And so it starts, Maeve

[szacsi72]

I am a terrible at estimating how long things take to get back together. I'm nowhere near getting Maeve started. 

No, man. That's just how these cars work. For the past 10 years, I have never NOT run into something that would prolong whatever I'm doing. It's just how it is. My car's been sitting in the shed for 2 years without an engine now.

[Roberto]

On to the sail tweeters. Same thing, old tweeters were dried out. And same thing, Dayton tweeters for the win. These tweeters are sweet.
You pry our the old tweeters carefully with a small screwdriver, then hot glue the Daytons in.
The crossover driving the tweeters is part of the side panel speakers located near your knees. 

 

 

Loving the stereo content... I will lock away these ideas for later use. Great retrofits I commend you for your ingenuity. 

[gwb72tii]

Progress on small, but needed items.
I replaced the rubber bump stops on the bracket that locates and supports the MAF. One was missing and the other felt like cast iron,.
  

 


 

Then replaced the rubber bump stop that supports the air filter. Again the old one was hard as a rock

 

Finally located the correct location for the motor to chassis ground. I originally had this ground strap on the left side and there was no place to attach it to the car. Here you can also see the replacement motor mount that allows a clear path rearward for the header.

 



 

[gwb72tii]

Some progress to report: 
I posted under tech talk about re-installing upper window chrome trim. I happened to have ordered the correct clips, tried and tried to get the trim to snap over the clip but failed. No matter what I did the clip is about 1/16" too long. Plus the thickness of the door sheet metal bends the clips to the point the clips fall off the door. 

 
So I did the next best thing, I taped them on with 3M double sided trip tape. I've used this tape before on my son's modified 2002, and it sticks like crazy.

 
I ordered new felt window guides for both front doors and was able to install the drivers side felt.
I'm pretty much at the end of the mechanical bits except the exhaust, and now getting the trim parts back on. This alone is exciting.




 

[gwb72tii]

Driver's side rear door day today. It probably seems like a little job to take the whole day, but figuring out how to install windows, window tracks and associated pieces when you don't know what the heck you're doing takes time. The Bentley manual is less than helpful for all this, but YouTube does have others doing much of what I was doing today so it was a help.

The rear door window guides, like many things, are NLA. So like many, I used window guides from Restoration Specialties. After installing the front BMW OEM window guides, where you have to pinch the felt guide together and then push it in made the rear guide installation go much easier. Same process. I originally thought I might have to use some adhesive to hold them in but the guide actually fit pretty snug. I did cut a miter corner for one corner, but because I measured once and cut once, I misjudged where the second miter cut should be made. The fit is still quite good, and I will be using some sort of black RTV sealant to fill in the corners. I then installed the bottom chrome trim with a new weatherstrip. I know a lot of you like blacked out trim, but I think the combo of Zinno red and chrome looks awesome. You'll be happy to know I used the proper oem clips to attach the bottom trim.

The window does rock around a bit too much I think, but I've adjusted the mechanical bits as far as I can. Maybe I'm doing something wrong and you have a step by step procedure you can clue me in on?

I think the Restoration Specialties felt window guides fit really well and look box stock.

 


 
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[1st 5er]

[gwb72tii]

I’ve been sidetracked with birthdays and taking grandkids out on the water. It’s hot up here in the great PNW. Plus we re now starting to enjoy the fruits of (mostly) my wife’s labors in our vegetable garden:

 


 


 

 

[gwb72tii]

Progress today. It's 90* in the great PNW, and my garage has metal doors and faces southwest. It's like a sauna in the garage.
In 1994 we were on vacation in Whistler and wound up buying a time share. By sheer luck we are equity owners, and our time share is selling this year. We will get back almost what we put in, less the time value of money. But I am using part of the windfall to repair Maeve's A/C. The A/C was toast when I purchased Maeve, but I had to really think about buying the AC Solutions Sanden kit. Not cheap, but after the heat wave here it will be nice to have it during the odd hot days up here. The vanes on the condenser bend if you look at them, but it's new also and I wanted the vanes as straight as I could get them. 30 minutes later and I'm close to reinstalling Maeves HVAC.


 


 


 

 

[gwb72tii]

 
I must admit that I have found lots of things to do outside this summer rather than turning a wrench in the garage. As I mentioned, my garage heats up to the point that it's uncomfortable in the summer. Plus, as everyone knows up here in the great PNW, we get about 4 months of predictable nice weather, so we all tend to do outdoor things knowing the nice weather is temporary. I was out of the country the past two weeks. When we left it was beautiful, mid 60's and mostly sunny. Returned to rain and upper 50's, plus rain predicted for the next 10 days. The good weather is officially over. So today it's back at it. 
Today I installed the A/C, power steering and fan belts. Plus randomly checked for fastener tightness on everything under the car. I found a few that needed tightening, but nothing serious. Tomorrow I am determined to do the final installation on the exhaust system. You might think Supersprint, for the price you pay for their exhaust system, would have a helpful installation guide. You'd be wrong. It's not that you can't figure it out, it's that the exhaust pipes do not install in the same position as the OEM exhaust. So the exhaust pipe hanger that attaches to the rear of the tranny doesn't match up with the location of the pipes. So tomorrow I will be trying to fit the exhaust as best as I can. At that point the entire underside of the car will be completely rebuilt and finished.

