'91 318iS minor resto.. ;-)

[Split_S]

Over to the glove box and DME...



No flashlight (torch for you Brits..) but the connection is still there...










Computer out...


You can remove the computer and the mounting bracket all as one if you're smarter than I am..



Center dash... take your time.. take pics...



Radio out... Going to go with an original head but a hidden bluetooth unit... eventually...


This thing too...


and that thing too...


GOOD TIMES finding the screws on this part...



These were easy...




Trickiest part of it all coming up...
This is how to get the cover plate out.. go slow and pry gently...




Cover plate removed with mounting screws visible...




Scary... Label those that arent connected to anything..you'll forget later...


Side mounting screws and that's pretty much it..




Last little bit...
Used a scraper to allow the metal clip which is part of the dash to slide freely without damaging the inside molding..


You can see it here, far right...



Gently pulled on it and it came out fairly easily.. did it alone too...




Out!


and done!



Not really...Center fan console needs some TLC... So its coming out too...





Pull rubber seal off inlet/outlet tubes..
NOTE: Plastic inlet/outlet pipes and not aluminium.. Important to note when ordering parts for the fan and associated rad system...


The only electrical connection to the unit...


Looks clean and tidy once out...



Done!!



Just a few odds and ends and the car is finished..

[cmsslee]

Sterling effort.

[AndyE30]

Loving this thread, such detailed pics and meticulous work being carried out to save this baby.

[Captain_Birdseye]

Your back must be killing by now!

[G-Bear]

That rear panel seems to have gone in very smoothly

[Split_S]

Thanks for the comments lads... Work is progressing nicely...Finally feel like Im turning the corner on this resto!!

With the fan center section out I wanted to clean it up and have a closer look at that seized fan...

There are two different fans, one for a/c cars and those without. The shorter one is for a/c..



I have that spare as it came with the car. Obviously the PO had ordered the wrong one: Pay attention to the details
on realoem to not screw up your order... Same goes for the rad unit...
I'll point out the plastic inlet/outlet piping on the rad for the same reason one more time with this crappy pic...



To get the fan out, pop the clip that holds it in place with a flathead screwdriver from the bottom and disconnect the two wires as shown..

Clip and wires...


bottom...


open...


With the fan out I really wanted to get my hands on that rad..
Three screws and it slides right out.... Oh no... Not so easy..
You have to get this POS out of the way first... Just to p*ss you
off of course...



Tried the lazy way...Almost...but not quite...




Removed the offending piece..


out...



With that out of the way NOW I slid out the rad...









Much to my surprise it seemed to be in really good shape. So of course I ordered a new one.
For those of you scratching your heads, look up Murphy's Law in wikipedia...

Next up I cleaned what was left of the foam sealer (shown here)..



It crumbled into dust. New one ordered.

I also completely washed the unit, inside and out. Well within my abilities methinks...

With that done my attention turned back to the seized fan:



That pic was taken after grinding all the surface rust and shite off of it... I air blew it cleaned and tried to rotate the shaft..

No luck...So I got angry and tried again...


Almost went cardiac and again no luck...


Gave it to my son for a go...Here is a pic after he got it free..


Jerk...

[povertyspec]

the best thing about internet threads like this is before you tackle a job you get to see the mistakes people make. this thread really gives a great insight into the problems rennovating the rear end of an E30 from an amateur viewpoint. If youre going to have a go and not take it to a professional its either read this or come across the same problems and spend the same amount of time headscratching. the cavities, dead space and double skins arent always obvious.the detailed shots of the rear body pressing have given me a really good start to thinking out my my 320 rebuild.

[Split_S]

Thanks - Im trying NOT to screw up but no doubt mistakes (are) will be made!!

[Split_S]

With the fan rotating I decided to see if it worked. I wired it up to a 12V battery and she spun like crazy!

While she was out I decided to have a looksee at the brushes..

There is the clip..


Pry it off and keep a finger on it cause the spring underneath will send it flying.. (NO, it didn't happen to me - yet!)



Said spring...



Metal sleeve for the carbon brush...


Pry it out gently...


Out...


Still more than half left...


Guess I shouldn't have ordered new brushes then...


