What's going on in my shop currently...

[George Hill]

While Matt's car was in process I also had some other projects come through the shop.

A few months back this M3 came in to get a 6spd conversion (from SMG). He had a bunch of warning lights on and was complaining about poor shifting and thought it had a SMG failure. I diagnosed it to just be missing a fuse in the DSC which was causing the poor shift quality. After that was fixed he was delighted with the outcome and we focused our attention else where. I did the vanos lock down a while back, but we also found a couple cracks in the RACP (rear axle carrier panel or sometimes called subframe).






RF mount crack.




Stop drilled and welded.




Ground down and ready for plates.




My goto, CMP Auto Engineering plates going on.




Formed and burned in.




Primed.




And undercoated.




CMP RTAB/J




Subframe bushings were replaced with BMW bushings along with a new Guibo.




And getting lined up.





Guillaume brought in his carbon black M3 for replacement of a final drive mounting bushing. When I was inspecting the car it was found he had quite a few cracks in his RACP, so our bushing replacement turned into a full blown RACP repair. We did the usual, CMP plates, RTAB/J, Guibo, diff bushing and brake lines all around.






RTAB's dead.




Crack in drivers side arch.






Popped spot welds.






Cracks in the subframe attachment areas.






All disassembled and prepped.






Welded and seam sealer going on.




And back together and getting lined up.





Mike brought in his SpecE46 for a little bit of strut tower modification.

His negative camber was limited due to the struts hitting the strut tower opening. The passenger side had already been opened up, but the drivers side was stock. The strut towers were like you would expect from a racecar, they had lived a tough life, so I started by getting them all flattened out properly. He already had reinforcement plates installed but I riveted them to the tower (just to keep them from moving during servicing the alignment, struts, etc). Then traced out where I needed to cut and let the metal fly, the goal being to only remove enough material to not limit adjustment and still reach all the mounting hardware. I cleaned up some of the wiring and clearance the B+ terminal to allow access with everything assembled. Hopefully he can get the camber he needs otherwise we'll have to slot the factory bolt openings for more.

[George Hill]

It's been a little bit since the last update, but I'm taking a break from wiring and figured this was as good a time as any.

A customer blew up a S54 at CoTA a few months ago and I took apart the dead one to see what is salvageable, not a lot, but there are still some parts...













Next, I had a customer bring in an E39 525iA that now has a ESS supercharged ZHP M54B30/6MT. The car had been sitting over a year due to a no crank or start (along with a host of other electrical issues). I found the chassis ground terminal was corroded and causing a poor ground connection on the engine. The ground point was also used for the heat exchanger coolant pump. Because of this and the poor ground there was electricity backfeeding backwards through the engine into body harness causing all of the elctrical issues. Fixing that ground fixed all the electrical issues. I sorted a couple other issues with the car and returned it back to the owner as he is a DIY guy and would address the needed maintenance to get it road worthy again.














Took (2) of the S54 and the M54B30 swapped tourings to Cars and Coffee at CoTA








Sold a tired M3 that had been waiting for something to happen to it. I had pulled some parts off, but had to put it back together and clean out the unregistered guests.














Another M3 in for Vanos and Final drive oil leak repairs. This was supposed to be a pre-emptive Vanos overhaul, but once I got in there I found we caught it just in time. The engine got the usual Beisan full work to the vanos, new (used) hub, cam bolts replaced, upper chain guide rail, vanos refresh, drilled disc, rebuilt solenoid pack, accumulator line and then the valve lash checked/adjusted.











After that we sorted out the back end, fixing final drive leaks and replacing the mounting bushings.





Went to the recently re-opened Eagles Canyon Raceway with Eileen. I usually stay at the track in the RV so I got to walk the track Saturday night.











Lately my focus has been on BMW conversions and road track events, but I started out with a passion for drag racing. Hot Rod magazine does an event every year called Drag Week. It is basically One Lap of America but for drag racing. I've talked about doing it for years and decided I needed to just go for it. So while at ECR I setup and registered, this is no small task. They limit registration to (400) cars and it sells out, last year was sold out in less than (5) minutes. This year it sold out in just over (4) minutes, luckily I got in at registration number (199). The goal is to take my Mustang, but the backup will be Eileen the track wagon.








Finished the shop's S54 Touring conversion and sent it off to it's new home in Indiana.








Had another E46 M3 in for a complaint about poor A/C performance, found to be low on refrigerant due to a leaking evaporator core. Also replaced the blower final stage resistor while in there as it was the old style and starting to fail.

















