1991 318i sedan project - Saving a sedan!

[s_ribs]

Car is painted! It looks ok. I'm holding final judgement until I wet sand and buff it though.

Now I'm dealing with some bad stumbling issues. Ggrrrrr... I'm done with it for the night.

[s_ribs]

Well this is turning into a crappy weekend. Car needs to be done and on the road for Monday... and my paid helper bailed on me for the weekend without finishing his work. Trying to keep the nerves calm on that one... So, last night I taught myself how to weld and do bodywork! Surprisingly it went just fine. Clearly not great but far better than I thought it would. Today I will be teaching myself to paint! Wish me luck on that.

[s_ribs]

Also, I will say I already have future plans for the car in the works. One word... boost. :D

I will not do that unless it's a fully built motor though. So, depending on living situation and funds, the next step will be to find a spare small block so I can start building it and collecting parts for FI.

[s_ribs]

Well, it's officially running! Other than a few snags preventing it to fire, it went smoother than expected (keep in mind this is by FAR the biggest car project I have ever taken on). After replacing a head gasket on an M10 and now putting this engine back in (and reconnecting EVERYTHING not just stuff on the head) I have to say I love M42's even more now. It's so nice and modern yet in an old car so the best of both worlds.

I did end up getting a new muffler for it. Some "Raptor" whatever brand (turbo style internals) that was on sale at the local auto parts store. As far as I'm concerned, a muffler is just a muffler. The only difference is the internal style, and as far as cost goes - construction and metal. At $26.99 I couldn't care less how long it lasts or if I hate it. I can't give an impression of it since the car is still on jack stands and it still needs to break in. Expect a report back after the car has been driven for a week.

Intake is in the works as well. I have the filter but need to figure out what I want to do with the piping for it. Since I shaved the factory brackets off I need to figure it out sooner than later.

Most of the car is prepped for paint now. A few spots still need to be sanded down and a few more dents need to be worked out. Also, the door locks need to come out and get welded in. The antenna hole is already filled and smoothed out.

As for the color decision on the valve cover and intake manifold... it's sick. Crinkle red couldn't have made me any happier.

I have come to two conclusions with this project. First, I am tired and just want to drive it. Second, I freakin love doing these projects and this will not be the last! However, the next one will be done when it isn't going to be my daily driver (I'm carless during this whole project), when I am more settled in my own house (part of the story to come later), and when time/funds are of less importance.

Pictures will come soon of all the work that has been done I promise. School starts back up on Monday so the rest of this week/weekend is crunch time on the car!

[s_ribs]

Btw, I did delete all the hoses under the throttle body. I guess I had to look through the diagrams and such before I was comfortable doing it! Definitely gets rid of a lot of clutter and useless potential problems.

[Schnitzer318is]

Looking forward to more pics... and am on the way to go pick up some krylon now.

[s_ribs]

Yes, and yes! I LOVE both. Crinkle red is definitely more "JDM" than "Euro" but whatever. It looks great and it's different from all the other BMW's around.

When you get the COP conversion I would highly recommend picking up Rob's. His is the only complete kit out there and it's really nice. New coils and everything for $190.

I have to finish up a few plugs on the engine harness today, but it's pretty much done. Everything under the car is bolted up and set to go. Intake manifold, coolant hoses, etc. and the engine will be ready to crank. Sound deadening on the floor pan is done and carpet installed. Just the rear deck lid area is left to cover and then the rest of the interior can go back in. I'll get the trunk done once the car is running. One neat thing is I have all the stereo wires run with the factory wiring. If you pulled the carpet up everything would look factory!

Once the engine is running the rest of the car will get painted. I used a single stage paint on the engine bay and plan on using it on the rest of the car as well. There's a reason I'm cheaping out and not going 2-stage but I'll explain that when I post the rest of the pictures.

[Schnitzer318is]

Man I want COP so bad... it'll have to wait til I have more duckets again though. Turbo took all my fundage.

Is that krylon krinkle coat on your cam cover? Looks really good. Want to do mine in black this week.

[s_ribs]

you going to have it done soon!!!!?

Yep! Just a few more days and it'll be more or less done.




Sorry for the lack of updates, they'll all have to come in one big chunk when it's completed. Life took a big sudden change for me so the last 2 weeks have been very full.

[e30maniac]

you going to have it done soon!!!!?

[Vethen]

I always love to see people caring for these cars. I saw one in the "to be junked" section of a lot for cash for clunkers. Its depressing

[BraveUlysses]

I haven't really thought through the TB heater hoses yet. I do know I spent 5 minutes reading through a thread on it and had a hard time wanting to do what a bunch of kids were trying out with no solid reasoning behind their actions. I do think there is a decent reason behind removing some of the hoses, I just need to sit down and figure out which ones.

The reasoning is that the plate was not offered in all markets, and adds needless complexity to the hose setup under the manifold.

Plus, being able to replace the BMW hoses assembly with off the shelf hoses dramatically reduces the cost of replacement.

Do it, it's well worth the minimal effort.

[s_ribs]

I haven't really thought through the TB heater hoses yet. I do know I spent 5 minutes reading through a thread on it and had a hard time wanting to do what a bunch of kids were trying out with no solid reasoning behind their actions. I do think there is a decent reason behind removing some of the hoses, I just need to sit down and figure out which ones.

[Schnitzer318is]

Is it OK to just spray paint all over the throttle body linkages/mechanism like that?

Yes... though with throttle arm movement it will crack the paint on the spring. Other than that... no big deal.


You aren't going to run the coolant lines to the TB heater though are you? Those are worthless extra failure points if you ask me. I got rid of the "atrium" hose and all that extra garbage.

As for polishing... I rocked it unpolished for a long time... just over a year. Now that they "fins" are polished, I look at my engine all the time. Of course it helps that I don't have a hood on the car as of yet, but I'd still look at it more because it is mad sexy.

If you have a spots that will be red, it won't look that bad BTW. I used a dremel and took down all but one low spot and no one has mentioned it yet. Just a thought, maybe you could do them black instead of polished. That would look hot too.

[evilnickwong]

Is it OK to just spray paint all over the throttle body linkages/mechanism like that?