Every Shop Needs a Milling Machine

The Grant St. Garage has a rather complete set of woodworking tools, but they are usually the cheaper version, often bought used, and that sometimes makes for compromises. My Delta 12" planer is a good example. This little benchtop machine has planed thousands of feet of lumber without complaint, and it works great. But when it was designed, chip collection was not a big part of the equation. Delta did offer a bent sheet metal attachment, and I bought it to hook to my dust collector. It works more or less adequately, but its design is poor compared to more modern equipment like the Dewalt 13" benchtop planer.

Anyway, today I noticed that the duct had pulled loose on one side. The thin metal, held by a pair of tiny wing nuts, was just not up to the task.

An Expensive Lesson

I violated a rule a couple of weeks ago. I didn't even know it was a rule until after the fact, when Phil Oles acquainted me with it. It's called the "Three Tooth Rule," and it basically says, "when cutting, make sure you have at least three saw teeth in the material at any time."

I found out that if you violate the rule, you are liable to have two simultaneous outcomes:

1. A loud bang.
2. Broken parts.

Sadly, the broken parts were on one of my most prized tools, my Bosch compound miter saw:

An Experiment in Frugality

I just saved $4.13! That's the cost of 30 ea. #6-32 x 3/4" screws at Home Depot. Of course, it took me two and a half hours to do it, so that comes out to $1.65 an hour. Makes McDonalds' wages look like the 1% by comparison.

When I wrote about my recycled 14-drawer cabinet from Radio Shack, I mentioned that I was going to use part of it to store hardware - screws, nuts, bolts, etc. I recently took stock of what I had on hand, and found a pretty motley collection. But of #6-32 machine screws, for some reason I had 70 screws of 1-1/2" length. No other lengths, just that one, which is actually sort of long for such a small screw.

I got the bright idea that I'd make several fixtures to hold the screws, to allow them to be shortened to a standard length.

A Vise for Cutting

First off: yes, it's "vise." The other word, "vice," is something different, as in "Miami Vice." But if you're looking for a big metal holding thingy on Craigslist, it pays to search for both spellings!

Part of my modest collection of machine tools is a small metal-cutting band saw. I had been using it with varying degrees of success with a homemade sliding table, but I wanted better. Specifically, I wanted a vise that could hold the material very near the blade, while keeping my fingers a very safe distance away. After pondering a bit, I bought this at Harbor Freight - on sale and with a 20% discount coupon, it was only about $15:

My First Engine

My first automotive engine rebuild was actually decades ago, but this is something different - my first engine built from scratch! Not very big, and not really able to do useful work, but it's an engine, and I made it from a small pile of aluminum, brass and steel. It's powered by air:

New Tunes for Ringo, and New Boots too

Ringo has some new tunes. No, not Ringo the Beatle, it's Ringo the Beetle! This photo was taken just before the center dash went back in the car:

Yet Another Interior...

When John Zimmerman and I finished changing the carpet in Ben and Cindy's minivan about a month ago, I confidently stated, "That's the last interior I'll disassemble for a while!" Well, as the old saying goes, Man plans, God laughs! I've already disassembled the next one...

Yes, that's Ringo the Beetle's interior.

Excessive Organization, Part 2

In the first Excessive Organization post a few months ago, I detailed buying and filling a new tool cabinet for my automotive tools. That turned out to be a satisfying experience, and the value of having all those tools in one place has proved itself over and over since done. I think it also sort of started the ball rolling to do some more shop organization. A lot more!

The Better Part of Valor

Referring to the title: it's "Discretion," in case you've forgotten that saying. Discretion is the better part of valor. Like so many of our idioms, this one came from Shakespeare. Falstaff says it, more or less, after playing dead on the battlefield in Henry IV, Part I. Anyway, after a frustrating day in the shop, I have shown some discretion! Read on...

Faithful readers will remember the story of Ringo, the 1998 Beetle that I bought for short money from my friends Lynn and Lynne. In the initial installment, Bob Zimmerman and I replaced the catalytic converter and the temperature sensor and cleaned the throttle body, successfully correcting a check engine light and a stinky exhaust. At the end of that post (dated August 15), I promised that "soon" I would replace the timing belt and other parts, rendering Ringo ready for winter duty.

A Bench for the Makerspace

A few months ago, Bruce Schreiner of the Make717 group asked me if I'd make a small workbench for the group's Innovation Center makerspace. I agreed, and over the past couple of months worked on the bench. It's done! Here's the finished product:

Deferred Maintenance

I have read of woodworkers who spend the first 30 minutes of each shop session on tool maintenance. Predictably, their chisels and planes are always sharp, everything is always put away, and their major machines are in perfect adjustment. But the rest of us... well, we use things until they work so poorly that we have no choice but to take time to maintain them. My jointer was like that:

Minivans are BIG

The Grant St. Garage has been occupied of late by a real labor of love. My dear friend and trusted colleague Cindy gave birth to twin boys in September, bringing the household count to five, plus Pete the dog. Cindy's husband Ben bit the bullet and went out looking for a "Mommy-van." I offered him my sincere condolences.

Ben found a 2008 Toyota Sienna in fine mechanical shape, but well under book price because of the state of the interior. Frankly, I think a family of incontinent warthogs lived there - ones that often rolled in grease. Ben asked John Zimmerman to do one of his uber-detailing jobs on the van, but it quickly became obvious that the carpet was just done. Ben ordered an inexpensive replacement from the web, and John recruited me to help change it. Little did we know...

