BoldUlysses

This popped up in my Twitter feed, sans explanation... Not my cup of tea by a longshot, but it looks like someone's labor of love. Anyone have any details?

It was a lot of fun. Miss that car. A real German hot rod, sort of a proto E39 M5. http://www.spannerhead.com/2013/05/26/the-new-daily-1995-bmw-540i-6-speed/ http://www.spannerhead.com/2013/07/07/doctor-540i-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-v8/ /threadjack

Why not just use the actual made-for-the-job HF dollies? They're actually cheaper than the general-purpose ones. Do they not raise the car high enough? https://www.harborfreight.com/2-piece-1500-lb-capacity-vehicle-dollies-67338.html

Is the air dam urethane or fiberglass? My old BMW 635's urethane air dam was warped at the bottom, and I had a couple of guys from the shop at work take a length of 1" aluminum angle, notch a V in it, bend it, and rivet it to the inside lip of the air dam to straighten it out. Before: After: I hear you about the Koni instructions. Those are TERRIBLE. I put a set of Koni Yellows in my old 6-speed 540, and I think I remember having to work around those awful instructions as well...

That ride height looks amazing, and perfect. As does the rest of the car! Is that the MSA Type 1 ducted air dam, or another? Re:the top nut for the struts, in the past I've just blasted them on with an impact wrench, but I'll have to be more careful with the Konis as I believe it voids the warranty if you do that with them...

Here's the page from the calendar: Something about the angle of the photo makes it looks extra "hatchback-y" and cool. Well put!

...I have the Z Car Source 2022 calendar on my wall, and the more I stare at Tyler Sprigg's orange 280Z 2+2 (the featured car for the month of May), the more I dig the look. He did a great job with it. The photo above isn't the one from the calendar; the calendar one is a rear 3/4 shot that really emphasizes the "hatchback-iness" of the roofline profile change. It looks really cool from either angle, but especially the back.

^Totally understood. Thank you Steve, for all your tireless advice and efforts. Chased a couple of rabbit trails over the weekend: Discovered I had installed the left side of the dash incorrectly (the dash frame was under the bracket instead of resting on it, and this was pinching the 3 wires to the horn relay). Given that my horn doesn't work either, I thought maybe there was some overlap b/t the horn and parking light circuits and maaaaybe the horn circuit grounded out on the dash bracket, but... No change even after I got everything straightened out. I tried the OEM (tube-type fuses) fusebox to see if something was amiss in the newer MSA blade fuse box. No change. At this point, the plan is to move on to some other needs to try to rebuild some momentum/positive vibes before I try to tackle this thread's issue again. Discouraging.

Sorry. OK. From the top of the combo switch, 0.7 ohms from green/blue to ground, 0.7 ohms from green/white to left side of parking light fuse. What makes it even MORE confusing is the fact that the wires change color as they pass through the 6-pin connector under the steering column: Right side is up to the combo switch, left side is into the dash. Notice how the green/blue on the right changes to green/white on the dash harness, and the green/white from the combo switch goes the other way. That's probably why the last round of measurements seemed backward. I swear I haven't rearranged the pins, and the car never had any electrical gremlins before the restoration process started. In any case, I'm totally stumped now. Anybody want to drive up and help me sort this out? I'll pay for gas and a 6-pack of your choice...

OK; I did this. 0.7 ohms from green/white to ground, 0 ohms from green/blue to ground. Harness side of the connector. Car off, key removed, 20A fuse pulled. Thanks for that. Your Google-fu is stronger than mine. That helps confirm a couple of connections.

I'm confused (clearly). Isn't that what the switch does anyway? Connect the red/white and green wires to provide power to the parking lights when the switch is in the correct position? And if there's a short in the switch, couldn't it be allowing too much current into that circuit? No, it looks like the image above: The middle wire is green/blue and the top wire is green/white. Will disconnect the 6 pin tonight and report back.

^Thanks! That does help confirm a few things, like the fact that the blue/white wire from the combo switch connects to the black wire on the dash harness (always unsure when wires change colors like that). The short black wire from the turn signal switch to the combo switch is connected. I haven't had much time in the past few evenings to continue troubleshooting, but last night, I jumped the red/white and green wires on the combo switch, and the parking lights & dash lights came on, albeit dimly, without popping the 20A fuse. This indicates two possibilities to me. Either: The short is in the combo switch, or My jumper wire is too small to carry the full 20A and protects the fuse. Either way, this weekend I'm going to pull the two switches off the column and go through them with a fine-toothed comb.

Looks like you have a helper! Undercarriage bits look FANTASTIC. Dumb question: Do you need the camber adjustment kits when using lowering springs like the Eibachs? Absolutely! It's taken me 10x longer to reassemble everything than it did to take it all apart!

Don't feed the troll! Loving the build. Encouraged by the ease with which you removed the spindle pins, since I'm going to have to do that eventually. I'm also considering the Eibach + Koni combo; would be eager to hear your impressions.

Colortune (finally) came in the mail yesterday. So excited to try this thing; it's been on backorder for ages. It occurred to me that given the above timing chain stretch adjustment, I probably need to do a fresh valve clearance check before I try to get the mixture really dialed in. Time to break out the feeler gauges!

