Just In Time For Summer - 1971 Bmw 1600

[ibewebbman]

 

Hi Alex, 

 

I'm glad you're learning a lot from my posts, but i'm learning as I go. I'm not the greatest teacher, and I often make mistakes. But with the help of the more experienced FAQers, I think I'll survive. 

 

 

IE's radiator have worked for many people here. They seem happy and it's keeping their cars cool. I respect that. My motor is hopped up with a big cam, big pistons, high compression ratio, skimmed head, nice and built for a street hot rod. The engine needs more cooling in it's current state. I also removed the mechanical fan and added an electric fan in front of the IE rad. I'm pretty sure I set the fan blades incorrectly so even though it's "pushing" air through the radiator, it's not doing so in it's optimal configuration. 

 

In my current set up, my car will heat up in stop and go traffic. It will creep past 3/4 and if traffic is really bad, it will dance with the red line on the temp gauge. 

 

Now I can't attribute my cooling issue directly with the IE radiator. There are a number of variables. Things like the radiator, fan, thermostat, water pump, heater valve. These are all potential areas of issue. As of now, I have a new mechanical fan, new three-core radiator, good working thermostat, new thermostat, valve rebuild kit (though for a late valve and I just realized I have an early valve), and I'll check the water pump. I'll likely replace anything and everything and see what happens. 

 

I also like the idea of a stock-looking radiator, and engine bay in general. This is also a motivator for me. No ill sentiment towards the IE radiator, but it will come out.

 

I hope this helps you. 

 

Thanks Ryan,

 

Ill try to give back a little here. My engine is set up similar to yours. 9.5 comp / 292 etc. I had the cooing system completely stock and never had a single issue even in 100 degree heat. So why would I consider the change? - my thinking was mostly to go to the electric fan and a case of "while your in there" on the radiator as I dont know what the true condition is of the old one...it could be original

 

Given that your car runs OK temp wise in normal traffic - I wonder if it is the fan direction? not getting enough air movement when your not moving?

 

Suspension looks great! Coilovers on my list as well...

 

Alex

[danco_]

Thanks Ryan,

 

Ill try to give back a little here. My engine is set up similar to yours. 9.5 comp / 292 etc. I had the cooing system completely stock and never had a single issue even in 100 degree heat. So why would I consider the change? - my thinking was mostly to go to the electric fan and a case of "while your in there" on the radiator as I dont know what the true condition is of the old one...it could be original

 

Given that your car runs OK temp wise in normal traffic - I wonder if it is the fan direction? not getting enough air movement when your not moving?

 

Suspension looks great! Coilovers on my list as well...

 

Alex

 

This is my suspicion as well: that the fan isn't pushing enough air during idle or stop-go traffic. While driving, the temp stays below half way, exactly where I like it.

 

I have to remove the radiator to access the fan, so I might as well install the three-core unit 'while I'm in there'. 

 

Again, it's not a huge deal, but I like the peace-of-mind knowing that there is a mechanical fan doing exactly what it should be doing, the way BMW engineered it to do. That's my thought process.

 

Or I can probably get away with flipping the fan blades, and throwing in the three-core unit without the mechanical fan and seeing what I come up with. I might try that too.

 

Ryan

Edited February 20, 2015 by danco_

[4wheelforay]

Hey Ryan, Been following your thread for awhile now... Great progress and I am learning a lot from your project

 

Second that, really great work!

 

-Robert

[danco_]

Yesterday was experiment time.

 

I wetsanded everything above the belt line trim. 1000, 1200, 1500. Then I got to work with Meguiar's M105 for cutting, M205 for polishing, and I'll be finishing with Mazerna Power Lock *synthetic sealant).

 

Before the cutting, but after the wetsanding:

 

 

 

After cutting but before polishing:

 

 

 

And after polishing the hood (not me in the photo): 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So from this: 

 

to this:

 

 

 

 

 

I'll probably do the lower half tomorrow. Depending on the weather, I may be able to seal the paint with the synthetic polish as well. I'm pretty shocked at how well the paint "pops" now. Still crappy paint, but now it's shiny and sort of reflects light.

