E30 M3 Steel Bodywork Conversion

[bmwmech1]

Subscribed to a fabrication god!! Something else dude!

I don't know... god is a pretty strong word. Now the man in your sig... he was a god... I'm just re-building a car, with some added fanciness thrown in. Thanks for the compliment, though!

Garey

[Slangbox]

I don't know... god is a pretty strong word. Now the man in your sig... he was a god... I'm just re-building a car, with some added fanciness thrown in. Thanks for the compliment, though!

Garey

Your humility is both inspiring and refreshing. Just don't let it get in the way of your self-appreciation. You deserve to be very proud of this.

[bmwmech1]

Your humility is both inspiring and refreshing. Just don't let it get in the way of your self-appreciation. You deserve to be very proud of this.

Thanks... I stand back and look at this thing all the time and smile, Lol! It's tough to be able to see the finished product in your head and then look at the progress and feel like it will all come together just as you pictured it, but that's the discipline, right? I feel fortunate to be able to have the ability and resources to pull this off, so I do appreciate it. Maybe when it's all finished and I get to enjoy it, the self appreciation will become more evident... right now I'm just happy to be able to build it and enjoying every minute of doing it!:D

Garey

[JeremyE30autox]

Which company did you go with for the rear coilover parts? Build looks great so far.

[everlast]

Dude, you keep saying "killed some brain cells".. its funny, sure but I don't know if you actually understand the effects of benzene exposure, etc. Not joking one bit, you better be wearing an appropriate mask. The effects of this stuff is serious. POR-15 is *really* bad.

AML (Leukaemia) later in life isn't worth this.

[euroshark]

Incredible work! Is this going to be a race car? Sorry if you talked about this already... I was too busy fapping to the pictures.

[bmwmech1]

Which company did you go with for the rear coilover parts? Build looks great so far.

All of the rear parts were bought from Southwest Speed. They have mostly dirt and asphalt race stuff, but most of it can be used in any application... Plus AJ ships stuff same day and his selection is pretty imense!

Garey

[bmwmech1]

Dude, you keep saying "killed some brain cells".. its funny, sure but I don't know if you actually understand the effects of benzene exposure, etc. Not joking one bit, you better be wearing an appropriate mask. The effects of this stuff is serious. POR-15 is *really* bad.

AML (Leukaemia) later in life isn't worth this.

I guess maybe it's a bad joke... I use a proper respirator. The fumes are ridiculously strong and I chuckle and say to myself, "well, I just killed a few million brain cells" as I open the can every time. Maybe it's in poor taste, so I apologize.... definitely safety first!

Garey

[bmwmech1]

Incredible work! Is this going to be a race car? Sorry if you talked about this already... I was too busy fapping to the pictures.

Thanks man! No track time here, just a bad ass street car, Lol! Well, I have to finish it first... see the next post for more details on that!!!

Garey

[bmwmech1]

Made the trip up to Boston yesterday. Technically it was Natick, but whats 25 miles more when you've already driven 400, right? Anyway, I went up to pick up an 88 E30 M3, which was badly wrecked about 4-5 years ago and has sat at a body shop and been picked over pretty well since. I was mostly interested in the fact that it was wrecked in the side, but the rear was intact, so I contacted the owner of the body shop to see if we could strike a deal. That was in November and with moving to a new shop and then a moderate winter, I couldn't get up to pick up the car until yesterday. I say car, but it was really only a shell of a car, with no suspension, subframes, wheels, fenders, hood, etc. As I said, though, the rear was intact, complete with the rear glass, trim and a real piece of E30 M3 unobtanium... the C-pillar and trim strip. Those 2 pieces alone are what motivated my trip up to get this thing. Since I wanted to pull it back on a tow-dolly, I took all of the suspension, both subframes, wheels, steering rack and even the steering knuckle and steering wheel and bolted it all on when I got up there. I should mention that a good buddy of mine went with me on this adventure for the help that was needed and a bit of moral support, as well. We had a good trip up, got all of the bits put on the shell and with an exchange of the proper amount of money, I was the proud owner of an E30 M3! We loaded it up and back down to Pennsylvania we went. Passed about 30 cops on the way home, but other than the ridiculous amount of time it took to get back home and the relentless rain, the trip went smoothly. I don't want to write a small novel here, but suffice it to say that I got more than I had hoped for in extra parts and pieces with this deal and really now have the pieces in place to finish this build the right way. I'll have some pics up tonight, so check back later on...

Garey

[psyber_0ptix]

this thread makes me sad, because it reminds me how shitty the rust on my shell is. If i ever had the space i would love to tear down the underside and reseal everything.

Major props, keep up the good work. Following this project has been refreshing.

[bmwmech1]

this thread makes me sad, because it reminds me how shitty the rust on my shell is. If i ever had the space i would love to tear down the underside and reseal everything.

Major props, keep up the good work. Following this project has been refreshing.

I know the feeling... When I pulled out the carpet on mine and looked down through some rust spots, I was bummed! Then, as I stripped more and more to bare metal, the number of little spots kept growing and I thought that I'd never get them all fixed... thank goodness that part is done. Thanks for the props, it's been a lot of fun for me, as well...

Garey

[bmwmech1]

As promised, pics of the aquisition... as you can see, it's not repairable, so off the parts come. What I need, I'm keeping, but the rest of the stuff will be for sale. The rear quarters are spoken for, the rest of the stuff I'll post up at a later point...











The pieces of M3 unobtanium...



And a trunk and rear wing photo...



Hard to believe I can say I own an E30 M3, Lol! What a POS, right? It will be worth it in the end, even if this one has to be sacrificed...:( My buddy who does all of my windshield work is coming by later in the week to remove the rear glass, then I'll get the C-pillar off and the rest of the shell gutted and scrap the remnants...

Garey

[UNHCLL]

Garey,

I know the red car, and it's PO. ;)

As for the rear window, make sure your buddy/glass guy is very careful when removing the trim. Left and right plastic pieces that make upside down "L" shapes. One is NLA from the dealer, and the other is stupid expensive. Not something you want to break.

Congrats,
Chris

[Jean]

Nice work man, going as far tracking down a shell for the needed parts and all. Props!