My 325i Sport M-Tech 1 restoration beginning.

Tue May 23, 2017 9:54 am

Thanks Brutus!

I can't see why not

May come and see you for a few parts sometime.

Thu Jun 01, 2017 3:23 pm

Quick update with a question if anyone has any ideas.

Today it was picked up and taken away to be put on a jig and straightened. The car has a cat C marker. So the car didn't align properly at the front as the main chassis is ever so slightly bent from what must have been a front end collision, as both front fenders are aftermarket (both now in the bin).

My question is. Once this work is done and the car has been fully bought back to its original straight self. Would people consider the cat C marker gone (I know you can't literally get it removed) But, all of the damage will be undone in this restoration process, starting with this. Let me know what you think.

Smudge as always over seeing operations.

Thu Jun 01, 2017 4:54 pm

as u prob realize,Cat-marked cars will always put some folk off,but there will be other people prepared to look past problems like this,especially as these models get rarer.

try to get the bodyshop to write up a job-sheet for you,including a couple of paragraphs detailing what they did,measurements etc.,to show to buyers in the future.

my car too is a Cat. C,due to a crunched wing in 2012,but the heavy-ish front-end prang it had at 4 years-old is unrecorded.

Sat Jun 10, 2017 2:30 pm

Wow, got lucky on that first one.

Thanks for the advice, I'll do just that.

Sat Jun 10, 2017 2:43 pm

So I went to see my car on the jig today. Discussed the best options for the shell and we've decided to go with a new front panel. I've been told the one on there at the moment is scrap. It's a pattern part, its heavily bent, I've never had straight panels at the front and it has broken spot welds from the crash all them years ago.

The front end collision this car had back in the day, must have been quite serious. The jig only aligns in one place at the front.

It's okay! I'm doing all I can right this moment to source an OEM front panel (BMW parts closed till Monday

). I need it asap as these brackets the car is on, are hired out on a weekly bases

All in all its good to see some real progress on the poor old girl.

Sat Jun 10, 2017 6:24 pm

my car probably had something similar happen to it- front wings,bonnet,front-panel,bumper all replaced,as well as top face of n/s chassis-leg. Unusually though,the original rad-support crossmember thing is still there even though everything surrounding it was changed.

Sat Jun 10, 2017 9:01 pm

Well done and a great effort in saving another sporting 80's BMW ... here's a couple of pictures of my 89 Tech 2 - we replaced every panel bar the roof and drivers door - it's on a low loader heading off to be refitted after the body restoration - keep your patience - its taken time and a lot of money and i'm still a year away from being finished .... but i'm sure will be worthwhile.... Good Luck

Sat Jun 10, 2017 9:40 pm

That is odd biffer, do you drive yours daily then?

Thanks Hill, very inspiring to see such a major job being done on the same car. Totally worth the time and the money. Especially if you plan to keep yours for a long time.

Do you have a thread where I can keep up to date with yours? If not, would be cool to see you start one.

Cheers guys

Sat Jun 10, 2017 9:49 pm

Following this... If i was only as brave as you and had a garage!!!

Andy

Sat Jun 10, 2017 10:15 pm

Cheers Andy. I haven't started the hard bits yet! we'll see how clever it is to be brave when I start putting it back together

Have a good friend with a big garage, very lucky.

Steve

Sat Jul 08, 2017 10:00 pm

Got the car back! All straight with a new OEM slam panel.

I've been getting on with restoring all the engine parts to get that complete before I move onto the daunting body work. I have invested in some pro'ish paint equipment and much 2k paint to ensure a long lasting protective coating, that also looks great. Also made a temporary blasting cabinet to remove the decades of dirt.

Wrong colour and amateur painting mistakes that need rectifying.

Heat resistant satin black on the block.

Very recently I have also gotten into electroplating all the parts that need it. I'm starting with this crappy set up but will make a permanent setup soon. I need this ability forever! Its like going back to science class, but its great fun and very satisfying.

This is what happens if you passivate for to long and don't clean the part correctly (part on the right)

Waiting for blasting and etching funds, but I'll get on with some bodywork in the mean time. Updates to come