[jgerock]

Looks like you repainted the upper portion!

[M3M3]

This is my suspicion as well: that the fan isn't pushing enough air during idle or stop-go traffic. While driving, the temp stays below half way, exactly where I like it.

 

I have to remove the radiator to access the fan, so I might as well install the three-core unit 'while I'm in there'. 

 

Again, it's not a huge deal, but I like the peace-of-mind knowing that there is a mechanical fan doing exactly what it should be doing, the way BMW engineered it to do. That's my thought process.

 

Or I can probably get away with flipping the fan blades, and throwing in the three-core unit without the mechanical fan and seeing what I come up with. I might try that too.

 

Ryan

having the blades oriented correctly and the fan being the right capacity is critical......way back in post #23 of this thread the blades were installed backwards.....

 

you do not need the mechanical, or, if you put the mechanical back in, toss the electric fan.

Edited February 22, 2015 by mlytle

[danco_]

Looks like you repainted the upper portion!

 

The paint came out way better than I expected. I think I'm going to remove the bumpers today, get the lower half done, and then seal the entire car. I will attempt all of this in my driveway, as I don't want to drive to the shop.... But I should, but I'm half-lazy. 

 

I'll try my chances. 

 

 

having the blades oriented correctly and the fan being the right capacity is critical......way back in post #23 of this thread the blades were installed backwards.....

 

you do not need the mechanical, or, if you put the mechanical back in, toss the electric fan.

Ok, I'll reverse the fan blades and leave the mechanical fan for another project car. 

 

I'm hoping for the best. But i also have a suspicion that your advice is good. I alluded it to it in my previous post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, bonus photos of me pretending to know what I'm doing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a shot of the bullet hole:

 

Edited February 22, 2015 by danco_

[danco_]

The car is plenty dusty and I sanded a lot more today. Then I thought long and hard why I still have the beltline trim on there so I removed a few pieces. I'll probably redo parts of what was already done. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And with all the other parts that I took off, I opened a box of seals and gaskets that I bought from Blunt two years ago. 

Lo and behold, I found a brand new set of tail light gaskets. I knew this car came with another set of tail lights so I found them and laid everything out.

 

 

 

 

 

Of the four tail lights, I wanted to make one decent set. Now I know that I still need to replace the inner reflector piece that has a hole burned in it, but for the sake of the photo, here is completed set:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also need to take care of the rear suspension drop. I really liked where the wheels were before I threw the stage 2 springs in. I'll probably have to remove the 3-dot spring pads and line the top coil of the springs with a rubber hose, Blunt's M2 style. I may remove both pads and just run springs. 

 

But I also have the 1-Dot spring pads that came on this 1600. I want this rear end as low as before. I'll meditate on this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More photos coming. Always coming to a 1600 blog near you. Actually just this one. I'm hungry and I already had a burrito today. I think I'm going to starve.

[BeMyWay]

 

Yes  Thanks to Ray I am now supplying Ice cream with every order again

 

BLUNT...I rececive my order recently...but didnt get my ice cream...hmmm.  Is this just for the West Coast Fellas?

 

Sorry Ryan for the mini (ice cream) hijack.

[M3M3]

More photos coming. Always coming to a 1600 blog near you. Actually just this one.

 

and the one on r3vlimited.....   

[danco_]

BLUNT...I rececive my order recently...but didnt get my ice cream...hmmm.  Is this just for the West Coast Fellas?

 

Sorry Ryan for the mini (ice cream) hijack.

Not a problem at all. I like ice cream. Feel free to talk about ice cream whenever you'd like. 

 

and the one on r3vlimited.....   

Ok ok, I'll update this blog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Originally posted yesterday: 

 

So I removed the door handles and the lock and all that other stuff, with intention to get a deeper cut and polish. I already did those parts last week, but it just wasn't "good enough".

 

And with the door cards out, I was able to inspect them. The vinyl is clean for the most part, but the wood backing needs replacing. Fortunately I rebuilt a set of door cards about a year or three ago, so I think I'll just slap those in.

