The Diddler's Resto ** NEW PICCIES** 10/10/12

[DanThe]

Ratch prefers underseal? So you are a bodger after all

Barry, the original finish is incomplete, the beige is where they couldnt be arsed to paint over the spray on sealer properly, sealing it in with a coat of paint is obviously better and makes it much more water tight. IMO if they had been bothered to go that little bit further and paint the underside fully there wouldnt be as many rust problems, same goes for cavity waxing, on a whole the body protection was very poor, especially when compared to some VW's and Audis of the same period.

I think it looks great and has been done right to give a lasting finish

Dont be shy with the waxoil Paul

[Blitz]

Now thats what you call a mint E30.

[Kedge]

Looking great that is Paul, you about next weekend? Wouldn't mindpopping down and having a nose

[bss325i]

Barry, the original finish is incomplete, the beige is where they couldnt be arsed to paint over the spray on sealer properly, sealing it in with a coat of paint is obviously better and makes it much more water tight. IMO if they had been bothered to go that little bit further and paint the underside fully there wouldnt be as many rust problems, same goes for cavity waxing, on a whole the body protection was very poor, especially when compared to some VW's and Audis of the same period.

I am aware of all of this Dan, I just prefer an original look to certain things. I'm not saying its bad or looks shit, im just saying a dont like it personally but to coin a well known zone cliche, its Pauls car and whatever makes him happy.

[Royalratch]

Ratch prefers underseal? So you are a bodger after all

I meant I prefer a Black under finish, whatever is actually applied I don't know. red arches will look funny with arch liner covering half and the other paint coloured. Plus all the grime will make it Black eventually.

You can always go over it in Black at anytime so it's no big deal.

[Simon13]

Thats how the arches looked from my Red alpina 2.5 engined touring after i gave the arches a good clean. Thats clearly black paint over the red paint which is painted over the cream coloured underseal Who knows why they did this, a black stonechip/hammerite coat also?

Anyhow i like it Paul, theres some serious work gone to get it like that

[DanThe]

Barry, the original finish is incomplete, the beige is where they couldnt be arsed to paint over the spray on sealer properly, sealing it in with a coat of paint is obviously better and makes it much more water tight. IMO if they had been bothered to go that little bit further and paint the underside fully there wouldnt be as many rust problems, same goes for cavity waxing, on a whole the body protection was very poor, especially when compared to some VW's and Audis of the same period.

I am aware of all of this Dan, I just prefer an original look to certain things. I'm not saying its bad or looks shit, im just saying a dont like it personally but to coin a well known zone cliche, its Pauls car and whatever makes him happy.

So you prefer an insufficient undercarriage
Mine is standard and with no rust it didnt need anything except a bit of a scrub down and more waxoil, but if I were doing similar I wouldnt paint a floorpan anything but body colour regardless of what it looked like when it came out of the factory

Im sure when it is all built up it will look a lot better.

Wait till you oem homos see the rear beam

[e30topless]

Wait till you oem homos see the rear beam

I do hope it's powdercoated Red

[The_Diddler]

Wait till you oem homos see the rear beam

I do hope it's powdercoated Red

I'll get some pictures up tomorrow of the beam , medical advise, wear strong sunglasses.........

Thanks guys, it has indeed taken a fair bit of work to get it this far, as with all things what started of as a bit of a tidy up , progressed a little......

But i dont have to preach to the converted you all know how much time, effort and cash is needed when you take on a project car.

We all have different projects, minty mint OEM cars sports, iS's etc, rare Alpina's and Hartge cars, and of course those unasuming sleeper monsters.

Each of them is a testiment to their owners and their hard work and love for these old turds. Even the moredoors get a look in as well.

God i'm bringing a tear to my eye writing this sh*t

[Alex]

Chrome?

[e30topless]

Chrome?

Chrome?


C'mon paul where's the update

[Royalratch]

Sunglasses for a rear beam?

[spook]

Hats off to you mate, i dont know if i could be arsed to go as far as you have underneath, but i have been rather anal and sprayed/painted Fertan all over my turd this afternoon, sun roof drains included.

[B7]

paul, You got the part number for this?? 33111428238 by any chance? Also what was the cost. PM me if you want to keep it secret. Just thinking that buy the time I've bought a new bush and f*cked about fitting it, I could buy one of these!!!

[hennabm]

Looking at realoem the price is likely to be around £80 for it.
It does look good and it has also set me thinking......

[The_Diddler]

Pm sent Trevor

[Royalratch]

What's with keeping all these prices secret? They are readily available from BMW anyway and it helps zoners make decisions.

I'm going to do a full cost breakdown on my Resto as I think t will be incredibly useful and also good to compare costs from around the country.

[The_Diddler]

What's with keeping all these prices secret? They are readily available from BMW anyway and it helps zoners make decisions.

I'm going to do a full cost breakdown on my Resto as I think t will be incredibly useful and also good to compare costs from around the country.

No secret see below

Trevor

Yep thats the part number, as you know its a E36 Z3 rear plate with the bush, could be the same on others models as well...

With a bit of discount it cost £70.84, would you believe the E30 325i rear plate with bush (33 11 1 210 431) was £91.53, i think the E30 bush alone was about £36.00 (33 17 1 135 232). These prices of course inc VAT @ 15%

Worth it for another £35 quid Very Happy

[Royalratch]

It's lovely. When I can find a good condition 4.10 Med Case LSD I will get this for sure.

