Saving another Henna 316 1.8

[samrenton]

Hello all,

Me and Bro bought this 1984 316 off ebay for £600 expecting the worst!

We were pleasantly suprised





When we got it, it didn't run well, we discovered someone had put some vacuum hoses on the carb the wrong way. We fixed and it starts fine but has uneven idle, bearable, not terrible! We can only assume its the dreaded pierberg carb electronic choke! The Engine has done 100k so are looking to change to weber, psst if anyone is selling???

So engine not to shabby, some one has already put fairly new ignition leads, plugs and distributor on for us obviously trying to fix it.



Everything lights, dials, fans etc... work perfectly, unbelievable!





The Interior isn't bad either, there is a rip in the driver chair and some holes on the rear bottom part of the seat. Apart from that, original mats, carpets are like new!

p.s the dash is cracked, so if anyone is selling a better one, I'm interested



Body work we thought would be the biggest thing on this car. The paint was faded badly, but with Rubbing compound come up really well!!!







However the rear wheel arches both sides inside and out need replacing so when they are fixed up we will need to respray.



Small patches of rust around the car but nothing that requires panels to be changed!





so we have started to salvage and clean up as much as we can, repainted headlights



started on the underside also, dropping the rear subframe ready for painting and new bushes. surprisingly again someone has bought fairly new exhaust, springs and shocks underneath, bonus



We are super excited to get the Bimmer on the road! we want to give it a little more wow factor so have started collecting a shopping list of bits, so hopefully you guys might be able to help me find some bits

Shopping list:

Weber Carb
New Front Dash
New Interior if the price is right but not essential
Chrome trim across the top of the passenger doors (see pic)


Rear Passenger side brake light unit


Front Preface Foglight Glass

Fancy parts here requested by my brother!
16inch Deep Dish 4x100 Alloy Wheels (BBS Style or similar)
Shocks and Springs
Stainless Steel Exhaust
CD player with an AUX input
Rear chrome aerial
Rear metal BMW badge

Drop me a PM if you can help

Thanks for looking, hope you all like, we hope to keep updating on progress!

Cheers
Sam and Bill

[Alex]

Looks awesome, henna red and chrome is the best combo.

Oh and Welcome

[Sanchez]

What a first post. Epic thread, I'm subscribed, who's got the popcorn?

[Andyboy]

Brilliant!

BMW paint was about an inch thick back then and compounds up well. Halfords do a pretty good custom mixed Henna red, but BL Cinnibar red is very close.
The Pierturd 2BE is utter shite.

A crack free dash is £150+ these days alas. Get the black plastic filler out.

[samrenton]

Ha awesome, thanks guys! Hmmm might have to try out some black plastic filler

[bab-91]

NOMMMM, need a red chromie in my life.


Subscribed!

[aimlessrock]

Another chromie saved... Nice work. The pierberg is a moody bit of shite so look to get rid. Subscribed.

[hennabm]

Another Henna red Chromie - welcome

Keep us up to date with progress.

[darkchild]

Henna goodness. Nice little project that.

[Automaton]

Great work so far and Yay! to another chromie/carb 316 saved from being M52ed.

The new electrical and suspension bits by the seller are a great bonus and saving$ that anyone would welcome.

[TPS]

Subscribed !

[Rav335uk]

Good work. Another chromie on its way to resurrection. .

[samrenton]

Hi all,

update time...on hmmm need a name for this car??

We dropped the rear axle, don't think its been removed at all, which is nice, all original but in need of some serious tlc.



Thought we'd tackle the diff first. We're going for a red and black colour combination on the underside parts...black axles, red diff and drums so should look funky.

Cleaned and degreased the differential. Etch primed and spray painted









Second update....went shopping! Saw the state of the bushes and brakes so decided to revamp, powerflex included!





Also managed to find a chrome Ariel for the boot as there was just a hole previous ha!



next job is the paint up the drums and I'm thinking of powder coating the trailing arms and diff craddle, rock on!!!

[Jesus325iTouring]

I like the look of your kitchen Cars too

[aimlessrock]

nice work, trailing arms and rear beam look good powder coated, i can recommend. Poly bushes can gove a rather hard ride so use them with caution. OEM rubber bushes make for a better drive (so im told).

[samrenton]

hard ride i'm used too, i've got a classic mini, that's a bone shaker!!

I was looking for local BMW garages the other day in Lincoln stumbled across this machine a little e30 inspiration!

