'91 318iS minor resto.. ;-)

Thu Oct 30, 2014 1:45 pm

Pics of my new parts car. Lovingly dubbed "Number 2:

Just a blown head gasket to fix...

M3 must be next...hehe.. I wish...There is some parking space left on the front lawn...hehehe

Sat Nov 01, 2014 12:53 pm

Well with the apron welded in it was high time to get the rest of the d*mn welding done... Welding is a bit tedious and it really is an acquired skill. Therefore, since I dislike the former and lack the latter, my apologies for what comes next to those of you with the knowledge and skills to have done a better job!

The worst section of rust as far as I was concerned was the rear right corner: The section where the subframe bolts to the chasis and the lower portion of the wheel arch. This bit kept me up at night..

The whole bottom part was totally rusted out and would have to be rebuilt. BMW made a nice replacement panel for just this scenario, which, of course, is NLA...

And its basically where three sheets of metal meet...

So, when in doubt, get the grinder out!!

A bit more...

And the arch too..

I thought this approach would be better than welding in a complete rear quarter panel as all the rest of the quarter panel was mint...

So my first move was to replace the first layer, the lower edge.. I cut a piece to size and welded it in..

Next up was to double this part up and create a piece that would mate with the top piece...

Its actually one piece, cut and welded together to give the curve required..

I welded in that piece and then started bending metal for my third layer.. Im pretty proud of this part considering Im a bit of a hack at this...

Hand-bent...

Initial test fitting..

Before welding it in I POR-15'd the interior sheets to ensure NO MAS rust... Then I welded it in..

After the shock that I had actually accomplished this wore off I proceed to spend an hour tack welding in pieces of steel to form the missing inside arch bit..

Then I spent another hour shaping a piece of steel to form the outer edge of the arch, which was tricky due to the shaping where the arch and the rubber stripping meet...

Tack welded in place.. and then cut relief strips to be able to bend it over and weld it to my inner portion...

Bent and welded.. (you can also see I completely stripped the lower sill and POR 15'd the whole thing..no biggie but nice!)

POR 15'd and ready for final prep later on..

Yes, more welding to come...

Sun Nov 09, 2014 4:13 pm

Welding was FINALLY wrapped up with some strengthening of the supports for the fuel expansion system in the RR wheelwell. It was a REAL pain to weld these up as there is so little room to maneuver...

All welded up and POR 15'd...

I also welded a couple of supports in the engine bay (clutch line bracket) and fixed a rust hole or two...

And the rear left inner arch needed love..

With that done I turned my attention to completing the underside....

Got my professional tools out..

And scrubbed like a slave for hours... Everywhere rust or a break in the undercoat was discovered it was ground out, cleaned, rust treated and POR 15'd...

It was pretty rewarding work actually - having this rotisserie is magical.... so is this stuff:

I didn't fool around with the quality of the seam sealant and undercoat.. 3M is the only way to go....
I got the underside so clean you can see the original undercoat was tan colored.... The pink is the 3M sealant...

With every seam sealed, it was time to introduce this member of the 3M family...

You guys are gonna like this part....

First coat...

Second...

Third... (white spots are sunlight)

Yeah I know...trunk too.... Don't flame me... it's gonna be painted...

Car is starting to come alive.....

Sun Nov 09, 2014 5:17 pm

Great work, Split.

Ben

Sun Nov 09, 2014 7:29 pm

Finish looks great!

Mon Nov 10, 2014 9:16 am

Superb work fella

Tue Nov 11, 2014 2:28 pm

Great finish and supurb work indeed

Tue Nov 11, 2014 7:40 pm

Thanks gents... Work continues on the car but I've just busted 2 ribs playing hockey this week... Hurts to breath and working on the car is going a bit slow as a result.. However, I am getting some nice work done in the engine bay...update to follow...

Tue Nov 11, 2014 7:49 pm

Epic stuff dude. Seriously impressive for a 'non-mechanic' lol.

You a fighter pilot?

Or Top Gun fan?

Tue Nov 11, 2014 8:27 pm

Royalratch wrote:Epic stuff dude. Seriously impressive for a 'non-mechanic' lol.

You a fighter pilot?

Or Top Gun fan?

