Matty's Garage Projects (Aus)

[TwoBytes]

I wondered what you meant when you said "hindsight says wait"...

Now I know!

Damn.

Looks like it will be great by the time you're done though.

 

[Chrisb62]

It will be like new ...........and hopefully last forever.

 

[octane_matty]

After some hours slaving away at the late & a trip to the shops to pickup some new drill bits, a new reamer and fresh belt



Finally setup and ready to go


It runs!

Went to chuck up a piece of stock and...wait a minute...

Blades running backwards....
Motor wrong direction.....
reversed motor wires....
still wrong direction...
Opened it up....i've exceeded my electrical knowledge and appears too tricky to reverse


Cheers

ETA on a working bandsaw...unknown
ETA on car completion @189 Hrs

 

[octane_matty]

It's been a few weeks thinking but i decided to cut my losses

Dropped the bandsaw off at the tip





















































just kidding



Dissasembly


Primer 1


Slight intermission to shorten my welding table and add some storage underneath


Primer


Bit of an oopsie cutting some 6mm steel on a brand new blade
The violence of the chop saw is incredible


Tray bent up
5mm edging, bit of bondo so fill the bits i can't be bothered welding


First time trying to spray something
Came out like a garden hose. Too much PSI + paint wasn't thin enough?


Sanded, lower psi, much more thinner
Came out better but didn't sand the previous coat enough


Back together, you might notice it's new friend on the left


Sometimes bad decisions lead to worse decisions...


The finest in drop shipped cheap 7 drawer toolboxes



The colour scheme isn't great but i can fix that later
LIttle bit too wobbly and with the motor unbalanced


Fresh oil
Probably not thick enough but it's bronze safe


Replaced casters on the bottom with all swivels
Raised the saw above the chip tray by 100mm
Saw is now offset more to right and tray moved left



POWERRRRRR

This motor is 1HP rated (double if not triple the original)


We're in business!!


stainless exhaust tubing test

Bandsaw almost complete. Just need to paint a few bits, bore out my other pulley to fit the new motor and absolutely send it.

Hope you're all staying home for those on the east coast of Aus.
Never been a better time for some QST

ETA on a working bandsaw...less than an hour
ETA on car completion @189 Hrs

 

[bugnut]

She's a keeper now!

 

[octane_matty]

Slow progress weekend but started on the hardest side of the exhaust manifold



Unfortunately i need alot more clearance than that
My flanges are 12mm thick which is excessive for 304 stainless

6mm is more than enough, grinded down to about 8mm for the moment


Slightly ovalised the bend + angled cut on the donut
probably not ideal for flow but i'd rather not mount the engine any higher or forward.



Not terrible for welding with no back purge
crazy to think how long ago i bought the 308 rod for this

Really not sure how these pressed stainless merge collectors are meant to be assembled. Please chime in if you've used them before
The gap in the middle is incredible and the merge too large for fitment.


Time to create a smaller merge

I haven't got a purge setup just yet so for the moment i'm using solar flux type B for the backside of welds. Search youtube for some great videos on this stuff.
Note: Technically you should use isopropyl alcohol but this is all i have #lockdown

Many issues to cover with my manifolds but i'm very constrained with space


Paste on the backside


Mostly fusion welded
Not amazing - 2 pin holes i need to fix and the lower section i had gas issues



just 5 more merges to make and burn myself about 10 times

ETA on project car completion approx 183hrs

 

[hewey]

Not a lot of room to play with there. Good progress though.

 

[wreckdiver1321]

Your sense of humor in all this is worth the read alone. Love the workshop and the car build. Can't wait to see more of it!

 

[octane_matty]

another 2 weeks and sadly 2 steps forward and 3 back

Spent last weekend struggling to get fitment of headers. Made the decision in the end that i need to move the engine forward more

New dayco water pump + AC test fit. Sanden SD7 compressor on a holley mount
This is the smallest and tightest AC setup available i believe.



I ended up swapping back to the stock steering shaft to give me a better idea of clearance with double U joints and moved the engine forward 15-20mm



HEAPS of room now but spent the rest of the weekend welding up another set of engine mounts (that makes 4? maybe 5th set?)
Also exceeded the adjustment capability of my transmission mount so need to weld up another at some stage.

Latest purchases: AC setup, some fuel system parts, more exhaust mandrel bends & oil cooler setup.

Burn count increased to 3

ETA on project car completion approx 181 hrs

I'm running behind on schedule so might take a day off soon to smash out extra work.

 

[takai]

Tons of room there, what are you complaining about.

Should have sold you my 6x4 bandsaw too, probably would have been less stress for both of us. I do like the idea of putting on the full roll cart. I have mine on a 3 drawer Kinchrome one with an external stand and the drop saw at the bottom. Works pretty well but more storage is always welcome.

