'88 325i Touring #001 resto - 03/2012 rimz porn

[Rav335uk]

2 spanners is all you need for the master Rob.

[capri_rob]

Got 2 extensions - 1 is too short to get the ratchet on as somethings in the way, the other is too long as the ratchet fouls on the tunnel I just need more patience and a fresh crack at it.

Really don't fancy pulling a watertight screen thats been happily in place since 1988 out - sure I'll be fine getting the new dash in if I take my time and am careful

[capri_rob]

2 spanners is all you need for the master Rob.

Eh ?

The master on my car is held in place by 2 bolts into captive nuts - managed to get one off more by luck than anything else - its not possible to get a spanner on either unless I'm doing something very wrong

[Rav335uk]

Sorry, my mistake, that was for the pedal the master
I used a small ratchet and extension and did it all on the driverside.

[capri_rob]

Another £50 lighter at the stealers today



Brake pipe, pedal rubbers, new clutch reservoir as the old one is filthy, a few clips and the roof mounts for the dog guard load cover that I haven't even got yet

Also can't work this out - there appears to be a bulb missing from the far left of the cluster - is this right ? It all Illuminates OK and theres no warning light in that area

[kieran325]

I think that's normal Rob, I replaced some bulbs in JBU and I noticed the same thing.

[bss325i]

Screen out to fit a dash?!

Why make more work for yourself when removing or refitting a dash on an E30 is easy?

[leeparkes]

Does the temp gauge have a bulb if it goes into the red? like the fuel gauge does when you go into the orange, it could be what that space in the cluster is for.

Just caught up on this thread, good work.

[e30topless]

Screen out to fit a dash?!

Why make more work for yourself when removing or refitting a dash on an E30 is easy?

do you drop the column down baz?

[bss325i]

Screen out to fit a dash?!

Why make more work for yourself when removing or refitting a dash on an E30 is easy?

do you drop the column down baz?

No. No need and i must have had 10-15 E30 dashes in and out.

The last one was Adamski80's sport when i retro fitted A/C back in May.

In through the passenger side.

Need to do mine this winter as a crack has appeared!

[capri_rob]

Does the temp gauge have a bulb if it goes into the red? like the fuel gauge does when you go into the orange, it could be what that space in the cluster is for.

Good thinking Lee - that would make sense but I don't know - never had one get that hot I think the E36 has a red bulb when they overheat. Might put one in a holder when I put it back in anyway.

Screen out to fit a dash?!

Why make more work for yourself when removing or refitting a dash on an E30 is easy?

do you drop the column down baz?

No. No need and i must have had 10-15 E30 dashes in and out.

The last one was Adamski80's sport when i retro fitted A/C back in May.

In through the passenger side.

Need to do mine this winter as a crack has appeared!

If it comes out without taking the screen out it can go back in that way as far as I'm concerned.

Is there any sort of plastic conditioner you can buy ( a bit like leather conditioner ) which might stop these things cracking ? Heat and sunlight is the main cause of this Yes ? As mine is garaged that shouldnt be a problem but it would be nice to try and preserve the crack-free dash I've just bought as these will definately be getting rare over the next few years.

[capri_rob]

Big push today.

Discovered an E30 job I hate more than replacing the gear linkage - replacing the clutch master and slave cylinders

Sucessfully undid the slave cylinder end of the metal pipe and then had to unthread it from the bulkhead, then undo the reservoir and pull the lot attached to the master cylinder through the bulkhead.

Then had to fit the new slave with the braided hose - which conveniently is designed so that with the hose done up and pointing the right way so it doesnt foul the transmission tunnel you can't get the top nut on the slave - which was a bitch with the standard E30 hose

Eventually got it all in and done up after getting a load of dirt in my eyes and clutch fluid all over my head and t shirt

Then town325i turned up to assist with bleeding the system through, new reservoir fitted and job jobbed.

Then had to bend the new genuine BMW brake pipe to replace the feed to the N/S/F wheel and fit the braided hose, and then bleed it up - job jobbed.

