Parts finally back from powdercoaters, was worth the wait, they did an awesome job. Went with a black semi-gloss.

Was a LONG Saturday getting everything put together, luckily Jeremy came in as well.

Here's the end of day shot, should get everything in the car this coming Saturday. Then it's time to start thinking about the M20 again.



BMW 2002 strut build ....

The bare powdercoated struts (obviously the threads on top and the spindle were masked.



Had the steering arm zinced, put in new ball joints, and greased up the inside (used some bearing grease).



Greased up the hub and bearings....



after putting on the grooved washer I tightened down the castle nut nice and tight before backing off one tooth and sliding the cotter pin through (after a couple of days driving, I'll go back in and tighten it down some more)



Next were the Bilstein HD shocks, these went in pretty smoothly except getting a good handle on the gland nut was a PITA. I've heard that you can smear a thin coat of ATF on the insert to prevent corrosion, however with the risk that the breather at the bottom of the insert might get blocked I opted to put them dry. Guess time will tell.

Bolted the steering arm to the bottom of the strut and safety wired the bolts. The little bolts are getting pretty spendy at $6.25 each BMW list price.



How struts will sit until they go into the car. I'll be reusing the Ireland Engineering Stage 1 springs along with new strut bearings and some fixed camber plates. No need to go coilovers unless I want a track car.

Always love fresh new parts! Looks like it really coming together, well done.

Nice build.
Are those the longest runners you can fit under the hood? 60mm maybe?
I recently converted my Zetec powered 7 to twin DCOE 45s
I used a 90mm runner manifold to keep the bottom end torque.


m

This looks great! It really shows that you're putting the time and effort into this project and really doing it right. Good to see!
MOAR UPDATES!!!

Thanks guys, will post up some more detailed shots of the suspension build before it goes on the car...

7 Pilot, In angling up the runners to clear the distributor I'll be adding to the overall length. I'm not sure how much longer I could go before running into the top of the Tii booster and possibly the hood. Really want to be able to run a BMW booster, if anyone know of one which has a smaller outside diameter than the Tii please let me know.

Love carbed 7's, I know the fitting can be tight for dual DCOE's toward the front. Do you have any pictures of the setup?

The manifold is a lot longer than it looks in the pic.






m