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Front subframe refitted and power steering pipework plumbed to suit new E36 steering rack. Solid steering spacer to replace the wobbly rubber standard item, these are available here from our shop (oh, and here if you have an E36!):
M20 2.5 Litre straight six after a partial rebuild and tidy up. Ready to go in but at the last minute I spotted something...
Under the rocker cover lurked one cracked rocker arm. It was only a hairline crack and the most hidden of all the arms so I didn't even notice when adjusting the tappets, only when reassembling the cover and pipework. Very lucky as a the crack could easily propagate to produce a broken rocker with disastrous consequences. All others were checked extremely carefully and this one was replaced along with new cams and bolts for all rockers.
It has been a while since I couldn't stand in the engine bay (spot the Haynes):
Getting there!
Driveshafts and replacement handbrake cables fitted to the newly painted disc rear trailing arms:
The rear beam assembly was then rebuilt fully ready for refitting. New fasteners, top mounts, grooved discs, shocks and lowering springs to go with the Polyurethane bushes all round. This assembly was then very carefully refitted (on my own!) using 4 (padded) trolley jacks one bit at a time...
First glimpse of daylight for 7 months!
Assessing the ride height. The spring drop was supposed to be -60mm all around. Also, the tyre profile (height) was selected deliberately to be slightly shallower for various reasons. These, combined with the lack of weight in the car over standard have left underbody clearance to be sufficient for UK B roads but low enough for fantastic handling and track work. Crucially, the front control arms sit horizontally.
Stripping a bit more weight from the doors. There is a steel stiffener about to be removed, the bonded deadening panel has just been scraped off and various wiring has been painstakingly stripped back. Electric windows are remaining in place for now (shock horror) to either be swapped for manual mechanisms (contact us if you want to swap!) or ideally for some fixed polycarbonate window panels.