And then a IR ZHP getting some suspension refreshening. Everything new in the front struts (except springs), everything in the rear shocks, rear spring pads, engine mounts, sway bar wear items, front wheel bearings and steering coupler (not all parts are new pictured).




















And since I have a IR ZHP, had to get a picture of the pair together, mine is the dirty one in the back, lol.





And that pretty much brings us up to today. I have a couple other big projects in the works, but they'll probably get their own thread before I mention them here.

[mjweimer]

Hello George - good to see you here. You've been busy...I'm waiting patiently to hear more about the E91

[oceansize]

Good journal. Enjoying all the different vehicles.

[BMWahba]

Hey George, any tips for stich welding the wheel arches? I want to make sure I have the shop doing my subframe inspect and repair that area if necessary.

[IamFODI]

Great thread. Thanks for posting, and keep 'em coming!

[George Hill]

Hey George, any tips for stich welding the wheel arches? I want to make sure I have the shop doing my subframe inspect and repair that area if necessary.

Check out CMP Auto Engineering's website, https://cmpautoengineering.com/pages/technical, lots of good info there.

[George Hill]

Lots going on in the shop right now, as usual, I have been very fortunate to be relatively unaffected by the ongoing Covid-19 situation.

Some of you have seen some posts about a project I haven't been making much note of, but it's been consuming a bit of time and deserves some mention. I usually don't post about these big projects while they are in process but this one needs to be mentioned. A forum member here asked me to build them a E91 S65 Touring. That project has been a monumental task. The amount of work needed to adapt the two cars in the way I do here is incredibly intense, the work can't be put into a single post here so I'll add an additional post or maybe start it's own thread (even though it's not a E46 some info will carry over for those wanting to S65 sway their E46).

But moving on I've also been working on a S54/E30M3. The car came to me and has been sitting here for a bit, but we finally got it together. It was previously a running and driving car but I was told there were some errors in the previous work which led to a complete engine failure on track. The engine got pulled and then the car was never put back together. We finally got a good donor S54 and I sorted out the swap to the customers liking.

The engine had the rod bearings and vanos previously done, but the vanos disc was supposedly not modified for smaller tab holes. So that was on the list, but luckily it had been done already.




There are a couple ways to install a S54 in this chassis the main (2) options being to modify the S54 dual sump pan and cross member or use an E34 front sump oil pan. This car was setup for the E34 pan and while swapping it over discovered the baffle kit was in need of a bit of repair.









Engine cleaned up and about ready to set on the subframe.






Tilton race clutch going on, I had to source the correct flywheel bolts and Tilton was fantastic to get that sorted out, very pleased.





Engine in.




And running.




Pretty much done, just waiting on an air filter.




Cleaned up and just about ready to go back home.




Video of it in action, click the pic.




We had a storm a few weeks (months?) back and our big Ash tree got strut by lightening. Ended up deciding to take it down.










Juliann's Frankenwagon was back for some more sorting out. The car has always had a battery, since the car was built always. I finally decided I was going to figure it out at all costs lol. After seting the car up for a battery draw test I confirmed the car was pulling nearly an Amp of power when turned off. After some diag I found the DME main relay was staying energized. After a bunch more testing I discovered the DSC was involved in the issue as it would turn off the relay if the DSC was unplugged. Her car is the definition of a Frankenstein, body harness form a MK60 touring (her's is a '00 MY), LCM from a coupe, Cluster from a LCI M3, EWS/DME from a early M3, etc etc. Ultimately the problem was the car was not coded properly. Fixing date codes in modules told the DME to look for a MK60 DSC instead of the MK20 it thought was installed. Such a simple fix caused a huge issue. This process took about 20+ hours of diagnosing to figure out! Next up she has a rebuild final drive en route from DiffsOnline to be installed next week.




Next, I have an M3 in for a clutch job that turned into a full blown sorting. As part of that I found the RACP had been poorly repaired and needed to be gone over. I found it had plates installed already but it was a very weak attempt at fixing the issue. The plan was to get everything apart and assess the state of the car at that point. The car has a blower on it and is primarily a HPDE car so we need to make sure it was as solid as we can get. Once apart the plates seemed to be installed well enough that it would do more harm than good to remove and replace. So I fixed some welds for them and then repaired a ton of cracks, stitch welded the spring perches and RTAB pockets. Every common place and then some had damage, wheel well arch, spring pocket, popped spot welds, cracks, etc.












