I bought a set of Falken ZE-912 tires a few months ago. We've had an unusually wet and cold winter here in Tennessee and I've been very happy with the way these tires performed in the rain and snow. They weren't all that expensive either. John
Forum: Technical Forum

Quotenomis3613 Would welding (proper, not JB ) stop the crack from growing? Or is the oil pan now destined for the scrap heap? Thanks, Simon Welding should fix it. It would be even better if you can drill a small hole at each end of the crack to eliminate the end of the crack that's trying to spread. John
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoteEarendil Is there an easy way to tell the difference between sport and heavy duty shocks? What about the springs? Sport = lowered, Heavy Duty = stock ride height. If the car has been lowered the springs will be shorter too. The right way to do it is to buy lowering springs which are are shorter than stock. I guess there may be some hacks out there who cut stock springs, but that'
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoteFerdinand If they're the black Bilstein "touring" shocks, then you should be okay. If they're the yellow "sport" shocks, then yes the rear will be lower and stiffer. The "Heavy Duty" Bilstein is also yellow, but it fits stock springs. If you find yellow Bilsteins in that car just get them all. I put the HD shocks in my car and I love the way it
Forum: Technical Forum

Quotenomis3613 Will this survive a sump's operating temperature for the odd trip or 2, or do I need to avoid using the car until I take it somewhere to get a proper fix? I fixed a hole in the top of one of my VW crankcases with JB weld at least 10 years ago. It's still doing just fine. If you get it in there right, it'll last as close to forever as you'll need. John
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoteEarendil However, a new sound has started that I have NEVER heard before on my E30. It starts around 4000rpm, and stays until red line. Sounds sort of like sticking paper in a fan. The flutter changes with RPM, and goes away once the revs drop back down below 4000 or so. Have you looked to see if you can see any evidence of the fan hitting something? I think I've read on thi
Forum: Technical Forum

Quoterkj My question is this, has anybody had, or know anyone who has one of these eurovans, are they a good unit, something worth setting up and then setting out in/on? (I'm thinking of pulling a very small light trailer too, with a small light bike, an option not cast in stone) Thanks, and Regards, Rick I have a friend who lives in a Eurovan camper. For a while he had a female compa
Forum: Community Forum

QuoteEarendil For those of us that prefer places other than the side of the freeway (read: preventative care), where do you work on your babies? I ask because I am looking for suggestions as life moves me and changes my circumstances. I still work on my fleet in the gravel driveway. There's just nothing like the thrill of hearing thunder in the distance while you're standing be
Forum: Technical Forum

Quoterkj John, That sounds like a great deal, they do a good job, right?, it ain't no chevy B) Rick They did a fine job on my car. They do the alignments for lots of the shops in the area. It may not be a Chevy, but it ain't rocket surgery either. John
Forum: Technical Forum

Quotewodcutr I'd offer him $500 and see if he bites. To me it would be worth the gamble at that price as you could always get another motor for 3 or 4 hundred and slap it in if for some reason the head is cracked or the car has other issues. You could also part the car out and make at least three grand selling the parts on ebay. That may not be what you are looking for, but there sure are
Forum: Technical Forum

Quoteducatipaso anything modded like that has had the hell driven out of it. It's right on the road to the Tail of the Dragon, so that 's probably true.
Forum: Technical Forum

Quoterkj [ I made a rule, I don't buy cars that don't run. Get this only if you can have it real cheap, 2-3 hundred. Yeah, I'm cooling off on this deal. I looked up what that carpet kit sells for. It's over $400. The car also has a new stock exhaust ( I looked - it was new, that's another $200). With all those new parts and a fairly easy repair to get it running agai
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoteJohn Yust I'm planning to look at the car this weekend sometime. I went and looked. I was actually hoping that this car would be a pile of crap so it would be easy to decide to leave it alone. It turned out to be a pretty nice looking car. Now I have to decide if I want to deal with it. Here are some pics of it: <a href="; target="_blank"><img src=&qu
Forum: Technical Forum

Quotewodcutr You don't need to buy the special tools as you can improvise with two crescent wrenches and a vice grip for the cam and the flywheel can be held with the wheel alignment tool in your tool kit. You can read about the whole process on the M42 club. I would guess that you really won't know the full extent of the damage until you actually take the thing apart. My guess would
Forum: Technical Forum

