E30 M3 Steel Bodywork Conversion

[euroshark]

Cool, good to know. It looks great. I'm doing the same thing (well, sorta) to an '83 Euro 6 series. All bare metal top to bottom followed by SPI epoxy. I'm getting to the undercoating phase now and 3m looks to be a popular choice.

Keep up the awesome work!

[bmwmech1]

So my Photobucket account is FUBAR'ed, right now. Don't know why and have not gotten a solution yet, so I just created a Flickr account to circumvent my stupid Photobucket account problems.

Anyway, here's a shot of the killer new pedal assembly. It's the new triple MC overhung assembly from Wilwood...



Here are a few more pics of the other stuff that came in this week...

Mufflers...



Cats...



And the X-pipe...



All the exhaust will be mandrel bent 2.5"ID from front to back. I still have not decided on what tips or how many will be used, but I've got some time to decide, Lol!

And how to make an M3 door in 30 minutes, Lol..

Since the E30 M3 has no body side mouldings, the holes for the plastic clips need to be welded shut and the recess filled in and smoothed, to replicate the proper look. First, if your door has been resprayed like this one had, sand the repaint layer off, which reveals some lowspots, highspots and dings. If no respray, then a quick sanding with the DA shows your imperfections and gives the next paint layer something to bite to. Also clean the trim strip recess, edges and corners down to bare metal. I don't trust the quality of most respray layers, the original BMW paint/primer is much better/harder and works well as a base to start from...



Next up is to weld the holes shut...



Then grind the welds down smooth. Thankfully, since these welds are in the recess and slightly below the finished surface, they don't have to be metal worked to perfection. Just enough to be below the finished surface...



Then a layer of long strand fiberglass filler...



And then a coat of lightweight filler. Once this kicks over it can be leveled flat with the surfoam file and then sanded smooth...



Now I just have the sanding left and the drivers door will be done. The passenger door was done a few weeks ago.

Until the next update...

Garey

[everlast]

More awesome.

[S14E30M3]

Amazing work!

[bmwmech1]

Thanks guys, still a bit to go yet...

Garey

[bmwmech1]

Stayed a couple of hours tonight and started mounting the pedal assembly. Takes a bit of time since I'm putting something where it wasn't designed to go, so everything has to be fabricated. I did get the pedals hung and some of the mounting brackets made up, but I ran out of 3/4" square tubing, so I need to get some more to finish it up. Here's a picture of the progress so far, enjoy...



Garey

[TwoJ's]

Nice man. I would love to have a setup like that so I could go to manual brakes the right way. Are you going to use their on-the-fly bias adjuster?

[Keith M]

Soooooooo...when you are done with yours, want to do mine? I'll send a billion dollars in cash along with the car. You can send me a bill for the remaining amount when you are finished. I do full restorations on pre-war british cars and know the amount of time involved in a project like this. Very nice.

[bmwmech1]

Nice man. I would love to have a setup like that so I could go to manual brakes the right way. Are you going to use their on-the-fly bias adjuster?

I may add it, I have not decided... since it's not a track car, it would be cool, but might be a little overkill...

Garey

[bmwmech1]

Soooooooo...when you are done with yours, want to do mine? I'll send a billion dollars in cash along with the car. You can send me a bill for the remaining amount when you are finished. I do full restorations on pre-war british cars and know the amount of time involved in a project like this. Very nice.

Thanks man, yeah they call them projects for a reason, right? Lol! I have to admit that I have enjoyed this project, but I'm starting to see the finish line and it's taking a lot of self control to pace myself and not rush through stuff, just to get it done. Patience....

Garey

PS just let me know when you are sending the car, I'll take care of the rest, Lol!

[Keith M]

It would be so cool to just send a car out and have it come back just the way you want it. I think with your patience and skill you could create body panels with nothing but a picture for reference like I have to do sometimes. If you ever want to move to Oregon, I have a job for you.

[bmwmech1]

It would be so cool to just send a car out and have it come back just the way you want it. I think with your patience and skill you could create body panels with nothing but a picture for reference like I have to do sometimes. If you ever want to move to Oregon, I have a job for you.

Oregon huh? Don't have any immediate plans to relocate to the PNW, but if things change, I'll let you know, Lol! I've had to do plenty of creating with this project, but I have major respect for the restorations you are doing... Prewar British? You are brave... British electrics have never impressed me, but their coachwork designs are timeless. I suppose if you're doing restorations, rather than repairs, you can control the gremlins in the electrics to a degree. Plus, what's up with the imperial sized hardware? You might as well just have an adjustable wrench, since nothing I own, metric or SAE fits the stuff. Guess that's why they call it imperial, right? Lol!

Garey

[Keith M]

Ha! The main reason I restore early cars is because of the lack of Lucas relays. I really don't have any problems with electrical stuff except finding the correct parts. A 60's Jag on the other hand.... I don't touch them.
Fasteners are all British Standard or Whitworth. You can still buy the tools brand new so it's not a big deal really. Doing a 40 Alfa and a 36 Lancia so it's back to the metric stuff.
I'm done tread jacking.

[bmwmech1]

Ha! The main reason I restore early cars is because of the lack of Lucas relays. I really don't have any problems with electrical stuff except finding the correct parts. A 60's Jag on the other hand.... I don't touch them.
Fasteners are all British Standard or Whitworth. You can still buy the tools brand new so it's not a big deal really. Doing a 40 Alfa and a 36 Lancia so it's back to the metric stuff.
I'm done tread jacking.

Well that makes sense, I wasn't sure how far back the Lucas stuff went. Whitworth was the word I was looking for , but couldn't remember... I know it's still available new, I was just poking fun at the different sized hardware, really. I'd love to see pic's of these cars you restore. Put a couple up, I don't care about threadjacking. Besides, every project needs a little diversion anyway, Lol!
Garey

[Keith M]

I think it's cool that you work on cars for a living and still put a great amount of time into your own project. The cars I've done have won at pebble beach, yet mine has a shitty Maaco paint job and a rattle can painted hood. I'm building a buck now, I'll snap a picture when it looks like something.