A New Old New Beetle

As the title says, a New Old New Beetle. That is to say:

NEW - to me.
OLD - 1998 model, the first year of the...
NEW BEETLE - that's what VW called it at first, although now it's just the "Beetle."

So, here we are with a fifth member of the fleet.

The 2015 Hemming Sports and Exotic Car Show

Mary Ellen and I recently spent a week in Lake George, NY on a wonderful vacation trip. Very relaxing, and lots of good food and interesting top-down drives in the BMW Z4 on the shaded mountain roads. And of course, no vacation would be complete without a car show. On Saturday we drove about 45 minutes to Saratoga Springs, NY for the Hemmings Sports and Exotic Car Show, on the grounds of Saratoga Spa State Park, adjacent to the Saratoga Automobile Museum. It was a hot, clear day, so we enjoyed alternating between the show field and the air-conditioned comfort of the museum! Here's an example of the quality of car that was there - a gorgeous Jaguar XK120:

Excessive Organization?

An imaginary conversation...

Me: You know, I think I have that obsessive/compulsive thing going about a place for everything and everything in its place.

Everybody else: We have seen your shop, and you definitely do not.

Me: Right...

Dissecting a Disaster

I think all of the regular readers of this blog already know that I had a serious accident in the workshop recently. Don't worry - I'm not about to show you medical-grade photos of my hand. But for the sake of completeness for those who stumble across this post, here's the outline of the damage:

Truth in Advertising

On a recent vacation, we took a modest side trip to the town of Leonardtown, MD, for the sole purpose of visiting a book store:

Sadly, the guide we were reading failed to mention that Fenwick St. Used Books and Music is closed on Mondays. But since we were there, we walked around a bit.

A Nice Gift

The other day, when Kelly Williams and I had our adventure with his Stanley Steamer, he presented me with a nice gift! Look:

No clue, huh? How about if you see the business end:

Well, if you know that the bar is an inch wide (very exactly: 1.000) and half an inch tall (ditto: 0.500), you at least have a sense of scale. Yes, they are letters, and yes, they are both reversed and upside-down. So, if you hold your monitor upside down in front of a mirror, you'll see it says, "GSG". It's a Grant Street Garage stamp!

Wine Rack, Part 6 - Done!

After nine months of intermittent work and many interruptions for other projects, the wine rack is finally done, and installed in our kitchen:

A Steamy Story

Today was a gorgeous day in central PA, with high temp around 70, and clear, sunny skies. Kelly Williams called and said he was going to take his Stanley Steamer out for a shake-down cruise. I suggested the Grant St. Garage as a destination, in case it needed some mid-trip adjustments. He agreed, and said that Mary Ellen and I could have a ride in the Stanley - one at a time in this two-seater.

As we were walking to Grant St, Kelly called again, and said there was a problem. The car was immobile on the side of Marietta Pike, a couple of miles outside the city. We walked on to Grant St. so I could collect the Z3 Coupe and get out there. Not the most likely rescue vehicle, but it was all I had. The truck is in the shop for some gas tank work I wasn't willing to tackle myself.

Once I arrived, I pulled around behind the Stanley and turned on the emergency flashers. Those weren't exactly standard equipment in 1911, so Kelly didn't have them on.

Hold the Phone

My phone, a Samsung Galaxy Note 2, is one of those "phablets" - the great big phone that is almost a small tablet. Works great, but it poses special problems if you want to mount it somewhere in a car. It's big! My first attempt was a mount that held the phone perfectly because it was designed specifically for the Note 2, but it clipped into the air conditioner vent, and was so loose and floppy that it rattled and moved around and was impossible to type on.

Then, I found the same phone mount on a suction cup base, and it was cheap - only about 4 bucks shipped from China. Of course, it took a few weeks to get here, but it did arrive:

It looked very promising, but there were two immediate problems: 

A Welcome Addition to the Shop

The Grant Street Garage has a new toy! It's a metalworking lathe, of the class of lathes usually called "8X". That means that you're supposed to be able to spin something eight inches in diameter, if you're crazy enough. Regular readers of this blog know that I already had a metalworking lathe and also a mill. Indeed, a recent post detailed an upgrade I made to my smaller "7X" lathe. That upgrade helped a bit, but the small lathe was still just too light and non-rigid for serious work.

Wine Rack, Part 5

I just checked: the last post on the wine rack project was way back on Nov 6, 2014. In that post, I postulated that the fifth and final post would be in January. Hoo boy - I sort of missed that one! This blog has detailed the four or five other projects that took precedence in the ensuing months. This is part five of, I sincerely hope, six for the wine rack. I won't be so bold as to predict when that sixth post will occur...

A Lathe Upgrade

It happens in every shop - projects get started, and then pushed aside for other, presumably more pressing, projects. Last November, I started a project to upgrade my metalworking lathe, one that promised to make the lathe more accurate and cut with a better finish. The first detour in that project happened right away, when I managed to wear out a gear in my mill while making the lathe part! I documented that here.

The "fix" in November left me with a mill that works better than ever, but in the process of doing that, I just put the lathe back together so I wouldn't lose any parts, and somehow did four or five other projects without ever getting back to the lathe. Well, no more - I decided I wouldn't work on anything else until the lathe was done!

