Josh's 328 Coupe - purists beware

Show off your pride and joy here

Moderator: martauto

Post Reply
User avatar
JoshH
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 153
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:00 pm

Mon Jul 13, 2015 7:26 pm

Well there's a large amount of fate involved here!

For years I've walked past and admired a white E30 coupe just 2 streets away from me! I finally decided it was time to drop a note on the windscreen asking if they'd ever sell call me.

A week passed by and I'd not heard a thing so had given up hope. Then out of the blue, I received a phone call from the owner! He'd been thinking of selling as he and his wife didn't need 2 cars any more. Turns out he was the second owner, he'd owned it 13 years the same as the original owner!

Result! Went to see it, few issues that need sorting, unloved paintwork. But the bonus was, on the whole it's rust free! Some surface rusting on patches of bodywork but arches seem ok, as does engine bay, floor pan and sills. The lower section of the battery box in the boot needs repairing due to rot.


It's a facelift, poverty spec, no sunroof, non PAS, carbed 316! Paintwork had plenty of green slime and stains. And was totally flat, no reflections. Nothing.

That's enough for one post, here's some pics!
Image

Image

Image
Last edited by JoshH on Sun Aug 14, 2016 9:25 pm, edited 3 times in total.
User avatar
JoshH
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 153
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:00 pm

Mon Jul 13, 2015 7:29 pm

The grime.
Image[/url]
Image
Last edited by JoshH on Mon Jul 13, 2015 7:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
JoshH
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 153
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:00 pm

Mon Jul 13, 2015 7:34 pm

So the cleanup started!

Snow foamed with a whole load of G101 in the foam to try and soften the grime.
Image
Image
Image
Image

To be fair, it did a bloody good job! I continued to de tar, fallout removal then clay a final wash and dry.
Image
Image
Paintwork was left in its completely matte state so I got out the good old DA and set to work with a blue pad and some Megs 205 here's some before/afters!

Image
Image

Here the top 2/3 of the bonnet had been done. Then second picture all done.
Image
Image
User avatar
JoshH
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 153
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:00 pm

Mon Jul 13, 2015 7:39 pm

Moving on to the actual problems with the old girl!

First up, the water! Previous owner believed it was coming in through the back as he thought only the rear footwells were wet...

I started the task of removing the carpet, which is a right pain with a broken arm and a carpet that must be holding 10 litres or more of water!

It was pretty obvious the water wasn't coming in from the back, but the passenger side bulkhead! Spot where the waters coming in...
Image[/url]
So I soon discovered the 'elephant trunk' or scuttle drain pipe totally blocked causing water to flood into the car in heavy downfalls, cleared that out and blasted the scuttle out a bit.

Here's the rest of the footwells (flooded), thankfully all in good order. That spot of rust on drivers footwell is solid. I chipped away the surface and its rock hard underneath. But will need sorting.
Image

Image

Image

Ps. Spot the speaker bodge!!!
Last edited by JoshH on Wed Aug 24, 2016 10:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
JoshH
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 153
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:00 pm

Mon Jul 13, 2015 7:43 pm

Parked next to my daily!
Image

Popped to see my mate with his E30!
Image
User avatar
MPOWERCRAZY
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 545
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2014 11:00 pm
Location: Birmingham

Mon Jul 13, 2015 7:54 pm

Cleaned up well mate, good work
Back Again From The Darkside Of Doing E36'S :mad:

Back With 2 E30 Projects :cool:
User avatar
JoshH
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 153
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:00 pm

Mon Jul 13, 2015 8:05 pm

Cheers mate! I was very pleased to see it come up so well to be honest, not perfect but a great deal better!

To carry on the updates:
I soon got tired of the sluggish 316 even with its Weber carb it was drinking fuel like you wouldn't believe! Plus it was pretty obvious that the bushes were all very wobbly, the brakes poor and suspension wallowy!

I decided I'd do a refresh of the suspension parts and look into putting an M42 from a 318is into the car to liven it up a little. However this came up for sale locally with an e34 sump already fitted, a deal was done and things suddenly went up a gear!

Image

Within 2 days I'd broke out the engine hoist and pulled the engine out in an couple hours - very few connections on the most basic of engines!

