Poppy the Brilliant red 318iS

[rix313]

Oh my how time flies. Many things have changed since I last posted but Poppy is still by my side. We had a rocky start to 2017 with a few somewhat out of the blue mechanical and electrical mishaps. Namely the fuel gauge being erratic and running out of fuel on the M40, the exhaust hangers giving up the ghost and the exhaust falling off.






These were duly noted and some time and money were lovingly thrown at her. Replacement sensors, new dampers and top mounts, front wheel bearings and brakes to name a few.




I also spend some more time engaging in BMWCC activities and met a couple of great lads locally and we have gone on many drives and days out during the last two summers in our classics.










I also managed to share a few days out with my dad in his 930 Porsche at Goodwood.










And in June I raced at Silverstone with the BMWCC Racing series and the Popster was on show on the car club stand. It was really cool to have the fleet together.





Next on the agenda is to carry out a service and fit a better radio, as the current one is poo and doesn't work

[martauto]

Lovely looking cars all the lot of them, I did miss driving mine this summer but "I`ll be back !! "

Mart.

[rix313]

Cheers Mart. I must admit I am tempted to take it off the road for a year and really get a bit stuck into it and make a few bits that bug me sorted but we shall see.

[martauto]

Cheers Mart. I must admit I am tempted to take it off the road for a year and really get a bit stuck into it and make a few bits that bug me sorted but we shall see.

If the car and you are running then keep going mate, it`s rotten when you cant drive it and you know it`s OK.

Mart.

[rix313]

I used to be so keeno at taking zillions of photos and I have been so lazy with it the last few years. The front valance on this car had been messed about with at some point as it didn't have the proper stone chip layer under the paint, it was a funny colour that was also falling off. The brake ducts were also a different shade of red. When I had the sides of the car done, I had the new front lip done. All in all this meant the front of the car was now a few different shades of red. FINALLY I pulled my finger out and removed them to go to my friends paint shop. Now it did take about 3 months for me to get the bits back however the front end is gleaming now and I am so chuffed with it. Couple with my freinds at CarEd Auto Detailing the whole car looks amazing. I popped my AA relay retro badge on the front grille I picked up from an antiques fair and I can't wait for our little E30 run up to the lake district in just over a weeks time.




While the front end was off, something has obviously happened to the front of this car at some point as the fog light, indicator and OBC temp sensor wiring have all been butchered with a combination of choc blocks, insulation tape and some wires were even just twisted together and wrapped So I will be needing to buy some new plug tales and soldering and heat shrinking everything back together to make it right again.

[SeanOB]

looks great!! well done getting it sorted properly

[rix313]

Thanks. I am in the process of figuring out the best way to sort the mess of the front light loom. This will be easy, however it is the radio/immobiliser wiring I am itching to rectify that fills me with horror I've bought a Nakamichi stereo from a friend and have very little ICE knowledge. Coupled with the fact it is a rats nest of chock blocks, bullet connectors, cut wires and christ knows what else waiting for me, i am dreading it but also excited that it will be tidier once done.

[Foe]

Beautiful car! And after all those years, good to see your still enjoying it.

[tha881]

That front end shot is something else, love it

[rix313]

That front end shot is something else, love it

Need to re-do it with a proper camera and editing software really but for Insta and the likes, its come out good hasn't it

[rix313]

I thought I'd pop a little update on this thread as it has been a while. Since the weather has been nice I have been using her daily to mooch back and forth from my workshop and various errands.

Two years ago I bought a Nakamichi CD400 from a friend, over two years ago. Only collected it from her the other day lol! So I pulled the old Sony one out and spent time picking through the hideous wiring for the old one. A bit of trial and error to make things like the aerial go up and down etc but got there in the end. Super happy with the looks and the sound does feel a lot better.

Now it's fitted I've realised how tatty the centre console is. So I'll look to replace it as there's a crack. I get some blanks fitted to replace the one with a hole and also replace the rear heated screen switch.




Today I gave her a wash as she started to show the signs of the dry weather and be a bit dusty. First time in a long time I took my camera and took some nice photos at a nearby farm. Still a bit rusty with the camera but it was nice to get some new photos.

[Cloggy Saint]

How about a fader switch instead of a blank ? Am I right in saying you gave up on the notorious screw that holds the HVAC panel to the centre console? Don't feel bad, I've spent days trying to get that damn thing in!

[rix313]

How about a fader switch instead of a blank ? Am I right in saying you gave up on the notorious screw that holds the HVAC panel to the centre console? Don't feel bad, I've spent days trying to get that damn thing in!

