Betty the Black E21 BMW 320i

[ViPER1313]

Do you just need to bleed the air out of the mechanical pump?


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[Senor_Taylor]

Do you just need to bleed the air out of the mechanical pump?


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I've come to learn there is no mechanical pump. I removed the banjo bolts for each injector and turned on the fuel pump and got a lot of air and some misting of fuel out of each one. I think the pump is sucking air due to my janky way of bypassing the in tank lift pump. I'm not concerned until I get that installed. Then I'll start replacing some of the cloth braided fuel lines as I go as those are known to allow air into the system.

[Senor_Taylor]

I determined that the external fuel pump was sucking in air from the suction side. Found a loose clamp and tightened it down and immediately got amazing fuel pressure at the distribution block. Confirmed the injectors are firing now and the engine even starts and runs for a minute or so on its own. Kind of like the dog chasing the mail man, I'm not sure what to do now that I'm here. I would get backfires into the intake if I gave it throttle, so I assumed the timing was way off, but it's really hard to get the timing set when starting the engine, then sprinting around the car with a potentially broken toe to try to turn the distributor before it dies. I'm hoping it's just a lean condition from fuel pressure being low considering I'm only running one of the two pumps these late models require. That pump comes in today so I'll install it and finally put the rear seats back in the car. Confirmed the slave and master cylinder for the clutch are dead so I'm going to replace that today and in theory, the car should be able to move on its own. I also ordered new plug wires, a rotor, and a cap from FCP. Any points experts able to tell me if these look worn? They seem fine-ish to me. 

[Senor_Taylor]

Lots of progress yesterday! Got the engine timed by ear, did an oil change, and did some more tweaking and now it starts and runs without issue. Pulled the wheels off and started bleeding the brakes. Didn't get any fluid out of the rears but I did on the front so now that car starts. I also replaced the clutch master and slave cylinders and bleed them, which was much more of a PITA than I expected, but overall it only took about an hour and a half.

Just like that, I've resurrected this car from the dead and it now runs and drives! Transmission acts flawlessly. New tires ordered from TireRack and I continue to tinker with it while it's listed for sale. I'd consider keeping it, but this Sunroof situation has really frustrated me. I'll do anything mechanical, but body related stuff drives me crazy.

[Senor_Taylor]

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[Senor_Taylor]

Sniped a DMV appointment for today and got the MMoped titled and got antique plates for this. The old plates were severely rusted in place and took a lot of work to remove. I'm rocking no front plate for now.

I checked the lambda readings from the O2 sensor and they don't seem correct, but the O2 sensor is a wear item at like 30k miles so it's due for its third at this point. I put the timing light in it and got it dialed in, then took it for a romp up and down the street and it feels REALLY good.

Sanded and threw some black gloss on the rusty gas lid too.





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[Senor_Taylor]

Progress comes fast and it comes often!

Got the speakers working this morning and the radio works flawlessly! I took some photos of the trunk area because I'm so impressed with how clean it is and how shiny the paint is!

[Jake]

Remind me why you don't have bottlecaps on the front axle? Something about fitment?

[Senor_Taylor]

Remind me why you don't have bottlecaps on the front axle? Something about fitment?

Stock wheel is 13x5.5, so nothing fits the front without rubbing suspension components. I'm getting new tires mounted on the stock wheels today (which I like the look of).



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[Senor_Taylor]

Took it on a long drive around Tyson's. Idles, drive, shifts, revs, turns well. No clunks or bumps. I'm very very very impressed.



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[Senor_Taylor]

When I bought it, the sunroof was 100% stuck. Jake spun the handle while tyler and I PULLED AS HARD AS WE COULD and the sunroof would not move. It works by a handle turning a gear that pushes or pulls two metal cables with teeth on them. The cables push or pull the sunroof back and forth and the rails it slide on were completely jammed with 2 shop vacs full of leaves. I spent probably an hour hitting the sunroof with a block of wood and a hammer to get it back open all of the way so I can dissamble the rails and pull the cables/gearbox out to inspect. The cable is wrecked (and NLA, expensive) so I greased up what I could and and reassembled it from the top. I also hooked a fuel line to the shop vac and sucked out the leaves I could, then used compressed air to blow most of the rest out. Another 30 minutes of standing in the sunroof and heaving and hoing as hard as I could and eventually the sunroof itself could KIND OF slide in the rails. This gets us to the part where I could get it slid shut, but not raised up to be flush, where I used my feet to push it up (like an idiot). l did some thinking and had one of those ah-hah moments this morning and ran downstairs to pull the headliner panel off the sunroof (which is only possible now that I freed up the sunroof to slide) and that revealed that the cables mount on these sliding blocks. When the sunroof closes and is unable to move forward more, the cables then pull the blocks they are attached to (instead of pulling the sunroof) and these blocks slide forward and move an peg that raises the sunroof up. I shopvacced out more leaves and then manually slide the blocks forward to raise the sunroof. So now I've got a fully functioning sunroof as long as I leave the headliner panel off. I'm talking to Al Taylor (of GRM fame) and he may have a cable assembly and gearbox for me at VIR, so with those installed, I should have a functioning sunroof.

Spent some time yesterday cleaning the interior and gave it a wash. Also started to buff the trunk to remove some swirls. Replaced the rear speakers and added a little bluetooth charging thing for whatever time I spend driving this.

[Jake]

You need to invest in a little Bissell carpet cleaning machine. It would do WONDERS on those carpets and door panels.

[Senor_Taylor]

You need to invest in a little Bissell carpet cleaning machine. It would do WONDERS on those carpets and door panels.

Rachel has one that I'm going to fire up today

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[Jake]

You need to invest in a little Bissell carpet cleaning machine. It would do WONDERS on those carpets and door panels.

Rachel has one that I'm going to fire up today

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Oh baby. I wanna try it on my truck.

[Senor_Taylor]

Shampooed all of the carpets and that made a big difference in look, feel, and smell.

Joey came by and did a quick and dirty detail while I literally spent an hour and a half scrubbing two wheels with scotch brite and wheel cleaner one spoke at a time to make them silver again. The paint cleaned up very nice. Rachel and I went to Leesburg for Cars and Coffee then spent time in old town Leesburg which Betty looked right at him in. It cruised at 60-70 without issue and drives and shifts as well as any BMW I've ever had. I've put 100 miles on it already!

[ScottyB]

can't believe what Joey did with the paint, it looks better than my civic....

keep it up, this thing is really coming around.

[.RJ]

when/where is leesburg cars & cofeets?

[Senor_Taylor]

when/where is leesburg cars & cofeets?

Dog Money Brewing 9AM Sunday Mornings. No riff raff, just adults enjoying some okay-ish coffee and talking cars.

[.RJ]

what a shitty name and 2 of the 3 beers on tap are a month old?

anyways, i'll come check it out on the 4-hundo

[Senor_Taylor]

what a shitty name and 2 of the 3 beers on tap are a month old?

anyways, i'll come check it out on the 4-hundo

I don't really intend to be trying their beers at 9am on a Sunday

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