The summer has flown by, and before we know it colorful leaves will be fluttering on all the trees around here. September promises to be just as busy, and full of fun events. One of those events is Auburn. If you’ve never been before and you love cars, this is the event for you! Check out this link for more information. Another event coming up in just a few short weeks is VintageFest. It was a terrific event last year, and we can’t wait to see so many cool e30’s, 2002’s, and more again this year. If you’re interested in driving up with us on Friday, September 17th, or meeting us up there for the event on Saturday, September 18th, send us an email. Be sure to register for the event so they know who to expect. Lastly, there’s still time to vote for us on the IndyChannel.com’s A-list for Best Repair Shop! Voting ends Friday, September 10th! Thank you for your continued support!
As you saw last week here on the blog, Reggie was working on 2 ’86’s…one ‘86 BMW 325es, the other an ‘86 BMW 325. Let’s pick up where we left off last week!
This is the rear suspension out of the ‘86 325. The differential is a 3.23 from an M-roadster. These parts will not be going back on the 325, because the owner has a 3.73 limited slip differential unit to go with his S50 converted e30.
No rust on this bimmer!
Would you like to see the entire underbody of the car? Ok!
Reggie removed the bumper…as I watched from a distance, right next to the 325es.
Brackets that won’t be needed anymore were removed from the engine bay, and the metal needed to be cleaned, smoothed out, cleaned again, and then prepped for rust prevention.
While the 325 was getting all the attention, I grabbed a quick shot of the 325es, you know, just so she wouldn’t feel quite so neglected.
Then it was time to thoroughly clean the engine bay of the 325. A good power wash will do just the trick!
Then our good friend, self-etching primer, is applied to the areas of exposed metal to prevent rust from forming.
Stay tuned for more progress on this project!
And one of our favorite 2002’s joined us last week at the Cruise-In…Hi Jim! And I finally took a photo of the beautiful engine bay! It was a perfect evening to get some photos of this very cool car.
It’s been another great week here at Reggie’s Motorworks! We’ve been loving the cooler temperatures for sure! As we mentioned last week, the crew from Enthusiast Apparel joined us at the Cruise-In. A huge thank you to Jon, Edgar, and all their crew and friends for coming out, we hope to see you all again soon! Here are some photos from our evening – we had some pretty cool rides show up…take a look (be sure to check out the slideshow below too!):
To see more, check out this slideshow:
Reggie’s also continuing the 1986 BMW 325es & 325 project. We’ve got both cars in the shop right now. The 325es is down to a shell now, and the 325 is anxiously awaiting its transformation.
Here is the ‘new’ ‘86:
In other news, if you’re on our local newsletter mailing list, you read about our trip to the Windy City to check out VintageFest. If you’re interested in caravaning with us on Friday evening, September 17th, or meeting us up there on Saturday, September 18th, be sure to let us know! We’re getting our plans lined up soon, and we’d love to have a nice group representing the Indy area and our love for vintage bimmers. It was a really cool show last year, and we knew then that we definitely wanted to go back. (Hi Kent!)
And there’s still time to vote in the IndyChannel.com’s A-list for Indy’s Best Repair shop! We would love to have your vote!
Thankfully the heat and humidity have subsided a bit this past week. It’s a beautiful sunny day here at Reggie’s Motorworks…which should turn into a perfect evening for tonight’s Cruise-In! We’ll have the tent set up, as well as the corn hole boards. We’ll be welcoming the crew from Enthusiast Apparel , and they love cars just as much as we do. Check out their website for some cool enthusiast gear! We hope you can join us! And remember to vote for us for the IndyChannel.com’s A-List for Best Repair shop in the Indianapolis area!
Remember this 1986 325es from a few posts ago? The one with some rust that would need to be removed while replacing the differential and rusted brake lines and installing the rear shock tower brace?
Well…the rust damage was a bit more than we anticipated, unfortunately. So, the owner is opting to find a better shell to house all of the goodies from his car.
Looking in through where the headlights used to be:
These parts are now on the sidelines patiently waiting to be reinstalled:
*Note: This photo is added just newlfor kicks…I really love flare, and it just happened to be streaming across the newly homeless parts, and I just couldn’t help myself! *
Back to business…we were discussing rust. Here is some rust in and around the passenger side rear wheel well. Not good.
Even with cool sun flare shining on this section of rust along the rocker panel, it’s still unacceptable. The rust, that is. Unacceptable!
The holes along the rest of the rocker panel have also rusted out. Body skirts had been installed and the installation holes were not properly sealed. And. therefore, rust had a perfect way to make its ugly appearance yet again!
