Restoring the SSEi: F40 swap, HIDs, and a HY35 turbo.

[MattStrike]

In the pursuit of stainless steel...

Anybody know where I can find stainless steel brake bleeder valves? All the speed-bleeder's I've found thus far only have stainless internals with coated valves (don't care if they are speed bleeders or not). And I'm not sure I trust brass to not break either. This will be for the rear brakes first; had the most difficulty getting them to loosen without breaking them. I already have Ni-Cu tubing for the s-bend on the rear drums, and protected the steel lines that are everywhere else. The hoses are protected by plastic wire-guide.

I'm going to look for some stainless bolts and nuts for the sway bar end links as well.

Stainless steel wire ties work great for rebuilding the C/V axles, we'll see if they last (they have a cammed slot that allows one way travel only). Has anybody seen/know how they make the C/V axle boots? It must take a special mold, for the plastic ones, I could see the rubber ones getting peeled out of a mold. I've been having issues with the one inner boot since I 'fixed' the axle I got from the junkyard, problem being that the plastic has stretched and no longer properly fits and seals on the rubber seal on the tripot housing. I had to tear the axle down to fix the outer rubber boot (tore in the accident), and have tried to seal the gap with the polyurethane adhesive. I'll know if it bonded properly on the weekend (if it didn't I have a temporary fix that involves cutting the boot). Problem is I can't find replacement boots anymore (universals are all junk, nothing fits the HD axle properly). If the PU doesn't work, I'm going to make them using the same technique that I tried with the sub-frame bushings. But the mold will be a 6-piece assembly because the inner boot is plastic. If it was softer like the outer boot it wouldn't be a problem to begin with.

Sounds like fun. I was just thinking if this weren't such a messy process I could actually post a how-to.

[MattStrike]

Got my 3" downpipe welded, and the exhaust repaired up to the muffler. I had to fix the flex pipe that was originally on the headers.

[MattStrike]

Another update to come later tonight!

But for now, I discovered that the P.O. really was an idiot. The fuel line repairs he did (that I was hoping I wouldn't have to touch) all leak pretty badly. Also, had fun chasing down a broken wire to the fuel pump. That took longer than the downpipe.

But I'll have more after I go to the movies!

[MattStrike]

First start!!!

I ended up chopping the video, so you don't have to watch 20+ minutes of me messing around.

The valve train was noisy as heck from sitting but quieted down withing a few seconds, and I still have to connect the vacuum to the evap canister, and a few other small things. But it runs!!!






After playing around with the rear struts, I got them to 'loosen up' by filling them with air, but they still sit way too high. I'll have to get to that, but fuel lines need to be fixed and my power steering return hose didn't get clamped and made a mess. Today the plan is to get the interior back together! First stop, carwash.

[myfirstbonnie]

Congrats! Nothing like the feeling of that first start.

[99BonnevilleSE]

Sounds and looks amazing!

[SSEiMan01]

Congrats! Can't wait to see this one in person!

[MattStrike]

Today was an amazing 39 degrees out!

You can see how I've got the entire interior lined with truck bedliner, then covered with underlayment and insulating foam. All new 14 gauge speaker wires run to the rear deck.











So what goes under the steering column? It seems to be missing...

[BonneMe]

92-95 SSE is my favorite body style, and you're bringing back all sorts of memories for me. Looks awesome!

Your intake idea looks familiar...

[00Beast]

Um, Jason, that's a picture of your Bimmer....

Looks Great Matt!!

I'd slather the bleeders in thick grease or something. I'd be worried about destroying SS bleeder valves with a steel wrench or having them sieze up or something....

[MattStrike]

I've got a lot of stainless hardware on the body mouldings already, was thinking it might work on the bleeders because it wont rust which seems to be the primary reason they sieze. So far I've tried grease, paint, rubber caps that cover the entire bleeder, but nothing seems reliabe long-term. Brake fluid does some nasty stuff to the bleeders. But, you're probably right about it siezing in the cast iron caliper if they are overtightened (very easy to do, even when I'm trying to not do it). I wonder if copper would be better for this application? It's soft enough.