 

[octane_matty]

Tons of room there, what are you complaining about.

Should have sold you my 6x4 bandsaw too, probably would have been less stress for both of us. I do like the idea of putting on the full roll cart. I have mine on a 3 drawer Kinchrome one with an external stand and the drop saw at the bottom. Works pretty well but more storage is always welcome.

haha where do you think i got the toolbox idea from? i was browsing your thread

i considered asking if you would consider selling yours but thought it'd be rude

Loving Bandsaw life so far! much more calming and zen;
Seeing the bandsaw choke on some steel is like watching a toddler trip over
Cold saw is like watching a freight train slam into a hatchback across train tracks

 

[takai]

haha where do you think i got the toolbox idea from? i was browsing your thread

i considered asking if you would consider selling yours but thought it'd be rude

Loving Bandsaw life so far! much more calming and zen;
Seeing the bandsaw choke on some steel is like watching a toddler trip over
Cold saw is like watching a freight train slam into a hatchback across train tracks

Hahaha, nice. You should have asked though, i upgraded to a swivel base one and am selling the 6x4.

The bandsaw setup is really nice though, just so easy to work with and can leave it running and come back later to a nicely cut piece with minimal finishing. So good.

 

[octane_matty]

Ended up taking friday off to smash out some more exhaust fab but things never go to plan

I wasn't 100% happy with my merge collectors, since moving the engine forward i have enough room to fit a large merge instead of straight pipe Y's i merged.

A questionable safety jig made for the bandsaw





Struggling with welding the stainless well at the moment
No matter how much cleaning,purging,cleaning i'm still struggling to get a nice looking bead with filler






Spent alot of today troubleshooting welding
Having major problems with fish eyes at the end of my welds

Tried: new collet, new collet body, new gas bottle, different ceramic cups, gas lens ceramic cups, replaced my torch cap (Previous one was damaged), tried with/without pedal, pulse on/off etc etc
I'm almost ready to buy a new torch since my gas feed line split a while ago and i joined the hose with some leftover brake line (Maybe not large enough)
I have black tipped tungsten and would consider a red/blue but nowhere has stock at the moment.

Seems the only way to get around this at the moment is lower amperage + filler dab at the end of beads. It creates a little dimple but nothing below the surface unlike below examples.

Also found my brand new dual argon regulator leaks from the knobs


Installed oil cooler onto the block in the afternoon.
Improved racing low profile oil cooler AN10/10



Hopefully get some of the passenger side headers sorted tomorrow until i run out of bends.

ETA to car completion ~170hrs

 

[octane_matty]

Another weekend or two and a bit of extra progress

Progress on the passenger side headers until i ran out of bends

Seems to be a delay on shipping lately with strikes so hopefully new bends arrive before the weekend.

I recently achieved the ripe old age of 33 and decided it was time to invest in a 3D printer to assist with mocking up parts
Mrs Octane isn't impressed with my credit card bills


Despite playing with settings waaaay too much for the printing
Started mockup up a power steering bracket


We've just had a long weekend for grand final day + i took a day off to try and get ahead of my car schedule
Unfortunately working on the diff/subframe was a painfully slow process

I've started boxing in the arm pockets


Turned up a solid bushing to replace the rubber for an M12 bolt (with provision to be upgraded to M14) for the Ford 8.8
Unfortunately i had to cut some of the bearing cup off so the bushing is also welded to the cup.

I'd love to mount it some other way but i'm not ready to rebuild this diff into a Lincoln ford 8.8 casing just yet.
This is probably the most sketchy thing i'm worried about an engineer approving of. That and the overall diff/suspension arm clearance.


Mock up of the front brace


Recessed the section where the front mount will be bolted up.
This prevents the steel from being crushed and increases the ground clearance.


Alot of the diff stuff will end up being over built to hopefully make engineer approval easier. I'm not really concerned about weight since the Ford diff is 7kg lighter and forward/lower in the chassis.

Recently received a new argon regulator from uni-mig and haven't tested for leaks yet but initial impressions aren't good. The tolerance on the knob seal is woeful compared to my Tesuco regulator.

In more welding news it seems my torch body switch has failed somehow. Knocking the torch body up against my torch holder triggers the button
I'll be using the pedal for a while until i find a suitable replacement.

Although i've spent another 20hrs of work on the car ETA to completion still stands at 170hrs, possibly more given the diff work is considerably more complex than anticipated.


Cheers

 

[octane_matty]

another 2 weeks

Last weekend started tearing apart the recaro sportster cs's



This is slow and time consuming process but relatively easy until you strip the allen bolts




All that work to just to remove the side airbag, replace the cover and change the recline adjuster side.



