Wrenchin... Adventures under the hood... Put em here.

[basinbeater]

We have a bunch of car threads, and I post some of my wrenchin activities up for people to see, but I thought I'd be fun if we had a dedicated wrenching thread, people can post up tips, show pics if what project you are working on or ask for tips if they get stuck.



My Bmw has been on stands for a little while, but this past week I really got cracking. Fixed my water pump leak after a hell of a time getting to the broken bolt and helicoiling in new threads. That was a bitch. But while it was up, I had a pile if suspension and steering bits waiting to go in. So I got to that too. Which brings me to my favorite noise of the day, the popping of a ball joint. There were old 23yo ball joints. And man when the pop, they POP! One of them fucked with me for like 2hrs, I still can't believe it is out. The rest of the stuff was pretty easy. Car got new tie rods, new center link, new sway Bar end links, and in the rear these funky dog bones which give the car a little bit of a 4 wheel steering effect. The steering links are waiting for one more part, an idler arm and bushing, that should be here Monday.
I also put new parking brake shoes in, and new disks up front.
Check these little dog bone dohickeys out. They are indicative of the condition of about half of the ball joints on the car.

[huckbucket]

Something tell me that you're gonna win this thread.

Nice work.

[Obstruction]

Something tell me that you're gonna win this thread.

Nice work.

Agreed. Basinbeater Is diving deep into the belly of the beast. I'm looking forward to maggot tales of knuckle busting. Lately I've just been doing brake jobs and oil changes along with changing the odd wheel stud.

[basinbeater]

I don't know, that dude mangle(?) and the kid in Montana were gettin after it for a while. And I know there are a couple people here who also frequent ih8mud pretty regularly.

Little more detail about the lovely sound of ball joints popping, the last one I had to get off last night was a stubborn bitch. I'd been pounding away at that bitch with a pickle fork, and mangling the fork in the process, and finally decided to take a different approach. Because it was one side of the center link, I dropped the other side, and could now rotate the link underneath the car around the stubborn sob I was trying to get off. So I rotated it so that the bar went towards the front, and placed a bar against the sub frame of the car, and above the center link bar. My idea was that I could use the floor jack to lift on the center link bar, which would pivot right on the metal bar I placed on the sub frame giving me tons of leverage to pop the joint out. I jacked it and jacked it, and it began to bend, but no pop. I hit it with the torch repeatedly cursing at the fucking thing.
Finally I got back under there with the pickle for while the jack was levering the center link and starting pounding away again. Got the pickle fork stuck in there pretty good and gave a good lift to it. POP!! Fuck yeah!

[highangle]

That big puddle of sweat and snot and antifreeze adds a certain authenticity and provenance to this thread, BB.

I remember screaming and banging a wrench at 2AM when I realized I needed a press I didn't have to get some tie rod ends in. But I ended up mashing them motherfuckers in there with a block of wood, a jack, and the weight of the truck and my superior intelligence.

Be careful up under that thing. Make a deadman out of those tires, or something.

[basinbeater]

Yeah, those jack stands are 3 ton ones, so they are pretty sturdy. Dead man is a good call though.
Charging the battery on the bimmer, and waiting for the idler arm and the valve covers to come back. Idler arm bushing that came out looks OK, but if I have it all apart, and the part is only $30, I'll put a new one in.
Excited to drive the car again, the fresh suspension and steering bits ought to have her feeling like new. Not all the bits were toast, but if I am gonna do one ball joint, let's just do em all.

Pulled the rear shocks out of the Porsche as they were a little fast on the Rebound, so firmed them up a little bit. Fronts you can do while on the car.

[Cross]

I just finished a bunch of easy work on my M3. New suspension all the way around, did front rotors and pads, coolant flush, cut and installed louvers in the front hood and finished off with new wheels and tires.

Cutting into the hood with a dremel was a nerve racking experience. I lost count of how many times I measured checked and re checked. But is all came out straight and centered in the end.

Two holes done now for the third.


The two main louvers from underneath.


I painted all the louvers kidney grills and side gills to match. I really lack the patience for painting but they all came out great.


The suspension was a 5 hour battle to remove old shocks and springs and get the new coil overs installed. It is great having adjustable ride height and front camber now. It was another 4 hours in the shop dialing in the ride height and front camber. The performance on the track was so worth it.


Next things on the list, new radiator, electric fan, vanos bulletproofing, valve adjustment, and whatever else I decide needs upgraded.

[basinbeater]

Nice. That's what I'm talking about.

[Mazderati]

I spent way too long trying to replace trailer bearings today.

[Timberridge]

I replaced a fuse in a Range Rover this weekend.

[RootSkier]

Put some new wipers on the Taco last week.

[Obstruction]

Put some new wipers on the Taco last week.

Lot to be said for a properly wiped taco!

[adrenalated]

The performance on the track was so worth it.

How is that track in a car? I'd imagine it's a little tight, being a kart track and all.

I'll be nice and not mention how much faster my go-kart has been around that track compared to your M3

[Skidog]

heat shield on muffler came loose so I put a new bolt on it...

Hope this counts.

[wooley12]

Finally got around to putting new plugs in my 2000 TJ. Didn't notice any change in performance.

[Todd Zander]

Looks like a hotter plug?

Rewelded the factory cat on the subaru to pass NH inspection, that and a new wiper blade.