It is quite possible yes I removed it a while ago while battling to change one of the tiny bulbs in the panel and probably got fed up putting it back together haha. I guess I can save that job for when I change the panel.

[cpalma]

Looking gooooood!

[rix313]

This is going to be a rather large update as it has been a while. So prepare for pic over load!

First up, I managed to get married in August. Long story short, lots of banging heads together at Northants council to get a notice appointment and we were able to book our wedding at the Manor House, Castle Combe. While it isn't common for a guy to have a wedding venue in mind, it was always somewhere I had thought would be a great venue. Poppy took centre stage along with my dads 930 Porsche. Afterwards we had a week driving around Cornwall in the trusty popster














On the way home, the ancient exhaust decided it had enough and started blowing like a bastard. Made for a less than ideal drive home. Turns out the back box had blown through and it had split just where the pipe passes under the subframe. So that was all the excuse I needed to buy a Fritzbits stainless system. After spending a week driving around in her I also decided enough was enough and I would finally change the dash which was doing it's best impression of the grand canyon. When I removed it I was faced with the horrors of 20 years of previous owners lashing all sorts of shit in with no skill or care.





Lush hey!!

So I made a big effort to remove the shitty radio wiring, shitty remote central locking install and various other random shitty bodges that had been done. I didn't get a full 'after photo' because I got all excited fitting the better dash. Needless to say, it is now waaaaay better.










The other thing I wanted to change was the centre panel as the old one was cracked and broken. Found a nice clean one and fitted it along with some nicer buttons. Also found a fader switch so fitted that for retro points. The Nakamichi is such a cool head unit. The speakers I have are ok but it was night and day between this and the old head unit.



While I was at it I decided to fit a small bluetooth receiver. I use one in my workshop and its a neat little device. As can be seen in the photo above I mounted it in the corner above the ash tray. While I was content with it I thought, I can do this better. The unit requires the button to be pressed to connect so it isn't automatic sadly. It is also equipped with the ability to be used as a handsfree kit. SO! (and I have to thank member 'Tzantushka' for this suggestion) I used a fog light switch, opened it up and took out the latching arm, making it a momentary switch. Next I opened up the unit, soldered some wires to the switch inside and piggybacked the 'fog switch' to it. Next I bought a small microphone from amazon, chopped the plug off and soldered that in place of the on board microphone. Works a treat! I now have to carry this all across to the car, add plugs and terminate nicely but its cool the concept works.



Still with me?

Finally I decided I wanted to refresh all the suspension metal work. So I stripped off the front subframe and suspension. I have all fresh powder coated parts to refit. I am also fitting a Z3 rack, new engine mounts and I decided to go for some Eibach springs to level out the stance of the car. I plan to remove the engine as well. Fit a new clutch, give everything a bloody good clean and get the engine bay painted. This is where I'm at so far:

[Tzantushka]

Whoa what an update!
How bad was the wiring behind the dash...

BTW congrats on getting hitched

[martauto]

Big congrats on the wedding mate
Great up-date and looks like you have tons more to get stuck in on .lol

Mart.

[rix313]

Thanks chaps!

Picture of the full dash (a bit dark but you get the deal)




I also fitted this little morsel which I have been saving for some time. Original loom and all. Makes me so content when BMW had the forethought back then to have these additional plugs in the loom 'just in case'. Fitted two new bulbs to it and got it fitted in.




I have finalised the little bluetooth gadget. There is a little distortion from the microphone, probably interference from the non shielded wires. I may look at changing it but to be honest, it's not horrendous and it remains to be seen how it holds up in a car full of road noise anyway. But I'm happy with the result and it works well. Just need to get it fitted now!




Finally a quick picture of the subframe. Gave the Z3 rack a clean and painted the steel section. Need to make some spacers up, clean the old pipes and get it put together.

[rix313]

So the last week or so it has really stepped up. Front subframe and suspension off and engine out!






First job was to clean up the engine bay. I had contemplated taking it to a paint shop to get it painted. However it has cleaned up pretty well and I intend to have a go and do it myself. As for cleaning the engine bay up, I used Autosmart G101 in a spray bottle, spray it on, leave it and then use a stiff brush to brake up the crud. Then some clean water in another spray bottle to rinse it off and wipe down with a cloth.











I knew this bit of rust was lingering in the corner on the right side. I've ordered a repair panel from Valcas garage. Once it arrives I'll get the crap cut out and the fresh piece in.




