REF's first project car, black slicktop sedan

[johnrando]

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[REF84]

Thanks everyone, decided to order the power steering lines. Will post updates on it this weekend.

[REF84]

Took out my left shock/strut to take a look. Looks to be OEM, not sure if original.

This is the strut, bump stop looks toast:

















This is the rear shock, doesn't look too bad, but not sure how to really tell:

























I bought Koni active shocks/struts. The struts came with bump stops on. They're shorter than the bump stops I purchased (the white ones). The other ones are the strut stops I purchased:












Should I use OEM or go with the bump stops that Koni provided?

[sillieidiot]

You test the shocks by compressing them and see if they spring back. If it doesn't, or goes super slow, they are bad.

Use the koni supplied ones. Since the OE are longer, it would basically reduce the amount of travel and it would feel more bouncy.

[REF84]

Went to harbor freight and grabbed a spring compressor. A friend of mine helped me and we managed to get the original springs off and put them on the struts. I didnt get a picture but the original struts are a lot shorter, (1.5 to 2 inches) than the Konis. I ordered the Koni Special Active for Sport Suspension, but looks like they use the same struts for the front in both the sport and non-sport package.

I tried to get them on but theyre too long. I had the brake assembly as low as it can go and it still wasnt low enough to slide the strut into that pinch holder thing.

Anyone have any tips for fitting them?

[sillieidiot]

Are you talking about trying to fit the bottom of the strut/shock into the knuckle?

You could try fitting the spring compressor back on so you could compress it a bit and then put it in.

BTW, in that picture, it doesn't look like you have the spring seated on correctly on the bottom.

[REF84]

I followed the imprint from the old rubber shim and it’s pretty much the same, the spring follows the curve and the end is about 1.5 inches away from the dip.

[sillieidiot]

Yeah usually it's closer, or even in the groove. But if that's what your factory imprint is, then I guess that's correct for your car. It's just from your pictures, the spring looks like it's slightly off to the side.

[REF84]

Dedicating the next week to the car, but bad news today. I was fumbling around for a couple of hours trying to get the front strut on. I had to remove the caliper, and remove the abs sensor and brake pad sensor to finally have enough room to push down the wheel hub assembly and get the strut in. As im torqueing the top strut mount bolts, I have my harbor freight torque wrench set to 25 ft pounds. I torque two of them down fine, but then one keeps spinning, with what feels like way past 25 foot pounds. Eventually I feel the wrench go loose, and the brand new strut tower bolt had sheared off.

I think the locking bolt on the bottom of the torque wrench kept getting loose, so it probably got loose and didnt work. Very frustrating!!! Now I have to order a new strut tower, compress the spring again, and remove the strut tower and put in the new one. I just ordered a fancier torque wrench after doing some research. I went with this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...7B8TRIYM&psc=1


Been having a lot going so trying to keep myself sane with this thing. I guess I should of known I would run into issues doing my first big overhaul on a car ever. Here is a picture of the damage:




Not going to give up though. Lesson learned to not blindly trust a torque wrench. And make sure I have quality tools for the job. I went ahead and also ordered a ball joint separator for the control arms. I ALMOST thought about throwing in the towel and paying for someone to a lot of this work, but figure I just spend a little extra money on some quality of life tools.



I have another question if anyone has the answer. I ordered this diff bushing kit, since the big one is torn:
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...0788kt#reviews


Ive seen some DIYs for the big one, but not for the two smaller ones. Anyone know of a DIY where it shows replacing all 3? And what tools do I need?

[san]

The 2 smaller bushings come out the same way as the big one, just need a smaller tool. And they are fore-aft of the vehicle rather than side ways


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