May 17, 2006
Its on the road finally. I took it a couple of weeks ago just days after installing the new tii master cylinder to a gathering and auto show. Five of us turned out and I got to see just how bad mine looks compared to the others. Of course when you are on a limited budget it is hard to get it all done at once. Now that it is on the road though it is officially a rolling project. One of the things I had noticed long ago was that the steering had a lot of play in it. I did some research on the FAQ and found how to adjust it. I turned the adjustment screw 1/4 turn and it helped a bunch. I also need to get it up on some ramps and go over the nuts and bolts again, I'm very nervous about things coming apart, even though I torqued them down. While it is up I'm going to replace the rear worn Boge with the used Bilstein HDs I got. After driving it some I have found the rear to be very loose and I'm hoping those will help.
As for how everything else is working. The engine is strong, but puffs a little on acceleration after sitting for a bit. The brakes are excellent with the new MC and I finally have an 02 with a working e-brake. The new instrument cluster looks great in there.
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Notice the flame surfacing on mine. Ok so it is where I bent the fender, luckily I have a replacement one. Body work is the next big project, it needs a lot of work. When I get done I should be pretty good at it.
April 28, 2006
Well, I finally got the brakes fixed. Turns out the Master Cylinder was bad, slowly leaking. I got a new tii one from Bavauto.com and it took about 3 hours total to install it over a couple of days. Using the pressure brake bleeder made the bleeding process easy. I'll document this upgrade once I get the pictures off the camera and test out the 02. I'll also be documenting the CRX heater valve replacement procedure and installing a refreshed instrument cluster.
April 14, 2006
Well, the garage is still getting cleaner and I'm still going through parts. I still haven't got to take the 02 out on the road since the family was sick the last couple of days. I still need to bleed the brakes which I will hopefully do tomorrow, after I mow the yard. Geez, looking at the pic below I just realized that is just primer there, I need to put at least one coat of spray on there so it matches the rest of the car.
April 10, 2006
Haven't had much time lately to update the site.
At least I've had some time to work on the 02 though. I have finally got both
sides of the front suspension done..jpg)
It's a little dirty down there, but it is better than it was. The rotors have been replaced and all the bushings (except the sway bars) are urethane. I also replaced the bearings.
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This last weekend I worked on cleaning up my side of the garage. Bought some shelves at Sam's and start sorting through my parts. It's amazing what you find in the boxes of old stuff.
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And here it is only needing a few more things done. One of them being another bleeding of the brakes. The pedal is still too soft and it takes a few pumps to firm up. Also need to replace the heater box with the one that is still in the trunk.
And finally,
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The little knob on the engine mount, should it be down farther?
February 25, 2006
Cleaned out the hub and attached it to the new rotor, making sure to put anti-seize grease on the bolts. The grease that came out of there was almost black, I don't think that was the original color. Once classes are over for this semester I should be able to do a bit more, or course I only have a week until the next ones start.
February 18, 2006
Finally got a little time and the tools need to separate the hub from the rotor. Those bolts where it there good. Not even my air impact wrench could get it after torching them for a while. So I had to pull out the big guns. Actually, this tool has help a number of times. What is it? None other than the extension handle for my 2.5 ton jack. Fits nicely over the handle of the 1/2" socket wrench and gives just enough leverage to break those suckers free. Now I just need to clean the hub out.
February 5, 2006
The brake rotors and bearings arrived last Monday, but I'm just now able to update the site. I compared the new rotor with the old one.
Big difference. The old one was 6mm, 9mm should be the minimum. New is 12 or 13 I think. Wednesday I don't have class, so right now I'm planning on getting some work done that night.
January 28, 2006
Last night I got to work on the 02 for a bit. I removed the last rubber bushing in the control arm, it took a bit more to remove than the other did. I thought it was because it was in good shape. Once it was out I could tell it was worn, not as bad as the other one though.
Once it was out I went to work on getting the urethane ones in. Just like on the back ones they weren't that hard to get in, once I had it figured out. One end was easier than the other and they both took different methods for going in. One end I had to put both urethane parts in and then push and hammer in the metal tube. Of course using a rubber mallet to not damage the items, can't say the same for my finger though, surprisingly it is only a little blood blister.
The other end I inserted one urethane part with the metal tube and then hammered in the other side, it took all of 20 seconds to do.
Monday my rotors and bearings should arrive. UPS shows them here in KC just waiting to be delivered. While I am waiting on them though I need to clean up my heater box I got from Keith. The one currently in the car doesn't have a working fan.
This one does.
January 23, 2006
My Motive brake bleeder arrived today. It is the pressure bleeder kind that BavAuto sells, actually the BavAuto one is just a re-branded Motive from what I understand. Now I'll be able to do a thorough bled of the brakes to get rid of the softness. And if it isn't that, well, I ordered the new rotors and bearings that I have been needing. This weekend I plan on working on the bushings that I took apart a couple of months ago. It is only the left front, but the whole thing is taken apart right now. I need to go to the BMW dealer to get new hub bolts for the rotors and ball joint bolts as I will probably replace those too.
I will be reworking this site too. My web space is running low so I will be removing photos that I used as mainly reference during my 3 year project. Plus I will be trying to put items together to get a clearer picture of what it takes to work on one of these cars.
January 17, 2006
This is the beginning of my 02 blog. Hopefully I will be able to keep this some what up to date with anything that is going on the with the 02. I'll hopefully be able to order the remaining parts I need to get the 02 on the road once again and make the deadline to make it to the MidAmerica02Fest in April.
