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Turbo Fondant
Oct 25, 2010

In case you've missed the story so far, on New Year's I bought a '77 320i for $600:

with intent to run it in TM3TW. Between a downright awful winter slowing progress, some incorrect assumptions I made about the extent of the PO's hamfuckery and the condition of the fuel system along with a couple other mistakes (like drunken acrobatics spraining my Lisfranc's ligament days before the rally, derp) I ended up riding shotgun in the Acura for that event.
Anyway I spent the rest of this past summer sussing out CIS problems and finally traced the last mystery down to an incorrect relay. This one in fact:

That purple motherfucker, which I assumed to be ok, was a standard SPDT relay when what needs to be there is a hosed up SPST with two 87 terminals (yes you read that right). So since one terminal which needed an 87 got an 87a instead, with the fuel pump on it was powering the frequency valve (the valve K-Lambda systems use to modify injection pressure based on O2 sensor output) with no ECU to ground it and with it off it was powering the ECU, which would then cycle the ground on and off on a dead FV circuit. Interestingly the reason I was so thoroughly confounded by this was there was a clusterfuck of really bad grounds which caused some backfeeding that made the system function sort of properly, when I fixed the grounds it died.
With that relay bypassed and both powered at the same time I was able to drive it:

It actually drives pretty drat nicely. It's not as slow as I thought, anyway and the transmission is nice if a bit notched in 2nd. The suspension feels a bit off (as it should with dogshit bushings, 70s spring rates and shocks that have probably been empty for decades) and the brakes still need work, or at least a good flogging to finish de-rusting. However the biggest problem I found on the road is that it's entirely too loud. I think it needs muffler bearings.

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Turbo Fondant
Oct 25, 2010

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Unless you've been on Slack, in which case this already has all the continuity of Arrested Development before they recut season 4. Most of this stuff happened between the rally and last month when I had the relay epiphany.
The stock seat was okay, but half-off day at the junkyard, the fact that stock didn't set me in the car quite where I ought to be and my love of Honda seats saw me sticking a DC4 seat in it anyway. BMW and Honda must have the same seat supplier- if I hadn't elected to solid mount the seat for a little extra head and legroom it would've just about bolted up.


Since the car sat from '02 to the end of '17 in a field, there were mice. Boost is no good if I'm in the hospital dying of hantavirus. It's not the worst infestation I've seen (that honor goes to a '71 T-bird sedan which took 3 weeks to clean out, had a couple dozen corpses in various states of decay and about 2 gallons of turds throughout- and I never got to even drive the prick) and the PO cleaned most of it out before selling the car, but the headliner on these cars is filled with an underlay-like insulation that might as well be the Rodent Hilton.
RIP two shop vacs (although the first one was free from the gettin' spot and had one caster in the grave anyway)


I'm not sure why I left the new seat in for all manners of hell and mouse turds to rain down on it, but I suppose that was easier to vacuum than the factory carpets so meh.

While I was going through the electrics the factory ignition switch failed, so it got a genuine Powerfister tractor ignition switch and slapped it up on the left side of the dash cluster like a Porsche. Note to anyone who wants to steal my car: that rear defog switch runs the fuel pump.


It also got a wing off a third gen Camaro, the same wing my own had (and I wish I'd kept that one cause they're kind of rare being the dealer-installed non-IROC wing and this junkyard one was lovely) and a new badge:

Oops I think I got the wrong numbers

Kia Soul Enthusias
May 9, 2004

zoom-zoom
Toilet Rascal
I'm glad you got it and are fixing it. I hate it when stuff goes to waste.

NitroSpazzz
Dec 9, 2006

You don't need style when you've got strength!


Always good to see another E21 brought back to driver status. I have a crate of parts so if you need something ping me and I can see if I have it before you order it...unless it's something you need asap.

