The Barbara Chronicles

[Vass 859]

4 hours ago, Eagle said:

Slight end play on the PS pump is normal. Clunking could drive train, diff or worn trailing arm bushings. Does it only do it when cold?   

It now does it every time you switch from drive into reverse, and vice versa. Could be any number of things within the subframe. Don't think I'm gonna bother chasing it down, will just tackle everything in one go.

[Eagle 1669]

3 hours ago, aja540i said:

Subframe bushes??

The bushings dont truly fail, just the floor.

31 minutes ago, Vass said:

It now does it every time you switch from drive into reverse, and vice versa. Could be any number of things within the subframe. Don't think I'm gonna bother chasing it down, will just tackle everything in one go.

Likely something in the drivetrain in that case. dont think ive driven any E46 that doesn't have at least in a dull thud under certain conditions. Yeah looks like you are going to swapping and replacing a lot of parts so not an issue.

Edited January 30, 2022 by Eagle

[Vass 859]

December '21
222,XXX km

One evening I took a drive down to Ashburton to have a look at a potential side project, a deregistered E91 320i going for cheap. Looked tidy enough but luckily it ended up selling to someone else before I had time to make the dumb plunge into the 4-cylinder world. Barbara here must have gotten jealous as on the way back she threw an engine code, the sassy bitch.

P0174. Classic.

To my knowledge, the DISA hadn't been refurbished, but then again could have been a whole handful of other culprits. The prospect of going on a wild goose chase for vacuum leaks didn't really appeal to me. Nor did chasing down the persistent clunk from the rear end.

Then one day I discovered a line of coolant running down the crank and it just threw me over the edge. Everything else had been replaced by that point so it must have been one of the hard plastic lines under the intake manifold. Nope, not keen. So I did what any rational idiot would do when faced with another minor annoyance...

... I went out and bought a bloody parts car.

Jokes aside, it had been a while in the making and not at all an impulsive decision. I'm sort of a 'demolish and rebuild' type of person, would much rather start from scratch and tackle everything in one go instead of playing whack-a-mole chasing down persistent issues. I settled on doing a full on assault on the engine, but if I was going to go down the full refurb rabbit hole, I figured it might as well be a 3L instead of a 2.5. I saw a few M54b30's listed on TradeMe for around $1,700, which seemed silly money for just the engine, so I started keeping an eye on Turners and Manheim damaged car auctions. Auckland had a few 330's come up, but quotes for transporting them down south came in at $2k and over so was a no go. Then when this fine specimen popped up locally, I knew it was the one.

A 2002 330i with 160,XXX km on the clock, all up cost me a touch less than the asking price on the aforementioned engines alone, written off with side impact damage.

The two doors took the brunt of the damage, with just a small dent in the B-pillar behind the door, which is what did it. Doesn't take much nowadays. Funnily enough, the previous owner reached out when he came across my part-out listing, so I got a nice insight into the car's backstory. The repair quote had apparently come in at $8k. Yikes!

Luckily, we'd managed to get our own modest little place earlier in the year, so I now had my own decent-sized garage to mess around in where I wouldn't be driving any housemates up the wall with my lunacy.

Getting a whole car meant that I could go for a full 330 conversion - engine, brakes, drivetrain, whole rear subframe with trailing arms and all. The plan is as follows:

• Rebuild engine with new seals, gaskets, new auxiliaries, rebuild DISA, VANOS, the works. Was tossing up whether to pull the head off or not but probably might as well. Have it checked for cracks and hardness, get it machined and honed. Probably change the piston rings, likely retrofit the M52TU ones. Still figuring out the full scope, but don't want to leave much to chance. The main thing I'm concerned about is the head bolts pulling the threads when reinstalling the head, which I've read might happen. Installing timeserts seems like a whole heap of mucking about that I'd rather avoid at all costs. I'll probably start a separate thread for the engine build itself as that's the biggest part of the project that I'm going to need tonnes of advice on, which would probably make this thread too convoluted with everything else that'll be happening.