The topside was reinforced using the CMP AutoEngineering Top Side and Frt Ext Kit. This is a significant amount of work, but hopefully will be the last time he every has to think about a RACP issue. The previous repair was such a sad attempt. They missed lots of cracks, popped spot welds and then I think they glued this lumber down to hide that, IDK?












This project is still on going but should be wrapping up soon.


And now what everyone is waiting for, lol. As you may recall I have entered DragWeek 2020. The plan is to take my Mustang, it's recently appeared in the background of some of my pics. I bought this mustang back in '07 I believe. At the time it had a supercharged 331ci SBF and a T5. It ran low 11s with a bad 60' and I drove it a bunch, then hurt the motor. I lived in an apartment at the time, then moved a bunch and had nowhere to work on it. Once I built the shop I started on it again with a Pontiac engine. That project fizzled out when I decided to open the business and needed the cash so I sold the engine to pay for a fence.



Fast forward to this year and I made a commitment to myself to do #dragweek this year and the only "fitting" car I have is the Mustang. So it was just a rolling chassis and needed a powerplant. I still have the SBF but didn't think it made sense considering my current enthusiasm for BMWs. The only option that makes sense is a BMW engine. I went back and forth between a few options including a single turbo N54, but settled on a M52B28, which came from an E36 328i.




Now that on it's own wouldn't make enough power to do the Mustang justice, so I am adding a turbo to it.




Next for a transmission, I really didn't want a manual for no other reason than I just didn't. BMW autos aren't a good fit for this option and a 4L80e would work but is a bit clunky. The only choice that makes sense is the DCT out of a E92 335is.




I really wanted to do this work myself, but I am way to busy with customer work. Aside from that my fabricating ability is not as strong as my BMW ability and it would just take to much time. I am going to be pressed for time with this project anways so I decided to farm this work out. Another customer hooked me up with a chassis builder in town here and we hashed out a plan. The car is currently at his shop getting the engine and trans mounts made, full exhaust including down pipe and then all the turbo plumbing in and out of the intercooler.

[oceansize]

Some of you have seen some posts about a project I haven't been making much note of, but it's been consuming a bit of time and deserves some mention. I usually don't post about these big projects while they are in process but this one needs to be mentioned. A forum member here asked me to build them a E91 S65 Touring. That project has been a monumental task. The amount of work needed to adapt the two cars in the way I do here is incredibly intense, the work can't be put into a single post here so I'll add an additional post or maybe start it's own thread (even though it's not a E46 some info will carry over for those wanting to S65 sway their E46).

Wow, can't wait to see this done sometime in 2027 Kidding of course, should be awesome and this unnamed forum member is crazy in the best way as are you.

[IamFODI]

Some of you have seen some posts about a project I haven't been making much note of, but it's been consuming a bit of time and deserves some mention. I usually don't post about these big projects while they are in process but this one needs to be mentioned. A forum member here asked me to build them a E91 S65 Touring. That project has been a monumental task. The amount of work needed to adapt the two cars in the way I do here is incredibly intense, the work can't be put into a single post here so I'll add an additional post or maybe start it's own thread (even though it's not a E46 some info will carry over for those wanting to S65 sway their E46).

Would love to see this in the E9x section!

[George Hill]

Long over due for an update. The shop is so incredibly busy, I have been for furtunate through all of the uncertainty going on that I am staying booked up. There have been a bunch of little and "boring" jobs that I probably won't chronicle so here are the highlights. Glenn's M3 I mentioned it in the last post. It got the full workover. What started out as a diagnosing of a poor shifting turned into a large sorting off issues from this build. Glenn bought it as is and had only had a couple times on track before the car broke. We set out to fix that and get it sorted so he can spend time using it rather than worrying about it.




The finished CMP topside reinforcement turned out really nice.




The car was still drivable but intermittently had a weird clutch pedal feel. The friction material had completely separated from the disc. The stock clutch was replaced with a clutch masters kit and it is fantastic. I found the slave cylinder was also leaking and then we replaced the stock shifter with a Rogue Engineering Octane SSK which is really nice.










Just a bit of copper starting to show.




Full Vanos refresh.




And something I have never seen, someone went through all the trouble to replace some of the cam hub bolts, why they didn't do all I don't know.




Installed strut tower reinforcing plates on a S54 Touring.








Bob brought his E28 back in because he was getting a coolant leak from the heater control valve.