Installed the recaro universal base + E36 specific mount
Oh damn they look and feel good
Maybe a touch high on the drivers side + offset a little too much but i can fix that later.
Passenger side is high enough for the Mrs to almost see the bonnet which is excellent.


Mocking up power steering bracket v2 on the 3d printer last week.
Needs more work on clearances, measurements, belt wrap etc etc


Started slaving away at re-assembly the doors.
If you have ever owned an older BMW you'll know....

Old doors


Had to mix and match a heap of parts to find my best set of glass/regulators etc but passenger side is in.
Drivers is close just needs some final seals tapped in.

Had to stop myself and remind myself why i went to the effort of acquiring these doors and transferring parts across.
On the scales standard E36 steel door skin: 16.9kg, M3 aluminium doors 10kg flat.
I paid a fairly steep price for the doors but 13.8kg weight loss in this location is amazing.

In other news i've started engaging an engineer for the swap.
It seems they're super busy and i'm struggling to even get on the phone to answer my basic questions.
nonetheless i've handed over a deposit and documentation to get the process kick started.

I have concerns about how easy/tough the engineer might be on the fine details but there's only one way to find out.

Cleaned up prior to an expected visit this week to look over things.


Postage times are going to greatly impact my planning over the next few weeks.
Whatever arrives first will probably get installed
What used to take up to a week for delivery now takes ~3 weeks

ETA for car completion ~135hrs

thanks for reading

 

[Matias]

Nice work on the E36, it's going strong. The ETA is getting smaller and smaller! And that bandsaw story was really something, lot of work but now it's earning it's keep. That's a good example for what to use the 3D printer.

 

[octane_matty]

Nice work on the E36, it's going strong. The ETA is getting smaller and smaller! And that bandsaw story was really something, lot of work but now it's earning it's keep. That's a good example for what to use the 3D printer.

Thanks Matias
Yeah 3D Printer has been great to get mock up brackets. I wish i bought it sooner to make myself a header building kit.

the 3d printer lately has come in very handy to start organising my tools
flap disc storage:

Carpenter pencil storage


Although ETA was getting smaller i realised i was missing heaps of extra work and now i'm back up to ~185-200 hours

I've had a visit from the engineer last week and overall results were positive, he's made a few points and things to rectify;

Strong emphasis on clearance between brake lines and exhaust.
I've redone the passenger side header last weekend to move cylinder 3 (second from the front) tube lower away from brake lines.
Before:

After:


Recomended also re-routing ABS/Bias valve brake lines up/behind the ABS.
planned to sort when the engine is out again.

Box in the differential pinion mount and completely weld it up.
He didn't mind the tight clearances for the diff/subframe, this is an easy fix
CAD models currently in progress for the rear mounting,
unfortunately it will be quite heavy when completed. Ideally if i was doing this again i'd choose a different rear cover.


"In general, your direction and workmanship are well considered. Things to watch from here in relation to the conversion - Clearance of essential wiring and hoses to heat and chafing. Ensure these are retained using p/clips, not zip ties. Spend time routing these appropriately."

I think that translates to "I've seen much worse backyard jobs"


As i write this i've just received confirmation a full compliment of fuel hoses/fittings/heat sleeving and P-clips are onboard for delivery!

Also i have a 4 day weekend coming up! It's going to be a big one

 

[octane_matty]

wow almost 2 months since the last upload!

My last post covered the upcomming Melbourne cup weekend with 5 days off of work to smash out some progress.
Thursday night before the weekend a massive storm rolled through and dropped trees on powerlines everywhere.
Unfortunately we were without power for about 7 days rip car plans.

After thinking i'm almost done with the headers....it's taken a few more weekends of adjusting to get the cats mounted and where i'm happy with the ground clearance.

some of my better welds


Almost final product

Yeah some 'non traditional' bends in there and i'm not super happy with some of the merges etc... end of the day im sure they will make enough power.
Will have to wait until Jan to get them ceramic coated. I'm still yet to pressure test for leaks

Tucked up with cats


With christmas holidays on the way it's once again that time of year i'll try and convince some mates to dust off their dirtbikes. Given restrictions are gone in Vic i'm keen to have a ride over christmas.
My husaberg FE350 has always been a little too lightly sprung (common problem with 2013 WP 4CS forks) so it was time to fix a few things.
I tried to take my forks to 2 local suspension shops but was swiftly turned away. Turns out you need to book these things in advance?

Being the impatient milennial i am.....few days later from the USA..

Springs, news seals, fork cap tool, new bushings
Stock setup is for a 80kg rider, with covid i'm pushing 115 these days
.48kg front spring, 7.6kg rear spring, fancy SKF seals


Turns out you can buy other fancy tools to install the seals, quick search on thingiverse and somebody already has the designs for free...

