1978 Pickup, giving her some love...

[94touring]

I probably have some rockers here I could send to you for postage.   If they work we can work out a deal, if not you can mail them back.

[Jims5543]

Deal!  Sending email.

[Jims5543]

Oh and another anomaly...

When the car is cold and not warmed up yet, no knocking, the warmer it gets the louder the knock... and by knock I mean a wrapping sound that could be confused with a bearing knock, but I am sure it is not.

I also notice at different loads and RPM's it seems to change and there is a sweet spot around 3K rpm with no load where it goes away.

This is going to be interesting chasing down.

[94touring]

I wish I was more engine savvy but I am not. 

[Mudhen]

Doesn't that make sense for main bearings?  When cold the oil is thick as mud...no knocking.  As it warms up and thins out the knocking starts up.

Or what about crank thrust washers?  When you hit that 3k rpm sweet spot with no load on anything there's no play?

I would drain whatever oil is in there out...don't put anything else in it.  Then start it up, crank it to 9k or so...

Then build a new motor.  Easy peasy.

4.gif

[Richard1]

Unfortunately by the time most people find me it is forensic. Dead.
But
Yes, sounds more like main bearings, and those are not that hard to replace.
I would not suspect the thrust bearings as the would normally only show up on acceleration deceleration change. but you can just push or pull on the pulley to see that. I had extreme play in my Corvair engine.

[Jims5543]

When I start up cold there is a loud knock, then the oil pressure rises after seconds and the knock is gone, then is is very quiet. Then as it heats up a different sounding knock makes its arrival.

I will see if I have any shaft play. Really dreading the inevitable, at least until I get into my new home. I have no garage space here and a engine pull and rebuild, while not impossible will be a PITA I am really hoping our meeting Monday with the builder gives me happy answers. If I get what I want I will get a 22x35 garage space purely for playing car.

[Richard1]

This is what I built. In general for two cars, but I can fit three in it. Work bench is 8' x 3" lumber mounted in end walls.
Tool/work area separated with lockable sliding door.

[Jims5543]

Nice setup Richard I love it!!  I also love your cars, is that a E30 Vert I see?  and a Nader mobile!!  LOL!!

This is my initial plan I made this up last night to bring to the builder. This is the plan for the garage / office. Once this is built I will move my business into it.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8RAuWivhfQTc2NwYThUb09Qc3M/edit?usp=sharing

[Richard1]

Yep, 1988 325ic.


More pics on http://www.widman.biz/Corvair/English/Other/bmw.html

The Corvair restoration is detailed in
http://www.widman.biz/Corvair/English/index.html

[Jims5543]

My son is a E30 fanatic, he currently has a 318is with a 1995 M3 Motor swapped in. Total wolf in sheeps clothing.

This is his 3rd E30 that has owned. Now he is toying with moving on to something newer, he was looking at the new 128i. Which is really a detuned 130i seems the 3.0 is used in the 125 and 128 and the X3.  In the X3 is has 280HP in the 128 it has 230 and in the 125 it has 210(?)  The only real difference is the ECU mapping which tuners are having a hell of a time cracking.

Gotta head out in the field will check out the Corvair build this evening.

Sons 318is:



Not exactly a 1.8 in there.  :D

[Jims5543]

Thanks Dan!! Your influence on me is astounding.

This will eliminate the question of the bad rocker arm(s)



I also purchased a new spring and cover for the oil pressure regulator.

[94touring]

 73.gif

[Richard1]

One of the interesting features of my BMW is that I got it in 1996 by making a ridiculously low bid at a sealed bid auction. I bid at the insistence of the guy in charge who said he would not be offended by any bid. That the auction closed in a few hours and his job was to see that it went to the highest bidder, no matter what the bid was. I was going to bid half the appraised value, then added a thousand for good measure.

He called that night and said congratulations.

[Jims5543]

Phase 1 of the roll bar and nautical brightwork removal complete. Phase 2 will remove the diamond plating and replace with a custom made vinyl bed cover. I am trying to utilize the existing hardware left over from a previous soft bed cover, existing on the truck.

[94touring]

Weight reduction mods!  Which actually are probably significant given the weight of the car to begin with. 

[Jims5543]

Great news!!  I stopped off at a boat canvas manufacturer to see if they could help me, they only do boats but told me about an out of the way shop near my house that might do it.

I stopped off there this afternoon, and it turns out the owner lives in my neighborhood 2 blacks from me.

He came by my house and checked out the Mini, I am dropping it off to his shop on Thursday and he is making 2 covers, 1 black and 1 white made out of heavy duty vinyl. He is also replacing all the hardware with stainless.  In addition he can get the stringers that bow up the cover for $10 each. Total cost in parts will be around $100 then I just need to pay his labor.

Dan, I thought of you right away and wondered if there was a way to do this long distance. I will inquire on Thursday.

I am pretty stoked right now, this is happening a lot faster than expected. I decided to get 2 colors for a couple of reasons, one was because I was not sure which color will look better, and second, if I like the white on there I will save it for car shows, meets, etc.. and use the black one for daily work duties.

Should be done by Monday if all goes as planned.

[94touring]

the owner lives in my neighborhood 2 blacks from me.

Damn racist, LOL. 

That is awesome.  Make an extra "black" one and I'll buy it and pay shipping.  I'll need the hardware and stringers also.  Let me know the final cost after labor.   

[Jims5543]

the owner lives in my neighborhood 2 blacks from me.

Damn racist, LOL. 

That is awesome.  Make an extra "black" one and I'll buy it and pay shipping.  I'll need the hardware and stringers also.  Let me know the final cost after labor.   

Not that easy. Remember I have a very custom bed on mine and yours probably measures different.

We may be able to do this using my car as a partial template and you supplying measurements. 

My bed measures 47 7/8" across and 50" from the back of the cab to the end of the bed. I have a 5/8" wood rail on top of the bed all around.

I would love to remove it but fear there is nothing under it. I am really not too sure what is going on back there.

Here are a few pics of my setup:





Should I try to remove the fiberglass / wood lining inside?

Some pics of the inside of the bed:


This is right above the wheel well:


Some shots from underneath, I think there is metal there, I think this is just an elaborate bed liner:



hmmm... gonna get under there and replace the fuel filter.

[94touring]

Oh ok.  Yeah just subtract the wood from the dimensions and Bob's your fathers brother. 

[Jims5543]

Get me a pic of your bed so I can compare, I really want all this removed from mine. I would love to get it back down to the original bed.

[94touring]

Here's a view of what it should look like. 

[Jims5543]

Whoa.... I have a lot of shit in my bed.

Take that out of context Dan!!  ;D

I think I may go to work on it tomorrow evening.  Progress pics to follow.

[94touring]

I hope you're weighing all this extra crap you're taking off.  I'm curious how weighted down you are.  Also a bit scared what you may find under there!  Pickups tend to have lived a rough life as work trucks. 

[Jims5543]

Yeah, I will get a total weight of the ballast once it is removed.

LOL is is 1:20 in the morning here and I just spent about 45 minutes in the garage trying to take that stuff off. So many screws, so much caulking.

If I can just get the top rail off by Thursday I will be happy, I am not 100% sure how it is on there yet, it is loose so there is that.

I am not much of a woodworker but there seems to be plugs inserted into holes, hiding screws that are holding it on. I was able to put a wood screw into a few and pop some of the plugs out. Others are in there good, time to get something more aggressive.