323 to 331 Build

[Saascat1]

Finally got the my baby back from the cage people late friday, and lets just say i'm far from impressed. The front right quarter panel was missing, at the panel shop being repaired, the car was absolutely filthy, and the welding and grinding debris had been swept into the chassis rails...........Aaargh.
The cage I had was supplied to me from a renowned cage builder, and just needed to be notched and welded into place. I had a plan of the design and had spoken at length to the installation guy about my requirements and how to put it together.
When I got it back they had ignored pretty much all of it.
Notice the main hoop is obscuring the the holes for mounting seat belts and the rear quarter window.:x

They'd also sat the cage so far forward I would have been unable to put the dash back in. Door bars were a set length to allow this when mounted correctly. Main hoop should be mounted in the corner of the rear seat mount.


With the clock ticking away in my head, and not being able to do anything about the cage till Tuesday, (long weekend), I set about putting the engine bay back together.




I'm pretty much at a standstill now. The car is being picked up tomorrow to get the cage altered to its' initial intended state. I can do little till I get it back, hopefully Friday. I have ordered a lot of parts and can look forward to opening all those :D
I have decided to replace the rear wheel bearings, have, and drive flanges, on the way.
I am also getting/installing:
C.A.R. racing slotted rotors F+R
EBC yellow stuff pads
Stainless braided brake hoses
new grills and kidneys
MSPNP
MSD 8.5mm leads
42# injectors (440cc)
Bosch 044 fuel pump
billet re-useable fuel filter
heaps of speedflow fittings and hose
seat rails for race seats
and a host of little bits and pieces.

[Saascat1]

I went back and gave the GB and diff a bit more love. I was getting tired when I took those last photos and I thought I'd done a good job of cleaning. Wrong!

anywho

I am still waiting for the cage to be finished, rang up and was told they hadn't even started

So I kept moving with other things. I rebuilt the pedal box with all new bushes, pedal springs and a clutch master cylinder. Cleaned up the PS pump and fitted to the engine. Replaced PS hoses from/to reservoir, sprayed the kidneys matt black, and put paint on a few other bits and pieces.

Next it was time to put the new Aasco aluminium flywheel and clutch on.
Mmmmm..............Shiny

And now

Snug and Meaty

All one piece.


Still no word on the state of the roll cage. I need it by the end of the week or things start going pear shaped. I have to have this finished and registered by the first week in march. I am moving to Sydney NSW, who have very stringent vehicle registration laws, and I really want to register up here. Once the car is registered it is much easier to swap, than to register for the first time.

Back soon with more......

[Saascat1]

When the budget allows, yes. Although I'm undecided as to what to use. Baskets or something else. The wheels I have have the wrong offset, +40, not +25. I don't want to use spacers on a track car as that would put extra load on the wheel bearings :(
Thoughts?


'85 E30 Coupe 331ir
'90 E34 Sedan 525i

[DREWHALL]

All I have is the rubber boot then the factory boot in my street car. It doesn't let any more nosie in than the lack of sound insulation. I would just chuck it so it doesn't fail and jam up the shifter some how. Car is looking good so far! Are you planning on changing the wheels?

[Saascat1]

Was getting late, and dark when i took these:




Can't decide whether to keep the rubber/foam pad or not. If I keep it doesn't weigh much and will keep a little heat/noise out of the cabin. I will still be installing a rubber shift boot over the top anyway, so it's probably redundant?

[Saascat1]

So much awesome in this thread!!

awesome looking

Thanks for the support.

Apologies for the low quality of some of the photos, most have been taken on an iPhone. I bust out the CoolPix for the rest of the build, hopefully the resolution limit/file size won't create any issues

[IronFreak]

So much awesome in this thread!!

[Saascat1]

Lots of jobs still to do while the roll cage is being assembled. Spent some time today cleaning and servicing both near box and diff. I also replaced the diff carrier bushing and gearbox mounts with PU.
I gotta say, whoever designed the outside of the Getrag GB was a sadist.
I took to it with a pressure cleaner, and no matter where I stood, or where I point the spray, I got cover in blowback.
I ended up looking like a dalmation.

