E30 M3 Steel Bodywork Conversion

[bmwmech1]

Thanks guys... I was only over at the shop for about 4 hours today, so I didn't get much done. Got the subframe off, the last couple of items off the shell and stripped off almost all of the undercoating from the front to the rear subframe and welded about 30 seam welds and that's it. No pics, nothing to show, but I'll some more to show this week...

Garey

[Jean]

Soooo many hours go into body/chassis work, blows my mind.

[bmwmech1]

Soooo many hours go into body/chassis work, blows my mind.

Tell me about it... you have PM...

G.

[truekid]

Glad to see you on here Garey!!!
Everything looks great. Good luck.

[bmwmech1]

Glad to see you on here Garey!!!
Everything looks great. Good luck.

Thanks man, hard to tell it's the same car, huh?

Garey

[bmwmech1]

So I've been busy busy this week and I didn't touch the car until this afternoon. I'm getting closer to having the whole underside down to bare metal and I've done some seam welding as well. I'm trying to make it less boring for me so the tedium of seam welding isn't as bad, so today I removed the upper spring perches from the body, removed the spare tire well and cut out the trunk floor to make way for the fuel cell. I used some 1" square tubing and made the framework for the "box" the fuel cell will sit down into and got it welded in between the frame rails. The "box" will hang down 5" below the trunk floor height and the opening is 21"X25" to fit the 20"X24"X10" fuel cell. I didn't want to hang it too low, but also didn't want it sitting entirely in the trunk either, so I will split the difference. I'll have room on both sides for the exhaust, since it's centered and I have increased the fuel capacity to 20 gallons. I'll need it for a decent range with the V8/5 speed combination. My 540 gets about 26mpg on the freeway and it has a 20 gallon tank, but it also has a 6th gear. I'm hoping for about a 400-450 mile range with this car/tank combination. Here's the pics...







I hope to get some more time on it this weekend, but I have a motor to put in an E46, so we'll see...

Garey

[bmwmech1]

So I was able to do some work on the E30 today. The motor swap on the E46 I started over the weekend, got finished up yesterday and I didn't touch the E30 all weekend, so I got a couple of hours in on it today. I finished the plinth block on the drivers side rear and got the door bar tacked in place. Now I have to duplicate the same for the passenger side and I'm ready for the cage construction. I also cut out the remainder of the trunk floor and the original diff mount/sway bar crossmember to make way for the new 2"X2" diff crossmember...







I did get my E36 diff in today, which I ordered just for the rear cover, since it's a dual ear cover. A few modifications to the cover and then I can mock it up for the mounts. Keen observers will also notice the lack of spring perches, which have been removed for one of the next steps... remove shock towers and install reinforced, heavier gauge towers for coilovers. Slowly but surely...

Garey

[dirtysix]

Fuckin' sweet.

[bmwmech1]

Fuckin' sweet.

Thanks man... nice sig, rofl

Garey

[matias88e30]

holy shit man.. nice work

[bmwmech1]

holy shit man.. nice work

Thanks man, if all goes according to plan, it will be at Bimmerfest in Maryland in August. I just registered today, so there's my target...

Garey

[ck_taft325is]

Thanks man, if all goes according to plan, it will be at Bimmerfest in Maryland in August. I just registered today, so there's my target...

Garey

Wow, that's a pretty damn dedicated deadline. I wish you the best of luck. This will be amazing when it's done. I want boxed fenders so damn bad it hurts ;)

[bmwmech1]

Wow, that's a pretty damn dedicated deadline. I wish you the best of luck. This will be amazing when it's done. I want boxed fenders so damn bad it hurts ;)

Well, the upside is that if I can get it done, I'll get to drive it this year, which was always my goal... the downside is I'll be burned out and broke, Lol! And if I don't get it finished in time, I can always take my uber rare, 1 of 3 made in Sterling Silver in 1995, E34 540i/6... At least I have a backup...lol

Garey

[Spiff325iS]

Woah woah woah, where did this thread come from! Pumped to see this car's progression.

[bmwmech1]

Woah woah woah, where did this thread come from! Pumped to see this car's progression.

I hope it progresses fast... need to get it done for Bimmerfest!

Garey