I'll just keep 'em till I need them... Like in 2035....

[Split_S]

Drove down to the US to pick up my new replacement rad:



Really nice, except the foam is complete scrap - I will have to find some foam tape somewhere...aarghh...



Also got some other goodies...



Complete set of new hoses and all fittings for the mighty M42.. (sarcasm intended..) and the driveshaft center bearing and new guibo...


Z3 short shift complete kit..


Clutch thingie...


And kickass new eurospec front end stuff (and new front end bearings too!)

[Split_S]

With the rear panel welded in I did

this:



then this:



wound up with this:



In the front, I did this:



then this:



Introduced this:



and this:



Did some heavy lifting and wound up with this:








Now the fun starts....

[jonesy318]

love reading this thread, gives me some inspiration to keep going on mine, keep up the good work Norm.

[Split_S]

Thanks Ian, comments are few and far between at times!

How is your M42 conversion going?? I will be starting mine in the coming months...

[Split_S]

Some of you may be interested in the rotisserie... Here are the plans... pilfered from xworks' thread.. hehe...

Click to enlarge...



With the car up on the rotisserie things are getting easier. Did a quick run down of what needs doing body wise on the bottom...

Serious-*ss welding...


More welding...


Scraping, cleaning, welding...


uhh...


More....aarrghhh...

[Split_S]

Well that was depressing.. So I figured it was a good time to remove the windshield seeing as I had a tiny rust spot on the RH corner.. No big deal... No pics of the removal as I was pretty absorbed in the process... Not very hard anyways...

Here is the "little" rust spot...




F$ck!!!

Wait, it gets worse...








"Hello Bmw Parts department? Yes, Id like a new apron for a 1991 318iS...."

[Split_S]

So new apron arrived next morning...

Here we go...

See spot welds? Drill them out... Fun!!



tilt the car over with the rotisserie..easy on the back..nice...


Cut out most of the apron...







Had to cut away the edges - the apron won't go in unless its all cut away. You'll see it has been braized in..



Classic e30 rust spots.....

Good times...Good times...

[Split_S]

The other corner was as bad but the rust wasn't deep... These were ground out and cleaned and POR15'd...



Cleaned everything up as best I could...




Test fitted new apron... It fit!


However, I had to cut away two large sections of rusted out edging.. So these had to be rebuilt...













Fit the apron again... Ready to weld...





Wife got me in action... (ok I asked her to...) She's blind now..hehe...



Done...


Alrighty... Bottom's next....

[BenHar]

Hero!

Ben

[Jesus325iTouring]

Quality resto this, one day i hope to do the same with my Touring, one day I say, it's already been waiting 4 years

[Blitz]

Any more pictures of the Lanos?

[Split_S]

Any more pictures of the Lanos?

Yeah, sorry about that... It's my winter car. Now with a dead battery, seized brakes and a brake line about to burst... That one will most definitely NOT be restored...

[Blitz]

Any more pictures of the Lanos?

Yeah, sorry about that... It's my winter car. Now with a dead battery, seized brakes and a brake line about to burst... That one will most definitely NOT be restored...

I think its a cool car. I've driven one a couple of times and there all right.

[Split_S]

Yeah, it has a good suspension and no power. It always feels like your driving wayyy faster than you are because everything shakes and the engine revs high... but the red pox has gotten a hold of her and her days are numbered...

[Split_S]

Lots to do on the bottom Im afraid...

First on the list...
All components of the front suspension have to come off..



Fuel Expansion tank crap has to come out...



Lower rear quarter panel must somehow be rebuilt...



The rear right arch too...


Remnants of the fuel system must be removed and refurbished..



What's left of the brake lines must be removed..



Oh so many areas to weld and fix...











Oh and of course, the entire bottom needs to be scrapped clean and scrubbed before it can be resealed and undercoated.. I'll see if I can get the wife to do that one...

[Split_S]

Remember this?







Did a bit of this:



And wound up with this:







Added this:





Got this:









Next week I will have the new bushings and bearings pressed in as well as install the new brake dust shields.

Big *ss welding update coming soon....