I'm kind of torn on what to do with mine. I rebuilt the suspension and stuff a couple winters ago setting it up for track days. Now I have a couple better options for track days so I may soften it up a little bit. It isn't horrible on the road but it isn't comfortable either.

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
This thing is a lot cooler than the E12 I worked on.

Turbo Fondant
Oct 25, 2010

Seat Safety Switch posted:

This thing is a lot cooler than the E12 I worked on.

Nah, E12 had racecar points. This thing would get kicked off most racetracks before it even broke.

Grakkus
Sep 4, 2011

Nice, you are a cool dude for saving a neglected old car.

Fo3
Feb 14, 2004

RAAAAARGH!!!! GIFT CARDS ARE FUCKING RETARDED!!!!

(I need a hug)
Yay muffler bearings!
I wish my battery wasn't in that spot. For me it's going to be a PITA relocating the battery in it's true place under the rear seat for a e34, or I squeeze the bearings under the block (i've seen one 535 do it, but a PITA for rhd steering as that's in the way there as well.)

Fo3 fucked around with this message at 14:59 on Oct 18, 2018

Turbo Fondant
Oct 25, 2010

what the gently caress this isn't a BMW

I broke a weld in the ole GMT800's seatback. :btroll:

Not only that, but it was already torn pretty bad when I pulled it from a miled out 1 ton in the junkyard 3 years ago.

Fortunately these seats are extremely modular and I was able to just swap the back from an Escalanche in a little less than an hour. Hilariously, Pick-n-pull does not have line items for individual seat components so it took the.staff a few minutes to figure out what to charge me (we ended up at $11, not tea bag)

It's a little weird with the well worn rear end and significantly less broken-in back, but it's nice to have working power bolsters now- the old ones had no foam left to push against, lol. The rear end cushion is a 30 second two-bolt pull on these trucks so I'll get one later.

I did do some farting around mocking stuff up through the week, this seems to be the best place for everything:

I also put the snap ring in the compressor housing, and with how much of a pain in the dick that was I'm declaring that snail permanently clocked. I can still play with the V-band on the turbine end if the need arises but I've theoretically got room for everything.

meatpimp
May 15, 2004

Psst -- Wanna buy

:) EVERYWHERE :)
some high-quality thread's DESTROYED!

:kheldragar:

NumbersMatching320 posted:

The rear end cushion is a 30 second two-bolt pull on these trucks so I'll get one later.

Seriously? I need to fix the outside bolster of the driver's seat bottom on my Escalade... for some reason I thought it'd be more of a pain than that. I'll have to look into it. Thanks!

Turbo Fondant
Oct 25, 2010

meatpimp posted:

Seriously? I need to fix the outside bolster of the driver's seat bottom on my Escalade... for some reason I thought it'd be more of a pain than that. I'll have to look into it. Thanks!

Yeah, 2 5/16, 1/2" hex nuts on the bottom of the forward edge (just look for the coppery colored studs 3-4" back) and there's 2 plastic clips in keyholes in the back, just lift the studs out with the nuts off, slide it forward, wiggle it while pulling up (you can reach around the bottom and guide the gland end through the hole :pervert: if they're stubborn) and disconnect all the electrics.

meatpimp
May 15, 2004

Psst -- Wanna buy

:) EVERYWHERE :)
some high-quality thread's DESTROYED!

:kheldragar:

NumbersMatching320 posted:

Yeah, 2 5/16, 1/2" hex nuts on the bottom of the forward edge (just look for the coppery colored studs 3-4" back) and there's 2 plastic clips in keyholes in the back, just lift the studs out with the nuts off, slide it forward, wiggle it while pulling up (you can reach around the bottom and guide the gland end through the hole :pervert: if they're stubborn) and disconnect all the electrics.

Interesting. I may try that tomorrow. The padding is fine, but part of the bolster padding is bunched up. If I can just get to it and fabric tape it down, it'll be fine.