Are you asking 'cause of my nickname? You're the first one to ever have commented on it... Was a canadian air force instructor in my "younger" days, spent lots and lots of time upside down and spinning.. Hence the nickname.. now, well, I fly something a little tamer.... for passengers, upside down is bad...

Here is my day job..

...jets are cool but e30's rock...

Tue Nov 11, 2014 11:00 pm

Jets are cooler dude! Mad respect.

Wed Nov 19, 2014 3:48 pm

Gentlemen...Been a little slowed down with my injury..however Im feeling much better and I have gotten things done...
This next update focuses in on the engine bay...

Here are some recap pics taken earlier showing some of the progress...
I started cleaning the grime out even before I pulled the engine out... The whole engine bay was covered in grease/dirt..

Just a few of examples after hours of cleaning already done..

This stuff was a b*tch to remove...I went thru lots of rags and dollar-store toothbrushes and hours of work little by little as work progressed. The absolute best stuff, which I discovered only once I starting using the POR15 is the POR15 degreaser. You mix it 50/50 with hot water and the grease just dissolves. It by far the best and easiest stuff Ive used. It made cleaning so much easier. And no, I dont have ANYTHING to do with the makers of that stuff!! It just works!

Much cleaner and grinding out the rusty areas... This work started back in September...

Some of the last of the sound insulation being removed and cleaned...

\

Rusty area on the far left...

Lots and lots of little areas and spots to grind off the rust...

Finishing up cleaning the battery connection area...

Now time to get comfy...
Started just with a first coat on the rust spots...

With all that done I starting on the RH side...

Man I love this stuff....

In order to properly do the LH side I need to get the MC and brake booster out of the way...

Removing the MC is just two nuts.. I felt highly confident handling that...

Brake booster without MC...

Now getting the brake booster out isn't hard it just requires crouching under the dash to loosen four bolts and a retain clip. You'll need around a 10' extension for your socket to get them out..

Three of them come out fairly easily but the 4th is an PITA... You'll need the extension, a flashlight and some luck..
In this pic Im trying to highlight the access hole you need to put your extension thru...Epic fail I think....

Before dealing with the bolts you need to disconnect a spring...

One end of the spring loops around a retaining bolt and on the other end is a retaining clip.. as shown here, removed..

And still in place...

Gently pushing the clip off (while prying it open at the same time) is the way to do it...

With all that done you get one more piece of junk on your work table...

and whats left...

With that out of the way I cleaned up that whole corner. I set aside the fuse box as much as I could and cleaned in behind and managed to get everywhere. Without removing the brake booster there is just no way of doing it right...

So a few more flicks of the paintbrush and...

I put two coats on and it will all be final sanded prior to being painted... Looks nice black methinks...

Wed Nov 19, 2014 6:20 pm

Absolutely epic

Wed Nov 19, 2014 6:20 pm

Absolutely epic

Wed Nov 19, 2014 6:21 pm

Absolutely epic

Wed Nov 19, 2014 8:08 pm

e30325itourer wrote:Absolutely epic

What he said

Thrice

Wed Nov 19, 2014 8:09 pm

Serious question....

Was there no rust in the engine bay to cut out and replace or had you already done that?

Thu Nov 20, 2014 12:46 am

hennared323i wrote:Serious question....

Was there no rust in the engine bay to cut out and replace or had you already done that?

Seeing as most of the engine bay was covered in oil and dirt/oil I believe this saved most of it from oxidizing.. There were two holes that needed addressing: one was around a plug found on the passenger side of the firewall and the other around the bracket for the clutch hydraulic line. Not sure if they are common rust spots but they needed new steel and welding (which I didn't post about...)

bracket for clutch line..

RH side just under apron drain... (wet sound insulation=rust)

The worst of the rust was on the front assembly - where the rad bolts on... Most rust was at the joint of two pieces..it's also where the was minimal oil/grime covering the steel... Later, I will have to spray the inside of these pieces to stop the rust on the inside... not looking forward to that!!

Thanks for the nice comments btw!

Brake lines and more next time...

Wed Nov 26, 2014 5:56 pm

Drove down to the US to pick up my fuel tank and other goodies last week. The fuel tank is made by a company 10km from my home - the cheapest I could get it in Canada was 350$ Cdn.. I ordered it for 190$ Cdn in the US - shipping to the border included... Pathethic...

