An interesting day today. It was one of those so close, yet so far moments when it came to seeing if it will drive.

The engine has been really rough on idle and we finally found out why today. After a lot of debugging with the help of E30Zone - leading to leaks in the vacuum system being the most obvious issue it turns out there is a giant leak between the break master cylinder and the servo. After plugging with insulating tape the engine start running normally and sounded great! Idle is still to high at 1000RPM but then the donor had this problem before i took it to bits. Going to try replacing a few vacuum hoses and see how it does. Also need to test the AF
M, TPS and ICV (airflow meter, throttle position sensor and idle control valve) electronics to make sure everything it working properly.

On to the second saga of the day! Brakes and clutch. Decided it was time to fill the system and make sure the brakes work and the clutch. Got one of those Ezybleed things you get use with tyre pressure. Very good except none of the supplied caps would fit the marlin reservoir - doh. Luckily with the help of a friend to hold the the cap in place it sort of worked - still ended up with brake fluid everywhere!! First thing some of the joints in the back started leaking so under the car very quickly to bolt those up. The bleed nipples were a bit of a bugger to open up, which became nice an easy after a trip to halfords for a 7mm ring spanner!

The big minus was the clutch master cylinder, this has completely seized up after bleeding the system. It wont depress at all so I'm going to have to order a new one. May as well get the slave cylinder at the same time.

If the clutch had of worked then I could have taken it for a quick run to the end of the drive way and back.

Petrol tank has a minor crack that needs fixing as well. I've found some one who's willing to give it a go, otherwise I've got some POR tank sealer.u

Two issues we ran into during the first engine start:

1. The fuel tank has a tiny leak we hadnt found before - ordered some tank sealer from Frost to fix that one
2. The connection between the rubber fuel pipe and copper than runs up the centre of the car was not tight/good enough as we got a bit of leakage from there. Plan A is to flare the pipe and tighten the hose clips furhter. Plan B is to run Aeroquip hoses from the  front to the back. This should be SVA - Ok as long as we've got the paper work from Think Automotive to back it up.
   

It's alive, nearly a year after it last ran its alive!!

Click here to download

You'll need Quicktime to play as its off my phone :)

More wiring done today. The ECU, main relay and fuel pump relay have power. The power for these items has a separate power connection that will be fused. This will bypass the kill switch; the ECU requires power so that it does not lose its setting, each time the ECU is disconnected from the power it require about 20 minutes on idle and a 10 min drive to set-up again.

The fuel pump circuit has been also been completed, this will be tested ones the pump is wired up and ECU wiring is complete.

Not much to see this week but the ignition works, the starter runs, battery light comes on, handbrake light works and the horns work! Richard's do an excellent job of combining the E30 fuse box with the lucas loom.

Also fitted the thermostat adjuster. Found a nice little place to hide underneath the crank sensor / spark lead sensor wiring connectors - needed a bit of machining on the lathe but everything fits fine now. Its the bracket that the diagnostic plug used to sit in, but was removed as there is not enough space.

The mechanical stuff is essentially done apart from tightening up all the bolts and matching sure everything is secured. Did some final tweaks over the weekend to the rear coil over installation and engine bay brackets.

The rear shock towers needed widening due to the installation of coil overs. With the modification the coil over has 1.5-2cm of sideways movement which should be more than enough to allow for movement under heavy cornering. If not it can always be widened further.


Click me



Click me

The AFM bracket required some modification to give the IVC (idle control valve) a little more space when the engine is running.


Click me


Click me


Richard spent all day knee deep in BMW wiring diagrams. On reflection buying the "Marlin" loom may not have been the best option - we were told this is custom made for the car, which it's not. It is in fact it's a generic Lucas loom, its nicely laid out but is missing several connections needed for the car. The other more worrying thing is that it does not use any relays for turning things on as its laid out - not ideal when running high currently through the switches.

Using the BMW loom and striping out the bits that are not needed might be the better option. It may seem more daunting at first but the cables are still good in 15 - 20 year old BMW. In the end you get all the well thought out circuits laid out as BMW designed them with lots of built in protection for the car - you don't want things going up in smoke!

Easy wires to replace that were rotten on our loom - In the car audio world it's know as TB3 - the big three. Alternator to starter, started to battery and ground straps. These were not in the best of condition and will be replaced with new 4AWG cable - thicker that standard which allows it to handle more current with less voltage drop - not so important unless your running high current amplifiers! However new good earth can't hurt to get everything running nicely.

We will be using the Lucas loom as we have it and wire in the BMW fuse box, this will provide all of the required relays. We will also add extra cables as required to the loom. These modifications will hopefully improve the safety and reliability of the electric system over the standard Lucas loom.

Paul brought his Marlin around today. A big thank you from everyone for taking us out for a drive. The car is very nice, really like the colour. A stunning looking interior! A few piccys here:


Click me


We did a little bit of work on the doors and body, but I was installing new shocks on my daily drive which too up most of the day:


Click me

New tuning section for M20 engine - so far big bore trottle body and throttle body water by pass!


Click me

It took 1 halfords referb kit (minus paint as there was not enough), 6 1200 grit wet and dry sheets, 2 cans of primer, 3 cans of Honda Nobel Silver and 2 cans of laquer + hours and hours and hours and hours of sanding!! But the alloys are finally ready to have some tyres added. A set of Bridgestone RE720 in 205/65/R15 are ready to go on these 15x7J rims.


Click me


Click me


Click me

Finally got around to making an extra leg for the AFM bracket. In the absence of welding kit & ability this has turned into a brazing experiment. Will add a hose clamp just in case as well! You might recognise the parts as they were originally the Y bracket for the radiator that we've not used:


Click me