Worlds longest Resto, my C2 2.7 19/3/18 Vent guage action

[B7]

Si are the Alpina discs groved? I am wanting to replace mine but not sure what is on mine now. Could do do a pic of them for me please when you get them?

Not grooved. just bigger diameter.

[Royalratch]

What's wrong with the original engine?

[Dezzy]

I have been watching this thread since the start.
Amazing work. My hat is off.

Not really my thing normally, but anyone can see it's a top draw effort.

[Simon13]

Thanks Dezzy,

Onwards as they say.....i was never planning on fitting Air con as some know but thats all changed and a welcome extra £1000 to the build to fit and all the aggro that goes with it like fitting the loom to the fuse box hehe!

Anyhow i've had to strip the front down as my valance and spoiler were non A/C items.




This pained me!





A/C one on carefully does it, holes drilled for new spoiler...





Spoiler on trial fittage complete, we wasn't that easy it never is but we're there. So alll that lot back out





Good time to fit this, A/C electric fan and condensor






Condensor in, i thought at first i could fit the lot in 1 go, alas this wasn't the case!





Fan in, and 2 side bits of plastic to channel the air through the rads, its different to normal



So there we have it, i'm off to Barrys to get the spoiler,valance,boot spoiler and brake ducts painted. So the show can continue, as there are lots more parts that can be fitted then!!





Both fogs new! one was bought for a bargain £20 off andyboy the other i had to take it hard from euros


Engine will be all explained again once i've found a few grand to hit it properly, it had led a very hard life and had more than a few donkeys working on it. Ideally we'd crane the touring engine straight in!






Felix here is a standard 2.5 disc on the left and the alpina one on the right

[oguz327]

Keep going Stainrod!

[Felix79]

Thanks for the pics Si

[B7]

Epic. It's coming along now.

I'll get them brackets plated up for you ASAP.

[dimebag_from_hell]

This is just unreal!!

Simon, if you don't mind me asking how much has it cost you so far?

I know these restorations cost a fortune but just how badly has it hit your pocket?

[beardymat]

I always had a feeling you would go back on the A/C especially now the weather is hotting up. I had my south african moredoors A/C charged up to test it before i pull the climate control heater box out for the M3, glad i did this weekend i can tell you.

One tip for you simon in case you havnt already done it, replace every seal in the system especially the ones into the expansion valve before fitting it, i had to do this whilst it was fitted in the sport with the dash in and it was a grim task. It paid off though as its still running cold three years later.

[DanThe]

Nice one Si, I was fitting all the aircon stuff back into the front end of mine yesterday, you can get it all in from the engine bay if you need to. One thing I have done this time is get a load of waxoil dolloped around the condenser frame as they go rusty quickly, even new ones, the one I took off was only 3-4 years old but had gone through a couple of winters which is obviously the killer.
Grease around the fittings and seals is also a good idea

New fan?

[Simon13]

I've not added up costs, i've very large folder of reciepts about an inch thick now literally. But theres lots of stuff bought cash, so i'm never going to know the real cost as i've not made a point of keeping an eye on it

Good tips, thanks guys. I've been told to replace all rubber seals on the A/C system so thats what i'll do.

Dan the condensor doesn't fit very well imo. Not like the old OE bmw one i've got here. Its in and acceptable but its no BMW fit. The fan i've just cleaned and back to blacked it!

Anyhow met Barry earlier so the panels are off for paint.


When i got back i had another rummage,



This is the missing grommet i was waiting to aquire! This one i got off a breaker. Now the Alpina vent guage loom has a proper groomet to fit through the bulk head. This one had a part no. on it. Came up on RealOEM as used on the battery bits on a Z1 I've jotted it down for future help.





Miles of loom with not that far to travel!




installed through bulk head





Which led to this, alot of looms added now! Alarm,cruise,vent guage. But its now complete so i could begin to clip it all in and run as it left the factory or try!





All finsihed for now, thank the lord i've got the touring here for referance. Having at least 1 more e30 around has helped alot so far




With the looms all in finally i could start on other bits ie finishing the front to real brake line and fuel lines. This is some gay reducer valve fitted to stock cars. Alpina fitted the one on the left which B7 kindly replated for me. Also the pacerpete man gave this to me some time ago so thanks there




Alpina thought it a waste of time so its just to join the 2 brake lines bascially. I drilled out the stock one for the C2 touring, as you can't buy it on its own.





