Diamantschwarz 318is resto/rebuild

[grt]

I have some ramps that I used to drive my old car up so that I could jack it but I think they're a bit steep for the focus and will be once the BMW is on coils.

Yeah e30s a pain to jack up when they are lowered.

I can't wait to get another 318is and do the same as you.

[MkII]

After having another little break I'm pretty keen to get this thing on the road and reliable. I'll make one more parts order soon which should include all of the last things I need to accomplish this.

I unwrapped and cleaned the wiring in the engine bay as it was falling apart and was in desperate need of a tidy. I post the result when it's all done.



These wheels came up on Gumtree (like Craigslist) for cheap and I couldn't pass them up. I now have a set of steel wheels, 6 bottle caps and these weaves lol. I'm using them here as a fence to stop the dog from annoying me in the shed.



I sanded back the little rust spots, used rust converter and then painted them. The only bit of rust left is around the boot sill.



I also fixed the wrinkle paint paint on the valve cover that I chipped when I put the engine in.



I need lights and more shelving!

[MkII]

My drivers door lock didn't work so I thought it was about time to use the rebuild kit that I had received from Pelican Parts months ago, part number 51-21-9-061-343-M9.

Once I pulled it apart it was pretty obvious why it didn't work, one of the pieces had snapped in two (on the left)!



I referred to Bills Web Space for a step by step of how to do the rebuild, http://www.billswebspace.com. It's actually a pretty good site with some easy to follow instructions for different projects. The potential issue that I did encounter though it that every site I referred to said that there should be 6 tumblers on one side and 5 on the other side, I have that many slots but only had 3 tumblers on the 5 side (below). It seems to be working alright now that it is back together but I'm just not sure if this is common? Has anyone else rebuilt theirs and found missing tumblers?



Putting the final spring back on was an absolute bitch but whilst I'm yet to put it back in the car I should finally have working doors!

[MkII]

None of the lights in the gauge cluster are working so it was time to pull it out to have a look and get it working right. It seems the previous owner had already had a go at removing it and broken one of the brackets in the process so I may just end up getting a new cluster.



He must have fancied himself as a bit of an automotive electrician because he has had a half assed go at everything:



Yes that is a push button start dangling from the dash!



He has run his own speaker wire all through the car which is just hanging everywhere but there are no speakers or head unit left. I'm not going to be installing a sound system anytime soon, I'll just be driving around to the raspy sound of the m42. I will however tidy it all up and I guess install some kind of blanking plate where the head unit goes.



I have no idea why anyone would even cut into these but they seem to be spliced back together?



These lights are also hanging down into the drivers foot well, one of them is spliced with two cables that go to nothing! Does anyone have any idea where they are meant to go? I wonder if the go into the cluster?



So.... I have a lot of wires to detangle! I will take a good hard look at some wiring diagrams to see if I can work it all out. Many wires seem to be the wrong colour though so it should be fun!

[Anthony B]

wicked build mate, I have DS 318is that I'm restoring I think it must be an Aussie 318is project that we by our project cars & the previous owners have half assed things before.

Where did you source your replacement m42? The head on mine is ruined(10 bent valves, ruined cams & trays)

I shall follow your thread for motivation for me to do my build.

[MkII]

wicked build mate, I have DS 318is that I'm restoring I think it must be an Aussie 318is project that we by our project cars & the previous owners have half assed things before.

Where did you source your replacement m42? The head on mine is ruined(10 bent valves, ruined cams & trays)

I shall follow your thread for motivation for me to do my build.

Thanks mate, yours looks like a good project too. It's a shame how they get abused by people who don't know what they are doing but at least we are giving them another chance! I used the same m42 that mine came with, it cleaned up alright with a bit of work. They are pretty few and far between and most is models are really expensive, I have seen a few engines pop up on eBay though. Your previous owner must have been a bit of a muppet to put the head back together wrong! If you don't know what you are doing don't try to do it yourself! Haha that's why I have my mechanic friend helping me.

[stoja e30]

nice job mate, good to see some fellow aussies on r3vlimited. Im from perth but live in miami.

[MkII]

nice job mate, good to see some fellow aussies on r3vlimited. Im from perth but live in miami.

Yeah there does seem to be a few more of us lately. You look like you have your hands full with a few different cars, I can't figure out which engine is going in which car! Haha. It looks like you are making faster progress than me though.

[stoja e30]

Yeah there does seem to be a few more of us lately. You look like you have your hands full with a few different cars, I can't figure out which engine is going in which car! Haha. It looks like you are making faster progress than me though.

haha, this has been going on for almost two years. it was at the body shop for 10mths ( they were super busy). I started the engine this time last year, it was put on hold for 8 months cause I opened a restaurant which has since closed.
I got a friend who helps me alot, my car is at his place. we hope to have it running next week, it will be like having my 'is' back as most of the goodies from that went into this build.

[MkII]

Finally time to get this thing moving again - I haven't died, just didn't do anything to the car or really even come on r3v all winter.

I have fixed all of the rust on the car, the worst parts were around the boot sill and the tow bar mounting points.





I got sick of trying to chase around all of the shitty wiring the previous owner did so out came the dash. If I can find one with less (or no) cracks I will put that back in. The wiring is pretty much fixed now, just needs to be tidied up and the ignition fixed (new parts just arrived).



I have used the opportunity of having no trim to fix up the paint as best I can, my arm is sore though from trying to polish it by hand so I will pick up a polishing machine tomorrow when I go to get the spray gun to paint the trim. I've been using mostly Mothers and Meguire's stuff:



How it currently sits:



I ordered some new stuff for it too which should see it on the road reliably.



And one of the new front bar on the e9. It's currently getting a new fancy engine built for it - I'll see if I can get him to do a thread, if not I guess the best bits will end up on here.

[audiquattrot]

My god that E9 is beautiful.

[Farbin Kaiber]

Those lights, if not figured out, go into the headlight adjusting control on my euro car, so maybe the same for you?

[MkII]

Those lights, if not figured out, go into the headlight adjusting control on my euro car, so maybe the same for you?

Ah, that makes sense! I have currently removed the adjuster as it wasn't working, I'll just tidy them up and tuck them out of the way for later. Cheers.

[Klasse]

Hey Mate, I'm liking what you're doing here. Its almost identical to the process I went through with my white 318iS's. I think it's awesome that you're sticking with the M42 so far - keep up the good work!

[MkII]

With Christmas and New Years this city pretty much shut down! Today was the first day that any of the auto paint shops were open so I shot straight in to pick up a few supplies: spray gun, polisher, paint etc. I'm hoping to get started on this tomorrow.