Finally, an easy repair!

I replaced the fan belt.  The horrible shrieking has left the engine bay, and so far the car does not overheat.  I've still got some fine-tuning to do, but I should be able to drive around town safely.

The basic steps for replacing the fan belt are:

1. Disconnect and remove the battery.
   
2. Loosen both of the nuts circled here.  The one on the left has a nut on the back of the alternator mount that should be held in place w/another wrench.  All the nuts are 1/2 inch.
   
3. Reach down through the battery holder and lift up the alternator.  It should swing freely.
4. Work the belt off the pulleys, then slide it out and around the fan.  
5. Slide the new fan belt around the fan, and loop it over the fan pulley and the crankshaft pulley.  Make sure you are in the right grooves on the pulley.  They are the ones closest to the engine.
6. Lift the alternator and work the belt around the pulley
7. Once the belt is on all the pulleys pull the alternator away from the fan until the belt is tight.  The book says that the belt should press in .2-.4 inches at the midpoint between the fan and alternator pulleys when the belt is tight enough.  This is tough to measure when you can't look at the belt from a level point of view.   Hold the opening of the half inch socket even with the top of the belt.  When you press down on the belt, as long as it doesn't go past the bottom of the socket you should have it about right.  
8. Reconnect the battery and go for a test drive!
9. After a day or two of driving you may have to adjust the tension.

Here's a picture of the old belt and the new belt.  Just as a note the old belt, while not worn, was incorrect for the car.  That's why the two look different.

I've Joined the Legion

This is probably of no interest to anyone who doesn't have an E21.  But if you have found this blog and you do have an E21, join the Legion. 

That's http://www.e21legion.net/

Also, I recommend Bimmerforums, linked at the right.  The resources and members there are fantastic.  I would still be fiddling the headlights and wondering why it wouldn't stay running without the help and advice from everyone there.  In looking at the things that are possible, I realize that my small projects are not impossible.

The Landshark after Dark

The first drive in the dark.  The headlights work great.  High and Low.  My fog lights are burnt out, but, it was a clear evening.  The banshee shrieking under the hood was not power trapped in the engine, but my failing fan belt.  This led to overheating and a nice slow 20mph drive home for the last 3 miles.  I am pleased to say that all my hoses held.  I have a new fan belt already, it's going in this weekend.  I'll be biking to work again tomorrow and Friday.  A mixed effort by the Landshark, but a good result in the end.  I arrived home, all seals and hoses intact, slightly warmer than I would like from running the heater full blast.  He drove well under duress.  I need to keep a gallon of distilled water in the trunk.

Success!

After a full day Sunday, the Landshark is running.  The timing was seriously off causing there not to be fuel in the engine when the spark arrived.  More precisely there was no fuel when the spark reached the cylinder during the compression part of the cycle.  That's enough technical terms for the day.  I spent the remainder of my day enjoying the simple pleasure of figuring out a somewhat complex problem and taking something that was broken; making it work again.  

I don't know when I got interested in cars.  As a teenager, I wanted a '65 Mustang, who doesn't?  I ended up with a Triumph TR4A convertible.  It never got to the stage of being street legal, but it was a great project.  Working on cars and enjoying them was something I shared with my father, although vicariously.  We were separated, and he would give me tips and occasionally tools when I would visit, but we never worked together.  He had his own little project a Sunbeam Alpine.  It was great to have this together.  

We both were despondent and angry that the Mazda Miata's were just barely too small for us to fit in.  As I've been working on this car I've thought of him and how he'd enjoy it as I do.  My mother has told me stories of the 1970 something 2002 series BMW they had and what a pleasure it was to drive.  I'd like to think that I'm following generationlly in his footsteps with my little 320i.  

I drove it to work today and am making plans for further repairs this weekend.  New fanbelt, re- gap the spark plugs, possibly repair a small portion of the wiring harness.  It's nice to share this with your son.  I'm looking forward to sharing these skills with mine.

Trying to make connections

What good are disconnected wires?  Do they really need to be hooked up?  I have to say yes.  I was not sure what all the unconnected, mis-connected wires and hoses go to, but I think they are all in the right place now.  

The Landshark still is not starting, but I am closer to a solution.  Right now I think the main problem is that I connected the sparkplug wires for a european version of my car rather than the North American model I own.  The foolish Germans made subtle differences in the models for each contintent, no doubt to strike back at us for our silly emissions laws.   In Europe the distributor turns clockwise, in America, counter-clockwise.  At least on the '83 model.  Time to go rearrange the wires! Again!

A quick timeline

Starting in April I began looking for a new old car.  I came close a few times and saw a lot of bad cars.  Near the end of July, I saw an ad on craigslist for an '83 320i for $300.  Probably a parts car I thought, but I might as well call as it was only 15 minutes away.  After several trips to check it out, I bought it and the previous owner was nice enough to tow it to my house.  Its most redeeming feature, is the fact that it has roughly 76,ooo miles on it.  Original.  The other redeeming features I've only found as I've driven it, briefly.  Once tuned and running I hope to get 30+ MPG.  

In August I went on a parts ordering spree to try and get the things I needed to get it running.

Late August:  It starts and stays running for the first time.  I immediately head to the store in it for more parts.

Now that it's running I start trying to address the other problems.  I make two trips to the pull-a-part over Labor Day Weekend to see what I can find.  I get the trim piece I am missing, a rear seat, a new driver's seat, the sun roof headliner, an interior door panel, various electrical parts and switches and just in case, a fuel pump.  The new electrical pieces restore power to the headlights.  I combine the working headlights and turn signals with registration and plates and it is now street legal.

I manage to drive it a half mile to work, down to the bank, back to work and home at the end of the day, blowing two hoses and losing half my coolant.

I put the rear seats in last week along with new spark plugs, almost every radiator hose and of course more coolant.

It should be pretty road worthy?  Right?  Alas I am having a signifigant power issue, or lack thereof.  Back to the message boards and shop manuals to figure out an answer.

It can't be a real blog without a first post

I like cars.  Todays vehicles have no real soul or personality. They have big engines and handle well, but where are the quirks that defined a car, that caused you to name it? They've been engineered out.  I started looking for an older car with personality.  I wanted something fun to drive, easy to work on and relatively inexpensive.  After some thought, I decided on a BMW from the mid-80's.  There were a few prequalifications that I disregarded when I found my car. 

Running, ac, four doors and a stick shift were the main items.  

I found one with a stick shift.  It now runs after a month, and I plan to re-introduce airconditioning into it by next summer.  It will never have four doors though.  

To say this car was a little rough is an understatment.  The passenger seat was removed, the clear coat is gone and the driver's and rear seats have deteriorated into a mess.  As I said, it also wasn't running.  

This blog will  follow my adventures as I turn a 1983 BMW 320i from a barn find(if only it had been in a barn) wannabe into my daily driver.