the Aluminum Monster. a 318 with a special 24v

[2mAn]

I got a great deal on it. I told myself there was a max I would pay and it was $5 less than that so they took my money!

[2mAn]

After having a frustrating day trying to get the Ansa muffler welded on (by a shop) I decided I needed to get moving on another project that Ive been lagging on. Dying the rear seat black.

Ive never done anything of this sort and all I really knew was that there were some spray dyes, which really were just spray paint. I found some stuff called RIT, which is an actual cloth dye. In order to properly do this, I needed to pull the cloth covers off the seats. It went fairly smoothly until I got stuck, but they are basically ready to go. Here are some pics of todays mini adventure

My hand looks absolutely filthy here, but its just the lighting! There are about 40 of this little waffles that go around the perimeter of the seat. It was a pain to get them all off


making progress...


and just when you think you're done, theres more!




annnnnnnd success. then repeat for the other half





unfortunately, I got stuck on the seat belt buckle receptacles and couldnt remove the second cover. I will get them off tomorrow and dye the covers. then I just have to see if I can reinstall all those little waffling clips. might just drop it off at an upholstery shop and have them finish it...

[Rdreas]

They look like regular hog rings to me. You can buy new ones and the special pliers for $23 on amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Drake-Off-Road...ords=hog+rings

[2mAn]

thanks for the link. Just ordered it, should be here next wednesday. The covers should be dyed and dried by then!

[2mAn]

SO.... slight change of plan.

Someone warned me using old cloth wasnt a good idea. As usual, in one ear out the other.

I had the covers ready, I just ordered the stuff from Amazon and the RIT was ready to go. Stacked with a roll of quarters I headed to my nearest laundromat...



I returned later when it was supposed to be done washing/ dying and the owner/ manager guy wasnt happy with me. He explained to me that while I was home watching The Boondocks, the washing machine was leaking its fluids all over the floor. I can only imagine how it looked. He wasnt too thrilled and suggested I look for a new place to do my laundry :rofl:




Apparently the metal in the seat covers was causing problems. Now the old cloth covers are torn, partially dyed and I still have no backseat.

My backup plan has been to use a houndstooth rear seat, but I was trying to avoid that because it wouldnt really match with everything. The panels, sure, but then the front seats look out of place. Oh well, better than tan or no back seat.

[JinormusJ]

the Aluminum Monster. an 84 with a special 24v

SUPPORT LEFT
41141943223
SUPPORT RIGHT
41141943224

CONNECTION PIECE LEFT
41121943117
CONNECTION PIECE RIGHT
41121943118

REINFORCEMENT LEFT
41118103003
REINFORCEMENT RIGHT
41118103004

FRAME RAIL STRUT LEFT
41 11 1 943 115
FRAME RAIL STRUT RIGHT
41 11 1 943 116

TUNNEL SUPPORT
51711929857


This is a list I've pulled from s14, plus a few extras from the same topic. 4 of yours match, and I'm pretty sure the last 3 were what you're looking for. Word on the street is the upper mounts don't do much, but the Lower Frame Rail Supports do the most.

More on it here
s14 cabrio reinforcements discussion

[2mAn]

thanks J

so, my rear seat has become a situation. I talked to a R3V referred upholstery shop and they quoted ~$300 to make covers for my back seat. Im kicking myself for not swooping on the houndstooth rear seat that someone local was giving away a few weeks ago. For now, I am running with no back seat.

In other news, I am racing my car next weekend at AAA Speedway, and since I swapped to the 15mm rear spacers, Ive needed to get new hubcentric rings so I just ordered those.

Other than that, not much happening at the moment. Im going to place my order soon to finish repinning my Rectangular C101.

[KIRIEIW]

Got your text, sorry for not getting back. Functionally they'll work as you have them, but yes they are on backwards.

The pictures in the link aren't ideal (but will function as well), but my commentary should be clear.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=324439

Hey my thread came in handy :up: And I thought I was the only one confused on installing these. Great work OP, surprised I never ran into this thread, read the whole thing.

[2mAn]

So a busy weekend for me. Yes, its wednesday now. Im finally catching up. Hopefully I will be all caught up with everything just in time for another weekend.

Saturday was a fun and busy day running all over LA. Started the day early with the SoCal Vintage group going on a canyon run in the Angeles National Forest. After that I ran a bunch of errands and one was swapping out the 72mm rings for some 66mm rings. This turned out to be a waste of time as you will find out very soon.




Didnt end up getting to really open it up on the track because of the stupid hubcentric rings. Only got a few laps before it was obvious that the wheel shaking was too dangerous . Ive gotten the 72mm rings that were too big and then I traded them for the 66mm and they were too small. I should have it figured out this weekend. Sucks I missed a fun day but I'll be back...





Heres one of the "BMW pack" There was still a few others but Id say most of the BMWs there were part of Terrys group

[ak-]

Lookin' tough at least ;D

[ak-]

Are you sure it's not a 72mm ring?
I'm looking at SSR 4x100 catalogs right now saying it's a 72.2mm. Maybe it's just a really really snug fit? I remember having to tap mine in when installing rings on some e36 wheels I had long ago.

Metal or plastic?


edit: http://www.ssr-wheels.com/parts/hubrings.asp

5th one down

[glnr13]

yeah, they have to 72mm.

I have simon's old spacers and when I put them on my enkei's they were a perfect fit.

[2mAn]

The ebay add for the place says they are 72.56mm .... :hitler:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/72-56-TO-57-ALUMINUM-HUB-CENTRIC-WHEEL-CENTERING-RINGS-72-6-TO-57-1mm-/291199150468?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43ccd26984&vxp=mtr

I couldnt measure my actual wheels with my calipers so I had to use a ruler and it was a standard size, not metric. It was super close though

[ak-]

Noooooooooooooo 72.56 is for 5 lug BMW wheels / newer gen! (except e39).

SSR's are 72.2mm! No wonder they were bigger!

[2mAn]

Yea I think I need to order them directly from SSR. I cant find 72.2 anywhere... a fuckin quarter of a fuckin millimeter ruined my first track day