Diamantschwarz 318is resto/rebuild

[MkII]

Polished the crap out of the car, there are still quite a few imperfections but it looks fantastic compared to what it was! Check out the reflections:





Now that it's clean I can start putting it all back together, the Meguiars trim polish does a great job of of restoring all the black stuff and a bit of paint polish shines up the lenses pretty well.

When I was removing the door bump strips I broke a few of the clips because I didn't know how it was all stuck together. I ordered some of the clips from pelican but couldn't find all of the part numbers so will hit up the wreckers for the ones I didn't get. I made the image below to show how it all sticks together so hopefully you wont break yours! Feel free to fill in the part numbers if you know them.



1A: P/N? straight plug, just pop it in or out
1B: P/N? as above
2: 51131876128 angled slide clip (refer to pick below)
3: 51131829904 straight clip, pops in and out
4: bolt

The front guard strip pops straight in and out, the other two should be popped out at the rear and then slid off the front clip.



New brakes!



Passenger side was a bitch so out comes the poor mans breaker bar.



New brakes means new basketweaves instead of the shitty steel wheels.



Oh and here's a teaser the the e9's engine build, three of these bad boys hanging of the side

[MkII]

I've been doing as much work on the car as possible lately however it's been ridiculously hot here in Adelaide, hitting 46 degrees celsius (115 fahrenheit) last week. Those kinds of temperatures sort of sap my will to do too much. I have been primarily focusing on getting the painting and exterior done and it's slowly getting there!

I wanted to paint all of the exterior trim black again so I started pulling all of the plastic components off. The bumper trim is meant to pop off by accessing the clips through these holes in the back however I couldn't get them all to comply and risked damaging it. Instead I decided to mask it off and paint it still attached.



Front bar polished up and put back on.



The car came with both a poorly painted black kidney and a cheap chrome copy. I test fitted both and decided I liked the chrome so I masked it up to match the black centre with the rest of the trim I'll paint (sorry the pics don't show the difference that well).





Getting the bumpers ready



Bits and pieces ready for paint



I borrow my friends compressor and used the new spray gun that I bought. It started out a bit rough but ended up getting a pretty nice finish on the window trim. With a bit more practice I'm sure I can get it nice and smooth.





Textured finish on the bumpers



I also took the opportunity to polish up the brake lights and started putting the back end on





And then the front







I'm still missing a high beam and the front bar seems to be a little bit misshapen around the passenger fog light area so the plastics didn't clip in properly but I'm sure I'll be able to get it all sorted out!

[MkII]

Whilst the exterior has been going really well I have been having issues with the ignition since I removed the push button start (presumably the PO put it in to circumnavigate the issue). At first I thought it was the ignition barrel but a new one didn't help. Then the ignition switch, a quick trip to the wreckers later but still no luck. I have also put in a new battery because the old one was stuffed. Basically when I turn the key nothing happens at all, it doesn't try to start, no relay clicks - nothing. Has anyone else had a similar issue or know what might be the issue?? It's driving me insane because I just want it to start again!

[kameleon]

Nice build, great to see someone detailing/rebuilding/cleaning everything as they go. And a fellow Aussie.

[QwertyE30]

This is such a good build!! Im from the Gold Coast QLD and I want to restore my 318 but I live in an apartment and uni is expensive! This project looks awesome mate.

FIX THE IGNITION! No ideas btw, sorry.

How much mechanical experience have you got?

[MkII]

This is such a good build!! Im from the Gold Coast QLD and I want to restore my 318 but I live in an apartment and uni is expensive! This project looks awesome mate.

FIX THE IGNITION! No ideas btw, sorry.

How much mechanical experience have you got?

I did end up getting the ignition fixed and put the car back together but had to sell it because I moved to Melbourne and couldn't take it with me. I'm in an apartment now too and unfortunately don't have the room for such a big project. I toyed with the idea of buying a really good condition 325is but have had to delay it for a bit.

I don't have much mechanical experience, I just learn as I go but the guy that helped me with the engine build is a mechanic. I wouldn't have been able to do it without him. Just get stuck in and give it a go, starting with little projects. Hopefully I will soon be back in another e30!