We would like to thank everyone that came to the Winter Clearance Sale!  It was great to spend some time with fellow enthusiasts!

It’s been a busy week here at Reggie’s Motorworks.  Here are a few of the projects that we’ve done this week:

• We’ve installed a driveshaft and refurbished a serpentine belt system on an e32 740i.
• We flushed the brake fluid and mounted and balanced tires on a Mercedes 300e.
• The red convertible came back in for rear differential seals and service and transmission flush and mounts. (And the trunk light addition which you’ll read about below.)
• A 1984 533i gets a new clutch.

Here Reggie is wrapping up some work on the 1984 533i.  Rumor has it that it used to belong to a famous rock star who hails from the state of Indiana, none other than John Mellencamp.

Another project has been to add a second trunk light for the owner of the nice red cabrio we worked on recently.  Most US spec e30’s come with one trunk light, but two holes where trunk lights can be mounted.

Reggie eyeballs the length of the additional wire that needs to be added.

Reggie solders the new wire into the positive lead for the original trunk light.

This is the new trunk light with the ground wire attached.

Next, he splices the two ground wires together.

A quick dip in flux assures a solid solder joint.

Rosin Flux is available at local electronic stores, ours happens to be from Radio Shack.

Note: The heat shrink tube was installed before soldering the joint together. (Reggie forgets this from time to time.)

Soldering the ground wire splice.

The finished splice before the heat shrink tubing is installed.

Heating up the heat shrink tubing for a perfectly snug fit around the wiring.

Reggie guides the wiring through the various holes in the trunk to the light on the right.

Reggie installs a crimp connector the the ground wire for the new light.

Next, he screws the light switch in place. The way this circuit works, is that the switch creates a ground when the trunk is in the open position. You will notice that once the screw is in place, the lights come on.  (If the battery is connected…which it probably should not be while doing this work.)

Testing out the modification:

Some of the tools used for this job:

Have a fun and safe weekend!

Tags: 1986 535i, 533i, BMW, For Sale, Indianapolis, M6 wheel, Reggie's Motorworks, snow, trunk light repair, Westfield

Happy Friday!  We were promised some snow…and now we’ve got it!  Here’s just a small glimpse of what it looks like outside the shop earlier today.

On the left, a stack of ‘frosted donuts’.  On the right, a clean car that’s for sale, 1986 535i.  The wheel in the photo is an M6.  (To get a bigger view of the photos here on the blog, just click on them, then hit the back arrow when you’re ready to come back. )

Due to this snow storm, we will finish up our regularly scheduled blog post tomorrow!

Goodnight!

We look forward to seeing you tomorrow, Saturday, January 30th, for our Huge Winter Clearance Sale!

We will be gathering in our heated shop to share the passion for these classics with our customers and fellow local BMW enthusiasts. We are offering 50-90% off our current used parts inventory!  So drive on over, get out of the cold, meet with fellow enthusiasts, and score some great deals on the parts you need for your Bimmer!

REGGIE’S MOTORWORKS

411 W. Main St., Westfield, IN 46074

Refreshments will be provided.

10am to 3pm

e30 BMW 325 318 325ic 325is 325e 325ix e28 e21 2002 Bimmer

A few quick updates on our 2002 project (you can find out more about our ‘02 by clicking on 2002, 2002 project, etc. in the ‘tags’ on our homepage):

This is the engine out of the 1973 2002 that we picked up in February 2009 in St. Louis.  Once it’s rebuilt, this engine will most likely be the heart of our 2002.   As it “stands”, the compression is bad in cylinder #2, which is most likely from a stuck valve in the cylinder head.

Nice, clean aluminum engine parts.

Reggie scrapes some grease and grime from the lower timing cover.

Before and After:  The upper timing cover has been cleaned and polished in both photos.

And, as you can see, both the upper and lower timing cover look pretty nice after some buffing with a brass wire wheel.

Reggie holds these newly brushed timing covers in front of the engine…yes, this is going to be nice!

