Lmst

One of the old transmission mount bracket bolts is what broke yesterday, so I decided to replace all of them. I got lucky with a drill bit—the broken bolt came out pretty quickly. I also needed vacuum hose to replace a bit that broke during the engine install, and I'm leaving town Thursday so I couldn't wait for shipping and had to pay dealer prices. That would be $67 for six bolts and a foot of hose. I have to go back tomorrow, too, since I somehow only have half as many exhaust nuts as I need.

My hand, in a black nitrile glove, holds a drill bit embedded into the end of a bolt with its head broken off.

Two plastic bags, one containing a length of black vacuum hose sitting on top of the other containing six bolts.

Day 34: This is starting to look suspiciously like a complete car again. I got the cooling system back in, along with the accessory belts, cabin air filter housings, etc. I also got the engine and transmission mounts torqued down after having to replace the transmission mount bracket bolts, so everything is officially in position. All that's left is the exhaust, bolting in the air filter, and some trim, then fluids. #WeirdCarMastodon #EngineSwap #WrenchEveryDay #BMW #E39 #M54B30 #DIY

A view into the engine compartment of my blue 2003 BMW 530iT wagon, where the freshly installed M54B30 inline six-cylinder engine has been nearly fully dressed with new cooling system components and the air filter housing, though the latter is not yet bolted down.

The accessory drive belts installed in place on the front of the M54B30 engine in my 2003 BMW 530iT.

Not that there isn't still the occasional hitch...on an unrelated note, #WeirdCarMastodon , best/easiest way to extract a bolt after the head breaks off—go!

Day 33: Lots of little fiddling today; the big task was bolting the driveshaft back up to the transmission. The list of remaining to-dos is getting pretty short: reinstall heat shields and exhaust under the car, and install drive belts, air intake, and cooling system under the hood, then add fluids, hook up the battery, and see what happens! #WeirdCarMastodon #EngineSwap #DIY #BMW #E39 #M54B30

@dan the 190's never been my favorite, but looks like a nice example. Price would be a touch high in CA, but might be right in a state where cars don't last as long.

But...is that a TVR back there?!?

@slirt my Corvair, I guess I should have noticed that was the Nova since early Corvairs had a strip-style speedometer

An essay by a, uh, friend of mine that may provide some mild entertainment to #WeirdCarMastodon

https://crimereads.com/cars-in-crime-fiction/

@slirt best part is, the clock was an extra-cost option, and not a terribly common one, so most cars (including mine) had a completely blank dummy gauge front and center.

"Car Life" (same publisher as Road & Track in the ’60s, with more of a "Motor Trend" sensibility) tested a Corvair in 1968 where, among other quality issues, the clock only kept time when the engine was running!

@Basmitharts okay, that's a good enough excuse

@Basmitharts top up though?

@chromblitzen does the badge on the side read "Berlinetta"? In the US, the Manta came in a "Luxus" trim that included this vinyl roof covering and the same wheels, plus a corduroy fabric interior that was very attractive, but very susceptible to wear and sun damage, so almost none survive.

Nathan Avots-Smith boosted:

#Opel #Manta

@dan bonus points if the giant sunroof hasn't been sealed shut (most of them have been) and can be made functional again

A burgundy 3D-printed 1:64-scale BMW 525iT with its dual-panel sunroof closed.

A burgundy 3D-printed 1:64-scale BMW 525iT with the front panel of its dual-panel sunroof open.

A burgundy 3D-printed 1:64-scale BMW 525iT with the rear panel of its dual-panel sunroof open.

A burgundy 3D-printed 1:64-scale BMW 525iT with both panels of its dual-panel sunroof open.

I guess I was feeling pretty ambitious...

#WeirdCarMastodon #EngineSwap #DIY #BMW #E39 #M54B30 #WrenchEveryDay

My blue 2003 BMW 530iT station wagon, its hood open to show off its newly installed M54B30 inline-six cylinder engine. Not visible, but also installed, is a freshly rebuilt ZF 5HP19 five-speed automatic transmission. The front bumper is removed, and the cooling system, among many other parts, has not been reinstalled yet.

Day 32: Final pre-installation prep done. Removing the front bumper was a little trickier than on the 530, since the wagon has headlight washers; had to rig up the hose to stop washer fluid pouring out, too. New motor mounts are in place, but not torqued down so they still have a little wiggle.

All this done before lunch...now I have to decide how ambitious I'm feeling this afternoon... #WeirdCarMastodon #EngineSwap #DIY #BMW #E39 #M54B30 #WrenchEveryDay

The front end of my blue 2003 BMW 5-series station wagon, lifted up on QuickJacks, with its hood open and its front bumper removed.

A chain of zip ties run from a headlight mounting tab down the side of the passenger-side headlight to hold up the end of a hose, which connects to the headlight washer hoses in the front bumper, to prevent washer fluid from leaking out.

A view into the engine compartment of my 2003 BMW 5-series station wagon, where a new left-hand side motor mount is in place, awaiting installation of the engine.

@Basmitharts yikes. May the insurance gods smile kindly on you, and your little red chariot be back on the road soon. Horrible to have your day/weekend derailed like that.

Purely by coincidence, a wagon in the exact spec I'm building recently came up for sale in Orange County. Cheap, a little raggedy but not terrible, but something about the eBay screenshot photos sets off my scam radar. #WeirdCarMastodon

https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/d/fullerton-1996-volvo-850-wagon-turbo/7845282634.html

Photo from Craigslist of the rear end of a Champagne Metallic 1996 Volvo 850 Turbo station wagon for sale in Fullerton, California.

@Basmitharts ugh, sorry. Hope the damage isn't too serious.

Had a little delay on my Tamiya Volvo 850 model build when I ran out of clearcoat before I was satisfied with the coverage; new can arrived today, so I finished giving the body its Champagne Metallic duds. Pretty darn good color match, I think! I'm also very proud of how well I placed the badge decals on the tailgate.

Gonna let the clear cure for a week or so before detailing the body; still have some other parts to paint in the meantime. #WeirdCarMastodon

A top-down view of the painted plastic body of a 1:24-scale Tamiya model kit of a Volvo 850 Turbo station wagon, overlaid over the Champagne Metallic color chip on the inside back page of a 1996 Volvo 850 sales brochure, to show the color match with the body.

A close-up of the rear of the Champagne Metallic-painted plastic body of a Tamiya Volvo 850 Turbo station wagon model kit, showing the decal badges on the tailgate. To the left of the license plate recess is a "VOLVO" badge, while to the right an "850" badge sits above a "TURBO" badge.

@Classic_and_Vintage_BMW attractive, and in many ways quite a bit more modern-looking than the production car, but it lacks the lightness that makes the E3 special. And, yes, looks too Italian, though I'm getting more Alfa than Fiat.

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