After studying this diagram, I realized that my fire pull was not installed correctly. It would never have worked. 
Note that the "Cable Housing" is supposed to be inserted into the Activating Head and the set screw should hold the housing in place. It was installed with only the cable in the hole and the set screw was holding the cable. The only way it would have worked is if one pulled hard enough on the cable to pull it completely out past the set screw.
Here's how it was installed exactly as I removed it from the car. 
Thats why we double check often throughout the season.
I also frequently have my stuff gone over by a second set of eyes to catch what i am used to seeing and may gloss over.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Unfortunately, I didn't even know how the system was supposed to work so it looked good to me. The only second set of eyes that have been on this car was the NASA tech inspector and he clearly missed it too. I don't blame him. It's not an easy thing to pick up just looking. And it's not like you can test this sh...stuff.
jimgood said:
After studying this diagram, I realized that my fire pull was not installed correctly. It would never have worked.
Note that the "Cable Housing" is supposed to be inserted into the Activating Head and the set screw should hold the housing in place. It was installed with only the cable in the hole and the set screw was holding the cable. The only way it would have worked is if one pulled hard enough on the cable to pull it completely out past the set screw.
Here's how it was installed exactly as I removed it from the car.
Hee hee... I pointed that very thing out in my post with the goofy drawing for double cables :)
Glad you found it. Would have been a hell of a thing to find it when you really needed it.
In reply to HalfFast :
Yeah, you did point that out. I just didn't fully understand at the time. And now that I've had a chance to revisit it I can see that you need to cut the plastic sheathing off the cable housing because only the cable housing will insert into the hole. It kind of shows that in the diagram but it's not explicit.
Rebuilt my first caliper ever! This was much easier than the other examples I've seen. I used compressed air to pop the piston out, blocking it with a piece of 3/4" wood to prevent damage. Yeah, I jumped when it popped out past the o-ring. Thin flat head screw driver to pry out the dust boot. Pick to pull out the o-ring. Cleaned everything thoroughly. Put some brake fluid on the new o-ring and put it back in, making sure it was not twisted.
I think part of the Howe design of these calipers might be a different dust boot. There was no muss or fuss with trying to force a rubber boot down into a groove along with the piston. This dust boot is bonded to a metal ring. The ring seats in a groove at the outer edge of the cylinder. I put the dust boot over the piston and seated the rubber in the groove on the piston. Used a C clamp to press in the piston. Then I used a long bolt to tap the metal ring down into the groove until it was seated.
The old o-ring was clearly worn. Here it is on top of the new one for comparison.
Edit: forgot to mention that the piston and bore were pristine. The only thing I had to clean off the piston was a little of the fried dust boot.
WooHoo! Got my fire bottle inspected and signed off on. Gratis! As I said somewhere before, my neighbor runs a fire extinguisher business and is certified out the yinyang. He said, based on the year of manufacture, my bottle is good until 2026 as long as the bottle is kept in good condition and doesn't leak. I was concerned he wouldn't be familiar with anything but hand held bottles as those are his bread and butter, but he inspects systems like this in boats and construction equipment.
Oh, and I pulled off the driver side hub yesterday in order to clean and regrease the bearings but there is no way to do anything with the inner bearing without removing the seal. I found the cage was damaged on the outer bearing. I pulled the passenger side hub this morning and the cage on the inner bearing was damaged. The grease inside both hubs is pretty dirty. So I had to order new seals and bearings. I'm taking my hubs to a shop to get cleaned. I guess this mean I'll have to readjust the bearing spacers, which I have no idea how to do.
I'll start here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hNUX_H0Ib8
This one uses measurements to get the final length of the spacer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMoFAT-kF_Q
I did some reading on the bearing spacers, and SEVERAL race teams do not use them. I don't use them either.
One video (which I can't find) the guy said "What do I do with this bearing spacer?" he then tossed it in the trash...
Your mileage may vary...
For my hubs, as I have for years when installing tapered roller bearings, I tighten the nut fairly snugish then rotate the hub to "seat" the bearing in the hub. I then loosen the nut half a turn, then tighten by hand till it stops. I then snug it just a teeny tiny bit (equivalent to 5 inch lbs of torque), then lock it down with the lock nuts.
