E30 M3 Steel Bodywork Conversion

[bmwmech1]

Thanks guys! I guess I am fortunate in that there really isn't anything I won't try to do. Building a car was one of those things. I used to build/renovate houses for a living, before I got back into automotive work, so a lot of what I've done and am doing with the house are things I've done before. I can say that I'd never built cabinetry like what I built for the kitchen before, but it's all working with wood, which is something I enjoy. My friends call me the career chameleon, since I've done so many different things in my lifetime. I was even a professional musician for about 5 years, lol! Anyway, enjoying different things and trying them, whether I succeed or fail, is something I've always done. If it turns out right, great... if not, figure out why and try it again, lol! Thankfully, I've not had many do-overs with the house renovation... that gets expensive...

Garey

[JGood]

Wow, you are still alive! Amazing work on the house.

I've been meaning to stop by your shop. I was out that way the other week but it was a little late, figured you had already left for the day. I still remember the day I stopped by to check out your car. I left with a damn m62 block and it's been downhill for my bank account ever since, LOL.

[TrentW]

Damn, you have been busy. I can relate-have slowly been restoring a 1918 Chicago bungalow. I'd rather work on the car, but as you said, makes the wife happy.

[UpstateMike]

Where did you find the m3 steel quarters and fenders?

[MR 325]

Where did you find the m3 steel quarters and fenders?

Probably bought them from BMW. ;)

[bmwmech1]

Where did you find the m3 steel quarters and fenders?

Yes, from BMW... there were not any rear quarters in the US, so those were shipped in from Germany, fronts I bought from an s14 member. There's a lot more than just the fenders to change over the body to M3 spec, though...

Garey

[UpstateMike]

The bs fiberglass stuff is such a joke. The steel must have cost you an arm and a leg!

[bmwmech1]

The bs fiberglass stuff is such a joke. The steel must have cost you an arm and a leg!

Well, it wasn't too bad... IIRC, the rears were like $390 a piece, the fronts I got for $250 for the pair. There were other panels needed to put the fenders on though... outer wheelhouses, a different tail light panel, c-pillar cap and some misc pieces around the trunk/rear glass area. The c-pillar cap is NLA, so I had to buy an entire wrecked M3 for that part. Plus there are the trunk hinges and springs and the trunk lid itself and the front and rear glass is different also. The front windshield is brand new OEM, the rear is from the wrecked M3 with new trims.

G.

[UpstateMike]

Yowzers!

[jhaurimn]

The c-pillar cap is NLA, so I had to buy an entire wrecked M3 for that part.

[bmwmech1]

Wow, you are still alive! Amazing work on the house.

I've been meaning to stop by your shop. I was out that way the other week but it was a little late, figured you had already left for the day. I still remember the day I stopped by to check out your car. I left with a damn m62 block and it's been downhill for my bank account ever since, LOL.

Yup, still kickin'... I don't spend much free time at the shop like I used to... probably why the car hasn't moved forward in 14 months, lol! Sorry about your bank account... at least you've been able to enjoy the investment! I have ~$15K in mine and still have yet to leave the shop with it, lol... I guess I could just sell it to recoup the investment...

G.

[bmwmech1]

Damn, you have been busy. I can relate-have slowly been restoring a 1918 Chicago bungalow. I'd rather work on the car, but as you said, makes the wife happy.

Yeah, but I enjoy working on the house, so I get some satisfaction too, aside from the wife thinking I am the best thing since sliced bread, lol!. I really like the older homes... they're quirky and never plumb, level and square, but they are really the last physical remnants we have of that era in time... very cool things to own and renovate...

Garey

[jhaurimn]

I guess I could just sell it to recoup the investment...

G.

R3v will e slap you across the face if you do so. :)

[bmwmech1]

R3v will e slap you across the face if you do so. :)

Does that leave a mark? Seems pretty un-physical to me, lol!

As I always say, everything is always for sale, if the right price is met... that being said, I don't know that anyone would pay what I'd want for the car as it sits right now, so I think it's pretty realistic to assume it won't get sold... but you never know, right? Maybe some prince from Bahrain has been secretly eyeing it since I started the build and will now pounce on the opportunity to add it to his collection of rare E30's...

yeah right, lol!

G.

[LivingLegend06]

I think its time to get back to work on that car. Any progress since the last update?