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hunter

Project E39

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Gotta love it when parts turn up on a Friday. FCP sure like their oversized boxes ?

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Haha. For sure. Earlier than estimated too. 
box was ok was well packed. Not Amazon spec oversized. Delivering a micro sd in a banana box styles. ?

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New rack ends left and right in amd all aligned again. Ready for some adventures once we put a stop to the rolling waves of sick kids. 
 

only major thing left to do for this car is full wheel refurbishment of the Style 42 wheels. 
 

rest is maintenance and enjoying the drives. 

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10 hours ago, hunter said:

left to do

New project beckons...

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On 10/13/2020 at 6:41 AM, hqstu said:

New project beckons...

I’m pretty keen on a cooper s ?

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More new bits arrived last week, installed this week by Mosens.

I'd had a weepy Power Steering suction hose for a while, was tough to adjust as the screw was facing the block, making it impossible to reach to adjust. it was also done up to tight it had split the hose and pissibly crakced the resivour.

For <200$ NZ i replaced (including install) a new PS resivour and hoses. now i dont have to top up the fluid each month and the steering feels nicer too.

 

 

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Sorted the broken drivers seat plastic surround today.  Broken  either by previous owner or upholstery guys, needless to say the latter didn’t help matters as it seriously deteriorated after they had their hands in it. 
I ordered a set from Schmeidmann they only come as a pair but the price was reasonable even from Germany. 
 

install took about 40 mins including removing the old one and transferring all the switches etc. am now looks super fresh and has all clips and bolts in their rightful place.

I noted the thigh support switch was missing a component and was incorrectly assembled (the switch cover itself can only go one way). But the small gold coloured metal pieces can fall out easily if not assembled properly. so I robbed a part from the passenger seat. 
if anyone has a thigh support switch lying around let me know. 
 

 

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Ah didn’t see your update. I just checked my spares and have 2 switches missing the damn contacts. I had issues with these contacts in the old wagon, i managed to find a used set out of an msport e39 wreck at zebra. I wonder though if the same contacts are found in more commonly found bimmer switches?

The alcantara seats look 👌 

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I just updated mate after your comment realising I wasn’t explaining myself well enough. 😎
 

yeah I’m not sure about other switches and will need to do some research. I’ll also reach out to my local mechanic once he is back at work. I think he is a couple of e39s in his wrecking lot. 
 

cheers in the seat compliment. I had the driver lower out bolster recovered and went over the rest of the seats with a razor to de fluff them. They look pretty great now for their age. 

Edited by hunter
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thigh support Switch replaced with a pick a part item (thanks @BreakMyWindow) now both seats are fully operational and like new. 
 

next up...... wheel refurbishment 

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Spare wheels/tyres now available... :)

 

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It's been on the list for a while and this jan i started to prep my Style 42 wheels for refurb. The goal is to remove the failing clear coat, and respary the faces to get them looking as good as possible on a budget so DIY prep and paint is the pathway and being realisitc some marks wont come out, so perfection is not the goal but a set of wheels hat look good that i did in my garage with help from some  friends 

The thing that spurred me into action was a kyte flying accident (fall at pace) which saw me end up with a concussion and more than several weeks (still ) off work. This time has allowed me to chip away at the prep (very) slowly as I wasnt able to do much of anything else especially screen related or out side for more that 10 -20 mins.

More recently as I've recovered slightly i worked with a mate to seperate the wheel faces from the barrels and these  were taken to Advanced Chrome Platers in Hamilton for refinishing,  removing 98% of the curbing and failed clear coat leaving  a polished finish on the 20 year old wheels  

more updates to come as paint get laid next week all going to plan.

- bottom wheel sanded, ready for seperation;

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- Rattle gun to easily remove BBS bolts, reassembly will be with Kit Gloves!

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- Example of completley failed clear coat

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- 76 wheel face bolts, hand polished

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- Newley polished Lip

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Preped faces with skimmed edges to remove slag and other nasty deposits after year of grime and weather exposure

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I've also applied some filler on the larger stone chips

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Edited by hunter
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Just keep in mind once the center is on the barrel there is going to be some exposed metal that can't be viewed\cleaned. Water, brake dust etc can still get in the gap between the 2 pieces technically causing corrosion to start eventually.  

I've re-finished a couple of set of style 42 barrels going the polished lip route but ive never dismantled them again to see what the outcome was over a long period.

Are those bolts are clear coated or just bare titanium? i dont recall.