And, finally, the original rust issue can be seen here. See the daylight steaming through the metal? And the traces of rust around the edge of the wheel well? I told you it wasn’t good!
After weighing his options, the owner has decided to find a better shell, rather than removing all of the rust. In fact, Reggie is meeting him right now to look at a potential winner…also an ‘86 325…in – you guessed it! – alpinweiss! What are the odds?! We love a story with a happy ending! But actually, we’ve only just begun with this project, and we couldn’t be more excited about it! For now, let’s see the removal of the engine and transmission!
The engine was strapped to the cart to keep it from tipping one way or another as the shell was slowly hoisted upward.
The Beast is free!
Stay tuned for much more on this exciting project!
As most of you know, Jordan has been working here at Reggie’s Motorworks on and off for the past year or more. Not only is he extremely bright, driven, and detail-oriented, but also a great all-around person, with one heck of a brilliant future ahead of him. His passion for BMW’s and commitment to excellence in school and work is amazing. Jordan will be heading off to Purdue University to study engineering, and we couldn’t be more proud of him. We’ll miss his work ethic, can-do attitude, and willingness to pitch in wherever there’s a need. Thank you for everything. We wish you all the best, Jordan! We know amazing things are in store for you!
Speaking of Jordan, he was an immense help on one of our latest projects. In fact, he did most of the work on the following project himself!
Here’s a breakdown of the work done to this 1987 BMW 325ic:
*New brake lines from front to rear
*New brake hoses from body to trailing arms and from trailing arms to caliper
*New rear subframe bushings
*New parking brake cable and complete rebuilding of parking brake
*New right rear and left rear trailing arms
*New rear CV axle
*Installed refurbished fuel tank (sent off for professional cleaning, plus sealing and finish)
*Had sub-frame sand blasted and we (Jordan) repainted it
Now this cabrio is ready to get back on the road where it belongs! Hooray! Another victory for an old bimmer!
And don’t forget to vote for us on the IndyChannel.com’s A-List! Cast your vote here, and help us become the Best Repair Shop in the Indy area! Thank you for your support!
We will be heading to the Cruise-In this evening, and hope to see you there! If it’s too hot to sit outside under the tent, we’ll enjoy the comfort of the A/C inside Park Street Pub!
Happy Friday! What a beautiful day it is! The heat and humidity have subsided for a bit, and boy, are we happy about that! It should be a perfect evening for our Cruise-In! Come join us! And don’t forget to help make us the #1 repair shop in Indy by voting for Reggie’s Motorworks on the the A-list! Thank you for your votes!
We had to patch both the inner fender well and the outer fender well. This is a photo of the inner fender well after fabricating a patch from scratch.
Reggie fabricated a patch panel out of a leftover piece from the Baur’s battery box (more on that below). Note how the panel folds downward to create a factory-looking seam.
Using a card stock template makes getting the right size patch much easier to achieve!
Here’s the view from underneath:
And the view from inside the trunk:
Once the metal patches are cut to size, Reggie uses his trusty magnet to help hold the patch in place while applying some tack welds.
Then they are properly welded in place.
Reggie uses a grinder to smooth the welds:
A coat of self-etching primer (green) is sprayed on to prevent rust. The tan area is weld-thru primer, where a bracket will later be welded in place.
Reggie used fiberglass reinforced body filler to seal any pinholes that may have been left from welding.
And now to smooth out the finer areas with some body filler!
Once the body filler dries, it’s time to do some sanding to even out the surface. Please note that the work done on this area is not 100% show quality, since it will be covered by the bumper in the end. But we are super happy with the results!
Filler primer fills in scratches and finer details to create an even surface for painting.
Once the filler primer dries properly and some more sanding is done, the car is ready for color!
As we mentioned above, even though this area will be covered by the bumper in the end, we are very, very pleased with the results of the finish work.
And voila! The bumper has been reinstalled and is ready to go!
The heat wave and humidity continue to roll through the shop…alas, that’s summer in the Midwest for you! It’s been another busy week here at Reggie’s Motorworks, full of in-depth projects, oil changes, new tires, replacing odometer gears, and removing rust, just to name a few. Today we’ll be taking a closer look at the last two items.
4 gears were replaced, 3 of them were already removed before this photo was taken. The little orangish gear and its brass bushing were cut off.
Removing that little gear can be a bit tricky, so Reggie stepped in…wearing an orange shirt no less! (No, we did not plan that, but it did work out quite well!)
