Stewart's Project, and questions

[Stewart1000]

i have started my project, its an '97 VL SL, i have already sanded the boot lid back and working on the bonnet, i have taken off the two front guards and i am stuck on how to get that grey plastic off of the door, any ideas?

tip: if you are takeing the side guards off, there is all the bolts ontop and two or three under and then there is 2 screws that hold it on that you need to undo from the inside of the car, for the right it is easy but left is harder so ill explain that one. Unscrew the cover onfront of the front left door (inside the car) it covers the ecu, unsrew the plate that holds the bottom of the ecu in and remove that, jiggle the ecu azroudn and it will come out, move it out of the way, behind that you will be able to see a bolt head, undo that but there is another one hidden under that filler crap, so follow your finger down from that bolt hole and locate that bit bulge of crap and just get it off with a screw driver of anything, its a 10mm bolt but the goo makes it ard to get a socket onto it so i used a 13 and just turned it around the bolt and it helped get some of the goo off then scraped some more off and yeah just undo it like usual (its a bit fiddley). same for the other side with the goo but there is no ecu.

also, any ideas how to take the aerial out?

Here asre some photoes i just took, back to work on the car now, thanks

[VL Berlina 5speed]

i have started my project, its an '97 VL SL,

neva knew vt's had the SL model,

so what is planed for this project motor wise, panel and interor to give us a beta idea,
hope it all gos well for you to

areial, on the top there is like a nut type bolt (on the out side, its chrome) undo it and that pulls over the tip of the anterner rod then slide the chrome braket up and off and it should drop down, if the bolt on the suport bracket for the antener on the inside is undone

[Stewart1000]

aw its an aftermarket aerial and the chrome is glued in (i think)

today i have just cut out a big patch about 15x8cm on the spare wheel well where there was rust and a previous bog job so i am going to bend some steel and braze that in there.
it needs a new radiator support panel, no idea how thats going to happen, new rear door quarter glass.
plans are to paint it metallic emerald green, already got 2.5" straight through with extractors, 5speed manual. i will also put on new front and rear bumpers and most likely all the plastic strips also. depending on how the funds are looking.

I will eventually put on a turbo, t04 like normal, with modified truck intercooler.
some higher ratio rockers

interior will cop new carpet and oil pressure and voltage, maybe more not sure yet.
lumpy cam, and either a chip tuned on the dyno or a whole new ecu, like some wolf 3d shit or whatever else is out there.

the paint should be on there before the end of this year.

[ucwepn]

Sounds like its gonna be heaps of work but well worth it, sounding really kewl.

[Stewart1000]

here you can see the hole i cut into the spare wheel well, a bit of my panel beating job, bog on the boot and the head in the wheel barrow is another project i am currently working on, hopefully it will be off the property by the end of this month, it's a mates car.

next weekend if i can get an oxy from work or dad can, then we should be able to braze some new metal for the spare wheel well and then i can go and paint the whole boot.
also possible remove the radiator, head up the rad support pannel and bnend it back to shape so i dont need to put a new one in. replaceing that requires grinding the spot welds, then gettign one cut from the wreckers, grinding those spot welds and then welding that new one back on.

plans for the sanding are gonna be somethign along the lines of sand back with 320 and then 800, then spray with undercoat what we can (guards, bonnet, boot lit, doors) then get it sent away to get the rest done in the shop and finally painted.

i have rubed through to the metal in a few places but they are not big enough to require etch primer, just a bit of normal primer and that should be fine.

ill keep you up to date, i usually only work on it weekends cos i am not usually home week days in the daylight hours.

[bangers]

i think you can buy the rad. support panel new if worse comes to worse. good luck with it all. post pics of the wheel well when you're done cos i'd like to move my spare wheel.

[Stewart1000]

ooh no i am not movign the wheel, just replaceing the metal that was rusted. But that shouldnt be too hard to do, most likely easier than the job i am doing, juswt chop off all the metal and shape some sheet metal and wack it over the whole, grind the welds back, put some filler, just to round off the edges and give it a good paint job, would come up a treat, but where would you locate the spare wheel too?

[bangers]

i was thinking of making a false floor to hide the wheel under

[Stewart1000]

aw ok, that would be easy to do if you were on lpg and you had the tank in the boot then you could make a holder wherre the old fuel tank used to be. hrmmm.

[vn_lexcen_s2]

seems like there needs to be some thinking. would it even fit flat with the false thing on top of it with enough room

whats going on with that other car on your lot?

[Stewart1000]

tis a mate's car, i'm doign the head gasket on it for him. it should be gone by the end of this month, hopefully. yeah it should fit if you put it where the old fuel tank used to be, but the tricky part would be a way to lower and raise the wheel withotu great difficuilty. maybe copy the idea of many utes these days, have a reel with a chain that holds the wheel up and you can turn that with a rod.

