PK's "accidental" '95 2nd gen build thread
- Thread starter Peevedkitten
- Start date
Peevedkitten
New member
Yeah I misunderstood. The transmission side ujoint has a lot of play in it so I'm going to replace it and see if that helps.
Peevedkitten
New member
Time for maintenance
Today it was time for some maintenance. My original plans were to finish all the fluid changes (transmission, front diff, transfer case and brake fluid), swap out the bad Ujoint on the driveshaft, do plugs/wires, grease everything, put a new air filter in and clean the MAF. I yanked the wheels off to check out the suspension and see if anything else needed to be replaced/fixed. I found the driver side CV axle was completely toast (busted boot and balls almost completely out of cup) and the wheel bearings were shot. So I went down to Autozone and ordered a new cv axle and wheel bearings which will be here Tuesday.
So far all the fluids have been done and I've ripped the CV and hub out.
Tomorrow I'll pull the driveshaft, swap the Ujoint, do plugs, wires and the air filter.
Here's some pics of where we ended for the night.
I'm still waiting on the BMW to sell then the plan so far is to put a Blazeland kit on and do a leaf conversion in the rear.
Today it was time for some maintenance. My original plans were to finish all the fluid changes (transmission, front diff, transfer case and brake fluid), swap out the bad Ujoint on the driveshaft, do plugs/wires, grease everything, put a new air filter in and clean the MAF. I yanked the wheels off to check out the suspension and see if anything else needed to be replaced/fixed. I found the driver side CV axle was completely toast (busted boot and balls almost completely out of cup) and the wheel bearings were shot. So I went down to Autozone and ordered a new cv axle and wheel bearings which will be here Tuesday.
So far all the fluids have been done and I've ripped the CV and hub out.
Tomorrow I'll pull the driveshaft, swap the Ujoint, do plugs, wires and the air filter.
Here's some pics of where we ended for the night.
I'm still waiting on the BMW to sell then the plan so far is to put a Blazeland kit on and do a leaf conversion in the rear.
Peevedkitten
New member
Progress is being made! I got the new CV in finally and installed. I want to give a big thank you to Martin Crawler, they had the wheel hub kit I needed and had it to me in a day! The rotor assembly went back on tonight and I'll be honest, I'm going to have to redo it no questions asked. I didn't have a socket that would fit and ended up using a pair of channel locks to tighten the nuts for the rotor. I just went slow once it got tight and checked it every 1/8th of a turn until bearing play disappeared and then 1/4 turn more. It should work out long enough to get the truck smogged.
Does anybody know what size the spindle nut is?
Does anybody know what size the spindle nut is?
Peevedkitten
New member
It is a 3vze, motor was rebuilt about 30k ago. I checked thetiming belt when I swapped the fan pulley bracket and it looked great. It runs like a top but the PO didn't seem to understand that vehicles need maintenance on more than just a motor. All of the urethane bushings needs to be replaced, it looked like he never greased anything and it's coated in a very dense layer of red mud. Once I get the wheels back on I'll take it down to the wash and clean the crap off of it.
Right now I'm just trying to get it smogged, after that I'll be able to take my time and fix all the little issues. I'm not in a hurry and this isn't a DD so it's not a big deal if I have to take it out of commission for a bit to fix things.
In other news the wife and I have decided to buy a house (with a shop!) in the next year or two. With that in the works the idea of doing either the blazeland or sas swap is out for now. I'm currently debating doing either the rough county lift or and OME lift. The suspension is shot so I have to do something about it and a lift seems better than just going oem for 2-4 years.
BigRyan1986
New member
Does anybody know what size the spindle nut is?
I want to say it was a 32mm but i maybe very wrong i just did all of that on mine. but i cant remember ill check when i get home and i can give you an answer in about 2 hrs
BigRyan1986
New member
Congrats on the shop i wish i had one. you can see my "shop area" in my build thread. consists of jack stands bricks and gravel. If it rains then a tarp stretched between two cars. How much was the fan pulley bracket and do you have a part number for it. I swapped the one from my parts truck to mine after mine went out on the way to work. the one i put int makes noise so i know it needs to get replaced. Also check out the procomp lift. Thats what i have. I saw a rough country one on a 3rd gen truck which is just like the 2nd gen runner and my procomp looked way stronger. I have pics of the lift when i was installing it in my build thread as well.
Peevedkitten
New member
It's way bigger than that. I took the nut to sears and the different parts houses in town to try and find a socket with no luck. The closest I could find was 2 1/8" which was a freaking 3/4 drive socket. My guess is it's around a 54 or 55mm.
BigRyan1986
New member
ok you right. I just remembered how i did mine. I used a hammer and chisel or a beefy flat head will work. i had to just tap them in. they weren't super tight anyways. So i just tapped them until they were tight and i couldn't spin it with my fingers. Might not be by the book but it worked for mine. no problems yet (knock on wood). What kind of BMW are you trying to sell. Im in the same boat. We were going to sell my wifes BMW and get another runner, but she decided she wants to sell the volvo instead to get her BMW going or get a runner.