Turbo Fondant
Oct 25, 2010

NumbersMatching320 posted:


I also put the snap ring in the compressor housing, and with how much of a pain in the dick that was I'm declaring that snail permanently clocked. I can still play with the V-band on the turbine end if the need arises but I've theoretically got room for everything.

Whoops, lol no.
The CIS air meter isn't going to work right if there's boost inside it, how the hell did I overlook this? I'm tooling up to move that from its cozy spot under the intake to the RF corner, it should fit but it's gonna be interesting to plumb the meter outlet to the turbo inlet. IT's a good thing I already found a cheap source for the appropriate tubing when I had to redo the broken WUR signal line, cause I ordered 20ft of it this week and that's going to be just enough to do the injector lines, I'll probably need another 15ft for the rest of the sytem.
In the meantime, I started refitting the GDCS:


I didn't take any 'before' pics here but the prior arrangement was a hodgepodge of E21 and E30 hoses which was fine as it stood but the hoses and thermostat were making contact with the turbo manifold and all of the hoses were originals. I swapped these for a slightly different hodgepodge of new E21 and E30 hoses and it all clears.
So my plan, as alluded to in the pic I quoted, is to delete the high beams (the outer headlight has low/hi as well and I can make up the difference with driving lights) and use the left hole as a cooling inlet for the intercooler and the right one as an air inlet (removing the right one wasn't the original plan, but now that I'm moving the CIS meter over the filter pretty much has to live in that hole, plus the symmetry will look slightly less illegal). IC position looked good during initial mockup, but when the light came out ehh, maybe not so great:

I mean I could elaborately duct around that but I'm limited for room. Going to remove some of that green metal, the hood latch lives there but I can't get it working particularly well anyway so I'm probably going to secure the hood with pins or more tractor parts. So anyway the IC has to move outboard, but it's got no more room. So I notched the (structural) inner fender:


You'll have to take my word that it now sits centered around the headlight, the front clip is kind of scattered right now.
I've got to box that hole in, so I got myself an early birthday present:

It had a lovely busted 120v cord with a badly connected Home Depot plug on it, which caused it to not work worth a poo poo, which got me a smokin' deal on it. An old 12AWG extension cord (Miller puts 14AWG on it from factory, what the gently caress?) and a roll of fluxcore later it works a treat.
So I started making a downpipe:

My method of measuring irregular circumference was a bit off, I'd figured a 3" pipe would've fit perfectly snug in there. Oh well, I have propane and propane accessories. Side note, this motherfucker running on map-pro is about as good as a tiger torch. Sort of terrifying on green-bottle camping propane, as when it's wide open it intermittently spits liquid fuel and makes big ole fireballs, however. Absolute shitfucker of a torch anyway, get one when it's on sale and don't use it indoors.
I'm missing some progress pics here, I broke a pair of worn out channel locks forming the pipe and the resulting frustration put me on a bit of a warpath. Stretching and forming the pipe into shape with heat is probably not the correct way to do this but I'm not expecting a ton of longevity from anything in this car and the pipe seemed to be a nice soft conformable steel with tons of thickness to spare (16 gauge advertised, measured .058", goddamn) so I'm sure it'll bear it for a while.
Not my best welds ever but I'm happy with my penetration all the way around this:

The ones around the outside look like dogshit thanks to the gap weirdness but are much less critical and still hook up so whatever.



Oh and I got to work on relocating the battery. Pulled the carpet out to stake out a tray location anOOOOOSHIT


Cleaned it up, there's 3 weak spots and one hole. I'm kinda pissed, it's positioned right next to a brake line fitting I was fighting with back in February and I coulda got a wrench through there and saved myself a load of grief. Lesson learned: make sure when you're checking a trunk floor prior to sale you look at the whole trunk, not just the spare well. That woulda been a negotiating point worth at least $50 on the purchase price

Sidenote: I dug out my actual good camera so image quality should drastically improve from here out. Unless I get lazy, the old burner phone is pretty convenient what with the auto sync stuff. Some of my pictures will suck less, anyway.

