BreakMyWindow

Supercheap sells a really small ratchet and bit set. Thats what i used for my cps's and they're on the back of the cylinder heads.

Saw it @ Clayton's this morning. It looks stunning and as new.

Trip to the chiropractor after you're done installing those new bushes in to the column haha

Well priced imo. High kms white example was up for sale last year for 24k I believe. Wouldn't mind having this parked next to the e39.

Something you would expect from a great wall or cherry car. Someone in the e46 dev team buggered up.

OP why not just do the oil and filter yourself? By far the cheapest way.

You would think so. You could get the oil analyzed which will give you a good indication of it's condition and age.

Want!

I would find a specialist in the area the car is located and have them inspect and scan it.

Yep can do, will just need a long enough extension lead for the electrons, and some more fittings to be able to connect to various engine vacuum sources. A small amount of water is produced from all the smoke which seems to only collect in the first section of hose, so will look in to making a moisture trap.

Made a home-made vac. leak tester using a smoke machine (cheers Jooles) and some coolant pipe. Was thinking it would need some compressed air to help get the smoke through the vacuum system, but it appears to work very well. No leaks found aside from what was mentioned in a previous post.

To prove it's the stem seals get the engine in a high vacuum situation i.e down a hill in 2nd gear decelerating from 5k rpm for as long as possible. When you re apply throttle you should get a puff of smoke as the vacuum effect will suck oil past the stem seals if leaking. What grade oil is it running? From memory you had a lazy o2 sensor when i scanned it. Rich running over time may mean carbon buildup is effecting the 'seal' in the chambers.

Hrmm not sure i trust NZ's fuel grading to be able to do that.... Slightly OT but when I got my Evolve tune for the MSS52 they did ask me what grade of fuel I was running, which is 98RON. I see their notes on the tune file sent back are for 91 Octane, not sure if that's the USA AKI measuring though since they have a lot of USA customers. Aside from fuel grade, carbon buildup on older/higher mileage S series engines would also play a part in pre-ignition/detonation. So knock control at higher loads and rpm would be important. Would it not?

Interesting regarding the knock control. have they decreased the sensitivity of the knock control in an effort for the engine to reach it's ignition timing targets easier? Monitoring knock control on the dyno runs with and with out the tune will be interesting to see.

Uhhh that could be misinterpreted... Suspension should be upgraded as a system, that is, front and rear end together. A stiffer/tighter front end will only amplify the sloppyness of a worn out rear suspension system. Even worse with a RWD chassis.

Straight 6.

I have a pre-configured DIS image that made the process A LOT quicker.

Depends, for the facelifts, half way through 2002 they used epoxy to seal the lenses. before that it was butyl which could be heated up and the lenses can be separated. Jooles has done this method. I chose not to separate the lenses and replaced the adjusters by going in through the low beam bulb hole, and did the high beam adjuster by going in through the lense orientation (LHD or RHD) hole above the front of the lense.

Looking good! Is it just the pic or is the panel gap a bit off spec in the front passenger side corner above the headlight? The gap between the bonnet and guard.

Got a bit crafty this morning and used some 2 part epoxy on a piece that someone had snapped off in the past. This piece helps secure the cover for the ignition coils/wires. Took a lot of mucking around, but in the end I think i've got it on straight enough. Have since cleaned up the excess glue that seeped out of the join.

I can help. Pm me

What about removing the plate holder bracket all together and getting a sticker number plate for the front bumper?

Tackled the thermostat job again (slightly stuck open thermostat) and also the lower oil separator hoses. Made a vacuum leak tester using an air compressor, some hose fittings and soapy water in a spray bottle. Found some bubbles coming from the T junction of the vac hose which goes from the rear throttle bodies and on to the Brake Booster. Ordered the replacement through Clayton's. Should explain the intermittent lumpy idle, and intermittent softer brake pedal feeling.

Holy Thread Revival... Went for a spirited drive out to Omana Park.

You must be stoked. nice restoration!