We have put (3) on in the last (2)yrs. These are straight from BMW, qc has gone down hill on these! So we swapped it for an E46 valve, which I just realized I don't have an installed photo of. I cut the bracket off of a parts car and mounted the E46 bracket to the E28 and then used some various off the shelf hoses modified and it mounts up very nicely.




We are also planning to replace everything that moves or is rubber in the E28s suspension, but we are still a ways away from doing that. Bob really wanted to see what difference the new OE BMW steering box would do on it's own so we installed it at this time too. The E28 steering box mounting brackets like to tear off the subframe and while bob's wasn't failed we still added the MWrench reinforcement at this time too. For 265k miles this E28 is such a joy to drive.












The shop got a new compressor. I don't use air that much anymore with the invent of such awesome battery powered tools. But there has been a bit more grinding and what not going on so it was time to retire old faithful and step up our air compressor game. This is my trusty workhorse of a truck affectionately named "Ron Burgundy" (Will Ferrell, Anchorman). It was bought new in '95 by my grandfather and was handed down to me about 8yrs ago.




This isn't sketchy at all? My buddy Jesse helping unload it. We ran the straps through the pallet then lifted it high enough to get the truck out from under and lowered it. I'm not sure what we thought he was going to do if this went bad, but luckily it was very stabile.




Ed brought in his E46 M3 for a Vanos refresh and. That's all pretty straightforward you've seen it before, but what is interesting here is that one of the Vanos mounting bolts was broken off in the head. So with the Vanos unit off we set about getting it out and repair. It was broken off in such a manner that no easy method to extract was going to work. We ended up pulling the entire front end of the car off to gain access. But success was had and it is as good as new.




Going back together we found #5 spark plug was loose and burned up. Surprisingly this car had no misfires and ran "properly."










My original customer Charles brought his M5 back in for a yearly check up. I have been the only one to work on this car since 2005. It has just about every Dinan mod you can get and it is a sweet hot rod. Valve cover gasket, engine mounts, windshield washer hoses, a driveshaft guibo and a trunk shocks.










Ryan, who owns the V10 wagon wanted to start moving a little faster on the repair work. We had been just kind of working on it here and there, but he really wanted to get it out and about so with a deadline in sight the race was on. The to do list was essentially get the cooling system operational and make the A/C work. The cooling system was originally on a keyed switch and ran anytime the key was on. I really want to do away with that so we added a dual coolant temp switch to the radiator and wired in a hi and lo speed fan relay. We tucked it up in the control module "condo" behind the fuse panel and used as much of the factory wiring as possible.








Next step was to make the A/C work. The car's A/C was supposed to be operational, but that was not the case. The S85 uses a compressor that does not have a compressor clutch. Instead it uses a swash plate, it is essentially infinitely variable as opposed to and on/off like an E46 clutch. Studying the wiring diagrams I found the IHKA on the E60 controls the swash plate, but since we don't have the E60 IHKA that wasn't going to work. o off came that compressor and we installed a compressor with a clutch. The DME controls the clutch on the E46 but with out MSS65 DME that wasn't an option either. So the first version is the compressor is just individually controlled by a rocker switch. We installed a trinary switch (a hi and lo pressure cut off, which also activates the cooling fan) and everything works great. All new lines were made and an E36 condenser was adapted to work. In the shop we are getting 43* and driving around it's blowing ice.








This lead to opening a can of worms. The P/S hoses were assembled in a rather obtuse fashion so we threw all of that away and made new lines that are much cleaner. And then we replaced both of the aftermarket oil cooler lines as they had some poor quality fittings and were leaking.






The car is originally a 323iT with low options. After the initial test drive we found the car is starting to overheat in traffic. The car has a bunch of coolers on it and the stock bumper is not very wide open so we pulled the bumper and went a drove it around. It was much better so we threw on a ZHP replica bumper and that helped, but ultimately isn't the solution.




Ryan picked it up and made it out to CoTA. The car still has some quirks to work out but it is running really well considering it has very little miles on it. But not only that it is really fast, doing almost 160mph indicated on the back straight. And I must say I've driven it about 150 miles on the street and I never would have guessed how much fun this car is to drive, there really is nothing like it, so much fun!








And with his buddies full S54 conversion IR ZHP.




There's a couple more projects going and some videos I need to upload to Youtube, but I think this is going to do it for tonights update. I'll try to update this soon as we have some other big jobs in progress and of course lots of shiny things getting installed on the Mustang.