Turbo Fondant
Oct 25, 2010

Whoa, already doing anti-archive bumps here (how long does that take? gently caress it, playing it safe). I suck at project threads still. I got some minor work done (no pics) but the holiday timesink ate most of my life the past month and change. Left headlight bucket has been singled out and braced up with a new support, floor has a lovely patch mostly welded down so I can mount the battery tray to something that isn't threatening to fall out, some more downpipe got tacked on for mockup and the distributor had the vacuum advance pot replaced with a vac advance/boost retard pot off a turbo redblock (gotta love Bosch parts binning, that poo poo took 5 minutes and was basically free). I also spun the distributor around to a more suitable position so the pot doesn't interfere with the downpipe, really glad that distributor mounts with a pinch bolt cause I'd have had mega trouble with the stock clocking. Note: always mark your distributor twice when you pull it, I almost had to totally retime it cause the first mark I made was not along the line where the thing actually comes out- but my mark on the plastic rotor skirt saved the day.
Zero progress on the CIS relocation, I'm totally hung up on how I want the tube routing and the packaging to work. I am deeply regretting not hanging the turbo up above the hood at this point but to get there from here is a fuckton more work than making it fit inside the engine bay, just gonna take some fancy footwork and a lot more beerthinking.

Turbo Fondant
Oct 25, 2010

Been working a reasonable amount but nothing really very interesting or worth posting about until like this week.
I got a bottle of C25 and made a welder cart

I flipped the dipstick tube over and plumbed the turbo oil return to it. If I kill this engine via oil starvation because I can't check the oil warm or the tube isn't big enough and I pressurize it and blow oil everywhere then you guys have to quote this post and make fun of me about it k?

Gord there's so much more room without the CIS meter in there (still haven't 100% decided where to put that)

Nice of em to leave a hole there

This is how the oil feed/pressure gauge/dizzy situation all ended up, nice and comfy

Downpipe joints finish welded, just need to weld a V-band to the end, maybe a little support tab since it's not far from a bell bolt and a couple O2 bungs

I'm not sure the absurdity of putting 3" pipe behind such a tiny turbo really shows in this pic the way it did IRL when I put the pipe in the vise. The car also really doesn't want to have pipe that big under it, I'm definitely going to bottom out on this at some point and swear at it. Looking back I'd have gone with my original plan of a 3" cutoff with removable hood stack and a reduction to 2.5 before it went under the car, but I'm not ordering pipe twice and the extra diameter should help with the boost creep and underhood temp issues I'll no doubt face.
Also got some plug wire wrap and some exhaust wrap on the way to keep things sort of happy here.



On a better note, I am very glad I lost the minivan wastegate pot and grabbed one off a Saab to replace it. The Dodge pot would've taken twice that space and probably needed me to actually put effort into this bracket, rather than just drilling 5 holes in a piece of binned angle iron.

Turbo Fondant fucked around with this message at 06:00 on Feb 15, 2019

meatpimp
May 15, 2004

Psst -- Wanna buy

:) EVERYWHERE :)
some high-quality thread's DESTROYED!

:kheldragar:

This is a good thread.

NitroSpazzz
Dec 9, 2006

You don't need style when you've got strength!


I have 2 1/4" exhaust on mine and I've only scraped it a couple times with the car sitting around 1.5 inches lower than stock.

Took mine for a spin this morning...yours is going to be so much fun with boost.

meatpimp
May 15, 2004

Psst -- Wanna buy

:) EVERYWHERE :)
some high-quality thread's DESTROYED!

:kheldragar:

NumbersMatching320 posted:

Yeah, 2 5/16, 1/2" hex nuts on the bottom of the forward edge (just look for the coppery colored studs 3-4" back) and there's 2 plastic clips in keyholes in the back, just lift the studs out with the nuts off, slide it forward, wiggle it while pulling up (you can reach around the bottom and guide the gland end through the hole :pervert: if they're stubborn) and disconnect all the electrics.