I've found a proper method for patching nylon fuel lines, without using a restrictive fitting (Read: not using those rip-off $20 kits with the 'special' undersized barb). Nylon fuel lines are readily available in 10 foot, 25 foot, and 100 foot lengths. The issue comes in coupling a nylon line, plastic doesn't work well with rubber hose & worm clamps or brass unions which have to have a secondary insert to keep the plastic from distorting under the compression ring. Nylon unions. Good for 250PSI. (Dorman makes some, but they are not terribly popular yet and cost $10 each). We used to use these in my co-op job for prototype pnuematic vac forming tools, worked well under vacuum and high pressure actuator lines, we mostly used the soft clear tubing. They have them in brass, stainless, nylon, and a few other choices. Very easy to use, no tools required. Polybutylene Terephthalate is also gasoline resistant and much cheaper. Acetel Copolymer is even better for fuel applications. Both of those are good for 150PSI. As long as they are protected from impacting road debris they might work perfectly.

Short story is $20 is enough to replace 90% of the fuel line with this method. I'm still researching how to bend nylon lines, which may be as easy as letting them sit in boiling water for a minute then quickly bending them in a tubing bender. Trial and error may be the best way to know.

Then, for getting rotted fuel lines out of the OEM quick connects; I soaked them in white vinegar for a week. The return line came out without any resistance after that, but the pressure side had to sit in the vinegar so long that the steel line actually broke apart before it would budge. The acid in the vinegar is strong enough to eat the rust that had expanded the fittings and eat away at the steel line, and diluted enough to do it without damaging the nylon quick connects. Of course, I forgot to check the o-rings inside them and now have a leak in the pressure line as a result, but that is easily (enough) remedied. I know a lot of people that don't like the quick connects, but they are honestly only a pain if they get rusty. Grease, a $6 can of spray paint and about 5 minutes is all it takes to protect them.

I'll be trying to find an industrial supply later today to get some unions.

[BonneMe]

Um, Jason, that's a picture of your Bimmer....

It feeds the same way kiddo.

[MattStrike]

Ended up getting the doorman push-to-connect fittings on Amazon, I couldn't find anything else competitively priced (after shipping).

Is your 330 pulling air from the grille? I wonder how well that works when it's sitting at hot idle before the fans kick in.

[00Beast]

Ah, I missed something in translation. Look like it pulls air from the LF fender?

We used those connectors and 1/2" polyurethane tubing to plumb our entire shop. Would've never thought of them for this app. Got them from a company called Lubromation. Not sure if they're fuel-safe, though...

[Zeik75]

For the life of me I can't figure out how to quote a pic, but nice space heater there I got some laughs out of that.

[sandrock]

My God. It's Jinx 2.0!

[MattStrike]

It took me a while, but I finally found some photos of Jinx. Not too bad. What happened to it? Or dare I ask...

[nos4blood70]

I'm so excited Matt. I hope I get to see this thing one day.

[sandrock]

From the start it was nothing more than an experiment. Bought it with a blown motor and slipping trans. First thing done was the motor...couldn't find a good Series I L67, so I committed the ultimate 3800 taboo and put in a low mile L27 with L67 top end. Ran decent but still had the trans to deal with. Found a '95 Riviera trans to use as core and rebuilt it. So now it runs good and shifts good, but it's missing tunability...so I perform a lobotomy and add a '97 Bonneville PCM and tuned via HP Tuners.

At that point it went from running okay to "HOLY $HIT THIS THING IS FAST!" Seriously.

First start of S1 OBDII


Driving around the neighborhood


At the time Don (jrs3800) and myself was estimating we were running pretty *dang* close to what Wrens Zilla was, and the PCM wasn't even fully dialed in (I was just starting to dabble with tuning, in fact I bought the whole HPT package just for this project). But not soon after the engine had *just* started making a very slight knocking noise. So, I decided at that time to scrap it.

Many parts of her went to other forum members. Some thought it was honor, most wanted to see if the parts were just as jinxed as the car. Don got the trans and the supercharger. Booze got a few things, another local member got the brakes and suspension, Wren got the custom HVAC controler I made.

[BonneMe]

Is your 330 pulling air from the grille? I wonder how well that works when it's sitting at hot idle before the fans kick in.

Yup, that is where the airbox is fed from. Its also N/A so heatsoak isn't nearly the problem it is on an L67. Exhaust is on the other side of the engine bay, etc. I've never noticed it dogging in stop and go or the like. Intakes don't do much on a stock car either.

However now I kinda want to go drive around with the scanner and see what it does..