[George Hill]

As usual, lack of updates because the shop is slammed.

Gabe brought in his gorgeous Alpine on Cinnamon E46 M3 as he was having issues with the SMG shifting properly. Ended up having a bad gear position sensor but at this point he decided he'd rather row gears himself so we converted it to a manual shift. All the usual work including an Auto Solutions SSK and a new clutch.











img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50201522813_6b5d047367_c.jpg[/img]








During the inspection of the car we found the radiator was leaking. It had a Mishimoto rad with a lifetime warranty. We snapped a couple of pics and without much effort Mishi had a new one on the way, pretty darn good customer service.




Bryan brought in his M3 for poor A/C performance. We found it had a leaking evaporator which requires the dash to be removed for replacement.




At that time he had been acquiring parts to convert the interior from Gray to Cinnamon so we decided to go all in and do the interior conversion at that time as well. Lots of little detail work extended this project out longer than I had initially anticipated but it turned out awesome, the transformation is dramatic!










His original seats had adjustable lumbar and side support so we combined those options with heated cinnamon seat covers.






And found some damaged wiring and poorly executed previous repairs that were fixed correctly.






Bob brought the Supercharged 540i in for some more enhancements. First was a SuperSprint seat of headers that we installed and then commissioned Walker Pro Motorsports to fabricate the connecting pipes to the stock cats and Dinan muffler. The sound of this setup is incredible and the fab quality is second to none.










Next we want to add some instrumentation. A boost gauge in place of the fog light switch is a common mod, but often times I see people add in a random autoparts store switch in the blank spot next to the original location to control the fog lights. I have always been disasitisfied with this idea and ended up getting a euro mechanical headlight leveling switch which I modified to run the fog lights. This is a video



Next we added a custom gauge set made by a forum member that incorporates oil pressure and AFR into the center vent. It turned out really slick!






Next we are working on a little revision to the Dinan tune the car has been running. The first part of the process was to read the data out of the DME. We acquired a second DME to use for all of the testing and modifying so there is no possible harm to the first DME/Tune. This required installing the second DME into the car, when doing so we found oil in the DME/Harness. After a bit of head scratching the problem seems to be a vanos solenoid failed allowing oil to get pumped through the connector and into the wiring harness. This sent oil throughout the wiring and ultimately to the DME. The DME was able to be cleaned, but we ended up replacing the harness, both vanos solenoids, the thermostat and crank sensor.








The Mustang suspension is all assembled and mocked up into the car (save for the anti-roll bar). Dragweek got cancelled so while the project isn't sidelined it is no longer THE priority so updates will be a little slow for it for a few months.

[George Hill]

Second round of updates:

Neil brought in his M3 for a RACP repair. We did a used vehicle inpsection and are knocking out the items on
the list he does not have time to DIY.

We did the usual, stop drilled and welded all the cracks, then CMP plates were installed. After that we stitch
welded both upper coil spring and RTAB pockets along with the wheel well seams. We've seen so many cars
that have been "reinforced" already and have this spots separating. I don't know if it was just missed during the
reinforcing and happened after but it is becoming a standard part of our RACP repair. Then new BMW subframe
and trailing arm bushings along with Rogue Engineering shock mounts.












Next, rod bearings, we got quite the surprise when pulling the oil pan off.




Doesn't look like it caused any damage though. These don't appear to be the original bearings but with 186k
miles it was peace of mind to know they are fresh.




And with the pan off we addressed the drain plug, it had been stripped and had a "pan saver" type plug in it. We
correctly installed a time sert and then surfaced it to give a perfect sealing face.




Sold my Imola ZHP.




And then quickly spent the money on an M3 (probably) parts car. The guy said it needed a clutch (SMG), but
from the short drive I took in it I think the transmission might actually be broken. It's in really good shape
overall but it has a pretty decent scuff right on the RR wheel well opening which I think is going to make it to
much investment to fix (at least the way I would want to). So it will probably live on in a sedan or touring swap.



[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50202891192_81c76c1989_c.jpg






It did have a check engine light on and Vanos faults stored, I popped the valve cover off as the first thing I did
and wouldn't you know, broken tab...




Adam was back for a SMG conversion, we did the usual with the AutoSolutions SSK and he provided us a
manual plenum to really round out the underhood change.








And now for a different SMG conversion. We swapped out the SMG for a ZF320 5spd, Tilton twin disc clutch and
flywheel with a CAE shifter.






