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

[E30Rossi]

Seeing this made the last 3 months of work all worth it! So stoked on how it looks



Also painted the rad support, ready to go back on !


Blower motor cover got a coat, going to blend in super well!


Last but not least, booster will look so much better colour match vs. the aluminum x3 finish

[E30Rossi]

The day FINALLY arrived!


Looking like glass!


Super happy with how new and glossy this ended up looking!


Now the engine bay looks too good, makes the rest of the car look dull !!

[E30Rossi]

Finished seam sealing, and sanded down the primer to be ready for paint the next day!



Some places worked better than others but it was a learning experience!

[E30Rossi]

Final prep before paint this weekend!


Taped all the areas for seam sealer




Started to apply seam sealer
Definitely takes some practice!
I learnt by trial and error than you can pass your finger through once after applying and that's it
Second time ruins the texture. Oh well, live and learn

[E30Rossi]

Very annoying trying to work around the fusebox, but the amount of work involved in depinning it is not worth the
trouble in my opinion, so I will have to find a way to paint with it there


Looking smooth for the most part!
There are minor imperfections here and there that I will try to address one last time
All the seams and edges will get seam sealer, so that will help


Driver side looks good! There's areas like the frame rail and the part that will be covered by the core support
That I've tried and tried to make perfect but realized they will never be visible and I was driving myself crazy over it


Some more sanding to do in this corner as it was the last area worked on
Will get to that this week before paint!


Hadn't touched the corner behind the fusebox either so this got some putty and primer

I was offered to get the engine bay painted by a professional painter at the shop this coming weekend
I had no choice to take up the offer, so stay tuned for paint very soon!!
I'm super excited to conclude this part of the build and move on the the motor!

[E30Rossi]

Welded that piece in without lighting the car on fire! Lots of precautions were taken and definitely stressed about it the entire time
but we made it through!! Happy that I was able to cut out most of the badly rusted areas on the car now!


Grinding down welds to blend it in more


After welding that part, there was a pretty large gap under from all the rusty metal being cut out
So we proceeded to cover in this section completely in the fender well


More putty, sanding and paint prep!


Laid another coat of high build primer
Very close to being ready for paint now!
It's not perfect in some places, but as I've said it's my first time and I'm learning as I go!

[E30Rossi]

If you can, get a bigger piece of aluminum or copper on the dash side. Can hold it in place with strong magnets. It helps to block some of the hot bits from coming through. Just did this last weekend when welding into the trunk from the rear wheel tub.

Try to have someone on fire watch if possible.
And keep water & fire extinguisher BESIDE you while welding.



Doesn't even look like the same car anymore!

I love reading/posting build threads for this reason, makes you realize/helps you remember how much work went into it.

Thanks for the tip! I think we have a fire blanket at the shop and I will definitely be ready with everything I have for prevention just in case!

I appreciate it! And I think it was the best idea to go back and post my journey since day one just for myself to be able to go back and see all the progress! Also pretty cool when other people can appreciate and benefit from it!

[Panici]

The part that stresses me the most is the other side of that hole in the back is inside the car behind the dash
I have access to it, but It will be very sketchy to weld without removing the dash.. I guess I will find out this week how that goes!

If you can, get a bigger piece of aluminum or copper on the dash side. Can hold it in place with strong magnets. It helps to block some of the hot bits from coming through. Just did this last weekend when welding into the trunk from the rear wheel tub.

Try to have someone on fire watch if possible.
And keep water & fire extinguisher BESIDE you while welding.

Little before / after of the last 3 months of work on every single weekend to get to this point
Felt like I wasn't making progress but sometimes looking back makes you realize

Doesn't even look like the same car anymore!

I love reading/posting build threads for this reason, makes you realize/helps you remember how much work went into it.

[E30Rossi]

After hours of finding imperfections, finishing putty, sanding, and repeat
I finally was able to hit the engine bay with a thick coat of high build primer
Besides that one corner I need to address, overall it's looking pretty ready for paint!


Ran out of primer on this side so gonna have to finish the coat once the battery tray is done


There's some small holes under the blower motor, but this is where I draw the line.
Cleaned it up as much as possible, hit it with some rust converter
It's going to be completely covered either way


Started making the patch piece, going to cut a little further out and get this welded in this week, and that concludes the engine bay repairs 100%


Little before / after of the last 3 months of work on every single weekend to get to this point
Felt like I wasn't making progress but sometimes looking back makes you realize

Next 3 months will be dedicated to tearing the motor apart ( Yes I decided why not while we're here)
Rebuilding it and replacing whatever needs to be replaced.
Any recommendations of what to replace would be appreciated!!
Just talking about engine interals here, because I already have every single sensor and part around the engine brand new

[E30Rossi]

Laid on a coat of undercoating on the front part of the trans tunnel so it would be ready for paint as well!
Got to lay in there to get to the shifter area since I removed the undercoating I applied a few years ago after never drying properly


Keep dreaming of seeing this thing with the suspension and wheels back on, laid back down on the ground


So glad I removed the core support, working in here is 100x easier


Driver side got some finishing putty and a coat of primer, and now it's pretty close to perfect in my eyes
Will be applying seam sealer to all the seams and the front welds which will be hidden

So..... I've been avoiding this spot since day one
There was a small rust hole, and I previously glued in a piece of metal with JBWeld while I redid the rest of the car
knowing it would be temporary and Id take care of it properly once I got in the engine bay repairs
I hit this area with the wire wheel in the wheel well, and it just grew to the point where I had to cut it all out
The part that stresses me the most is the other side of that hole in the back is inside the car behind the dash
I have access to it, but It will be very sketchy to weld without removing the dash.. I guess I will find out this week how that goes!
Wish me luck

[E30Rossi]

Ran out of primer, but trying to tackle one area at a time


Been avoiding this corner since the beginning, definitely the worst part of the engine bay
You'll see why soon enough


Started working on the firewall, I cut off all the studs for the plastic nuts that hold the oem insulation since that won't be used anymore
A few problem areas but nothing major and mostly hidden by components


I was so tempted to remove the fusebox to get to this corner but it's sooooo much work for what I'd get from it!
I will have to work around it, at least it's has some flexibility to move around!


Figured I'd paint the top of the fender supports with the body colour while I'm painting

[E30Rossi]

Continued with the bodywork this past weekend, seems like it never ends


Driver side got a coat of primer to see any imperfections since it was 16 different colours


A little bit of primer goes a long way!


Not perfect but pretty proud of where's it's at since I've never touched body work ever before this

[E30Rossi]

This gonna be good!

Thanks for the confidence🙏🏻 Hope so after all this work

[Mike36]

This gonna be good!

[E30Rossi]

How do you get the fuse box apart on these cars with enough slack to get in an depin stuff? I have several circuits I need to clean up after removing things.

There's 2 philips screws on the outside of the fusebox, then you take the cover off and remove the fog light relay if i remember correctly, and there's a hidden screw under it! Be careful, not the allen bolt because that holds the main power to the fusebox. You can leave that alone