89 325i sport resto (work begins at last)

[Greeny]

Top, Top work fella. Lovin this thread. Makes me want to go out and fully strip the cabby and rebuild it.

[Steve]

well done, keep going m8, keep going !

giving me inspiration to finish my project

[tim-ix]

That's a 911 in the background I reckon. 964 Carrera 2/4 Matt?

Nice work on your E30 btw. I wish I had your skills but my welding remains firmly in the "bird-shit" category. Will you be making any bodywork changes while you've got it stripped or is this car staying standard? I was thinking of custom touches like door handles, fuel filler etc. I've not seen many people do these sort of things to a BMW as much as they do to VWs. BMWs seem to suffer more form the "throw Halfords crap at it" school of modding and it'd be nice to see what a bodyshop man could do to an E30.

[he30]

Looking good Matt, car looks quite tidy around the usual rust places. Good to see it moving on, almost wish i'd kept hold of mine, seeing what you can do, though happy with what i've ended up with!

Will call you later, with regard to our discussion. Don't think the insurance are gonna budge with price

[Templ8e30]

Looking good Mat, hope to see it on Sunday

Got to get a few meets in her this year.

Cheers,

Iain T

[wilkos]

Good work mate..cant wait to see the finished pics!!!

[beardymat]

good guess with the porsche but wrong model,some more pics at the end of this post.

got a little more done so heres some pics





thats the big bungs in the rear footwells,looked a little frilly so they were replaced.nice easy job, just remove old ones clean up edges of hole and fit new bungs and reseal







rewrapped the loom with fresh tape.used the original cloth stuff for a quality finish.looks better than pvc thats for sure.











one corner of the rear panel sorted.got the biggie to do next



and a couple for the spotters as promised (2 different cars btw)

[tristan325]

First one is a 996 turbo, second one is a 993 turbo. What do I win?

[beardymat]

almost! second one is only turbo bodied.

first one will be putting out @ 700bhp when it goes back on the road.its the testbed for my pals tuning company.

[beardymat]

another sunday spent replacing rusty stuff with fresh metal.

the piece i last posted grew a little after a bit of prodding resulting in me deciding to replace the battery box.got one from bmw but you have to buy the chassis leg section too which seems a little ott.also bought a pair of rear inner arches as they were shot also as in the following pics.the rear qtr panels themselves were good aside from the arches so ill just be doing localised repairs to the arches.it would have been quicker and easier to replace the whole quater panels and rear panel along with the inner arches but 16 years in the body repair game has taught me that no matter what you do you cant protect the seams of a car as well as the factory did.so whilst it seems you are doing things right, youre actually doing more harm than good.

anyway, heres some pics





































more soon.ive had the car for 2 years now so its good to see things finally progressing, massive thanks to the zone and zoners for the inspiration. should be ready for the paintshop soon so it shouldnt be long before this car see`s the road again. after that i will be improving things in a rolling resto fashion, already got spare bits to powdercoat ready to fit

[dimebag_from_hell]

Cant wait to see the car finished, lachs silvers is a great colour for it too, good to know its been saved from breaking

[bigkev]

what stonegaurd would you recommend beardymat

[bmwe30mtech]

What a fantastic thread, it looks like you are doing a top job Matt.

Keep the pictures coming .

[dazleeds]

nice to this moving forward mate

she looks much nearer the end than when i last saw her

youll be at some meets this year fella

[beardymat]

what stonegaurd would you recommend beardymat

personally i recomend 3m stuff,its just a little better than some of the cheaper brands.there is another one i use which is the better of the cheaper ones but the name escapes me at the moment

cheers for the kind words chaps,its nice to know people appreciate the work that goes into the car not to mention keeping the thread up to date.

daz, she WILL see the road this summer

[gcorky]

good work Mat, like the fact your are thorough ....must be chuft with your handywork.

[oly]

nice one , as has been said before it's good to see one getting restored rather than broken,

it has also given me a kick to start the body work on mine

[he30]

Come on Matt, pull yer finger out! time you had that rust bucket on the road!!!