Hi Steve. OK, so: I have the multimeter's dial set to 200 ohms. The only wire of the 4 on top of the combo switch with any resistance at all is the green/white one, and it stabilizes at 0.5 ohm. There is no resistance between the green/white wire and ground. There is a resistance of about 0.7 ohms between green/blue and ground. Unplugged connectors, results: Resistance between green/white and ground: 0. Resistance b/t green/white and left terminal of fuse: 0.7 ohms. Plugged larger 6-pin back in: Resistance b/t green/white and ground: 0 Resistance b/t green/white and left terminal of fuse: 0.7 ohms. In other words, it doesn't seem to make a difference, resistance-wise, whether or not the two 6-pin connectors are plugged in, which I assume means the short is in the dash harness. Which probably means, as expected, that I have something hooked up incorrectly. Anybody with a '72 feel like pulling off the column covers and snapping a pic or three of all the wires and connectors? Thanks again.

OK, progress. I doubled checked the blue/green wire, no voltage. I jumped the blue/green and white/red wires, and the parking lights came on (dimly). Conclusion: Flaky combo switch. I removed the turn signal and combo switches: and discovered a broken solder joint on the back of the turn signal switch: (the white/red wire) Resoldered: Next, I used this guide to clean the terminals inside the combo switch: Got everything reinstalled, and... We have headlights! We have 2 brake lights! No parking/interior lights. The 20A fuse popped when I turned the combo switch to that setting. I wonder if my wiring is crossed up somewhere, or if maybe I reassembled the combo switch wrong? There's only one way it could go back together though... No right rear turn signal. Left side turn signals work fine. Encouraged by the progress, especially the 2 brake lights. More tomorrow. Thanks again, Steve.

OK testing results: 20A fuse is OK. 12.25V to ground from the right terminal of the fuse. Headlight switch: 12.25V to ground on white/red. No voltage from green/blue to ground. I checked continuity on the green/blue between the headlight switch and the 6-pin connector under the steering column, it was OK. From there, it looks like the wire changes to green/white and I don't know where it goes. I checked the fuse block to see if I could find a corresponding green/white to check, but there was none. However, after unplugging and reseating the right 6-pin fuse block connector, BOTH left turn signals work. Still only the front when right is selected. What is going on?

Some more progress, some with pics and some without: Seat belts bolted in. I have some M3 x 0.6 screws on order for the mechanism covers for the seats. Carpet-style dash cover added. The guy who was going to sell his crack-free dash backed out, so I'm going to have to go to Plan B (or C or D). New handbrake boot installed. Found the shift pattern emblem for the top of the shift knob, reattached. Realized I connected the wiper motor arm 180 degrees off (it's nice when the wipers go DOWN when activated), fixed. Driver's door adjusted. It took a really hard slam to shut before; it's better now, though still not as good as the passenger door, which is 100% PERFECT. Need a bit more love. Inner and outer door sills on (thread here) I did my best to clean the outers, but they still have some "patina." I'm OK with it for now. Still working through some electrical issues, as detailed in this thread. Drove it around the neighborhood last night, and it's like a different car compared to when I first got it back on the road in mid-2020: Then, it could barely make it up the (shallow) hill in front of the house, and it was misfiring all over the place, no brakes, etc etc. Now, it brakes and turns very well, and has only some slight misfiring when warmed up, all of which I'm hoping to dial out when the Colortune arrives and I get it timed perfectly. And once I get all the lighting operational, it will be fully road-worthy. So excited. Finally persuaded my wife to take a pic of me with the car. Here's your intrepid scribe next to the car that will have been in the family for a full 50 years come October:

Thanks Steve. I'll check all that stuff when I get home from work this evening. As they say, watch this space.

Thanks Steve. Got it hooked up (the stud is on the inside of the new-style blade fuse box): Unfortunately that didn't make a difference. Still no parking lights or headlights. Can you tell me what these two red and black pigtails go to? Besides the two red w/blue stripes wires coming off the ignition switch itself, they're the only two left to be plugged in. I can't find their mates. Thanks again. Yes, I have a multimeter and can check for voltage/continuity.

OK some progress: - The hazards now work (all 4 lights). - I found the "barrel thingy:" It's the turn signal relay (duh). Tucked up inside the dash, I connected both the green and white wires, and... - The turn signals work, BUT only the fronts. No rear turns at all. So I'm still missing: - Headlights/parking lights - Right brake light - Rear turn signals

Thanks Steve. Appreciate your input. I reseated all the connections, with some dielectric grease for good measure. The short black wire between the turn signal switch and the headlight switch is connected. Do these wires connect to each other? I assume they're for the "key in ignition + door open" warning buzzer? I managed to get ONE brake light to work, the left one, by connecting this white wire next to the fuse block: I tried reseating the right side brake light connectors, no change. Can anyone tell me where this thick white-red bolts to? I tried reading your wiring diagrams (along with the ones online and in the Haynes manual), but it's always been VERY challenging for me to translate those into what I'm seeing under the dash. Thanks for any and all input.

This is frustrating because I got the car's "primary" wiring right the first time. Starter, ignition, etc---plugged it all in and it cranked right away. Now I'm trying to sort out the remaining connectors in the steering column area. I have no turn signals, hazard lights, brake lights, headlights or dashboard lights. The wiper switch activates the wipers. Can anyone see where I might have gotten crossed up? These two are white and green and are labeled "barrel thingy on steering column" but I can't find where they connect to, and I can't find a "barrel thingy" in my remaining parts stash: Any and all help appreciated. Thanks guys. You're the best.

^Thanks! It's amazing how much longer assembly takes than disassembly... But it's beyond satisfying to see everything come back into focus. Re:painting the screw heads, I'm concerned the next time I have to remove them, the screwdriver will scratch off the paint in the recess. I have some POR-15 sitting around that would be harder-wearing, but it's so thick it would probably fill in the screw heads. I'll see what I can find. It's not super high on my priority list, but more like a nice-to-have. Maybe I'll test the POR-15 on a spare screw and see what happens.