Heat shields off as well. Used the same technique as with the engine bay but I took them outside for a rinse with a hose pipe. They came up really well!




When I took the centre heat shield off I had to laugh when I saw the centre bearing. Or what was left of it. Couldn't believe it was like this! There was a vibration throughout the car around 70mph but I assumed it was a badly balanced wheel on the rear but now I've unearthed this, it must have been the source of the vibration. Never made any noises though.




Currently I'm in the process of preparing and building up the new suspension ready to fit back on the car

[rix313]

Next big job was to remove the rear subframe and start preparing the rear end. I also removed the fuel tank so I could make sure everything was all well under there too. I have a powder coated filler neck and as I wanted to under seal everything I removed all the breathe stuff too. I’ll be replacing the rubber pipe and the cover as that disintegrated when it came off.






Very satisfying clean assembly waiting to go on.




So today I got the car loaded onto the chassis trolley and wheeled her outside to degrease and clean the arches and under side in preparation for the under-seal. I couldn’t get over how much crap had accumulated. To glance you couldn’t really see it. So lots of G101, wire wheel on a drill, pressure washer repeat and I finally had nice clean arches. Any surface rust was wire wheeled off and treated with Hammertie Krust rust converter.






I then started the rust repairs, which thankfully are minimal. Left front arch had the standard alarm siren holes and they’d started to rust through so it was out with the old and in with the new:

[martauto]

Great work Rich, re-assembly should be painless ?? lol

Mart.

[rix313]

That’s the plan Mart. The grubby stuff should be behind me for the time being. Parcels arriving everyday.

[rix313]

Once everything was dried off and degreased I applied Dinitrol 445 stone chip to the arches and under side of the car.








This meant I could start to reassemble the corners and start fitting parts back on. I decided to replace all the hard lines so I ordered them from a local motorsport supplier. Complete fuel and brake hard lines. Was a bit of a mission to bend them nicely all by hand while wrestling a 3m length but I got there in the end.






With the hard lines done and the brake lines fitted I could finally install the rear end. I've got a small case 4.1 LSD being built at the moment too so when that arrives I'll get that bolted in.




I had this Z3 2.7 turn LTL rack and I have decided to fit it to this car. Keen to see what it's like, mainly for manoeuvring as I won't be hooning around in this car. I have it a good clean and degrease then painted it. Made some aluminium spacers and fitted it to the car. I also removed the servo and master cylinder and gave them a clean and a paint to freshen them up.




Finally the Valcas garage repair panel arrived for the engine bay and I set to work cutting out the bad metal and getting the new section in. I cut out quite a bit in the end to ensure I was only welding to good metal so fabricated additional sections.










Work in progress:




Finished:






My next plan of attack is to finish cleaning up the engine bay and look to get some fresh painted dusted over it to tidy it up where required.

[steve_k]

nice update rich,

i know what you mean about wrestling with 3M of brake/fuel lines while trying to bend them, i gave up in the end & swapped to braided steel for the whole lot with new clips, so much easier to fit & i know they wont need to e replaced for a very long time.

whats the quality of the valcas garage parts like?

[martauto]

This is soooooooo nice to see quality at work !!!
I would love to do this right now to my e46 cab before things start to set in.

Mart.

[rix313]

Valcas part was nice Steve. It did take a long time to arrive. Guessing some extra faf at the boarder


Thanks Mart


Got the brake discs on and the hand brake set up today plus fitted the new track rods. Also lathered some more stone chip on vulnerable areas. I’ve got a big load of powder coating being finished this week. Once I have that then I can rebuild the brake calipers and fit the roll bars. Then that’s that part of the project complete!

Painting the engine bay then tackling the engine will be the next phase.

[rix313]

I got my brake calipers back from the powder coaters this week. I asked for them to be done in silver and they came back a nice metalic silver. I had rebuild kits from Biggred along with all new pistons. Once I put them together I got them straight on and bled the system.










I finally bit the bullet as well and orderd a new breather line cover, replacement large breather pipe and grommet for the fuel filler. This meant I could finish the right arch. I need to get my 62L fuel tank stripped down and sent to the coaters so I can finish the fuel system.






I went to collect my 4.1 LSD, I had a small case spool and took it to my diff builder who fitted a billet end cap, fitted 4 friction plates and replaced all the bearings and seals. I decided to fit mounting studs for ease of installation. Annoyingly the rear bush hasn't arrived yet, once it does I can get it all fitted in the car.




