Maytag: The Alpine '87 529i

[dsmith]

It would have taken me a while to find the clutch switch connector. And the thought to put a weld blanket under the carpet was a great tip too.

One thing that I haven’t seen anywhere is that the two side brackets from the early pedal cluster that attach to the steering column are shorter than the later ones. I had to pull everything back out and swap those from the auto pedal bracket.

[cek]

Then a test drive... Nice and cool. Quiet fan! However, I noticed every time the compressor would engage it sounded like a 1940s ford tractor up there. I stopped and took a little video. After about 10 seconds you'll see the clutch engage and you'll hear what I mean:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yCwpIFElKA

Jay now has the compressor back at his shop (he's covering shipping) and seeing what went wrong. I had to have my R12 guy come out and evacuate the system again which is a bummer.

I got the AC compressor back from Jay Stratton (again) and got it connected last weekend. It wasn't until this morning that my R12 guy could come by and fill 'er back up. He did so and I'm please to report Jay finally got it right. Kudos to him for taking care of shipping etc... I am out an extra couple hundred bucks due to having to pay my R12 guy twice vs. once, which is a bummer. But I like Jay and am glad he offers his services to the community so am going to just eat it myself and smile.

Jay says he's now built a 1000rpm test fixture so he can test compressors before he starts rebuilding them. Our working theory is the one I sent had wear and the cleaning caused the tolerances to be further off causing the noise. I had another compressor here that I sent him (he bought it from me) and he used the nicer parts from it to finish this one, which he then tested on his bench.



Video of it running: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYq493tCX0Q

[1st 5er]

Video of it running: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYq493tCX0Q

Brrrrr...

[cek]

This is very strange. For the first time since I bought this car, there is (almost) nothing that "needs" to be done to it.

Here's the list:

• New sunroof gasket (wind whine) and fix sunroof so it stops at right points.
• Install H&R springs.
• Rebuild exhaust with moar flow (exhaust is stock 87 Eta with cat).
• Give it a tune (currently running stock Super-Eta tune)
• Euro bumper conversion.
• Fix paint. Thin in a few spots; poor respray in others.
• Fix a few rotting window seals.
• Replace windshield with OE glass that fits.

I mean, that's *IT*. And other than the sunroof, none of it is really needed because the car looks and drives great.

One nit, which is a very odd thing to say about an Eta: This car loves to spin the rear tires under throttle. Much more than Vlad, which has more power.

[cek]

I started swapping out the Spax for H&Rs last night. I got the rears done; took me almost three hours when it should have taken me about 1. But that's how I roll.

Thanks for these, Sam!


The Oracle of the Desert noted I never put bump stops in. Oops.




After consulting with said Oracle on proper orientation of the conical washers I got everything back together. I had freshly plated washers, so of course I used them.



Note to future self: Disconnect the sway bar when doing this job. Doing so will allow you to get the lower strut pin into the trailing arm without having to ask a neighbor to come over and help extending the time required by an hour or so. Or, don't, because it's always nice to catch up with Scott the neighbor because he's a great guy.



These (plus the fronts that go with will be for sail soon).


I killed two birds with one stone by a) a celebration dinner, and b) a shake down drive to dinner.

First impressions: I like these springs better, as I expected. This car is the same as Vlad now. And I like Vlad.

The drive home after dinner made it clear that I should never comment on how a car like this is "done".

First, my turn signal relay is, apparently, toast: https://youtu.be/BdUXQ7W-00E

Of course this happens right after I've just finished buttoning up the driver's kick panel and all that. Sigh.

But the real excitement came during a very intentional throttle-induced oversteer event intended to really test those new springs. The throttle stuck wide open after I exited the turn.

I had this issue before (I don't recall if it's documented here) but the throttle cable catches in the hood insulation. Since it had happened before I instantly knew what the issue was, didn't panic, and simply shut off the ignition and got to the side of the road.

I gotta fix this right, I guess. My previous fix was to clean the insulation of the 35 years of oil accumulation, making the material stiff again. I guess it's still got some ED.

