Cement

I totally agree

Just a micro rant in the midst of more serious rantings People that read your credit card number back to you as they enter it into their machine so everyone around them can note it down for safe keeping. The real good ones also repeat back the expiry and security code !!

I'm quite jealous of you doing it out of the car !! Just doing it with the plastic mock up parts was hard enough in the car ... glad that phase is over Lately just ripping through my first argon bottle practicing welding and prototyping the little jigs I will use to get square tube cuts (especially on the bends / donuts) as I don't have a bandsaw. The laser cutting has shipped from Hamiltron so should see that soon and be able to make the header jigs while I save up to buy the stainless bends ... also looking for a cheaper source as that sh*t is capital E expensive

Finished modelling the plastic mock headers so I have a record of the design. A lot of work to get to this point and I'd hate for one of the kids to throw one onto the floor and have it shatter into pieces Got all of my TIG bits now so putting some time into learning and practice while I wait for my laser cutting (now from L3 Hamilton hah) to show up so I can start of the header jigs.

Thankyou Nice to know folks are looking and interested given its a bit of a departure to the standard projects round these here parts hah And I hope to be able to show you !! Was really hoping to be mobile over summer but its not looking too likely ... at the rate things are moving at present I'll still be making the headers !! Once I can fire it by turning the BMW key that should spur me on. At some point soonish the oiling system has to be completed also and that's not going to be pleasant on the wallet 😕

Thanks @Michael., its one of those project phases that I'm ready to move on from but should look back and feel it was worth while Nice to hear you had success also with your project, fingers crossed I do also ! Some of the clearances are tight so I will be checking fit on the car as I tack things up. The 3D printing does take a while alright, not sure on total hours but it would be many hundreds for sure. Gone through nearly 4x 1kg rolls of filament to get to this point (includes prototypes, calibration, some scrap etc). On the larger prints I would do up to 9 segments and that might take say 20 hours or so. The collectors took 16 hours each from memory. I could print a bit faster but decided to maintain settings to ensure consistency of parts etc. The best thing will be now I can start prototyping other things like the transmission mounts, and making a custom steering column gauge pod. Is the single turbo for the Soarer ?

Slow progress still lately tooling around with header mockups and getting organised to start learning to TIG weld (waiting on gas bottle in L3). Happy to report that header tubes are mocked up for both banks now at least and lengths all spot on ... on the downside they will be a nightmare to fabricate, on the plus side I will be able to put them in and out of the car without removing the engine Onto the pictures since this is basically a photo record of the build it seems ... Started on some parts for the jigs I will make for the header fabrication. This is a fake collector end and some slit 1-7/8" tube which will snugly support the 1-3/4" primary tube OD. I will cut this down into small segments as needed and weld upstands to attach to a base plate ... this will support the plastic tube at key locations. At either end will be a flange to simulate the head and the fake collector on the pointy end. Sounds confusing but will be clear once I get a picture up of the setup. Left bank all mocked up. This side was much harder as expected, mainly due to the starter motor, brake / fuel lines, LCA bush carrier, clutch line fitting and the body work where the ABS is located. Managed to get it all working without any panel work or relocation ... will need some quality head shielding however and removal of the sound deadening fabric. The view from underneath ... not super ideal but about the best I could do and the lengths are all spot on. Finally something looks familiar and not like some crazy guys arts and crafts project

Oh man I'm glad there was a picture of an actual sword when I scrolled down a little further 😅

Awesome progress, I'm jealous how fast you're getting things done !! You'll be on the streets for summer time, I'll be sweating in the garage still hah.

Following. Will likely need to make a few alterations once the E46 is operational. Will need to make it forget it had a BMW engine and auto trans

Agree, disgusting. Its like the designers are all racing each other to implement their vision of the future. Seems a lot of their vision caters to the super rich who are real keen to make sure everyone knows it.

One side of the headers are completely mocked up now, managed to get the lengths the same to less than half a mm which is a good result. Modeled them up so I have a long term record but will need some tweaking due to errors introduced going from plastic to digital. Will likely build off the glued up plastic tubes making jigs to support the tubes at key locations.