Peevedkitten
New member
I'll see how the wheel hub holds up and take it from there. It's a definitely a 54mm, I found this on the TG site and will probably order it. I had a pair of channel locks that worked and I just tightened it until the bearing play disappeared and went a small bit past that. I think it will be fine.
I've got a 2006 BMW 330i 6 speed manual with all the bells and whistles except nav I'm trying to offload. It's an awesome car but it just doesn't fit my lifestyle. I actually just take the bus to work every day, it saves me money that I can spend on toys so I don't need a dedicated daily driver. I do have a little Ford ranger for every day use when I need it though.
BigRyan1986
New member
I haven't taken the bus since high school. We have a 94 325is e36. I think she decided to sell her volvo instead so she can put money into her bmw and buy another runner. Its a cool car I got it for litterally next to nothing so I have a huge budget to play with before I'm loosing money on it. We are planning brakes adjustable suspension intake and exhaust. Nothing to extreme its an auto so.
Peevedkitten
New member
I don't mind the bus at all. It's super cheap ($44/month) and it gives me some alone time to listen to music, read books or browse the web. I commuted via motorcycle for 5 years and was hit by a car in February. The BMW was my after accident compromise with the wife but I'm not as into it as I thought. The thing cost me nearly $300 a month just to commute vs. $80 a month on a bike. It's also not as much fun to drive as I thought it would be.
Peevedkitten
New member
She's all back together now! All of the maintenance except for plugs/wires/air filter is done. I have a serious issue though, the rear diff is likely toast. I thought it was the transmission at first but after a fluid change everything quieted down and I can tell the grinding is out of the rear. I texted the PO and he said it developed a leak at some point. I wish he'd have told me that before we towed it 500-600 miles with no fluid in it.
Is there a way to tell what gears it came with that doesn't involve me removing the rear diff cover? My diff is just covered in mud and I haven't had a chance to clean it off. Is there a tag with the gearing on it somewhere on the axle?
Is there a way to tell what gears it came with that doesn't involve me removing the rear diff cover? My diff is just covered in mud and I haven't had a chance to clean it off. Is there a tag with the gearing on it somewhere on the axle?
Peevedkitten
New member
I've been working on my budget for awhile now. I still haven't had much movement on the car so all I can do is research and plan. With the possibility of buying a house in the next few years I decided to cut my budget down and put as much towards that as possible. My current budget is $4,750 and that has to include a new rear diff. I had originally thought about doing an ARB locker and re-gearing but it's just not in the cards.
At this point I think I will look into keeping stock gearing and try to find an e-locker off a 3rd gen to do a conversion with. I definitely want a selectable locker and that seems to be the cheapest way to get it.
The build as of right now not including the rear diff:
Ball joint/coil spacers $183
OME 60072 Front shocks $215
OME 60073 Rear shocks $215
2901 Rear coils $168
Energy suspension kit $141
Uniden PRO520XL CB Radio 40 channel CB radio $41
Firestik SS-3H Antenna Spring Antenna spring $12
18' RG-58A/U Coaxial Cable CB cable $7
4ft Black Firefly CB antenna $20
Nilight® 2 X 18w 6 Cree LED Spot $26
52" 300W LED Light Bar $60
LED Light Bar Wiring Harness Kit $16
Blue Sea Fuseblock 12 terminal $43
OTRATTW switches Rocker switches for lights/accessories $15.50 ea $62
Hi-Lift Jack HL484 48" $78
140amp alternator Alternator Upgrade $140
Alternator wiring harness adapter PN:W1232 $30
Hayden adjustable fan thermostat For electric fan mod $21
Upgr8 Universal electric fan 16" $47
metal $850
Millermatic 211 w/cart $1,089
Milwaukee 8" Metal saw $249
Total $3,713
At this point I think I will look into keeping stock gearing and try to find an e-locker off a 3rd gen to do a conversion with. I definitely want a selectable locker and that seems to be the cheapest way to get it.