Image



Image
User avatar
JoshH
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 153
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:00 pm

Mon Jul 13, 2015 8:15 pm

The arch gap created from standard suspension and no engine was comical as demonstrated by my mate..!

Image

The next area to clean up and strip bits from..
Image

After a good lashing of Gunk and scrubbing
Image

Dropped the front subframe, rack, wish bones etc in one as all bar the subframe were for scrap!

Image

Cleaned up and undersealed both front arches, cleaned and painted subframe, new wishbones with joints, new 52mm struts and coilovers, new top mounts, mondeo drop links and wheel bearings. 21mm ARB from a convertible also acquired and fitted.
Image

Powerflex Black eccentric lollipop bushes
Image
User avatar
JoshH
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 153
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:00 pm

Mon Jul 13, 2015 8:34 pm

Engine was put onto my engine stand so I could strip it down, replace gaskets and give it a lick of paint
Image

Cams looked ok
Image

Engine covers I resprayed, took a lot of faffing to mask the pinstripes off tidily.
Image

Image

Engine stripped down and painted up - viscous fan removed, air con pump and bracket also taken off.
Image

New plugs were needed!

Image

I began re assembling the engine with new gaskets, thermostat and housing etc

Image
User avatar
JoshH
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 153
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:00 pm

Mon Jul 13, 2015 8:40 pm

You may notice the M50 inlet manifold fitted above, I bought one cheaply on impulse from eBay!

Image

In the meanwhile I stripped back the bay, etch primered it, then gave a few fresh coats of Alpine White

Image

Image

Image

Image
User avatar
JoshH
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 153
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:00 pm

Mon Jul 13, 2015 8:49 pm

Lightweight M20 flywheel fitted - this was the point I realised that the E36 flywheel bolts are too long!

Image

Meyhle HD 535 engine mounts arrived.
Image

Engine assembled ready to drop in
Image

Image
User avatar
JoshH
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 153
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:00 pm

Mon Jul 13, 2015 8:57 pm

Going in
Image

Image

Image

Loom simplified and taped up with C101 fitted
Image

Image

Clio brake servo also in place here. And my E46 purple tag rack with a corsa C steering linkage as I couldn't find any E34 UJ's to use one of Dans splined shaft.

A quick mock up with manifold and covers in place
Image
User avatar
MPOWERCRAZY
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 545
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2014 11:00 pm
Location: Birmingham

Mon Jul 13, 2015 10:00 pm

Great work! Loving the updates
Back Again From The Darkside Of Doing E36'S :mad:

Back With 2 E30 Projects :cool:
User avatar
JoshH
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 153
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:00 pm

Tue Jul 14, 2015 7:15 pm

E36 rad mounted
Image

Big arch gap now gone
Image

EBC Redstuff pads in the caliper said ready for the new vented discs also. I know I've not painted the bottom of the calliper :o:
Image
Last edited by JoshH on Tue Jul 14, 2015 9:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
brutus
E30 Zone Squatter
E30 Zone Squatter
Posts: 1616
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2015 11:00 pm
Location: east london

Tue Jul 14, 2015 7:26 pm

yes nice decent amount of info . well done mate !, all u need now is a coding plug , im waiting ! ha, thanks :)
User avatar
JoshH
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 153
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:00 pm

Tue Jul 14, 2015 9:25 pm

brutus wrote:yes nice decent amount of info . well done mate !, all u need now is a coding plug , im waiting ! ha, thanks :)
Cheers bud, sorry I will message you back now lol.
User avatar
JoshH
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 153
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:00 pm

Tue Jul 14, 2015 9:27 pm

Can anyone help? I posted this in the M52 section but thought I'd try here too!

Nearing the end of my loom install, all that's left is to hook up all the various power leads...!

I'd labeled up the one big red power lead running from the starter to the battery (that shares the same starter terminal as the alternator power)

But I have a few left over, 2 big uns that I assume connect to battery +
Image

And then these other 2 terminals, one has 2 wires in it.
Image

Anyone know where these connect up to?

Cheers
User avatar
Cypriotgeeza
E30 Zone Addict
E30 Zone Addict
Posts: 3024
Joined: Sat Apr 04, 2009 11:00 pm
Location: Under a bonnet somewhere..

