulling the damn belt tensioner. The bolt that you use to compress (and thus slip the belt on) rounded out, so I drilled it out but the head is still on the bolt. Need to get back at it tonight after dinner.
Also decided to #yolo and install the M50 intake manifold that I got from Felton. The mess of hoses and adapters seems to make sense (I spent some time sorting through it all last night and sorta assembling) and I think I can get that installed. Even if I don't get the motor re-tuned right away, I can drive the car, it just won't make as much power or something... so says my buddy who has the tunes ready for upload. Just depends on his availability to come by the house.
Still to do:
- Fill motor with cheapass oil
- Replace tensioner and use new bolt on pulley
- Install drive belt
- Install intake manifold, injectors, intake system
- Install radiator and hoses
- Install fan
- Fill cooling system and bleed it
- Drive, I guess
Re: Das Pace: My '97 M3/4/5 - PDenbigh - 04-08-2015
W00t!
Re: Das Pace: My '97 M3/4/5 - Jake - 04-10-2015
It looks like a motor again!!
![[Image: V6AvwBZ.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/V6AvwBZ.jpg)
Somehow this sumbitch is going to make it to the MM car show. I was wondering how "down to the wire" it would end up, and as of last night, the only bolts left to turn are those that attach the hood to the car.
Tonight's needs:
- Fill with oil
- Fill with water and bleed cooling system (check hose clamps again first)
- Re-attach hood
- Check alignment of windshield wipers before final bolt-down
- Test drive
I'm planning on towing it to the MM show, simply because I don't want the first long drive in the car to be 100+ miles of interstate, with no tools, nearby trailer, spare parts, etc readily available. I will have to do an oil change before the autocross on Sunday (assuming I can get 50ish miles on it around town tonight and at JMU tomorrow) as I really don't want to run an autocross on a mixture of Kmart-brand oil and assembly lube.