Only kidding fella, she's looking well, can't wait to see the finished article

[Simon13]

Matt wow, your welding/repair work is awsome on the rear panel, rear arches

Do you still want this bootlid soon then? It's stored in my garage no problemo!

[beardymat]

"rust bucket "lol

thanks again lads,head is swelling nicely now

things are progressing nicely now, got the nearside inner and outer arch finished. pics to follow when i take the camera to work.just got to do the same to the offside arch this weekend and then with a few small bits of filler to smooth the imperfections itll be ready for paint prep.

could do with getting that bootlid off you si but still no clue as to how n when.

more photos soon,will get one with the inner arch removed from inside,looks a little odd to say the least.

[Simon13]

Well if all else failed i was going to bring it to Gaydon, but if u need before hand i will wrap her up the best i can and post and we can sort it from there?

[DanThe]

Where abouts in the country is your mates tuning company Mat? Is it Porsche specialist?

[old_skool]

Crikey Matt,

I had no idea you had this going on I've just rear through the whole thing, what can I say. We must be related surely

Tip top job mate

[Hyperion]

you doing a great job .. lots of people would have fragged her long time ago..

[DraX_E30]

Very nice work! alltou it's a -89, it's quite rusty ? never beed washed or just someone who didn't like taking care of the car in the first place ?

I have one myself, a 325e from -86 (Pre-facelift) and it's not even half as rusty! so I'm quite surprised how far the rust had come on you'r car.

(if you are interested, I'l post a link to it from a Finnish BMW site ->
http://www.btcf.fi/forum/showthread.php?t=101766 )

Notice the Maltese cross on the bonnet ;) (not yet finished, I've ordered a laser cut frame to the cross, but it hasn't arrived yet and not in the best state of paint either.)

[Jhonno]

Nice work dude!! Nothing like doin it properly, will be a credit to you once it is done!

[spook]

what a great thread, loads of good detail pics of welding etc, a craftsman at work, excellent, good work mat

[bss325i]

Been following this for a while now, good to see another sport saved! Keep up the good work fella!

[beardymat]

Crikey Matt,

I had no idea you had this going on I've just rear through the whole thing, what can I say. We must be related surely

Tip top job mate

lol

i can only hope to reach your level but i know where youre coming from

i suppose there is a lot of rust drax but most of it was covered by the bodykit so was never treated, its getting sorted now though with plenty of love so thats all that matters. im willing to bet that theres one or two sport owners out there in blissfull ignorance of whats going on but when finished i will know mine is not even thinking about going rusty in the favourite bits.

gonna spend a day on it today as i will be at ferrybridge tommorow so there should be more piccies for you photo junkies later

once again thanks for the comments guys, it keeps us going

[jonny3dogs]

looking good mat but be careful, you are putting so many new parts on your car it is in danger of needing a SVA test.

[beardymat]

heres another quick update

didnt quite get enough done today due to staying up late on xbox live

heres the finished n/s arch









the holes are drilled for the body kit and the first bit of seam sealer has been applied, will get plenty more before its done to keep the rust away.will also get a comprehensive waxoiling inside to keep it protected











spot the difference on that last one

its strange that the inner arches of a car are in such bad condition when the outers are still so good.only the lip and the first inch or so under the kit were affected hence the reason for localised repair only.

[DanThe]

Great work Mat

[hubble]

Looking good Mat. Keep up the good work.

Will be keeping a close eye on the restoration project.

[bss325i]

Any ideas when it will be back on the road mat? Would be good to see all these Sports together at somewhere like Gaydon?!

[beardymat]

Any ideas when it will be back on the road mat? Would be good to see all these Sports together at somewhere like Gaydon?!

its funny you should mention gaydon as thats what im aiming for as far as getting the car back on the road.it will be an ongoing project with continual improvements but on the road non the less.

a sport section sounds good,lets show them alpina snobs that we can be exclusive too, lol