• Refurb the whole rear subframe - already have a full kit of rear subframe bushes sitting in a box waiting to go on. Will probably clean everything up and spray paint to fight off rust and for general visual satisfaction. The one question I have is whether it's worth upgrading to poly or any other sort of aftermarket bushes even if for some individual components. The kit I already have is all OEM Lemförder and Meyle. Obviously this isn't going to be a competitive track car, just a daily driver / road trip tourer. Seeing how I go, might try my hand at a track day or two just for fun, but won't be seeing too much abuse. Opinions more than welcome.
• Was going to drop the auto box from the donor car to hopefully cure my limp mode disease, but after staring at it for a while, I went f**k it and shelled out for a ZF 5-speed manual from a fella in England as there's currently bugger all of them available in the country. Might as well make it a full on money pit. Getting a full conversion with full driveshaft and manual diff. Hoping it all comes through without any hiccups in the next few weeks/months.
• Refurb, paint the 330 brake callipers. Ideally want to rebuild the pistons with new rubber seals - if anyone knows the best place to get those, would be very much appreciated. I think I saw some on ECS a while ago go for something stupid like $50 USD each!
• Probably refurb the front running gear as well, control arms and such are still factory so long overdue a replacement.
• Still tossing up whether I need to do the rear subframe reinforcing plates or not. Would be sensible but I'm not sure how to make the logistics work. Would I need to take the car to a shop and pay the extra labour to remove and reinstall the subframe? Do I get a welder to come to me and f**k around with the car on jack stands? And how does this affect certification? Do I even need to get it reinforced if I won't be tracking the car?
• Whatever else will inevitably crop up, will tackle it as it comes.

With the engine still in the car, I went ahead and did a compression and leak down test. The results were a bit all over the shop, sometimes retesting the same cylinder would give radically different results. Probably down to cheap-ish test equipment, but got some sort of gauge anyway.

Cylinder 4 seemed the dodgiest one, but retesting the leak down on it the second time came out to 14% which fell in line with the rest of them. So heck knows. The engine still held compression fine, car was driveable, but not the freshest.

From the outside too, the engine was in a bit of a state, leaking oil like a sieve.

Not sure how that happened, but the oil return hose from the CCV to the dipstick had completely split and was pissing all over the place, drenching everything in the vicinity.

Anyway, the slow dismantling continued whilst selling off bits to recoup some of the costs. The holiday break ended up being a staycation with me spending a better part of 2 weeks doing 12+ hour days in the garage. Bloody love it!

Also, after being on the lookout ever since I'd gotten the car, I finally came across a tidy looking wagon being parted out at a local wrecker's, so I jumped on it and scavenged it for all sorts of boot trim bits that had been so hard to come by up to now, as well as nabbing some real tidy leather rear seats that are of course touring-specific. For just $100 I couldn't pass up. Those, along with leather door cards off the donor car, and I'm two seats shy of a full interior leather upgrade. By no means a priority but something I'm looking to do somewhere down the line.

As a little treat, I bought myself a crappy wee Ford Laser as a cheap runaround, in anticipation for when the wagon will be out of action getting a heart transplant.

Ugly little duckling with barely any clear coat left on it, but cheap on fuel and being a manual, I almost enjoy driving it more than the wagon itself hahah. Maybe this whole endeavour was a massive waste of time and money from the get go...

Edited January 30, 2022 by Vass
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[qube 3570]

This thread is more interesting than most shows on netflix these days. 
 

following with interest!

[Vass 859]

14 minutes ago, qube said:

This thread is more interesting than most shows on netflix these days. 
 

following with interest!

Hahah thanks mate, glad to provide amusement 😄

[Eagle 1669]

If it were me id get the car running and driving first before pulling the head. Lots of work and extra tools required for maybe minimal gain unless you know the engine is burning oil etc.

Subframe floor reinforcement is massive and exhausting job if you do it properly ie top and bottom plates. You need to be a decent welder or know someone who is and can do it on jackstands\hoist unless you want to pay someone massive labour rates - RMS say its a 30-60 hour job, lost count how many hours ive put in so far. Never heard of anyone needed a cert. You can make blend the repair in quite well if wanted.

Id just inspect the underside and internal cavities when the frame is out and go from there (see Reddish Motorsport videos and CMP write up on it). If you don't see anything then i wouldn't bother in your case. I replaced my bushings with Lemforder\Meyle ones because im re-enforcing and they are much cheaper than poly(and look better). Poly is suppose to be better for limiting frame movement hence reducing stress on floor\welds.

See my thread later on today for an idea, mine had 2 extremely minor failures but i wanted to do it anyway for piece of mind.  

[KwS 2429]

59 minutes ago, Eagle said:

Never heard of anyone needed a cert. You can make blend the repair in quite well if wanted.

