E30 M3 Steel Bodywork Conversion

[bmwmech1]

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

Yes, the PO PM'ed me on s14 and told me about the car and where it was late last year. Thanks to him, I was able to strike a decent deal for the car. I just couldn't get up to get it until Monday, Lol!

As far as the rear window goes, I know the trim is delicate and so does he... he'll remove the glass from the inside and then I'll take off the trim myself:)

Garey

[bmwmech1]

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

Thanks Jean, some of those rear window frame parts are NLA from BMW, so your only option is to find a shell or try to source a fiberglass replacement from Europe. This particular shell has a bunch of parts on it I need and a bunch more that I can sell off to offset the price of the shell, so it's a win-win!

Garey

[bmwmech1]

What a week I had! At the beginning of this week, I was the proud owner of 4 BMW's... 1 E34, 2 E30's and 1 E30 M3... Now I own 2, 1 E34 and 1 E30, Lol!. I stripped the 85 and th M3 of everything of value and sent them both into the great unknown today. Now I have a lot more space in the shop and a shit-pile of E30 parts. The chronology goes like this... strip 85 of all suspension on Sunday, drive 400 miles to Boston on Monday morning with the 85's suspension and a tow dolly, put said suspension from the 85 under the 88 M3, load M3 and drive 400 miles back to shop Monday night, strip the rest off of the 85 and the M3 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights, load the 85 and the M3 onto scrappers rollback/trailer on Friday morning, wave goodbye and then clean up the shop. It took a lot longer than that, but it's kind of a blur. I did get some pictures during the process, so here are a few...

The coveted M3 C-pillar, after rear glass removal...



The M3 after roof removal... after I cut off the C-pillar, it was kind of dangerous just floppin' there, so I ditched it...



The M3 after most of the gutting is finished...



The aftermath of lopsided fight with a sawzall during the rear quarter and spare tire well removal...



The twins, after I kicked them out...



And the coup de gras...



Hard to believe I went through all I did this week for that, but it will be worth it in the end... at least I keep telling myself that, Lol! Now I have to strip off all of the underlying sheetmetal from the C-pillar to get it ready to weld on the car. I should have something to show soon... only time will tell. I am taking pictures of the prepping process of the C-pillar, since it seems to be a little undocumented... my contribution to the next generation of E30 nuts. What a week! And to think I owned an E30 M3 for 4 days... gotta be some kind of a record for the shortest ownership ever, Lol! I did cut the VIN stamped section of the cowl off the car, though. I'll keep it, along with the keys to it on a shelf in my office... memories, Lol!

Garey

[truism]

if ur gonna do something, might as well do it right, :P even if it means alot of extra work. The end result will be worth it i think. Keep it up!

[Jean]

major props man,....all this cutting/welding is way too much work to even spin my head around!

[bmwmech1]

if ur gonna do something, might as well do it right, :P even if it means alot of extra work. The end result will be worth it i think. Keep it up!

Yup... I always say, "if you're gonna be a bear, be a grizzly", Lol! Nice chopped pics in your sig... the pickup looks pretty cool...

Garey

[bmwmech1]

major props man,....all this cutting/welding is way too much work to even spin my head around!

Haha... thanks Jean... just wait until I get the C-pillar on the car and get some primer shot on it. Then it will all come together, Lol! Now, I just have to find new homes for all of these "extra" parts, Lol!

Garey

[Simon S]

Sweet Jimminey Christ !!
The level of build quality on your project is just unprecedented.
I uttered a different swear word for every post you’ve made. Wow !!
Garey – thank you for sharing your journey here.

[bmwmech1]

Sweet Jimminey Christ !!
The level of build quality on your project is just unprecedented.
I uttered a different swear word for every post you’ve made. Wow !!
Garey – thank you for sharing your journey here.

Thanks man, I laughed out loud at your post, made the wife come read it too...
It's been a journey and a half, but I can see the end of the tunnel now... see the next post...

Garey

[bmwmech1]

Spent a few hours at the shop tonight... thought I'd throw up a couple of pics of the fruits of my labor... Take one E30 with a shit ton of work and add 1 C-pillar and VIOLA! Instant M car silhouette! haha...





I have a bunch more of the process, but I'm tired and heading to bed... there's always tomorrow, Lol!

Garey

[Jalves619]

Damn you work to fast. I came to convince you to get a mold made of that C pillar before you got it on. It's about time someone in the US started making a quality repro of that piece. Carbon e30 m3 C pillar+Lexan window = sexytime

I'm loving how thorough this build is. The tucked cage, the windshield frame, the dual eared diff, so many little details that are going to make this car absolutely amazing to drive.

[airkhin]

absolutely stunning! every time i open this thread i am amazed... words cant describe... wow!

[bmwmech1]

Thanks guys... A while back, I had thought about doing repro's of the C-pillar, but that was at a point when I hadn't found one to use yet. Now I have one and I am just too damn eager to get on to the bodywork stage. I wonder what it would cost to have a mold made... The only issue I see is that I only de-laminated as much as I had to and there are some pieces that would have to come off to get a proper mold made. I don't know that I want to take it any further apart, since there are factory spot welds in places that would make it very difficult to get it back together and prepped/sealed up properly. I like the idea, but I don't know that I want to invest the time and money to pursue it. Plus, I may end up making a lot more work for myself to even attempt it, because of how much more I would have to take apart...

Garey

[MR 325]

Wow, amazing work again. I can't wait to see the end result of this car.

[FredK]

I'm pretty sure I bought the 5 lug suspension off that red M3, and it made its way into MikeK's former car.

I love how this is coming together!