E30 M3 Steel Bodywork Conversion

[RedDefiance]

Loving the progress.

[euroshark]

Awesome dude. I love watching this come together.

Is that Alumiblast on the transmission?

[JGood]

How the hell did you get that thing so clean? I'll be happy if my cars paint job turns out half as nice as your transmissions paint job did. Great work.

[bmwmech1]

That is the most beautiful transmission that I have ever seen

I know, right? I just laughed when I uploaded the picture... it looks better in the pic than in real life, lol!

Garey

[KI4UJO]

That is the most beautiful transmission that I have ever seen

[bmwmech1]

Well, the clutch is due in tomorrow, so I started preparing the car to re-install the motor and transmission...



I know, 2 steps forward and 3 steps back, right? But this time, I don't have to take it apart again, which is nice. I cleaned and painted the transmission, since I'll be able to mate it to the engine for good, since the clutch was what I was waiting on...



Amazing how a little cleanup and paint makes that thing look like I just un-crated it!

I also ordered the front windshield today and cleaned the back windshield up last night. BMW has several M3 windshields in the Jersey warehouse, so I'll have it on Monday. I talked to my glass guy and he's going to install both pieces of glass early next week, since they are both bond-in windshields. I also ordered new trim for the rear glass and a new seal for the front, so they should look perfect, once in the car. The rear trim was looking a little rough and since the glass is bonded in, no sense to slouch on the trim, since it goes on the glass before the glass goes on the car. The new front seal was necessary, since this car was not an M3 originally and I didn't have a seal from the donor M3 that was re-usable.

I am really feeling pretty good about making my G'fest deadline. I don't know if it will be 100% completed, but barring anything really unforeseen, I feel confident about my remaining time...:D:D:D

Garey

[MR 325]

Trailer is a GREAT idea. :) VSR sells the E30 M3 hitch.

[bmwmech1]

Seeing MR 325's post on the top of this page just made me think you need to do an e30 m3 trailer, I know you'll have the power to motivate it...

Ummm... no hitch, no way, lol! :):):) Great idea, but I just couldn't see myself pulling a trailer with this thing... although, you're right... it would pull one for sure...

Wowzer!!! How have i never seen this!?! So amazing! This is the only thread worthy of all caps all the time! Keep up the utterly amazing work!

edit: it was in all caps when i typed it... Oh well still amazing!

Haha... thanks man! You could use bold or italics, lol!

Garey

[801coppertop]

Wowzer!!! How have i never seen this!?! So amazing! This is the only thread worthy of all caps all the time! Keep up the utterly amazing work!

edit: it was in all caps when i typed it... Oh well still amazing!

[SwiftE30]

Well, more pictures are not going to do much as the process was stupid-ly easy...

Item list
2 bottles of Rit dye, in whatever your color choice- Remember that you can't dye a Navy carpet set tan, but you can dye a tan set Navy...
1 spray bottle
1 empty gallon jug or equivilant
1 small scrub/nail brush
1 pair of gloves

1. Remove carpet
2. Clean carpet with your favorite carpet shampoo
3. Let carpet dry thoroughly
4. Mix 2 bottles of Rit dye in a gallon container with 2-2.5 quarts of hot tap water
5. Pour the dye mixture into the spray bottle
6. Spray the dye onto your carpet and work it into the nap of the carpet with the nail brush. Make sure to coat it thoroughly, but not soaking wet
7. Let it dry for at least 24 hours, longer if necessary
8. Admire your fresh, new looking carpet set

A word to the wise... this stuff will stain anything... it's dye. Cover your work area with cardboard or plastic and do this where the carpet can sit and dry for a day. Don't do it in the yard, when it's supposed to rain later on. And don't do it in the car... or, do it in the car... it's your car, lol! It's easy, not very messy and it looks very good when it's done. The only thing I can't comment on is how long it lasts... I'll report back in 2 years on how it's holding up...:D

Garey

Thanks!! i will be dying my carpet for sure. Hopefully i can find a tan color. But after seeing yours i think a black carpet with tan interior might look good.

[Farbin Kaiber]

Seeing MR 325's post on the top of this page just made me think you need to do an e30 m3 trailer, I know you'll have the power to motivate it...

[bmwmech1]

definitely have used Rit dye before, i just never thought about using it on carpet. Unfortunately my carpet is tan so im not sure of the available color matches.