Christmas, finally

Christmas came a little late for Mary Ellen this year. Well, that's not exactly true, since she did have a pile of presents to open on Christmas Day! But, her "big" present just wasn't ready in time. Now it's done, and her response was just what the hubby would hope: "I LOVE my new under-cabinet lights! They look great!" Here's the final product:

Scary Brakes

When John Z. and I went to get my old workbench the other day, something happened that I didn't mention in that blog post because I didn't want to get off-topic. But it was a significant happening.

I was slowing down for a traffic signal, foot on the brake, when the pickup truck in front of me went into full panic-stop mode. Nose down and tail up. I hit my brakes hard, and after a couple of seconds, the pedal went soft and dropped about two inches! Fortunately, I still had enough brakes to stop without hitting the truck. I slowly and gently made it the rest of the way home, frequently testing the brakes.

Homecoming

Nearly 20 years ago, I decided that I needed to build a harpsichord from a kit. There were two major harpsichord kit manufacturers in the US, Hubbard and Zuckerman. Both companies are still in business now, and still have a variety of kits to build. I decided on Zuckerman, and Mary Ellen and I spent a weekend in Stonington, CT, so I could attend a two-day seminar on building the kit.

It took me about three years to build, but it turned out to be a fine instrument, one that we used for a number of years with Allegro Chamber Orchestra. Here's a photo of Mary Ellen at the harpsichord in 2005:

Sharon's Cabinet

Every once in a while, I'll take on a project even though I have some mental reservations. This was one of those! Bob Zimmerman, the superb electrician who rewired the entire Grant St. Garage, asked if I would look at a cabinet that his wife Sharon bought at auction, for the princely sum of one dollar. He said, "I just want you to put a back on it."

Well, Bob has done a lot for me, including using his MIG welder to un-stick a seriously stuck bolt in the Z3 Coupe (link). I said OK, and decided I could make the cabinet better, at least. It was "rustic" at best, having lived in a barn for many years. We agreed that I would try to make it structurally sound and useable, while leaving the rustic exterior untouched. Bob said that they might put it in their kitchen as additional storage.

Milestone Reached!

Not much posted about the Z3 Coupe lately, which is kind of odd. After all, this blog got its start as a project log for that car! But as things happen sometimes, the project car sort of morphed into my daily driver. And I like it that way, because driving that little car makes me happy!

For the past year, I've been saying "nearly 200,000 miles." Today, the milestone was reached, and I can drop the "nearly." 

Jack Miller, of Jack's Auto and Aero, once said to me, "You're unlikely to put the next 100,000 miles on it." I decided to take that as a personal challenge! I'll post the picture when it hits 300,000.

An Uninvited Guest

The Thanksgiving holiday last week meant that the Grant St. Garage was mostly dark, since we had company all week. But, I did make it by on Saturday afternoon just to drop something off, and was annoyed to see a car in the side lot, parked none too carefully, and in the way if I wanted to pull into my overhead door. Annoying!

I actually am quite laid-back about that lot, because I am so often NOT there. I made it clear to the neighbors that they were welcome to use it on a temporary basis, when unloading stuff or when they had guests for a few hours. But I asked a couple of neighbors, and they said the car had been there several days. Since I was just dropping by, I didn't do anything right away. I made some calls to other neighbors and renters, and no one knew whose car it was.

So, this morning (Monday) I called the police, gave them the license number, and asked that the car be towed.

Milling and Lathing

Recently my friend Phil Oles came for his first visit to the Grant St. Garage. Phil is a talented machinist who has been a big help as I've floundered around, trying to reach minimum proficiency with my little mill and lathe. He started about the same way I did, with small machines of limited capability, but has gone a lot farther. See this link for some videos of engines he built from scratch.

Phil dropped by to have a look at my lathe, because I am unable to make a clean cut unless I take at least 0.005" off at a time. Since it's often useful to take off 0.0005" I was clearly not doing well. We decided that the problem was excessive play in the carriage of the lathe - the bit that carries the tool and moves along the work.

Wine Rack, Part 4

Mary Ellen and I went to The Fridge for supper the other night. It's a very good pizza place, with what is being called "artesanal" pizzas. You know, all local and natural ingredients, odd combinations, etc. The also have a large refrigerated case filled with interesting beers, hence the name.

When we walked in, who should be there but our friend Matt Sware! You can see Matt's picture in this post, holding a Bilstein shock absorber. Anyway, we ate together and had a great visit. But in the conversation, Matt said, "So, this wine rack is going to be done, like, 10 years from now?" Ouch! So here's a project update, just to prove it isn't stalled.

Shop Truck, Part 2

I continue to make interesting and enjoyable discoveries about my new shop truck. Last Saturday, I took Mary Ellen for her first ride. All was well, except that when I reached up to adjust the inside mirror, it came right off in my hand! We laughed and laughed, and stopped by the Pep Boys store on the way home to pick up the special kit used to glue inside mirrors back on. So easy anyone can do it - just follow the instructions.

Shop Truck!

I have a new shop truck! But I actually wish I didn't own this truck. That is to say, I wish the reason the truck was for sale had not turned out that way.

