update

so i got all the stuff on my short list done and went to the autocross yesterday. it was a blast. the car performed wonderfully. i love the torque and the limited slip. lots of fun. only two issues. one, i think my 2nd hear syncro is toast...i have to short shift from 1-2 and from 3-2 i have to do a very aggressive heal-toe. no biggie as i shouldn't see 2nd gear on track and that is what this car is for. the other issue is some bum seat sliders that broke toward the end of my 3rd run slamming me up against the steering wheel and locking up my brakes...nice.

here's some pics:

she's alive!!!!

so i finished through #8 below. everything runs pretty good. as i feared, there are a whole lot of noises and vibrations i'm not used to and that makes me nervous. the rear end "whirrrs" a little and i can't tell what it is...it changes pitch with the tire rotation so i think it might be the parking brake shoes rubbing against the parking-brake-drums. at least i hope that's it.

so on Monday it's off to the muffler shop to get the new cat and muffler hooked up. hopefully the gc coilover kit will be here mid week so i can get it installed before my alignment appt on Friday.

So far, so good!!!!

operation get ready for a shake down

time to kick it into high gear. my club (www.thscc.com) has an autocross schedulded for 9/14 and then there's a track day at CMP in October. If i wanted to make that track day, i really need to get the car ready for the autocross on the 14th to do a shake down. i've come up with this list. it's certainly paired down from my full to-do list, but it should get me where i want to be.

1. order 4 point roll cage (bolt in from kirk) - DONE - won't be here for another 3 or 4 weeks
2. order ground control coil over kit and camber plates - DONE - will be here by Wed or next week.
3. install seat brackets, seats and a friend's 3pt belt
4. fluids - oil, diff, brake, power steering
5. install cv boot clamps
6. put the rear shocks and springs back on
7. put a wrench on every nut and bolt that i've touched
8. tourque the crap out of the axle nuts once it's on the ground
--this get's it driveable--
9. take it to the muffler shop and have them install the new cat and muffler
10. install gc kit
11. get it aligned

i'll get the cage installed with real harnesses later on..as well as the steering rack swap...this will at least get me to the autocross, but it's a lot to do in a week.

dang tie rods

i put put the dash back together on Sunday and then started the steering rack swap..i got the driver's side tie rod off but the passenger's side is proving to be more difficult. i may actually need to go buy a tool.....ahhhhhhhhh

brakes done, rear end done!!!

i got some time today so i rebuilt the front and rear calipers and then buttoned up the rear end. i put a little tech up on bimmerforums for the caliper rebuild if you are interested.

one step closer

i can't believe i forgot to take pics, but yesterday i had two friends come over to help me put the back end together...it took about two hours, but everything is back on the car...i still have to button up the brakes but for the most part, it's all done.

bushings in

i took the trailing arms, subframe and diff over to a friends to press out the bushings...we were done in a little over and hour...not that bad really. sorry no pics right now.

i'm also putting new CV boots on the axles...one down, one to go. after that, i think i'll remove the exhaust from the manifold, re-install the drive shaft that i accidentally pulled off when removing the diff...then i can get the get to work on putting the back end back together. i sure how i remember how it all goes ;-).

i'm off to england for a couple of weeks so i won't have a chance to work on it for a while :-(