soon be show season.. so cleaning & new parts

[320iAN]

i thought i'd get an early start on some cleaning ...
took both bumpers off and gave the paint work a right ole polishing in behind them!





i only had time to take my E30 to one classic/retro show last year and i came away with 1st place for best exterior


i also found a little surface rust round the rear tow hook so i'll see about sorting that out soon

[adit]

proper cleaning! nice

[320iAN]

another little "show" addition, but also a badly needed addition!.. the brake discs on my car just made it through the MOT so bearing in mind my car is a standard 318iS and not a street racer (like all them big manly 6 pots ) i was going to just stick with standard disc's N pad's but after remembering on how well the brakes were on my Golf VR6 after i changed the discs on that i opted to go the same route with my E30
so ive ordered the same (as my VR6) grooved & drilled discs for front & rear & a full set of Mintex pad's, i know these discs don't make the massive improvements that the makers like to claim they do but there going to be far better than the worn-out wafers that are on my car just now and will look a little better on the eye at shows etc


personally i like MINTEX pads & at the price's of them on ebay just now make's for an even better buy

fronts: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 1789wt_829

rears: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 1298wt_862


hope to have thee ole motor in to the painters at the end of Feb for 3 very small areas for paint, then that should be it for a while

[Kemix]

Nice one Ian, nice to see you getting stuck in!

[ultralinear]

There's something very appealing about the top photo!

[320iAN]

just ordered the new discs & pad's on Wednesday night .. & look what arrived this morning!

shiny discs



& the company i used


just 2 set's of Mintex pad's to show up & i'll crack on with getting them fitted

[MurphyE30]

There's something very appealing about the top photo!

i have to agree

[320iAN]

"at last" the pad's arrived today


i'm gonna be busy in the morning

[Kemix]

Me and you both Ian! I'm painting my new wheels and packing my old ones ready for the courier in the morning. Have you got the discs on yet, or you doing it all at once?

[320iAN]

yeah mate, fitting the lot tomorrow

[Kemix]

Nice one, easy peasy job you will have it done in no time. Easier than finding a bloody box for a set of wheels, halfords don't have any I've ended up with 2 bicycle boxes

[320iAN]

most courier collection company's usualy just ask that each individual wheel is wrapped in either bubble rap or a black bin liner then heavily covered in brown parcel tape.. could you not have done the wheels like that for pick-up?

ive had all 4 discs off my car a few mths back so i'm hoping for everything to go well with the brake work .. i'm also going to strip the wheel bearings and re grease them while i'm at it .. not to mention wash & polish the back of each wheel just going to take my time and clean parts as i go along

[Sanchez]

Thats some serious cleaning behind the bumpers Ian, you deserve a medal for that. Do you know about Glamis?

[320iAN]

Thats some serious cleaning behind the bumpers Ian, you deserve a medal for that. Do you know about Glamis?

what dates are Glamis being held on this year? usually i'm away on holiday and miss it

[Sanchez]

9th 10th july.

Gray got a list on the RetroBMW site.

[320iAN]

cheers, i'll head over and add my name as a maybe ?

[Security2U]

Can i ask how did you remove the front crash bar.

[Sanchez]

2 torx bolts under the bumper between the number plate and indicator.

[Sanchez]

^^ in the 1st 2 pics at the top of this page you can see the 2 mounting brackets.

[320iAN]

Can i ask how did you remove the front crash bar.

2 torx bolts under the bumper between the number plate and indicator.

size 55T i think the torx bit was?

i had to remove my rear bumper via the 4 13mm bolt's, 3 under/behind the rear valance and 1 in the right hand side inside the boot. the 2 torx head bolts were solid!

[320iAN]

^^ in the 1st 2 pics at the top of this page you can see the 2 mounting brackets.

on one of the brackets (closest side in very top pic) there is also the threaded hole that the tow-eye screws in to, which is also part of the bumper bracket that the torx bolt screws in to

[Security2U]

Nice one thanks lads.

[320iAN]

fitted my new brakes today, heres the reason why!

front discs


rear discs


difference between new & old rear


fitted


just need to scrub them in now
also had to get a puncture sorted & then found my exhaust was blowing, my mate soon ran a quick weld round it though

[Kemix]

Nice work mate, old discs and pads are fooked! Looks spot on in that wheel pic I took your advice and used bin bags for my wheels, worked a treat, nice one. Also got all four of my new wheels painted woooohoooo You going to pod in July Ian?

[320iAN]

doubt i'll be at the pod, hopefully be attending a few shows in Scotland over the year though?

[320iAN]

my latest task was/is to tidy up my alloy wheels got sick of cutting my fingers whenever i washed or polished them due to the fake stud's (the chrome coloured coating on them was flaking & cracking and leaving some with razor sharp edges!)

so i set about them 1st with a set of mole grips and removed all 80 fake studs.

a wheel before i started pulling out the 20 flaking & crumbling studs


all 80 studs removed and binned!

i then set about drilling the holes out from 4mm to 5.5mm and then cut 6mm threads in to each hole .. which took me a while
some of the tools i used thread tapping drill & allan key for trial fitting new S/S studs


pic of new hole's in the wheel all tapped & threaded



the studs i might use? i cut one down to the length i need them to be



a few screwed in place



i'm unsure if i want to replace them with S/S or brass stud's??

[rrs]

Stainless steel in an aluminium based alloy will create electrolytic corrosion between the two, if you have ever stuggled with an ARB bracket in an alloy suspension arm this is the same problem. Exposure to salt will also help to speed up this process.

[320iAN]

thanks for the info "rrs" would brass be a better option or should i just refit alloy studs again?

[rrs]

I'm not an authority on the subject but do have to deal with it quite regularly with my work.

Alloy would be your best bet I'd think, if you have a look here it explains it a bit.

http://www.berridge.com/Preventing%20Electrolysis.pdf

Russ

[RustyRuss]

fantastic looking car mate keep up the hard work!