Thu Jul 16, 2015 9:07 pm

Nice work so far man! :thumb: You've transformed that car nicely! 8)

Wish I could help with the wiring but only thing I can think of is fuse box maybe? or maybe directly to the battery?
Check my M30 build threads:
Project Frankenstein: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=194154
Headgasket: viewtopic.php?f=55&t=165704
Clutch issues: viewtopic.php?f=55&t=172482
Instagram: www.instagram.com/Cypriotgeeza
User avatar
Cypriotgeeza
E30 Zone Addict
E30 Zone Addict
Posts: 3024
Joined: Sat Apr 04, 2009 11:00 pm
Location: Under a bonnet somewhere..

Thu Jul 16, 2015 9:07 pm

Nice work so far man! :thumb: You've transformed that car nicely! 8)

Wish I could help with the wiring but only thing I can think of is fuse box maybe?

or maybe directly to the battery?
Check my M30 build threads:
Project Frankenstein: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=194154
Headgasket: viewtopic.php?f=55&t=165704
Clutch issues: viewtopic.php?f=55&t=172482
Instagram: www.instagram.com/Cypriotgeeza
User avatar
JoshH
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 153
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:00 pm

Fri Jul 17, 2015 12:15 pm

Cypriotgeeza wrote:Nice work so far man! :thumb: You've transformed that car nicely! 8)

Wish I could help with the wiring but only thing I can think of is fuse box maybe? or maybe directly to the battery?
Cheers man :) I'm really happy with how it is coming together!

With a bit of help and some guess work I got the power leads all sorted out!

So, as of this morning she's alive!!

Still lots to do, but I'm happy that I didn't mess up the loom and everything starts and runs ok. I was v worried about retrofitting the fuel tank and pump but that's all ok too :) I have a slight leak from my fuel filter at the tank but nothing i can't sort out!

[youtube][/youtube]
User avatar
JoshH
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 153
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2015 11:00 pm

Wed Aug 10, 2016 5:40 pm

1 year on things got well out of hand...

Image


Image

Thought fuck it and pulled interior out, got myself a nice seat and a rollcage!
Image

Image

New rimz
Image

Rebuild a 4.1LSD internals with fresh clutch plates and dog ears and an extra one thrown in. All into a new 3.73 gear set
Image

Made some studs, far easier to fit!

Image

Image

Had a custom made exhaust fabricated, it's about 50x too loud so new silencers being swapped in...! It's bloody light compared to the standard system.

Image

Image

Decided to go full Barry and murder the outside of it.

Image

Image

Mirrors and chrome window strips to do....

Paint is peelable similar to plastidip but far superior :cool:
User avatar
jasp
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 53
Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2009 11:00 pm
Location: brecon beacons

Fri Aug 19, 2016 5:08 pm

nice work, liking the flocked dash. Colour looks cool i probably would have left it white, but i have a soft spot for white ones :D
User avatar
pierce
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 226
Joined: Sat May 30, 2015 11:00 pm

Fri Aug 19, 2016 5:18 pm

Those wheels!!! What are they??

Also, who did the exhaust? Looks like a very neat job!
User avatar
brutus
E30 Zone Squatter
E30 Zone Squatter
Posts: 1616
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2015 11:00 pm
Location: east london

Sun Aug 21, 2016 11:42 pm

this is a brilliant update thread on ya car mate, 8)
MANY e30 PARTS FOR SALE.
( all models available )
& parts /glass for e21, e28, e34, e36,e39,e46


318i baur 1986 auto.
User avatar
Cypriotgeeza
E30 Zone Addict
E30 Zone Addict
Posts: 3024
Joined: Sat Apr 04, 2009 11:00 pm
Location: Under a bonnet somewhere..

Tue Aug 23, 2016 6:16 pm

Your car your way!! :evil:

Love it!
Check my M30 build threads:
Project Frankenstein: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=194154
Headgasket: viewtopic.php?f=55&t=165704
Clutch issues: viewtopic.php?f=55&t=172482
Instagram: www.instagram.com/Cypriotgeeza
Post Reply