Printed a 'fork bullet' cap to help install the seals and fork seal driver for installation


Didn't take many pics but the install was really easy


Also while looking at the bike discovered the chain had seen better days..
Must have ground heaps of the chain off on a rock somewhere


Replaced rear shock guard, new chain, new rear brake line

Might do a valve check soon but other than that she's ready to go.

Also received the ford 8.8 diff mounting parts back from the waterjet cutter recently
Had the ford 8.8 on the bench today to get the trickflow cover on


Ground the logo off for clearance


Needed to adjust some clearance on the inside area but started getting the brace together


Thats it for the moment
I've got 2.5 weeks off over the christmas break so hopefully smash out some work

Hopefully have the fuel system and rear end back in the car by mid jan.

Cheers and merry christmas.

 

[octane_matty]

Happy new year all!

unfortunately my phone died on new years eve so i'm not sure how many photos i've lost that didn't make my last backup but it's been good to have some downtime and work on the car

Bonus is now you're getting slightly higher quality photos

Heat shielding applied to the starter motor on the LS, new crank sensor behind also


Headers aren't super close but fairly common for LS engines to have some starter solenoid heat soak issues


Rough assembly of AN10 lines for the oil cooler
this is an Improved racing oil cooler with thermostat.
Need to order some holding clamps to tidy things up


The engineer mentioned a few ways i needed to sort out the heat management for ABS brake lines
I'm just doing almost everything he mentioned to make things smooth

Re-made a few lines, even tighter bends and applied heat shielding


heaps more clearance now


Finally had a chance to get out on the bike at the end of 2021
New springs worked a treat, the front might be a touch hard but i couldn't find springs .01kg/mm lower than the ones i bought.



This is seven acres lookout in Bunyip state park.
Great place for 4x4's but no single track


Starting some work on the Ford diff mounting
Bandsaw onto it's second blade these days...wrong tooth count who cares


Little bit of lathe work


The rings were waterjet cut, welded and turned on the lathe to reduce thickness




First test fit







There's alot of variables and adjustability here but for the most part the diff seems to be in the right place
Threw a piece of PVC up in the tunnel to check, seems ok angle and placement wise, we'll find out when i order a tailshaft.


After weeks of working on multiple projects i've made a significant mess.
Smoked some pulled pork yesterday and smashed out a tool reset


Spent some time today working on welding the rear diff mount, pressing subframe bushings out and more welding.


Still heaps more welding to cleanup the rear subframe, working on getting all the subframe/diff painted soon hopefully.

In these omicron times...stay safe, stay in your shed

 

[octane_matty]

Holy cr*p it's been 4 months since my last post?!

Not to worry, i've been busy as always for the 3 frequent readers

Start off mid Jan with a light 4x4 trip to Mount Terrible, not sure if i posted the previous attempt mid 2020 was thwarted by closed roads and mud.

First stop from Morris Lookout in the rubicon state forest


After a few steep high country hills; made it to Mount Terrible
Amarok went amazing, other than keeping the brakes in check on very steep hills, no issues at all.



Ford 8.8 diff setup fully together
Need to get some bolts i ordered the wrong length....had some oil drippage...not sure if i need to get the rear cover surface ground to prevent oil leaking just yet.



I've been struggling to find a suitable quiet muffler for the E36
Bought this "M3" muffler off marketplace
unfortunately it's either a 325/328 muffler with tips welded on by ray charles.


Surgery started
I'm going to gut the inside and enlarge/modify the internals to cope with the LS whle hopefully retaining OEM looks.
Pros: The case is stainless and correct shape for using OEM mounting hardware.
Cons: Little heavy but i probably need more rear weight to retain 50/50 FR


Headers were dropped off for ceramic coating, spontaneous decision to go chrome instead of black.
Fingers crossed they still fit


Unfortunately I'd love to do more work on the car but i'm getting married in a few weeks!
Despite previous references to Mrs Octane she's a 'Miss' technically at the moment.
She's currently working hard on organising our wedding and we were struggling to find a suitable wedding arbor for our taste.

You already know where this is going right?

Welcome to my next project...

This is going to be a just over 2m diameter bent laminanted hardwood ring





router getting a workout



Tablesaw getting a workout
3x 8m full lengths of Tas oak cut into ~3-4mm strips, roughly 250m of linear cutting


Had to borrow a few clamps from a mate to begin what could only be described as a clamp ritual


Clamps & clamps & clamps


Weeks and weeks of clamping later and we're left with this...



The oil brings out the layers more but still looks alright


Turns out titebond 3 sticks to melamine better than you think
Gave the electric planer a serious workout.


As of this weekend just needs a few final touches before it's one and only display.


Whilst the arbor has been in progress we've received delivery of some new windows for the house.