The new black replacement gear is installed:
This is the cluster before the other 3 gears are installed (this is a MotoMeter cluster, which requires 4 replacement gears total; the VDO units require only 3 replacement gears):
Screws are tightened:
The speedometer assembly is ready to be put back in place:
Then comes the challenge of reinstalling the gauge cluster in the dash. Jordan informed me that it’s quite a tight space to work in, since the steering wheel is kind of in the way. And you have to watch out for sharp objects inside the dash. Whew, I’m glad I’m only photographing this!
Besides replacing odometer gears, Reggie has switched gears from maintenance work to more rust repair. This time, he’s removing rust from the rear passenger side of this 1988 e30 M3. Here Reggie is grinding away the surface rust in order to get a better glimpse of the underlying issues.
As for the issue, here it is…our evil enemy, rust.
A section was then cut out to get a more in-depth look:
This car’s owner came by the shop this afternoon to see the progress on his bimmer. He is pleased to see that the rust is being properly eradicated!
As luck would have it, leftover metal from the Baur’s new battery box fits perfectly in this area!
Reggie removes all traces of rust along the rough edges:
Having all the tools for the job nearby is a must! This M3 is on our smaller lift, while a 1987 325i cabrio waits on the tall lift for a new (used) gas tank, new subframe bushings, new brake lines front to rear, etc, etc… (Stay tuned for details on that project next week!)
Reggie fabricates a patch panel using some wicked scissors (for lack of a more mechanical and technical term!) and some air shears. And I do mean wicked in both senses of the word! (These are tin snips.)
And here are the air shears! I now have a cool pen holder on my desk thanks to some scraps from this project! (Will post a photo of pen holder below)
Old rusty metal, meet your replacement!
As we’ve seen before with rust repair and fabricating custom replacement metal patches (check out more rust repair here, here, and here), there’s a little more to it than just getting the size of the panel correct. There is often some tweaking and bending necessary to get the proper fitment.
Next, Reggie paints on some rust treatment. “Destroys Rust!”
We’ll stop there for now…stay tuned for more on this rust repair project! And as promised, here is a photo of my newest desk accessory while I’m working on the blog! It’s recycled, it’s functional, and sharp (in more ways than one!), and I love it! Especially since it shows of my Reggie’s Motorworks pen!
And if you attended our Open House earlier this summer, you saw the custom e30 grill belt buckle I had made for Reggie’s birthday…well, I’ve finally remembered to tell you where I got it! Fosterweld! I was lucky enough to visit the owner’s shop and see first hand how passionate he is about his business (custom buckles, cuffs, furniture, and more!) – thank you, Chris, for making the coolest belt buckle for my husband! He absolutely loves it! Check out his website and blog, you will be amazed!
We’ll be heading over to the Cruise-In soon…we hope to see you there! Have a great weekend!
If you live here in the Midwest, we’re sure you’re well aware of the intense heat wave that seems to be hovering over us indefinitely!
We just found out today that Reggie’s Motorworks has been nominated for Best Repair Shop on TheIndyChannel.com A-List! We are truly honored! You can help us become #1 in Indy! Cast your vote here!
It turns out that we’re not the only ones who love bimmers! Our feathered friends are known for making their homes in strange places…and one bird made his home here, in the airbox of a 1987 325, perhaps hoping to be featured on MTV Cribs! While the airbox was replaced, Reggie also installed brake rotors, new pads, sensors, hoses, and brake fluid. This 325 also had an oil change and new fuel injection hose from the hard line forward.
We’ve also had 3 M3’s in the shop this week! Take a look:
This 1997 M3 got a new fan clutch, new rear shock mounts, AC belt, serpentine belt, belt tensioner and belt idler pulleys, and a new seat occupancy sensor. There was also a large nail in the rear passenger side tire, so Reggie patched that internally.
Another 1997 M3! This one got control arms, bushings, and tie rods, as well as a 4-wheel alignment service.
And the third M3 is a 1988. It will be getting an oil service while swapping out a noisy differential.
We’re hoping it cools off a bit for the Cruise-In! Hope to see you there!
The summer heat wave has been blasting the shop again this week. And we’ve gotten some pretty cool work done! Last week we mentioned that this 1988 325 would be getting a 5-speed manual transmission conversion kit, a clutch kit, and a 3.25:1 limited slip differential. We’re happy to report that this car drives very, very well! Here is the old transmission.
And a look at the new 5-speed shifter. It looks as though it’s always been there.
In favor of these brand new (and very pretty!) ones, which lowered the cabrio about 2 inches.
We were so excited to get this lowered cabrio back to its owner, that we (ok, me, Stephanie…I’m the one who forgot!) didn’t get a photo of its new stance…my apologies!
We do have some photos from last week’s Cruise-In though!