[Bonsaibacker]

Curious what you prefer about the H&R springs over the Spax. And how about a stance shot of the rear (would like to see the ride height with the perch on that notch).

#neverdone
#needsattention

[cek]

Here's the updated measurements after putting the H&Rs on in the rear. Note the fronts are still Spax in these photos, and there's likely some more settling gonna happen.

Front Left 563mm (was 560mm with Spax on Rear):


Front Right - 565mm (was 567mm with Spax on Rear):


Rear Left - 545mm (was 523mm with Spax on Rear):


Rear Right - 553mm (was 533mm with Spax on Rear):


Thus the H&Rs raised the rear ~2 cm. For the record, as you can see in the Official Ride Height Thread, Vlad is at ~550mm in the rear with the exact same setup. Pretty conclusive evidence that H&R Springs + Bilstein 6-Perch Sport struts gets you ~550mm height in the rear when using the top perch.

I still want another ~2cm of height in the rear, FWIW.

Curious what you prefer about the H&R springs over the Spax.

First: Ride height (see above)
Second: The H&R are progressive and thus do not bottom out as easily.
Forth: Blue is my favorite color.

So, on to the fronts...

First, thanks again Sam and Sam's Dad:




I choose to remove these by undoing the three bolts on the base of the strut. There was some discussion about how it's possible to swap springs by only unbolting the top of the strut, but the consensus was you'd only want to do that if you didn't care about your fenders.






Both struts have very loosey-goosey strut mounts. They spin nice and free, and I don't get any growl/grind when turning, but there's quite a bit of wobble. Multiple good folks, including The Oracle of the Desert say "They all do that". So while it annoys me greatly, and while I'm not sure whether these are the originals or not I'm not going to replace them. This is the correct ordering of the washer and grease shield.

BTW. I did clean and regrease.


These are the Ireland Engineering camber adjustment plates.


I have the KMac "Stage 1" kit on Vlad and Minerva. I don't love how these IE plates adjust (and neither does my alignment guy). He does like the KMac plates.

In a chat last night, I came to know about the Vorshag and Ground Control kit, which both look to be made much nicer than the KMac kit. I briefly considered stalling this project to order a set of the GCs. But in the end, I like the fact that the IE kit adds ~3/8" of ride height in the front and to leave well-enough-alone. Also, in-reality, with stock spring diameter you can't get much camber adjustment anyway.

I hope to finish up this afternoon.

[muleskinner]

Come on now....this is a family website, damnit.

[cek]

Got the front done last night.

I somehow have three bottles of 2701. This is equivalent to 270 except it fluoresces.


I like to use a paint pen to ensure these puppies don't ever move.






Front now measures 585mm.



Here's how she sits; I'm hoping it settles a bit because with the IE camber plates, I am afraid the front is TOO high. If it doesn't settle then I'm ditching the camber kit (which, as noted above) is not really doing much anyway.

[Seeker]

Got the front done last night.

I somehow have three bottles of 2701. This is equivalent to 270 except it fluoresces.


I like to use a paint pen to ensure these puppies don't ever move.






Front now measures 585mm.



Here's how she sits; I'm hoping it settles a bit because with the IE camber plates, I am afraid the front is TOO high. If it doesn't settle then I'm ditching the camber kit (which, as noted above) is not really doing much anyway.

From a 2014 post of yours... “I have NO plans to change up the suspension”

Funny how time changes things, lol.

[cek]

From a 2014 post of yours... “I have NO plans to change up the suspension”

Funny how time changes things, lol.

I also have no plans for dinner tonight.

[e28Sean]

it seems we have similar tastes...

I'm not so sure. Did you happen to read the part above where mentioned my extremely deep hatred of pearl beige?

And I have a deep hatred of black interiors. That said, this:

... looks amazing!

[dsmith]

Got the front done last night.

I somehow have three bottles of 2701. This is equivalent to 270 except it fluoresces.

Probably leftover from CV boot kits. Like a lifetime supply.