New Zealand 318i Ground Up Rebuild

[humguy]

Hey Guys,

My name is Dan, from little New Zealand. Been a long time researcher on this site, but never posted.

This site has helped me no end, so thought I would share my project with you guys. Hopefully you enjoy it. Its not going to be the fastest moving project, but it will be a good mix of doing things right, and also on a budget proving that $$ isn't the be all and end all to a mint E30.

Caveats - We work in Metric, the car is RHD, we spell color with a u (colour) and kiwi slang is pretty much retarded to the rest of the world.

So my BMW history starts with racing. We have a version of your spec E30 series here. Were run M40s and 2ltr M20s. The cars really are stock side from safety equipment. After exiting the series, my father and I were left with a passion for E30s. Approximately 10 have passed through the gates over the last few years, with dad settling on facelift coupe in Diamond Schwartz. This has since received a 2.8 M20, and some other goodies. We were searching for an Mtec II kit when we were offered one. Only catch was that it was attached to a car which we had to take too.

The car was Japanese new 318i in Atlantasblau, which had been spec'd with the Mtec kit from factory, as well as tartan Recardos. However it had rust in the firewall, and its registration had lapsed. So, dad bought the car with view of taking the kit off it. A few years passed, and I decided I wanted a project car. We finally removed the kit from the car for Dad to use, and I took possession of the car. Which brings us more or less to the present.

Whats the plan?

• Strip back to a bare shell on a rotisserie
• Fix all rust
• Panelwork
• Brand new paint in yet to be chosen colour
• complete rebuild, either refurbishing or replacing every part as it goes back on

I will be using the original Tartan interior, but have a set of Recaro LX seats that need fixing, which may find their way in later.
Coilover suspension is on the list
2.5 M20
17inch wheels 0 yet to be chosen
New sound system - lots of inspiration from the forum!

So thats the general framework. It will be an on going evolution, as they always are. Trying to balance keeping costs in check, while at the same time doing the things that NEED to be done right, well, right.

Here are some photos of the car when we first got it, pre and post wash. It then sat for a few years getting filthy again.

[humguy]

Before having the M40 pulled


New home in my garage


While it wont be the factory colour, it will be a dark blue of some sort

[humguy]

My photos are a little out of order, as I have been taking them on two different cameras. I will upload some more showing the rotisserie set up shortly.

The car is a complete bare shell except for steering column. The plan is to sort the underside painting out while on the rotisserie, then fit suspension back into it so its a roller. Once back from paint, it will go back on the rotisserie, where the suspensions will be pulled. From there on its a case of just putting new/refreshed parts back on the car one at a time.

I scrubbed and de-greased the underside before giving it a coat of black etch prime. The blue I'm going to go for is really dark, and expensive (pearls), so I'm contemplating leaving the bottom black. I've always loved colour coded floors and wheels arches. Its so satisfying when you jack the car up! But in this case, black will be just as effective I think.

[humguy]

Here is a quick pic of the rotisserie setup. Its just two engine stands, with a thick aluminium U section bolted to the engine plate. This is then bolted to the bumper supports. There isn't quite enough height to be able to rotate the car fully, but it still allows much easier access to the underside.

It will stay on the rotisserie until all the suspension, fuel tank, fuel lines etc are in. Then it will come down ready for engine, interior, accessories etc.



In the mean time, started to tackle the firewall today. We had a piece from a donor car, so it just a case of slowly cutting until it fit. Will get into welding it tomorrow. Most cars in NZ had the battery up front. I will be relocating this to the trunk.

The plan is to have the body soda blasted before paint, so not too worried about engine bay appearance at the moment. I will be cleaning up the factory seam sealer though, and doing a bit of a shave.

[humguy]

Slightly off topic, but still E30 related. Here are some pics of the race car we built. I literally have thousands from during the build. I own my own sign business, go gave it few different liveries over two seasons.

[humguy]

Made some progress.

The shell has been stripped right back. A few minor rust repairs and holes filled. then I decided it was best to have it blasted and epoxy primed.

It had few bad paint repairs and other nasty bits. The time involved in stripping it back myself just wasn't worth it. Overall Im stoked with the results, and its money well spent as far as I'm concerned.

So it just needs some vey minor work now, and then it will be off to paint. I need to talk cabbage with the painter, and see how much extra is involved in base/clearing the inside. I would prefer it, even though its never seen. But its just nice knowing thats it mint colour everywhere. If its too pricey, I have a nice black etch prime that looks just like factory e-coat. It will still look grouse.

[CorvallisBMW]

Wow, I'm excited to see how it turns out. I love blue cars :)

[jpod999]

I love seeing builds start like this!

[bangn]

don't really need to clear the inside, they arent cleared from factory. I sprayed mine in base coat with 5% hardener.

[kronus]

this will be good.

[humguy]

Not too much has been happening. A little bit of bog work (bondo) before it gets sent to paint.

Turns out right hand drive carpets are NLA, so I had to run with dyeing my carpet. I've done it before with a spray, and it looked good finished, but faded horribly. This time round I bought some proper dye powder, mixed it up with boiling water and white vinegar and sprayed it. Its looking good. Once this coat is dry, I will give it a good wash/vacuum and then give it another coat.

I ordered a head liner from CATuned.
Have fabric wrapped the wiring harness.
Ordered some FlexoPet and custom printed heatshrink for the stereo install from Wirecare.com (wanky, but its all in the details)

I placed and order from Revshift for a full set of bushes. I haven't had any replies to emails, and did a quick google search and found pages of horrible reviews of their service and communication. I wish I had checked first. Am I likely getting screwed here?

Will post some pics soon of progress to date. Hopefully it will get off to the painter in the next week or so. How long he will have it, I have no idea.