The Make717 Makerspace

This afternoon I was able to pay a brief visit to a new "Makerspace" right around the corner from my house. For those not from around here, "Make717" refers to our phone area code. It's in Warehouse D, a pretty cool space right next to Building Character, off of the 300 block of N. Queen St. You can find the group on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/lancoberksmakers/.

A makerspace is like a geek clubhouse with tools.

A Useful Velcro Variation

This is a post for those who follow my modest blog, but aren't about to really spend days in the workshop, or crawl under a car. This project, anyone can do - all you need is some sort of drill/driver and a pair of scissors.

The Western Maryland Street Rod Roundup

Almost every year on Labor Day weekend, we visit our dear friends Rebecca and Nelson down in Cumberland, MD. Labor Day weekend is the last weekend I have free every summer before beginning the choir season again at Lancaster Church of the Brethren, so it's a great weekend to get away. But we don't get to skip church! Rebecca is a Methodist minister, so we usually wind up providing some sort of special music for her service. This year was no exception.

Z4 Window Reset (plus a windsheld wiper problem)

I had a weird problem the other day: the wipers stopped working in my Z4. Well, not completely. If I pulled the wiper lever toward me to activate the windshield washer, that worked, and the wipers wiped correctly. But, it wouldn't work in any other position. Obviously, the wiper motor and all associated linkages were fine, since they would work with the washer.

A New Wine Rack, Part 3

I've spent about 10 hours across the week on this project, and a casual observer would say, "It still looks just like the end of Part 2!" But not really - there has been a lot of detailed work on deciding how things are going to fit together, and on the many operations needed on each part. Fair warning: this is going to be a sorta long post, because I'm storing things here to remind myself how I did it, should I want to do it again later. In the narrative below, I call the parts already completed, with the scallops to hold the wine bottles, the rails. The short pieces that connect the two rails are called the stretchers.

First, here's what didn't work.

The "Dangerous City"

This isn't a project post at all, except that it involves a trip to the Grant St. Garage to work on my wine rack. I want you to forward this post to all your friends who think it's dangerous to set foot in the city!

Tonight, Mary Ellen needed to practice the piano, and also wanted to watch a TV show that I didn't care to see. So, I set out on foot for the six-block walk to the Grant St. Garage. It was around 8:45 when I left, so it was already dark. Here are the dangerous, scary things I encountered while walking over:

A New Wine Rack, Part 2

Some good progress on the wine rack. After figuring out the basic layout and the setup to cut those curved bottle holders in Part 1, it was time to get down to business on the real thing. The first step was to create what is called a "story stick" - it basically tells the story of how to make something complicated. It's well worth the time, especially if you think you'll do it again someday. I used stable 1/2" plywood to make the stick, and scribed the location of each bottle.

A New Wine Rack, Part 1

This project started with a tracing - you know, tracing the shape of something onto paper. I was visiting my friend Sydne, and noticed her wine rack. I've been wanting to build one, but just couldn't get started. Looking at hers, I realized the design of the actual rack that held the bottles was exactly what I wanted. Basically, the bottles sit close together on two horizontal pieces, with different-sized cuts front and back to hold the bottom and the neck of the bottle.

I asked for a pad and pencil, and traced the shape of both rails, and made a couple of notes about size, distance apart, etc. - enough that I could duplicate the layout in my design:

Road Trip!

In the nearly three years that I've owned the Z3 Coupe, this blog has recorded a pretty good pile of work I've accomplished (with the help of some good friends) to bring it back from some deferred maintenance and looming problems. After all that, it was time for the Coupe's first substantial trip, and I couldn't think of a better one that to participate in the Hemmings Cruise-In in Bennington, Vermont, to celebrate National Collector Car Appreciation Day. The short version: great trip, and the car ran flawlessly! A 692.3 mile round trip, with the car delivering 25.4 mpg with an average speed of 48.4 mph.

Grinding

It's just amazing how Mary Ellen always knows what to get me for birthday or Christmas gifts. Of course, "get" is a relative term. She "gets" it, but I choose it, buy it, have it shipped or pick it up, etc... This one, I told her to not even bother wrapping it!

Twisted!

This isn't a project log like most of my posts, because the project at hand is so geeky, and so well documented elsewhere, that I wasn't even going to post it. But, something interesting happened so I wanted to log that, at least. The project (now completed) is to convert my mini mill from a spring-type lift to an "air spring" - sort of like an automotive shock absorber to lift the mill head.  The bit in the red circle below is what went away - the spring is under the round cover:

Cupholders

You wouldn't think that cupholders would be a great source of controversy, but in the BMW world they have been for years. Long after American auto makers were putting useful cupholders in cars, BMW either omitted them, or made them so inconvenient to use that you might as well not have them. Legend has it that when asked, BMW engineers would disdainfully say things like, "You Americans and your beverages. Don't drink - drive!"

Even as late as 2005, BMW was still making cupholders that held only small cups, and somehow managed to work poorly while still being masterpieces of German over-engineering. The left photo below shows the driver's side cupholder in the Z4 in the closed position, and the right photo when open:

Transmission - DONE!

After the HUGE effort that Kelly Williams helped me with (parts 1, 2, and 4), along with Bob Zimmerman (part 3) and Troy Nace (also in part 4), along with some serious tool development and trans repair by myself in part 5, it was finally time to put everything together and get the car going again. John Zimmerman was the person who helped with the heavy lifting to finish the project in this post, part 6. What a project. Along the way, I wondered if all this effort could possibly be worth it, but now that everything is working and really, really improved I can say: YEAH! What a sense of accomplishment to get a transmission out that seriously didn't want to be disturbed, renew all that needed to be renewed, and put it all back together.