Due to a number of issues from the quoting agent + phone calls etc we ended up getting the wrong windows

--- Begin Rant ---

We were requesting cedar inside frame with an aluminium outer skin double glazed windows. Unfortunately we've signed,sold and received a set of completely aluminium frame windows.
Let me tell you....there's nothing more frustrating in this world than spending 14k on the wrong windows and being told to cop it on the cheek with gems like this;
"Oh but you signed for these aluminium windows" - Yes we did, the order says aluminium....we asked for the windows with aluminium on the outside, you see my confusion? also called you to verify they were correct. "Yeah i guess, but you still signed it, too bad"
"Oh you don't want the correct windows, they're uber expensive" - Yep we know, they're much nicer that's why we wanted them.

Not to mention the delivered and half installed windows are ridled with poor workmanship and defects. They would have needed to be remade one way or another.

Maybe it's just in Australia/Melbourne problem but we find older generations receive 10x the support from contractors/builders/sales people related to the renovation industry. I can recant muiltiple situations where my partner and I walked into a store e.g. Reece plumbing and being ignored for the entire visit. Whilst any older 45-60yr old couple walks in and gets the red carpet rolled out with options. They just assume we have no money and we'll just fold if we're unhappy with the service they offered

--- End rant ---

Fortunately we're in a position where a close family member works for said window company . After internally questioning why we were getting such poor treatment we've at least been treated to a reasonable discount and the correct windows are ordered.

This leaves us still out of pocket a bit and I now have 4 spare double glazed aluminium windows..
I'm tempted to put the windows on marketplace but dealing with the hastle of buyers and getting lowballed for some sub-par windows isn't really my idea of a good time.

Instead i present a new project; (one of the most expensive?) greenhouses in Melbourne

Welcome to the corner of my backyard that's been ignored for 8 years.


Chipper earning its keep


Lots more to come on the greenhouse
Here's a rough idea of what's to come:


Can't believe it's almost mid-year. The second half of this year is going to be insane.
Goals before end of 2022: Finish greenhouse, complete car, Indoor kitche & maybe outdoor kitchen?

Thanks for reading! all 3 of you

 

[TwoBytes]

I'm definitely one of the 3...

But I'm sure there's a lot more than that.

Congratulations on the upcoming event, mate.

The arbor looks awesome, great job.

Man, that window situation *****, but you will have one incredible greenhouse!

 

[Chrisb62]

Make that 4........and great work on the circular arbor.

One arbor I just completed for a friend ...their requested design and will have flowers and material draped over it.

 

[Geoff289]

Congrats on the upcoming nuptials. Your skills are kind of annoyingly well developed and I'm very impressed. Never mind Ray Charles, those welds look like I did them and as for woodwork, well timber and I just don't get on. Measure 27 times, cut once and its always wrong and always too short rather than too long.

Bummer that you got mucked around by the window outfit but that will be a very stylish greenhouse, photos of which I will not be sharing with the head gardener here.

 

[octane_matty]

Congrats on the upcoming nuptials. Your skills are kind of annoyingly well developed and I'm very impressed. Never mind Ray Charles, those welds look like I did them and as for woodwork, well timber and I just don't get on. Measure 27 times, cut once and its always wrong and always too short rather than too long.

Bummer that you got mucked around by the window outfit but that will be a very stylish greenhouse, photos of which I will not be sharing with the head gardener here.

Haha what i lack in skills i try to make up for in equipment
This acurately depicts a frequent situation:


I hope i'm relatively transparent on my failures, here's a fresh one off the press;
Miss Octane requested a timber board with hooks for laundry broom storage.
Select the timber, filled and sanded it,cut to width, cut to length
....OOPS cut it 100mm too short ....start again



Cheers

 

[Chrisb62]

Haha what i lack in skills i try to make up for in equipment
This acurately depicts a frequent situation:

In the above scenario lead with "D" , most women like to hear that....YMMV

 

[hewey]

Hey mate, it might have been a while since your previous update, but that one's a killer. That arbor looks amazing, and I really like how the oil brings out the layers in it. It'll look amazing at your wedding, and I'm sure you'll be able to on-sell it afterwards as well.

What a nightmare with those windows! It ***** that you're out of pocket, but at least you're on your way to getting what you actually wanted. Keen to watch the greenhouse progress! Are you running power to it too? Could make an amazing little home office or studio if you ever wanted to. That's kinda of what we're planning for our garden shed build, that if we ever go to sell buyers see it as an asset.

Ceramic coated headers look the goods!

 

[octane_matty]

Hey mate, it might have been a while since your previous update, but that one's a killer. That arbor looks amazing, and I really like how the oil brings out the layers in it. It'll look amazing at your wedding, and I'm sure you'll be able to on-sell it afterwards as well.

What a nightmare with those windows! It ***** that you're out of pocket, but at least you're on your way to getting what you actually wanted. Keen to watch the greenhouse progress! Are you running power to it too? Could make an amazing little home office or studio if you ever wanted to. That's kinda of what we're planning for our garden shed build, that if we ever go to sell buyers see it as an asset.