Thanks for this, I finally got to it. Yes, the seat bottom is that easy to get loose. Unfortunately, I had 8 connectors to remove, and I still had one long loom running from the seat to a module bolted to the floor. I never got it fully removed, but I got enough room to pull back the leather and remove the area that had bunched up, solving the problem!

Turbo Fondant
Oct 25, 2010

^^^Appreciate the comments, guys. Also glad to hear you got the seat sorted Meatpimp.

I welded a pocket and some studs:


Bracket make:


IC half mounted. Don't mind the alternator in frame, that one got binned


Then I took a few weeks off. Finished patching the trunk and mounting the battery tray this week though:

Good to be back at it.

autism ZX spectrum
Feb 8, 2007

by Lowtax
Fun Shoe
I had one of these cars, originally in that exact shade of green then repainted to a canary yellow sometime in the 80s/90s judging by how loving thick the paint was. It was a rust bucket with some really dodgy fiberglass work and I ended up getting rid of it before I got it running. I can't wait to see this finished. Have you had any issues with coolant leaking through the long as gently caress exhaust studs?

Turbo Fondant
Oct 25, 2010

Oil, but yeah. Got some thread goop for that and it's actually nearing the top of my to-do list at the moment since the more turbo mockup I finalize the more work it is to rip the whole works back off to do manifold stuff.

Turbo Fondant
Oct 25, 2010

Oh no, we're at the archive line again. Since my last post I've uhh, pulled the pin on my job (the new one is a little not great for the work/life balance, it turns out), got a bunch of not particularly photogenic stuff done on this car, put a chicken on the BOV, left a can of bug spray on the wing and wrecked my lovely paint, stripped the gently caress out of the first junkyard E21 I've seen since owning this one, bought a pretty Volvo, blew it up, pulled the BMW out to put a transmission in said Volvo and just got it back in the shop today.

Sgt Fox
Dec 21, 2004

It's the buzzer I love the most. Makes me feel alive. Makes the V8's dead.
jfc, that chicken is killing me.

Powershift
Nov 23, 2009


The next time you're in Princess auto, check the auto aisle of the surplus section. The one here had some REALLY bad knock-off ///M badges in with the stick on fendavents They also have some gold plated M3 style fendavents that would like, triple your horsepower.

What is your plan, visually? sticking with the classic patina, or bondo and spraybomb?

Turbo Fondant
Oct 25, 2010

I'm part way through a super lovely spraybomb job actually, just waiting til I figure out what I'm gonna do with that big stupid hole in the hood before I finish. I _should_ be patching a bunch of the other rust holes as well but ehh, if the inclination strikes I have lots more Powerfist Deere Green waiting on the shelf (lol it is soooo cheap when it's on sale but you really need to put a different nozzle on the can for the paint to be the least bit compliant). Priority is now winterizing the truck tho, I put the GMT900 brakes on it so I have to get some 17" winters together as well as swap the muffler ($30 Summit special blew a hole in the case lol) and maybe even get the ABS working finally. Oh and fix the seater heaters, the new seatback has a burnt element and I set it up to use only that temp sensor, so it basically just :supaburn:s my rear end while freezing my lumbar now and it sucks

I kind of want to do a W\\\ but it's already got the 420i badge so I'm not sure if M-stuff is the right sort of irony.

meatpimp
May 15, 2004

Psst -- Wanna buy

:) EVERYWHERE :)
some high-quality thread's DESTROYED!

:kheldragar:

The above post gave me anxiety.

Turbo Fondant
Oct 25, 2010

For me, a lot of anxiety comes from having something too nice. I start to get all Gollum/Stan over my own poo poo and then when the inevitable happens I'm crushed. Somebody backed into my truck at some point over the weekend (no note, street parked in front of my house) and while I really hate that on top of all the winterization I've also got to replace some front clip parts and a light (send me your escalade clip and I'll convert lol) and straighten that goddamn bumper again I'm already kind of over being hit. I'm still not over my Lexus and that was a couple years ago now.

