Another few months gone...

Well, my buddy Orlando called me out and said I should probably post something.
Let's see... The e30 got put back together, different wheels and tires, new engine mounts, everything all pushed out, euro front end and ran great! I only had a couple start-up hiccups.
1. In my excitement to take my first drive the car (after 8 months), I didn't fully torque the wheel bolts. Luckily I was only going 5 mph when the wheel came off the hub. The car just sat on the tire until I ran down the hill, got my jack and torque wrench. During this same drive, the oil pressure light stayed on FOREVER, then went out. I thought the engine was toast for a minute there.
2. So I drover her around a bit, babied the crap out of her, and started having more oil pressure woes. As the car would warm up to operating temps, the oil pressure light would first flicker at idle, then stay on unless I kept the RPM above 1k. Kind of annoying. I parked the car at work for a month, then figured I could do an oil change and use higher viscosity oil. When I drained the oil, there was this silvery sheen of stuff on top of the puddle. DOH! I media blasted the oil pan, but never blew it out or cleaned it with gasoline, so all that extra media dust made the rounds in my engine. Great. I switched the oil and she runs awesome!

I started taking her out on back road runs, trying to get my confidence back up. I "tiptoe" around in the rain now, even though I have meaty, wide, brand new tires (that aren't stretched at all) on there now. Just gotta work on the confidence before I start bossing her around again. Then, another issue.

3. She started overheating at anything below 30 mph. I wracked my brain over this one. Finally, I stuck a roll of newspaper in the clutch fan at idle, and not one sheet of paper was torn. That's a problem. Fear not, I have the special wrench for the clutch fan, I know that it's reverse threaded, and I've done this job several times before. Just seat the wrench on there, make sure you're twisting the right way, and give it a healthy smack. Should break it loose! Nope. After several HOURS of cussing, cajoling, making a jig to hold the pulley still, etc., NOTHING.
So, that's where I'm at now. I've decided that I'm going to pull the entire water pump and try to stick it in the vise and break it loose that way. Or dremel it off, very carefully. Something. I'll probably order another water pump for the time being just to be safe, even though I really don't want to put any more money into this engine.
Anyways...
A quick update on the other cars, then I'll let Orlando get on here and intro, etc.
^ 2004 x3: Did the complete coolant change after a second attempt at suicide by overheating. (I'm assuming that they thermostat ate it this time.) Car runs great, and we can use the AC again! (Just in time for the hottest summer in history for DelMarVa...)
v '87 535iA: #2 in line. A beater I picked up for $500. Brakes were GONE. Reason #637 for owning the correct tool for the correct job, you WILL strip something that's not easily replaced. So, I'm stalled out on the brake job right now. Also thinking about tossing the automatic tranny. I have most of the parts assembled, just need to order about $300 worth of nuts and bolts and consumable items from the Fatherland. Might need to run new Fuel lines as well.
v '87 535is: Still down. She's #4 in line to get worked on. Can't wait to get this car going.
v '76 Mini: I just keep finding more stuff with this frankenstein of a car. Got her on some ramps so that I can start poking around under the hood. (I'll have to take a picture of me "under the hood"... There's this wicked awesome wasps' nest formed on the block right up front. Gotta put a new fuel system in the car... or do I???? A friend of mine pulled the old gas tank and I have the new one ready to install. So one day, I'm out there looking at the engine, and I pull one of the plug wires. Pop! and it leaves the metal clinger thingy on the plug. Gee, might need that to be attached to the wire to get a good connection?? One of the other ones has a shorter boot than the others... Hinky stuff. I look at my embarassingly expensive bill for when this car was worked on by some crooks, before the ride of my life limping it home from NC. Nope, no plug wires replaced or ordered. Wires on the way from England now... Maybe that's why it seems to be running on 2 cylinders? I'm on the fence, I might just reinstall the old fuel tank and give it a go before putting in the new stuff. We may drive this car yet! (hopefully by my wife's birthday in October...)

That's all for now! Except to say that I'm ready to finally turn those arrows over. We've been surviving on one car (we own 5) for almost a year now. We make it work, but it's no fun at all. I miss driving my cars! My wife misses going out when I'm at work. etc. Talk about spousal abuse. Love you, babe!

Orlando? Do you want to say anything?