Hello! White late model coupe from the bay

[Toodaloo]

Hello Everyone!

I'm back!

I have sort of been neglecting the car the past few months. Being busy with school and not having much time on the weekends has prevented me from doing any upgrades or fixing small issues. I have continued to maintain the car, but only the bare minimum. I should have more time this year for the car and have some big plans!

I finally fixed the Odometer!

I went ahead and ordered the Garagistic motometer gear replacement kit, silver cluster rings, and alpina tach strip on Black Friday. I figured, hey, I didn't buy anything so I might as well take advantage of the discounts!

Taking apart the cluster was super easy, the whole process took maybe an hour at most (not including painting/drying time)

I replaced all the gears and transferred some of the original lubricant onto the new ones. Then, I applied the tac strip. I ended up having to apply each piece individually since the alignment was pretty horrible. on the vinyl relief sheet. It came out pretty well! Following the tac strip, I painted the needles red in the M3 theme. After assembling the cluster, I replaced the burnt out bulbs with new ones and reinstalled the cluster.

I think it came out well, and now the ODO works :D



Then, I decided to repaint my front valance. It had always bothered me as it seemed like the only part of my car that had absolutely an HORRIBLE finish. Years of rock chips and neglect provided me a hideous front end.

Close up shot:



I stripped off the chip guard with a chisel. (I tried a few different techniques and found that the chisel worked the best, and a dremel with a wire wheel attachment for those tight crevices)



Afterwards, I removed any leftover adhesive from the chip guard, cleaned out all the dirt and grime, then applied primer.



While I was at it, my buddy Carl hooked me up with some fog delete blanks. I figured, if I'm repainting the valance I might as well paint a set of fog deletes at the same time.



I picked up some PPG alpine white 2 (custom mixed spray cans) from my local automotive paint/finishing shop and went to town! The process was the same as my rear bumper/valance. The paint goes on super wet and globby so even/ constant coverage is important. It came out pretty well!

I have since went against my golden rule of not using plasti-dip and dipped the lip back to black. The black lip just looks so much better on my car, keeping with the black/white theme and keeping the lines on the car consistent. However, I wanted to leave it color matched so that I can go back if I ever decide to add color matched "is" sideskirts.



I'll go shoot a few photos soon to show off the final product!

In other news: My water pump started to leak, so I'll be replacing the pump, timing belt, accessory belts, and fully cleaning the engine bay next week once my parts arrive!

A few more things planned to happen in the next month or so, I'll update with photos soon ;)

[destroyer]

Just read through this whole thread. Quite an addicting read! The Alpine looks great! Keep up the good work!

[Toodaloo]

I'm with Ian, I gotta see your alpine and meet you too. I've been wanting to snap photos of your car for a while now haha. What's the date for that cars and coffee?

Ian, we all should roll out together to that meet.


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Yeah we still have to meet! January 9th I believe!

just read this whole thing. love your car I'm right ion sonoma good to see a great 707 bimmer! what intake is that coming out of the headlight. and do you have a hook on any wheels?

Thanks man! It's a 6" OD 3" ID turbo velocity stack. As far as wheels, I'm not sure really. I was actually thinking about selling these ones with or without tires if you're interested.

Pm me if you have any questions or anything, glad to help a fellow north bay-er out!

[sonomabimmers]

just read this whole thing. love your car I'm right ion sonoma good to see a great 707 bimmer! what intake is that coming out of the headlight. and do you have a hook on any wheels?

[Eufonik]

Thank you! I'll be out at the next SF cars and coffee in January if you want to stop by!

I'm with Ian, I gotta see your alpine and meet you too. I've been wanting to snap photos of your car for a while now haha. What's the date for that cars and coffee?

Ian, we all should roll out together to that meet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Toodaloo]

Looks awesome, great progress, and relatively local! Hope to see you and your e30 in the future.

Thank you! I'll be out at the next SF cars and coffee in January if you want to stop by!

[ian e30 318is]

Looks awesome, great progress, and relatively local! Hope to see you and your e30 in the future.

[Toodaloo]

Hello! White late model coupe from the bay

Nice build dude. I like what you've done! Those seats look perfect.

Thanks!



Sorry for the lack of updates guys, so here are a few things you should expect to see me cover in the next month or so.



- My process of shaving and painting the front valance, fog deletes, brake ducts, and front lip.

- Maybe going a little bit lower in the front

- AC pump started making squealing sounds so it looks like I'll have to either fix that, or delete it... I'll probably fix it...

- Roof rack accompanied by a light bar? maybeeeee...

- Reupholstered sports seats If I can find the time to get around to it.

- New wheels?

- Addressing a coolant leak somewhere. My expansion tank ran low so I had to add a bit to fill it back up.

[Butler]

Nice build dude. I like what you've done! Those seats look perfect.

[Toodaloo]

I'm at the hardware store right now trying to look for that rubber grommet. Where did you find this?

I've actually switched the grommet to a plug. I believe it's a 7/8 "button plug" I purchased at Ace hardware. It works much better, looks sleeker, and doesn't erode like the one pictured did.

Do you go to SJSU?

I'm currently a student at Cal Maritime. I say currently because, well. I feel I made the wrong decision which school to attend. Long story short, I'm pretty young, and like most college kids am not really sure what I want to do with my life. I have many different interests and feel Mechanical Engineering may not be my best suit, so I'd like to gain some experience with other majors I'm interested in. Only problem is, my school only has 6 majors, and they're all somehow tied to the maritime/ shipping industry. I know for a fact I never want to work on a ship, so having everyone around me be the opposite makes it a little difficult to keep my head straight. With only 6 majors, it really leaves me no opportunity to experience other classes or fields. The 86% male 14% female rate doesn't help either ;)

Hey whats up man, this is Kevin I met you a couple weeks back at that M Fest meet, I came in my white early coupe. Funny I've seen this thread a couple times before, but didn't realize until now it's your car. After seeing page 1 again with the Recaro pic I was able to put 2 and 2 together lol.

What's up Kevin! it was nice meeting you! PM me your number and we can chit chat sometime.

[KIRIEIW]

Hey whats up man, this is Kevin I met you a couple weeks back at that M Fest meet, I came in my white early coupe. Funny I've seen this thread a couple times before, but didn't realize until now it's your car. After seeing page 1 again with the Recaro pic I was able to put 2 and 2 together lol.

[pandaboo911]

Do you go to SJSU?

[SlicktopE30]

When I purchased the car it didn't have an antenna. Simply a hole covered in "goop" according to the previous owner. I removed the goop with my nail and cleaned up the area with some rubbing compound and followed up with polish and wax. I tried a few forms of plugs with little luck with size and fitment and decide to go another route. I headed to my local ace hardware and found a rubber grommet that fit snugly in the hole, then placed a plug inside the grommet to seal the hole. The ens result looks pretty nice and is sealed from any water getting in!

I'm at the hardware store right now trying to look for that rubber grommet. Where did you find this?

[325ix]

Love it! I wish mine was that clean.

[Toodaloo]

Fix the odometer. Its cheap and easy to fix...

I plan on doing so soon! Just haven't gotten around to it yet since it doesn't bother me. I don't drive the car much, just about 50 miles per week due to school taking up most of my time.