The heat and humidity has been a bit brutal this week, but that’s what summer is all about, right? In addition to the heat wave, we’ve had a full house here at the shop. Here’s a peek at what’s going on right now!
Love for BMWs extends throughout Reggie’s family. His Mom had a zinnoberrot 1986 325, which Reggie drove back and forth to Florida several times, and thus began his desire to tinker with these old cars. Reggie’s Aunt Sally also has a BMW, which she drove up from Florida to have Reggie work on while visiting with family. Her 2000 328i is really in great shape! Reggie installed new front control arm bushings, front and rear brake rotors, pads, and sensors, flushed and replaced brake fluid, replaced the breather hose, changed the oil and filter, and polished up her cloudy headlight lenses (see below).
And the 2005 Mini Cooper is back for some additional service and repair! A new clockspring/slip ring was installed for its multifunctional steering wheel. The non-functioning horn was diagnosed and fixed, and was tested several times! Reggie will also be diagnosing the malfunctioning occupancy sensor, which in its current condition will not allow the airbag system to function properly.
This 1989 325ix is getting new front brake rotors, pads, and sensors, as well as new outer ball joints and control arm bushings on both sides, and new brake hoses. We’ll bleed the brake system and add new brake fluid.
We’ll soon be welcoming this car to the 5-speed club! This 1988 325 will get a 5-speed manual transmission conversion kit, a new clutch kit, and a 3.25:1 limited slip differential. Oh yeah!
And who could forget about this 1988 325i cabrio? This alpinweiss beauty is back! She’s going to get a new full suspension…springs, shocks, struts, the works! Two words: SLEEK and LOW.
Speaking of alpinweiss…we’ve got another one for you! That’s right! I told you, they just find their way here to Reggie’s Motorworks! We met the owner of this 1986 325es (swap) at the Cruise In a few weeks ago, and he is a genuine enthusiast, who’s very excited to get his 325es back on the track.
Reggie will repair the left rear inner wheel housing, and install the rear shock tower brace. The rear suspension will be removed completely, the diff and rusted brake lines will be replaced as well. This bimmer also has some rust damage issues which will also be addressed.
Just look at the engine bay!
The Baur is awaiting the installation of her new battery box, which may be on Reggie’s to-do list over the weekend! And it’s Friday, so we’ll be heading to the Cruise-In, and hope to see you there! Have a great weekend!
We’ve been rockin’ and rollin’ here at the shop the past several weeks. And, I must admit, we’re a bit behind on blogging everything that we’d love to blog about…so hopefully today’s post will attempt to get us a little bit caught up.
You may have seen this Miata at the Open House…
Well, she had been in our shop for a few weeks awaiting a new head gasket, due to the fact that oil got into the coolant. Never a good thing!
We ended up rebuilding the cylinder head, which we always do once the gasket is compromised. Here it is after we got it back from the machine shop. A big thank you to Stewart Engines, who helped us with this project!
Engine without the head:
New cylinder head in place:
And after getting all buttoned up, Matt, also the owner of a 1989 325ix, was happy to pick it up and ride off into the sunshine!
The day after our Open House, we headed to the Central Indiana Vintage Vehicle car show at Forest Park. It was a perfectly beautiful day with some perfectly beautiful cars.
And so many adorable 4 legged animals! Especially Georgia, the boxer! Hi Georgia!
What a great day for a car show! Here’s a look at what caught my eye.
I know this post is a long one, but I promised I’d get back on track with all that’s going on here! This next story is a bit of a sad one…well, not “The Notebook“-sad, but almost… So the other day, Reggie was going to work on the A/C in the Baur, when this was discovered:
A very rusty battery box. I told you this was a sad story!
And what makes it so sad is that Reggie had hoped to get the A/C working to enjoy over the holiday weekend. Well, not so much the A/C as just cruising in the Baur in the beautiful weather that’s in the forecast. Needless to say, the Baur will have the entire holiday weekend off. But alas! There is some good news amidst all this doom and gloom! With the help of this tool and a few other grinding wheels…
…this rusty hunk o’ junk is outta there!
And his little friend too!
After the rust removal:
And soon enough, this new rust-free battery box will have a new home, and all will be right with the world.
It’s Friday afternoon, and you know what that means…It’s time for the Cruise-In! We had a great turn out last week, and can’t wait to meet up with everyone this evening! Have a Happy & Safe 4th of July!
This site was designed and produced solely by Reggie's Motorworks, Inc. Reggie's Motorworks is not associated with BMW North America in any manner.
All pictures and references to the BMW name, and the car names and shapes are for reference only, and do not imply any association with BMW.
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