Project: neglected E36

[getfast]

We put the car in the air for the first time today...



Good news:
-pretty straight underneath, fairly rust free car
-front lower control arms/balljoints, tie rods, engine & trans mounts, various other bushings, mounts, etc all look ok (but not new)

Bad news:
-nail in one nearly new Kumho tire about 1/4" from sidewall
-two bent wheels, one really bad (wearing a decent Falken) and one probably balanceable with lots of weights (wearing the nearly new Kumho that had the nail in it and is now plugged)
-wasted front lower control arm bushings
-blown rear shocks
-questionable front struts
-much oil down the back of the engine, this may be leftover from the prior valve cover gasket issue
-possible rear main seal leak, or that could just be blown back from aforementioned vcg leak (now fixed)
-missing lower engine tray & poorly attached front fender liners

Also there's no spare tire in the car whatsoever. It's got a jack and a lug wrench, just no spare wheel or tire. Predictably I discovered this when I wondered if there was a non-bent fullsize spare in the trunk that could be swapped for the one really bent wheel.

So needless to say, I'm soon to be hunting down any used 15" OEM E36 wheels, preferrably two of 'em with tires, to then put the less bent one of these in the trunk for a fullsize spare and dispose of the very bent one. And I'll be replacing those FLCA bushings this week.

Still on the hunt for free or cheap known good OBD1 coilpacks also.