My 87 eta project – a flood car’s second chance

[n0m4d]

nooooo, I'm so behind on this project already I dont wanna sell/buy more parts. [crying smiley icon]

Maybe i'll post on the New England FS thread tonight...

stupid peer pressure

[n0m4d]

After a letting the paint bake for a few weeks I have started to wet sand and polish the car. I finished the hood, trunk and roof.





Since the interior has been out I ran new speaker and amp wiring, installed keyless entry and an interior light delay module. This weekend I'm swapping the dash, retrofitting cruise and putting the carpet back in. And more sanding and polishing.....

Oh and the new headliner shipped today too! That was preventing me from installing the glass and moonroof.

Before the flaming starts, yes, I did remove and fill the factory power antenna hole and I installed a Metra amplified stubby roof mount. The power antenna was broken, all my parts cars had broken ones and I decided I didn't want to have to continue to deal with a power antenna anymore. It's pretty subtle in real life, the pic angle makes it look huge :p .

Also, how do you like my new front seat? It was a little hard at first but now that it's broken in, it's not so bad.

[JA1991]

Looking good! you're doing an awesome job! let me know how the Cruise Control Retrofitingg goes.

[bmwmech1]

Looks great! Lots of progress since I posted last. The color is awesome and it looks to have laid down very nice. Can't wait to see it with glass in it and the bumpers on... should be a stunner!

Garey

[n0m4d]

Well, one of the jobs I was looking forward to the least is finally done. I got the carpet and dash in and finished all of the wiring tasks. I also lubed all the HVAC cables, replaced the duct seals and cleaned/checked every connection for any corrosion. Here is a progress pic, doesn't that look like fun:

I also replaced the shift/ebrake boots and swapped in a leather ebrake handle and chrome knob. I need to source the hardware for the knee panel and I am waiting for the voltage meter mod to arrive before I re-install the gauge cluster.


Now that the dash swap is done the car is feeling like it's coming back together. Next few days will be back to the wet sanding grind.

[Schnitzer318is]

Looking great so far. Very nice work. Should do the e36 window switches in there as well. Makes a huge difference.

[n0m4d]

Took vacation the week of the fourth to work on the car and help my in-laws move and get a couple thinks knocked off my honey-do list. I wetsanded/polished the passenger side leaving only the driver side to-do. I disassembled the rear seat and dyed it with the Duplicolor stuff. It seems to have stuck to everything. I decided not to try to sell any of the interior parts knowing that the car was a flood car and none of it was in really great shape. Here are before pics, after pics are further down:




I also disassebled, cleaned and dyed the door cards. Here they are all done and put back together:



I finally got the new headliner, although it wasn't what I was expecting at all. Not sure why BMW has a part number specifically for a sedan with sunroof yet they send a generic DIY piece of fabric. Thankfully I kept the original intact to use as a template:



After cutting the headliner I dyed that black too. With headliner installed I was able to start putting in the window and door seals, parcel shelf and rear seat:




I have some electrical bugs to work out before sealing up the doors and installing the door cards. The front seats need some minor rehab. Hope to have both taken care of this week then I should be generally wrapped up with interior work.

[n0m4d]

Should do the e36 window switches in there as well. Makes a huge difference.

I need to look into this, are the sockets different or is it a PnP mod?

[JA1991]

I can't wait for this to be done, so much good stuff happening

[n0m4d]

I can't wait for it to be done too! Last Monday was the 1 year anniversary of me buying it and I never thought I would be still be working on it one year later. I just bought a Mtech II steering wheel today, this site is like crack and I'm a sucker for any part that is labeled rare.

[oxymoron]

wow, looks awesome

[JA1991]

haha i'm on here everyday! i just wish i had more money!

[n0m4d]

I haven't update here in a while so I suppose I should post some progress pics. Interior work is nearly done. I was held up with an issue with the driver door lock, it was bound up but I have it working now. Also spent 2 days unsuccessfully trying to fix the recline on the driver seat. I still am chasing an issue with the interior light:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=254562

and I am trying to figure out how to recover my front headliner.




Exterior work will start to pick up which will be the fun part. Trim, bumpers, lights and badges should make the car look like its actually progressing. I FINALLY finished the wet sanding on all but the rear and the front valance. That shit gets old real quick.

Tonight I am ordering wheels and tires. I have settled on TR Motorsports C1's which I'm not super in-love with but I run them on our LeMons car and they are very strong and very light (and cheap). I couldn't find anything I liked a whole lot better. Going from a 14x6.5 to a 15x8 should change the look of the car a bit.

[n0m4d]

As the summer melts away, work carries on. I blacked out the door trim with Duplicolor trim paint. The paint looks good but is very prone to runs so when using it plan on lots of light coats. Here is a side by side:

Here is it all done:

I plan on chrome gutter and sill trim but I'm in my 6th week of waiting on gutter trim to arrive. Also, as you can see, new wheels are on and installed. I went with 15x8's with 205/50's and the stretch was way more that I expected. I know it all the rage with the kids but its going to take a bit of getting used to. I really didn't want to roll fenders so it is what it is. Maybe 55's next time.


Rear needs moar low, just don't know how to get it done. This weekend is a big push to get euro bumpers, lights and trim on so there should be lots of good pictures in the coming days.

[KillaCam]

:up: !!!