E30 M3 Steel Bodywork Conversion

[jackbenny]

Cluster... I tried to get a shot of it lit up, but the flash overexposed it:( The backlighting is red...



Garey

Garey, are the gauges wired in directly to the cluster circuit board or are they getting signal and power directly from the sender? I've been prepping a cluster to do something similar.

Kudos on this project, it's a fantastic read. Good luck getting ready for Gutenfest!

[bmwmech1]

Garey,

Your car is a sexy beast. You've done a great job, dude. I wish I could find people that could do your quality of work out here!

Love,
Ian

Thanks man, I appreciate it... I'm sure there are people out there that do quality work. It's easier to have a high level of detail when the car is your own and you're not worried about how much time or how many tries it takes to make it right. I'm not giving excuses for sloppy work, but it's difficult to hand someone a bill for 1000+ hours of work, unless they were expecting you to build them a $100K E30...

Garey, are the gauges wired in directly to the cluster circuit board or are they getting signal and power directly from the sender? I've been prepping a cluster to do something similar.

Kudos on this project, it's a fantastic read. Good luck getting ready for Gutenfest!

Josh, the cluster back has been removed, so these are mounted to the front bezel only. Power comes from a harness I made, lighting is the same. All of the gauges are electric, so the sender only provides signal to the gauge. I am basically making my own cluster from the bezel and a slew of VDO gauges. I wanted to keep it looking as original as possible, which is why I'm doing it the way I am. Thanks for the kudos!

Garey

[MR 325]

Gauges look amazing, very nice!

[dirtysix]

It's all coming along very farking nicely.

[BrewCity11]

THought about using vinyl decal stickers to put in a redline? Maybe a yellow to red transition?

[Simon S]

ug..
on one hand - I want to post and say how awesome this project is turning out..

on the other hand - I don't want to post so you'll be less-distracted and more-able to button this beast up soon !!

[sayed ali]

Can't describe this amazing job with in my words!

[bmwmech1]

^^^ Thanks guys!

[bmwmech1]

So, the time has come to deal with the inevitable... Unless there is a time warp and the remaining days from today until the 20th triple or quadruple, I won't make it to G'fest with this car. I just do not see how I can get it complete enough to be able to drive it over. I really wanted to and thought I could make it happen, but the reality set in today... there's just too much left to do to be able to put plates on it and inspect it and feel comfortable driving it to Levent's. I'm as bummed as everybody, but I would rather do things right and once than have to re-visit stuff I rushed through to patch it together enough to take it. I've been working on it too long to not finish it properly and of the same quality as the rest of the build...

"... and that's all I have to say about that" - Forrest Gump

:(:(:(

Garey

[Holland]

Better to be done proper.

[bmwmech1]

Better to be done proper.

Thanks man, I'm of the same opinion... still bummed out, but a little relieved, to be honest...

Garey

[OoPEZoO]

Yeah man.......looking at the work you have already done, I'm sure no one has to tell you.....do it once, and do it right.

There are always more shows and get togethers

[Npulver]

If you don't mind me asking, what size are your cluster gauges and what brand?. Also with your fuel gauge was there any issues you ran into to make it function properly? (I.e. put in a resistor?)

This project looks awesome! Keep up the good work!

[hamilton325i]

So, the time has come to deal with the inevitable... Unless there is a time warp and the remaining days from today until the 20th triple or quadruple, I won't make it to G'fest with this car. I just do not see how I can get it complete enough to be able to drive it over. I really wanted to and thought I could make it happen, but the reality set in today... there's just too much left to do to be able to put plates on it and inspect it and feel comfortable driving it to Levent's. I'm as bummed as everybody, but I would rather do things right and once than have to re-visit stuff I rushed through to patch it together enough to take it. I've been working on it too long to not finish it properly and of the same quality as the rest of the build...

"... and that's all I have to say about that" - Forrest Gump

:(:(:(

Garey

I hate to say it but I'm glad to read this. Rushing a build like yours isn't right this late in the game. Though I have no doubt you would have made it work... I'm excited to see what finishing at your own pace yields ;)

Plus... there's always next year :up:

[Eric]

If you don't mind me asking, what size are your cluster gauges and what brand?. Also with your fuel gauge was there any issues you ran into to make it function properly? (I.e. put in a resistor?)

This project looks awesome! Keep up the good work!

Looks like VDO to me