So a little introduction to this project:
My lovely girlfriend Lindsey needed a car, and of course I steered her toward the E30 chassis. She found a '91 318i that fit the budget and picked it up. Unfortunately, it wasn't in the best condition, but it has ended up being very reliable for her, so I can't complain.
That was almost 2 years ago. 2 years she has had to deal with the smelly, disintegrating, cloth interior, the clutch that is quickly going out, and general engine and suspension failures of a car that has gone every bit of 260k without a lot of proper maintenance. And she hasn't complained about it at all. In fact, she recently told me how much she "loved driving her fun little car".
I think she deserves an upgrade.
Problem is, I could never have her car for more than a day, she always needed it every day for school, internships, work, etc. So I decided the only way to build her a nice car would be to buy another one and fix it up over the course of a week or two, then trade her straight across. So that's what I did.
This is that project.
First, a photo of her washing the old car. Don't let the iX weaves fool you, the thing is pretty rough.
Now, the new car. Another '91 318i with 150k and a blown head gasket. While this one still needs some work in the looks department, it has a clean vinyl interior, a lot less miles, and a stack of maintenance records. Also been a Cali car it's whole life until the current owner moved up here.
The plan is:
Engine top end refresh
New headgasket kit
Clean & surface cylinder head
New exhaust mounting hardware from Turner
Clean and paint parts
A little powdercoat thrown in for good measure
Suspension refresh
New brakes all around (including pressure bleed)
New control arms
Bilstein sports/H&R sports (left over from my cabrio project)
E90 drop hats
New front wheel bearings
Clean and paint parts
Wheels and tires
15'' iX weaves coated in gloss white
Brand new Falken 512's all around in 205/50/15
Spacers and stud kit from Motorsport Hardware, thanks Ryan!
So here is the progress so far:
First I dropped a set of wheels of at the powder coater. These were some iX weaves that came off one of my parts cars that definitely needed a new lease on life.
They came back looking amazing. I am so stoked to have a red car on white wheels, one of my favorite color combos
Got the car in the shop and onto the lift. Began disassembling the engine
I haven't removed the cylinder head yet, as I am waiting on the cam lock tool to arrive.
Got busy cleaning up the parts I had removed. Tossed all the hardware into the vibratory tumbler.
Then set about cleaning the lower intake section and timing cover
Then prepped for paint
Good old wrinkle black
A couple hours later I checked the hardware in the tumbler and found this
Nice and clean. Switched to the polishing media and tossed them back in.
Next I removed the suspension components that will be replaced.
And set to work swapping springs around. The rear is finished, but I am waiting on new parts to reassemble the front.
So in the meantime I set to cleaning and painting the components while everything was apart
That is where I am at so far. I am currently patiently waiting a large order of parts from Blunt, as well as a few things from Turner and Motorsport hardware. Once I have all the components piled up on the shop floor this car should go back together in no time. Stay tuned!
My lovely girlfriend Lindsey needed a car, and of course I steered her toward the E30 chassis. She found a '91 318i that fit the budget and picked it up. Unfortunately, it wasn't in the best condition, but it has ended up being very reliable for her, so I can't complain.
That was almost 2 years ago. 2 years she has had to deal with the smelly, disintegrating, cloth interior, the clutch that is quickly going out, and general engine and suspension failures of a car that has gone every bit of 260k without a lot of proper maintenance. And she hasn't complained about it at all. In fact, she recently told me how much she "loved driving her fun little car".
I think she deserves an upgrade.
Problem is, I could never have her car for more than a day, she always needed it every day for school, internships, work, etc. So I decided the only way to build her a nice car would be to buy another one and fix it up over the course of a week or two, then trade her straight across. So that's what I did.
This is that project.
First, a photo of her washing the old car. Don't let the iX weaves fool you, the thing is pretty rough.
Now, the new car. Another '91 318i with 150k and a blown head gasket. While this one still needs some work in the looks department, it has a clean vinyl interior, a lot less miles, and a stack of maintenance records. Also been a Cali car it's whole life until the current owner moved up here.
The plan is:
Engine top end refresh
New headgasket kit
Clean & surface cylinder head
New exhaust mounting hardware from Turner
Clean and paint parts
A little powdercoat thrown in for good measure
Suspension refresh
New brakes all around (including pressure bleed)
New control arms
Bilstein sports/H&R sports (left over from my cabrio project)
E90 drop hats
New front wheel bearings
Clean and paint parts
Wheels and tires
15'' iX weaves coated in gloss white
Brand new Falken 512's all around in 205/50/15
Spacers and stud kit from Motorsport Hardware, thanks Ryan!
So here is the progress so far:
First I dropped a set of wheels of at the powder coater. These were some iX weaves that came off one of my parts cars that definitely needed a new lease on life.
They came back looking amazing. I am so stoked to have a red car on white wheels, one of my favorite color combos
Got the car in the shop and onto the lift. Began disassembling the engine
I haven't removed the cylinder head yet, as I am waiting on the cam lock tool to arrive.
Got busy cleaning up the parts I had removed. Tossed all the hardware into the vibratory tumbler.
Then set about cleaning the lower intake section and timing cover
Then prepped for paint
Good old wrinkle black
A couple hours later I checked the hardware in the tumbler and found this
Nice and clean. Switched to the polishing media and tossed them back in.
Next I removed the suspension components that will be replaced.
And set to work swapping springs around. The rear is finished, but I am waiting on new parts to reassemble the front.
So in the meantime I set to cleaning and painting the components while everything was apart
That is where I am at so far. I am currently patiently waiting a large order of parts from Blunt, as well as a few things from Turner and Motorsport hardware. Once I have all the components piled up on the shop floor this car should go back together in no time. Stay tuned!
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