Kind of a moot point anyway with the engine and manual swap; gonna need a cert.

[Vass 859]

45 minutes ago, Eagle said:

If it were me id get the car running and driving first before pulling the head. Lots of work and extra tools required for maybe minimal gain unless you know the engine is burning oil etc.

Easier to do it now than have to muck about later with sh*t in the way. I think it's fair to assume that even if doesn't burn oil yet, it will do at some point, knowing the M54 oil rings being not the best design. 

45 minutes ago, Eagle said:

Subframe floor reinforcement is massive and exhausting job if you do it properly ie top and bottom plates. You need to be a decent welder or know someone who is and can do it on jackstands\hoist unless you want to pay someone massive labour rates - RMS say its a 30-60 hour job, lost count how many hours ive put in so far. Never heard of anyone needed a cert. You can make blend the repair in quite well if wanted.

Id just inspect the underside and internal cavities when the frame is out and go from there (see Reddish Motorsport videos and CMP write up on it). If you don't see anything then i wouldn't bother in your case. I replaced my bushings with Lemforder\Meyle ones because im re-enforcing and they are much cheaper than poly(and look better). Poly is suppose to be better for limiting frame movement hence reducing stress on floor\welds.

See my thread later on today for an idea, mine had 2 extremely minor failures but i wanted to do it anyway for piece of mind.  

If I were to do it, I'd probably only do the underside.

Interesting regarding poly bushes reducing stress on the floor. I would have thought it's the opposite with them being stiffer and more likely to pass on the stress instead of absorbing it and dissipating it. In my mind, the stiffer the system, the stronger it has to be because the stresses are concentrated and have nowhere to go. Introducing a softer rubber means that it would become the part to dissipate the stress somewhat, turning it into movement within that component. Kind of like you don't build a completely rigid bridge, instead allowing it to move somewhat to release the stress.

Might be way off the mark though, that's just my structural engineering brain trying to make sense of it, I'm by no means a mechanic

[Vass 859]

12 minutes ago, KwS said:

Kind of a moot point anyway with the engine and manual swap; gonna need a cert.

I'm kind of more asking regarding the welding job itself, i.e. would it have to be done by a certified welder and have some accompanying documentation to go with it, or am I fine just getting a mate to do it or something...?

Will definitely be getting the engine and tranny swap certed. About to get in touch with a local cert place sometime this week to get a better idea of how the whole process works. Will probably pose the weld question as well.

[Eagle 1669]

1 hour ago, Vass said:

Easier to do it now than have to muck about later with sh*t in the way. I think it's fair to assume that even if doesn't burn oil yet, it will do at some point, knowing the M54 oil rings being not the best design. 

If I were to do it, I'd probably only do the underside.

Interesting regarding poly bushes reducing stress on the floor. I would have thought it's the opposite with them being stiffer and more likely to pass on the stress instead of absorbing it and dissipating it. In my mind, the stiffer the system, the stronger it has to be because the stresses are concentrated and have nowhere to go. Introducing a softer rubber means that it would become the part to dissipate the stress somewhat, turning it into movement within that component. Kind of like you don't build a completely rigid bridge, instead allowing it to move somewhat to release the stress.

Might be way off the mark though, that's just my structural engineering brain trying to make sense of it, I'm by no means a mechanic

Fair enough re engine. Guess if cost and time are no object then its not an issue.

If no other failures on the top side then good undersides plates and reinforcing a few weak areas i guess is the compromise. Doing it all when everything is out was the best option for my coupe. The top side welding isnt very much compared to the bottom but involved more prep\cutting. Im not sure how the touring boot floor is different compared to the others. Never never of anyone needed certs for this type of work, you aren't really modifying just reinforcing.

From what i understand the there is no need to have that movement in the subframe which stock rubber bushings do esp when they are older. Softer grade poly bushings (Reddish recommend Powerflex yellow) in that area don't give any real noticeable negative effects, its obviously not a cure for poor design though. Poly rear rubber diff\subframe bushings appears to cause more NVH though over the rubber versions.

[Vass 859]

9 hours ago, Eagle said:

Fair enough re engine. Guess if cost and time are no object then its not an issue.

Cost is never not an object. I guess my reasoning is, with a job this big, cutting a small corner would be a drop in the bucket on the grand scale, but leaving it untouched makes it a weak point more likely to fail further down the line. I'm not one to spend money needlessly, but if something's worth it, I don't mind paying a bit more to get a better result in the end. Do it once, do it right.

