Lmst

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.

"You've seen the pics, now watch the vid!"

Filmed a week ago at #GVBC the always-excellent Ethan Tufts surveys the scene & interviews a few owners, including ME (at 8:10) discussing the :alfa: Others are :volvo: 850 T-5R, MR2, GTV 2000, and a Cayman; enjoy! #weirdcarmastodon

https://youtu.be/vTKj1HOEc4k?si=fNVssZTP3EXolvZ0

Donny has been chipping away at this mountain of rocks and rubble for a week or two

Was almost twice as big when he started

He’s spreading it around the edges of the back fence line to get some more solid ground where it’s kind of muddy

He drove that truck up there several years ago, said he might try to get it down today

There is still a “drivable” slope if it backs down

#CampingWithJeff
#JunkyardLife
#weirdcarmastodon

Construction site with a loaded vehicle moving debris. A pile of rubble is visible in the background, along with power lines and clear blue sky. A black pickup is parked on top of the pile

Not what you expect to see outside a shop in rural Ireland

#weirdcarmastodon

Today, more on British kit cars and their donor vehicles. We’ve already seen how the FWD Mini and Fiesta provided the parts for the Midas and the Quantum but today we’re looking at a rear-engined model, the Hillman Imp*, which formed the basis for another well-known kit car, of which more tomorrow.

* strictly speaking, this car, seen at the Practical Classics resto show is the Imp’s sporty badge engineered sister, the Singer Chamois

#davidsdailycar #Singer #Hillman #WeirdCarMastodon

White Singer Chamois, front quarter view

I had the door apart to swap the regular flag mirror for this fancy pants remote mirror. I’m really living in the lap of luxury now! While apart I cleaned and greased my first window regulator track that turned out to be most easy. The only thing is you really do need those plastic trim tools in order to take off the door panel without mangling it, glad I finally got some. #weirdcarmastodon #weirdcars #vw #vwrabbit #vwpickup #vwcaddy

Stinky marking its spot 😡the grass isn’t dead because of the emissions but because I couldn’t find the damn key for a good three weeks or so #weirdcarmastodon #weirdcars #vw #vwrabbit #vwpickup #vwcaddy

Live grass and dead grass with a black smelly oil stain in the middle

This van has a working lift, he’s going to rebuild/replace a bunk transmission

He’s been holding on to it for several years, he had a newer one when mom needed one, so he’s fixing it up for sale

#JunkyardLife
#weirdcarmastodon

A vintage van with a two-tone paint job sits parked on asphalt, displaying a side door that is open to reveal an interior with a wheelchair lift Nearby, a motorcycle is visible, along with another vehicle with its hood raised. The background features

The image shows the interior of an old van with maroon upholstery. It features several seats, some covered in plastic, and a disassembled center console. Blankets and other items are scattered on the floor, suggesting disarray.

This ’90s Subaru Concept Was the Missing Link Between the Brat and the Baja

Before Subaru made the Baja, it nearly replaced the beloved Brat with this two-door ute wagon that had a removable hardtop.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/this-90s-subaru-concept-was-the-missing-link-between-the-brat-and-the-baja

#WeirdCarMastodon

@nottinghack Update, the toolkit has arrived but not the battery :blobfoxlaughsweat: this should make disassembly of the body for cleaning a little easier.

As for next steps, Halfords has assured me that they will have my battery by tomorrow, hopefully with that I can chock up the C5 and connect the battery straight to the motor and hopefully it should turnover, and if so, we should be good to connect it up to the main battery terminals and do a full "system test"

I am fairly confident, the test with the power supply whilst flawed, showed that; a motor on signal was received from by the ULA, the ULA determined that there was no problematic flags from the motor and battery sensors, it sent a motor on signal to the control box, the control box gave 12v to the motor, and then the motor tried to turnover, just that the start-up current of the motor killed the PSU :blobfoxlaugh:

Also, my partner pointed out that the stall current of the motor is 140 amps, and the (original) installed wiring loom gauge to the battery is only rated for 100 amps, so I used this as an excuse to get a fancy safety wiring loom that also protects against accidently wiring the battery up backwards https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/235040436116

#sinclair #sinclairc5 #c5 #VintageTechnology #WeirdCarMastodon

A picture of a black plastic tube with 2 rubber end caps which houses the toolkit.

A spread of tools within the toolkit on some bubble wrap, showing from left to right, an angled flat cone spanner, a sponge, and a regular hex spanner, with one end with 2 different sizes used for various places on the C5.

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.

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.

Ok, that's A-musing :volvo: #weirdcarmastodon

#Weirdcarmastodon

Kicking off this weekend's Atlanta #carspotting thread with some classy gold #onlyvans and a rare Isuzu.

Song San Rocket, 2025. Another retro-inspired model to celebrate Song San Motors' 20th birthday, the Rocket is a slightly cartoonish replica of a 1959 Cadillac. The Rocket is available as fully electric or PHEV with the same 1.5 litre engine as the Summer minivan. Source carsthatnevermadeitetc@tumblr.com #conceptcar #weirdcarmastodon

This priceless Holden concept car was saved from the council tip. Twice!

With satellite navigation and a rear-view camera, 1969’s Holden Hurricane previewed a motoring future we take for granted today

https://www.drive.com.au/caradvice/this-priceless-holden-concept-car-was-saved-from-the-council-tip-twice/

#WeirdCarMastodon

Today, a second post on the products of Quantum Sports Cars. Yesterday’s Quantum Saloon model was joined in 1993 by the related, and also Fiesta based, Quantum 2+2 Convertible. I saw this one at the Practical Classics restoration show in March.

#davidsdailycar #QuantumSportsCars #WeirdCarMastodon