Quoterkj Hey John I know I'm going to get a little hate mail from this but yhe E30's are much better off with a lighter, smaller motor. If you really wanted to do an upgrade I would choose a later model four banger, say from a 318ti or so. The only resource for the smaller Thirtys is Brendan is the most reliable source for the later 318 cars, if you explore his site you w
Forum: Technical Forum

I have a question for the 318is gurus among us. I have spotted a '91 318is on Craigs list for what looks like it might be a good deal. The reason for the good price is this (quote from the ad): ------------------------------------------ The bad: Timing chain tensioner (primary one) went out in March '07 and the chain jumped 1 tooth on the intake sproket. No top end engine damage at
Forum: Technical Forum

Quoteducatipaso I'm an animal. 2 Lemforder LCAs 2 bavauto urethane LCA bushings 2 oe swaybar links oh, and those damn "lock plates" and a new reservoir cap seal now I only pay for one alignment B) If you don't mind paying for two alignments at once you can get a "lifetime" alignment at Firestone tire stores. At least that's true here in Tennessee. I
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoteBob P 325is 88 Also, where did this condensation come from? How did it get into the oil system in the first place, since that system is pretty well sealed? Salut, Bob p. I've often wondered the same thing. I spent a couple of years driving 4 miles each way to work and I never saw any evidence of moisture in my oil. I use synthetic and change at 10,000 miles no matter how
Forum: Technical Forum

Quoteducatipaso interesting. ok. i guess it's old enough of a car it's no big deal but newer vw/audi there's a special deal that has to go in there and it's spendy. I spent a bunch of time reading about antifreeze when I had to decide what to use in my car. Ethylene glycol (green stuff) is fine to use. I did decide to use green stuff without phosphates. Peak is the brand I c
Forum: Technical Forum

I've got to second what Bob said. Please don't use compressed air like that any more. It's really dangerous. Maybe you could find a beater seat in the boneyard and put it in your car while you have this job. John
Forum: Community Forum

Add another vote in the "replace only the noisy one" column. The old quiet bearing might even outlast the one you put in to replace the the one making noise. A lot depends on the care of the installer. John
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoteDave_G I followed John's procedure and it worked very well. Thanks John! My only concern was that when I drained the compressor and refilled it with R134a oil, there's a little residual R12 oil still in there. I'm guessing and hoping that it's too little to make any difference. I'm glad to see it went well. You're probably right about that little residue
Forum: Technical Forum

It's probably the center bearing on the driveshaft. Tyler posted a nice video of his in the driveshaft thread that you've probably read by now. All the rubber was gone from the area between the bearing and the housing that holds it in the video. Yours is probably in about the same shape. Mine was like that too when I first got my car. I replaced the center bearing before I ever drove th
Forum: Technical Forum

The trunk leak will probably go away when you put in the new tail light gaskets. Mine did and I didn't use any sealant. The passenger window regulator probably only needs to have the motor disassembled and lubed. That's all mine needed. The shaft was stuck in the bushing at the lower end of the motor. Cruise control doesn't work goes under the "good" category. C
Forum: Technical Forum

I see beer and ice on the moped, so that would be my choice. John
Forum: Community Forum

QuoteEarendil The big question I'm still contemplating is the rear diff and axles. I'm thinking about pulling it off as one piece, and then installing it on my car as one piece. His car has a hundred thousand fewer miles than mine, and his axle boots are in good shape. This also makes the eventual axle swap a lot easier I think. I just don't know what kind of damage these cou
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoteEarendil QuoteArcheo-peteriX Trolling? Same thing? The difference I see is that trolling is intended to cause trouble and what we've been doing with the electric motor and A/C threads (and others like them) is dig into the details of things that most people wouldn't be interested in. Thread hijacking is when somebody changes the subject and heads off in another directi
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoteBob in Everett Amazing, so much discussion about something hardly needed. Bob in Everett Hey, if you can't spend hours on the internet discussing (or arguing about) things that don't matter, then what's it good for? John
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoteEarendil Hey thanks! That gives me a little hope. Right now I can't for the life of me, and all the torque I can muster, get the bolts off the diff side of the equation. I think once I get those off I can "slide" (He says, as if it's easy) the drive shaft with guibo attached away from the transmission, and hopefully have the 3 remaining bolts attaching the Guibo to
Forum: Technical Forum

QuoteDave_G Speaking of R12 > R134 conversions, that's something I still need to do to my E30. The A/C has been dead on my car since I bought it, and it's time to bring it back. I seem to recall reading something years ago about something not being entirely straightforward with this process. Is that right, or is my memory making something up? Is there some basic recipe for this conve
Forum: Technical Forum