E30 M3 Steel Bodywork Conversion

[truism]

man u have some crazy patients stripping it back down that far wow, guess thats something great quality takes, such a great build cant wait to see more :P

[bmwmech1]

Well, with the car back apart and on the spit, I'm plowing through getting all of the loose ends tied up so I can get on to painting. The plan is to prime and paint the interior next weekend, then pull it back off the rotisserie to paint the exterior. Seems like a lot of work, just to paint the inside, but with it sideways on the spit, I can tape off everything except the drivers door opening and stand inside the car to paint the interior. Should be easier this way, as I can spin 360 degrees while standing. Pics from tonight...

Pretty much completely stripped now. Finished seam sealing all the custom brackets under the hood...


Here's a little relief I made in the drivers frame rail for extra alternator clearance...


Converted my brand new OEM fuel lines to 6AN on both ends...


Lonely motor waiting for it's new, permanent home...


One of the many piles of parts... It's amazing how much stuff is on an E30...


Nice view...


These last three, I tried to get some good pictures of the framework I made for the pedal assembly, since so many people have asked about it...






I'll get some more done over the weekend...

Garey

[Garageaholic]

Garey, your car is serious. I cannot compete, but I also cannot wait to meet it!

[bmwmech1]

I can still see a steering wheel and electrics that cars not stripped :p

You got me... see the next post:):):)

Beautiful work, man. I love this thread.

Thanks man, I appreciate it... the kudos keep me moving forward...

Garey

[euroshark]

Beautiful work, man. I love this thread.

[e30guydownunder]

Thanks man... I'm starting to get a little excited about the push to the end. I can feel it coming, which is a good feeling!

Garey

I know what you mean! I'm closing in on having my SRE30 running after 3 months building the engine. Progress is hard and fast but I'm loving it!

I can still see a steering wheel and electrics that cars not stripped :p Love your work though, wish I'd gone the extra effort and done my car on a rotissere

[bmwmech1]

Thats what she said.

That is some funny shit!

Seriously though, congrats on making to the downhill slope.

This is serious progress Garey. Slow down, you're putting the rest of us to shame!

Thanks guys...

Garey

[dirty30]

This is serious progress Garey. Slow down, you're putting the rest of us to shame!

[LJ851]

I'm starting to get a little excited about the push to the end. I can feel it coming, which is a good feeling!

Thats what she said.












Seriously though, congrats on making to the downhill slope.

[bmwmech1]

So the car is now stripped and back on the rotisserie to prime and paint the interior...



Garey

[bmwmech1]

Man, that is all coming together really nicely. Even that radiator overflow lone is impressive. Can't wait to see it really start to get buttoned up.

Thanks man... I'm starting to get a little excited about the push to the end. I can feel it coming, which is a good feeling!

Garey

[OoPEZoO]

Man, that is all coming together really nicely. Even that radiator overflow lone is impressive. Can't wait to see it really start to get buttoned up.

[bmwmech1]

lovin the build man. id love to see it in person!

Thanks man, it'll be out at all the East coast shows this summer... plus, I grew up in Columbus, so I'm sure it will be over there at least once this summer...

Garey

[ronloving]

lovin the build man. id love to see it in person!

[bmwmech1]

Kind of a boring update, but there are pictures, which makes it a little less so...
I'm trying to finish up all of the different fluid circuits, so I can pull everything off the car to get ready for primer and color, so first up is the vent line for the cooling system. I bought a 78" long piece of stainless tubing, ~5/16"ID, to use for the vent line from the radiator to the reservoir. A half an hours worth of work yielded this...







Pretty cool and I can polish it.

Next up was the rear brake feed line that runs from where the residual valve would be all the way back to the T at the rear. I ordered this line and the fuel feed and return hard lines from BMW, since they are pre-bent and pretty much a drop in... or so I thought... the fuel lines were indeed pre-bent, which I knew, since I'd replaced them on customer's cars in the past. The brake line, however, was a 10 foot long, straight piece that had to be bent to fit. My solution was to order the hold down clamps and spacer clips for the fuel lines and brake line, clamp the three of them together and make the brake line mirror the bends in the fuel lines. It actually worked pretty well...





So that leaves me with the soft fuel lines to the injector rail and back to the fuel pump. Brake plumbing is now done, coolant plumbing is now done, my power steering reservoir finally came in on Friday, so that will get mounted and the feed and return lines made up for it and that completes the power steering plumbing. Oil system plumbing is done and my fittings for the 2 Setrab coolers came in on Friday, as well. I ordered the fuel pump setup, which should be in mid-week, so I can finish up the fuel plumbing and then it's time to tear it back apart to prime and paint it. It's starting to feel like I'm going downhill now, instead of uphill, which is a good feeling.

Last picture is the front-end...



Garey