Pairing the Z4

My recently purchased 2005 BMW Z4 has turned out to be a fine daily driver, as long as there's not snow on the road. But one thing that puzzled me was how to get my phone paired to the Bluetooth that was clearly built in. I'm a real believer in having Bluetooth in the car for phone use. I always cringe when I see an SUV bearing down on me, with a distracted driver holding a phone to his or her head.

In 2005, Bluetooth was quite new, and BMW chose to treat that pairing code like a bank PIN, with unique numbers to each car. The car was delivered with a slip of paper containing the code, but that was long gone. I did some Internet research, and could scarcely believe what I saw - I'd have to disassemble a good bit of stuff to uncover where they hid the code in the car. But I confirmed that fact with Rob Howry at Faulkner BMW, so this afternoon I dug in.

Transmission Progress!

After I completed the detent repair on my transmission, it was time to prepare to re-install it. First up was rebuilding the shift mechanism, which basically involves replacing everything that isn't metal. Not hard, and I had ordered the parts months ago. The time-consuming part was just cleaning all the grease and gunk off.

A Good Day at the Grant St. Garage

Last night, Kelly and I met at the GSG to put my newly-repaired transmission back in. That's a whole 'nother story that I'll report soon. This story is about my parking lot, which has been a muddy mess in bad weather ever since I bought the property two years ago.

While I was waiting for Kelly, I was working in the shop with the overhead door open. A very nice, and very large, Dodge crew cab pickup stopped, and three men got out. One introduced himself, and said, "We're with Penn Paving, and we're paving right around the corner. We have some material left, and we're going to do some patching for your neighbor right across the alley here. Would you like some repairs on your parking lot?"

More Stuck Stuff!

With the transmission out and on the bench, it was time to fix it! The problem was with the shifter, and it is a very common problem with this series of transmissions. The spring-loaded detent pins that center the shifter seize in place, making it very difficult to shift, and also making it hard to find 3rd gear. The fix is "easy" but it requires removal of the transmission. I've already documented how "not easy" that part was, with nearly every bolt seriously stuck. As you'll see, the trans had stuck stuff too!

Unsticking the Stuck, Part 2 (of 2!)

Today, Master Electrician Bob Zimmerman came to do some work at both my house and at the Grant St. Garage. When you see pictures in the shop, with the huge bank of 6-bulb florescent fixtures and quad outlets every four feet, that's all Bob's work. He started over at the electric meter, and rewired the whole place. Bob's dad, John Zimmerman, came along to supervise and help think. Turns out that was helpful in the end too.

See, I got the bright idea to text Bob:
"Do you have a MIG welder?"
Bob: "120 Volt"
Me: "Bring it!"

Patient ready for surgery!

Starting at the end: here's the transmission, sitting on the workbench, ready for surgery:

A Little Side Trip

This is the convergence of two separate threads in Mary Ellen's and my automotive lives. Perhaps the more pressing  thread belongs to Mary Ellen - she has a leased 2011 BMW 328i xDrive sedan that we have to give back in about a month. That has occasioned much discussion concerning her next car, perhaps more than she wished she had to endure. It was out of that search that I wound up trading my BMW 128i convertible for a brand new VW GTI Driver's Edition - I was looking for her a car, and somehow...

Two Steps Back

Work has been slow at the Grant St. Garage. Kelly Williams and I did get to spend a couple of hours on the Z3 Coupe almost two weeks ago now. After my success in getting that stuck bolt on the transmission out, we thought we were finally making progress.

We did get a couple more bolts out, and also removed the "X-brace" that was limiting access - sneakers in the shot to give it some scale!  That brace is showing just a couple places with a tiny bit of surface rust, so I'll clean it up and treat them with POR-15 before reinstallation.

Supporting the Engine

In part one of this Winter project, Kelly Williams and I started the process of removing the transmission from the Z3 Coupe. We ran out of time and energy at about the same moment, with a big bolt that was very hard to turn. I fretted over that, and even emailed Mike Miller, the BMW club tech specialist. His advice was succinct: "It is either stripping or not stripping." In other words, the only way out of that mess is through it! If it comes out, all is probably well. If not... well, out comes the Sawzall, followed by much cursing.

So It Begins... Winter Project 2014!

The Z3 Coupe is back in the air, and it will be there for a while this time. It's the start of the 2014 Winter Project!

The Project List includes:

Let There Be (More) Light... a Little

A few weeks ago, we were invited to a fun outdoor party at Matt Sware's new house in Strasburg.  The party didn't start until 8:00 pm, and it was fully dark well before then. Mary Ellen and I went in the Coupe, so we could park next to Matt's 2000 M Coupe - same color! He saved me a special space next to his. We looked very mysterious parked together there in the dark. I tried to take a picture via flashlight, but that was an absolute fail.

For those of you who don't know, Strasburg is out in the country, and we took the country back roads to get there. Dark! Really dark. I guess we're spoiled, since both Mary Ellen's BMW 328 and my new VW GTI have xenon headlights, but it felt like we were making our way (in John Biemiller's evocative phrase) by shining a flashlight out the window. I resolved then and there to try to upgrade the lights.