Not heaps of progress lately, turns out header mockups are a lot of work !! Started designing the individual header flanges and discovered the prints were not so accurate so spent a lot of time getting the printer setup properly dialed in. Will be some more weeks mocking up both sides of the headers and getting the lengths to the collectors spot on etc. Only one pic this update of the calibration pieces ... on the left are the header flanges I was trying to get spot on.

Got enough bend blocks printed out now to start being useful ... pretty tricky to get everything to play nice !! Had to revise the design a little more also to prevent some breakages. All in all happy with how its looking but need to print some more specific parts to tweak the design a little then can start to add up the lengths and see if we are on track for equal lengths without having to do anything too freaky to correct the design lower down. The other side will be more difficult with the ABS steel guard (body work) and dry sump pump / starter motor / brake and fuel lines in the mix also.

Not really much going on of late apart from concentrating on the headers ... letting the kids and workmates play with the printed parts is a great way to stress test everything Have refined things a little and am now stock piling like a North Korean dictator. I have enough to now to go and make a start in the car itself ... exciting times.

So the blue pool vacuum hose turned out to be more useful as a play thing for the kids than to model up my new headers, just not flexible enough when you actually get it in place etc. All this time I had been trying to model the headers nicely at low cost but it seems those desires are mutually exclusive !! What I really wanted to use originally was the modelling kits from Ice Engine Works (https://www.icengineworks.com/) but they are just so dang expensive for a one off 😕 Take a look at their site if you have no idea what I'm babbling about and its instantly visible what an awesome approach and system this is where you want to know exactly how your headers will be built, the length and clearances etc. I figured I could design and 3D print my own version along the same concept and which match the locally available mandrel bend radius's (the US based ice kit centre line radius bends are not available here). With the price of 3D printers now it will be way cheaper, hopefully a good result and can also then use it for prototyping other items and making odd widgets as needed Onto some pics of where things are at ... made a bunch of prototypes and (semi) perfected some settings that give a nice result. This is how they will clip together, will be various length straight sections along with bend segments (doing 30 degree and 80mm CLR at the mo). The final prototype which seems to work pretty well and looks fairly good to boot !! Printer is hard at work while I sleep making 7 more bends ... hoping it does not look like a spaghetti blob monster when I wake up

Registering my interest to see how you get on as I need to get my heat shields done also. I can get away with soda blast also but that CO2 sure looks completely magical on the YouTube !!!

Some really fun work lately with basic assembly of some major pieces to get things looking like a car again. Installed the flywheel and clutch, funnily enough these were one of the first things purchased almost a year ago now !! Pulled the front struts apart to give everything a good clean and install new bump stops / dust boots. Unfortunately the left side is completely rooted but will get the car mobile for the time being, will not go through certification and WOF however so will likely have to do something suspension wise later on. Lower control arms with new Powerflex bushes installed, 330 knuckles and guard liners cleaned / painted along with the wheel wells. Just a fun shot of the under body with new oil pan installed. The next and probably most involved part of the build has slowly begun ... making the headers !! Designed up the flanges and had them laser cut however will probably change approach here and go with completely individual tubes / mini flanges to allow them to be 'threaded' into position into the car and fixed into a slip joint collector ... or something Got some pool vacuum hose I will be using to mock things up roughly, will probably get a bunch of profiles laser cut at the proposed mandrel bend radius to support the pool hose in place then fill with some sort of expanding rigid foam. Looking pretty cool now, side skirts back on ... FINALLY installed the front EBC rotors !!! Could not help myself mocking up the interior a little bit and I'm loving the low key look it should have !!

Looks awesome, so shiny !! I'm also kinda curious about the anal cosmetics but I think I'm going to leave that one 🤣

Hmmm i tried to search this up to see if it was possible but could not find anybody outlining it. When i looked it seemed the aluminium brace needed bolt holes in the body i don't have ... looked like it had two bolts on the body next to the LCA bush ? Will try and find some more detailed pics online.