 

Had a chat with the local cert place today. Was keen to know how the whole certification process goes and what I could do to make it smoother. I'd been advised that I might need to install driveshaft hoops as part of the conversion, so asked them about that. Was told that hoops are only needed if the power increases by 50% or more, or if the driveshaft had been modified in any significant way i.e. welding. In my case, the gearbox, driveshaft and rear diff will all be coming from the same car so I won't be needing it, which is a relief.

Regarding welding of the reinforcement plates, they said it's not something that needs to be certified per se, unless it involves the suspension mounting points being moved from their original location. The welds would need to be done to a "tradesman-like standard" though so if the weld job is particularly poor and sloppy, you will be pulled up on it if noticed.

Just as a disclaimer, do not take this as any sort of concrete advice, your situation might be different and worth checking with your friendly neighbourhood cert guy to make sure what specific requirements might apply to your project.

Edited January 31, 2022 by Vass
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[Eagle 1669]

58 minutes ago, Vass said:

Cost is never not an object. I guess my reasoning is, with a job this big, cutting a small corner would be a drop in the bucket on the grand scale, but leaving it untouched makes it a weak point more likely to fail further down the line. I'm not one to spend money needlessly, but if something's worth it, I don't mind paying a bit more to get a better result in the end. Do it once, do it right.

Yeah i guess its the same reasoning i applied while with doing the full subframe reinforcement, just about everything is out so why not. Could of just done the underside which probably would have been fine based on what i know now, but fact is you can't fully know that car is 100% without cutting holes and inspecting.

I would think in general anyone doing this sort of repair work would have adequate welding quality given the scope of it. Once sealed and painted etc and put back together it would be much hard to critique. The cert guy isn't really applicable to my situation but the people who engineered the fix are the only people id query if needed. 

[Vass 859]

January '22
223,XXX km

To take a break from the demolition job, I got onto installing the trunk trim bits I'd scavenged earlier. Not that it made an astronomical difference, but pretty satisfying none the less. Also helped get rid of a couple pesky squeaks & rattles as well as properly securing the side bit that the cargo cover latches onto, where the bolt hole had been ripped out.

Afraid to put anything in the trunk now...

The donor also came with some decent leather door cards, so those got a good clean and went straight onto the wagon. They looked tidier than the current ones, where the cloth part had gone all saggy, plus the numerous scuffs had been a real eye sore, most notably on the passenger door. The new door cards came with the added bonus of additional smaller speakers that I'll need to figure out how to wire in further down the line. No clue how that will work, but I'm sure future me will figure it out.

The trim inserts will need a little going over with some fine sandpaper and a coat or two of paint to finish the look off.

The wagon also got the front indicators off the donor that don't seem to be prone to moisture infiltration. Another little annoyance ticked off the list.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the donor car was becoming an increasingly sorry sight. More and more bits were coming off and getting sold or put away in storage, all engine cables getting tagged, all nuts and bolts going into separate sandwich bags and being labelled.

Out came the subframe, and with the help of a mate, the engine soon followed.

Love that green coolant, yum yum yum.

Stripped the very last parts off the shell. Tried not to let anything go to waste, so kept everything from the windshield washer motor down to the brake booster and anything else I could lay my eyes on. Now all that was left was to figure out how to get the body out of the garage without any wheels on it...

Ended up lifting the rear with an engine crane and rested the front rails onto a pole poked through a couple of spare wheels, creating a magnificent wee Batmobile.

In the final couple of days, the last bunch of salvageable body panels went off to new homes, leaving the formerly glorious machine cutting a rather sad figure. Never nice seeing one of these get taken off the road, but at least the heart will live on in a new shell.

R.I.P.
2002-2021

 

So, finally caught up, this is where things currently stand. The rear subframe is sitting on the floor, ready to be torn apart and put back together.

The engine is up on the stand, awaiting the same treatment.

The manual parts are in England, being loaded onto a pallet and going in for freight in the next couple of days. Can't wait.

As for Barbara herself, she's still happily chugging along. Despite being a bit capricious at times, she's never left me fully stranded, to her great credit (knock on wood). With every bit of work going into it, she's feeling more and more my own and will be a whole different beast of a car by the end of year at the latest. Hopefully much sooner though.

