Project: Battleship Cruiser

[SlimKlim]

Was tired of looking at a matte blue car in the driveway so I did something about it.

-clay bar
-Meguiars Ultimate Compound & Meguiars 7000 Cutting Foam Pad
-Meguiars Ultimate Compound & Meguiars 8000 Polishing Foam Pad
-ISP wipe down to strip off all the chemicals from the compound
-Meguiars Ultimate Polish & Meguiars 9000 Finishing Pad
-Poorboys Sealant applied w/6" DA w/microfiber bonnet
-Bath & trip around the car with q-tips to remove excess polish
-ISP wipedown of all plastic trim to remove as much polish as possible
-Back-to-Black treatment on all exterior trim
-Chemical Guys' Synthetic Quick Detailer
-Fockin' tire shine
-Leatherique Conditioner & Cleaner on seats, gear selector, wheel and e-brake
-Meguiars Natural Shine Protectant on Dash, interior & engine bay plastics

















Not bad for 140k.

[SlimKlim]

Jake and I grabbed a couple night-ish shots:

[ScottyB]

shit. that thing at 140k looks nicer than mine did when i bought it at 26k.

love meg's natural shine. so with sealant you just hit it with QD every week or so to keep a little protective coat on it?

[*insertusernamehere*]

How long did this take? It looks great!

[SlimKlim]

Probably spent ~14 hours on it between Saturday and Sunday.

shit. that thing at 140k looks nicer than mine did when i bought it at 26k.

love meg's natural shine. so with sealant you just hit it with QD every week or so to keep a little protective coat on it?

The sealant holds a shine way longer than conventional wax, but I usually just spritz them with QD after I wash them to give them a little shine. That Chemical Guys sealant from the bucket at the car show its awesome, gives it a noticeably "wet" look after you apply it.

I would have given it a 2nd coat of sealant but I'm running low on the PoorBoys, I'll probably put a 2nd coat on after the next time I wash it.

[SlimKlim]

I think the car is still leaking coolant.

I don't know if I wrote it up earlier, but last week Lauren and I replaced the gaskets on the water accumulator pipe on the back of the motor, and found that one side had been left loose, so it seemed like it was an easy, clear cut fix.

Since then the car has been holding *more* pressure, but 4-5 times I've found water under the car, in quantities ranging from a few drops to a significant amount, and I've had to top up the reservoir a few times. Last night I broke out my flashlight and inspection mirror and looked at every water fitting and gasket I know exists on the car. Heater hoses, accumulator pipe gaskets, hard water pipes, valley gasket, water pump, main water hoses, etc. I looked for traces of coolant everywhere, on the belly pan, front of the motor, top of the bell housing, etc.

Nothing.

The only place I saw traces of coolant was on the header heat shields, which is nothing new, that's where the coolant was running down from the valley for like 8 months. Everything else was dry. Well, soaked in oil in some places, but not coolant, which is the one i care about right now.

Since I couldn't find a source, I sat there with it up in the air for about an hour and waited for it to start dripping, thinking it might only happen when it cools down. Still nothing. Finally gave up and stuck it back out in the driveway. This morning there was a stain under the car, directly under the bell housing. It didn't look super fresh, but I had it backed in so there shouldn't have been any stains there before. The level in the reservoir was ok.

Any ideas? It needs emissions, and the shop I was planning on taking it to tried to sell me pretty hard on using them for repairs, saying they had a lot of euro experience. I think I might have them pressure test it / diagnose it as a trial run to see how fair they are. If they don't overcharge or have a fit that I only want to pay them to diagnose and not to repair, then they're prolly good guys.

Before shelling out cash for diagnostic time I should probably put it in the garage, clean all the sludge off the bottom of the bell housing and put some cardboard under it and wait for it to leak. Then hopefully with a clean area to inspect it would be easy to trace back.

I don't know what it is about me and cooling systems. I have a black thumb. It doesn't matter what car I'm doing it on, it will fight me tooth and nail all the way down to the end.

[JustinG]

[SlimKlim]

helpful

[JustinG]

Not to be a dick. But your sure its coolant and not water from the a/c?

[SlimKlim]

Yeah, the water from the A/C drips further back in the car and wouldn't leave a stain overnight. :dunno:

[JustinG]

UV dye and a black light.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Or just rent a pressure checker from advance auto for free, put the car up in the air and get under it. With pressure it should start leaking. Or start the car on the stands and wait for it to leak. No need to get frustrated.

[SlimKlim]

All of the pressure testers at autozone don't have the right fittings for the BMW expansion tank and buying one is absurdly expensive. Hence having to take it to a shop to get it done.

[SlimKlim]

Now that I say that, it looks like that green fitting might actually work.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accesso...84330_0_0_

I guess I should call around. I might take the day off tomorrow too, so I could probably bring the guys at Funktion a 6 pack and do it on a lift there.

[premiershine9]

Looks great man! (after the correctional work I mean)

[BLINGMW]

Now that I say that, it looks like that green fitting might actually work.

I did get one from Autozone a few years ago that did have the right fitting. But you're right, many kits don't.

[SlimKlim]

Took it to my shop and pressure tested it. Something under the manifold has a slow leak. Its can only be the O-rings for the hard water pipes or the valley pan gasket, both of which we changed. The only way to figure out exactly where it's coming from is to pull the manifold and put a pressure tester on it when its completely cold and everything is visible.

I'm hoping that even if the valley pan is leaking its because it wasn't torqued down or the edge wasn't clean and it doesn't need to be replaced. We'll have to use new water accumulator pipe gaskets and new hard pipe o-rings just to get in there. At least they aren't expensive.

Today's lesson: If you're removing the entire top half of your engine to replace some cooling system components, acquire a fucking pressure tester first and make sure you did it right before you bolt it all back together.

[SlimKlim]

/thread.

[Jake]

:thumbup:


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[premiershine9]

niceeee! I like the interior on those- Audi-esque, especially the higher trim, congrats to her!