The build as of right now not including the rear diff:
Ball joint/coil spacers $183
OME 60072 Front shocks $215
OME 60073 Rear shocks $215
2901 Rear coils $168
Energy suspension kit $141
Uniden PRO520XL CB Radio 40 channel CB radio $41
Firestik SS-3H Antenna Spring Antenna spring $12
18' RG-58A/U Coaxial Cable CB cable $7
4ft Black Firefly CB antenna $20
Nilight® 2 X 18w 6 Cree LED Spot $26
52" 300W LED Light Bar $60
LED Light Bar Wiring Harness Kit $16
Blue Sea Fuseblock 12 terminal $43
OTRATTW switches Rocker switches for lights/accessories $15.50 ea $62
Hi-Lift Jack HL484 48" $78
140amp alternator Alternator Upgrade $140
Alternator wiring harness adapter PN:W1232 $30
Hayden adjustable fan thermostat For electric fan mod $21
Upgr8 Universal electric fan 16" $47
metal $850
Millermatic 211 w/cart $1,089
Milwaukee 8" Metal saw $249
Total $3,713
BigRyan1986
New member
That sucks its not fun to drive. Sorry to hear about your accident on the bike. Hope you didn't end up with any perminant issues from that. My roommate has a bmw guy for a boyfriend so he is going to help me build my wifes. So far we are looking into M3 head and cams and maybe a supercharger or turbo depending on how heavy my wallet is feeling lol
Peevedkitten
New member
Good news everybody! The runner passed smog today. I can go finish up the registration and then spend some time cleaning it and doing minor work until the BMW sells. On that note I also may have a lead on selling the bimmer and a complete rear axle with an elocker and aftermarket harness!
Peevedkitten
New member
So yesterday we started working on fixing the sunroof. We also decided to pull the carpet and trim to give the runner a deep cleaning. I knew it was bad but didn't expect it to be quite this nasty. The floors were horrible and everything was absolutely coated in a layer of red clay dust (reminded me of being back home, I'm from Georgia). The floors were all sticky (spilled soda is my guess). and half the screws for the door and trim were missing. The amount of dog hair is just staggering, my poor wife's allergies were just killing her.
The PO did an amazingly horrible speaker installation in the back, he really hacked some stuff up. There's a red 2 or 6 gauge cable that runs into the engine bay, I'm assuming it was for a sub or something along those lines. None of the speaker cables were run properly, they were all on top of the carpet. I'm going to fix all of the little things and re-run the speaker cables and possibly re-locate them.
Here's some pics.
My wife and I were having some trouble removing the rear glass. The tailgate is pretty badly dented and I'll be taking a body hammer to it as part of this process.
Front trim removed, tailgate off and working on the rear trim.
Carpet out rear trim removed and roof dropped.
Rear seat bottoms out and rear carpet removed. Look at all the dog hair! This is after I pulled a bunch of it out.
All rear trim, carpet and roof removed. On the right you can see where he just cut into something to place the speakers, which made no sense at all since he had an inch of wood standoffs...
We've still got a ton of stuff to pull out and will need to borrow or rent a carpet cleaner We'll vacuum everything, scrub down the trim panels and all of the interior before re-assembling. I'll have to pick up some more trim clips and plastic snaps before then too.
The PO did an amazingly horrible speaker installation in the back, he really hacked some stuff up. There's a red 2 or 6 gauge cable that runs into the engine bay, I'm assuming it was for a sub or something along those lines. None of the speaker cables were run properly, they were all on top of the carpet. I'm going to fix all of the little things and re-run the speaker cables and possibly re-locate them.
Here's some pics.
My wife and I were having some trouble removing the rear glass. The tailgate is pretty badly dented and I'll be taking a body hammer to it as part of this process.
Front trim removed, tailgate off and working on the rear trim.
Carpet out rear trim removed and roof dropped.
Rear seat bottoms out and rear carpet removed. Look at all the dog hair! This is after I pulled a bunch of it out.
All rear trim, carpet and roof removed. On the right you can see where he just cut into something to place the speakers, which made no sense at all since he had an inch of wood standoffs...
We've still got a ton of stuff to pull out and will need to borrow or rent a carpet cleaner We'll vacuum everything, scrub down the trim panels and all of the interior before re-assembling. I'll have to pick up some more trim clips and plastic snaps before then too.
Peevedkitten
New member
I'm beat...
Done for today! Got all of the interior out. I'm going to borrow my mother-in-laws carpet cleaner and do the truck carpets. I hung them and beat them to see how bad the dirt was and honestly I'm kinda of speechless.
My hood was clean before this pic:
Me after smackin carpet:
The carpet after being whacked for about 30 minutes, wish I had a before pick (side not the interior is grey I think):
Interior completely out:
Some of the PO's hackjob wiring:
I'm freaking exhausted now lol. There's still a lot to do, but I think we made some progress this weekend. I'll work on cleaning up the wiring this week and see how that works out.
Done for today! Got all of the interior out. I'm going to borrow my mother-in-laws carpet cleaner and do the truck carpets. I hung them and beat them to see how bad the dirt was and honestly I'm kinda of speechless.
My hood was clean before this pic:
Me after smackin carpet:
The carpet after being whacked for about 30 minutes, wish I had a before pick (side not the interior is grey I think):
Interior completely out:
Some of the PO's hackjob wiring:
I'm freaking exhausted now lol. There's still a lot to do, but I think we made some progress this weekend. I'll work on cleaning up the wiring this week and see how that works out.
Chuckles89
New member
Looks like you're making some good progress! Once you're done, it will be totally worth it.