 

Weird: The door cards that I refurbed had cut outs for cigarette trash receptacles, so I left them in, as I had no choice. I picked up the door cards from a euro car, so I don't know if that was a euro thing, or a modification that the PO did. Either way, I'm running them. 

 

Refurbed set on the left, set that just came out of the car on the right:

 

 

 

 

 

And then I cut the passenger side of the car:

 

 

 

 

And then I also cut most of the rear panel, right before I sliced the pad in half trying to polish around the round tail light holes. I need to buy another pad now. But the sun came out so I had to cease all paint operations. Paint work in sunlight is no good. I hope to finish everything by tomorrow. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also went to court this morning for a ticket I got on my way home from McDonald's a few months ago, except I failed to appear at the time specified on the ticket. 

 

Most expensive Big Mac ever. I think that was God's way of telling me to not eat McDonald's. I'm listening. After court, I picked up the second three-core radiator. It's nice having two three-core rads. You never really know, you know?

 

 

 

 

 

 

And for today's post:

 

Another long day working on the car.

 

I managed to repolish the body, then lay down a single layer of synthetic sealant. Then started piecing the car back together. 

 

I got the driver's side door lock to work with the key again, so that was an unanticipated victory. No more going through the passenger side door just to lock the driver's door from the inside, just so I can lock the car. No I can do it the way BMW intended. I ended up using all new seals and gaskets and stuff, which was also a nice surprise. I bought a bunch of stuff from Blunt years ago, and I'm finally using them. 

 

Anywho, here is where I left off today: 

 

 

I'm still in shock. I don't believe it. I refuse to believe it. 

 

 

 

And I also removed both top and bottom spring pads, and slipped plastic tubing on the first top and bottom coil of each rear spring, like such:

 

 

 

I didnt release the e-brake or move the car, so I'm hoping it settles another half inch or so. Either way, the end product was worth all this work.

 

I put something like 40 hours into the paint to get it to this stage. And quite frankly, I'm beat. I don't even want to type this. I don't want to think. I would like to go comatose for a day or two. 

 

 

 

But the car looks good so I have that going for me, which is nice.

[ray_]

Looks a bit better.

[jgerock]

Bravo young man!  Looks like a totally different car.

 

ps: Your rear bump stop rubbers may be contacting the trailing arm with the lowering springs.  Note the little round marks on the spring mounting cups.  Next time around you might want to remove the stock bump stops.

[jgerock]

Just ran across a mid 70's Roundel that mentioned adding a Bavaria or 3.0CS ashtray to the door panels for owners of 2002's with Behr A/C who are tired of having the ashes blow onto them from the A/C vents.  Picture in the Roundel same as yours.

 

Keep it.  I use my center (Behr) ashtray as a coin holder.

 

 

Weird: The door cards that I refurbed had cut outs for cigarette trash receptacles, so I left them in, as I had no choice. I picked up the door cards from a euro car, so I don't know if that was a euro thing, or a modification that the PO did. Either way, I'm running them. 

 

Refurbed set on the left, set that just came out of the car on the right:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[danco_]

Bravo young man!  Looks like a totally different car.

 

ps: Your rear bump stop rubbers may be contacting the trailing arm with the lowering springs.  Note the little round marks on the spring mounting cups.  Next time around you might want to remove the stock bump stops.

 

 

Noted. I'm probably going to cut half a coil to get the stance desired, but I'll drive around for a week or two as the rear is now, to see if any more "settling" will take place. 

 

If I end up cutting the springs, I will remove the rubber bump stops. Thanks for the tip! 

 

Just ran across a mid 70's Roundel that mentioned adding a Bavaria or 3.0CS ashtray to the door panels for owners of 2002's with Behr A/C who are tired of having the ashes blow onto them from the A/C vents.  Picture in the Roundel same as yours.

 

Keep it.  I use my center (Behr) ashtray as a coin holder.

 

Hmm, very interesting. Good to know. 

 

I ended up throwing the old door cards back in because I couldn't find a few parts that I needed to make the swap work. I'll end up replacing them in the next month, as I'm going to install an Esty carpet kit that I bought a few years ago. Salt n' Pepper. Should look good with the new seats. 

Also, 

 

from this morning: