S38B36 Laguna Touring

[lellis]

This job was a scary one, I had never done brake lines before, other than a couple repairs.



Once I got used to how it all worked it was quite enjoyable, I know I routed one area wrong which will upset me every time I see it, but concourse is not the goal..








I am going to be using the e90 servo for better clearancing around the air box, with a relocated reservoir with the bias valve.


Turned out (to me) pretty good, follows the fuel lines well.

[lellis]

More prep for getting the car on the floor, the front ARB mounts, some pillock (me) welded the reinforcement bracket on the wrong side, so I had to modify the bracket to suit.




Realised my recently restored driveshafts were the smaller variant, this will not do for the increased power, so 325i ones purchased.

Those were stripped as soon as they landed in my workshop, luckily I could reference the video I made on how to do it..


A ton of final bits blasted and wire wheeled ready for plating!


Then onto the tank, this is a replacement to mine, still used but was in great shape. Took the edges and a few other bubbled areas down to bare metal, rust converted and epoxy primer applied.


POR15'd

[lellis]

Final check completed, just waiting on the last bits of hardware to come back from plating!

[martauto]

I built a kit car back in 1983 and prepared everything as well ,it`s a great feeling to see it all ready to go.
You must be very proud mate


Mart.

[lellis]

Ok, some seriously big updates..

Firstly, fuel system install




Here is the youtube video of the complete restoration and installation, all part numbers in the description too

[lellis]

And here is everything installed to the underside of the car, plus me being happy (rare).











Back on the ground after nearly exactly 2 years.


Time for a break, next is the engine build.

[fixedwheelnut]

Chapeau Sir excellent, if this doesn't win prizes when it is finished there is no justice in the World

[martauto]

Chapeau Sir excellent, if this doesn't win prizes when it is finished there is no justice in the World

My sentiments entirely
(Nice smug face too !!!)

Mart.

[lellis]

Chapeau Sir excellent, if this doesn't win prizes when it is finished there is no justice in the World

My sentiments entirely
(Nice smug face too !!!)

Mart.

Thank you, thank you.

Very proud of what I have done so far. Just a shame it’s now all hidden underneath. At least I know what is there!

[lellis]

Here is my video of the whole process!

[lellis]

not much to update as I am waiting on parts. Anyway, remembering what the engine looks like




Finding out the bores are massively out of spec in ovality and taper


I do like my little garage setup


With the block requiring re-boring for oversized pistons, I thought it would be best to get the rotating assembly ready for balancing too


Organisation, a lot of organisation.


And to rub salt in my wounds, the oil pump is very damaged too, not worth buying new internals as the housing bore has some deep scratches.


Going to be focusing on getting the rad support on and interior repairs completed and repainted whilst waiting on pistons and machining.

[lellis]

Delays on new pistons and rad support, genuine rad support is now NLA so I have purchased a pattern one, wish me luck..

In the meantime, mock ups






Jag XJ6 4.2 rubber engine mounts have helped to lower the engine to somewhere I am happier with.



With the mounts at the rear position, there is interference with the firewall, nothing a slight fettling cannot sort.

[lellis]

That's better.


I was able to gain so clearance without pushing the engine forward, whacked around the firewall and dropped the engine by 20mm (this is needed due to bonnet clearance) so it was able to pivot away from the firewall.


Made up quite the jig out of some scrap pieces of metal to constrain the movement vertically.


Chopped and lowered (in progress)


This is lower, can be raised 5mm with different mounts, the sump is going to be modified too

[lellis]

Focusing on interior prep for painting, few tasks that I had procrastinated over for a long while..



10 new patches later..


Some idiot (me) cut the pedal box mounting area out and threw away the cut off..


Also the mount from the battery tray requires there to still be a battery tray, another bracket made.


All mounted, couple more holes to drill for throttle cable and clutch master


I really didn't want captivated nuts in the engine bay, so I plug welded homemade studs for the pedal box




Few more jobs to do then I can paint the interior!

[martauto]

Great work as normal mate, loving the metal fabrication, and also love the Radial Arm Drill
Every shop should have one, they are soooooooooooo useful.

Mart.

[lellis]

So I was just about ready to spray the interior when a friend asked if i had cut the clearance in the transmission tunnel for the exhaust manifold (something s38 swap people do).
I quickly got the grinder back out..






Also had my friend round who is a panel beater by trade, he was able to sort out my hammering for the engine clearance, looks OEM again


Seam sealer applied


Straight onto painting prep! Keyed the inside and taped up


Gazebo back out again. Single garage does not give me much room..


Epoxy primer






And paint

[lellis]

And all that hard work is now covered up..








Kilmat 2mm deadening, I decided to cover the whole floor as I want to dampen as much drivetrain/road noise as possible. Understandably some areas probably didn't need doing.. But it turned out to only be 10kg or so heavier than what I removed. I am not using the factory bay insulation so I have gone up and around the bulkhead for this

[lellis]

Moving on with the interior, planning the jobs required to do it all in the right order is definitely challenging at times.
My main aim was getting the wiring loom in place, so that requires quite a lot of prep from just a bare shell. My dash that was stored away for the last 6 years was ruined, heater fan box thing U/S, loom was a mess, steering column wasn't in place and many other things.








This was a pig of a job as the fan motor clip was broke so I had to do this for two sets. Mine is now a bit of a Triggers broom with different bits all over but it's all re-sealed, foamed, gasketed, matrix'd and the lot.
My friend came to help me with the loom and spent half the day untangling, organising and re-wrapping before going near the car. Now due to my great idea of relocating the box into the car, this presents more issues to contend with, but that's a problem for future me. Ant pretty much worked his was backwards mocking up the loom at the correct junctions and areas, this is now left for me to finish off.



Now regarding dashes, mine had perished in the 6 years of storage so I needed a replacement. Now I didn't want a perfect one as I knew it would crack as soon as it saw the sunlight..


But now with the dash in, I can start on the fuse box relocation bracketry and all the other fun tasks that come with it.

Still preparing for the respray, all doors and tailgate(s) stripped ready for rust repairs. My original tailgate is very bad, but the replacement is not much better..

[The_Glory]

Very well done!

Are the rear brake calipers galvanized?
How did you protect the bushing holes and the surface of the brake cylinder when galvanizing?
I will be grateful for the information. Because I still haven't decided whether to powder coat or galvanize my brake calipers...

[lellis]

Very well done!

Are the rear brake calipers galvanized?
How did you protect the bushing holes and the surface of the brake cylinder when galvanizing?
I will be grateful for the information. Because I still haven't decided whether to powder coat or galvanize my brake calipers...

Thank you!
These have been zinc plated like from factory. No need to protect the inner surfaces as it does not affect the surface thickness like power coating does.
But with the material of the calipers it requires a special type of plating procedure which needs to be done by specialists. Normally I plate myself but these required a local company to do it

[The_Glory]

Thanks for the info.
I give all the details to the factory for galvanizing.
At first I also wanted to try to do it myself in the garage, but it seemed to me that it was too difficult... Although, it is very convenient and much faster!

[lellis]

2nd time attempting to install the rad/core support. Initially panicked as the facelift panel was NLA and went with a pattern part, big mistake. It was not only a bad forming finish but dimensionally out of spec.
Decided to go for the PFL panel and modify it slightly, not much needed though.


This is for the chassis leg mounts






And as soon as it was welded in, it was time to cut it out again.




The initial idea for the upper mounting tabs.


Then all welded in.

[lellis]

Continuing with panel prep for the respray, the tailgate. Now those in the know will understand, but there is no such thing as a rust free touring tailgate. New are NLA, otherwise I wouldn't be showing this.
My original one is in really bad shape, obviously.