In reply to HalfFast :
I get it. To me the concept makes sense if, as I understand it, it is to increase the longevity of the bearings because it transfers lateral load from one bearing taking all the load to both sharing the load. I don't know. Maybe it's voodoo. Or maybe the guys that don't like spacers change bearings as often as they change their socks and that saves them time. Time is money for some people. At $75 a wheel for replacement bearings/seal (not the top of the line stuff) and since I already have the spacers, I'm hoping they're worth the time investment (free).
jimgood said:
In reply to HalfFast :
I get it. To me the concept makes sense if, as I understand it, it is to increase the longevity of the bearings because it transfers lateral load from one bearing taking all the load to both sharing the load. I don't know. Maybe it's voodoo. Or maybe the guys that don't like spacers change bearings as often as they change their socks and that saves them time. Time is money for some people. At $75 a wheel for replacement bearings/seal (not the top of the line stuff) and since I already have the spacers, I'm hoping they're worth the time investment (free).
$75 a wheel? Isn't this the right bearing set? https://www.summitracing.com/parts/aaf-all72302
In reply to HalfFast :
That's not the right one. But AllStar does have a cheap set for the Wide 5; pn ALL72300 which is about the same price. AllStar has three offerings for Wide 5 hubs. The cheap one, the "low drag" pn ALL72311 and the Timken pn ALL72310. I took the middle of the road "low drag" option.
I know I said I was going to abandon the muffler idea but I'm in limbo waiting on parts so I decided to revisit it. Again, the purpose of this is mostly to ensure my neighbors don't call the cops when take this car out on the road to bed brakes or whatever. It's a rural area but most folks that live here are not rural folk. They're mostly city folk that moved out here for some of the wrong reasons and I've had one close call already. But I digress.
I found this muffler: https://www.holley.com/products/exhaust/mufflers/absorption_glass_pack_mufflers/flowfx_series/parts/74151
I took its measurements and faxed it to make a paper muffler (15 minutes):
I removed the existing muffler and the aluminum sheet that was surrounding it where it went through the body sheet metal into the cavity inside the door panel. I also trimmed up some of those jagged edges. So the existing muffler has a 3.5" flange that goes over this pipe for a slip fit:
It's a pretty straight shot from the pipe above to the side outlet port (I've circled the exhaust pipe in yellow):
It almost fits. Almost. This outlet port is oversized. I haven't measured it yet but I think it's at least a half inch larger than the pipe on the end of the existing muffler.
I could trim away some more sheet metal here so that the end of the muffler can come over to line up its inlet pipe with the exhaust pipe. If I do that, I think the alignment with the outlet port might nearly fix itself.
EDIT: I called Holley and found that the 3.5" diameter measurement is O.D. so it's basically the same size as my exhaust pipe. I think I can make this work if I use a band clamp between the exhaust pipe and muffler inlet. That will push the muffler further out toward the outlet port so I'd then need a piece of straight exhaust pipe with a 3.5" I.D.
In a previous post I was planning on two pull cables for my fire system. I have since decided on one that is located so it's easily accessible to both EV and me and won't interfere with egress. The new position requires a longer cable, which I have, but the new cable isn't compatible with my bottle's activation head. So I came up with this. It's a 1/2" aluminum spacer that had a 1/4" ID. I threaded it to accept a 5/16" bolt in each end. So I can couple the two cables together and still use the original cable (cut shorter) inside the activation head of my bottle. I have Loctited one bolt and I'll do the other one after everything is installed and where I want it. But after only an hour the one bolt with Loctite is solid. Now, if I decide to add another cable it should be easy, though I will need to drill the hole for the cables a little bigger.
Here's where I mounted the pull handle:
Houston, we have a problem!
I got my brake pads, wheel bearings and seals. Bearings and seals were a piece of cake and I even got the bearing spacer thing figured out. However, I can't get the brake pads to fit over the rotor.
First of all, I know they're the correct pads. They're different from the old ones but they are correct for this caliper. Here they are on the caliper and you can see that the outer pad has a tab that slots into a spot on the caliper perfectly. And every diagram or picture I see of D52 brake pads shows exactly this configuration.
The problem is, when I'm trying to install the caliper with the pads, the inner pad won't fit between the caliper MOUNT and the rotor. Here's a shot of just the inner pad sitting against the caliper mount.
