1985 325e | M60b40 | Fifty Shades of Bronzit

[danielpak_ek9]

Test fit


Yay!
The rear did come off a vert, so I had to make some brackets to secure the apron the valence on my car. They don't look awesome, but I'm happy with it

Also I have to extend my exhaust to make it show through the apron... That's next.
I need sideskirts

What rear apron is that?? Do you know where i can find one?

[ArtFoodBMW]

It's been awhile, I know. Here's what I've been up to:

A good friend of mine, ckwinter towed me a 1986 325es from a field.









Clearly, It needed help.





It's the same car, I swear



I drove the ES for a solid 5 months. 3rd gear synchros shat themselves at some point, and I replaced the transmission before selling it for a nice profit. Plus I put one more e30 on the road.

Somewhere during that time, I bought this:





As a 5speed donor for this



I've had the grey 535i for over a year, waiting to find a replacement transmission. I bought the grey one because the owner was going to scrap it due to a bad auto trans. Saved another one!!



And then I stopped another one from going to the junkyard. 1987 325i auto.



And a parts car to do yet another manual swap.





The vert provided more parts than I could've imagined. In addition to a complete manual swap, I also got new seats and late model axles and trailing arms for the bronzit.

Euro grill and ellipsoids



Same detail process...



I ended up transferring the Bilsteins and H&R's to the sedan, and the esm's. She is now for sale.



My wheel collection started growing in the meantime too.





I'm refinishing the style 5's and having them filled and drilled for the bronzit.

And now I'm back to working on the v8 project.

I took the pearl beige seats out of the bronzit, to take the carpet up. I lined the tunnel in sound deadening and placed the wires for the heated seat harness.



Replaced the heater core and the corroded heater core pipes.



And the heated blue seats are installed. I love it



I've also installed the e34 v8 throttle cable. All that's left for the interior is the brake pedal setup and custom sub boxes for behind the rear door panels.

It's coming along, slowly but surely.

[ArtFoodBMW]

Subframe out, reinforced, repainted and reinstalled

Only to find out that Garagistic had sent me the wrong size bolts with the spacers I ordered. I emailed them with no response.



Started to take apart the front end



The damage to the front fender frame was a lot worse then I remembered



Went to the bolt store this week since garagistic hadn't responded.



Installed the 22mm front sway bar



Finished taking apart the front



And did some cutting.



Hammered out the damage as best as I could



E30's make great work benches...



Cut out most of the damage



And learned how to weld body panels! I was very pleased with the way it turned out having this as my second welding project.



New core support is lightly placed



By the time I finished tonight, it was too dark to take pictures. The tabs for the removable core support are installed, and the captive nuts are installed on the fender side of the bay. Last thing I have to do is install the rivet nuts and spray some primer on the new metal.

[jeenyus]

amazing how far the car has come since you bought it for 350$ great progress!

One thing i don't understand is why does the plastic surround on the front and rear bumpers always bow up like it does? What would happen if you took some heat to it and made it lay down flat? Does it just get warped because of time in the sun or something?

[jpod999]

Woot! I've read through your thread a couple times. Might be asking some core support questions here shortly..

Feel free! I should be posting up some more pictures of the core support here in the next couple of days.

[ArtFoodBMW]

You and I are currently at more or less the same place in the 32v swap, I'm just about to finish up my removable core support. Have fun working on this thing!

Woot! I've read through your thread a couple times. Might be asking some core support questions here shortly..

Dang this car has come a long way. What kind of springs are you on?
Keep up the good work.

Thank you sir;) Billy sports and H&R Race. Soon to have e90 drop hats to counteract the 10mm subframe spacers.

[efficient]

Dang this car has come a long way. What kind of springs are you on?
Keep up the good work.

[jpod999]

You and I are currently at more or less the same place in the 32v swap, I'm just about to finish up my removable core support. Have fun working on this thing!

[ArtFoodBMW]

Important updates from the last few months

I ordered headers from ebay (one side from x5 4.4, the other from an m62 carrying range rover) for a total of $85 shipped.
I ordered a Mishimoto radiator for the z3m.
I got a transmission from a 94 530i 5Speed.
I broke my hand.
I flew from Boise to Southern California to get my dad's e38 that he doesn't anymore and drove it back to Boise over spring break!
Reason for the e38 => something to drive while the e30 is getting torn apart.
Found a local buyer for my m20 stroker kit
M20b27 came out on Saturday!
Now I've got about 75 days to get the v8 in and running.

Last car meet before the swap!


Garagistic motor mounts



This is where she'll be sitting for a couple months...



Progress..



Ended up removing the transmission at this point...



Clearance between the bell housing area on the engine and the core support! Engine hoist was fully maxed up.



Plopped it into the buyer's truck (Who helped remove the whole thing)



And she's heartless.



Cleaned up the bay a little bit, more parts to remove, more parts to clean.



More to come. I still need to order a flywheel and clutch kit, haven't decided on which set to go with yet.

Also need to order a welder, and figure out how to use it. Removable core support, subframe reinforcements, brake booster mounting points, brake pedal modification.

I was worried I wouldn't have the motivation to get the swap done before the e30 picnic, but I'm really disliking seeing my DD on jack stands in the driveway and I want it back on the ground and running! It's game time.

[JeLani]

how's this been going?

[oprahhwinfreyy]

I dig it all. I've been wanting to do most of the stuff you go going on.

[CubbyChowder]

cool build! Subscribed

[JeLani]

That e90 m3 👍🏼👍🏼


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ArtFoodBMW]

Update!!

Got new timing chains guides on




Cut and trimmed some wood for roof racks!



Lining up the wood to drill holes for the screws before staining



Decided on purple stain



Right three with clear coat vs. left two w/o



And finished! They'll be mounted tomorrow after a little more cure time



Took out the drivers seat because one of the cables that folds the seat up fell off





Also got my care package from garagistic!!









New head gaskets and heads installed tonight as well







I should be able to get the engine mostly timed and at least the lower timing cover installed tomorrow. A very productive day to say the least! :D

[gome123]

That looks damn good!!