I bought this many years back in as they described 'mint condition'.






Starting the repairs






I had to sand blast the bad areas, rust convert and smother with epoxy primer. Not ideal, but no real easy solution without stripping it completely down to nothing.


A lot of CAD, careful shaping and fabrication, we now have a better tailgate. This took around 6 pieces to do, many intricate pieces layered up.


Now to sand down, primer and re seal the inner seams and I can move on.

[DanThe]

Great work!
I dont envy that tailgate job, bet it took ages!

[lellis]

Great work!
I dont envy that tailgate job, bet it took ages!

Yeh. Seriously had to use my brain for it, especially with just a grinder, hammer and a vice! Glad I left it til last where I feel like (dare i say it) I’ve got the hang of fabrication..

[DanThe]

You cant beat sandblasting for getting rid of the grot, makes a much better job, I have the benefit of having a blasting company nearby and it saves so much time/mess

[lellis]

Carrying on with the tailgate -
I decided to bare metal the whole thing.
DIY booth up, smaller gazebo this time. Wind was horrid, turned into a nightmare to do on my own. DIY booth 3.0 coming soon..


Epoxy primer sprayed on


My horrendous attempt at seam sealer, won't rush it next time..


Here is the video for anyone interested

[lellis]

In other news -


I am now an e36 owner, 318is coupe. Came up cheap and local, took a gamble and it's pretty sound.
Totally standard (rare for e36's), 2 owners since new, all the old dealer stickers and good service history!
It needs some TLC but no plans for restoration or even modifications, just a fun daily driver.



Now back to the e30. I had a rather nice delivery from Germany.




So these are the original trumpets that they have fused into the airbox. These got stuck in a UPS sorting office near Frankfurt for 2 months, luckily it all worked out in the end.

[martauto]

I had a 318ti a few years ago ,brilliant fun to drive.
Love the trumpets !!

Mart.

[HartgeH27]

Nice !

[lellis]

No huge updates, but a lot of in progress photos to follow!
The front wings, both buggered. Decided to get the repair patches, regretting this as they are way out of shape, but slowly working on them to get it right.


The main issue was to line up the sill swage, the arch radius was incorrect. You can see how far out in this photo.


After some fettling, I had improved it enough to weld on and get my panel beater friend to tidy it up.


Moving onto engine rebuild prep. More restoring and some paint/plate prep.










I had a instagram friend over to 3d scan my 'not so' battery tray to design a custom expansion tank.



And some inspiration to keep me going, a gold s38 with a carbon airbox!

[HartgeH27]

Absolutely and thoroughly am enjoying this thread. Keep up the great work !!!!

[lellis]

Absolutely and thoroughly am enjoying this thread. Keep up the great work !!!!

Thanks!! There will be some seriously good updates soon regarding the engine build. Very excited to see it all come together

[lellis]

Good update! The bottom end is back from the machine shop.
New CP Carrillo 94mm, 11:1 CR pistons in, all rotating assembly balanced and built up.


There was no chance I was getting this out the (new to me) e61.


Time for the mock up


It's huge, was hard to comprehend the proper size beforehand.




My smug self makes it look slightly smaller


Now for another test fit






Unfortunately the rad support is still with the fabricator who is making my custom radiator, so hard to show how tight this will actually be, but here is how close it is to the rest.
The previous clearancing in this area is still good


For context, this airbox is e34 m5 specific and I was told it does not fit, however it does (and it doesn't)
The fan box cover will need some modifying, not an issue.


The heater matrix pipes need modifying to come out and down rather than swoop upwards


The e90 servo has around 10mm of clearance, but the reservoir will need relocating


Exhaust manifold and sump to do next. Exciting times!!!

For anyone who wants to have a relaxing watch of this process, here is the video:

[fixedwheelnut]

Excellent work, I think Car Builder Solutions do a remote reservoir kit you can link to it with pipes and elbow joints, or some 2002 models have a remote reservoir.