More Small Things

A few more small things done to the car since last update.

Since Last Time...

The Beast has gotten a good wash and a painted air box.  It looks much nicer in the engine bay and on the outside.  I still have a couple areas I want to touch up on the box but it is lookin' great now that all the chipping and peeling has been smoothed and painted.  The semi-gloss was a good choice; it looks exactly like it did before but cleaner.  I also went out to Lowe's and picked up some black nuts, bolts and rubber washers for reassembly.  Would have been a shame to put it back together with rusty, crusty old hardware after the nice paint job.  I think I will also do the AFM black if I can get it cleaned up well and I've also been debating about doing the intake manifold in the same black.

With the winter rolling around I want to get the rust fixed up and possibly get some polish and paint sealant on...but we will see how things go.

I have some pictures taken but have not uploaded them as yet.  I will make a post in the next few days when I get those ready.

Back On The Road

As you can guess, The Beast is up and running once again!

Warranty Stuff

So I called up BavAuto this morning and they didn't give me any hassle about returning and exchanging the plug wires.  I simply said I was having problems with them and asked what I needed to do to get them replaced.  The guy on the phone said he could charge me for a new set, send them out and when I sent back my set they would refund the charge or I could send them the old ones and they would send me new ones when they received them.  I opted for the latter and boxed up the wires to be sent out tomorrow morning.  I expect it will take until early or middle of next week to get the new ones in hand and back on the car.

While I am waiting on that I will search again for the vac nipple, replace the other lines and work on some of the appearance items.  I will probably hit the drivers mirror with PlastiDip since it is sitting anyway and probably the grille and hood vents as well.  I'll also pull the cracked, crusty and peeling badge from the trunk and see about polishing the oxidization off the bumpers.  If I get the time I will try sanding down the lower rocker panels, hit them Rust Reformer and then go over the area with a rubber undercoat.  That should keep me busy enough until the wires are back.

The Good, The Bad And The Hmm...

Kind of a "meh" day with the 5er today.

More Christmas

Got my box from Rock Auto as well this weekend.  I have not yet put in the plugs but this weekend was pretty busy.  However, I did manage to get a little tuning done with the throttle body.

It's Like Christmas!

My BavAuto order came in today!  We spent the day shopping for a get together at the house this weekend so it was a nice surprise to see the boxes on the doorstep.

Puttering Around

Did some tinkering with the 5er over this weekend.

Seat Update

Treatment of the seat went well I think.  I did one more application the following day, let it sit another day and buffed it out.  It has since lightened up a bit but it is considerably better looking than before.  The leather is much softer and while the cracks are still there they seem less visible now that they have darkened some.  I will do the rest of the seats after I take some comparison snaps.

Trim Solution?

Found this while browsing through Audizine this evening. I am going to order some up for my A6 but I thought it might also go well on the trim around the windshield and rear window. Doubt I will do much else on the car with it, at least for now. Though maybe I can recommend it to my dad and uncle for their black e38s. ^_^

BMW Shadowline Black Window Trim & Roof Vinyls

Working On The Seats

I had some time after the kids went to bed this evening to do a quick project on the Beast.

What The Future May Hold

Just wanted to touch real quick on what I will be attempting with this car and my expectations.

A Good Couple Days

After sitting around in the garage for probably close to a year unused and untouched, the Blue Beast has seen quite a lot of action the past few days!

Getting started

Just finished some basic setup for the blog here and I am a bit excited to see how this goes.  I've kept an online journal of sorts before but used it rather infrequently.  Hopefully I will have enough to post here that there will be some good content on the restoration of this car to working order.  I hope to include pictures and such in a "before/after" sort of timeline as I fix things and keep a listing of how-to guides, resources used and other such things for those who might be interested.

I have a few things to rattle on about from the last few days which I will get to soon.  Please stay tuned!