We didn't have the correct clutch alignment tool for a twin disc setup, but luckily we did have a broken ZF...






And then we also "bullet proofed" the Vanos.

[George Hill]

An update is long overdue! The shop has been so busy with big projects I generally like to wait until a project is done or near done to make updates so that's had a bit to do with it. I also because making these posts are a bit of work, but I do enjoy doing it and seeing how life in the shop progresses as we grow.


A buddy who owns a shop in Houston is thinning out his herd of projects and since we are touring fans he thought this was up our alley. It's originally a 530/auto E34 touring, but it's pretty much just most of a body that rolls. His plan was to make it kind of like a "ring taxi" with (4) bucket seats. Right now it's a bit down the road, but I'm thinking we will continue that idea with the first iteration of the engine being a S52/5MT, then either it'll get a big turbo or we'll swap a more powerful engine into it.
















The original S54 touring was back in the shop with a broken transmission. She had known this was going to be a future repair as it had been acting up, but it finally let go. We helped her source a used SMG transmission and then swapped her bell housing onto it and replaced a bunch of wear items and then back together. As a fun science project I disassembled the trans to see what happened. It was quite the challenge to get it apart and while I did, I don't think I could put it back together lol.












Next a quick job of lowering springs on a F80 M3. There are a bunch of manufacturers of springs and complete coilover kits. I do my best to spec out something that is not only functional but aesthetically pleasing too. This is the first time we used Emmanuel Designs springs and they are fabulous, highly recommend this setup.








Eric hit a giant pot hole in just the right fashion that bent one wheel, cracked another and then the car deployed all of the LH side airbags. I've seen this years ago, but very rare. What I think happens is the car thinks it is flipping over.












Insurance tried total the car, but luckily he was able to stop that from happening and we went to fixing it. e took this time to replace all of the shocks and struts and went with Dinan springs on Koni shocks/struts with Rogue Engineering rear shock mounts and OE strut mounts.






Fixing the airbags required pulling the headliner, this was a good excuse to recover that and all of the pillars in Alcantara. We have a shop in town here that we use for this service and unfortunately I didn't take any pics of it completed.












After that we decided to tackle replacing the rod bearings. The car only had 95k on it, but it was on his mind so now was as good of a time as any. Nothing horrible, but definitely glad we did them.








And all back together




I've been lucky to get to the track a few times the last couple of months, CoTA, MSR Cresson and Hallett Teching in at CoTA for a NASATX HPDE






Rainy weekend










My buddy's 330/5MT swapped touring. He'll just laugh it off and say he just doesn't car about his car as much as the next guy but he's a really good rain driver, embarasses a lot of really fast cars when the track gets wet.

This is him passing the Camaro on the outside (Advanced run group).










Heading to Cresson for a single day event with my buddy in his S50 swapped E34 touring.




Back at Hallett for a (3) day CCA event, didn't take many pics other than this sunrise.




Then a couple of misc items for Chris's M3 to prep for an upcoming HPDE. StopTech BBK, Rogue Engineering shifter, parking brake adjustment and oil leak repair. Unfortunately I didn't get many pics of this job, the pics I did take more than make up for it, this car is gorgeous!








Mike brought in his M3 for an issue with the A/C cooling poorly. We found the evaporator had failed and was leaking refirgerant, very common issue with the E46 chassis. The oily dirt and debris on the evaporator is a smoking gun as to it leaking, but this car had previously been injected with dye making the diagnosis process even more conclusive.




Next, he had a parking brake that intermittently wouldn't lock into place. Turns out the teet had worn off, something new to me. Usually we see other failures for this complaint, but easy enough to just swap out the handle while the interior is disassembled for the evaporator replacement.




Next, he has an issue with the transmission intermittently popping out of gear or grinding when shifting. The shifter had been previously refreshed so he feared it was an internal transmission failure. We decided to pull the transmission and inspect before moving forward with a trans replacement and we ended up finding the clutch was well past its prime. Not only was the clutch overly worn, almost every thing else in the bell housing was past due and to top that off the slave cylinder was leaking. With everything replaced the shifting is now back to normal.













We've been still chipping away at the V10 touring project. We found that with the A/C on the car wanted to overheat. We relocated the oil cooler to the LF brake duct area and that has made a huge improvement and fixed our issues on the highway.








That pretty much brings us up to today. There are a couple of projects in the works right now, so hopefully I'll have some updates sooner than later next time.

[George Hill]

I think I just found a user manual.

Sorry, I don't know what that means...