[samrenton]

Hello everyone, time for an update on the 316. We managed to clean up the rear axle. I don't think it had been touched since it left the factory in 84' so it was in need of some TLC. I firstly had the rear beam sand blasted and powder coated



And then the rear trailing arms, but when they were sand blasted we discovered some small holes where water must have been trapped and rusted under the rubber spring pads. So we welded them up for powder coating, which turned out awesome!!














During that I had my second foot operation after my accident with a digger blade....long story!!!




hmmmm anyways, something a little less physical...drive shafts rebuilt, new boots and a lick of paint. oooo and a new rear headlight















Then along comes a new WEBER carb, the old one just seemed lifeless bolted it straight on tweaked the mix, sounds and runs a million times better.

Old


New


needed a swanky painted air box also so sprayed that up! debating whether to try and polish my aluminium rocker cover, but might need some tips???



Next, we started to put the rear axle back together, brand new brakes, poly bushes and bearings, brake lines, should work and look great. I'm leaving the springs and shocks for the moment as they are fairly new and thinking of switching to BC Racing Coil overs when its on the road .


















Best thing is we put on the poly bushes the wrong bloody way haha, had to make a contraption to take them back out without damaging them!



that's better!





Then the window on my VRS broke



Just before we assemble the axle back onto the car, we had a mate finish up the rear arch welding, which looks great







Under sealing is under way as we speak and some new oil for the engine and diff is also on its way!

Next, rebuild the front, see what treats lie under there! I think we will definitely need some new bushes and mountings, brakes, bearings etc.... but we'll see

Enjoy!

[Nobby_N]

Where is this action happening, so close to me??

[samrenton]

Freiston Shore

[Nobby_N]

A zoner thats a little to close to comfort!
Perfect Dogging Spot for PacerPete and Gert lol

[Sanchez]

Lovely work.

[Nobby_N]

Mine is living a couple of miles from yours, (fishtoft) well until tomorrow hopefully lol
Bet you can nearly see your house background lol

[samrenton]

haha awesome!!!

[Nobby_N]

Think I saw yours on ebay a while back, was it on for 600? was it one of Judds autos?

[samrenton]

my henna will have a friend

[Nobby_N]

Lol Ive sold it, well buyer is coming tomorrow anyway, if he does not take it I may keep it and spend a bit on it like your doing with yours!

[samrenton]

it was on ebay yeh £600 but from this random geezer who dropped it off at my house haha he might have been connected to judds :s

[samrenton]

did it sell?

[Nobby_N]

Yes got it sold for 3.5k so happy days, looking for a Beetle or another BMW now lol

[samrenton]

Hello all!

The car is getting close to respray territory now!

Ok we have the rear back together after a little under seal touch up.





Drive-shafts and exhaust back on



The rear arches have been welded and primed





found some holes up at the front so need to weld them up



new fog light for the front, took me a while to source!



Front end pulled off ready for refurb



dismantled, time to order new bushes and track rod ends, and steering rack boots





new parts and a nice powder coated front subframe



assembled



Some Late night spray work





OIL!!!



Also Started putting the interior back together...new rear speaker shelf



Will have some more updates soon

Cheers

[Zaffaz]

Great updates, hope to see this finished soon. Love a Henna red E30, such a rarity noways!

[samrenton]

Hi all the updates continue, its a battle fighting with these short days and crap weather...need a garage!

Also struggling to find a paint sprayer in the Lincolnshire area. if anyone knows of any please let me know

Taken off the old panels as the bottoms had rusted. perfect underneath though so ready for a clean up and paint.



corners welded and unnoticeable. under sealed also







new front panels



boot smoothed over



My suspension come...nice



Struts welded and painted









Hopefully if its dry outside I can get it back on the ground this weekend

Cheers
Sam

[MPOWERCRAZY]

that welding is very neat and tidy! great progress!!

[samrenton]

Hi all,

its coming on! So we reassembled the front end, just waiting on the brake callipers to be sandblasted and painted. but its all looking great!

parts on the kitchen table hah!



All together



fiddling with camber



Cleaned up rusted discs



All nice and shiney



Put her back on the ground, sits much better!



Got a test alloy see how it looked. Loving the japanese shakotans, thinking 205 50 15 tires for more aggressive look!



Brakes look nice through the middle



might need a little arch rolling but should look great



Plenty of room at the front!



Soooo, all I need to do is attach the front brakes, bleed them add steering rack and shes drivable!

Getting close now!

[Skinhead]

Look's good bud, your a brave man restoring your motor out side! I use to live up your way, fooking cold!