Motor's Out!

Finally got the 302 out of the mustang. It wasnt difficult, but rather a bit time consuming. The general consensus is about 3-4 hours for a motor removal, but not when you are with a rats nest of wiring and an utter lack of reasonable cleanliness from the last owner. While our pace for this project is rather slow, we are only working on it 8-10 hours a week.

Regardless, we are excited to get past this small hurdle and actually get to the actual swap and resume work on the BMW. In parallel, we will be rebuilding the engine using, most likely, a summit racing rebuild kit with a .010 overbore. We really want to get this thing in solid shape to ensure good reliability and power. Also, since our 3rd gear synchro is out on the T5, we will be getting a rebuild kit from thegearbox.org to guarantee a solid drivetrain.

Anyway, we'll deliver some shots of the mayhem shortly.

Body Work (Bummer)

Believe it or not, we BOUGHT it this way!

         It is I, the afore mentioned T-Dot.  I'm writing this now because I'm at a body-shop getting more info on my recent crash in my other ride.  The tech here wanted pictures of the E36's front fender damage to see what I was talking about and maybe advise Jirs and I on the repair/give us a quote if we're not quite comfortable with the task. 
        Just so you reader(s) know, the front bumper is basically trash, the drivers front corner of the hood is wrecked, the fender well piece is slightly deformed, the actual fender is toast, and the radiator/hood latch bar is slightly deformed.  I don't care to keep the hood, and we wanted a new lightweight hood anyway.  BMW replacement fenders are quite pricey(as are the "more affordable" aftermarket versions in steel) so why not carbon fiber? We want an M3 front end so the bumper is a non-issue as well.  That takes care of that...

        The only parts to repair are the fender well panel and the semi-structural members inside the fender immediately aft of the headlamp assembly.  Should be a breeze, right?  There is disgustingly ample alcohol at the build location should this task prove frustrating.   It's all good, though - Irvine Cars 'N' Coffee tomorrow followed by an Ortega cruise for inspiration, then elbow deep into our voluntary hell.  I'll tip one back for the gods tonight in the hopes for a complete BMW slant6 extraction by sundown, Saturday.