I refurbished the gear linkage with all new bushes, o-rings. Spacers, retainers, stops and fitted an IE short shift. Replaced oils in both. Fitted a new clutch slave cylinder and a brass pivot button for the throw out bearing. All should be ready to handle the new stronger clutch when it goes in.

Pics to follow.

[Saascat1]

So with the colour finally on, YAY, I could now start the business of putting things back together.

I was on a pretty tight schedule as I wanted to get the car out to the welders to get my roll cage installed. I had had the cage professionally made for me, and sent up to Darwin. The cage still had to be notched and assembled and then welded into the car. This was the last bit of work I would need somebody else to do for me, and it was also preventing other work from being started. I couldn't finish painting the interior until the cage was in, fit/modify the dash, seats, wiring, etc.

I had to pay some attention to the underside of the car as I didn't want to go through all that metalwork again. I got hold of some aerosol chassis black that had a rust inhibitor in it and went to town.

Once this had dried I set about putting the steering and front end back together. Time to bust out some shiny new pieces :D

I had tracked down some Hard Racing eccentric mounts for the wishbones, IE upgraded front swaybar mounts, Ultra Racing 4 point X-brace, brand new wishbones, and a fully refurbished steering rack.

Back on its' wheels, and on the way to get a new cage put in. Stance is a little off, but there is no motor/trans/diff/etc.

On the way to dropping off I went over a weigh bridge. 3.12 metric tons on the way there, 2.54 on the way back. Whole car at this stage weighs approx 580kg!



So that brings me up to today, albeit very abbreviated, and now I think I'll have a days rest before I tackle the next batch of jobs.

[Denny]

Cheers Denny
That's good to hear. It was one of those moments in the build that gave an immense sense of satisfaction. A huge obstacle faced and overcome. Sorry to hear that you had worse, is there a build thread for yours? I'd like to read it.

Yeap I sure have

In this blog you can see my first restoration attempt once you see the pics of my first e30 you wont believe how bad the rust was when I took out the carpets... I was very pissed off at the seller who told me the car never saw snow... half way in my blog I found another one wich is the one I have today thank god...they are hard to find in decent shape here in the canadian cold /winter /satly roads..

http://bmw325e30.blogspot.com/

This is the second part when I supercharged it and now in the process of twincharging it. I also have this one on the project on her called Official first twincharged M20

keep up the great work... always cool to see a E30 being saved like this..

http://bmw325e30turbo.blogspot.com

[kamotors]

awesome looking

[Saascat1]

This is sick. what paint are you using? Did you buy a stoker kit of did you piece it together yourself? Total cost so far? Good work.

Thanks Koko.

I am using PPG Acrylic paints, two pack was way too hard and too expensive. I am painting in the middle of the "wet season" here and humidity is a real issue. Two pack would have made it impossible without a proper spray booth.
As for cost so far...........I had been trying not to think about that too much. All told, including purchase of the car in the first place, I'd have to be getting close to A$32,000. The crazy part is that around 1/8 of that figure is freight costs. Some parts that i've bought, the freight was more than the part. Oh well, what are you gonna do, if you've gotta have it, you've gotta have it.

[Saascat1]

The long awaited day finally arrives, time to put some new clothes on my baby:

If your thinking of doing stripes, I cannot stress enough the value of GOOD tape.

Some hours later..............

And,

and,

and lastly..........

The paint scheme is intended to be an homage to early E30 team race cars, and while I have no illusions that either I or my car will ever reach those dizzying heights, it's my way of paying tribute to the men and machines that inspired me.
When I get the wheels back on and on the trailer to get the roll cage installed, I'll take some better photos in normal light.

I try to get another post in today, and that should get me up to speed. Being a noob, i can only upload 5 photos at a time so I'll have to stop here for now.
Thanks to all who've viewed, and especially those posted back :D

[koko]

This is sick. what paint are you using? Did you buy a stoker kit of did you piece it together yourself? Total cost so far? Good work.

[Saascat1]

Great work on the pans... very impressive work :)

I 100% understand the sleepless nights... my first E30 did that to me too...the rust was much worst :(

Cheers Denny
That's good to hear. It was one of those moments in the build that gave an immense sense of satisfaction. A huge obstacle faced and overcome. Sorry to hear that you had worse, is there a build thread for yours? I'd like to read it.