Good things must come to an end, and so it was that we got word that one of our units would no longer be available to us.
Bad news on the one hand, but positive on the other.
First up was a raid out of all the accumulated detritus that one manifests over time – half worn brake pads, used engine oil and that sort of thing. Some were destined for the Bakey (Dump), and others for transportation to a new and glorious shed based life.
Bakey run 1, there were a couple more..
significantly better bar CX shaped lump to move
That was enough for Day 1, so it was abandoned until the next weekend.In the interim, the 320i had a rare bath, and was treated to the 4 wheel shufty to rotate the tyres.
It looks a touch suspicious..
In a rare picture, the e30 was photographed just as it crested the rise..
Anyway, to the crux of the story!
The CX was in fair few pieces – one front wheel off, and brake disassembled not to mention the gaping hole where the alternator used to reside. Time to get on with reassembly.
Luckily, I’d avoided taking the teardown any further, and had a vague recollection of how things went together.
I find it most helpful to switch off my logical brain when approaching CX work, instead adopting a more “Gallic flair & Bof” approach to considering the tasks at hand.
My friend Brian had helpfully taken pictures to show how the Alternator was connected during our epic battle to remove it.
Yes, that is 4ft of exhaust pipe used as a breaker bar…
I looked at the pile of bolts encased in an errant pulley and summoned up my inner Jean Reno/BA Baracus hybrid spirit.
I could see the goal clearly, with the myriad pulleys and pumps removed or moved, so at least had an idea as to how things were supposed to go.
Mounting of most promise
I gave the bolt a wire brushing, and applied some copper grease to keep it from seizing
Cleaned and lubed
Then it was time for the torturous route to re-installation:
Only one grazed knuckle later, and it was in place. Some wrestling with a 13m spanner onto the flatted sides of the nut/retainer for the bolt meant that it tightened up, ad we could turn our attention to getting the belt on and tensioned.
This lets the alternator pivot to tension the belt
Wires reattached
Once that was done, it was time to reassemble the rest of the engine to allow us to start the car.
First up, we re-positioned the pump and removed pulleys and reattached the removed belts.
Installation of Magic Pt1
Magic pt2 goes in
That just left the inlet manifold to reattach before cranking her over.
Set to Breathe!
Immediately she fired, then died with a strong smell of fuel. A look in the engine bay highlighted a disconnected breather hose causing unmetered air to get into the inlet, and fuel pouring out of a supply pipe just before the filter.
The hose was easily reattached, but the fuel pipe was a bit more involved.
Damp pipe in the Centre= Fuel seeping through!
Resolution involved removing a coolant pipe, then swapping the fuel hose over with new pipe, before replacing the coolant hose.
Mid sorting.
With that done, she settled down to a happy idle, and was even showing some volts!
Still not superb, but much better than 11!
That done, I got the front brake sorted, including a temporary location for the removed brake flexi (I have a new one on order and still need to source the replacement solid pipe to the caliper).
Not exactly factory!
This incoming weekend will see more work, including a game of “can we get the CX off these Axle Stands?”
fu'guttycars 