This has grown into a bigger project than anything I've ever undertaken before, by several orders of magnitude, and I'd be very keen to hear any sort of advice and guidance all you more knowledgeable folk might care to share. If you notice me going something dodgy or spouting some utter nonsense, by all means pull me up on it. I'm humble enough to admit I'm barely informed at best of times, and desperately clueless at others, so am very open to learning from people that have been there and done it before. I'm doing my best to research every step of the process before embarking on it, but if you do see me asking silly questions that have been addressed numerous times before, point me in the right direction and I'll eagerly do the due diligence.

The goal with this process is to do as much as possible with my own two hands, and hopefully by the end of it, be left with a solid and reliable car to enjoy for years to come.

Thanks for all the kind words and encouragement! Will do my best to keep it entertaining.

[Cement 891]

I've recently (sorta now as things drag on !?) done the RACP reinforcement (CMP products) along with 330 running gear swap into my 318 project car. Nothing that isn't covered elsewhere on the internet many times over but may be of interest to take a look at my thread for ideas. Also cleaned all of the underside and painted plus did poly bushings etc while in there.

 

[Vass 859]

11 minutes ago, Cement said:

I've recently (sorta now as things drag on !?) done the RACP reinforcement (CMP products) along with 330 running gear swap into my 318 project car. Nothing that isn't covered elsewhere on the internet many times over but may be of interest to take a look at my thread for ideas. Also cleaned all of the underside and painted plus did poly bushings etc while in there.

Aye cheers! I've flicked through your build before but will have a keener look at the subframe part. Those headers of yours are looking mighty impressive! I'm more or less keeping everything OEM, the fabrication on yours is looking absolutely mad, next level stuff that. Keen to see how it all comes together.

[Eagle 1669]

I'm curious what the shipping process for gearbox etc is like. What did it cost or you still waiting for a tax bill etc?

[Vass 859]

23 minutes ago, Eagle said:

I'm curious what the shipping process for gearbox etc is like. What did it cost or you still waiting for a tax bill etc?

I'll report back once I actually receive it. With it being air freight, it could apparently take as little as 2 weeks, which I'd be mightily surprised and impressed by. Hoping I might get away without duties but will see. Should still be cheaper than any of the ones I've seen go recently, especially with the 2.93 diff included as well.

[Vass 859]

Just a few minor things to report on. Have mostly been busy with dismantling the donor engine, which I've been documenting in a separate thread here, so the bulk of the progress was made on that front.

With the car itself, all I've done is clean up and swap over the rear door cards as well. The new ones do have a few marks and dings themselves but do look tidier with the leather inserts instead of the sagging fabric. The leather rear seats are still sitting around, biding their time to go it. Still hoping to find some tidy Msport black leather front seats to match them up with. If anyone's got any leads, shoot them my way. Not looking beyond the South Island at the moment as shipping would take it beyond what I'm reasonably willing to pay.

Annoyingly, whilst I was at it, I discovered a patch of rust peeking out from beneath the rear right door sill. Not really sure how to deal with it as I'm always hesitant to mess with paintwork but probably worth cleaning up and addressing somehow. Just don't trust myself to do a tidy enough job with it. Product recommendations very welcome.

Also, the window tints are really starting to annoy me now. I do like having tints, but the current ones have way too many defects that let the car down. Will probably ponder an action plan for those for after the new engine and transmission is all up and running.

Otherwise yeah, she's still kicking on, seen here pretending to be a grasshopper.

[balancerider 770]

14 hours ago, Vass said:

Annoyingly, whilst I was at it, I discovered a patch of rust peeking out from beneath the rear right door sill. Not really sure how to deal with it as I'm always hesitant to mess with paintwork but probably worth cleaning up and addressing somehow. Just don't trust myself to do a tidy enough job with it. Product recommendations very welcome.

Do like where this is going.

Interestingly my first E46 touring (also Jap import) had rust in exactly the same place - under the scuff plate on R rear door. Took it to a paint/panel place - they dealt with it for <$100, although that was 8-9 years ago...

[Vass 859]

46 minutes ago, balancerider said:

Do like where this is going.

Interestingly my first E46 touring (also Jap import) had rust in exactly the same place - under the scuff plate on R rear door. Took it to a paint/panel place - they dealt with it for <$100, although that was 8-9 years ago...

Yeah good shout, that's probably what I'll end up doing. There's a whole heap of panel beaters next to where I work so will pop around and see what they reckon. Would be well happy if it's something like $100-200. Anything to avoid messing with paint myself.