Ceramic coated headers look the goods!

Yeah given it's in a fairly shady corner of the garden it's quite possible it could end up being something else. At this stage no plans to run power but wouldn't be hard in the future.
I'm a fairly lazy person so if it succeeds as a greenhouse i'll probably add some automation to control temperature & watering.

If gravity feeding to water the plants isn't enough i'm looking at a Bosch 18v submersible pump and adding a makita battery adapter


Well it's been another 2 months so time for a bulk upload

Arbor survived the day and officially married to Mrs Octane





Had two weeks off heading to to South Australia/Kangaroo Island
First stop was the grampians


Despite the rain and being a bit cold, Kangaroo Island is a really nice part of Aus




aaand back to the grind

Laid formwork for concrete base
Concrete bag total count to this point: 16 ish


Concrete bag counter: 32


Concrete Bag Counter: 42



Not very level but after a solid days work we're done


Removed the forms a week later and we're looking pretty good.
Should have vibrated it more but nobody will know


In good news lately the correct windows have finally been installed!
Albiet the windows don't actually close properly
Installer doesn't adjust the windows it seems so have to wait for a rep to come out and 'tweak' the windows to close properly.


After moving alot of dirt i've also thrown down some sleepers around the greenhouse.
These will be covered in merbau decking eventually.


I'm in the process of cutting/drilling/staining 20+ cypress pine dressed posts which will become the frame for the greenhouse.

Hopefully alot of progress to come this weekend. Having some friends over for a working-bee to help move and erect some of the structure if all goes to plan.

Going to test the endurance of my pellet smoker to feed my slaves with a 10kg Beef Brisket, estimated 22hrs of cook time


Cheers

 

[Lyndon]

Congrats on the nuptials!

And you're as busy as nine tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs, aren't you.....

How's Kangaroo Island looking these days? Has it recovered from those devastating fires in 2019 (I think )....

Lyndon

 

[hewey]

Congrats on the wedding mate! The honeymoon looked pretty decent too.

Nice to see those windows finally in, hope the tweaking seems them working perfectly.

 

[octane_matty]

How's Kangaroo Island looking these days? Has it recovered from those devastating fires in 2019 (I think )....

Lyndon

Yeah didn't really notice anything different until we went to the far west end of the island.
Pretty much all the undergrowth is back so you really don't notice.


Only two weeks since the last update but things are moving at pace these days

Had some friends around for a bbq and they helped level the greenhouse ground, spread 20 bags of sand and level again. Then we put down Geo Hex (Plastic grid to stop erosion) and filled with a cubic meter of rocks.
Still needs a bit more rock once i add the decking to the sleepers etc (future problems)



On the sunday with the help of the Mrs i've erected 2 posts on the concealed post bases.



Last weekend my brother in law came arround and helped install the windows


So far everything is relatively square and flush screws clocked of course!

Polycarbonate roofing has been delivered last week just waiting on some aluminium flashing trim whish should arrive in the next week or so.
Hopefully only 2 more weekends before the greenhouse is water tight or at least covered enough to prevent the wood from premature failure.

Some other purchases recently for the BMW: EBC yellow brake pads, new oem MAF sensor, Mishimoto cooling fan.
Excluding a battery cable crimper tool and maybe evap sensor in theory i have everything needed to start the LS
Scratch that...just bought the crimper!

Cheers

 

[octane_matty]

Greenhouse is running 1 week over schedule but not too bad all things considered.

Last weekend mounted the rafters & beams


End of this weekend progress
All roof sheeting on, trim looks good painted woodland grey to match the windows


I've somehow found and picked up some marketplace bargains this weekend;
Used but good entry door frame, door with glass panel and a dual casement window i'll cut in half.

Next weekend hopefully get the front sorted, guttering and final trim around the windows to seal it up.

Cheers

 

[Geoff289]

Nice! Still not showing it to the head gardener here.

 

[hewey]

That's looking pretty tidy mate!

I found on social media, a lot of the Scandinavian countries have 'summer houses', they're greenhouses but specifically integrating some outdoor entertaining features too like outdoor dining sets, because much of the year its too cold to just sit outside. They're made and designed really nicely, so there's a lot of similarities with yours.

 

[octane_matty]

That's looking pretty tidy mate!

I found on social media, a lot of the Scandinavian countries have 'summer houses', they're greenhouses but specifically integrating some outdoor entertaining features too like outdoor dining sets, because much of the year its too cold to just sit outside. They're made and designed really nicely, so there's a lot of similarities with yours.

haha funny you say that, i would consider it "japandi" Japanese/Scandinavian

Nice! Still not showing it to the head gardener here.

