new guy 84 318i

[ColdAccord]

that's too far gone. you can find clean $500 shells down here

[methylprop]

Finding another shell to swap parts to is my back up plan. I plan to try to fix this shell, even though it is f-ed really bad. The only one who can tell me that the car is "too far gone" is the body man. My main concern is the dent in the rear quarter panel. I will have to have looked at and hopefully fixed first. The cross member is fairly easy once I find a good donor car. Plus finding a shell hasn't been to easy to find here. I am looking though.

The panel behind the seat i'm going to completely remove and have a local shop called All out performance weld in a X shaped tubular brace with sheet metal welded in front of it. I want to keep the back seat and i don't want it to be visible. I can cover it up in the trunk with a color matched carpeted panel. In my mind, the way I want it don't look as ghetto as it sounds.

I'm use to building S12's so building a car that requires a ton of fab work is nothing new. I'm in love with this car. E30 FTW.

[Will_318i]

ummmmm.... so instead of paying like $50-$60 dollars for a new window... he destroys the car by cutting the metal? where the fuck do you get the tools for that?

[TrentW]

Sad that it looked good for over two decades and then it only takes one douchebag owner to come along and completely uglify it.

[formula driver]

Can I get his contact info? Id really enjoy punching that guy in the face! Man thats sad to see, props if you can bring it back. If you do it, do it the right way.

[methylprop]

Here is a few more pics or the rear quarter section that I'm concerned with. He's installed locking pins in the trunk lid that don't even work. -Pure awesome. I'm not sure if the latch isn't working or it's the damage that's keeping it from latching.

Tell mw what you think. Can it be pulled out?

[blitz355]

Wow i feel sorry for the original owner that made an appearance on this thread, good luck man.

[PaladinReed]

In all honesty, Id grab the kit, and the seats (it had black recaros when I sold it), get a good fiberglass guy to straighten out the kit and use it on another shell. As a matter of fact it would be foolish to try and recover that 318i. My dad and I worked on that car as my second e30 when I was 16-17 years old and got it with a number of deficiencies. The kit is rare as baller as fuck and I regret ever selling that car. Im glad its still local and it has a new caring owner.

When did you pick it up? And how much did you pay?

Here are some more before/after pics from my ownership.

Before (you can glimpse my old delphin '84 in the background, lol first car became parts car), this was after extensive work already done by my father and I.





And after





She was never a show stopper in my possession but we brought her back to life.

Sorry these are the only 4 pics I have uploaded to my pc. These were from like 2004

-Paladin

[ck_taft325is]

I would say that rear quater damage is fixable. But everything's fixable. How deep are you pockets?

[methylprop]

This car isn't going to be done any time soon but, I will get it fixed. I really think I can straiten every thing out. I can handle this. I'm going to start tearing it down whiten a week.

[JT325is]

thats just a money pit. not even worth it. find a clean shell, throw the kit on and go from there. good luck

[methylprop]

Why give up on a car that can be fixed. I don't want this to be the end of this cars life. I don't know why. I know it's stupid, but I'm not junking it. I'm not scared. I have the skills. I'm not rich but I am resourceful. I'm trying to buy a new cross member right now. I'm trying to sell a few old Nissan parts to come up with the cash. I have one of two parts sold I have over half the cash. I like not having to spend any money out of my own pocket. Plus it makes my wife very happy.

You are right. This car is fucked up, But not for much longer.

After I get the body strait then I will start working on the motor swap. Sorry guys but I have to have Nissan power. I'm trying to decide on 3 engines, sr20det, ka24det, or vg30dett.

[kronus]

^^ good luck! Save that car and ignore the naysayers.

[jeffw]

This is going to be sad to see. I'm sure you don't want to buy if after you see this but I would only sell it to you. I do plan to restore this car back to original shape. do you have anymore pics of the car when it was in your possession. My new goal is to make it look like it did when you owned it.

Here is the damage.







This is the metal support behind the seats. He locked his keys in the car and "Didn't want to bust the glass". so this is what he did instead.






passengers side fender

cross member

cross member welds

not welded at all on the other side

top cross member welds

this was his attempt at a mono wiper.

more fail


It is all there but its all rough. It's completely not worth restoring. I will lose a ton of cash on this car. For some reason I cant stand to see this car in this shape. I will have this car strait again someday.

i think i just shed a tear looking at those pictures. go shoot him

[Kershaw]

that is a damn sad sight to see.

fuck.