Project Chronicle

Nothing crazy to note here. Putting the car away for the winter in a week or so here - Whenever we get our first snow fall is usually the appropriate time. I also took an oil sample to send off to Black Stone Labs. Its a pretty cheap service, and I think it would be really cool to see what they say about my 272,000 mile engine. This was a great time to do it, because this oil was in the car all summer, and definitely saw some hard drives. Replaced the OEM Mann filter and added 4.5Qts of Valvoline 10W-40 Full Synthetic.

Really not that important, but I realized I did something backwards with my seasonal oil changes. Next time, I will keep the 10W-40 for my Spring time oil change, and then use the 5W-40 for my fall/winter oil change...Just helps a little with cold start oil flow. Cheers!

272,606 Miles at time of change 

This mod ended up being a little pricier than I anticipiated, but man was it worth it - The stock shifter in the E30 was coming up on 300,000 miles and 40 years old - Though I love the OEM setup, the way I drive this car calls for a slightly shorter and more precise shift. 

I got the UUC Short Throw Shift Kit with the optional Dual Sheer Selector Rod - This part has two rods on the physical gear selector, as the factory selector has one singular rod. The benefit of a DSSR is the distribution of tension on the selector, and always reduces play in the assembly, giving you a much more solid, and predictable feel.

I went with a Condor Speed Shop Tall Weighted Shift Knob. This one actually has a (removable) 110Gram counterweight in the shifter - giving you the option to take it out for a lighter shift feel. Feels much better with it in. 

Overall this mod changed the way the car feels when driving backroads, as I am able to switch between 2nd and 3rd gear much, much faster, and much more confidently. The old bushings had so much slop and play, I would actually find myself occasionally grinding gears during spirited drives, as the shifter often slipped or fell out of/into gear. 

When you see a car finally wearing a consistent shade of paint after years of being naked or otherwise clad in shoddy paintwork, it's a big moment. It's as close to being reborn as a car can be. For the 190E 2.3-16 Cosworth project, this represents a major milestone that hits just shy of its fifth birthday in my possession. 

Smoke Silver has never been a particularly sexy color, but it is a staple of 1980s-era Mercedes-Benz products. The Cosworth came in either this champagne-tinged silver or black, and while the latter is harder to find, I have fond memories of my Dad's 300E that wore the same color. Right now, the car is supposedly looking good but I'm no longer in RI so I can't even view it. But the guy painting is said he'd just like to buff it out a little before turning it over. 

Then we begin interior re-assembly, which is far cheaper to have my body guy do than to have the actual mechanic's shop take on. So, we're still a few days away from it leaving the body shop for good, but it's safe to say the hard work is finally done. 

A few days ago, the SRS light popped on the E55. When I purchased the car, this light was illuminated for unknown reasons, but it was cleared and off for the better part of four months after it spent a week at my shop in Rhode Island. 

Now, I'm a week away from getting it inspected here in Maryland and the SRS light pops on (because of course it does.) After reading numerous old forum posts, the consensus seems to be that the Foxwell NT530 scanner and code reader - a Chinese made device with virtually no customer support - is the way to go, especially since they sell it with Mercedes-specific coding and a 38 pin connector for attaching to the car via the fuse box. 

I got it from Amazon for about $200 and gave it a whirl today. Historically, getting rid of an SRS fault code has been quite tricky, with most owners telling folks in this predicament to suck it up and go to the dealer; thankfully, my code was wiped clean with ease, so kudos to this Chinese-made scanner for building a product that actually works and saved me a trip to the shop.

We pushed through an incredible amount of work before moving to Maryland, with the Audi S6, BMW 325is, and Mercedes-Benz E55 all getting long-simmering projects wrapped up before leaving town. 

The E55 was a pretty solid car overall, but a few lingering issues remained: the A/C showed signs of previous dye testing and my shop assessed that the evaporator and compressor were in need of replacement. Well, we charged the system back in May and guess what? It lost barely any refrigerant, meaning the system was far tighter than expected. 

We did flag a few other issues, including a weak auxiliary cooling fan (replaced); a busted HVAC resistor (caused the system to run full-blast at all times); and a fan clutch near death based on how slowly it was rotating. With those components replaced, we now have a fairly buttoned-up HVAC system, and hopefully have bought some time before the evaporator and compressor someday do reveal themselves to be problematic. 

I also elected to have the shocks replaced, as the car still had the OEM Bilsteins and it had previously been lowered on H&R springs, which I believed contributed to a very harsh ride. Koni Sports were swapped in and definitely increased the composure of the ride.

With all that done, the very daily-friendly E55 is already more so than before.

The bulk of my recent move to Maryland is complete, meaning the parts from the garage are in a storage unit down here and the three cars (+1 for the Eurovan) that were ready to leave are safely on the ground. 

This was a big lift and doesn't even get into the usual stresses and hurdles of moving out of state. The S6, E30, and E55 got loaded up on a trailer with a new hauler who was extremely competent and affordable, a rare combination these days. 

