Bronzit E30 - OBDII S52 shaved bay - weekend/autox toy - Journey

[industrious]

@ ShErpak!ng, it would take a lot of work but if you linked your projects and pages in which they could be found that would be pretty awesome....

[glnr13]

@ ShErpak!ng, it would take a lot of work but if you linked your projects and pages in which they could be found that would be pretty awesome....

it would take a lot of work but if you could notate the post to each project, then make a link, then make a list of all projects, then copy that and send it to him so he could update his main page that would be pretty awesome too...:)

point being, I don't think it's one of charlie's priorities to organize his thread to meet your needs. but if you were so inclined to help you could.

[industrious]

point being, I don't think it's one of charlie's priorities to organize his thread to meet your needs. but if you were so inclined to help you could.

Oh really, and here I was thinking that he was just here to suit my needs, guess I was wrong.

Anyways, more Bronzit por favor :up:

[stonea]

I recently went back and read through his whole build thread again and it took me about a week to go through it all. I don't even want to imagine how long it would take to properly organize and link everything.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Awh man that came out so cool and good. Love the wedge idea too. Swap that carpet in and with a matching headliner you're SET.

Man thanks again for the material! I love the way it looks. Can't wait to get the carpet and headliner done. I'll be calling you for the headliner sometime soon

Those panels look great! How much do they weigh?

Thanks! Not much, probably 2-3 lbs each. I didn't do it really for any weight savings, more so just so the missing seat would look proper

@ ShErpak!ng, it would take a lot of work but if you linked your projects and pages in which they could be found that would be pretty awesome....

it would take a lot of work but if you could notate the post to each project, then make a link, then make a list of all projects, then copy that and send it to him so he could update his main page that would be pretty awesome too...:)

point being, I don't think it's one of charlie's priorities to organize his thread to meet your needs. but if you were so inclined to help you could.

Oh really, and here I was thinking that he was just here to suit my needs, guess I was wrong.

Anyways, more Bronzit por favor :up:

Lol Glen you made me laugh. @industrious it's something I've had in my mental to do list for a while but certainly not a priority. And I'd do it more so for my own organization than anything else. Believe it or not I forget a lot of this stuff I've done and why I did it a certain way, what parts I used etc. so going back to the posts helps me remember.

I don't even want to imagine how long it would take to properly organize and link everything.

Lol neither do I

[jpod999]

Believe it or not I forget a lot of this stuff I've done and why I did it a certain way, what parts I used etc. so going back to the posts helps me remember.

Same exact thing happens to me, don't feel too badly about it!

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Same exact thing happens to me, don't feel too badly about it!

Haha yea I'm sure a lot of us have the same problem. Years long builds/projects and a compulsion to be tinkering constantly.



So in between tinkering with the e30, I took advantage of my close proximity to Laguna Seca and went two consecutive weekends. First weekend was the ferrari challenge which was pretty cool. They had a lot of amazing vintage cars parked including an F50, F40 laferrari, several F12 TDFs and a whole hose of classics which I'm sure were worth quite a bit. Foolishly I didn' take a single picture of any of them :(

The second weekend was the spring classic. This event was incredibly cool. It featured a bunch of races with vintage cars from the 60s 70s and 80s. Everything from 2.5 liter, trans am, pan am, formula 1, stock cars, you name it. And you could walk around and get up close to them while they were parked waiting to race.














I had never been to laguna seca before these events so it was a great way to be introduced to the venue.

The next e30 project was detailing. With bimmerfest two weeks away I had a lot of work to do. I was kind of dumb way back when I was working on the engine bay and didn't cover the whole car. The trunk was exposed and though figured ehhhh it's far enough away that no metal particles, sanding dust etc. woud fall on it, or at least nothing substantial... wrong. It had a heavy layer of steel particles which, since I didn't really detail/wash the car much since then, had plenty of time to settle in, rust and become embedded into the paint. I actually found similar evidence all over the car but the trunk was the worst since it had been exposed the longest and to the heaviest debris. An aggressive clay bar knocked down much of the heavier grit, but the paint still felt very rough even after many passes. So I decided to give ironx a try and WOW what a difference. Sprayed it on and the whole area turned a deep purple. Let it soak, sprayed a second application, washed it off, clayed it again and it felt far far better. I applied the ironx to the roof and side of the car as well, tey were not nearly as heavily contaminated, but still turned very purple and felt much smoother afterwards.

Kinda hard to show, but here is the ironx working on the roof.





Next I began wetsanding the hood and fenders. Started with 1000 grit and worked up to 3000 grit on my orbital. Took most of the orange peel out so whats left matches the texture of the paint on the rest of the car.





After 3000 grit





After the first pass of heavy cut polish (using chemical guys products)







For the remaining work, I setup the trusty harbor freight tent to keep the car and myself out of the sun. I also immediately got a complaint from a neighbor through the HOA that I was "painting a car" in my parking space Had a good laugh about it with the realtor who also couldn't understand how someone could mistake what I was doing for "painting" and assured me I was not breaking any rules detailing the car there, nor for setting up a canopy. The lady who complained (I think) also rolled up later and told me off for having one leg of the tent a foot over the no parking line.... people...... this just reinforces that I never want to live anywhere with an HOA.







