noe30's 89 325i build

[MattAvino]

Happy Birthday.

[noE30]

Kinda debating on selling the RS's with tires and adapters and picking up something else instead. I dont know what yet though, kinda wanna swap in a new engine this winter as well..

[noE30]

Guess what ? I never update my build thread, but here's some new random pics anyway!!


"clever title" by m_colby, on Flickr


"clever title" by m_colby, on Flickr


"clever title" by m_colby, on Flickr

Winter daily-

"clever title" by m_colby, on Flickr


"clever title" by m_colby, on Flickr

[e30shmobberr]

Looking great man!

[noE30]

Thanks man, its definitely still in a project state though. So many little things yet to do.

[Tuee]

Wow, the cars simply gorgeous, awesome job!

[noE30]

this was my take on a similar subject:
interested to see the polished trim + polished center caps, coming along really nicely. :)

Thanks! And I gotta say, your car has been a huge inspiration for mine so far. Looking forward to seeing yours on the m-systems as well!

[8380 Labs]

this was my take on a similar subject:


interested to see the polished trim + polished center caps, coming along really nicely. :)

[noE30]

Ill just leave this here for now..
This is after repainting the centers and hand polishing the lips and caps. The photos ^up one post don't really show how rough they really were when I first got them.

IMG_0815res by m_colby, on Flickr

Mounted pics some time next week.

[noE30]

Yet another one month later update.
The e30 is back on the road! Finished up the front suspension last week, I'm running IX hd bilstiens, 2in shortened housings, GE coils 450 front 650 rear, IE race camber plates, and IE rear strut mounts.
In the mean time, I have since sold the epsilons to a friend of mine with a Porsche 944 (perfect fit), with the cash from selling them I picked up a set of Porsche fitment BBS RS's.
Specs are:
RS131 16x8.5 et56
RS018 16x9 et36
With my 25mm adapters the rear fits perfect imo, with the 35mm adapters in the front, the wheel hits the shock assembly just barely (can still bolt up just wont allow the wheel to rotate) looks like I'm gonna try hunt down some 40mms. The wheels need to be repainted and a quick re-polish on the lips anyway , so I've got time to work with.

Here are some photos of the wheels test fitted.

RS test fit 1 by m_colby, on Flickr


RS test fit 2 by m_colby, on Flickr


combo by m_colby, on Flickr

[noE30]

^ nice, keep going

Thanks man, will do. I cant wait to drive my car again. Haven't driven it since Nov-Dec or so I think.

[MattAvino]

^ nice, keep going

[noE30]

Re-Polished Shadowline you say? Oh yea, so you've painted your shadowline and now you hate it? Well here's how we fix that:

Necessary tools:
Assorted sand paper (200 grit-1000 or so, can go higher if you want)
Paint Stripper (I find that the aerosol kind works best)
Easy Off oven cleaner (eats that anodizing off the trim)
Free time and lots off it (pain in the ass process)
Mothers aluminum polish

First off, remove the trim:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/tech/windowtrim/windowtrim.htm

Second, strip paint:
sorry no photos
Third, remove anodizing. Thats right, our window trim is actually anodized aluminum. Looks nice unless you've sanded and painted it in the past, all anodizing must be removed in order to re polish the trim.

IMG_0119 by m_colby, on Flickr
^trim had already been stripped and easy off'd at this point
Spray on easy off and let sit for 5-10 min, works better the longer it sits. Rinse off and prepare to sand.

IMG_0131 by m_colby, on Flickr
Fourth, start to sand/re polish. Start wet sanding with 200 grit, then 400, 800, 1000 and so on depending on how much work you want to do. Then polish with mothers aluminum polish.
I believe this photo was taken after 800 grit, I attempted to polish a section of it to see how it looked so far, notice a little hazyness, this will all come out as you sand with higher grit sand paper.

IMG_0128 by m_colby, on Flickr
Fifth, continue sanding all the trim and re-install. I'll post some more photos of the trim as I finish it tomorrow, I've got one piece left on the drivers side and the entire passenger side to do still...

[noE30]

Yet another long awaited update. Been working steadily on the car just havent been taking photos to keep track I guess. Either way here goes.

Where I'm at now..
Sold my Canon xsi to upgrade to a Canon 60d, I can finally post photo updates again.
Epsilons sold today!
IE camber plates from the GE group buy showed up 3 days ago
Rear GE coils installed, waiting to section my front strut housings.
Dash is back in, fully flocked this time.
Engine bay is back together with new m42 radiator and some fresh paint on the VC and IM.
New MOMO monte carlo wheel and hub installed.
Waiting on a new sunroof/visor panel to show up, ditching the plaid covered one I had before.
Need to find a new sunroof crank as I broke mine..
Need to source a good glove box as my rear tabs on mine are broke off.. pm me if you've got either of these parts^.
In the process of stripping and re-polishing my shadowline that I had previously painted black. I plan to run wheels with a polished lip and I like how the polished trim accents the lips. Serious pain in the ass.. More on that later.

On to the pics!
Rear GE coils installed with Bilstien IX HDs and IE rear shock mounts. H&R sports up front (one cut coil) waiting to section my front strut housings before I install front coils. Tucking a decent amount of tire on 195/60/14, coils threaded all the way down with both adjuster/lock ring installed.

IMG_0198 by m_colby, on Flickr
H&R Sport on the left and new GE rear coil on the right, 4" and 650lbs.

IMG_0182 by m_colby, on Flickr
Rear install, ignore the rusty components and sand. It gets nasty up here in the midwest..

IMG_0200 by m_colby, on Flickr

Flocked dash, MOMO Monte Carlo, Ripped to hell sport seats (will be replaced soon)

IMG_0117 by m_colby, on Flickr

Freshly painted valve cover and intake manifold, m42 radiator, front strut delete.

IMG_0118 by m_colby, on Flickr

[noE30]

Amazing build thread! I'm definitely going to stay subcribed and contact you. I plan on doing what you did to my car.

Thanks man, feel free to ask any questions.

Dude, those IE headers are GORGEOUS!

Thanks, yeah they are definitely top quality stuff, I haven't had any issues with them.