Geoff i see you're in melbourne....i've got a spare 2.1x1.8 window to get you started I'll do you a GJ special price



Well last weekend i acquired a barely used door frame + frame with aluminium step and a new double casement window that will hopefully fit with some tweaking



Sometimes i think i have crazy ideas but why would you not just rip a window frame in half on your tablesaw.....

whoops...


Good to know the diablo blade still sharp after over a kilometer of wood


Little bit of cypress pine added to the sides and we have two windows now!






Not bad at all


Probably still another weekend needed to really complete this project.
Guttering needs to be attached to the tank and few bits of trim here and there.

Already started cleaning up the piles of sawdust in the garage in preperation for car work ASAP

Cheers

 

[Geoff289]

Geoff i see you're in melbourne....i've got a spare 2.1x1.8 window to get you started I'll do you a GJ special price

The head gardener here is going to wonder what I'm looking at if I have to keep closing the window on the computer every time she comes into the room. This could get awkward.

 

[octane_matty]

Small update but i'm finally working on the car again

Pulled out the E36 fuel tank old siphon and replaced with a new rallyroad piece.
The standard E36 siphon creates a restriction in the return line when running a over 300lph pump + higher pressure that LS engines require.



Late on a Sunday i realise the 'in-tank submersible fuel hose' i paid 600% markup on from proflow is too short and absolute ****.
The ptfe tube is so hard it doesn't slip over fittings well and just kinks instead of bending.

Really need to get this sorted today so time to head to the local parts store....
First parts store: Closed due to technical issues
Second parts store: Nah we only have 1ft in stock, no ETA and it's coming from interstate.
Third parts store: What's submersible fuel hose?

Reminds me everytime why i just buy things online and sometimes even getting the wrong parts delivered is better than going to the local store.

Had a brain wave all i need is PTFE tube (for E85) and i have some AN6 braided fuel lines with PTFE lining at home.

Cut the braid back, put the tube in the vice, pull and done!
Despite being covered in a stainless braid AN6 line is actually 5% cheaper than submersible ptfe tube.



After some 3D printed mockups previously for the power steering bracket i found ICT billet actually make a very similair bracket for the GM type 2 pump (Same bolt pattern as BMW Pumps)



The BMW pump sticks out quite a bit. In theory you might be able to get a pulley to compensate but it would interfere with the pressure line.



Cut the rear bracket in half, turned down the main spacers to ~41.3mm
cut 14mm off the rear spacer
Still need to weld the rear mount back together, get some shorter bolts, turn a new spacer for the top pulley.


Meanwhile i've been fighting with the headers.
I'm not sure if the ceramic coating process has warped them or some idiot was mocking them up without fully tightening the header bolts.
The bend near the oil pan is off by 5-10mm

Ended up having to dent the headers to make clearance, and will try a slightly thicker header gasket to give me a bee's **** of clearance. Hopefully engineer is ok with it, i really don't want to have to start from scratch.


Originally i planned to make another set of engine mounts as the "final" set
but in all the mock ups and testing i've run out of spare pipe and engine mount plates

Definitely not my best welding so added some gussets for insurance


Next on the list is fixing and completing the front diff mounting problems

the counter resumes: estimated 290hrs of work remaining in 13 weeks

cheers

 

[octane_matty]

During the week i started to pull the headliner out for a retrim



definately not in the greatest condition but slow and steady removed the fabric


Over a few stints carefully removed as much of the foam as possible
Razerblade was useless, 180 grit sandpaper works the best


Little bit of ironing, car builders spray on adhesive and slowly work it out



At this point it was saturday morning and i was suprised how quick i was progressing.
As much as i wanted to work on drivetrain i decided not to get distracted and fully commit to interior.

Rear parcel shelf removed






Re-trimmed and back in


When in rome..... that two tone dash doesn't work for me...


1 hour roundtrip to 2 auto stores to find another can of matte black fabric paint


Headliner was an absolute pain to get in!!! the rear edge slips into a channel, really hard going when you have an old weak flexible headliner + new foam. I ended up using tape on the edge to help it slip in.



Back in we go dash


Back in and looking schmick!


I've recently realised the price of door trim mouldings for E36's has gone through the roof!
We're talking $500 usd for a door seal
So figured it's time to start getting my seals back in place to prevent them getting more damaged by me moving them around the garage.

Brand new lower trim i purchased a while ago, re-used the old rain gutter trim.


Total estimated hours left: 290hrs
Some idiot didn't include interior re-trim in my estimates because it was planned to be a mid week task

Parts sold recently: old wheels, old axles/trailing arms, old coilovers $470
Parts purchased recently: dash guage/data logger for the E36 (alot more info to come on this)
Tools purchased recently: set of thread checkers imperial + metric

Cheers

 

[octane_matty]

Long weekend and i'm now officially in my mid thirties!

