# Newman's 1986 BMW 326rb build thread. **URL:** \ **Category:** Builds\ **Created:** [December 25, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/newmans-1986-bmw-326rb-build-thread/22123 "2006-12-25T20:54:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 329
**Author:** ![newman](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/newman/32/7569_2.png) [@newman](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/newman)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/newmans-1986-bmw-326rb-build-thread/22123/329 "2007-01-24T22:35:22Z")
that spitfire looks kind of hacked. anyway, here’s today and yesterday’s updates. I apologize for typos. More on this later… Yesterday: Added another brace to the crossmember. This triangulates the subframe and i am convinced it is now strong enough. My welding leaves much to be desired… I need to work on this much more… Next, pulled the transmission back out of the car and unbolted the transfer case. I took everything out of it. This is what was left. ![http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00380.jpg](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00380.jpg) Then i went home. Today: Went to the shop after work. I taped off the bearings to avoid contamination and bolted the gutted transfer case back together. I then used the horizontal band saw and cut the output case off of the transfer case. ![http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00381-1.jpg](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00381-1.jpg) ![http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00382.jpg](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00382.jpg) This step went remarkably smoothly. The result: ![http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00384.jpg](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00384.jpg) Next i mounted the transfer case on the milling table I was only able to get 2 mounting points, one of which was a bit “shady” but I hit it with a rubber mallet after i bolted it down, and it didn’t budge. The tool in the mill is not the tool i used (i used a 2.5 inch facing tool) I used a level and shims to get the case mounted correctly. The location of the face didn’t need to be that precise, so a level was fine: ![http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00385.jpg](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00385.jpg) Next, i made pass after pass on the part, taking off about .100 per pass. About an hour later I had a flat surface, about an inch shorter than the above picture. (sorry, no pic) At some point during this, the tape over the bearings gave way and a shit-ton of aluminum chips made their way into the front bearing. I will try my best to get them out of there with a parts washer/ air gun, but i may need to suck it up and buy a new bearing. Meh, live and learn, I should have taken it out first, instead of trying to take the easy way out and “cover” it. Also at some point during this, i somehow managed to crush my hand between the workpiece and the tooling. I had to pick bits of fingernail off the tooling. EW. ![http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00387.jpg](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00387.jpg) Now that the face was complete, i chucked up a drill and drilled (11) #21 holes X .9 deep along the perimeter of the face. Then using a hand tap, i tapped the holes to 10-32 thread. A hand tap was a bad idea, i should have used the mill to guide the tap, as one of the bolts went in slightly crooked, not a big deal, though. It is not terribly off. The hole that looks like it is “falling off” is intentionally placed there, as it was necessary to avoid an internal bolt. ![http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00389.jpg](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00389.jpg) All that was left was too make a cover. Since i had written down the X,Y locations of all the holes i had drilled in the case, it was relatively easy. I used a belt sander and the mill to make the outside perimeter, then after the holes and perimeter were complete, i made a few facing passes on the mating surface of the cover. Due to the fact that the cover was no longer in square, there was a tiinny bit of chatter on the final face, but nothing that wont be sealed with RTV or hondabond. The finished cover and assembly: ![http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00391.jpg](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00391.jpg) ![http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00392.jpg](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00392.jpg) ![http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00393.jpg](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00393.jpg) Total time = 6 or 7 hours. Dollar amount saved (vs buying rb25 transmission) = $1500 Weight difference = negligable Now i just need to put it back together. Oh, I also plan on drilling a tapping a few holes on the cut-off portion of the tcase, then using a torque wrench to find out at what torque the threads strip, this will allow me to get a torque value to tighten the hardware to. I will leave you with this picture: ![http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00395.jpg](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/ctnewman2/DSC00395.jpg) --- _[View the full topic](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/newmans-1986-bmw-326rb-build-thread/22123)._