E30Rossi's Full Build - Overhaul - 5 Lug - Bay Shave - M54 Swap (Pic Heavy)

[E30Rossi]

Never showed one of my first mods, this Nardi I had in my possession for 7 years and never had the perfect car to fit it in until now!



Ready for undercoat!







Diff Refresh

[E30Rossi]

Much cleaner



Sold the OEM 14's as I now decided the 5 Lug Conversion was for sure happening



Tried to get this factory texture with the seam sealer, im doing my best here okay!



Time for undercoating! Went with typical canned Gravel Guard, which I regret for certain reasons now
Any place where the can was straight, as in the wheel wells, it came out perfect
But when I had to flip the can on it's side to coat under the car/ tranny tunnel, it never dried properly and stayed sticky
To this day I can't work on certain parts of the car without being coated in black sticky gravel guard
again, we live and learn!

[E30Rossi]

Decided to put a coat of paint on the front end while everything was apart!


Primed



Much better!


First round of coating, looks wayyy better than the rust



Coated the entire car

[E30Rossi]

This was worth all the trouble, made such a huge difference! and hides the rust repairs quite a bit!




Fresh and clean



I'm so glad I went through this, Makes all the new parts that went back on look so much better

[E30Rossi]

Next is time for the refresh!
In no particular order, let's start with all the suspension / subframe components!



OEM Front LCAs



Had to address the missing seat for the spring!



Luckily I had access to a sandblast machine as well!



Made a new seat on a lathe

[E30Rossi]

Scored E36 Spindles, E46 Front and Rear brake setup used locally! Ready for the 5 lug conversion




Discs were in great condition so just gave them a quick respray!


Decided it was a good idea to rebuild and refresh these, even if they were in excellent condition



Swapped out my master cylinder for an E32 7 Series 25mm Master to prepare for the bigger brakes

[E30Rossi]

Also scored a larger front swaybar with poly bushings and adjustable endlinks!


Purchased the full 5 lug conversion kit by SRSConcept since I can pick these parts up in person!
Also added the accelerator pedal bracket since mine was rusted out



Shifter got the full bushings upgrade kit by Garagistic



I also had access to a powdercoat setup at the shop thanks to my buddy, so this is where it started getting interesting!
I decided to powdercoat every single metal part I was going to put back on the car! So addictive when you don't have to pay for it!

Brake backplates, Wiper arms, Seatbelt Rails, Swaybar Brackets all powercoated satin black




It's all in the details!

[E30Rossi]

Muffler brackets


Experimented with an accent colour and fell in love!


Calipers look amazing! accent colour is official

[E30Rossi]

Love my colour choice from Emerald Coatings



Rebuild kit for brakes + starting to stack what I need to finish this all up for spring time!


Brakes fully rebuilt with new pistons, seals, slider pins, Garagistic stainless hoses
First time doing this and it was seriously so easy! You don't know until you try!



Powdercoat everything!


Next up!

[E30Rossi]

E36 Spindles Looking brand new!


Fuel filler neck gets powercoat too because why not ?


Everything gets refreshed or replaced! One new hub/bearing, other one was in great condition! New Caps and bolts!


Assembled!


OEM LCAs powdercoated, new balljoints!

[E30Rossi]

Assembled with SRSConcept 5 Lug swap lollipop bushings which corrects caster when doing 5 lug swap!



Plastic parts ready for some trim black


Scuffed and ready for paint


Fresh coat of Trim Black




Everything gets a little refresh

[E30Rossi]

Not perfect, but much better while I wait to order some new Depo headlights



Went for the all red look


Perfect!


Quick refresh definitely did the front end some good! First parts to go back on the car

[E30Rossi]

OEM Axles were fine so a quick coat of paint for now


Decided to go for a dark look on the car so prep for SEM Trim Black on the window trim!


Love it!



Trunk gets a coat of paint after all the repairs


Parts starting to come in! Best feeling for a car guy, especially stickers :P
Went with BCRacing Extreme Low 5 Lug Conversion Coilovers 8k Front 10k Rear spring rates

[E30Rossi]

Visited Garagistic during a layover in Cali, picked up all the subframe reinforcements, bushings, brake lines, and anything else I thought I would need!


Acquired the wheels I will be running with my 5 lug swap!
BMW Style 32 in 17x8 +20 and 17x9 +26 from E39
Tires had to go since they were way too big
Wheels had curb rash, which I took care of because these were heading to powercoat!


Didn't yet know how much these would change the look of this car!



Back to the suspension components ! I wanted to do everything right the first time on this car, so I decided to weld on every reinforcement sold for rear of the car

Diff Mounting, Trailing arm, Trailing arm mounting, Swaybar mount, rear shock mount

Trailing arm getting gusset welded to reinforce!


Swaybar mount welded on as well

[E30Rossi]

Diff mounting point reinforced




Camber / toe adjustments welded on as well to fix the camber once car is lowered


Fully reinforced rear subframe


Coat of satin black powdercoat on trailing arms



So blessed to have access to all this equipment, this build will last a long time!