All done, pipes all clipped in and the "valve" fitted.





Which finally let me fit the servo. My thinking has been its alot easier to fit all the other parts and fit this last. Why struggle?!

This is a really good original from my old 4 door optionmiester. Its the best one i've ever come accross and again i've just cleaned it. Most are quite rusty now so its a hard part to find in good conditioni





Just a little touch here, but these are often manky now. If you buy new from BMW they come in that horrid silver sh!tty finish and with a torx head instead of a phillps.

In short Trevor again replated some originals. Nice little touch thats makes all the difference!

So there we have it, more to crack on with 2moro in the lovely weather!

[Alex]

Great work

AC will be bliss on days like today

[B7]

[Simon13]

The sun shone and the 13's grafts in the heat!

After getting my arse kicked on COD online this moring it was time to pick up the spanners!




Thought i'd add all the relays in and match all my fuses up. only 1 spare spot! and to finish it off a nice minty fusebox lid with no broken tabs






What a nice day in the southeast, a nice day for some front end overhaul action?





Heres the old sh!te its been rolling about on these past couple of years






Stripping it all down, getting hot now!






Disaster strikes! f**king 17mm bolt just snapped off. Oh joy just what i wanted.






After a wiggle about i just cut the f**king thing, it was all rusted up to buggery!





It just unwound out once the subframe was smaller! so a huge sigh of relief. Onwards and upwards then







Morsel stash awaits!!







Strange looking at this now huge hole in the bay, we'll have the donk in and running by 6pm






subframe in new engine mounts with cups in also






Anti roll bar was up next. its a 22mm H&R one





I changed all 4 rubber boots for good spares on all the ball joints, plus another clean up





little idea here, seeing as ali and steel bond together over time i'm fitting this little rubber spacer to see if it helps long term to stop this. You can see the corrosion from before on the wishbone. It can't hurt.......





bowl of boiling water and some lube and where bushed up!





wishbone on





steering rack on........




Don't forget this heatsheild kids, Always missing on E30's now!





A front strut, those with a shapr memory will know i already built these right up! Well i've since robbed the wheel bearings for other E30's





So dust guard back on




Wheel bearing!
I'm usings B6 dampers with H&R cupkit springs, the fronts are 60mm




Strut bolted in




Offset alpina topmounts of course, these increase castor AND camber, they can be adjusted but i think i'll leave them as is. I was robbed £130 EACH! with discount hey ho





Drop link and all its garb on





manky alpina disc i know, i'm waiting for the pound to rally more against the euro before i buy some new ones!





All the caliper parts ready to go





Abs sensor cleaned up





Carrier on





rubber grommets on the caliper along with ABS sensor







Caliper on with pads. Plus the braide brake line So one half done and buy now a flagging 13 in the heat





fast forward and this side is also jobbied! nearly ready to drop her back onto the deck!





Cleaned up the steering UJ along with a new bush and bolts






Off the stands and about a foot lowerish!





Check the front wheel camber even at this height! starting to look like a car now. It will certainly go round corners now

So all in all an Epic day with some moral support from Oz today

[Cook318IS]

this is such a nice car! I never knew about the alpina topmounts being adjustable though. Certainly coming on nicely

[Simon13]

The original Alpina mounts on the touring aren't, but these are for some reason, i'm not sure why

[e30topless]

Si you Hero ! this coming along nicely

[Royalratch]

Alloy wishbones...

[Blitz]

Diamond black shining in the sun.

[Simon13]

The pollen is really coming down at the moment, the car is covered in it. It gets everywhere!

Sunshine really brings out the flake in the paint

[spook]

Nice clear photos young man, nice one.

Ive learnt a lot from this thread, not only that but its given me the confidence to do work on my own car

If a brickie can do it, then so can a chippie

[B7]

60mm you council coont!

Looking the nuts si. Those last three shots? starting to look like a car now.

[Royalratch]

Man all those clean underbelly parts are so lush - I did my my whole front end plus E36 rack and it's very satisfying knowing you;re rolling on new hardware - obviously didn't go to these lengths tho - rad.