Front of my house looked like a pikeys yard for about 4 hours - town325i decided to drop the coilovers on his golf so its now proper on the deck after we'd finished the mechanical stuff on the E30 - I predict he'll need to get a couple of spare sumps in stock

Then the valeter turned up and spent a good 3 hours cleaning the carpet and seats before he ran out of stuff

He's got to come back to finish the boot area and doorcards.

Won't get chance to do any more on it now for a week but will be throwing the lot back together first week in october.


So much win

You can keep leather seats - Sports seats in facelift grey cloth FTW

[DanThe]

You can keep leather seats - Sports seats in facelift grey cloth FTW

I hear you, anthracite cloth rules

[mercdriver]

Go on Rob! Made some serious progress again and them seats look really good dude

Got any pictures of Townsends golf ?

[Kedge]

Good days graft there Rob!

[brettski]

Wait till you see Marks Golf now Rob it shines!

[Simon]

You can keep leather seats - Sports seats in facelift grey cloth FTW

I hear you, anthracite cloth rules

I'm glad I'm not the only one.

I really like the anthracite cloth sport seats!

[capri_rob]

Quick update for today but didnt get round to taking any pics

Carpet is back in - what a fookin bitch of a job that was Had to enlist the help of 'er indoors and after about half an hours swearing admitted defeat and cut about 2 inches off the back where it slides under the heater box and up the firewall - it then went in

Then set about fitting the new un-cracked dash I bought off Ferg a couple of weeks ago - I had expected this to be fairly easy - how wrong can you be
Couldnt get the vent pipework to line up with the blower motor because of the loom that runs across ( the built in one not the one thats attached to the dash ) - had it in and out about 4 times then got it in and saw one of the vent pipes on the floor of the garage that I'd forgot to fit when I put the loom in. Turned the air blue for a few minutes and then ripped the fooka out again and finally got it all back in, ECU's bolted up, Instrument pod back in, new heater panel all back in and the buttons and clock back in and all working.

Seats, consoles & boot trim back in next, then new sunroof motor hopefully later this week then the headlining, then refit the sideskirts and potentially an MOT before the end of the month

[Duke137]

Glad you got the dash board in in the end mate, shame about cutting the carpet though dude it is defo a 2 man job, I think one person could do it but 2 makes the job so much easier!

Cloth seats rule mate

[capri_rob]

Glad you got the dash board in in the end mate, shame about cutting the carpet though dude it is defo a 2 man job, I think one person could do it but 2 makes the job so much easier!

Cloth seats rule mate

One man job with the heater box out of the way but I can't see how one person could do it with the heater box in situ.

I was tempted just to chop a huge lump out from under the heater box and plonk it in after the struggle we had so in the end cutting a rectangle 8" x 2" from right at the back wasn't a bad compromise - even with the console removed you can't see that its been cut - the only way you'd know is if you take the carpet out again - which ain't gonna be anytime soon

[capri_rob]

Quick update

Progress has been slow on the turd the last couple of weeks but I think the end is in sight

Old Tailgate



Rust Free new tailgate in diamondschwartz

Just need to remove all trace of the 4 pot wrongness it came from

Fitted the Tailgate struts I bought off danthe back in March today although they'll have to come off again to fit all the new inner trim.

Also finally gritted my teeth and swapped the drivers door today which involved swapping all the internals over to retain the keep-fit windows. A good couple of hours fiddly work and I have a good few cuts on my hands as a souvenir
At least I could do it in the garage with the door on the workbench rather than those jobs which see me lying under the car with dirt falling into my eyes

I'd been putting it off but this was the underside of the original door :


The "new" door is the right colour but has a couple of dings in it - no rust though.
Its back on the car - panel gaps arent quite right but it will do for now.

Also put a final coat of waxyol on the sills and re-fitted the skirts - think thats 5 coats of waxoyl now and have really loaded it onto the exposed jacking points.

Noticed a slight issue today with the front wheels - on full lock the tyre just catches on the front of the arch liner - as everything is new, correctly fitted and torqued up I'm guessing that this is a combination of the lowered springs and M3 eccentrics changing the geometry slightly ?