[themantiss]

with the spare wheel well thing, does anyone know if you can get space savers in the vl stud pattern (is it 5x120?) i was thinking of dropping in a 4 channel amp in the hole in the floor of my wagon but theres a wheel in the way(!) and i think if i put it under a space saver it would fit sweet.
and yeah my rad support it rusted as well, but fitting a bigger radiator later anyway so ill just cut it off and weld in a new one

[gungazza]

here you can see the hole i cut into the spare wheel well, a bit of my panel beating job, bog on the boot and the head in the wheel barrow is another project i am currently working on, hopefully it will be off the property by the end of this month, it's a mates car.

next weekend if i can get an oxy from work or dad can, then we should be able to braze some new metal for the spare wheel well and then i can go and paint the whole boot.
also possible remove the radiator, head up the rad support pannel and bnend it back to shape so i dont need to put a new one in. replaceing that requires grinding the spot welds, then gettign one cut from the wreckers, grinding those spot welds and then welding that new one back on.

plans for the sanding are gonna be somethign along the lines of sand back with 320 and then 800, then spray with undercoat what we can (guards, bonnet, boot lit, doors) then get it sent away to get the rest done in the shop and finally painted.

i have rubed through to the metal in a few places but they are not big enough to require etch primer, just a bit of normal primer and that should be fine.

ill keep you up to date, i usually only work on it weekends cos i am not usually home week days in the daylight hours.

so where are pics

[ucwepn]

with the spare wheel well thing, does anyone know if you can get space savers in the vl stud pattern (is it 5x120?) i was thinking of dropping in a 4 channel amp in the hole in the floor of my wagon but theres a wheel in the way(!) and i think if i put it under a space saver it would fit sweet.
and yeah my rad support it rusted as well, but fitting a bigger radiator later anyway so ill just cut it off and weld in a new one

Some years if not all of BMW 3 series wheels are the same stud as commodore, not sure on the offset though but they should have space savers available.

[Stewart1000]

here are some pictures of the boot with undercoat, the hole in the spare wheel well, my panel beating and the boot lid with filler on it,which hasn't changed since i took that photo, probably should get onto that one.

i sanded part of the roof back today and found lots of high and low spots so that's going to be a big job.

I have sourced someone with a vl calais that is selling parts so i might grab a new boot lid, defenitally the dash, maybe the rear lights (i prefer the origional but my lights are not in the best of shape) and i might even grab the front 2 doors or maybe all 4 depending on the price he wants, just so i can have power windows, that'll be great. also, possibly the rear bumper and some plastic strips if they in in good nic.

I dont know yet but if it is a turbo i will most likely buy the motor and turbo or maybe just the turbo i dont know about that one.

if the pop up lights are in order and he doesn't want too much for them i might consider it aswell.

i also want the rear diff and discs, whats the issue with the master cylinder not being able to cope with it?

do you think my transmission will cope with the extra power of a turbo and is the vlt manual any different, and if so in what way?
i'd think it would be the same only the v8 box being stronger.

now to try and bend some steel to match the hole in the boot. cya
Thanks

[dan_man31]

hey man just wondering why did u take the gaurds off ... are you planning to paint every bit of it or where they damaged i found with those plastic things on the doors i tried everything from chemicals to brute force but the easiest way is heat i just sat there with a kind of thin knife and my mate had a hair dryer and he just aimed at the plastic for a bit while i worked the knife they came off so much easier then the other way's also i see you have made a good start on it what colour are u thinking ? also with my way of takin off the side things your definetly gonna need new ones cause they dont come off easily. good luck

dan

[Stewart1000]

i got the sides off, not that hard, just time, lots of it with a stanley knife blade fully out cutting through the glue, took ages and i cut myself pretty badly.

i have decided to buy another car, better condition, i took the motor and 'box out of it today and tomorrow ill get the head off and clean it up for a new VRS gasket kit, i am thinking about rebuilding the whole motor or just do the gasket, depends on the time line before i get another car, i am not doing anything else with any of the parts from the car accept engine, box, exhaust and maybe wheels, so i suppose ill sell the rest, or give it to the wreckers, the 2 rear doors and passengers door are straight, no dents, if anyone wants anything off it just ask me, and as long as you can come pick it up or arrange some postage if you really want and hand over a few dollars then you can have whatever you want, i have pretty much every tool you would need to remove things mechanically like diff, brakes whatever. i am in the eastern suburbs of Victoria, Boronia

[Stewart1000]

some pics of the motor coming out and work done on the car before i decided to get another one.
The cylinder head is off a mates car i got welded up (water gallery was corroded through to the firing ring) and machined.
The wood is a mould i made for the steel in the spare wheel well, i got some sheet metal and bashed it to size and then removed all the dents from the hammer and it looks really good, don't have a pic tho, it fits perfectly in the well, much better than a bog job. i also have a long strip probably 70cm long with a band in it to match the boot seal metal (the metal that the seal sits on) if anyone has rust under their seal or metal completely rusted away like i did, let me know and you can have it pretty cheap, also if you want the steel for the boot you can have it, you wouldn't need to weld it in, you could use body filler to stick ti in but brazeing it in would be the best, NO WELDING! it will distort it.
And the dash, i made that myself, took me bloody ages, kept stuffing it up!

MAYBE, ill buy an engine stand soon and then take the transmission apart from the motor and paint the sump and put in a new clutch, my one is nearly finished i think. i also need a spigot bush i think

[Stewart1000]

i took the head off today, the bore still had hone marks in it, head was in very very good condition, water pump fairly good (a bit of corrosion around the edges near impeller) i will get a new one this week, transmission front bearing suspect. The trans and motor are apart, i am going to do a new clutch (depending on the cost) i was going to go to the wreckers today to pick up an xf tbody but didn't have time so ill get around to that in the near future hopefully, debating about putting on a turbo or not. I am gonna get my new car sprayed, don't know what colour yet, any suggestions?
Also, whats a good way of getting rid of cigarette smoke smell in a car?
anyone know where the chassis number is?
can i run a motor with power steering and air con with an SL loom? i would rather not have to purchase another loom.
in the picture with the wires (where the ecu sits) anyone know what that bunch of cut wires are for?

ill get stuck into the trans next weekend and probably put in a new VRS gasket kit and water pump gasket

[vn_lexcen_s2]

looks awesome. lots of hard work. did u get the thing off that we were looking at getting off before i had to go. the thing that johnny made. did it work?