[The_Diddler]

Fantastic progress Simon, great attention to detail as always, really coming on now

[pacerpete]

No doughnuts !

[DanThe]

If you want to stop the bolts/brackets/wishbones etc corroding together then give them a coat of grease or get the waxoil brushed on before assembling

New disks? Zinc plating is the way to keep them nice

[Royalratch]

Won;t the Zinc rub off soon as you start using - or are you talking about long term storage of new discs?

Or are you talking about the outer edges so even in use you don's get the crusty perimeter?

[Dezzy]

Won;t the Zinc rub off soon as you start using - or are you talking about long term storage of new discs?

Or are you talking about the outer edges so even in use you don's get the crusty perimeter?

Crusty perimeter Ratch. Nobody wants a crusty perimeter

[bss325i]

My my aren't we coming on in leaps and bounds!

[glenn]

one of my favorite threads on here.
i always enjoy reading the latest updates

[winx]

well done big fella motoring now
Must pop round soon to have a look see

[Simon13]

I assume on the plating that it just wears off the discs Dan?!

Anyhow last monday which was nice and hot involved some more A/C fettling........................



A/C heater box, theres 3 little rubber pipes that come out of here and they vent/leak into the trans tunnel so we need 3 holes drilled





Something valve? evapourator well its not rusty so i can use this again i think but i digress. The box has to be fitted to the car to mark the holes to be drilled





Now this hole is set out for you in the shell, like many other bits on an E30 like ski hatch hole it comes out with a good slap with a hammer and socket extention, blunt force trauma its called




Marking up 1 of the other 2, same thing on the other side






There we go, next bit was a touch up of paint, don't want it to rust!




Heres where the drier fits so more trauma.........




A hole!





Here is where another one is to be bashed out. The pipes from the box feed through here and connect to the engine bay pipework





Bmw being the thinking chaps they are leave the markings for the cut out if A/C is fitted so you just cut it to shape easy with a knife





Smae on the inside, if your wondering why this doesn't look brand new its because its NLA so the original had to be used, its never seen but........




Done for this evenings tickering. I had to wait for parts to arrive.....

[Simon13]

Here are said parts






Picked these up off Adam on Sat whos done a great job again. He's they guy who painted the rest of the shell. New spoilers to come!





ABS pump, i took this out and ordered a new bracket and found some more new bolts and bits, titivating it!





Plumbed all back in, this is a job where another E30 to hand is very hand for reference as i'm sure you can imagine!






A/C pipe and new rubber O-ring, you have to measure and order these on their own. One is 11.1mm the other 7.6mm or something.





Fitted up, not quite like i wanted but my main dealer only ordered in half of what i wanted literally, so you ask for 2 get 1. Boring





Last of all some minor repairs to the lighting loom and washer fluid level plug, all soldered and taped. Ready for the valance to go back on!

B8llocks to refitting the horns and OBC horn i can do it later me thinks, we shall see on that front!






refitting all the clips and bits back on, lots of them!





Valance on





bumper back





Now, its all easy on the pictures but it takes alot of pissing about and adjusting,fine tuing to get all the panel gaps spot on again. But its fun in the same way just patience until its right. I think the bumper only came off twice!




New oil coller grill back in






fogs and brake ducts





These were cheap new so i just had to!









Kidney grill!





before the new lights went in i greased ALL the adjusters right up, my fingers arew sore but its worth it long term and the amount they cost!





winking at ya!





getting there and onto the grills







Again a huge amount of pissing about getting all the lines right, this is how this side finished up. I think the headlamp came out 3 times only!






Twas a special moment pulling this bad boy out, i've had this for over 2 years waiting for this!!
The nuts on the back are imperial?! and on the original also, 7/32 is the size for some useless info




On she all goes!!






Bonnet shut, but one last think






The mo fo plate chamones




this is how i get her in and out now! the old boot seal through the towing eye. The car is getting seriously heavy to pull push about without causing damage leaning on panels




This is what greets me now when i open the garage side door, 100% better than before

A sepcial point i feel and now looks like a car or not far off so i'm very happy!

[E30BeemerLad]

Epic mate

[Dezzy]

What he said ^