Could you describe the process you used? Im sure this will become a handy tool for r3v members future carpet issues. Possibly more pictures too? haha, it looks awesome! Thanks.

Well, more pictures are not going to do much as the process was stupid-ly easy...

Item list
2 bottles of Rit dye, in whatever your color choice- Remember that you can't dye a Navy carpet set tan, but you can dye a tan set Navy...
1 spray bottle
1 empty gallon jug or equivilant
1 small scrub/nail brush
1 pair of gloves

1. Remove carpet
2. Clean carpet with your favorite carpet shampoo
3. Let carpet dry thoroughly
4. Mix 2 bottles of Rit dye in a gallon container with 2-2.5 quarts of hot tap water
5. Pour the dye mixture into the spray bottle
6. Spray the dye onto your carpet and work it into the nap of the carpet with the nail brush. Make sure to coat it thoroughly, but not soaking wet
7. Let it dry for at least 24 hours, longer if necessary
8. Admire your fresh, new looking carpet set

A word to the wise... this stuff will stain anything... it's dye. Cover your work area with cardboard or plastic and do this where the carpet can sit and dry for a day. Don't do it in the yard, when it's supposed to rain later on. And don't do it in the car... or, do it in the car... it's your car, lol! It's easy, not very messy and it looks very good when it's done. The only thing I can't comment on is how long it lasts... I'll report back in 2 years on how it's holding up...:D

This needs more updates...im fucking excited to see this finished already! C'mon mang!! hahahah but seriously great job.

I know, right? I just got my shipping notification on the clutch. It will be here on Friday, so things will start moving faster, once the motor is back in the car. I am ordering the glass for it tomorrow, once I have that, my buddy, who owns an autoglass company, will come in to bond the front and rear glass in and then I need to get the trim and bumpers and skirts ready for paint. Plenty of opportunity for updates in the not-too-distant future, my friend!

Garey

[bmwmech1]

definitely have used Rit dye before, i just never thought about using it on carpet. Unfortunately my carpet is tan so im not sure of the available color matches.

Could you describe the process you used? Im sure this will become a handy tool for r3v members future carpet issues. Possibly more pictures too? haha, it looks awesome! Thanks.

Well, more pictures are not going to do much as the process was stupid-ly easy...

Item list
2 bottles of Rit dye, in whatever your color choice- Remember that you can't dye a Navy carpet set tan, but you can dye a tan set Navy...
1 spray bottle
1 empty gallon jug or equivilant
1 small scrub/nail brush
1 pair of gloves

1. Remove carpet
2. Clean carpet with your favorite carpet shampoo
3. Let carpet dry thoroughly
4. Mix 2 bottles of Rit dye in a gallon container with 2-2.5 quarts of hot tap water
5. Pour the dye mixture into the spray bottle
6. Spray the dye onto your carpet and work it into the nap of the carpet with the nail brush. Make sure to coat it thoroughly, but not soaking wet
7. Let it dry for at least 24 hours, longer if necessary
8. Admire your fresh, new looking carpet set

A word to the wise... this stuff will stain anything... it's dye. Cover your work area with cardboard or plastic and do this where the carpet can sit and dry for a day. Don't do it in the yard, when it's supposed to rain later on. And don't do it in the car... or, do it in the car... it's your car, lol! It's easy, not very messy and it looks very good when it's done. The only thing I can't comment on is how long it lasts... I'll report back in 2 years on how it's holding up...:D

Garey

[SwiftE30]

Thanks guys...

I used Rit dye, available at Wally World. I looked one evening on the web and there are not very many options available. I had looked into getting some Valeter's Pride from the UK, but you only need about 2 quarts to do the carpet, they only sell it by the gallon and getting it here would have been about $50 or so. The Rit was $3 a bottle and I used 2 bottles. Hopefully, it holds up well. Most of it gets covered up anyway and with a set of mats in there, it should get very little wear...

Garey

definitely have used Rit dye before, i just never thought about using it on carpet. Unfortunately my carpet is tan so im not sure of the available color matches.

Could you describe the process you used? Im sure this will become a handy tool for r3v members future carpet issues. Possibly more pictures too? haha, it looks awesome! Thanks.

[gooseadrian]

This needs more updates...im fucking excited to see this finished already! C'mon mang!! hahahah but seriously great job.