Anyways, nice OEM spec fuel tank:

The connector doesn't come with it so I refurbished mine...

Nice lick of jet black..

Setting that aside I started on the complete refurbishing of the brake system. Along the way I discovered I have a gift for brake bending...

Note in case you don't know: BMW BRAKE LINES DO NOT COME PRE-BENT.

I bent my lines exactly like the OEM lines. I also used BMW lines for lengths that demanded it and non-OEM stainless steel lines which are 10X less expensive and exactly the same... I also bought the spacer thingies...

Once bent all lines received three coats of paint as well as the spacer thingies... just because...

Those two in the pic are the center ones beneath the fuel tank. I had to order the 3 meter one from BMW that runs from the splitter to the front... it was 50$ which is cheap considering a 20cm line cost 35$... go figure...

For bending I used a brake bender which was of limited usefulness trying to duplicate the OEM bends.. Better was my vice grip and some steel pipes I have...

New splitter and lines installed...

Before...yuck...

Now...

With new stainless steel braided flexible lines..

To think it all used to look like this:

The hardest line to bend was the 3 meter line.. After about an hour of cursing I found the trick to perfectly replicating the line..

Make the first bend and then tie-wrap the old line and new lines together. Keep them together as you copy the bends using whatever necessary... It worked fantastically well.. End result was a new line that I could clip into the original holders with ease..

You can kinda see how I did it here...

Installed (runs downwards from the splitter to the front). to say I was AMAZED it actually fit perfectly first go is an epic understatement!

Added new parking brake lines:

Installed:

Cut the wiring for the ABS sensor wires and filled the rubber grommet with rubber undercoat.. Small touch but nice...

Installed the new rubber bushings to my fuel filter mount which I had previously refurbed and installed fuel filter..
(you can see the brake line just below)

With that done I installed the new fuel lines (these DO come pre-bent) which I had also thrice coated with new paint to the new brackets.. Brake line was also clipped on...

Im not sure but I think Im loving the look of this!!

Fuel system next for those of you who made it thru this update!!

Sun Nov 30, 2014 3:19 pm

Small boring update but no matter...

Took advantage of the lack of snow so far to pull the doors off my parts car yesterday. No pics of that
but I can say it is possible to pull off an e30 door and replace it all by yourself.. All you need is a jack to pop the door off its hinges once you've removed the bolts and pin.

Here they are nice and warm in the garage...

Had I been smarter I would have left them outside because I decided to grind down the little rust there was right away...
So I dragged them back outside ground away the rust and brought them back in...

All cleaned up...

Por15'd..

Man Im happy I bought the 2nd e30.. Both my original doors were rusted out and I couldn't find 2nd hand replacements...
Two hours of work and I have two good as new doors ready to go!!

Also decided to have a look at my headlights.. I pulled them out of the shed and cleaned them all up.. I removed about 25 dead
spiders and their egg pods..yuck....

Cleaned and polished...

Removed the metal rims and wire brushed them clean and repainted them...

Then did this...

Pretty cool...

Tue Dec 02, 2014 8:14 pm

When do you project it to be back on the road?

Tue Dec 02, 2014 8:32 pm

Hi hennared...Aiming loosely for July-August. Bringing the LSD diff for a rebuild tomorrow as well as the transmission (just an inspection on that one but may change out some syncros if required). Also bringing the engine to the builder I've chosen on Thursday. Not sure where I'm going with that yet. I can't decide.
Gonna drop off my alternator for ouput testing and my starter for a rebuild. All stuff I can't do myself.
Also called for estimates on the paint job. I may spend the winter sanding this thing myself if the prices are too high...Gonna miss my fingertips if thats the case....

Tue Dec 02, 2014 8:52 pm

Mon Dec 15, 2014 11:01 pm

With the bottom all done up I refurbed the fuel expansion system...

Just after I pulled everything out, including fuel lines...

All out...

Underside resprayed..

I ordered new fuel lines (fuel overflow and vent). They pass thru the metal tube . They were a SUPREME b*tch to get out...
To get the new ones back in was ACTUALLY NEAR impossible. I didn't take any pics but I wire brushed the inside of the tube to smooth it out as it was rusty.. I then used a metal "fish" securely attached to all three tubes and with the help of my dad pulling and me pushing we got them thru after MUCH effort. That was the toughest bit yet on this project honestly...
Once in...

