1991 318is Restoration Project...Now with some Air!

[Tuee]

Good to know, thanks. Supremely awesome car. You at least have to take a photo set of the car with wheels if you intend to switch them up.

Thanks, I will do. I'm thinking about the one piece style 5's now, as those would be a bit smaller. The back seats are pretty much useless, with someone in the back the wheels rub pretty bad. I do have another set of e39 style 5's so I might get smaller tires to see if that would help. I almost wish that I could have gone with a different bolt pattern like 5x114 as there's a bit more wheels to choose from. O well.

Hot damn !!

Love what you've done with the place !

You've taken that car a long, LONG way from where you started.. thank you for sharing the progress.

Thanks man, but remember you've been a great motivation and help with your build.

[Tuee]

[Eric535]

the spoiler sets it off man. great looking car

[canakami]

You've done an amazing amount of work to this car. Gives me hope for my own rust bucket!

[millsamus]

A little update, the car is almost ready to be plated and driven. I need to get a few things done in order to get the car appraised and plated.

Broken sunroof crank,


Replacement,

Look like your missing the cover for the overhead warning lights, I also have this piece missing from my 318iS. Any tips where to get a replacement?


AWESOME rebuild, my car is the same, but a spare daily driver. It's slowly being brought back to life after being neglected.

[KrayJoeArmstrong]

what spoilers are that?

[Tuee]

Thanks guys.

Look like your missing the cover for the overhead warning lights, I also have this piece missing from my 318iS. Any tips where to get a replacement?


AWESOME rebuild, my car is the same, but a spare daily driver. It's slowly being brought back to life after being neglected.

Thanks, I have no idea where to find that part...maybe junkyard, ebay,etc. Good luck with your project.

what spoilers are that?

Spoiler is from an e28.

There hasn't been much updates as the car's been parked for the winter. My job has been keeping me pretty busy so no time.

My e46 has been stealing most of my funds and time, so I hope to have the e30 somewhat put back together this spring.

[Tuee]

So it's been forever since I last posted. The car sat under a cover for over a year now...all I did was start up from time to time. My job got busy and decided to work on my E46 a bit. Finally decided it was time to bring this car back to life but I still had a lot of work left. The suspension being the biggest thing. So today the car was back on jacks and the exhaust was dropped. Hopefully I can get the rear sub frame dropped this weekend for a complete overhaul. At the moment the plans are for BC coilovers with all the bushings replaced. If money permits...might go bags. The plan for the exhaust is to look for a Supersprint exhaust. All brake lines will be replaced as well.

To raise some funds for the suspension build the rear apron, side skirts and the front mtech bumper are going to be sold off. The current suspension; Apex springs with bilsteins up front will be sold off. Adapters and wheels were sold off so the car sits on bottle caps now. Future wheel plans will be kept a secret for now.

Expect future updates.

[deutschman]

Wow this car has come a very long way! Great job!

[Tuee]

Wow this car has come a very long way! Great job!

Thanks!

So finally dropped the subframe last week. Can now start to freshen the back up.
Everything was seized and rusted, brake and parking brake lines were cut. I'll be putting in all new brake lines. Think while I have the subframe out I might replace all fuel hoses but we'll see.

A 3 claw jaw made the subframe bolt removal a lot easier.



And out it comes

[Tuee]

Lots of new parts have arrived.

Trailing arms, axles and diff were separated. Trailing arms and subframe were sandblasted and powder coated. Axles being rebuilt with new boots and grease. Diff was also sandblasted and currently coated with rust check.





Gas tank was dropped and I now know why it smelled like fuel all the time. A new tank arrived to replace this one.



The gas tank bolts and nuts were a pita. So had to resort to one of these.


Underside of the car will be cleaned up and sprayed with undercoating.


The reason why my hand brake didn't work....nothing was there
This is what I saw when I pulled the disks off.

[Tuee]

So a lot has been going on lately. Progress essentially was put on hold for a year with marriage, moving and work being busy. Been trying to get as much time as I could on the car. Just a few updates;

New gas tank...before.


New gas tank after rubber coating.


Old vs New


Ended up buying the wrong fuel pump as mine had the two hose connections on top.

So this delayed the gas tank prep.

New fuel vent line put in.



Now for the main event....


Rust Converter


More pictures to come...just don't have my memory card on me now, but subframe is starting to get assembled.
Front suspension is starting to come together.
Finally removed the remaining bit of subframe bushing that got stuck in the car.
New rear brake lines put in.

[stonea]

Wow, just wow. Great thread, gives me a lot of hope for my car. Keep up the great work!!!

[Ray Smoodiver]

Just read the whole thread from the start, what a journey!

[Richter]

Awesome write up! Car looks great! I love that seat pattern