Finished detailing the car that night and drove to LA Friday. I finished the detailing with a medium cut polish, fine polish and a layer of chemical guys blacklight sealant. I will be doing a second coat of sealant and then following with waxing every couple of weeks or so to preserve the work and prevent the car from ever again falling into the state it was in before. Much easier to wash and wax every few weeks than to do a full blown detailing like this.









Back at my garage in LA I detailed the engine bay and did a very quick clay bar and polish on the paint. Came out great! I entered battle of the bimmers and was hoping to win the "rising star" award (for owners of age 25 or under) but lost it to a e39 540. Unfortunately this was my last year to be eligible for that category so I was a little bummed. Regardless, the car received loads of positive feedback and I met a lot of really cool people so I would still consider it to be a great success! I'm also relieved that i got the detailing done since that was really bugging me for a while and I'd been putting it off for so long.

Here are photos from bimmerfest.









I also went fr a drive Sunday morning up mulholland highway and some canyons to take some pictures. Stopped at the spot I first took pictures of the car right after I finished the swap 2 years ago.









And that about catches things up.

In other news, the company I just joined decided to lay off their whole supply chain department, including me. So I'm currently searching for a new job. That said, if anyone out there in the socal area works for a company with a supply chain/procurement/purchasing/logistics department I'd much appreciate the referral if you feel comfortable doing so. Drop me a PM. The attention to detail and work ethic you see reflected in this build are the same that I apply to my professional career.

Unfortunately this means updates will probably be a bit slow and small being that I need to conserve finances. But I'll still be tinkering here and there with parts and projects I've already got sitting around.

[MR E30 325is]

Sorry to hear about that job loss.

But your car looks absolutely stunning. Excellent work on the detailing. I love detailing, because the finish is always worth the effort.

[TheWipprSnappr]

Car is looking better than ever! Excellent attention to detail per usual. That sucks about the job, best of luck getting back in the game.

I also went fr a drive Sunday morning up mulholland highway and some canyons to take some pictures. Stopped at the spot I first took pictures of the car right after I finished the swap 2 years ago.

Also, what a cool moment this must have been to see how far it has come. Update that sig already!! :hitler:

[2mAn]

Bronzit E30 - OBDII S52 shaved bay - weekend/autox toy - Journey

What a heartbreaking end to that story. However the detailing job was amazing and I might have to hire you for one or two jobs on my car, if you're down. Sorry about joking around this is a crappy time, I really wish you the best. More free time to work on the E36 Vert?

[Digitalwave]

Nice update, sorry to hear about your job! I'm sure you'll find one quickly.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Sorry to hear about that job loss.
But your car looks absolutely stunning. Excellent work on the detailing. I love detailing, because the finish is always worth the effort.

Yes! Depending on how crazy you get with it, the work can be back breaking. But the results are always worth it. Also, if you keep up wit it, waxing every once in a while, it lasts.

Car is looking better than ever! Excellent attention to detail per usual. That sucks about the job, best of luck getting back in the game.

Also, what a cool moment this must have been to see how far it has come. Update that sig already!! :hitler:

Thanks man, I'm sure I'll make something happen soon. For now I'm kinda enjoying all the free time. Who knows when I'll have time like this again in life until I retire... or start a business? It was fun to return to the original spot I took those photos. Definitely need to find a good one to replace the sig :p

What a heartbreaking end to that story. However the detailing job was amazing and I might have to hire you for one or two jobs on my car, if you're down. Sorry about joking around this is a crappy time, I really wish you the best. More free time to work on the E36 Vert?

Thanks buddy, it's all good. Probably for the best. I wasn't really passionate about the industry and this gives me a chance to really find a company/industry/location I will really be happy about. And yes, the plan is to fully take advantage of the time and get the vert back together. I miss that car too much.

Nice update, sorry to hear about your job! I'm sure you'll find one quickly.

Thanks man.


Took the daily camping in Joshua Tree with some friends.







Also took the e30 camping when the e36 ran out of space. It was fun and the e30's cave of a trunk was helpful.





Interior is more or less finished. Just need to clean and dye the grey carpet I've got sitting in the garage and install it.





Washed and applied another layer of sealant. Subsequent washes will get coatings of wax. As long as I keep up with it, shouldn't need a light polish and serious stripped down detailing any more often than 1x per year. Also applied some chemical guys wheel sealant - nice stuff.

[jeenyus]

Looks amazing as always. Great work!

[econti]

So with the detailing, you went:
-1000 grit on orbital
-work to 3000 grit orbital
-hard cut polish
-medium cut
-fine cut
-sealant
-and then wax for future

Right?

Do you put polish on using the orbital?
My skyline's paint is a little shitty so I was thinking about doing some sort of cutting polish. I've tried with just a polish kind of thing and it didn't do much.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

God damn photobucket. Killing me.

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