Unsticking the Stuck, Part 1

Sometimes nuts, bolts and screws just get stuck, and no amount of effort will unstick them! I previously posted about a visit to Jack's Auto and Aero, to enlist Jack's help with stuck nuts on my exhaust system, and some serious seized brake lines. What I didn't tell in that post was that there was one more stuck bolt, and it is still stuck.

Stopping the Clutch

The BMW Z3 was built to a budget. All cars are, but the Z3 in particular has a bit of a "parts-bin special" reputation. In the early 90's, there were very few convertibles even being sold. But then Mazda hit a home run with the Miata, and BMW decided to test the waters with a brand new model - the Z3, introduced in 1996. To save development and parts costs, many Z3 parts were recycled from the BMW 3-series coupes and sedans, and the interior in particular was rather cheaply made.

It's obvious that the original spec for the Z3 included a stop behind the clutch pedal, to limit the pedal travel. Every Z3 convertible and coupe has a threaded hole in the floorboard, behind the clutch:

A Beginner Lathe Project for the Z3 Coupe

In my last post, I told of my new "mini machine shop" equipment, and of how I needed to make a big buy of tooling to complete it. Well, that didn't take long! After a few nights understanding the offerings on the Little Machine Shop website, I pulled the trigger and bought two "kits" of tooling, one for the mill and the other for the lathe. It was a pile of stuff:

Grant St. Update

I haven't been working on the Z3 Coupe much lately, because I've had another project that was consuming me.  The Grant St. Garage is now a machine shop!  Well, sort of...

Sign of the Times

I love my little Z3 Coupe, but I am the first to admit that it's a "ten footer." That is, it looks like a new car from ten feet away, but get close and you can see plenty of road rash, a windshield filled with stone chips, and a few faded spots.  You know, patina - folks are paying big money for that at auctions these days!

We're planning a road tour with the Nittany Bimmers chapter of the BMW Car Club of America, and I decided to make a little sign to put in the windshield when the car is parked. Kind of a preemptive strike against those who might think, "That's not exactly pristine." It will be laminated, so I can write the exact mileage on at the show.  You saw it here first!

A Work Light That Works!

I will admit to being a serial buyer of LED lighting - I think that the technology is amazing, and constantly getting better. Recently I picked up a new one. It's a pocket work light by Nebo called the "Larry" - I have no idea who Larry is! The good lighting of the interior photos of my door in my last post was courtesy of my Larry light. Here's a pic:

Diving into the Door, Part 2

In Part 1 of this saga, I detailed removing the door card and finding a crucial reset procedure so the window lift mechanism would work again.  Now, it was time to remove the window, replace the sliders and grease everything up.  There was one more web link that was really useful for that procedure:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?709563-Replacing-sliders-and-greasing-front-door-tracks

Diving Into the Door, Part 1

The passenger side window on my Z3 Coupe was slow... REALLY slow.  Especially descending.  It was so tortuous that I would usually reach across the car and help it down.  So, off to the Internet I went, and found some disquieting info.  This is an incredibly common problem on BMW's of the E36 vintage, and there is a real danger of severe damage.  There's a post welded in the door, which functions as a pivot for the window mechanism.  Let things bind for too long, and that can snap off, and then you're in a world of hurt.  BMW says replace the door.  Internet pundits say you can weld it back, after total disassembly, but who wants to get into that mess?

A Visit to Jack's

In my last post, I mentioned that there were two (of six) brake lines that I was unable to remove.  I was fearful that if I put on too much pressure, the hard line would shear, and then I'd be stuck!  I decided to pay another visit to Jack Miller's shop in Bainbridge.  An independent BMW service facility, Jack's Auto and Aero has been involved from the beginning of this project.  In fact, there's a brief video of the shop in my very first post.

Turns out that this was a very wise decision!  Jack was astonished at how tight those two brake line connections were.

Shocking! Part II...

In Part I, I showed the start of this project to install new Bilstein shocks and Bavarian Autosport springs in the Z3 Coupe.  That ended with the rear done - now it's time for the front.  This is well-documented on the web, so I won't do the step-by-step procedure.

I will, however, post a picture of a technique that I read somewhere.  Everyone who saw it laughed at me, but it worked great.  See, after you remove the strut, you have to support the suspension and brake assembly so that it won't swing out and damage the brake lines or other components.  The idea is to insert one lug bolt, and tie a rope from there to the engine lift point at the front center of the block.  Worked great!

Shocking! Part I...

What a wonderfully utilitarian little car, this Z3 Coupe - look how nicely a full set of shocks and springs fits into the back!

New Tunes!

Happy Birthday to me!  Look what Mary Ellen gave me for my birthday - a new stereo for the Z3 Coupe.  I wonder how she knew exactly which one to buy?

Seat Time, Part 3

This is the tale of a lucky find, and also of the way that knowledge seeps away with time, causing once-common knowledge to disappear.  That has always been a big issue in auto restoration, but it will be huge in years to come, when folks are trying to restore electronic systems that were cutting-edge when made, but now obsolete.

I previously posted in Seat Time, Part 1 and Seat Time, Part 2 about my driver's seat, which was stuck in the highest position, putting my head against the roof of the car.  The problem was a broken gearbox in the seat pedestal, and that is not a service item.  I was able to manually adjust the seat to a reasonable position, but all the other faults of the seat remained: torn upholstery, and very hard foam and leather.