And here we have the oil pan and timing chain.  This timing chain will be replaced before it makes its home in the ‘02.

This old beast is out of the 1971 2002, which, according to the casting numbers, came from a ‘69.  It’s a running motor and potentially for sale.

Looking for a stellar 7-series to add to your collection?

We’ve got the perfect one for you!  Click here!

If you would like to view this beauty in person, please call us at 317.804.9313.

Have a great weekend!

I got a call late last week from a local teacher that just bought a “new” 1992 325ic, and wanted to know if I may be able to take a look at it.

“Of course I can!!”

I was delighted to find that this little cabrio is in really decent condition!  Sure it has a few issues that need straightening out, but all in all it is a very nice e30!

The first order of business was a bumper to bumper inspection, and since there was no maintenance history with the car, we decided to do a timing belt service, coolant flush, new hoses, water pump, front engine oil seals, V-belts, etc. We also replaced a voltage regulator that was causing the headlights to flicker going down the road (this seems to be common with the later “Valeo” alternators).

Here are some photos of the car and the work we performed, courtesy of my wonderful wife Stephanie (www.stewartimagery.com):)!

Don’t forget the new t-belt tensioner spring!!

A previous tech must have forgotten that fancy clip to hold the thermostat-water pump hose in place. This is very common, the hose sits slightly forward and is slowly worn away by the fan. Luckily we caught this one before it burst!!:

Out with the old:

Dirty parts awaiting the parts washer:

Ah, so nice to see a new timing belt, and everything CLEAN!

Don’t forget to come see us one week for tomorrow (Saturday, January 30th)  for our   CLEARANCE SALE!!

It’s been a cold week here in the Midwest!  It’s Stephanie here, wishing you a Happy 2010!   We’ve got some “cool” icicles on our building, and here’s some proof that the sun does shine once in a while in this winter wonderland.

Reggie has been getting our newest shop wagon, the ‘91 240SE, up to snuff.  Here it is on the smaller lift:

This red machine called for a new set of plug wires…keep reading to see why!

The inside portion had come out!  Not a good thing!

Old plug wires…New plug wires, what a huge difference!

New brakes, rotors and pads were installed all around.

Good spark plugs are a definitely a necessity!

A clean air filter was installed too!

These studded tires are just begging for a good snow fall, so they can be *ahem* properly tested for performance and drive-ability.  Ok, ok, so we did happen to find a snowy parking lot earlier this week on our way home from the shop, but further “testing” would be fun, I mean, useful.

Mark your calendars for our upcoming Winter Clearance Sale on Saturday, January 30th!  Get the details here!

Have a great weekend!

Reggie’s Motorworks has decided to thin our shelves down some, in order to make room for new inventory! We want to invite everyone to the shop on Saturday, January 30th to share some great deals with all of our fellow enthusiasts!

This will be the one/only day that I will really bend on our normal BMW parts prices. Come prepared to make cash offers and take things home. If you need large/heavy BMW parts, bring something to haul them off in! My main motivation is creating space, so I will not be willing to hold items.

THIS IS NOT JUST A SALE! It is also a great time for BMW/auto enthusiasts to gather (in a heated building!) and chat about cars, projects, and whatever else we feel like!

Here are some photos of our overtocked shelves:

For those of you who don’t know, we are located in Westfield, IN, which is a northern suburb of Indianapolis. Here is the address:

411 W. Main Street

Westfield, IN 46074

We hope to see everyone there!!

Well, for those of you who don’t know, Steph and I have been in Florida for the last 18 days enjoying some time with my Mother.

We got to do some restoration/modification work, but nothing to do with BMW’s or even cars.

For one, I was able to get a 1969 (As Steph pointed out….it’s the same year as our ‘02!) Johnson 4hp boat engine back up and running after a long siesta. It basically needed some fresh fuel and some lubrication. It was nice for a couple of slow tours out in the bay. Here are some quick camera phone shots of our private sunset tour in the “Dragon Lady” (the boat came with that name:)).

