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blee · 07-04-2017, 06:04 PM

Not many cool photos to share today, but the car is off the jackstands and on my low ramps.

I took some time yesterday and today to wash the wheels inside and out and apply some Sonax Rim Shield, which I got "free" the last time I made an order of detailing supplies.

Side note: The Esco low-profile jack stands that I bought for this job are awesome. They are not very tall (thus low-profile); in fact, at the second-highest setting, they're about as tall as my Craftsman stands at their lowest. However, they're rock solid, and the wide rubber pad made for a great landing spot for the E46 lift/jack points. Much better than my experience with the Craftsman stands, where a little bit of lateral movement as I lowered the jack caused the car to slip off the stands.

All I basically did today was reinstall the sway bar and the wheels, and replace the transmission mounts. OMG, the tranny mounts were a real bear of a job. I did it without removing the exhaust; in retrospect, it might've saved me a good amount of time if I'd pulled it out. I actually did it twice, because I forgot to remove a nut that had fallen into a crevice that is blocked by the brace.

I did notice that the "old" mounts are aftermarket pieces; I would guess Rogue or UUC. The guibo actually looks great, which makes me wonder if a previous owner had both serviced at some point. I didn't look further back to the center support bearing. I did notice, however, that there was some oil on the bottom of the tranny. Unsure at this point if it was engine oil or transmission fluid.

I wish I could say that I then filled the car with oil and started it, but I've decided to go ahead and adjust the valves. The main motivation is to look at the top end and make sure those metal shavings didn't come from something important/expensive. And since I'm doing that, I'm replacing the spark plugs. And since the valve cover is coming off, I'm going to do some VANOS reinforcement with Beisan parts. Yeah, the mission creep is strong with this one. On the bright side, I guess I don't need to replace the guibo.

When that's all done, I'll take it somewhere for an alignment, and maybe I'll ask them to replace the diff bushings. Or I guess I could do those things myself, except for the alignment.

So, almost done. Relatively speaking. For reference, here are the metal bits that I can't identify. They were sitting in the oil pan when I pulled it. Non-ferrous, brittle.

07-04-2017, 06:04 PM	#113
blee Doctor Mudgeon Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 6,433	Not many cool photos to share today, but the car is off the jackstands and on my low ramps. I took some time yesterday and today to wash the wheels inside and out and apply some Sonax Rim Shield, which I got "free" the last time I made an order of detailing supplies. Side note: The Esco low-profile jack stands that I bought for this job are awesome. They are not very tall (thus low-profile); in fact, at the second-highest setting, they're about as tall as my Craftsman stands at their lowest. However, they're rock solid, and the wide rubber pad made for a great landing spot for the E46 lift/jack points. Much better than my experience with the Craftsman stands, where a little bit of lateral movement as I lowered the jack caused the car to slip off the stands. All I basically did today was reinstall the sway bar and the wheels, and replace the transmission mounts. OMG, the tranny mounts were a real bear of a job. I did it without removing the exhaust; in retrospect, it might've saved me a good amount of time if I'd pulled it out. I actually did it twice, because I forgot to remove a nut that had fallen into a crevice that is blocked by the brace. I did notice that the "old" mounts are aftermarket pieces; I would guess Rogue or UUC. The guibo actually looks great, which makes me wonder if a previous owner had both serviced at some point. I didn't look further back to the center support bearing. I did notice, however, that there was some oil on the bottom of the tranny. Unsure at this point if it was engine oil or transmission fluid. I wish I could say that I then filled the car with oil and started it, but I've decided to go ahead and adjust the valves. The main motivation is to look at the top end and make sure those metal shavings didn't come from something important/expensive. And since I'm doing that, I'm replacing the spark plugs. And since the valve cover is coming off, I'm going to do some VANOS reinforcement with Beisan parts. Yeah, the mission creep is strong with this one. On the bright side, I guess I don't need to replace the guibo. When that's all done, I'll take it somewhere for an alignment, and maybe I'll ask them to replace the diff bushings. Or I guess I could do those things myself, except for the alignment. So, almost done. Relatively speaking. For reference, here are the metal bits that I can't identify. They were sitting in the oil pan when I pulled it. Non-ferrous, brittle.