NitroSpazzz
Dec 9, 2006

You don't need style when you've got strength!


NumbersMatching320 posted:

For me, a lot of anxiety comes from having something too nice.

This is why my daily is 20 years old and worth maybe $1k on a good day, I never worry about where I park or if someone is going to bump it. I get anxious when I take out one of the nicer cars and sometimes have trouble relaxing even while driving it. Wife wonders why I don't get a nice daily, this is exactly why. It's why I enjoy taking the hail damaged, rusting 320i out on weekends more than the M3.

Turbo Fondant
Oct 25, 2010

Tonight!
The safest exhaust routing presents itself

Some gauges point at zero

And an engine bay sits mostly assembled.


I've switched jobs again, afternoon shift wasn't my thing it turns out. In the space between catching up on living since then and the oncoming holiday poo poo show I got a ton of stuff done. It's back to very nearly running condition with a Toyota alternator, a homemade air inlet on the CIS box- itself made of 3 different CIS boxes, a plumbing tetris clusterfuck that would make a current BMW engineer proud and I'm not far off from full wideband on the factory CIS ECU. I've got some vacuum/pressure hiccups related to adding 8 feet and 16 joints to the intake tract and a WUR that wasn't meant for this system before it'll run well enough for video but it has run a significant amount now in various states of completeness while checking timing and making sure the oil system is still going strong with the weird poo poo I did plumbing the turbo. Minivan turbos sound so cute :3:

meatpimp
May 15, 2004

Psst -- Wanna buy

:) EVERYWHERE :)
some high-quality thread's DESTROYED!

:kheldragar:

Now all it needs is a burnout.

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
Looks like it could use some orange RTV.

Turbo Fondant
Oct 25, 2010

meatpimp posted:

Now all it needs is a burnout.

Actually the next page of my to-do list is "needs before doing a burnout"

Turbo Fondant
Oct 25, 2010

So I drove it again, brakes were still awful and a hard application at 70km/h set off the warning light. Checked the fronts, my artisanal hand-rebuilt calipers and lines all held fluid and the rotors/pads are in spec. Rears, welp. The E21 uses a kind of funky brake design (at least to my eye, which is used to Japanese and American drum brakes) which, rather than using a wheel cyl with a limited stroke and depending on an aduster to move the anchor point of the shoes apart as they wear, has a fixed anchor and a wheel cyl with enough stroke for as much travel as the shoes could possibly need even with 100% wear (and beyond, as I found out) and instead makes a manual adjustment on how far each individual shoe can retract, so it's not using the whole master cyl's stroke worth of fluid to apply. It's goddamn brilliant, except that they clocked the brake so that one of the aduster cams is pointed right at the trailing arm. Oh and this car was a winter beater before sitting for 16 years. Oh and the PO ran the brakes so far past spec (and already seized and rounded off by the time he was dickering with it in 2002) that he was using the parking brake adjuster to squeeze a bit more adjustment out of the brake- which does get you some pedal back, but it also makes the parking cable a stressed member on every brake application and runs the risk of pop-out at the wheel cylinder. No wonder they felt weird.
So anyway, I had to pull one of the backing plates clear off to file the hex on the one aduster cam down a size and hit it with an impact to free it up, soaked the other two pins in weasel piss for a couple weeks to get them unseized. Then it got a full rear brake job including the RR wheel cylinder (oh yeah that was seized too). The parking adjuster nuts ended up on the opposite ends of their studs from where they were and while I haven't driven it since, I've got a noticeably higher pedal even without vacuum in the booster.
Only took one picture here, but it sums the ordeal up nicely.