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Yeah I see the gap. I fully expect water a dirt to get in over time. I will be adding some protective coating to the surfaces before reassembling to try and cut down on the impact of it. I don’t plan to ever take them apart again either but will feel better knowing I’ve done that at least. 
 

not sure about the bolts tbh they look like no clear coat, none of them have any clear peeling and feel like just metal 🤷‍♂️ And they polished up really well with Chemical guys light metal polish (which has a level of protection in it) 👍 

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Last week was very exciting, the wheels were painted in  a color matched silver and coated in 2K clear.

left to dry / cure for just over 48 hours before gentle re-assembly.

A local tire shop fitted the Pilot Sport 4s back on with no issues or marring at all.

I think they look amazing, the whole car is in need of a good wash before I take some decent pics.

and thanks to @hqstu for the lending of the M5 wheels while i worked on these.

Clear going on

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Looking good with 2 coats of base and clear applied

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Thanks to some awesome maching of barrels and the edge of the faces reassembly went very smooth

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bolts in and torqued down

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freshly remounted, car needs a decent wash then more pics will be posted.

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packed up and ready to go get the tires fitted to the refreshed wheels ( they are in the boot and backseat)

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Edited by hunter
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Thanks Martin. They are rather delicious 🤤 

I like them more and more now they are back the their best. 

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Stunning wheels, I was actually just thinking about going this route on the E46 as a set (18x8 and 18x9.5) came up in need of a refurb for $800 - potential cost of refurb put me off though and the rears were 9.5 ET25 which would be pushing it a little on the E46... regretting it now haha

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14 minutes ago, Sammo said:

Stunning wheels, I was actually just thinking about going this route on the E46 as a set (18x8 and 18x9.5) came up in need of a refurb for $800 - potential cost of refurb put me off though and the rears were 9.5 ET25 which would be pushing it a little on the E46... regretting it now haha

 Cheers mate. FWIW I did this refurb for around 900 including professional polish on the barrels. I had a local paint shop mix the paint and clear into spray cans and a mate and I painted the faces. 

I did all the sanding and prep myself. 

defo affordable compared to the various quotes I got for between 1700 and nearly 3 grand. 
 

I nearly jumped on those ones on market place too. 

Edited by hunter
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Recent driving missions recently often ended with a very hot sweet smelling car, this pointed towards a coolant leak....again. 
Not wanting to chase my tail or cough up for another second hand radiator for more leaks to appear down the track I ordered a new radiator. 
Kerry from Mosens installed today along with a new fuel level sender unit, to cure the wildly varying fuel level reading under 1/4 of a tank. This was also effecting range and distance calculation I believe. 
 

I need to top it up and go for a decent drive to check the fuel level but it was reading more fuel in it than when I dropped it off today so I think it’s working lol 😂 

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Car is running mint after new radiator but Driving the car today I’ve noticed an extra whirring noise while in drive coming from engine bay. It stops when the car is shifted out of drive. 
hard to describe but it kind of changes pitch too. 🤷‍♂️ 
anyone have any ideas 

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Maybe alternator? I dunno if these are smart enough to kick off when the cars in park or not though...

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Better pics of refreshed wheels. 
not an exact match to the original colour and a bit lighter but I like it. 

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Spent some zen time washing the car Good Friday. Wheels have been on for a good few weeks now, I lightly  degreased then and ceramic coated them and gave a light hand polish before winter. 
 

also inspected some damage to a previous owners repair where an over zealous parking Manoeuvre resulted in a brush with a fence. Doh.

The whole drivers side front corner has been repaired at some stage. With a fair bit of filler used by the looks. 


I’ll be on the hunt for a structurally  excellent bumper in future as this one is also missing fastening points on the underside.  
 

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On 3/26/2021 at 11:40 AM, hunter said:

Car is running mint after new radiator but Driving the car today I’ve noticed an extra whirring noise while in drive coming from engine bay. It stops when the car is shifted out of drive. 
hard to describe but it kind of changes pitch too. 🤷‍♂️ 
anyone have any ideas 

This noise turned out to be the tensioner pulley. While investigating I noted the main belt was badly perished (not picked up at warrant time) 

both these parts were replaced today at Mosens which has resolved the noise and replaced the worn belt.
 

I also learnt that some early E39 had hydraulic tensioners and latter ones like mine have spring tensioners. The latter is a single unit with the early ones having seperate pulleys and tensioner bodies. 
 

I ordered the wrong one initially so have an early tension pulley for sale in the for sale section. I think this fits e36 too. 

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