Richie G

Heres a direct link https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011A8ZPL4?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

If your only problem with the original glass was scratches you should try this first: I had awful roller scratches all the way up and down the window and used that amazon product and it came out like new glass. Pictures don't do it justice.

Sorry for the bad pic Yarb, yes 15013. I actually bought them all on amazon june of 21 so the product lasts quite a while in the can. The soap got a little separated but since it was just soap it was fine. the black sprayed a little thick for about 10 secs until the nozzle cleared but other than that it was amazing.

I finally got around to doing the plastic trim and tried this rad paint alongside the traditional SEM way. The SEM way was much simpler than I had imagined and the results were fantastic, practically factory fresh. I followed this demo from the product https://semproducts.com/product/color-coattm-mixing-system/system#product-videos I just did one of the rear panels and it literally took me 20 mins from start to finish and that includes total drying time and ready to install. Sounds crazy, but really it was that easy. If anyone still needs to do this here are the products I used I started from left to right, hosed it and washed it with the soap and pad. Dried it then wiped it down with the plastic prep and it quickly evaporated on its own. Then a quick thin coat of the promoter and quickly followed with several light coats of the landau black. Below is a picture of it fully dry, this is not still wet it literally dried in like 60 secs basically bonding to the plastic.

Well, everything is back and Ive attempted to balance the carbs. I think i did it right from all the reading Ive done. i madse sure to balance the airflow in each carb, then tested the mixture by slightly lifting the piston in each. Idle was pretty much un changed after I got them where It felty ok. i didnt have an impedence trype rpm reader was relying on the gauge and the sound of the engine. It feels around 850 from what i can tell. I'll have a friend come by and double check my work lol. One thing i did was go back and find the "before" pic and compare it to my new after. I'm pretty proud of theprogress Ive made as a newbie and 1st time owner. My work is probably not perfect but I continue to advance it little by little. Before, first pic from buying it after with all the changes / eliminations I really want to thank everyone for all the help these past two years. I couldn't have gotten this far without the community. Next up is getting the seats redone and back in so i can test drive it.

So I just went out and rechecked and sure enough it is stamped Japan E46 but what's weird is it's not where it normally would be it's closer to the firewall manifold then the radiator manifold and I would think if this was a normal 46 even though they ground down the spots where the smog accessories were screwed in there's only the single plug on the horizontal location for the booster not a second plug on top next to where I have my booster connected. You would think even if that was ground down he would at least have to put a plug in there there's no such plug so I have no idea what this thing is

if you flip it over you do see an E46 stamped on the tube so it's weird somebody polished this thing it's certainly not that stock look at least what I had before this has that semi glossy polished appearance to it.

@w3wilkes @KenFirch heres that euro tube installed. Came out super sweet. And Wilkes you asked if it was a ztherapy and I think it might be now that I have an up close look. It has their polished look to it in my opinion. I'm cleaning and readying the carbs for the last step, hopefully attempt to start it this weekend. I'm going to atytempt to time it, balance, and adjust the mixture so fingers crossed its my first time lol.

Chickened out on painting the pipes, when I went underneath i can see the PO has a jury rigged j bolt welded on and connected to the rear cross member. The support bracket where the pipe meets the muffler has a broken weld from the frame. It all seems stable but I'm not going to mess with it. I'll repair and replace all the pipes when i go headers down the road. added the shield

Oh duh, maybe i drop the pipe and slide it forwards with the car on rhino ramps! that should be much less twisting and work.

Making progress. A little ways to go waiting on some gaskets for the carbs and balance tube along with the brake booster hose switched to the top load rather than side valve. I decided to get all new studs and HW for the block because the previous set was a mess of sizes. MSA had a decent set all sized and ready to go but it did require me changing out the intake bolts to studs. I kind of like it only because it made the mounting easier rather than having to hold it in place while i bolted it. the exhaust manifold arrived already media blasted nicely but not such a great color so i painted it with vht. I ended up using aluminum to try and match the intake I had already. then i restored and painted the intake, polished the coolant tube and fuel rail Coolant back in and as i wait for the gaskets I'm polishing the linkages as best i can. i'm contemplating painting the front section of the exhaust pipe its currently a rusty looking brown. Without a true lift might be a bit of a challenge getting it out the back but i'll see what i can do. if its not reasonable ill leave it and deal with new pipes anyway down the road with the headers.

You're absolutely right no mention of one anywhere. But in doing more research looking at pictures of my E46 manifold that is out there on the web they all seem to have the same valve connected on that side but I can't see what's inside the tube. I'll just try and clean it up as best I can.

Thanks. Another question as I plan the replacement steps. I notice the coolant tube through the intake manifold has nasty looking valves on each end. Wehn i did some research on replacement it seems the rear one is a thermostatic valve which is different than the front typical standard adapter. When i look at mine, i can see clear through the entire tube one end to the other. Am I right in guessing the PO replaced the back side thermo one with some standard pipe fitting? Any implications to this? Should I try to source and replace it?

Thanks. Ok so at least my setup was right but i think i still need new bolts because the set on there are annoying with various head sizes from home depot lol. So are the studs removable, I'm assuming so but I think i'll leave them for now and tackle that with the new header down the road. I dont want to push my luck again lol. although i just found this old pic from the PO restoral book and it looks like the studs are intact and maybe he even painted over them when he painted the block. Either pure lazy or he couldnt get them out and left them

Okay couple of more questions. As I was falling asleep last night I was thinking about the bolts and washers and stuff I took off the block and I started looking around because the previous owner had a bit of a mismatch of various bolt head sizes to deal with taking off the intake. So I started browsing the typical sites to see if I can find some relevant replacement Hardware and some sites seem to sell a set of studs nuts and washers others a mix and match of studs and bolts. I don't have access to the car right now but I'm trying to recall if those studs were the type that can come out or could they have been part of the block? They looked really old and I can't imagine the previous owner leaving them there when he had the engine worked and rebuilt unless they were part of the actual block. the question is should a 71 have studs for the exhaust but bolts for the fuel rail and intake like I had set up? Or should it all be studs?