Water just seems to get stuck under that ledge of the plastic every time it rains, the rear sills especially. Can see a wee line of rust running the whole length of it. Must have been in a salty environment this car in general, a whole lot of surface rust all over the underside, drivetrain etc. Nothing too serious but does catch the eye.

[Vass 859]

On 2/9/2022 at 7:41 AM, balancerider said:

Interestingly my first E46 touring (also Jap import) had rust in exactly the same place - under the scuff plate on R rear door. Took it to a paint/panel place - they dealt with it for <$100, although that was 8-9 years ago...

Popped by one place today to get a quote - $400... For literally a matchbox sized area. DIY it is I guess.

[Vass 859]

Ohh goody, oh goody, Christmas is here! Was sipping my morning coffee at work when I got a text from DHL that my manual conversion was finally out for delivery, so I rushed straight home to greet it.

The package came in looking all sorts of beat up but luckily everything in it seems to have remained in one piece. Looked a close call though after taking off the wrapping as the box was barely hanging onto the wee pallet it was perched on.

A couple of scuffs here and there but overall nothing significant and all the bits seem to be there.

Bit of rust here and there, which isn't surprising coming from the UK. Will be treating and refurbing everything regardless. The diff seems particularly bad so I'm thinking I might look into just swapping the 2.93 internals into my tidy 3.38 instead of using the current casing? Not sure if it's possible but will do some research on it. If anyone knows their way around diffs, some guidance on that would be very much welcome.

The slave looks a bit tired and has the shaft missing, but at ~$40-60 for new ones, I was going to get a new one anyway. Same with clutch, flywheel, pressure plate etc. The one thing I forgot to make sure would be included is the reverse light harness, but I'm hoping it won't be hard to just wire together. Otherwise the kit looks to have everything I need.

Will be doing all the bushes, rubbers, detents before it goes onto the car so will be a wee while before it's all together. The 3.0L engine is now at the machine shop and will take a while as well. At this point, I'm hoping to have everything up and running sometime this winter.

On 2/1/2022 at 11:59 AM, Eagle said:

I'm curious what the shipping process for gearbox etc is like. What did it cost or you still waiting for a tax bill etc?

So, all in all, the conversion cost £850. I also added the manual 2.93 diff on top of that and with shipping everything came out to £1,550. That would have included the front part of the driveshaft. I looked into how much balancing the driveshaft would have cost locally and after getting a quote of $300+GST, I transferred the guy an extra £80 to ship the rear part of the same driveshaft separately as well. It was too long to fit onto the same pallet because of the size restrictions.

The purchase went through PayPal and I made sure to check prior whether Buyer Protection would cover this type of purchase, which gave me the assurance to go through with the deal. I used Wise to convert currency instead of just going with the bank rate, which saved me a good $150 on the conversion rate alone. If you're sending money overseas for whatever reason, it's definitely worth trying out.

Not sure if I just lucked out but everything came through without any duties owing, so didn't have to pay anything on top of the purchase price. All in all, with the exchange rate at the time, the whole kit cost me $3,300 (or $3,303.15 to be precise). Looking at the $4k+ asking prices on TM and such, I'm well happy with that.

Timing wise, I transferred the money on the 25th of January, the whole thing was on a pallet a week later, took another week for the shipment to go into transit and it was on my doorstep this morning, so exactly a month later. Well happy with that. If anyone's keen, I can pass on the details of the fella I dealt with. Great guy to deal with, communication was always prompt and on point and was happy to help out with and advice I was after. He's not a massive operation, just an enthusiast pulling cars apart and usually has 1-2 manual kits at the ready. There's a few folks importing boxes en masse now but I figured I'd cut out the middle man and go straight to the source. Would definitely go back to him again if I ever need to.

 

In the meantime, I also pulled apart the whole rear end and borrowed a press and bearing plate kit to start pushing out old rubbers and dig into refurbing the subframe. Plenty going on. Just need to carve out more free time...

[Eagle 1669]

That's quite reasonably priced given it included the diff, im sure that added a bit to the shipping costs if going by weight. Never thought about using a currency converter service, good idea. 

Whats wrong with the diff? it looks like it will clean up fine with a waterblast, rust converter and paint? 

Ive got a new LUK dual mass flywheel and\or clutch kit if wanted? 

 

[Gaz 1062]

Who did you use for shipping? DHL direct?

[Sammo 2550]

M54B30 + ZF + 3.38 = win