Bronzit E30 - OBDII S52 shaved bay - weekend/autox toy - Journey

[jeenyus]

Sorry to hear about your beautiful car. Glad it's mainly superficial damage.

I agree with the fact that you should love driving your car, especially since you're in it everyday like stonea said.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Really sorry to hear about the car. It was always one of my inspirations. Hope everything works out for you.

Right after he bought his z3 my uncle told me when I was young (12?) that you'll spend more of your life behind a car than you'll ever realize. That led me to buy my own Z3 when I turned 16 and when I was looking around for a beater I found out about the e30s and then I was hooked.

Thanks! It'll be back on the road better than ever soon enough. Already got a hood, front bumper, valence, frame support arm, inner wheel well, core support and subframe lined up. Also have some cool improvements planned :D I'm actually getting excited now.

I started with the e36, also a great chassis. I love them both.

Sorry to hear about your beautiful car. Glad it's mainly superficial damage.

I agree with the fact that you should love driving your car, especially since you're in it everyday like stonea said.

Thanks, me too. The thought of transferring everything to a clean shell literally makes me sick.

Yea I totally agree with that anecdote which is why I DD this car with no remorse. But the idea of a clean lightly modded e36m52 is very appealing.

[marshallnoise]

In, cause lots of my old parts will make this car new!

[Sh3rpak!ng]

In, cause lots of my old parts will make this car new!

Thanks again Paul! It was nice meeting you. and I feel lucky there was someone so close with all those parts on hand!

Updates coming soon. I have acquired the frame rail support, inner wheel well, a new aftermarket core support, a used OEM core support, front subframe, front valence, front bumper, and hood :D Just need fenders now (I'm going to try to find 2 clean ones and repaint the whole front end)

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Ok, updates.

I hit up woodland hills supercar sunday and got to see a nice treat. Also so a laferrari on PCH a few hours later :O it was a good day







Some of the repair parts







And some new tools in anticipation of all the electrical work I'll be doing for the tuck. I got tired of burning fingers using a lighter to shrink the heat shrink so I got a mini heat gun :D

[ST1G]

But most importantly sick lube. I don't leave home without it.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

But most importantly sick lube. I don't leave home without it.

I was waiting for that comment. Would've made more sense if it was sitting next to the spot weld drill kit that didn't arrive when it was supposed to... amazon cough cough

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Picked up some front subframe reinforcements from IE on my way home from work to build a replacement subframe. Also grabbed a set of front swaybar bushings since I had the wrong size before. And the spot weld drill kit arrived.





RJ from IE sold me the passenger fender off his car that got wrecked a while ago. I didn't "need" that fender, but since I'll likely be respraying the whole front end, I might as well get a straight fender.





Tried my hand at some thin spot welding joining panels. I've never welded anything this thin before, and I have limited experience with the hobart 140 but I think it all came out okay? I was on speed 40 and power 2 - that's what the recommended settings were on the box.









I also tested using a torch to remove seam sealer; it works very well. Basically turned the stuff into butter and I could practically wipe it off. I'll use this method in tighter areas where the wire wheel doesn't reach.





Tested the spot weld drill bit. It's awesome. Cut the spot welds like butter. Seems to work best with a small pilot hole drilled in the center to keep the bit from dancing around, especially on uneven or overlapping surfaces.







Making a mess in the garage.

[jpod999]

Damn, just read through the whole thread and it was painful getting to the picture of the damage. Good luck getting it back together!

[spiDmang]

glad youre gonnna revive it man!

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Damn, just read through the whole thread and it was painful getting to the picture of the damage. Good luck getting it back together!

glad youre gonnna revive it man!

Thanks guys! I'm definitely looking forward to it and I've got some cool changes and upgrades in mind :)

[2mAn]

I would've stalked that F40 for the rest of the day...

glad to see you are back at it, I ended up buying a C350 to daily because I couldnt imagine going through something like this again, our situations are similar and different. I got lucky finding clean fenders for a second time, though these are even more expensive than the first set. Im getting my bumpers painted white but I hope to avoid doing more paint work on the rest of the car. I guess thats a bonus of having an alpine car vs bronzit

[Sh3rpak!ng]

I would've stalked that F40 for the rest of the day...

glad to see you are back at it, I ended up buying a C350 to daily because I couldnt imagine going through something like this again, our situations are similar and different. I got lucky finding clean fenders for a second time, though these are even more expensive than the first set. Im getting my bumpers painted white but I hope to avoid doing more paint work on the rest of the car. I guess thats a bonus of having an alpine car vs bronzit

hahaha I stalked it pretty well, don't worry. Had to wipe the drool off my mouth several times

Sounds like a nice daily. Pictures? I'm very strongly considering picking up an e36m3 to DD... ideally I'd like a 328 coupe, but it seems like there are none for sale in any reasonably decent condition or color and I've always loved the alpine e36m coupes. Not sure what I'll do though. 3 cars and 3 insurance payments would be a lot, especially since I really want to get full coverage on the e30 and e36 vert.

Regarding paint work, it's not that tough and I honestly don't care for perfection since the rest of the car has a nice patina, but still annoying. There was a CL ad for a bronzit part out near by and the guy said twice he'd sell me the fenders and hood, but now it's radio silence :hitler:

[Sh3rpak!ng]

I finally picked up a driver side fender and installed it. Car is starting to look like itself again. I might also swap the "new" bumper and valence on there and drive it for the week while I do a bit of maintenance on the e36 to get it ready for DDing while I fix the e30.




And here's a picture of the car in its former glory a few months ago. This makes me so sad.

[mikey1100]

Great thread, awesome that your going to fix her back up. I am in the camp that you should enjoy what you daily drive. It has been a joy to see your S52 swap, doing a S52 swap on mine next month. Got some great ideas form you, keep up the great work!