Ended up getting 3 days on the car in this weekend

If you've owned a 90s bmw you know exactly what to look for in this picture


Finally pulled the sunroof panel out, definitely had its day


Ended up spending pretty much 2 days on this sunroof
Between the motor being gutless, alignment of the rails and fiddly plastic bits
Pretty much re-assembled the sunroof 4 times to get things running ok including dissasembling the motor.


Started working on a few little side projects

New spacer for the power steering idler pulley, with the BMW pump it's about 12mm forward



alignment pretty good, a little worried about it flexing, might need to weld it on later


Another side project; shifter mounting
Although i started mocking the shifter mounting up in alluminium i've since decided it'll be easier to build in steel.
I'm just not that good of a alloy welder yet and dare i say i don't think i'll keep the T56 long

Decision was made easier by having the right size steel stock for this job


Not sure if i previously posted this but this is a cut down BMW shifter cup


Between all the lathe work i was changing tools and re-aligning every 15 minutes
Then had a massive brain fart and started parting some stock with the tool upside down
You'll notice it was cutting great up until this point


To give a better idea of parts together:
Steel tube with bmw shifter cup, bmw standard plastic bushing, schmeidmann adjustable short shifter with brass bushing
The plastic is key to retaining that oem feel and reducing heat transfer.


Last final small job of the weekend: start on fixing the diff mounting
Unfortunately i messed up designing the front diff mount. I could start from scratch with the mounting but really don't want to waste any more time re-designing parts and the best solution i've come to realise is probably an R200 diff or an alternate 8.8 housing
For the moment i'm going to add another bushing to solve the issue and keep moving forward.

Little bit of CAD work






In good news i miscalculated my estimed hours left and was almost counting double!!!

Updated Estimated hours till completion is now 160hrs!
No doubt the last 5% will take me 20x times longer than expected but we're getting closer each day.


Cheers!

 

[octane_matty]

Another weekend and a little progress

This was actually from Pre-GF weekend but forgot about it
Went for a ride to the reefton pub from wesburn

New GPS setup for the bike, old iphone 6s and gaia gps on a quadlock mount, worked a treat




Ride was a solid 110km, the return trip wasn't easy
Light rain turned to heavy rain, to thunder....to hail
Then trying to take a shortcut i snagged my stator wiring on a tree stump and ripped it out

Ended up being towed a few km before we split and grabbed the ute to pickup my bike

More work this weeked on the E36

because i botched the first iteration, back to the drawing board and a new mount




At this point i realise i've made the bottom cross brace mount innefective and redundant
Turned up a big washer and new bolt.
Now i'm not sure what to do with the ugly lower brace now but i guess that's a problem for later.


Time to pull the diff cover off for the last time
Decided to throw away the standard gasket, basically it was just a wet rag, replaced with gasket in a tube.



Fresh matching ARP Bolts 5/16-18 1.5" i believe



Started mocking up the selector rod, ready for when i can measure the rod length.


Run into some trouble not being able to find a replacement diff speed sensor for the Ford 8.8 which has thrown a spanner the works.
I have the ATE + ford part number but neither seem to work on google.

That's all for this weekend

Hopefully next weekend planning on throwing the diff back in regardless of the speed sensor issue.
Then i can measure the shifter rod length, driveshaft angles and make another transmission mount.

ETA on car is now 155Hrs

Recent Sales: Sold the APEX FL5's. AUD has tanked and the wheels i want are no longer being made going tocreate some problems soon if i can't source something i like.

Recent purchased: 5m of AN6 fuel line, tailshaft Guibo, 90 deg battery cable lugs, evap sensor

Cheers

 

[octane_matty]

Another weekend and some progress on the E36

Diff fully sealed up, bearing caps locked in, fresh 80-140w and installed
Had to do it twice, chassis needed a little massaging to make the new front mount bolt fit

50/50 on the pinion angle but it measured ~0.5 degrees from gearbox I'll be running a two piece driveshaft so angles will be increased by that.


Decided to have a quick look at my battery cable setup since i just bought some 90 degree lugs for the starter


Whipped out my new battery cable crimper...instructions unclear



Nice and tucked


Now onto the shifter setup again, very high but we'll work on that


Yeah i really need to work on getting a proper sheet metal brake setup


plenty of gross welds


Mini dual shear selector put together




Shifts through all the gears and can get across to feel the reverse solenoid

Needs a bit of extra clearancing, cleanup and full test in the car (fingers crossed it isn't too high)

Recent Purchases: New custom wheels (ETA 2.5wks), new tyres (AD08R) , Holden VE V8 driveshaft/guibo

ETA to completion 149.6hrs (It goes down but then i think of new things that need doing )

Next weekend: Transmission mount