Just did the wifes rear brakes, 15k miles after the dealer said they needed replacing.

[Bronco]

I have a good story.

In 1989 I over torqued some mechanical lifter arms and promptly shot one of the lifters through the side of a 170 ci straight six in my '67 Bronco. Was able to drive it a couple miles home to my parent's garage. In the next couple of weeks I acquired an old Fairmont with a 200 ci engine (with hydraulic lifters!) and a Chilton's manual for the Bronco. With a shiny new set of Craftsman sockets and wrenches, me and a another 17 year old buddy managed to remove the engines from the Bronco and Fairmont only breaking one tab that bolts the engine to the bell housing that was repaired with JB Weld. We somehow managed to get the newer engine into the Bronco, bolt it up properly but couldn't get it to run, kept back firing and smelling of gas. Eventually, it wouldn't turn over. After asking my dad, he suggested we pull a spark plug and see if we managed to fill the cylinders with gasoline. We pulled one plug and turned it over, shooting a stream of gas out of the cylinder onto my dad's prize '66 Mustang which ignited when the arc of gas crossed the coil in the Bronco. My dad had purchased a car cover when we started the work on the Bronco and it was now on fire. He heard our yelling and ripped the burning cover off the Mustang. No damage other than his blood pressure and a big burn hole in the cover. He suggested we turn the distributor around 180 degrees. We did that and it fired right up. I was pretty excited to take it for a spin around the neighborhood and put the clutch in which stalled the engine with a loud "thunk". He asked if I had replaced the throw out bearing. To which I responded, "what's a throw out bearing"? By now we were getting pretty good at taking the engine out so out it came, new bearing and clutch fork installed, ran and drove like a champ after that.

In addition to the education the Bronco provided, I got into a lot of trouble with that thing, going all sorts of places vehicles weren't meant to go. Speeding wasn't an issue with a 3 on the tree and about 120 HP it would hardly do 55 mph. Big upgrade from the 84 HP original engine though.

[wooley12]

Hotter? Could be. I put in what all the guys on Jeep forum and the local NAPA recommended. Getting the gap to .035 from .090 has gotta be a good thing.

[Cross]

How is that track in a car? I'd imagine it's a little tight, being a kart track and all.

I'll be nice and not mention how much faster my go-kart has been around that track compared to your M3

I run 56s-57s in my Rotax kart. The M3 is fun even with it being a tight track.

[Viva]

I had to get off last night... I'd been pounding away at that bitch with a pickle...
I was trying to get off...I jacked it and jacked it...but no pop. Finally I got back under there with the pickle... and starting pounding away again. POP!! Fuck yeah!

Here is the Cliff Notes version.

[basinbeater]

Hehehe

[huckbucket]

I have a good story.

In 1989 I over torqued some mechanical lifter arms and promptly shot one of the lifters through the side of a 170 ci straight six in my '67 Bronco. Was able to drive it a couple miles home to my parent's garage. In the next couple of weeks I acquired an old Fairmont with a 200 ci engine (with hydraulic lifters!) and a Chilton's manual for the Bronco. With a shiny new set of Craftsman sockets and wrenches, me and a another 17 year old buddy managed to remove the engines from the Bronco and Fairmont only breaking one tab that bolts the engine to the bell housing that was repaired with JB Weld. We somehow managed to get the newer engine into the Bronco, bolt it up properly but couldn't get it to run, kept back firing and smelling of gas. Eventually, it wouldn't turn over. After asking my dad, he suggested we pull a spark plug and see if we managed to fill the cylinders with gasoline. We pulled one plug and turned it over, shooting a stream of gas out of the cylinder onto my dad's prize '66 Mustang which ignited when the arc of gas crossed the coil in the Bronco. My dad had purchased a car cover when we started the work on the Bronco and it was now on fire. He heard our yelling and ripped the burning cover off the Mustang. No damage other than his blood pressure and a big burn hole in the cover. He suggested we turn the distributor around 180 degrees. We did that and it fired right up. I was pretty excited to take it for a spin around the neighborhood and put the clutch in which stalled the engine with a loud "thunk". He asked if I had replaced the throw out bearing. To which I responded, "what's a throw out bearing"? By now we were getting pretty good at taking the engine out so out it came, new bearing and clutch fork installed, ran and drove like a champ after that.

In addition to the education the Bronco provided, I got into a lot of trouble with that thing, going all sorts of places vehicles weren't meant to go. Speeding wasn't an issue with a 3 on the tree and about 120 HP it would hardly do 55 mph. Big upgrade from the 84 HP original engine though.

Great story. Thanks for posting up.

[Timberridge]

Looks like a hotter plug?

How do you tell without touching it?

[XXX-er]

My 1st car was a 200 cid in a 66 comet a pretty bomber engine and I seem to remember the guy I sold the car to put it in a bronco

It burned some oil but the compression was good so we figured the valve seals were worn, I changed them without pulling the head by stuffing 3ft of braided 3/8ths rope down the sparkplug hole and bringing the piston up to hold the valves in place while I used a piece of bar stock with a forked end and a hole to compress the valve spring/remove the keepers

I was never really into wrenching except to save money, nowadays I buy new cars maybe I will change some brakes padz but thats about it

[tuco]

I painted all the louvers kidney grills and side gills to match.

How about the raw steel where you made your cuts?