Airing the Spare (Original Post: Jan 4, 2013)

My very first BMW was also the only one that I've ever bought brand-new for myself - the new cars are usually reserved for Mary Ellen. It was in 1997 that I got my beautiful green Z3 2.8 Roadster. When the Z3 was first released in 1996, it came only with a 1.9 liter four-cylinder engine. In 1997 the 2.8 liter inline 6 was announced, and the magazines went nuts over it. I decided that would be just the ticket!

When I was shopping for the car, after doing much research in magazines and on the rudimentary web sites of the time, I showed up at Faulkner BMW with a rolling carry-on suitcase in one hand and a substantial computer case in the other.

Salesman Rob Howry met me at the door, and I introduced myself, pointed to the Z3 and said, "Would you mind opening the trunk?"  He did, and the bags fit, and I said, "Great!  Now we can talk!"

More on that Sticky Hood Latch (Original Post: Dec 20, 2012)

About a month ago, I filed this post about my efforts with my hood latch - its mechanism was stiff and "gritty", and it took a mighty pull to open the hood.  After removing, cleaning and lubricating the two latches, and replacing the Bowden cable between them, I was rewarded with a latch mechanism that was easier and smoother to use, but still required more force that I wanted to open the hood.

So, I recruited my friend John to put some judicious pressure on the hood while I was pulling the release in the car, to see if pushing or pulling on the hood would lessen the force required to release. Turned out that pushing was the right direction, which implied that one of the catches was too tight.

Wheels Down! Up... Down. (Original Post: Dec 12, 2012)

As I alleged in my last post, I did get all the engine parts back in place, and fired it up!  Everything seemed to be fine, so I set about completing the work to put the car on the ground.  It had been on my portable lift for over two months:

Working on my ABS, Part 3 (Original Post: Dec 3, 2012)

Some wise person once declared, "If you have something important to tell me, for heaven's sake, start at the end!" So.... It works!  It works!  It works!

"Rust Free" (Original Post: Nov 19, 2012)

You just have to smile when you see a project car advertised, "Rust Free."  There's no such thing, unless the car has just finished a Pebble-Beach-quality restoration!  Even on your modern daily drivers, it's not hard to find rust on exposed fasteners, frame rails, brake disks and the like.

But, we do expect that modern galvanized cars to have bodies without rust holes, at least for the first few years.  However, it's not hard to find rust holes in a 1999 model, so one of the reasons I was drawn to my 1999 BMW Z3 Coupe, even with 196,500 miles, was its straight, accident-free body.

Working on my ABS, Part 2 (Original post: Nov 11, 2012)

This is part 2 of (at least) 3. In part 1 I discussed the various issues that have had me dragging my feet about starting to replace the ABS controller, but it was time to put on my big boy pants and really take a chance to screw things up!  I didn't screw up (yet) but it's not fixed yet either - that's how I know there will be a part 3.

One Sticky Latch, or Two (Original Post: Nov 10, 2012)

Ever since I've owned my Z3 Coupe, the hood latch has been very difficult to open.  Indeed, the prior owner, Chris, had actually pulled so hard that the handle had broken loose - it still worked, but had a queasy looseness that seemed to say, "I'm gonna break someday and make you miserable."

Working on my ABS, Part 1 (Original post: Nov 10, 2012)

No, this isn't about my abdominal exercise program, it's about my anti-lock braking system!  Since I've owned the car, the ABS warning light has been on, as well as the traction control light (which is controlled by the ABS system, applying single brakes as needed for traction control).  Amazingly, in Pennsylvania you don't have to have working ABS to get a safety inspection sticker.  You have to have working fog lights if fitted, and a working windshield washer if fitted, but your ABS brakes can be AWOL, no problem!

Diagnosing the Patient (Original Post: Oct 21, 2012)

I bought my 1999 Z3 Coupe with my eyes open - obviously, a car with 196,000+ miles could have some serious mechanical problems.  The superb condition of the body, and largely, the interior, coupled with some obvious mechanical needs, made the car really desirable to me - one that I could work on without having to become a paint and body expert.

When evaluating the car before buying, I took heart from the fact that it ran smoothly and strongly, with no obvious smoke or bad noises.  I think that the high mileage was actually a plus for that - cars stay in good shape longer when they are regularly used, and it would have taken some highway mileage to reach that big total.

Spending Money (Original Post: Oct 16, 2012)

Just spent an hour and a half on the Bavarian Autosport website, gathering up parts for this phase of the project.  This is actually the culmination of hours and hours of research, first understanding the needed parts on the BMW online parts system (www.realoem.com www.PenskeParts.com) and then comparing prices on the web.  There were some cheaper prices on eBay, but they were usually Chinese pattern parts instead of the good German stuff.  I wound up with a mix of genuine BMW and parts from German suppliers.

Diving In (Original Post: Oct 16, 2012)

Now that the garage is up and running, I actually have found some time to work on the Z3 Coupe. For such a clean little car, it has a good bit of deferred maintenance and old-age problems that I'll be tackling as time and money permit.  The first big batch will turn it (I hope) into a reliable driver that I can trust to go on a long journey if I choose.
This first batch of repairs includes:

1. Full tune-up: filters, plugs, belts
2. Change all fluids: oil, trans and rear end gear oil, antifreeze, brake fluid
3. Rebuilt cooling system - go here for what happened as I waited to get that done...
4. Replace cam cover gasket, to cure a nasty oil leak
5. Replace ABS controller with a used one, to fix ABS and traction control warning lights

An Unexpected Shower (Original Post: July 8, 2012)

I haven't been posting lately, because I haven't been working on the Z3 Coupe.  As noted in my last post almost 3 months ago, all my "hobby time" has been spent on the Grant St. Garage, which will soon be the place where I can work on the Coupe.

