The E30 Cabrio "Winter Project"

[N2MYE30]

Lots of potential here. In for the revival. GL. :up:

[David9999999]

Looking good! Unique color, too.

[WERDNA75]

Patch panel fits like a condom

A good putty knife is a prefect tool for separating layers of sheet metal whether they are welded or Seam sealed in place. Of course, you have to drill the spot welds first though. A few of those welds were really stubborn.





Proof, not Bronzit, but it might as well be.


Almost



Yeah, that took way too long to do.



I might do more tomm. We will see,but if not next weekend.

[WERDNA75]

Rust Be Gone !!!


whats it look like inside there?


I had to cut into the boxed section to get rid of it all. It is just a flat part thought so shouldnt be too hard to replace too.

marked out where I was going to cut






I had to go thru two layers of metal here so will fab a small replacement part from left over good metal on the replacement panel.




old inner structure eaten up

new piece to be welded there

I think Im going to get a bodyshop to weld it up cause I do not have a welder ,and the two layer metal is going to complicate things. Things should move a little faster soon.
Finally got the car cut up,and can now begin welding the new metal in.

[WERDNA75]

Welded up

So I fixed the inner structure that was still damaged from some prior mishap that must have required the replacing of the RR quarter panel because it was very poorly done. Not much I can do about that though,so whatever.

Drove to the bodyshop with the panel held on with that bundle of twine.










:D
Welded up and primed, I think they did an pretty decent job.


Yeah, No more hole in the car !!!
I think the Interior will be next on the to do list if I get a decent tax return to pay for the whole new upholstery kit. I was thinking about E36 M3 cabrio sport seats or Vaders, but they prob. dont fit. The fact that the car has the very Recaro like sport seats so I will most likely redo them all with one of those kits available. Im going to be changing all the seats to black and maybe do leather instead of vinyl.

[WERDNA75]

Interior is looking a little tired

I whipped the seats out after I went for a little drive yesterday and found a really nice road close to where I live. Im sick of looking at them so they are getting redone by me.

Just a little worn


Of course, the drivers seat was the worst,but they were still quite comfortable. I have no idea where to find the new foam I am going to need.

And now for a little idea of what I have planned for the suspension.

:)

[WERDNA75]

I already have a strong hatred of hogrings

Started removing the covers on the rear seat first.




Useful tools for the job at hand.



That stupid plastic thing was a total PITA to remove.

High Leverage Cutters are a must for doing this.

That is a hogring. Stubborn little bastards , they are.

The foam really doesnt look too bad with the cover off.


Next on to the Bottom Cushion,but I dont have anymore patience for tonight.

[ArtFoodBMW]

Never seen a kashmere e30ic! I envy you for being able to take apart all of your seats like that. I did the bottom of my drivers seat and will never do it again

[WERDNA75]

On to the lower backrest cushion. Damn rusty Hogrings!!!


Cut the cover to make it easier to peel off because im trying to save the foam.

Nice easily accessible hogring location.


Most of the Hogrings were rusted to the metal wires that they were attached to making them even more difficult to remove, of course.


I may have to do something about this buttcrack in the middle of the seat foam. Maybe I can fill it in with a bit of new foam somehow.


Fronts will be done next week after I get some new tools that I ordered.
Here is a pic of a few of my other cars just because.

[rcsoundn1]

wow love the build! I am watching the seat rebuild as mine are soon to come. Thanks for the insight on the seats! Good luck with the rest of the build.

[WERDNA75]

The first front seat was a whore !!!

While I was waiting for the tools to come in I started to grind some rust off the back seat, and I plan on painting it with Rust Bullet before I put it back together. No one will see it ,but Im not putting it back together rusty.




Now on to the Front seats. Im doing the driver one first because it was the worst. There are plenty of DIYs online about taking apart E30 seats,but I took a few pictures anyway.
Yank Headrest out swiftly, just pull hard.




Pull up on the backrest cover as you remove it.

Take off these covers after removing the small plastic screw holding them on. The do unclip,but it is not easy to get them off.

Take off this clip that holds the backrest release on both sides like this.

pry off this clip that holds the cable guide.

Take off these screws ,and you can seperate the backrest from the bottom, Unless, you have heated seats like me.


Hmm, this might get complicated.

Got the tools that I was waiting for,and they are very handy.

Remove the seat tracks by taking off the two 17mm big bolts ,and these clips that are in the front of the seat.

Now remove these big hinges that hold the seat together.


Push here with screwdriver to pivot bracket to remove.







Cut all the Hogrings and fold up all the tabs that hold down the covers.


There is a pin and clip that hold the thigh bolster from coming out,remove it.





Seat bottom completely apart.
Where are seat heater elements though?





This is getting a little bit complicated now.

[TimeMachinE30]

The lower left leg bolster skin
. Still have it? Ive been trying to find one that is complete!

nice photojournaling of the project too.

I hope to soon have a garage and tackle some more things. Well done.

[WERDNA75]

Finish disassembling seat,E36 seat, seat heaters

So I was wondering if an E36 seat would fit into an E30.

Just happened to have this in the garage sitting around.



Well look at that, rear window defroster on a convertible, wow.


Nope, the seat is way too wide to fit, these are power ones though.
Back to the seat heater elements, and how to remove them to fit in the new seat covers.

Pull out all the staples from the center foam cushions to remove the covers.

Now you have this


Remove the seat heater elements by just pulling them out. They are kindof glued to the covers,but you can pull them right off.






I was worried that my lower heater element was not going to be reuseable.

This is how I tested them to see if they still worked.



And whadda know , they both got warm like they were supposed to. I might look into wrapping some thin fabric around the exposed damage element somehow. Now Im going to have the Seat Bolster Foam rebuilt at the local upholstery shop and will be ordering my new seat covers soon.

[WERDNA75]

Rebuilt seat foam , Knipex, and my MK2

I got the seat foam rebuilt from a local upholstery shop that I figured could handle the job, but it seems to me like they used subpar less dense foam. Now I still have to source some replacement bolsters before I can put them back together,but oh well. I am going to use the back seat how they did it.


Check out the cool new set of Knipex. I luv quality stuff made in Germany.

I have ordered the New Seat covers, and I am going with Real Black Leather covers. Im looking forward to getting them. Here is a picture of my MK2 GLI cause I got it out and drove it for a few days.

:)

[randomquickness]

looking at all this seat stuff makes me want to just drop mine off at the upholstery shop. I don't think I'd have patience for that!