This E36 Engine Bay Restoration is Top-Notch
Bringing an E36 engine bay back to life with a fresh coat of paint, engine installation, and a perfectly welded downpipe.
I can guarantee you that your E36 engine bay isn’t as clean as this one. Holy crap, this thing looks good. Granted, it’s not fully finished yet. But, that’s not gonna stop us from drooling over this ‘clean machine’ E36.
Youtuber Jimmy Oakes gives us a sweet peek into his fresh as mess E36 engine bay. In the video, we get a look at the freshly painted bay, custom downpipe, and other nuances of Oakes’ E36 build.
E36 Engine Bay Painted Reveal
Oakes teases full engine bay reveal for quite a bit, but when we get it, man oh man, is it worth the wait. This Mugello Red engine bay could not look any better. With a near-full bay shave and seam seal, this thing is clean. Oakes gives a well-deserved shoutout to his man Bobby for his work on the bay. And I must concur, good on you Bobby.
Oakes shares his plans to drop in the engine, prep the vehicle, and then finish painting the rest of the car while excitedly talking about the paintwork thus far. Oakes later mentions that the product used to get those seams looking tip-top was SEM Dual-Mix™ High-Build Self Leveling Seam Sealer.
“We shaved a lot of holes, but it doesn’t look like we ‘Bay shaved’ it, you know?” States Oakes “It kinda looks like we made it look higher-end. That was really the goal with this.”
After a brief discussion, the crew decides to go ahead and see how it looks with the engine in place.
E36 Engine Install
Before the crew drops in the engine, they elect to weld an oil drain bung onto the oil pan. After doing so, they replace the oil pan gasket and re-install the pan cover. Oakes also mentions the need to skim coat the gasket with RTV to prevent common leaks.
After a little magic, the engine in all its glory sits nice and pretty inside the bay. The first thing you notice is that big fat whirly boy next to the strut tower. It’s a thing of beauty. The whole bay really shines. Sadly, Oakes isn’t keeping the purple valve cover though, citing its “Not my style.” But he will be getting a shiny new aluminum one!
Downpipe Fitment & Planning
Next, Oakes tests out the fitment on a beautifully welded custom downpipe.
It fits. Barely.
But, Oates explains he ordered a high-clearance steering shaft for just such a reason.
Up next is the power steering pump. Little by little, this BMW E36 engine bay is getting more and more complete. After a short guessing game, Oakes then finishes up the engine by installing the drive belt.
At this point, Oakes rethinks his initial plan to just wing it and throw everything on as they find the need.
“Trying to put together a gameplan on the best way to tackle all of this, because we have a lot to do,” remarks Oakes “And I don’t want to have to undo things because I didn’t do it right the first time; because I decided to do it before something else.”
The wiring and brake systems stand out as the largest obstacles for the crew due to the right-hand drive nature of the E36.
“The big hurdles right now are gonna be the wiring. And the brakes are always a pain in the a**,” shares Oakes “Wiring: The issue here is that it’s a right-hand-drive chassis so some things are flip-flopped over on the harness. And this is a ’95 harness, a ’92 chassis. It’s a little bit different. So I’ve gotta make sense of all this.”
On top of that, the whole fusebox has to be re-pinned. No envy here.
Lastly, Oakes takes the downpipe to have an O2 bung welded on. And with that, they’re done for the day.
All in a day’s work
The end result is one of the cleanest E36 engine bays we’ve ever seen. Seriously, this is some good work, and Oakes should be proud. He’s got a real beauty on his hands.