The E30 then went back to my mums to start the underside complete strip down to paint the whole underside and fit new/power coated components
First to be removed was the front hubs/struts so they could be powder coated
Had to use any space I could find, as space started to become very limited!
I then went to New York for just under a week for my girlfriends 21st Birthday, and the day before her birthday I proposed and she said yes! But anyway, the important part of the trip, I got a Red46 Sump armour delivered to my hotel!
And got it home safe and sound, and undetected in my suitcase!!
I then started building up my front hubs with all brand new parts, either Febi or genuine BMW with EBC brake discs
Fitted the air cups to the coilover struts
Started to paint the underside
I wasn't happy with the condition of the driveshafts and I wasn't paying BMW prices for a pair, so I imported some from the US
When frustrated that the rear axle was corroded to the body and i couldn't get it removed that night, I start poking at an area of my rear seats, it didn't sound solid... then this happened
I brought all my panels to my mums and slapped them on the car to make me feel better about the rust I had just found
Then there was more rust
Finally we got the rear axle off and then I started by cleaining up the diff a bit and removing the old bush
And this passed an MOT, how?
Front subframe and rear axle we starting to come together pretty well
Got the tank out and the car was looking pretty bare, and got another arch painted up
My dad came over with a welder and made a start on sorting my petrol tank brackets, what is really annoying is that these two brackets which both went you cant buy new from BMW, but the other two brackets that dont end up rusting you can buy new?
I also got many many wheels and half of my car delivered all freshly been powder coated!
My dad finished welding the top half of the brackets in
Then we found a jacking point that was just full of filler instead of being repaired properly!
Found more rust for my dad to sort out
Gave half the underside its first coating of underseal
Finally got the front subframe off
Decided to tackle the hybrid steering linkage that i'd need for the E46 quick rack I have and the DanThe shaft, after an hour or two I had it built up
I then turned my attention to the engine, I finally gave it an oil change, it had been sitting waiting for one for ages, but turns out I ended up just wasting 4.5L of oil, as turns out I have an oil leak, the car must of been running low on oil too as I decanted the oil that came out into a 4L container and it didnt even come up to the 4L mark!!
So new gaskets were ordered from BMW and I set about taking off the sump, unfortunately I couldn't get the upper sump off due to a 8mm bolt that was in too tight, and is still stopping me removing the sump now! so i think I need something welded on to get it out, I tried extractor sockets but its too small to grab on to it
I eventually started getting rid of some of my junk
Beautiful weather...
Got my dad to weld new studs in my manifold as they were all ruined and I had to remove the front section of my exhaust with the manifold as they wouldn't undo/cracked welded/destroyed nuts
Started on with my new tank, my original (second tank, replaced in 2001) was too rusty for my liking so I've got another, and its getting several coatings of underseal/stonechip the lot to make sure it stands the test of time!
I decided to clean up the connecting pipe for the two halfs of the tank
1 bolt holding the whole upper sump on, not happy
One thing I haven't pictured is that when I had the oil drained, I fitted my VDO senders for my oil temp and pressure gauges I got ages ago, and then wired them all in, at least theres been some positive progress with the engine!
Now it brings us to today...
I started the day by starting to tidy up the garage as I haven't thrown anything away, its all just been sat in piles around the garage
(I don't have a problem, honest)
Diff got all rebuilt today and fresh oil added, I seem to of miss placed my pulse generator cover though, probably in one of my many piles!
And got it mounted to the rear axle, and attached to the driveshafts
My pile of new parts nearly finished to be re-attached to the E30 once the underside has finished being painted and welding has finally finished
A much tidier garage than what it use to be
And heres a rough photoshop of how I'm expecting it to turn out (theres a lot more going on than what I've changed though and few hidden gems stored away to be fitted!)
Now that I've backdated a full year of ownership, I'll keep it up to date, I'm hoping to have it driving by June then it just requires its body respray, then I can finally enjoy driving the E30!
I've gone and bought some freshly refurbed BBS RM's to allow me to actually turn the wheels, standard 6.5" and I've gone for a set of Yokohama Parada Spec 2 in 195/50/15 so nice and beefy to allow me to have some fun when not on the showy stretched tyre RF's
