few powder coated bits

[polsta]

seeing as powder coat is all the talk, heres some bits i picked up yesterday, the bumper had the usual rusty flakey business in the back, so had it all bead blasted and powder coated , and then its being painted in lachs with the car, so will be good for many years to come and a durable under coat and any nicks etc im hoping wont show easily as it will be silver under the silver paint

getting all new bolts etc to re buld the bumpers





brackets done too




the back of the bumper was quite rusty and flakey, brand new now



head lamp casings bit dusty but are like brand new, very pleased, going to be nice rebuilding the units with all new fittings in to these

[Rav335uk]

You keeping the prefacelift lights??

[polsta]

..why would i not ?

[Rav335uk]

..why would i not ?

Light out put Karl.
That's why you should change them.
Not smilies, but Bullseyes.

[DanThe]

When are you grafting on a tech 2 kit polsta?

[Morat]

Bullseyes take HIDs

[polsta]

..why would i not ?

Light out put Karl.
That's why you should change them.
Not smilies, but Bullseyes.

want to keep it original, never had issues with driving at night before, and did a lot of it, its been fine for 25 years and will be fine for 25 more

is it not possible to just change the actual lamp units ? rather than the whole sherbang ?

[bss325i]

..why would i not ?

Light out put Karl.
That's why you should change them.
Not smilies, but Bullseyes.

Nothing worse than seeing an E30 with the wrong headlamps imo.

But i agree, the pre facelift ones are useless in the dark.

[Rav335uk]

Can be done, but it's a fcukning ballache.
The americans use a system, but it invloves cutting the rear reflector, then using a cnc's plate to put in some HID's

[Rav335uk]

..why would i not ?

Light out put Karl.
That's why you should change them.
Not smilies, but Bullseyes.

Nothing worse than seeing an E30 with the wrong headlamps imo.

But i agree, the pre facelift ones are useless in the dark.

That's what I was saying, the prefacelift lights are really dire in the dark.
Bulleyes would look ok and in period too.

[polsta]

hmmm, il prob just keep it original then and get some orsam bulbs or something, but will be nice having the units like new with new fittings etc, rather than old rusting fittings, looking forward to details like that

[bss325i]

American E30 headlamps are completely different, they are sealed beam units and have a flat beam pattern with no kick up.

[Duke137]

Fck that man keep the pre-face lights, shit output or not

Nice parts polsta, the finished article should look good IMO

[polsta]

i agree duke thanks, glad i went to the trouble with the bumber and rid of all that flakey crap in the back, its these sort of details and extent of the work that will make the car what it will be

painter said that powdercoat makes for a very good base starting point to paint over

[bss325i]

Light out put Karl.
That's why you should change them.
Not smilies, but Bullseyes.

Nothing worse than seeing an E30 with the wrong headlamps imo.

But i agree, the pre facelift ones are useless in the dark.

That's what I was saying, the prefacelift lights are really dire in the dark.
Bulleyes would look ok and in period too.

Well bulleys are not period as they fitted from sept ,87 onward with the introduction of the facelift saloons.

Details.

[Rav335uk]

Nothing worse than seeing an E30 with the wrong headlamps imo.

But i agree, the pre facelift ones are useless in the dark.

That's what I was saying, the prefacelift lights are really dire in the dark.
Bulleyes would look ok and in period too.

Well bulleys are not period as they fitted from sept ,87 onward with the introduction of the facelift saloons.

Details.

That's being Anal Barry

[Jim320i]

Original lights are the only way And if they're not bright enough, just use the highbeam...

[bss325i]

That's what I was saying, the prefacelift lights are really dire in the dark.
Bulleyes would look ok and in period too.

Well bulleys are not period as they fitted from sept ,87 onward with the introduction of the facelift saloons.

Details.

I like Anal Barry

We all know that Rav but please dont wink at me!

[Rav335uk]

Ahh, another EFA

[E30BeemerLad]

Original lights FTW, especially with the efforts you are going to on the resto.

[macas]

Whens this back from the paintshop polsta?

Cant wait to see it....

[ajay]

The original lights are dire in the dark (motor way/ country roads) but im sticking with em too. Has anyone retrofitted Hid,s to pre facelift lights?

[polsta]

The original lights are dire in the dark (motor way/ country roads) but im sticking with em too. Has anyone retrofitted Hid,s to pre facelift lights?

is that a refurbed or brand new set ?

any advice on painting the backs of the lamps ? i posted about it a while ago, think someone said any spray paint is ok as they dont get hot, so im thinking just rattle can them in as close to the original green i can find ?

[polsta]

Whens this back from the paintshop polsta?

Cant wait to see it....

im not hasstling him just yet, ideally id rather it stay there until early feb, so its in his nice big dry unit in the worst of winter, than my garage, as wont do anything on it in that time anyway, instructed a few other bits to be done on the front end when i last saw it, going to order new bolts/fittings for the bumpers and kit etc on monday, and when ive got them take it all up there and see the state of play

[ajay]

I just bit the bullet and went for new,( one cracked lens and the other side the reflector is going a bit crusty). I still reckon a hid conversion is reqired to get some decent light output.

[DanThe]

I just bit the bullet and went for new,( one cracked lens and the other side the reflector is going a bit crusty). I still reckon a hid conversion is reqired to get some decent light output.

Your finding the new ones poor?

[polsta]

I just bit the bullet and went for new,( one cracked lens and the other side the reflector is going a bit crusty). I still reckon a hid conversion is reqired to get some decent light output.

awsome !! bit the bullet to the tune of how much for both ?

[Rav335uk]

You can't put HID's into prefacelift lights.
The way the light works is shooting the bulb light onto the reflector and it blinds oncoming traffic.

[bss325i]

Not only that, if you fir HID's to non projector lens headlamps (ie prefacelift ones) you wont get to correct beam image to pass an MOT.

[ajay]

My mot tester said To get a correct beam/pattern on Hid,s the lamp should be capped and the cap fires the light back to the reflector which in turn throws the beam. Or at least thats what i think he was saying, indicating facelift lights cannot have an accurate beam but pre facelift are capped! Im confused!

[ajay]

I just bit the bullet and went for new,( one cracked lens and the other side the reflector is going a bit crusty). I still reckon a hid conversion is reqired to get some decent light output.

awsome !! bit the bullet to the tune of how much for both ?

. New old stock left side £80 right side £200 still cheaper than the main dealer.

[polsta]

Awsome, where from eBay ?

[bss325i]

My mot tester said To get a correct beam/pattern on Hid,s the lamp should be capped and the cap fires the light back to the reflector which in turn throws the beam. Or at least thats what i think he was saying, indicating facelift lights cannot have an accurate beam but pre facelift are capped! Im confused!

Facelift head lamps, bullseyes and smileys have an ellipsoidal lens the same a factory xenon head lamps which is what you need for HID kits to work correctly.

[e30topless]

did he remove all the chrome ?

[bss325i]

If they are the bumpers off the car then they wont have been chrome.