I'm fitting my E46 triangle front subframe brace back on and wondering where the 'circlip washers' are located (link below to see the washer I'm talking about). On realoem it looks like they go between the car body and the brace, and I can see witness marks on the body that supports this theory ... however it just seems a bit odd ? Makes more sense if they are designed to grip onto both parts and keep the brace stationary perhaps ? Can't find any reference to installing the brace in the Bently service manual I have either 😕 Would be great to have a proper procedure to follow as I assume the car should be leveled out and sitting perfectly square if the brace is unable to move once installed. Anyhoo ... just looking for some guidance from somebody who has experience with these things. https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-retaining-ring-e46-31106757145

We have heard the people, and we have listened ... behold !!! The next eagerly anticipated update Worked up a prototype MDF dry sump mount after shooting some beams again to work out the relative hole positions. While waiting for some laser cutting (header flanges and dry sump oil scraper) I got in and cleaned the front wheel wells and got a coat of black 2k paint on them. Also cleaned and coated the guard liners with trim black. Got the Sikky Manufacturing slim steering linkage in place which should make life easier when it comes time to make the headers. Got the laser cut oil scraper installed and checked for interference before making up the viton o-ring seal, much easier than I thought it would be ... the o-ring cord stayed put without any vasoline or other goo. I lost the use of my borrowed torque wrench so had to cast the mind back to my physics classes and improvise with a fish scale and 3/8" power bar I think its more accurate to be fair !! After my careful calibration check of the scales of course. Received the Holden Astra electric power steering pump finally so will give it a clean at some point soon and put it aside for a few months. Milestone event !!! Oil pan installed for good with my ghetto torque wrench to boot. Now to shorten the ATI drive mandrel for the dry sump pulley, managed to chop off all of the 3/8" threaded hole also so I could convert to M10. The drop saw got the job done pretty well ... in hind sight i should have done it differently to make things a little less sketchy process wise. Good result with the mandrel chopped down to the right length and tapped. That brings us up to current with the pump fitted using the mk1 pump mount ... could probably be used for first start but I'll make up something better shortly. Great that the belt length works out, total stroke of luck !! Might still look to install a tensioner. Also got some cooling system gaskets so have reinstalled the rear water outlet casting and will be blanking off a few bits shortly, nothing too sexy to report there. Hopefully tomorrow will get the flywheel, clutch and trans on so we're ready to go back into the car for hopefully the final time !! Just waiting on the heater box right angle fittings.

Does anyone know if these style fittings will connect reliably to the E46 (and probably other) heater box inlet / outlet ? I need to get a right angle ASAP after the heater core to clear my engine and these fit the bill nicely ... if they work !! https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rnb-800-277 I'm not even sure what to call them ... obviously some flavour of quick release fitting which I've seen in use on the radiator from memory.

No posts for a little while as have just been chipping away in the background and making plans for things needed to mount the engine for the (hopefully) final time ... heater lines, wire routing, sealing the cabin blower air intake etc. I did pull the engine again and have fitted the shifter relocation kit finally so I can make car noises and change gears At the same time I shortened the dust cap so the Spicer 1350 slip yoke can fit without fouling. Onto the VERY exciting developments this week ... received the dry sump housing and rebuild kit needed to change mounting from right to left. On the same day the Sikky Manufacturing slim steering linkage arrived. Dry sump is fully stripped and now ready to reassemble with the new housing. By far the most exciting thing to happen was the arrival of the dry sump oil pan which I designed and had made via https://hubs.com ... looks FANTASTIC, so stoked. Lets hope it fits up alright Will need to finalise the design of the oil scraper plate before it can be mounted up permanently.

Got the required imperial hardware needed to get the dry sump pump apart today ... all looks to be in good order. The new housing to switch to a left side mount is almost on the way from the states along with a new seal / bearing kit. Pretty impressed with the engineering and techniques used to make the pump !! Created the required clearance for the shifter relocation ... just needs a couple small tweaks and some epoxy primer which can wait until the engine is removed. That shaft will need to be cut down some what