Could probably get round it with 50 profile tyres I suppose but think I'll live with it for now.

Headlining next weekend weather permitting

[Alex]

time soon passes when swopping the door internals over doesnt it looking good, will this be appearing at next years pod?

ive managed to get my wing and bonnet lined up spot on but ive given up with the doors i just cannot get them right, the painter car sort them out

Them seats look spot on.

[capri_rob]

Yeah hopefully I'll be doing Pod and Gaydon next year as well as the Midlands meets and the odd BMWCC event - I havent put any miles on the bloody thing this year so am looking forward to getting out and about in it

[Alex]

good stuff

[DanThe]

Tyre touching bodywork is an MOT fail Rob, but they usually test with the car jacked up so best to find out now

[capri_rob]

Tyre touching bodywork is an MOT fail Rob, but they usually test with the car jacked up so best to find out now

From memory yes my MOT place only checks the wheels turning lock to lock with it jacked up so shouldnt be an issue.

Could always remove the arch liner for the test

[DanThe]

Check the rack is centred next time you have the front end up in the air, count the threads on each of the trackrods or measure from the rack to the mount on the hub

[capri_rob]

Check the rack is centred next time you have the front end up in the air, count the threads on each of the trackrods or measure from the rack to the mount on the hub

Will have a look but the subframe and rack havent been moved.

The Pirellis I have on the front are the correct size but do seem a bit balloon-ish - might swap them to the back ones which are Falkens and see if that makes a difference.

[Duke137]

Check the rack is centred next time you have the front end up in the air, count the threads on each of the trackrods or measure from the rack to the mount on the hub

Will have a look but the subframe and rack havent been moved.

The Pirellis I have on the front are the correct size but do seem a bit balloon-ish - might swap them to the back ones which are Falkens and see if that makes a difference.

Rob even if you haven't touched the rack is there not a possibility it could be wrong via the previous owner? You have uncovered other strange happenings as to how the car passed it's previous "MOT"

[capri_rob]

Yeah point taken - it needs a 4 wheel alignment check anyway - I'll have a proper look at it shortly

[daimlerman]

Dropped a bit off to Rob yesterday afternoon and was able to check up on progress on this project.

How Rob has got this far working in a garage barely wider than the car is tribute enough to his dedication to the cause.That new headliner is very,very nice...and the seat repair needs a careful look to find.

Well done,sir!

[capri_rob]

Well after a full days grafting the new headlining is in.

Its not completely finished but its 90% Done - Black sunvisors from the bronzit in, all handles and courtesy lights in, 4 x screws round the sunroof holding it in place and managed to get the clips in the back in fairly easily with a little help.

Also fitted an additional grab handle to the drivers side in case I fancy doing a bit of diffin'

Have managed to create a bit more work though - managed to snap off the clips on both B Pillar trims, bust some of the tabs on the C pillar trims and the N/S A pillar trim I bought due to busting the clip on the original wont fit because its from a saloon - didnt realise they are Touring specific

Had to pack up due to lack of daylight but just got to glue it up around the sunroof aperture and put the sunroof mech back together and its done.

No pics unfortunately because I lost the daylight - but it looks the b0ll0cks

Jobs left to do before MOT :

Refit front wheelarch liners
Refit Stereo
Refit Tailgate Trim
Replace Rear Light Seals
Refit number plate lamps
Fit Drivers side front speaker
Refit drivers side front sill trim
Buy & Fit new number plates
Re-check and adjust handbrake mech after bedding shoes in
Check all the usual MOT stuff - lights, wipers etc

After MOT :

4 Wheel alignment
Remove Head, pressure test, renew stem seals & manifold studs & refit with new gaskets
Water pump,coolant, Cambelt & Tensioner
Oil & Filter
Plugs
Powder coat rocker cover & inlet manifold.

Can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel

[threelander]

tail gate looks good rob

[Kedge]

Can't wait to see pics of the black headlining, bet it looks awesome

Personally i'd paint the rocker cover and inlet manifold, i've seen powder coated ones and they just don't look so good. They lose all the casting definition and look a bit bland because of it.

[parkin10]