Lastly, I sent a couple of sets of 15inch BBS off to be refurbished. I had one set done in silver and a second set inspired by the BBS 'white edition'. I really like them and thing they white looks cool against the red with the silver helping the contrast. I can imagine they'll be a bit marmite but I'm happy I went for them and can't wait to see the car on the ground with them on.




Now the suspension side of things is prettty much finished I need to build up the enthusiasm to make a start on the engine.

[Qasimahmed]

Looking good so far, excellent work.

With the Z3 rack, do the stock pipes fit or did you need to fab something up.

[rix313]

I've got a set coming from BM Conversions. You can bend the standard pipes to make them fit but it wasn't really inkeeping with all the other work I'm doing to have some daggy modified pipes fitted

[rix313]

I've just realised it's been such a long time since I updated this thread. Over the summer I decided to have the engine bay painted properly so took the car to a local classic paint shop. I was going to try it myself but frankfuly didn't have the time or energy to do so.






I took the gearbox to another local specialist who stripped and inspected it, vapour blasted the cases and reassambled with new seals. I did want bearings but they said they still looked great so opted not to just spend money for the sake of it (for once).






The beauty of living near Silverstone is there are an abundance of specialists all very local. I decided to get a big box of bolts and brackets set off for Zinc coating in Northampton. I don't have a photo of the complete batch but I will be adding some in due course. I had all the gearbox bolts done, most of the various engine bay brackets. For less than £50 it was well worth it.




At present I've opted for a standard spec shifter. Again I had the support arm vapour blasted and the shifter arm zinc coated. New clips on the way and a Powerflex shifter bush in the end to keep the shifts precise.




Fresh engine bolted up to the fresh gearbox. I fitted a brand new Sachs clutch to a standard flywheel inside.




And in she goes. All new engine mounts (correct E30 M42 hydraulic ones source from the USA), gearbox mounts and powder coated gearbox brace.








It now feels like the hard work has to begin with all the fine details that will make or break how good this will look when completed. I stripped, painted and rebuilt the throttle. I'll see how well it holds up and may do another thats been vapour blasted.






Next up was to rebuild the PAS pump. BMW still do a genuine rebuild kit so I ordered that and had the casing vapour blasted as well. I haven't fully assembled it yet but I'm excited to have it back together.






I won't leave it as long next time

[martauto]

Lovely stuff Rich
Sliding vane pump
Did the vanes come with the kit as well ??

Mart.

[rix313]

fitting the big visuals was the easy bit Now it is time for the details It has been a little slow going, I would go to bolt parts on then think, 'ah that little bracket doesn't look great, I need to get it powder coated' or 'I need to get these fixings recoated', so it all takes time. It's coming together though.

I went to do the throttle heater delete and found the spout from the head was buggered. I decided to drill it out, tap it and cap it. Process involved using compressed air through one of the openings and capping off as much of the cooling system as possible to make sure the swarf was blowing out of the hole I was drilling, Also hade a strong vacuum cleaner to help drag out the swarf.










I want the engine to look as standard as possible so I had the heater plate vapour blasted. I will fit it but purely just for show.






With all that sorted though I could start to assemble the inlet. Again, waiting on various screws and nuts to come back from the coaters before I can properly button up all the inlet and fit the airbox etc.






I finally re-assembled the prop shafter after having the joints replaced and fitted it up. It's a great feeling knowing the running gear is once again complete.




Lastly I fitted the Fritzsbits exhaust. I bought this exhaust 18 months ago because my other one broke while on my honeymoon. It turned out it was the touch paper for this whole rebuild so, again it was cool to finally be fitting it.




Next few steps will be to button up the fuel tank and the steering, then will be able to start it up

[Tzantushka]

Looking good and getting close...

[martauto]

Beautiful work Rich, keep the pics coming mate

Mart.

[rix313]

A job I had been putting off a little was to change the crank spacer pulley which was damaged when the engine was disassembled. Long story short I made a tool to hold the crank and borrowed a large torque wrench from work to remove the crank bolt, swap the spacer and retorque.






Once that was done I could fit all the freshly powder coated pulleys along with PAS pump I serviced and a Bosch reconditioned alternator.




And with the danger of twatting the fresh radiator with tools out of the way, I fitted the radiator, swapped a fresh fan clutch onto the fan and fitted the shroud.




Next I decided to do some more big visuals and for the valance and bumper. I will be sending the car to the paint shop again at some point but it’s nice to have it looking semi complete. I need to get new fixings for the headlights and give them an overhaul before I fit them.




It will be time to start her up soon