[Simon13]

And to think the much stronger Z3M diff bush is a mre 5 pounds more for those running higher powered cars

[B7]

And to think the much stronger Z3M diff bush is a mre 5 pounds more for those running higher powered cars

I know where your coming from but...... Did Alpina fit an uprated diff bush on the c2's? A Z3M diff back plate is significantly more than this. I'm tempted by this set up over a Z3M bush purely to save hassle. Z3 2.8's can handle this so I reckon my set up will be fine. I reckon this is a good compromise

[Simon13]

I'm thinking f**k the underside, it'll only get dirty again at the moment

[bss325i]

I know where your coming from but...... Did Alpina fit an uprated diff bush on the c2's?

None listed in the E30 Alpina parts catalouge.

[B7]

I'm thinking f**k the underside, it'll only get dirty again at the moment

I've just had this conversation with Paul. I'm not going this far. I stated 5 years ago when I bought it that "I'm not going concours with this one". And I'm not. It drove me mental. Hit a bit of rain on the way home from a show and spend the next 3 weeks cleaning it back to show condition??? No f*cking way mate!!!

[The_Diddler]

I appreciate what your saying about the underneath, having it in this condition underneath will not bother me when it gets wet, because it will, it can always be cleaned at some stage.

Plus i thought if i'm doing the whole car, why not have a stab at underneath, at least i wont be doing it again anytime soon.

I didnt do it for showing, i did it because i wanted too, i have never done this kind of stuff to a car before and thought it would be fun, i am enjoying every minute of it as well, learning as i go.

[gooner1]

Hat off to you Paul. Tbh , if i had a garage , i,d do exactly the same through the winter.

[DanThe]

Also, if you didnt do it, it would only get rustier and tempt the MOT monkey to poke it with a screwdriver

[B7]

You know? I had a thought today. Mine, underneath, is really good. All i've found so far on this job is a bit of flaky underseal on the nearside and a small bubble around the fuel filler neck bracket where it mounts to the inner wing. So whys it so good at 106k miles?

I reckon it's because in the 5 years I've owned it, it's got wet fewer times than the number of fingers on one hand. Apart from the washing of course. Before that, the guy used it sparingly also.

Were all e30's this good 5 years ago and by them seeing regular use and salt, has created havoc??? I'm all for using the car but maybe it's a point worth thinking about?

[Rav335uk]

I didnt do it for showing,

Liar

[DanThe]

You know? I had a thought today. Mine, underneath, is really good. All i've found so far on this job is a bit of flaky underseal on the nearside and a small bubble around the fuel filler neck bracket where it mounts to the inner wing. So whys it so good at 106k miles?

I reckon it's because in the 5 years I've owned it, it's got wet fewer times than the number of fingers on one hand. Apart from the washing of course. Before that, the guy used it sparingly also.

Were all e30's this good 5 years ago and by them seeing regular use and salt, has created havoc??? I'm all for using the car but maybe it's a point worth thinking about?

This is true, E30 body protection was very poor IMO, especially considering how well they are put together/sealed up etc
As you know mine has spent 99% of its life clean and garaged and it shows.
My old 4 door had a few flakey bits underneath when I bought it and I used it come rain, shine or snow for over 2 years, it lived outside and never got dried out properly in winter, the extra water/salt certainly finished it off

[The_Diddler]

Little update for you

Pictures of rear beam, ermmmmm.............



Oh and modified for adjustable camber and toe



All three of the metal circular bungs found in the rear passenger footwells and spare wheel well were absolutely fooked.

Here's the best one of the old crap against a nice newly painted one, these bungs didnt look to bad on first inspection, but the factory underseal around there was goosed and was letting lots of water in over a long period of time i would say, one gentle nudge with a screwdriver and it was all over.......



Hole prepped for new bung



Ready to go in



Seam sealer applied, i put a ring of seam sealer around the hole first to bed in the bung, twist in, then apply the rest of the sealer, both internally and externally underneath as well, simple....



One of the boot as well all finished ready for primer and top coat...



Picked up a crate of parts from the dealers on Christmas Eve.......



With a few goodies inside, some teasers for you, cant be arsed to photograph all the parts, would be here till next new years eve.





Nice new lights, i did get full sets of course.........





B12 Bilstein suspension kit arrived just before Christmas as well...



Thats it for now, will be back in the garage tomorrow for a bit, need to paint over those bungs

[Royalratch]

Niiiiiiice.

I thought side repeaters were NLA?

[The_Diddler]

Niiiiiiice.

I thought side repeaters were NLA?

Nope got both, dont know how many they had, but it was Uk supplied, didnt have to get them from Germany

[Royalratch]

Order placed via email! Dude, you HAVE to show all the parts man - parts threads are hot right now!

[kieran325]

Niiiiiiice.

I thought side repeaters were NLA?

Nope got both, dont know how many they had, but it was Uk supplied, didnt have to get them from Germany

I got the side repeaters from the dealer this month and the indicator lenses, scuttle vents, washer nozzles, door handles and every item that can be replaced on the outside.

It's all there still from the dealer