Here is the fuel expansion tank back in with new fuel lines and clips and reservoir painted black just because...

Fuel pipe in..

Remember this?

This looks better..

This looks even better still...

So with that done I've basically decided to keep the charcoal filter setup.. At the beginning I'd swore Id turf it but
Ive decided to keep it..Does no harm and its stock.. So cool...

Btw..

Transmission, differential and driveshaft were brought to Eastern Transmission here in MTL for complete rebuilds... Super nice people there and a great reputation for quality work.. Transmission is in for an inspection and respray and whatever needs fixing...

All the rear subframe components were brought to Speed Automotive for new bushings and new bearings... Same rep for quality work..

Ive also brought the M42 to Ben at Performance Automotive for a complete rebuild. Top notch reputation and super nice guy to boot.
Spent over an hour discussing options with him and we haven't yet begun... Its gonna be fun...

Here she is on her way...

(Thats Is number two in the pic outside unfortunately... too tight in the garage with her in there...)

Tue Dec 16, 2014 7:25 am

That second last picture........Is that a cable tie I spy

Impressive work there Mr Split. Does this mean the weldathon is over and it is pre paint prep time?

Keep the updates coming please - I wouldn't worry about the lack of comments, bumfestgate, ponygate, prince rossygate and the rest of the gates seem to be occupying most peoples attention at the mo - it will blow over in time

Tue Dec 16, 2014 7:53 am

Loving the work!

Wed Dec 17, 2014 6:43 am

Great work, missed the last couple of updates but was good to read them in one go and see the project. progress a good bit! Keep the updates coming!

Wed Dec 17, 2014 9:14 am

Amazing work!

Keep all your skin covered for the weldathons matey.

Sat Dec 20, 2014 4:29 pm

Gentlemen,

Thank-you for the nice words - Im surprised with the responses as it has been dead here for the past couple of months.. I was starting to wonder if I was wasting my time posting all this stuff.. Im glad to see some of you are interested in the project!

Im trying my best to do a quality job - some pretty high standards have been set by others on here and I only hope to not fail too badly in comparison... yet the best bits of this project are still to come... However, as the updates are pretty much real time expect another 6-8 months of this!!

I'll have another update in the coming days as I have 11 days off coming and a fuel system to renew...

Cheers...

Sat Dec 20, 2014 7:57 pm

It's still read lots

Proper balls out resto this

Sat Dec 20, 2014 8:12 pm

As above. Loads of zoners following this thread and awaiting notifications!

Sun Dec 21, 2014 5:01 pm

hennared323i wrote:That second last picture........Is that a cable tie I spy

Impressive work there Mr Split. Does this mean the weldathon is over and it is pre paint prep time?

Keep the updates coming please - I wouldn't worry about the lack of comments, bumfestgate, ponygate, prince rossygate and the rest of the gates seem to be occupying most peoples attention at the mo - it will blow over in time

Mr.Split...that's funny hennared...

That cable you spied is the parking brake cable I installed in an earlier update..you must have missed it...and the Weldathon is definitely OVER. This car is solid now. Now the shiny new bits will start making an appearance...

This pic is just cool methinks...Took it before I had to get #2 out of the garage for lack of workspace...Three Bmw's in that pic...sooo cool...

cheers...

Sun Dec 21, 2014 6:17 pm

Oh for a garage like that, I have to make do with a tumble down corrugated shack that gets as wet inside as out when the weather is bad, another "one of those days i'll get around to water proofing it"

Epic pic

Sun Dec 21, 2014 6:34 pm

For you Brits its rain, for us canucks it's snow...its about 2 degrees in there right now.. too costly to heat it 24/7.. gonna warm her up tomorrow though and get busy on number 1...

I count my blessings Ive been able to afford a setup like this....Its all pretty new to me, remember I just moved here back in May...Just wanted to share the pic 'cause I just love seeing the e30's in there...so cool...

And Im sure I'll wind up in London one day Jesus... i'll give you a call then and we'll do all the stuff you haven't the time for: services and sheds included...