Ashley's Red 325i

[M3Jim]

Yes it was....a lot of my mates have fords! I thought I'd bring something different but ended up down the end of the car park anyway. lol

Your car looks lovely, I wish my paintwork was as mint as yours! Definitely need some bigger rims though. IMO

[Ashley1995]

Ah yeah it filled up quick, I managed to get in early.
Cheers! Yeah would like to get some different wheels at some point soon.
All comes down to money though!

I must say I think I had a little sex wee when I saw yours..

[JF008]

Any love for Yellow High Beams?

Hi , I couldn't find original yellow beams so made my own popping the lenses out and ''tinting'' the inside of each lens with yellow glass paint I found at my local craft shop. I made mine look light golden transparent ish so very subtle and it ties in well with the car. Can't tell unless you bring your face to it either.

Something to think about if you want to change to a more factory look.


Nice car otherwise

JF

[Ashley1995]

Good to note

Jim you going along to Jolly Farmer tomorrow? Theres a retro stance car meet on 12pm

[Ashley1995]

Well after a really good clean, detail and fluid top up I went to the RetroStance meet local to me, the only E30 there and came home with 3rd best in show!

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[M3Jim]

Only just saw your post! Well done on 3rd place.

[Ashley1995]

Quite a bit done over the last couple of weeks,

Got the following:
New Inlet Manifold - to paint and replace existing
New rocker cover Gasket - as I was painting the rocker cover I thought id replace this
New Coolant - gave this a flush so ordered new Anti-Freeze from BMW
New Thermostat - mine wasn't working
New Cable tidy
New Engine Mounts - mine were perished
New Intake Boot - mine had split
Couple of New Coolant hoses - one of mine had been rubbing the fan and was splitting.

Pictures and details to follow.

[Ashley1995]

First up was the Engine Mounts.
These were actually surprisingly easy to do.



Sprayed Inlet Manifold




Then Friday I had the day off work so swapped the inlet manifold over, replaced the thermostat, flused the coolant, sprayed the rocker cover, swapped some hoses and the intake corner boot.





And all back together




Then had a new custom stainless exhaust fitted. Manifold back straight through pipe to a backbox.



And got some pictures.

[Ashley1995]

Not updated this for a while, I have now installed an E46 clubsport steering rack but other than that have been keeping her clean.



And tucked away while I'm on holiday

[Ashley1995]

Not a lot has been happening recently, hence not a lot of updates.

I have changed the dash bulbs for a pair of LED ones as the light was pretty awful as standard.
I've also had two new front tyres, and the tracking done since I changed the steering rack.
Sadly due to be being so busy I haven't even been keeping it clean, its been about 3 weeks since it was last washed.

[/URL[URL=http://s1298.photobucket.com/user/ashle ... 9.jpg.html]

[Cypriotgeeza]

stripped it down and coloured the needles. kept me busy for an hour or two so all good.

Before:




After:

Hmm might have to do the same!

Gorgeous car mate!

[MPOWERCRAZY]

Wish i could do that to my engine bay! Really need to get my rocker & inlet sprayed or remove it myself :O

[Ashley1995]

Hmm might have to do the same!

Gorgeous car mate!

Do it, the small things make a big difference, Cheers!

[Lurch320i]

which bulbs did you use in the cluster? they look amazing and would love brighter dash lights

[Ashley1995]

which bulbs did you use in the cluster? they look amazing and would love brighter dash lights

Just a pair of SMD LED wedge bulbs i had laying around.
Not these exactly but very similar:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10x-NO-ERROR- ... 2a3ff99772

[AshB]

Lovely looking car mate. Making me want to sort my act out and respray mine.
Keep up the good work

[Ashley1995]

Okay so since the last update I have bought myself a daily. I wanted to keep this car as nice as possible and with the miles I do for work this wasn't going to happen.

I decided to get a diesel (I know!) and in July this year picked up a 15 plate 120d for everyday use.
The E30 went into the garage to be restored properly and looked after. I have started accumulating parts and stripping the car down. I have found some rust so this will need to be sorted.
I'll update shortly with my plans and some pictures.