But the outside edge of the pad overlaps the rotor by about 1/6". Here's a shot of that.
So I have a theory. Could it be that the rotors are supposed to be mounted on the OUTBOARD SIDE of the rotor adapter plates? The adapter plates are about 3/16" thick; maybe even a 1/4". This is a view of the inside of the rotor where it bolts to the adapter plate.
Something else that makes me think that the rotor should be on the outside...Way back when I broke a wheel stud on the driver side hub, I separated the adapter from the rotor so that I could get the hub in my press. When it came time to put it back together, I ordered new rotor-to-adapter bolts. I can't remember where I ordered them but they were allen head bolts which have a head that's a bit taller than the hex head bolts in the pic above. When I used those, they would not clear the caliper mount bolt head. So I had to take them out and reuse the old hex head bolts. The reason I bring this up is it makes me think that if the rotor was on the outside of the adapter, those allen head bolts would have cleared fine.
EDIT: The only reason I'm doubting myself here is that the adapter plate is almost a press fit to the hub. It's a bitch to get on and off which means if you want to change a rotor that is on the outboard side of the adapter, you have to remove the adapter from the hub, then unbolt the rotor from the adapter. Not difficult but takes more time. And you're wearing the threads on a $250 aluminum hub vs. only a $75 adapter.
EDIT 2: Probably wrong. See next post.
Anybody have any insights?
I figured it out...I think. Taking another look at this pic, you can see that there are two washers between the caliper bracket and the mount on the spindle. I think removing these will give me the clearance I need. Going to try that after breakfast.
Interesting, the driver side didn't have any spacers under the caliper bracket. <shrug> Got the front pads and calipers installed. Caliper pins lubed, torqued down and wire tied. I also found a better way to wire tie them. Previously the pins were wired together with the wire going rather loosely across the caliper in the only way it could with minimal interference to its movement. But I could see where it might interfere so I instead ran the wire around each caliper bracket nut and to the nearest caliper pin. Now there's no chance of the wire interfering with movement.
I'm also glad I used the bearing spacers because, with all the measuring and fiddling around, I had to have the hubs off several times to check clearances. With the bearing spacers, I don't have to worry about finding the correct torque to apply to the spindle nut.
I think I forgot to mention that I ended up going with PFC 01 pads. I was going to go with their 13 compound but they were out of them. The 01's are their most popular pad. Also their cheapest. We'll see how it goes.
I still need to bleed the system. Maybe later today.
Since I do not know enough about this to advise you I wont except on one thing.
I think you should get a notebook and take notes and pictures on everything you do to this car EVERYTHING.
I am pretty much the same as you. I can take something apart and 30 days later not remember exactly how it should go back together.
I use my cell phone & take pics and notes on and a notes app on my phone to do this, I also email the notes to myself and don't delete that in my email.
I have stuff as far back as 2005 in my email notes and also my drafts folder. I can easily find this stuff via a search in gmail. The important stuff I back up in other ways. So next time you take something apart make sure you take enough notes and pics so you can put it back together just like it came apart.
If you already have something like that pleas excuse me and my suggestion, it's what I have to do some times on things that are complicated or can go back together in several different ways.
I hope you get it figured out but remember if you do, you might not remember it next year.... unless you write it down in a thorough and complete notebook.
Good luck, I hope you get it figured out, sounds like you may have already. Take really good notes, it matters.
Thanks, Robert
In reply to robert777 :
I actually do keep a log of all the work I do on the car. It's in a Word doc. It's good you brought it up because it's an important thing for people to consider. I keep as much as I can think of in there, including links back to posts here on GRM. Every time I research or buy a part, the part numbers go in there along with links for where I got them. I also log all of my track events and how I did, how the car felt, etc.
Looking back, the log for my E36 is 181k in size and I had that car for several years. The log book for this car is already 1.2 meg and I've only had it a year. Being able to look up parts by year, make and model makes things a good deal easier.