Oh, and another cool project we're working on is making a home zinc plating setup. this way I can zinc plate/yellow chromate small parts as I go, as opposed to having to group them all together and then figure out what goes where. Plus, its not that cheap to get it done here, so I may as well invest the money into my own setup.

[humguy]

Few small updates.

Bushings arrived from RevShift. I'm neutral on that experience. But they're here now, so thats the main thing.



Unfortunately it seems that RHD Anthracite carpets are NLA. Absolutely gutted about this. I REALLY wanted new carpets. So I had a crack at dying them black. It washed out to a nice dark grey. Although it has gone a little purple in some spots. I will re-address this further down the road.

Before (had been pressure washed and fabric cleaned)


After


After doing a patch repair on the fire wall rust that I wasnt 100% with, I found out I could still buy a new OEM piece. So with that in hand, I cut the old out, and threw the new one in.



Been having a tonne of fun with the zinc plating setup. It works a charm. So far we've just been playing around on odds and end, but have the process pretty well sorted now. Being able to do every nut,bolt, bracket will make such a massive difference to the finished job. Here are some bits we've done





And we have now have blue chromate for bits I don't want gold. Its called blue, but its basically shiny silver with the slightest hint of blue in some light.



Other than that, its now just a case of getting the front guards lines up, collecting all bits that will be getting painted, and then finding a time for my painter to actually take the car. Im 99% sure on the colour choice. Its one of BMWs F80 Individual Colours, but I might just sit on that for a while.

CAtuned are being awesome with the head liner. The first one they sent was for a sunroof car, so didn't have enough loops for the bars. So we're sorting that. I can say I love the material though. Im hoping to get some extra to cover the parcel tray to match.

I also got some Neon Green TechFlex sleeving for when I do the stereo, as well as some custom printed heat shrink. Minor details that no one see, but they satisfy my minor OCD. I'm going for a bit of a green theme for accessories. RevShift, Green Techflex and planning on some Fortune Auto coil overs. But the majority of the 'colour scheme' will be factory new. My aim is to have a car that looks like it was bought brand new, and then had some nice bolt on mods done - if that makes sense.

'Till next time.

[humguy]

Hey all. I know you've been gagging for an update...........

So i had planned, and allowed $$ to have the car professionally painted. However, when it came time to find a panel shop, no-one seemed particularly keen too do it. No-one ever came back to me with prices, or timelines etc. they just seem happy doing insurance work and then bitching about how the insurance companies screw them on prices.

So, as my usual line of thinking goes, I turned to "fuck it, I'll do it myself"

I figured I could build a spray booth in my workshop, buy some good equipment and all the materials and do the job for less than half of what it would have cost for a shop to do it. The remaining cash has allowed me to purchase some other things :)

First thing was the booth. I had enough room in my shop to build a decent size booth. Its a timber frame, lined with white corflute with all joins sealed. Its a very basic frame, as it will be torn down after the job, and I didn't want to overspend on timber for something temporary. I purchased 5 workshop fans, and fitted them to plywood boxes. The exhaust fan has two fans, and gets a fibreglass pray booth filter placed in it (below photo has no filter fitted)



The inlet has 3 fans. The idea here was to pump in more air than is escaping, to have the booth under positive pressure. It worked perfect until the filters were fitted. The inlet filter is a lot more restrictive than the exhaust, so the booth is slightly negative.



As it turns out, it works mint! I had a slight issue on the doors and bolt on parts, where there was some contamination coming through the lines. So I have a few fish eyes in the clear coat. Im pretty confident I will be able to get most of these with a wet sand later though.

I haven't done a lot of painting (bugger all really) but have studied videos on you tube and learnt a shit tonne. If anyone is interested, checkout The Gunman. He's a good ozzy lad, who knows his stuff and explains things well. Its amazing how just following his recommendations has led to a good finish straight up.

So, the colour I have chosen is Tanzanite Blue Metallic, from the current M Individual colours. I wanted to keep the car dark blue as original, but wanted something a bit more interesting. This colour is really interesting. In shade or overcast conditions, in looks flat navy blue, even purple. But in the sun, the pearls really pop out. But even in full sun, the whole won't glow like glitter bug. It will be a very colour shift type look. I cant wait to see it finished.

Heres the base coat done




And clear coat




And in the sun






The body is next. Currently all primered up. I will be sanding over the next few days, hopefully start painting next week.







As for the things I have been able to buy with the extra $$,

I got my full set of Fortune Auto coil overs. beautiful pieces of kit. Photos to come.
I took a colossal gamble on carpet. As mentioned previous, RHD are NLA. I decided I could make a LHD fit a RHD car. I ordered a set, at huge expense. Once they arrived, I was hopeful until I realised something. On the part that goes up the firewall, the passengers side sits about 50mm (2 inch) further back towards the rear of the car, and has a solid board inside it to give the passengers a foot rest. So, when LHD placed in a RHD car, the pedals will not have enough room. FUUUUUUUUUUCCCCKKKK.

Anyhoo, I have a plan on how to get around it, so once the car is painted and back home, I will look more into the carpet. New carpet is supper nice though!!!!!

I got my bushes from Revshift. And my black headliner from CAtuned. A few other bits and bobs from BMW, such a trunk mount battery tray, fuel flller grommet, foam gasket for the HVAC unti which I have stripped and cleaned. I have completely re taped the entire wiring loom with fabric Tessa tape, so that is ready to go back in.

Oh yeah, and I picked up another engine. An M20B25 with all the parts for 2.8 stroker, and a Schrick 288 cam. Cant wait to get it together with RHD ITBs!

Thats all for now. Will post some pics once the car is painted.