[jonesy318]

Good to see it being done properly Norm, Who ever did mine before i got it loved using body filler instead of a welder.

Keep going , all be worth it when another one is saved and back on the road

[G-Bear]

Execellent progression. You certainly grabbed this Barvarian bull by the horns.

I kept seeing long bits of square tubed steel lying around in your pics and was waiting to see a spit coming into the equation, great work..

[Split_S]

Thanks Ian! Im trying to do it right but it takes time... The fun stuff will be starting soon...

G-Bear - Im surprised no one caught on... it was in quite a few pics! Also surprised it didn't raise any interest here - only thread ive seen one used was xworks amazing m3 rebuild... Anyways, it is a godsend, absolutely essential to a rebuild of this magnitude! Love it....

[Split_S]

Well time to tackle the bottom...

Fuel expansion... not sure what all this shizen does but its rusted and needs beautification....



The fuel expansion tank is held in place by two nuts - on at either end. These were rusted but came off
fairly easily. I think I used a 10mm...or was it 8mm??

Here is one of the brackets holding the tank - a wee bit rusty...


Here I removed the protective plate on the fuel expansion tank lines...



Closeup of the lines...




Tank out, lines pulled out, steel filler pipe removed (one bolt)...


Were the fuel lines ran thru... (it was HARD to pull them thru but cursing helped)


All the crap out...


Removed the fuel filter bracket (NLA btw).. Had to cut thru the rubber "shock" mounts.. The bolts
thru them were rusted out... New rubber mounts are available and cheap.. Already ordered and received...



Wire wheeled clean...


First coat of POR15.. (they should be paying me endorsement fees...)


Done...


Fuel filler pipe about to be wire brushed...


And POR 15'd...


That was easy....

[Split_S]

Begun work on the bottom finally!

Just before I pulled out the expansion tank...Grease, grime, dirt and rust...


After pulling out the expansion tank and associated lines I was good to go...Did some very light wire brushing just to get the grease/grime off most places....




Started applying POR15 where I uncovered rust (areas ground and clean of course!)







At this point it was high time to take the front suspension off as I will be doing the engine bay and most of that crap is being binned anyhow..

Pretty straight forward (on a rotiserrie!), just find the bolts and remove them...duh... Started with the wishbones then the turret...










This is where things slowed down...steering knuckle of course...


Of course just loosening the bolts did NOTHING.. I had to find a way to pry open the knuckle..


Used this...


Tapped it fairly hard with a hammer...


It worked on the bottom portion but not the top... that bugger will have to wait...


Was told by the PO that he thought the rack and pinion was leaking, I am seriously considering an e36 rack at 2.7 turns..




Next up was the crossmember...




Off..


With all that shite off I wire brushed the frame to steel...



amazing... No rust...

[Split_S]

***UPDATE***

Just bought ANOTHER 1991 318iS..Runs good and will be a parts car even though the shell looks better than the one I have now...

Gonna pick it up on Tuesday...

Amazingly the wife isn't even angry...she understands its a disease....

[G-Bear]

Amazingly the wife isn't even angry...she understands its a disease....

She's a good woman.

Just before my wife and I got married, whilst we were supposed to be saving every penny. She looked over my shoulder once to see me bidding and winning on some shocks for £400 on eBay. She gave me that look to say that she understands. They all turn to accept our darkside eventually

[Jesus325iTouring]

Quite agree, my wife has just agreed the best solution to my current transport situation is to buy an identical Touring (which I collect today) and fit it with my 2.5 engine I have sat in my current rusting turd, which hasn't turned a wheel in nearly 4 years.
Win win, missus happy, transport solved, and an E30 back on the road

[Split_S]

Quite agree, my wife has just agreed the best solution to my current transport situation is to buy an identical Touring (which I collect today) and fit it with my 2.5 engine I have sat in my current rusting turd, which hasn't turned a wheel in nearly 4 years.
Win win, missus happy, transport solved, and an E30 back on the road

Congrats! About time! But Im no better - 2 e30s, neither driveable (yet!) Im gonna replace that head gasket ASAP to get the new one on the road... and put some pics up later this week of my newest turd...

Gbear - keep 'em happy is the way to go....