E30 Euro Frankenstein Semaj4712 Progress Thread

[semaj4712]

Today was the first day since I bought the car where I feel that it is starting to become me...I spent the day installing the AKG DTM Quickshifter Stage II in and replaceing the front center console, (also did a ton of cleaning in the car too for the first time since I bought it)

If you go back a page youll see what the old center console and shifter looked like...shit, the shift knob was god knows what brand, and there was an walmart voltmeter drilled into the dash that wasnt even hooked up, just had speaker wire attached to it on the reverse side, all of that had to go...


You can see the PO with their einstein engineering skills drilled that damn hole with it still in the car...what a mess, anyway

Old center console vs new


Trey (Yert315) came by and helped me out, (I couldnt get the bitch clip off a few nights ago) and we got the bitch in...Will say this, while it is a great quickshifter, all the threads were super freakin tight and are nearly imposible with a crescent wrench to tighten, and the seated bolts made it difficult to work with because the notches on the plate were larger than the seated bolt square, but we made it work...


Quickshifter in, and cleaned up the interior to install the new center console...


Whilst I was trying to put my old shift boot on it ripped and crumbled to pieces, so I decided to take an old crown royal bag I had sitting around and use that for temp, I had seen this done before but dont really like it...its just temp as I want to find and try to retrofit an accordian style shift boot



Ill end up getting a different shift knob at some point, but want to finish the interior before I decide what will look the best

[semaj4712]

Quickshifter came in mail today from AKG

[semaj4712]

Thought Id share how my living room looks at the moment...


Contemplating new wheels, I am thinking about selling the RSs or trading them and going with something like Diamond Steelies or something...want something bigger in the 16 inch range or 17

[semaj4712]

Got the car back today from Castros, new Skidplate installed, E46 Motor Mounts installed, and new Muffler installed...We went with the Flo-pro exhaust, seemed like the best bang for the buck, sounds wicked too and I think it looks really nice with the tips Chris put on...



Skid plates good, cept I really hit everything now, I am probably going to look for a set of 16s versus the 15 BBS RS wheels I have to raise it up and not gain any wheel gap...

[mcskibadee1]

Lookin good, you sure don't waste any time.

[xxla81xx]

I wanna see new muffler :hitler:

[bmw325csi]

What exhaust will you be getting?

[semaj4712]

Disclaimer, I don't know how to sew, but it seems you can just open a seam at the bottom of the seat, remove foam, then pull material back and sew it tightly.

Yea, I looked at it for about 2 hours thinking that...decided it wasnt worth it...but it was worth the 100 bucks an upholstery shop down the street said they could cover the original foam for...should get that back wednesday...should look really nice and will also probably sit better back there as theres that large bar on the passenger side that was an issue first time around.

Front seats are being bitches and now I can see why everyone said you need the electric seats to swap...because where there is not always a way, after several hours trying to get all the fixings off one seats bottom it still was no where close ready, and I gave up...back on the hunt for another set of fronts, even if they are shit I could take the material from the set I have and recover the electric ones...we will see

Anyways I have no pictures cuz the car has been at castros all weekend getting new motormounts, and replacing the exhaust, also installing the new heavy duty skid plate that I picked up on Saturday.

Car up on his lift...


Old exhaust that is going...


And this came in the mail today...little teaser for something I have been wanting to do for a long time...this is 1/4 of what I have coming for this little piece, and no I am not going to be running a grant wheel

[robrez]

This is very true, but how hard could it be to recover the stock foam and make it match...atleast closely, but yes the other two things I am also considering

Disclaimer, I don't know how to sew, but it seems you can just open a seam at the bottom of the seat, remove foam, then pull material back and sew it tightly.

[semaj4712]

Actually, if you get the rear carpet section from a sedan, it might cover that spot. Sedan Seats are more rounded to allow better egress, so their carpet provides more coverage. Definitely keep the trunk access. It comes in handy, or Lukebox...

Heck, if you're bold, you can probably make sit perfectly by taking 2" to 4" of foam from the bottom of the seat and then re-sewing it, since the stitching will be hidden anyway.

This is very true, but how hard could it be to recover the stock foam and make it match...atleast closely, but yes the other two things I am also considering

[robrez]

Hey Access to the trunk...no I will prolly block this out with some extra material

Actually, if you get the rear carpet section from a sedan, it might cover that spot. Sedan Seats are more rounded to allow better egress, so their carpet provides more coverage. Definitely keep the trunk access. It comes in handy, or Lukebox...

Heck, if you're bold, you can probably make sit perfectly by taking 2" to 4" of foam from the bottom of the seat and then re-sewing it, since the stitching will be hidden anyway.

[bmw325csi]

I would just get some extra e30 carpet from the junkyard and cut out some sections to hide the exposed metal.

BTW you could of made that same clutch stop from the home depot for around $2.50.
just my 2 cents though.

keep up the progress, I like where this car is going

[semaj4712]

Put the seats in roughly to see how they fit...they fit alright, the only issue I have is that the front corners dont cover well, and the top half sits about 4 inches too high...I obviously can squish the top half down a bit as it is currently just resting on the bottom and not bolted in, that will prolly buy me 2 inches...and I can mount it to the back with the bolts inside of the arm rest

The bottom I am thinking about getting it pulled off the foam and upholstered onto the old bench as then it will bolt in...there is plenty of material, and it is slightly skinnier in the rear to allow for that top half to hopefully squeeze in...we will see



Hey Access to the trunk...no I will prolly block this out with some extra material

[semaj4712]

Okay, so I know this seems like I am just concetrating on the seats, thats just because thats the only part I have and am awaiting parts to show up...but today I was able to get the correct rear seats out of a GLI which are quite a bit larger and mimic that of the E30 much closer...


On the far left is the GTI rear bench, the middle is the GLI, and the far left is the E30 seat, you can see there is a big difference between the GTI and the GLI, obviously the GLI will fit very closely to the E30, just need to figure out the mounting situation...


And you can also see that the tops are different two, the GLI doesnt have the notches in it and is quite a bit thicker...and now I can use the extra armrest with me e36 arm rest center console...

Also my Rogue Engineering Clutch stop came in...I couldnt believe how much play was in the clutch when I bought it and had to get an upgraded Clutch stop asap...


Compared to stock clutch stop (that does nothing)

[semaj4712]

Not sure if its relevant but check out Jandersons thread, he installed the rear seats.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/show...+seats&page=17

Oh yes, I have read this thread 6 times through...He bought Jetta rear benches tho, which I think are slightly bigger, Ill take pictures tonight to compare between the E30 bench gli bench and gti bench...I am picking up a matching Jetta bench tonight...

But it does fit right in, just gotta figure out how to mought them, thats where his ended