Progress

Happy Friday!   It’s still cold out, but we’ve been keeping busy and warm in the shop.  We’re back this week with some much anticipated updates on the 325 swap project and our 1969 2002 project!  Without further delay, we’re going to jump right in!
It’s been awhile since we’ve had time to work on the 1986 BMW 325 swap project.  Reggie was very excited that we made some time this week to get it on the lift!  As we’ve mentioned, the owner of this bimmer is looking for a shaved engine bay.  Neat and tidy.  Bare necessities.  Super clean.  You get the idea. With the wiring work that Reggie has finished up this week, we’re that much closer.

Here Reggie is back at work finishing up the wiring harness:

Wire stripers remove the plastic tubing, allowing Reggie to connect the wire ends of the existing harness to the ends of the new harness:

After “painting” the wire ends with some flux, a soldering gun fuses them together:

Heat is applied to the heat shrink tubing to finish the connection:

The wiring is now neat and tidy (The wires in front of the grommet are still loose, but will be wrapped in black fabric tape like the OEM harness when we are done):

The engine bay is also looking pretty clean and tidy, but we’ve still got a little work to do before all is said and done.

You might be asking,  how did the wiring get to be where it is? Great question!  Reggie used a hole saw to cut a hole into the side of the engine bay, allowing the wiring harness to run stealthily along the outside of the engine bay.  Out of sight!

Next, Reggie worked on carefully bundling the wiring harness at the top of the engine bay so that the cover would fit perfectly back into place:

There is another cover to that will be placed over the wiring on the left side to finish this portion of the project.  Now we’re really making progress!   And we’re excited now more than ever – as is the owner! – to get this beast back on the road!

Speaking of progress, more strides have been made with our 1969 BMW 2002 project!  We’ve sent the cylinder block off to the machine shop to be cleaned and rebuilt.  Once we get the cylinder block back, it will be ready for our Metric Mechanic top end!  (Read more about it here.)  Reggie can hardly wait for this baby to come to life!

Remember this 1992 BMW 735i from last fall?  Father and son clients of ours had finally found the bimmer they had been searching for in Michigan.  It appears that the bottom of the cylinder head had been smoothed by a belt sander, which left the surface uneven, causing the fitment of the head, gasket, and cylinder block to not mate perfectly.

Unfortunately,  Kevin, the current owner, found oil in the coolant.  Red flag.   The bad news?  This bimmer needs a new head gasket.  The good news?  We can fix it!

The cylinder head was sent out to the machine shop to be cleaned and rebuilt:

And it was just delivered back to us this morning:

This is the bottom side of the cylinder head, which mates up to the cylinder block once the head gasket is in place.  It’s this surface that must be completely even and flat, preferably done by the hands of a machinist.  Not by a belt sander!

That’s all we have time for today!  Be sure to come back next week to see the installation of the cylinder head and head gasket!  And we’ll have more on the 325 swap project as well!

Have a great weekend!