Doh! Steering rack is too big at either end and needs to go back to Marlin to be modified. Its about 2.5cm out one side and 5cm on the other. Major toe out!

Short one, got a few more bits in including gear knob and handbrake handle. I got both off eBay. The gear knob actually came from Motorforce. Also ordered via partsgateway a new water pipe for the front of the engine. In addition I've ordered some new rear brake splash plates and some new dust caps for the bleed nipples on the callipers - these from Motormec. The old ones were in pretty bad condition.


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Received the splash plates from Motormec today so I went about installing them. Needed holes cutting in them - this was due me not wanting to take the hubs off. Enough has been take off for the plate to go past the back of the hub leaving all the handbrake assembly parts and the brake hose bracket in place.


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Gear lever in place - rear is being held up with an old handbrake cable for the moment until I make a mount for it.


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Big box from Marlin arrive with steering rack, carpet and trim. Trim got a few dents in transit but hopefully that will fix itself! Going to be a busy week end getting the steering in.

Dropped the car on its wheels and took it out on the driveway as it was nice and warm. Not done a great deal except play with the alignment of the steering column now that the rack is in place. Its also the first time it's been on the wheels with the engine in. The front suspension feels good! The steering is very direct the smallest movement from the steering wheel translates instantly to a small movement at the wheels. I can't wait to drive it! It'll be a fare few months yet though! I've taken a few pictures of the whole car as I don't have many of those yet:


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Max led the way today:


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No pictures today, but the pedal box is now securely mounted on the car. I've also mounted the back of the gear lever assembly. Decided to keep it simple and used a P-clip. I may revise this to something more sturdy. I've also decided that the Z3 1.9 gear lever I bought is not stubby enough so I am going to get my hands on one from a Z4 3.0ltr. Still awaiting confirmation on part numbers as there are two different types.

The differences between the different models can be seen in the following picture. The bit below the ball determins how short the shift is (the longer the bit below the shorter the shift):


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A comparison between the stock E30 and the Z3 1.9 (Z3 on the right)


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Images from: www.e30zone.co.uk

Another week end another few bits and pieces done. The fuel tank is mounted, the brake pipes are back from our local garage flared, the steering rack is nicely in placed with the column in a trial position. 4 meters of vinyl from Marlin are on their way to Cobra seats for a set of custom Roadster 7 to be made up.

We're having some fun with the radiator. We've established that is a BMW rad from Marlin but we've got no idea how to mount it. The brackets from Marlin don't seem to work with the rad, further conversations with Terry / Mark will be need to figure this one out! One thing that is certain is that the stock water pipes are not all the right length to work with the new radiator. So custom ones will need to be ordered.

Today's pictures:


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It has been a while since our last update. In that time we have taken the engine out to do some work that can not be done while it's in place. This includes the radiator mounting, clutch pipe, brake pipes and fuel pipes. Fuel pipes still need to be done but the rest is complete. The radiator is now in place along with all the brake and clutch pipes. We have made our own mounts for the radiator as the Marlin ones wouldn't work with electric fan - not enough room for it. There are pictures of the Marlin mounts and our custom ones on the construction section.


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A lot of new parts through including a full set of disks and pads, alternator mounting bracket, Z4 3.0ltr shift level, and various O rings for the engine all from motormec.co.uk. Also in fuel pipe, battery clamp, kill switch, light switch, and various other bits from Car Builder Solutions (nfauto.co.uk). We've got to be almost there for parts now!


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Finally a comparison between shift levels original on the bottom, Z3 1.9 in the middle and Z4 3.0ltr (early model part number) at the top. The Z4 has the shortest shift of all of them.


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New parts in this week, the intake system and seats:


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Finally installed the copper fuel pipes today! Pictures here:


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Max is back and testing the directors chair:


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Not much happening at the moment but the engine is back in. While the car is on its wheels and it was not raining on Saturday I took it out on the drive and set the toe in.

Gear box/diff oil and brake fluid has arrived today. Courtesy of the oil man (Guy/Simon) at Opie Oils

Put the E36 wheels with Bridgestone RE720's on this weekend. The clearance at the back is now much better. They look good too! Rain has stop us taking the car outside to get good pictures.


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Also now under construction an adapter plate to fit the steering column. The steering feels very good even on the spot.


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3 Empty bottle of gear/diff oil! Changed the oil in the LSD and the gearbox today. 3ltrs was just enough. It came down to the last few ml! Also test fitted the prop shaft. Fits nicely and loads of room for the gear lever linkages.


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Also taken out the pedal box to spray the metal underneath. Going to bend the brake pedal into a better place while its out.

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Brakes installed at the weekend. I've only just got around taking pictures!

The clock turned up as well today. Unfortunately it does not match any of the rest of the gauges we already have. So I'm going to have to send it back, its shame as it does look nice, it's just too far off the rest - it will stick out like sore thumb!

After a bit of break working on the car the handbrake system is coming together this weekend. Two bolts serve as ends for the handbrake cable:


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The handbrake system is now complete:


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To download all the photo's available on the site in one go up to this date please click here 272Mb

Slightly off topic, but I thought I would see what the BMC air box sounds like that I bought for the Sportster. So I hooked it up to my daily driver this weekend for a laugh! Here's the results:


Click to download (1.8Mb) - Xvid

On the Sportster I will be using the cold air feed pipe with will reduce the noise a little bit - but will get nice cold air in the engine!

I didnt go for a drive because of the 'mad max' style installation!

I bought an extra can of carb cleaner today so I spent a good 30mins cleaning out the idle control valve and the air flow meter. Loads of horrible black gunk came out of both! Hopefully that will have sorted the slightly rough idle I had on the engine.

If not then I'll be ordering a new blue temp sensor! Only time will tell once the engine is in a state where I can fire it up again!