 

My wife and I finally completed a Covid cancelled trip to France and the Normandy coast. This is a trip we have talked about for a long time and it finally came together. We watched "The Longest Day" to prep for our trip as it historically accurate for the most part about the Allied invasion of Normandy. What you don't see in the movie is the sheer magnitude of the invasion. From Sword Beach to Utah Beach is about 50 miles, and it was all invaded on one day. Unbelievable. The courage it took for the allies to invade, climb cliffs, fight their way off the beaches is humbling. If you have the chance to go, you should. 

Plus we rented this bad boy for the day and had a blast:

 


 

[Blue Shadow]

A freaking deux chaveaux?  Those sold in big numbers and going uphill one hopes, well everyone hopes that both horses show up to get the vehicle over the hill.  I say everyone cause the line of cars behind the 2CV sure do want to keep moving and not be stuck behind that ride stopped on the hill. 

What I recall about one trip through France was the cemetery for those lost.  The rows of markers were so straight and in line even looking down the angles. This was in the early 60s and they are probably close to the same today. Well maintained by a generally appreciative population. I don’t recall which cemetery it was in France, there are a number for WWII military losses. 

[gwb72tii]

Too True Blue man. It was funny, even the French would pause as we passed them walking along and would smile and wave once in a while. Hills indeed are a challenge. And the 2cv happens to be one of my favorite all time cars.

We went to both the American cemetery and German cemetery. The American cemetery is above Omaha beach. And as you mention, every cross is spot-on perfectly aligned, no matter which direction you line them up. At the German cemetery, all those buried are marked with plaques on the ground so you have to bend over to see them, a sign of contrition.

[gwb72tii]

Progress on something I have been putting off, the spaghetti ball (I feared) of ventilation tubing under the dash. I have searched but found little on where the various tubes go and the sequence of installing them. Fortunately the installation is logical, and not hard.
The first order of business was washing away all of the 30 years of accumulated dust from the Phoenix area:
 

 

 
Then solving the spaghetti ball. Turns out it is not hard. The only sequencing issue is the rectangular center piece for the upper and center dash vents. It goes in last or you cannot attach the defrost pieces which are held in with screws.

The center dash vent is meant to be sealed with either foam or cloth tape. I couldn't tell as it had deteriorated completely. The tape originally was on the inside of the center rectangular piece. I didn't have foam tape so I used cloth wire wrap tape instead, and stuck out to the vent itself. I need to add one or two more wraps to make it snug;  

 
The next challenge will be reinstalling the AC and heater units. A BIG SHOUT OUT to vince101 and his Artkisblau M535 restoration blog where I have nearly memorized the HVAC parts. Thank you for the detail and pictures. 
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=139465

And a big thanks to all who post on this website which helps all of us backyard mechanics be smart about e28's.

I am planning on taking the Thanksgiving week off from work to concentrate on Maeve. I am a huge procrastinator. It took me 12 years to graduate from college and I earned my Eagle scout just before I turned 18. Nothing like a deadline to motivate you. I'll keep plugging away until then but I plan to accelerate Maeve being on the road.

[Blue Shadow]

College years, best ten years of your life.  

The third move to a new troop, Middle Tennessee, Mississippi Coast then Omaha and a drop in quality of the scouting each time got in the way for me along with learning a messaging language, semaphore or Morse code so I dint even make First Class. But the TN troop was fun and active with good outdoor activities and decent summer camp. Got my WSI and most water merit badges. 

Wish I could get back to working on the cars.  Got parts, tools and such.  Need to have a wrenchfest and have folks drop by. 

[gwb72tii]

College years, best ten years of your life 
 

 

[gwb72tii]

Getting close to reinstalling the dash in Maeve. I've been re-wrapping with cloth tape all the various wires hanging around under where the dash used to be. Dried up old tape. I ordered new dash light bulbs, and am now waiting on the clamps that locate and secure the Bowden cables to the heater box. Installing the dash is a big step as it needs to be in prior to the headliner, and the front and rear windshields being installed. 
I had the dash recovered by Just Dashes a couple years ago prior to my shoulder surgery and it looks great.
 


 

[gwb72tii]

I took last week off from work to work on Maeve, and as usual had small things stall me from getting as much done as I had planned. An example is the small threaded bushings that are part of the adjustment mechanism for the high beams. The threaded rods are corroded and the bushings are cracked. I'm surprised I hadn't noticed this some time ago when I ordered the small nylon bushings that are part of the low/high beam adjustment. Oh well. 4 separate purchases on eBay and I'll soon have it fixed. Next was losing one of the 16mm thin nuts I waited 3 weeks to get from ECS Tuning that keep the windshield wiper linkage installed. But all was not lost....