However, I have been gently driving it about every two weeks, just to keep it somewhat limber.  You'll recall from an earlier post that the radiator was "spritzing" water occasionally, so I never drove it more than 5 miles from home, and in general took it pretty easy.

Today was one of those afternoons when I exercised the Coupe, and I made a big mistake: I took Mary Ellen with me. Of course, the car decided to fail with her in attendance!

Inspection Failure #4: Control Arm (Original Post: Feb 3, 2012)

Well, a comment poured into the mailbag last night, reminding me that I haven't updated in a while.The big news is that the Z3 did pass state inspection and the emissions inspection in late December!  The final failure to be repaired was a failed control arm in the front suspension.

Of course, for nearly every other car in the world, I would have said a failed ball joint, and just replaced that component.  But on BMWs of the Z3's vintage, the ball joint was permanently attached to the control arm, and the only way to fix it is to replace the entire arm.

Inspection Failure #3 - Tires (Original Post: Dec 23, 2011)

I suppose this should have been failure #1, since it was obvious I'd need tires before I bought the car.  However, it has taken this long to get this failure fixed, even though I bought the tires on Sep. 26, 2011, one day after I bought the car.

Seat Time, Part 2 (Original Post: Dec 1, 2011)

I suppose any good researcher has to report his failures as well as his successes, so....  You may have read my post about the mechanism that raises and lowers the drivers seat, or more to the point, did not do so.  I was able in that first experiment to manually adjust the seat so it was almost correct.  But... I wanted it to work!

Small problem: the gearbox (which would not turn but about three-quarters of a revolution) is not a service part.  That means you have to buy the assembly that it is part of, instead.  In this case, that assembly was the entire seat base for nearly $1000!

Seat Time, part 1 (Original Post: Nov 1, 2011)

This is my second car with this body style (the first being a 2001 M Coupe), and even though it is genuinely tiny with a tight passenger compartment, I was always comfortable in the previous M Coupe.  No so in this Z3 Coupe - my head was rubbing on the roof!  It didn't take long to figure out that the driver's seat was stuck in the highest position.  Pressing the button to lower it made motor noises, but no movement.  Drat.

Inspection Failure #2 - Windshield Washers (Original Post: Nov 23, 2011)

I certainly knew that you had to have good windshield wipers to get an inspection sticker, but I didn't know that windshield washers, if fitted, must be operational.  Of course, mine were dead - motor was shot.

On a regular Z3 Roadster, you can buy a Chinese washer pump from eBay for about 10 bucks, including shipping.  But, of course, the Coupe is different - it has a wiper and washer on the back window also, so the pump is unique, with two outlets and the ability to pump front or back, depending on the polarity of the voltage applied to the two contacts.  That is a BMW-only part, and it cost 72 bucks, even with my BMWCCA discount!  Holy moley!

Inspection Failure #1 - Fog Lights (Original Post: Nov 18, 2011)

When I spent the morning at Jack's Auto and Aero, we identified the list of things that would flunk my Z3 for state inspection.  The first thing surprised me - both my fog lights failed, for different reasons.  I assumed that since fog lights are optional, they would not be a failure, but if they are there, they have to work and meet the specifications.  My passenger light failed due to a broken lens, and the driver's side flunked because some prior owner had glued on a yellow lens - in PA, it must be clear.

Jack said that if I just removed them and left them off, then it would pass.  However, I found that inelegant.  I didn't want to drive around with unfinished holes in my bumper!

Uplifting! (Original Post: Nov 10, 2011)

Modern cars need a lift, no question about it.  When I started as a car guy 40 years ago, it was easy to roll the floor jack under the car, and lift from the crossmember in the front, and the differential housing in the back.  If you try that now, even if you can find those components under the aerodynamic underbellies, you're seriously likely to break something.

On TV, all those guys have beautiful two-post lifts that will lift the car so high you need a ladder to change the oil.  But in the real world, that won't work.  No clearance in the garage, no concrete pilings underneath, no money for a good one.  So, I've been haunting the site http://ezcarlift.com/ for a while, looking at this neat lift.  I was dragging my feet due to the cost, but I finally called and talked to the lift's inventor, Boytcho Manev.  The "t" is silent, so it's pronounced "BOY-cho".

Let There Be Light! (Original Post: Oct 2011)

Like many older cars, my Z3 had such foggy headlights that the light kind of just dribbled out.  Here's the "before" shot:

A New Toy (original post: Oct 2011)

Welcome to the second iteration of Emery's Z3 Coupe blog.  The first was on Posterous.com, which closed its doors in April, 2013.  I moved selected posts over here, cleaning them up and combining several as I went.  This is a diary for my work, and, I hope, a useful tool for those with similar cars.  This first post combines two from October, 2011.

Here it is, my latest project car: a 1999 BMW Z3 Coupe!  The car doesn't look much like a project - see?