We also were able (mainly Stephanie) to do some creative painting on a new/old dining room set for my Mom. Here are some shots of our chairs, on our last full day in Florida:

We also take a “Fast Cat” boat from Ft. Myers Beach to Key West every year to see one of Stephanie’s Uncles. Here is a shot of her taking photos of the sunset before our return trip:

Now, if our plane can even land in snowy Indianapolis, we will be back in the shop playing with old cars! We know we’ve got some customer cars patiently awaiting some love, and it’ll be good to get back under the hood of a German car.

Take car, and Happy Motoring!

We want to thank everyone for a great 2009, and we look forward to an exciting 2010!

We don’t have much BMW related content for the 2010 blog yet. Stephanie and I have been taking a nice long break during the holidays, so the shop has been kind of on pause.

Not to worry though, Kipp will be back in action on Monday, shipping orders and listing parts for sale on eBay.

Have a great weekend!!

Well, its Sunday, and you can tell that I am in vacation mode because I have the time to blog!

Anyway, on Friday I mentioned that I was working a deal with a fellow hoosier to make a trade. My poor old, yet charming, 1980 Volvo 245 wagon, along with a  wrecked 1983 245 turbo wagon for one running/driving 1991 Volvo 240SE wagon (for you non-Volvo guys a 245 is a 240 w/ 5 doors…..i.e. wagon…..the Swedes just used different model designations in different years to keep us on our toes.)

I was sad to see the old green beast go, but I am glad to have a bit more of a modern version for daily transport.  The ‘91 “only” has 172K vs. the 353K miles that were on the ‘80, so I expect it to get us by until I fall into the right deal on an e34 wagon (or find a way to MAKE time so I can build an e30 truck.).

Here are a couple of quick shots of the new RMW shop truck:

We’ll be open for sales Monday-Wednesday this week, although response times may be a little slower than normal. After that, responses will be minimal from 12/24-01/02. I’m not saying that I won’t reply to emails/phone calls, just don’t have high expectations.

I may even have time to babble on about something else before Christmas!!

Well, here you go!

Okay, so it’s an M5 parts car literally “over” our little ‘69 ‘02. I just set them that way while we were moving things around, and couldn’t help but come up with a dumb joke:).

Well, this week was kind of “business as usual”. We didn’t have any huge highlights in any of our projects, but we did have the opportunity to work on some nice cars, and sell some parts!

The M5 is still running great, and has been posted for sale in e30tech.com in the classified section. I posted it there first because we sponsor that site, and wanted to give the e30 community the first shot at that drive train if someone were wanting to build a MONSTER project.

One of our great friends/customers (Jim) stopped by, and has an interest in putting that M5 running gear in an early  Datsun 240z! We feel that would be a great project, and have agreed to discuss it further in the coming weeks/months (if no one beats him to it!).

What do you think? I think this car would be fun with a 315 HP BMW engine in it, don’t you?(bootleg photo from Google images:))

Now the 240z is just one idea, and so far the engine is not sold so it could still be yours. If you have your own idea of what you want to do with an M5 engine……or want to commission us to inject some German muscle into your project car, just drop us a line.  Anything is possible…..as long as you’ve got a sturdy checkbook (just kidding, it could really be HUGE bang for your buck):).

We are also hoping to bid farewell to our current “shop truck” (the green one). We bought this old Volvo wagon last spring to use as a parts hauler. It served us well for a few months/10,000 miles, but has become too needy. Granted, it has 353K miles!! We also bought the ‘83 turbo wagon next to it to grab some “optional equipment” for our wagon, but alas, there is only so much time in the day. The ‘80 wagon would be a GREAT project for someone….but we already have a project.  All is not lost for us in the Volvo department though, as there is a trade pending! A Volvo enthusiast has an interest in these two wagons, and has offered to trade one 1991 240 wagon for the pair you see here. This should give us a dependable “plain jane” wagon, while he gets the more characteristic older wagons.

Well, we hope you have a safe and happy holiday (if we don’t get a chance to blog before then)!