Christmas came early from a seller on eBay. The heater closing panel on Maeve is missing chunks, and just won't do for a car like Maeve. So I closed my eyes and bought it:

And in the process of installing the pedal bracket reinforcement thingy, I dropped a hex nut behind the carpet and found out my carpet is wet. Like way wet, and I'm not sure why. So now my next job is to elevate the carpet somehow and blow heated air underneath it. One more thing to do..
 

[gwb72tii]

Good news, bad news: 

The bad. When I was replacing AC hoses and installing a new drier, I partially removed the windshield washer reservoir and set it on top of the strut. When I had finished for the day, I was putting away grandkid toys under Maeve after lifting the car and noticed fluid dripping from underneath the passenger rear footwell. I lowered the car and noticed the washer fluid hose, where it supplies the nozzles near the firewall, was positioned inside the car. And since I had elevated the reservoir, the end of the hose was now below the height of the reservoir. It siphoned about 1/3 of a tank of fluid into the interior. THAT'S how my carpets got wet.

The good news. As the water was dripping while I was standing underneath the car, I saw it was dripping out of a couple holes around the floor plug. This was good news as I had never noticed that the holes were there, and since we have wet weather for 1/2 the year, I would have been chasing the leak down some point in the future.

 

 

[gwb72tii]

I found a Unicorn! A certain member with the initials CK has been holding on to a brand new pearl beige carpet since about 2014. I am beyond grateful Chris has agreed to sell me the carpet. 
I just removed my carpet and it came out in pieces. I did my best to salvage it but it is beyond saving. Good news is, other than miles upon miles of accumulated dirt, the floor looks to be in good shape. Chris is shipping the carpet sometime in the next week or so and that will give me time to carefully clean the floor and inspect it for any damage etc. 
The new carpet has the padded insulation, so I'll be installing Kilmat underneath the carpet to mitigate vibration induced noise.
 


 

 

[gwb72tii]

Good news, my new carpet from Chris Kohler is due to arrive today. And after removing the old carpet, this is what it looked like:




 

 

[gwb72tii]

I'm fortunate there isn't any rust or more holes in the floorboard. I decided to remove the air channel that supplies heat to the rear feet as it was dusty and dirty. Have I told you a really big pet peeve of mine are car rattles? Well I'm lucky again because this is what fell out of the air channel:

 

I would be looking for the source of these rattles from all this stuff forever.
Here's the after after cleaning the floorboards with paint thinner:

 

Next step is the passenger side, where I do have to plug a couple small holes in the rear footwell plug.

Blue Shadow said a couple years back when I started all this that he thought I'd be going through every nut and bolt. I didn't think so at the time as my aim is/was to get the car on the road and drive it. Well, every time I get into cleaning/restoring some part of the car it leads to something else that needs to be fixed. So, Blue Shadow, you were right after all LOLOL.

[Blue Shadow]

It will be worth it in the end.

glad you are being paid for your extra work.  I wish I could find coins like that in my car. 

[gwb72tii]

Here's the latest challenge, an old rubber steering shaft seal. It's been partially installed/not installed forever. Now its relatively inflexible so trying to get it into it's proper position risks tearing the rubber. And as you might expect, a new seal is NLA.

 
I think I'm going to use some sort of flexible RTV sealant around the outside periphery. Anyone have a great idea on how to seal this old seal?
 

[kojo96]

Can you put some heat on it (slowly) with a heat gun to get it a little more pliable, then pop it in using something to lube it?

[gwb72tii]

Can you put some heat on it (slowly) with a heat gun to get it a little more pliable, then pop it in using something to lube it?

Now that might work. Maybe a little Kroil around the shaft too. I will report back tomorrow. I'm busy hoping the Rams lose to Da Bears.

[kojo96]

Can you put some heat on it (slowly) with a heat gun to get it a little more pliable, then pop it in using something to lube it?

Lube,.. I mean Kroil for the win. Go Bears.

[gwb72tii]

Can you put some heat on it (slowly) with a heat gun to get it a little more pliable, then pop it in using something to lube it?

Lube,.. I mean Kroil for the win. Go Bears.

 

dang. go Seahawks!

[kojo96]

Lube,.. I mean Kroil for the win. Go Bears.

 

dang. go Seahawks!

They totally manhandled the 49ers. I have them winning it all.

[Blue Shadow]

 

dang. go Seahawks!

They totally manhandled the 49ers. I have them winning it all.

Looks like they will be able to avenge the loss to the Pats.  But we got another Sunday of ball before those are the players. 

[gwb72tii]

I'm attempting to fix the floorboard holes on the passenger side rear seat area. I researched how to fix small holes and the best method I could find is to fiberglass the floor. So I bought this kit from O'Reilly's auto parts store:

 

And did this:

 
if and when this dries I will coat the underside with a rubberized undercoat spray from Wurth's.

[gwb72tii]

Wouldn't you now it, but we forgot about the firewall seal today. My son came down for our long delayed joint birthday home dinner. We spent the entire afternoon cleaning his Suby Vanagon so he can sell it and never thought about it. 
Next Monday!