Happy New Year 2011!

We hope everyone enjoyed the holidays!  And we would like to extend our best wishes for a Happy New Year!  Thank you for making 2010 a great year for Reggie’s Motorworks.  We’ve met some really great new enthusiasts and customers this year, and we’ve loved keeping relationships going strong with current and past clients.  We’re excited to see what 2011 holds!
After our holiday break (more on that to come), we’ve hit the ground running this week at the shop.  Remember this 1989 BMW 325ix?  Well, it’s back for more work.  Tom, the owner, noticed the car’s ….

Upon inspection, Reggie found that the front driver side CV axle had a damaged boot.  The entire axle will be sent off to be rebuilt.

Here’s a closer look at the damaged boot:

This 1989 325ix also had a rear universal joint with a lot of play in it.

The new drive shaft and universal joint:

We’re happy to have Jordan back this week to help out during his holiday break from college – thank you, Jordan!  He installed the new drive shaft with universal joint:

Once the drive shaft is in place, he installs the heat shield, which prevents heat from the exhaust from getting into the car’s cabin:

The front drive shaft was cleaned and properly lubricated:

It’s very important to lubricate the front drive shaft on an ix because the splines are known to strip out.  It’s one of the Achilles’s heels of this particular car, unfortunately.

In addition, the motor mounts were replaced.

Reggie welded in a missing exhaust mount:

Reattaching the exhaust was the last step:

And the owner is back on the road in his favorite car!

Our shop wagon was also in need of some attention.  There was some play in one of the tie rods, so it felt a little looser in the steering than we would like.  Reggie replaced the center tie rod and sway bar links.  Let’s take a look!

The old center tie rod has been removed:

New and old center tie rods:

Once the center tie rod is in place, he installed the sway bar links.

The bolts had to be cut off of the old sway bar links (pictured left) because they were seized in place.

After this project, the wagon was off to the alignment shop.  In the near future, she’ll be getting some new brakes, brake hoses, and an oil change.

Stay tuned, next week we’ll share some photos of the shop wagon in sunny Florida and have some S50 swap car updates!

Have a great weekend!