A recent picture, and the new daily:

[Ashley1995]

I knew the car wasn't 100% perfect when I first bought her back in June 2014. I knew it would need some work to bring it back to it's full glory.
It had had a respray and some areas of rust had been treated but some other areas needed attention.

It begins:


I wanted to have the car off the road over the winter and fix up a few bits that needed doing, tidy up some bodywork and clean up the engine bay etc. I started by taking off the steering pump and steering rack.
I had installed an E46 Clubsport rack but since the pump seems to have been dying a slow death.
I cleaned the rack up and started the search for a new pump. I was sent one from another model as didn't fit with the mounting brackets I have. Still searching for a good 325 one.

Rack cleaned up and painted:


Slowly more and more parts came off the car, Anti-Roll bar, washer system, headlights etc etc.
I was sanding down all the bits of surface rust around the front end when I got to the front of the arches. Next thing i knew there was a nice sized hole....
The same spot on the other side is also rusted through but not as badly. Also beneath the fuse box will need attention as this was cracked and I have opened it up to find a nice hole here as well.

Front end stripped and a nice hole:



Some bits I sent to be sand blasted, I got these back and sprayed up some parts.

[Ashley1995]

Cut out some of the rust yesterday, I need more practice however! it's my first attempt at bodywork so I know it's needs some tidying.

Removed the wing to inspect it, and to give easier access. The bottom along the sill isn't in great condition. which is annoying because the rest of it is not bad at all. would rather not get a replacement as that would mean more cost spraying the whole thing... ideas needed





Since i have also removed both lower control arms and painted the anti roll bar.
Also noticed this... Normal or? I'm not sure.

[MouseRat]

I think I saw you going through Virginia Water a month or so ago

Is that engine oil in that last pic?

[Brianmoooore]

Perfectly normal to find a small amount of oil in there, and it does no harm. A larger amount of oil is indicative of a worn engine (rings, bores), or sludge under the rocker cover.

[Ashley1995]

Not updated here in a while and a lot has changed over the last 8 months or so. Although unfortunately the car is still no where near completed! I have sopied these posts from another forum so... here goes


Subframe came off. I started cleaning it up but then got bored very quickly and decided it was easier to drop at the sandblasters.

24 hours and some primer later.... its back.





Christmas meant slow progress on the car throughout December, but I have now got some parts and tools together to carry on.

Bought a pair of new lower arms, clutch slave cylinder ( that's going to be fun to fit...), steering pump and new rear lollipops.

Also got some Bilt Hamber rust treatment gel and under-seal, torque wrench, nut splitters and a rotary sander.(I'm hoping I can polishing pads for this?)

I need to get some sheet metal from somewhere to start with the welding as this is whats holding me back at the moment. Luckily a friend has said he would help out with this as I'm a novice! Updates soon! (I hope)

[Ashley1995]

The friend doing the welding came over yesterday to take a look and give me some pointers.

He said i need to do a bit more cutting and prep work. Also where there has been a repair before, on the drivers footwell corner, to cut the repair out and start again. be cleaner and a better job this way. Unfortunately I may be removing the wiring loom sometime soon too... I was hoping I wouldn't need to but i'll need some more room around the fuse box to repair a patch here.

Other than that iv'e got another (that's 4 now) Steering pump which is correct this time, so iv'e cleaned it all up and that's ready to go eventually. The front struts are off and iv'e started stripping them down ready to be cleaned/painted etc

All good fun


Spent all day yesterday on the car. Cut out more of the rust, stripped more down and pasted loads of BiltHamber gel over some areas.

Took out the interior to cut the rust out, and wrapped the seats in shrink wrap to keep them clean and that.

I've got the carpet out and the passenger side is wet, and the underside is stained blue..... This shows where the coolant leaks from then

Now on the hunt for some good front wings. Both wings are mostly okay but along the sill is rusted out.

[Ashley1995]

[Ashley1995]

Spent another hour or two on it tonight, applied a load of gel and spent some time with my new wire brush drill bits to prep some areas for welding
Today I've spent the day just stripping some more bits and prepping more areas for paint or welding. It's slow going, but progress is progress.

[Ashley1995]

Got my ARB polybushes on, and the roll bar installed back on the subframe. Glad I did this before it went back in the car. What a PITA!

