86 320i chromie project started

[barker246]

Hello everyone,

I've been visiting the zone for a year now and I finally got my e30 last month off kingludba (good bloke!). You will probably all recognise it from the classifieds.

Last week I finally got the chance to take a good thorough look at the car who has been named Herman. I gave the car a thorough scrub inside and out even cleaning round the door hinges and pulling the seals, carpets etc off. to get a good look.

I took the grill and front chin plastic off as well as the vents next to the wipers and gave them a coat of satin black or two so they aren't all matt black any more.

Looking closely round the bodywork the car is fairly solid. However there is rot in the following areas.

Front wings need replacing.

Rear arch repair panels need fitting which I have but don't know where to start with fitting them. There is also a bit of rot on one of the inner arches

Passsenger outer sill has had a bad repair done (needs cutting out again!)

Driver side outer sill needs seeing to.

Rear valance needs the filler on it stripped off to no doubt reveal some horrors.

A hole in the boot compartment on the right hand side 2" by 3 1/2" and the filler pipe cover mounting holes have rusted out.

Apart from that I'm chuffed to bits with the car.

I'm planning on doing the following:

Engine swap. Most likely M52 B28.

325i 51mm supension and brakes. I'll also uprate the struts and springs and poly bush the whole lot with a 40mm drop all round and eccentric bushes.

Refurb the 15" cross spokes which I've already started and fit 205/55/15 tyres all round.

Change the interior to a dark checked 318is interior although I will feel guilty taking out the navy houndstooth interior.

If anyone can suggest anyone good and reasonably priced for bodywork in the south please let me know. I hear Painterman on the zone is really good.

Can't wait to get the car driving right as its already so much fun already!








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First wheel just finished looks fine if a shade darker than the original finish!

Cheers

Rich

[bennn]

Thats absolutely lovely! Tis my dream car, retro looking chromie outside, modern feeling 325i underneath.

[keri-WMS]

Hmmmm, looks like Biggin to me! The place is nice and clean, so it can't be Avtech...too small to be Jet though.

Could almost be Avtech's bottom hanger if it's had a total refurb by the new owners?

Cool photos in any case!

[Alex]

tidy i nearly bought that car earlier in the year new inner and outer arches, front wings and some general tarting up it will be a corker

[keri-WMS]

Avalon?

[adit]

that looks like it's going to be a very nice chromie. good work on the wheels too by the look of it.
yes, Painterman is good. this is my Sport, which he worked on:

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=141505

he has been out of action for a while, due to an injury, as i am waiting for him to do some more on my car. i will speak to him and let you know asap Rich.
cheers, adi

[barker246]

Keri,
Yes its the Avalon Hangar. I guess the the black falcon gives it away! It makes for a handy garage. The boss lets me work on the car at weekends but I'm doing a c-check up at cranfield for the next month so don't get much time at Biggin. 10/10 for hangar spotting

Thanks Adi, Your sport looks great so far and had similar rust issues i've got. Now i've got one wheel done only four more to go.

I nearly bought the car earlier this year too but lack of tax and test put me off. It was really hard trying to get hold of a half decent chromie at a reasonable price!

[adit]

that's because most of them have met the crusher!

[keri-WMS]

Hehe - funny! Say Keri says Hi to Nigel if you see him! It's not the first car to see action in that hanger....

[barker246]

Ha ha,

Its taken us a year to get that hangar sorted out. I finally installed bearings into the rollers on the doors so you can open them one handed now instead of having to use the tug! Just been down to av tech to collect Olaf's Hawker with Nigel this afternoon.

How long ago were those pictures taken?

I'll say hello to Nigel from you.

[keri-WMS]

About two years back...

It's a small world isn't it - My 'lil brother Dom used to drive the yellow HydroTug, those doors were such a pain! You can see the tug in one of the photos, not quite it's intended use...

I've been up on the engines of VP-CPT (now MA-CPT) helping with panels in the past, and helped Roy re-fit the engine control module things - I was never happy with the anti-vibration mounts but everyone else was so what do I know!

Funny you should mention the doors, I keep seeing Quadmost Engineering down here and it always reminds me that they were never paid for all the welding to the top rails they did when Avtech went tits-up. (Peter owes me as well, not that I'm one to hold a grudge!!! )

[barker246]

I remember Dom, Its a shame things are the way they are at av tech as there are some good lads there. We just do Hangarage at that hangar at the mo as our main business is in maintaining BAE 146's including the ones at formula one. I'm off to Cranfield first thing tomorrow to work on G-LUXE.

There's a few lads haven't been paid for their work by Av tech still.

Take it easy Keri.

[goosiegander]

love this car

[keri-WMS]

I remember G-LUXE....G-FINK, VP-CAT, G-JBIS and G-JBIZ etc....those were the days!

Dom's racking his brains trying to work out who you are now!!! One of Bernie's lads?

I shot this one in that hanger:

[barker246]

Quick question,

Which gearbox would I need for an M52 conversion? I would like a good all round gearing. Hopefully below 3000 rpm at 75mph which should still give good acceleration.

I've heard about using a 318is box but would a normal 318i box be ok?

The cars still not doing much at the moment as i'm working in Milton keynes for a while .

I'll start buying some bits soon though!

[barker246]

Some updates but not much.

The halfords wheel silver I used for refurbishing the wheels was too dark so I bought some Vauxhall star silver which is much more like the original colour!

Been collecting parts ands just need two good front wings and then I can hopefully get the car into a bodyshop at the end of the year (fingers crossed). Thanks for the suggestions of where to get the work done.

Got some more pics of the rust

enjoy!



Wheel before



wheel after



Inner arch. exposed after I just pulled off poor repair patch that was really shoddy



Hole behind r/h inner rear wing in the bottom of the boot



r/h inner wing. you can see daylight through there from the inside



previous bodging again!



hole in the r/h sill



r/h rear valance corner, looks like its painted in hammerite!



l/h rear valance corner



l/h sill. nice bit of bodgery again. stuck my head in from the inside and all the old rust is still behind it!



Sufrace rust on the sill in the door shut



l/h inner wing, bad but not as bad as the r/h side.



l/h inner wing hole

Hopefully someone will be able to sort this out properly but I don't know who yet.

I'll get the bodywork sorted, then the suspension and brakes. After all that I'll start on fitting an m50/52 depending on cost.

[keri-WMS]

If it was me I'd get an angle grinder with wire wheel on it and find out how bad it really is - looks like a big job to me (and very expensive to have properly repaired, not so bad DIY).

[barker246]

Hi keri,

I guess I won't know the full extent until the old wings and sills are cut out. I know the work will be expensive but worth it in the end. The rest of the car is fine at least bar the front outer wings. A lot of repair sections are going to be needed by the look of it. At least i've seen worse examples get put right! Do you know anyone you can recommend for the bodywork?

[keri-WMS]

I'm not sure - down here in 'astings there's Sovereign Coachworks (£££), but I wonder if one of the race car prep places might be an idea (to get someone who's got pride in their work).

Not sure who though - there's Saxon near us as well.

[barker246]

Yeah I would rather go somewhere they'll take some pride in doing the work.