Home » BMW » Stealth: Out with the Old

Archives

Stealth: Out with the Old

Dent Repaired

I’m at the end of the second week of this project and have made some significant progress with only a few (unpleasant) surprises. I secured the battery in the trunk (no brick required) and patched the hole in the fender well from the inside — I still have to finish it off on the outside. I removed the excess trim from the trunk and the electric antenna. That was about 10 lbs. of weight. I replaced all of the light bulbs.

Interior

From the interior, I removed the backseats, back seatbelts, stereo, four speakers, some speaker wire, and the center console. Total of about 40 lbs. I also removed one of the two front seats, but I plan to replace that. I fixed and reattached the glove box, removed the annoying key chime, and fitted a new UUC shift knob. I installed a new steering wheel cover. The rotten shift boot is still waiting to be replaced. I relocated the window switches to the dash and found out the reverse light has been disconnected and is on a separate switch now. Now sure why.

Under the hood, I removed the cruise control servo (the brains are long gone); replaced the air cleaner with a K&N cone filter; removed the AC compressor, condensor, evaporator and associated hardware (weight savings alone 25 lbs. fore of the front axle). I replaced the blower resistor and the coil; new oil and coolant caps. I replaced all of the fuses and found a new fuse box cover. I replaced the leaky power steering fluid reservoir and both leaky low-pressure hoses. I cleaned up much of the mess associated with those leaks as well.

More than I bargained for

The dented right front fender proved to be a bit more complicated than I estimated. I knew I had to fix the front turn signal and replace a headlight, but once I got everything apart, I found the damage was more extensive, but not structural. I removed and replaced the fender liner. Removed the bumper and fixed the turn signal. I removed the air-dam and replaced the fog lamps with blanks (saving a couple of pounds at the very front). Once I removed the grille I found the headlamp carrier was broken. (That’s the one piece on back-order that’s stopping me from registering the car.) I straightened out the interior supporting members so I could rehang the fender. I decided to just pound out the fender and hit it with some paint. It is actually the best painted part of the car now (which says less about the quality of my painting and more about the sorry state of the paint job as a whole).

fixed

Since I had the whole front end opened up, I removed the AC and associated parts including the auxiliary fan (which I plan to eventually replace). The fan alone weighs about 5 lbs. Eventually I plan to remove the fan from the engine and run just with an electric fan, but not now. I had Safelight put in a new windshield as well.

As I was waiting for the paint to dry on the fender, I replaced the rotors and brake pads. I have stainless steel brake lines, but don’t have a pressure bleeder so I’ll leave that up to someone else to install. I also installed studs from Turner Motorsports. I bought new Falken Ziex 912s (195/60R14) to go on the stock 14 inch basked weaves. I looked at getting the wheels refinished, but at $40-$50 per wheel for sand blasting alone, I decided instead to just blast them with some paint myself. The photos show the car riding on snow tires as the paint on the wheels hasn’t dried yet.

Dubious at best

I’m still hopeful that if the headlight carrier arrives this week, I can get the car inspected and registered to make the next Autocross on the 5th or later in the month on the 20th. With wheel spacers, I should be able to run my MINI autcross wheels. I have replacements for all of the hoses, timing belt, and water pump. I also have a colder thermostat to install at the same time. After that, I think I’ll fix the dubious suspension parts (control arms; tie-rods; bushings; & end-links) before the last track event of the season. That will give me the winter to get the race suspension (springs, shocks, sway bars, camber plates) and roll-cage installed.

Outside

Total weight savings so far is about 80 lbs. or just under 3 percent.