Needs a quick spray over where so of the paint has come off.



I took last Friday off work to crack on with some bits.

Changed the sump gasket, didn't really need doing but having the subframe off makes this 10x easier so for the cheap price of a new one it was worth doing at this point. Also stripped the old bush out the 'lollipop' and sprayed these ready for the new ones. Alternator and brackets came off to be cleaned and painted and had a bit of a tidy/sort of parts and the garage.

[Ashley1995]

Like Triggerfish, Saturday I decided to have a go at pulling the engine.

Mine didn't come out, because I ran out of time. Mainly because my hoist was in a friends garage and my dad wasn't around (with his van) to go and pick it up. So I had to help a friend unload his trailer and then pop over to get it. It was about 11:30 by the time I started.

Although it is one bolt away from being completely disconnected.

Loom is all unplugged, fuel lines off, slave cylinder disconnected, gearbox and engine mounts off, exhaust disconnected etc. Lastly there is just one single bolt in the propshaft left to come out. Annoyingly it's right at the top of the tunnel...

The other night I also stripped all the interior, to start pulling the wiring loom out. A rather daunting task I'll admit.. The picture below shows some of the wires that were not needed. Luckily I didn't have someone else's dodgy alarm to mess with. Just this audio mess.

Spring compressors have arrived so I can finish stripping the front struts and get them blasted/painted/cleaned.

Today I went through all the paperwork I had with the car and took a decent look at what had been done previously. I've also kept all receipts etc too. Here's the pile...



Found this as well....


A list of what the owner had done as a service in 2010. Under 30k miles ago

Receipts are there to back this up too.

Pictures of course...

[Ashley1995]

Finally got around to getting the rear off the floor and onto stands, meaning I could spin the wheels bringing that final propshaft bolt so it was easier to undo. Now this is undone the engine and box is completely disconnected and ready to lift out. Although I will take Joe's advice and wait to get a load balancer.

Did have a little scare with the jack.... the screw to release the pressure was so loose the slightest tap and it unexpectedly undid, releasing the pressure and dropping the car. Thankfully only my arm was under the car and a jack stand was in place...Still caused some brown trousers.

And that is why we use stands kids....



Did a little more sanding and engine bay prep for welding... but I am so bored with spending time on this I moved on and cleaned up my front struts and springs instead. Look alright now after two coats of primer and a coat of black. Need another coat but much better.




Annnnnddddd.........







It's out!

[Ashley1995]

Clutch was swapped out over the weekend. That was a PITA but sorted now, did a bit more prep to the engine ready for paint as well.

Old vs New LUK clutch






Today, I pulled the inlet manifold off the engine, removed the injectors to send off for refurbishment.

Then I spent some time sanding back and painting various parts including the timing belt casing. Which Triggerfish kindly sent me as mine was broken. So thanks again Joe!

I've ordered the parts I need for the short shift conversion, and ordered a braided clutch line to go between the slave cylinder and the master.





Some goodies from BMW arrived this week. All the parts for my short shift. Plus some extras to make it all feel perfect again

[Ashley1995]

So the last few weeks I have just been mainly cleaning up the engine and ancillaries.

Iv'e painted a load of brackets and the engine block itself. Cleaned up the head, and iv'e dropped the inlet manifold off to be sandblasted. Once that is back I can paint it and then start putting things back together. Iv'e replaced the gear selector joint and installed the new Z4 shift and replacement bits. I've also started to paint the exhaust manifold.

Also then had a friend round to do some welding. Started off with the front arch. made up some plates, cleaned up the metal and spot welded them in place.

I now need to grind them back and make it look a bit nicer, but at least this side is now solid. He's left me the welder to have a play with so i'm going to practice and then have a go at the other side myself.

Halfway through painting the engine, Dipstick also painted




Had a busy few days getting a load done. got the other side of the engine block painted, painted the exhaust and the inlet manifold and some other small parts including the engine mounts, fuel rail etc

All new studs on both sides, new exhaust heat shields and gaskets. Manifold back on with new nuts and washers too.

It's nice to finally be putting bits and pieces back together rather than taking things apart.