Here's a pic of how I wire tied the caliper pins
Stepped away from work for about an hour to work on the mirror project. I started it in 
this post. The next part is to make the outer ring that provides the structure. It starts with a piece of 1/8" x 1" x 24" aluminum flat bar. I used my press brake dies to make the initial two bends at the top. From there, I use my bench vice to hand bend the curves. They're not perfect but they're good enough. The technique is, wherever the bar is diverging from the backing plate, that's where I place the bar in the vice (see next pic).
The point is to NOT CLAMP the piece in the vice. The outer jaw of the vice is the fulcrum. The bar is just placed loosely in there with the part of the bar that was starting to diverge from the backing plate exactly on the outer jaw. I use the heel of my right hand as close to the vice as I can get and I press until I feel it give a little. Then I recheck against the backing plate to see where I need to bend next. If I bend too much, I hold a dolly in my hand with the bar on it and hammer the apex of the bend to straighten it a little. Then back to the vice.
The bar is obviously too long so I'm marking the center of the bottom of the backing plate then measuring and marking where I want the bend and where I want to cut the bar off.
Then I cut off the excess, put the bar back in the vice with the bend mark on the outer jaw and use a hammer to make the final bend.
With that, the outer ring is complete. This is the easy part. The hard part will be creating the outer shell of the mirror. Once the shell is done, it too will surround the outer ring. I'll rivet through the shell, ring and backing plate so it's all one unit. Then under the mirror I'll use two pieces of aluminum channel for mounting.
This morning I took a set of spare wheels to a company that does media blasting and powder coating. The idea was to see if I could get the wheels stripped, at a minimum, and maybe powder coated for less than the cost of new wheels, which is less than $150. Their normal charge for wheels is $75 for media blasting. But the coating that's on these wheels is some kind of crap that they can't media blast effectively so it wasn't worth it. Thanks Bassett wheels. 
These wheels are really just too ugly to use. Some of the finish is coming off and they have some surface rust. I may pick away at them as I get time.
I came home, dejected, and promptly knocked one thing off my punch list. The seat bottom bolts. This is how you do things when you're by yourself but need an extra hand in the cockpit while you're under the car tightening nuts. Application # eleventy billion for Gorilla tape.
I rewrapped my muffler and added some wrap to the exhaust where it passes under the transmission. Exhaust is back in like it was before; loud as hell I'm sure. Only two things left on the punch list. Valve cover gaskets and side mirrors.
In reply to jimgood :
Here is a video about powder coating removal using chemicals on wheels:
...
I did some quick research and the easiest [cheapest] way to remove powder coating is to bake it off.
Heat is used to apply power coating and can also be used to remove it.
Powder coating is why I bought a old electric oven for my shop. Not sure if it is big enough to fit a wheel but it probably is.
If not I'll get some sheet metal and build a large box, insulate it and get a big propane weed burner type torch and cobble up something. I'll have to be sure to have a vary good way to monitor temperature and go easy with the heat.
Once you bake the wheels at something like 500 degrees the powder coat finish on them will come off to the point where media blasting with aluminum oxide grit will get any remaining powder coating off and prep for paint.
About that shop that could not get the coating off your wheels, all I can say is they suck if they can't remove powder coating. They could have thrown those wheels in an oven, baked the coating off then used aluminum oxide to blast them, that stiff is wicked nasty sharp and will just about eat through metal. They certainly should have been able to do it.
I think if your wheels were blasted and roughed up, you could have then used paint and painted over what was left of the powder coating, good enough for use. Up close they might not look perfect but from 10 ft they would be fine.
If you have a half way decent compressor you can get a small medial blasting gun and get some aluminum oxide blast media and rough up that powder coating enough to paint over it.
I am setting up to do all this myself because I have so much blasting and painting to do, on 3 different chassis, I don't want to pay anyone to do it. I just scored the crown jewel of my paint and blast system, a large Ingersoll Rand industrial type compressor.
In reply to robert777 :
Thanks for that info. The media blaster said powder coat is no problem to for them to strip. Unfortunately, the stuff they put on these wheels isn't powder coat. It's something rubbery. They said when they use chemical strippers on it, it takes many applications because the stripper only penetrates so far and the loose goo has to be scraped off and then they have to be put back in the chem bath
I don't know. Maybe they just didn't want the job and were feeding me a load of bull. Who knows.
At least you found one of the keys to being able to effectively do blasting; a good compressor. I definitely couldn't do it with my current compressor.
