A Happy Chappy with a Chassis

Greetings all!

So what news? Well, big news - the chassis has arrived!! Went up last weekend to GKD HQ to pick up the lurvely fabricated Euro Chassis:

A fine piece of automotive fabrication

 Couldn't resist the urge to try it out immediately:

What instantly struck me was how compact it was - can seriously see just how you can get the weight so light- everything is well engineered into a very small package! When finished, this machine will be an O'Mara-guided missile :-) Looks like I might have to start a kit car diet - i was pretty much wearing the chassis rather than sitting in it. Plus, size 12 safety shoes will have to go - in that picture I'd be pressing all 3 pedals with one foot! I'm sure it's something I'll get used to though. Indeed, others have built these cars with a similar *ahem* "girth" to myself, and not had any issues.

It was great to meet Peter at last, and his helper "handsome Rob". Two extremely nice chaps, I could have spent all day chatting away to them; really looking forward to working with Peter on this project!

Weather was nice, and the drive was lovely (save for the M25 - it's always busy, glad I don't rely on it for commuting any more!), and despite a 9 hour day with 520 mile round trip; I was still beaming when I got it back into the workshop

vroom vroom! vroooooooooooooooooooooooooooom - stayed there for hours like this

also got a collection of smaller brackets and fabrications - pretty sure I know where these all go, or at least they should become apparent as the build starts.

So there you go, no excuses now! 

Firstly, need to focus on the dismantling of the old E36. It'll just never get done and stay in the way forever, so need to get that shell cut up and off to the scrappy. This weekend will focus on getting the diff and rear suspension off. Then really need to start refurbing the parts that have come off the old beemer - some things in desperate need of wire brush and hammerite. Peter mentioned about Land Rover engine mounts being the ones to go for (lucky I've got an account with the local Land Rover spare centre then, although I never ever thought I'd need it for this project!!) I also want to put a short shift kit on the gearbox - there was a finished car at GKD HQ and the gearchange felt really slick and sorted, so for £30 it's worth it. Also need a clutch in the old 328 lump, rather do it now than wait until I find it's knackered on the first drive. So it's time to smash the piggy bank open and see what's inside.

Talking to Peter it seems entirely possible to fit the engine and box first and work around it, perhaps slightly less efficient, but definitely possible. So that's where we'll go next!

Cheers,

Steve

Quick Update - Front Suspension, wheels off

Very quick update on the weekend's progress:

Took the wheels off - to say the wheel bolts were done up tight was the understatement of the year - wrecked two of my favourite 17mm sockets (chrome vanadium 1/2" drive as well so not exactly puny!!) ended up using a scaffold pole as the impact gun wouldn't shift em. They went with a crack and finally the wheels were free. I say free, took 10mins of hammering them with a rubber mallet to free... Oh and because I disconnected the brakes had the devil's own job to keep the front wheels still. So, small footnote to the likes of kwik fit, ATS, budget etc. "DON'T DO WHEEL NUTS UP WITH A WINDY-GUN TO 5,000,000 Nm!!! Please!!!"

Anyway, rant over!

Next up, got the steering rack off, and then lowered all the front suspension in a "oner". Springs and shocks not needed, but discs and calipers are (I think) so are going to need some major TLC or replacing methinks.

Photos:

Suspension hanging on for dear life - one of the ball joints in the subframe wouldn't quite let go as it was caught on the taper. Eventually, my persuadin' stick got as big as a 6lb lump hammer and it all let go...

Both front uprights, held loosely together by the anti-roll bar

Final shot of the car after this weekend:

Starting to look very bare now!

Trailer is full of scrap things that need weighing in, but the price of scrap metal is very poor at the moment (£100/tonne at the last count), but don't really want to be tripping over mounds of scrap metal all the time so will have to go soon.

Got quite a few bits now that need to be sold, scrapped, or refurbed for the build. And the chassis is arriving this weekend!! Need to crack on!

Engine out, and a bit of good news!

Good blog to you, fellow bloggers. I hope this blog finds you well, and that you've had a good blog this blog. (Is that the correct etiquette? who knows... or cares...)

So just a quick update this evening on progress. Firstly - the engine and gearbox are now out of the donor car. And secondly, and perhaps more exciting; Peter at GKD has sent me a message to inform me that the chassis is ready for collection this week! Hurrah!

So, engine story first:

After spending all of Saturday on it, and Monday/Tuesday evening, the engine and box are seperated from the vehicle. It wasn't too bad a job in the end, just time consuming. Perhaps the worst was removing the inlet manifold - just when you think it's disconnected there's another pesky hose jubilee clipped to it, or an electrical connector, or a hidden bracket, or... well, you get the idea. German over-engineering at its finest if you ask me, but hey ho learned a lesson there. Or I will when I have to try and put it back together!

Wiring harness then followed suit. Copius amounts of tape, marker pen; and being slow and methodical is my cunning plan to ensure everything ends up back where it should be.

Wiring harness, intake manifold, plastic engine covers:

Next was the exhaust which came off reasonably well, but is HUGE and VERY HEAVY. (for that read "ouch, my chest") Note the blue side skirts on the left of the picture which are themselves, length of the wheelbase of the car, added for size comparison to the massive exhaust:

 Next was the propshaft which was an utter pain the proverbial because the splines had rusted up so it wouldn't withdraw- I'd planned to leave it inplace until the diff was ready to come off, but in the end because I couldn't retract it from the output shaft of the gearbox, had to undo every bolt fore, aft, centre bearing and cross brace. But it's now off.

Next was the V belt and PAS pump, fairly straightforward.

Then finally to the gearshift lever - couldn't undo the plastic bushing (special BMW tool which I didn't have), and the bentley manual said the shift "console" would pop off the gearbox with a split pin. Well, I'm b*****red if I could see the split pin, much less get to it with the gearbox still in the car so I ended up just undoing the gear linkage to the box so the shift lever went slack, and running a grinder down the casing of the metalastic bush to free the box from the car. Really and truly, that was the only difficulty, the whole process was actually quite straightforward.

After that it was 4 bolts on the gearbox and 2 on the engine, and it quite literally just leaped out by itself!!

I'll let the pics tell the rest (apologies for the glare, apparently fluroescent lighting and iPhone cameras don't get on, must take my camera up for evening shots). The pictures are a bit grainy in preview, click on them and better quality images will pop up.

jacking up ready for underneath work:

step 1 position engine crane

release gearbox, pump on engine crane, hope nothing's still connected

step 3, sit in driver's seat, chuckle as to the view you'd see if you were driving along the road and your engine tries to leap out

 

Nearly out

actually out

Wheel away triumphantly

Gearshift console bush that
wouldn't quite let go, but  eventually persuaded to with air-powered mini angle grinder: (gearshifter has got the blue tape on which held on a chavved up gearknob with 6 LED lights. mmh, snazzy)

Final pic of the car as it is now. I'd love to put the bonnet and grille back on, and then call AA "homestart" and see how long it takes them to diagnose the problem of "my car won't start"...

And finally the other news - chassis ready to collect. Hurrah. Need to figure out precisely how I'm going to do that, my own trailer isn't really big enough or robust enough for the task; but I'm sure I'll figure it out...

Steve