Bit more work done on the engine this weekend. New injectors seated into the freshly painted fuel rail, fuel rail back into freshly painted inlet manifold and then manifold back onto the head with new studs and nuts. Also painted the thermostat housing and put this back on too.

Still need to sand the BMW logo on the inlet manifold and paint the rocker cover but it's getting there slowly. I went to Players at Goodwood this weekend and it gave me some motivation to get some work done on the car. I miss it!

[Ashley1995]

Brake servo prepped and painted




So the engine is coming together!

The last two days I've been cleaning and painting and replacing parts and putting the engine back together.

Everything is getting new nuts and washers too.

Starting to get some good progress now, shame the car isn't ready to take the engine yet.

New silicone hoses make a nice difference, shame the wiring loom is messy but I'll try my best to tidy it..

Pics!

[Ashley1995]

This has come to a bit of a halt at the moment as i'm kind of stuck until the welding is complete. I need to sort a decent mobile welder, Iv'e decided against using a friends welder as i want the finish to be top notch.

I have stripped the interior completely now and found my dash to have a couple of cracks in Nothing to bad but i may try and source another, although these are becoming hard to find.

I need two new wings so I cannot decide whether to drop the engine back in, rebuild the whole front end and then MOT the car and enjoy it a little, then just take it to a bodyshop to have the whole front end sprayed including the engine bay, or get the engine sprayed (by a mobile sprayer in my garage..) then have the wings done at a later date.

Parts are building up though, All new suspension parts are here and all new brakes excluding calipers as i can't seem to find any new ones for sale... Oh yeah and found more rust in the rear passenger footwell! Arggghh!

Now just to find some more motivation!

[Ashley1995]

It's been a whole 8 years since I last posted on here and about the same amount of time since I last properly worked on this car... A lot however has happened in that time and more importantly, over the last 6 months I've dedicated every spare weekend I could, to focus on getting it finished and back on the road.

Really, the work halted for a number of reasons. Lack of skill, ability, tools, finances and therefore motivation. I then changed jobs, moved house, bought other cars, had a big car accident and went through a breakup.
Finally though, I had some money spare and found the motivation to push forwards.

The car was fully stripped and sent to a bodyshop in March 2023. The owner was a friend of a friend, an older gent who takes time and pride in his work. He had the car for almost a year until it came home to me in March 2024.
The full car had an entire respray, in the original 138 Zinnobarrot. All bodywork repaired as needed, new front wings fitted and the underside re-treated in a new coating. Multiple panels had surface rust and corrosion that needed addressing, both doors for example. Repairs were made to both front corners of the passenger footwell, the sills, the rear arches were cut out and replaced, the list goes on.

Once home, I had a couple months away on business so work started again in anger in June. The work completed since then is too long to list, but primarily;
Engine parts replaced (water pump, timing belt, thermostat etc) and then re-fitted, all suspension replaced, brakes and brake lines replaced, interior re-fitted, glass fitted, wiring loom repaired and re-taped, body panels re-fitted, clutch replaced, gear linkage rebuilt (with the Z4 short shift mod) the list goes on.
Wherever possible I've replaced clips, seals, filters, hoses, o-rings, bushes, fuses, relays, bulbs etc.. All fluids are fresh and clean with multiple flushes of coolant and oil.

Once the engine was in and everything connected, we fired her up for the first time in 8 years. At first I had no fuel so replaced the fuel pump and primary relay which did the trick. She started on the key with no issues. We've run the car up to temp multiple times and it holds temps and pressures as it should.

Next steps then, left to do is a short list.
Bleed the brakes, re-fit the exhaust and prop shaft. Sort the tracking, check everything is torqued to the correct specs and then get it in for an MOT. There's a handful of small cosmetic bits I am not that happy with, mainly with the interior, but I am focussed now on getting it on the road, I can replace these parts later.

I'll add some pictures in the next post,

Cheers

[Ashley1995]

Some pictures as promised

March 2023, stripped and ready for paint

Feb 2024, bodywork progressing

[Ashley1995]

March 2024, the day it arrived back from the bodyshop

May 2024, parked next to my other BMW. Few items re-fitted and beginning to go back together.

June 2024, engine ready to be re-fitted

And being installed

Engine in