So I got sick of the passenger's seat wobbling around while doing some electrical. The mounts had cracked on PO and he welded them back together with a bit of fluxcore wire and some jumper cables, it looks like. The repair buckled and this caused the bits of bracket that were still holding on to buckle away from the door sill. Not great. Welded everything back together, then welded some fresh brackets to another Integra seat (passenger side even gets a sliding mechanism, such luxury!)



then went to bolt it up and... nope. Old seat was structurally compromised in a way that matched the brackets, so the new one with all that Honda straightness, squareness and rigidity sat all funky. Part of the floor was buckled too thanks to the rocker rot and an incident when I unloaded the car, so I smashed that back down and got the brackets straightened out with a large hammer and some finesse.


:pcgaming: It's got wideband now! :pcgaming: It doesn't really run any better with or without it, because I still have vac/boost leaks to chase down I think. Still, nice to have and I'll eventually pair a gauge to it so I know when DANGER TO MANIFOLD.


Exhaust mockup continued.

Screw it, the case OD is 4" why would I go back down to 3? Funny story, when I bought that tip I gave the parts guy the part number, he went to the back and grabbed it, starts making the invoice up and asks me, "So, puttin' a stack on your diesel?"
"Side piping my BMW, actually"
"..."

wherein '...' is a look of stern disapproval and literally no other words. Just handed me the paper when it came off the printer and walked away.

Eventually gonna put a heat shield over it for more '70s flair/to stop my ankle burner from actually burning ankles/to hide the fact that it comes out from under the car in kind of a weird spot. Here's a halfass mockup that's also the only shot of the muffler and tip I have after welding/paint somehow?


So anyway, if I hang that muffler off the metal that's there I make it a bitch to do rocker patches later, so I might as well do rocker patches now (esp since I've already got the carpet peeled back for the seat stuff). At least the one. Priced out sheet metal, lol whole replacement panels are cheaper than enough raw stock to make one and both are better than this thing deserves. I bought a $20 filing cabinet at the ReStore and cut it up. I've been poking and prodding at it for a couple of months but it's time to get the Volvo in for a timing belt and some suspension stuff, so I've been hauling rear end the last couple weeks.

The rot around the rear crossmember mount is pretty extensive, the top of the mount is still in good steel but there's a second layer that's thoroughly compromised. I'm getting some of that strength back by putting a brace at the bottom where the pinch weld used to be, this tube also makes a good foundation to rebuild the rockers around. You can see the bit toward the front where I've patched over some rot where the floor pan comes out toward the rocker.


From there, I bridged out to wherever I could find good metal.


There's a little pedestal that goes from the door sill to the jacking point, I never got a pic of it but I reinforced what was there, replaced what wasn't and then boxed it all in to give it a little more structure.


And now I can jack the front up without crispy noises!


I've got a couple more layers to go but I've already got a ton of structure back. It's surprising how much metal a unibody can be missing and still hold itself together (such as this thing was, anyway)- and feels real good to be putting some metal back into one for once (even if I'm hamfucking it a bit).

e: oh and I did another thing

Turbo Fondant fucked around with this message at 05:29 on May 4, 2020

randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

3rd gen Integra seats?

edit: I'm a loving idiot, it was in one of the first posts. :doh: Those are some pretty decent seats. Have a DA seat sitting in my garage that I found next to someone's garbage awhile back, in shockingly good shape. I need to try and sell it... eventually. Or turn it into a desk chair.

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 12:21 on May 5, 2020

Turbo Fondant
Oct 25, 2010

I'd probably do the latter, seats are hard to sell IME.
But yeah, any 80s thru early-00s Honda seat is hard to beat and the Preludes and Integras always got the best ones. I've never owned a Honda but this is my third set of Honda seats lol.

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madattheinternet
May 8, 2004

PLEASE STOP! PLEASE!
Glad to see that after nearly a decade y’all are still buying bombed out rust bucket BMWs. My heart is whole now.

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