I'm always amazed by how you can tell whether you're working with an experienced transporter. The way they latch the cars down, the condition of the truck and trailer, and their general confidence when faced with challenges. We couldn't get all three cars on until we arranged them in the order you see here, to the point that the Audi had to kiss the bumper of the E30 to fit. But the E30 has a thick, rubber insert running the length of the bumper, so you can get away with this in order to get the cars on. Not so with any other combination. 

Overall, it's a relief to have this much done. The 911 will come down in the coming weeks, with the Trooper RS and LX450 unknown in terms of an arrival date. And the Cosworth, of course, is anyone's guess.

While I hadn't intended to put any more money into the Trooper RS before relocating - especially with the news that the headgasket had started leaking - logistics demanded that I do something with the truck before moving it over to my mechanic Jay's house as a fall/winter project. 

The bodyshop I use has been performing some smaller projects so I can focus on simply maintaining the vehicles going forward rather than also dealing with cosmetic repairs. When the bulk of the rust was repaired on the Trooper, it was a grueling, messy project. The shop hit a breaking point where they just wanted the truck out of the way, so we left one section of rocker un-repaired on the passenger side.

With a gap in their schedule and the Audi S6 Avant not quite ready to come over to the bodyshop to replace the windhshield and fix some very small rust on the A-pillar, the Trooper slid in to get the remaining rocker rust taken out and repaired. As of now, the RS is effectively rust-free - which will make parking it outside at Jay's place for the colder months a little less unnerving. 

One of the lingering details about the E30 - the 1987 BMW 325is - that has always bothered me is the lack of an OEM windshield. Or, for that matter, even a windshield from a respected aftermarket manufacturer. About five years ago, when the bulk of the bodywork was done, I had a new windshield put in before I knew how bad the domestic glass market had gotten.

What I'm speaking of is the prevalence of Chinese-made glass from a company called Fuyao. In the blink of an eye, Fuyao has essentially taken over almost every domestic glass manufacturer's operations, leaving virtually no other options when you call the local installer to replace your busted glass. I've made a point of visiting junkyards and grabbing OEM used glass whenever I see it, and had a very nice piece of BMW-stamped Carlite windshield in storage after spotting it at a New Hampshire wrecking yard. 

I finally found a guy willing to install it, despite his protestations that it made no sense to remove a good piece of glass with virtually no imperfections - aside from being made by a Chinese company. The replacement OEM glass also has the very elusive bronze tint strip at the top, which is virtually unheard of with almost every windshield having a teal visor. The final bonus? It still has the factory sticker with break-in instructions. 

Overall, this is yet another one of those projects that got expedited with our upcoming move, and while it wasn't anything I wanted to get done on any sort of timeline, I really dig seeing OEM glass at every corner and the bronze tint is surprisingly distinctive - and handsome. 

Today, we closed on a new house in Maryland. We're moving from Rhode Island to the land of crab cakes and lacrosse next month, and we're pumped. But I'm also ramming through a ton of project work and draining the bank account to avoid having to find new shops to work on time-consuming projects I've let slide. Here's where everything stands:

2003 Volkswagen Eurovan: just replaced tired Bilsteins with new Konis. Needs front headliner replaced and some small rust spots sanded down and painted. Will make the move in August as a pack mule. 

2002 Mercedes-Benz E55: will make the move to Maryland after a (massive) evaporator replacement for the A/C to not lose refrigerant over a few weeks. Due to the LX450 project being way behind schedule, the E55 is the newest car I own, and needs to be comfortable to use on occasion for longer slogs than down to the grocery store. Otherwise, it's just needed sway bar bushings and has been a wonderful car. 

1995 Audi S6 Avant: will also board the transporter to MD after being a new blower motor and (also) repairing the A/C back into reliable use. Will also do a preventative transmission and differential flush. This car will also require a short stint at the bodyshop to repair small rust spots on both A-pillars. 

1999 Porsche 911: The 911 will remain in RI for the month of August to replace the right-bank timing chain tensioner (or possibly just the pads). This is probably a nothing-burger issue - some chain noise at cold startup - but I want to nip it in the bud with a shop that I know and trust.

1997 Lexus LX450: engine rebuild mid-way done. Not sure of timeline. Still needs visit to bodyshop, A/V improvements, etc. - this one did not go as planned. It will also stay in RI and hopefully is en route to bodyshop around Labor Day. 

1987 BMW 325is: Functionally ready to go but trying like hell to find a suitable A/C compressor to replace the leaking one. Will make the trip to MD in early August regardless. 

1989 Isuzu Trooper RS: this rig was staying behind for some minor projects but now has a headgasket leak so will be in RI indefinitely. This truck does not spend much time with me, it seems. Hoping it's in MD by December. 

1986 Mecedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16: almost ready for paint. Will go to mechanic for punch list work after Labor Day. Not getting painted before then - but sitting in primer and ready to go. I didn't expect this one to go to plan - it never has - so right now hoping for it to come home by December. 

So, there you have it. This is a massive undertaking to get these vehicles buttoned up and ready for transport. Not easy but it's better than starting over with new shops and a host of nuisance projects to fix.