E30 M3 Steel Bodywork Conversion

[bmwmech1]

I have gotten some requests to write a thread about my project in my sig... I have it on another forum also, but thought I'd do a thread here as well. I bought an 85 coupe, late spring last year to do a V8 swap in. After I got a few months into the project, I decided to do a full M3 conversion on the body to go with the motor swap, but the 85 was hit in the rear a little more significantly than I first thought, so I picked up another shell, this one an 87, to continue the project with...

So I bought these...



and removed these...



which left me with this mess...



I had to add the correct outer wheel houses on both sides and the trunk well sides on both sides, since they were a little rusty...







A lot of fitting and a new tail panel and front quarters got me to this point...



by which time it was fall and looking like this...



Through the time I was working on the body, I was also acquiring the parts for the 5 lug swap and working on the motor swap. I had to make the motor mounts and had initially wanted to use the relocated booster and master cylinder setup from the E34 V8 cars, but after making the booster setup work, I didn't like how cluttered the engine bay was looking, so I scrapped that idea in favor of the Wilwood cantilever setup, which moves the front and rear MC and clutch MC under the dash with remote mounted reservoirs. The car is getting a full cage, so I have plenty of strength to mount the cantilever setup to and it will make for a much cleaner bay.

Here's a courtesy photo of the M60B40 motor...



Next post coming up...

Garey

[Kershaw]

ooo nice.

[bmwmech1]

So, as I said, that got me to the fall, at which point I was looking at a relocation of my shop to a bigger facility, so the car got put on the back burner for about 6-8 weeks. That was tough to do. We closed on the new property the second week of November and started the renovations that weekend, but with an end-of-the-year completion date, we kind of drug our feet the first 4-5 weeks. We got alot done, but it still came down to the last 2 weeks before the end of the year, pulling 16-18 days every day to get it done. Once I was done, rested and open in the new shop, I started back on the car. I knew I wanted to rotisserie the car to strip the underside down to bare metal and stitch weld all the seams and fix any spots of rust in the floors, but I didn't have a rotisserie... so I made one... Harbor Freight, here I come, Lol!

I bought 2 stands to use and 2 more as donors, cut them all apart and started welding them back together...











So, with a bunch of time invested in the rotisserie, I was finally able to get the car on it last weekend. In the middle of the rotisserie build, a buddy found a non-sunroof 318 at a u-pull and promptly called me, knowing I was looking for a non-sunroof roof skin for my project. That next Thursday, we were popping out the front and rear windshields and cutting it off the 318 with a cordless sawzall. I plopped it on my head and carried it to the checkout and for a small amount of cash, I had my roof skin...



3-4 hours later and I had it de-laminated enough to be ready to swap onto the car...



It took me about 2 hours to get the old skin off the car, leaving the parts that I had removed from the red skin on the car, so it would fit back together like a jig-saw puzzle. The actual swap took about 30 minutes and it was tacked on the car and viola! No sunroof...



Now I'm ready to get the thing stripped down and on the rotisserie...





The last 2 days, I've been stripping off undercoating and getting the underside down to bare metal...



Which brings us current. Obviously, this is a much abbreviated version of the actual build, considering it spans about 8-9 months and I've detailed it in 2 posts and about 20 pictures. On the other forum, where it's posted in the full, unabridged version, there are over 15,000 views and 300+ posts, but there's also a ton of fluff in the thread, so I hope everyone is happier with the slimmed down version here. Of course questions and photo requests are welcome... I have a few more photos available, Lol!

Garey

[e30damen]

Amazing! I wish I could afford to do this to my early body

[MR E30 325is]

In for the win. This is a lot of work.

[bmwmech1]

In for the win. This is a lot of work.

Yes, I wish it was as easy as posting this build thread was... 15 minutes and bingo! Instant bodywork, Lol! It's been a long project, but there are many others that have been longer... my goal is to drive it this summer... we shall see...

Garey

[Hick]

Very cool project. Out of curiosity, how much were all the OE M3 flair's/trunk/rear wind screen?

[JoshWho_e21]

Damn!

That is all.

[bernzpeed]

very cool, subscribed.

[ck_taft325is]

Noice.

[bmwmech1]

Very cool project. Out of curiosity, how much were all the OE M3 flair's/trunk/rear wind screen?

Ha... look at your info, I grew up in Bexley! Small world...

The rear quarter panels were $400 a piece, the fronts were $230 a piece, trunks go for $200 and up, bumpers $350 and up each, skirts $250 and up a pair, rear wings $200 and up. The sail panel/rear window frame is the holy grail of M3 parts, though. Finding just that part is becoming impossible... you almost have to buy a wrecked shell, nowadays. That's what I had to do, anyways...

Garey

[cepa318is]

Wow, great work so far. Where are you at in PA? I would love to see this in person some time or even help out.

[bmwmech1]

Wow, great work so far. Where are you at in PA? I would love to see this in person some time or even help out.

You can stop by the shop anytime and check it out, since you're right across the river... my shop is in Hummelstown.

Garey

[euroshark]

Subscribed.

[mtechrisII]

I grew up in Bexley too! It IS a small world! Great looking project so far!