Project Lessmeister: 91 318iS Restomod w/ MTech2 and modern drivetrain

[Jordan]

Indeed. Luke does use a router to cut the woofer and port holes, and its nothing short of flawless. The only way you could exceed his quality standards in manufacturing would be to CNC machine the boxes.

It is with great pleasure this evening I get to report the first test drive has been made, and went off without any drama. The brakes were initially pretty lousy as the silver coating had to wear off the rotors, but with a few stops they got progressively better. Brake power assist is a little weaker than I'd hoped with the Porsche 944 booster, but it is entirely usable.

I put 1.3 miles on the car, essentially running up the main thoroughfare through my neighborhood and back to the house. I managed to get a 1st/2nd WOT hit in after some normal driving. The M54b30 is really excellent in the e30 chassis. Quiet, silky smooth, completely effortless acceleration. Torque delivery is very nice.

[AndrewBird]

***jig saw

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*Router

There is no way you could match the level of quality in a GAS box with a circular saw. Most would struggle to with a table saw. Their stuff really is top notch.

And matching the box t the sub is a lost art because it just isn't necessary. It doesn't make nearly as much of a difference as mythology says.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

***jig saw

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I always call it skil saw cause thats the brand i got but yea jig saw

[0-60 freak]

And a skil saw unless you plan on cutting the woofer hole with a laser lol.
Ive been pondering making my own box. I got the tools.

***jig saw

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[ThatOneEuroE30]

Fair enough, wood working tools do take up room. But a table saw is all you really need to be honest. In a pinch a circular saw works just as well with some care. Not that this is a budget build, so yea...I get it.

If you want a USB port to top off that new dash, I'll have some for sale soon. Just let me know.

And a skil saw unless you plan on cutting the woofer hole with a laser lol.
Ive been pondering making my own box. I got the tools.

[george graves]

3000 and 5000 aren't actually paper, they use 3M Trizact pads. Its an microfine abrasive coated foam pad.

Ah! Got it. Learned something new today. So it's a polishing pad impregnated with polish. It's not really 5000 grit sand paper - that would be as abrasive as a fether! So hence the confusion.

I don't have appropriate wood working tools for starters

Fair enough, wood working tools do take up room. But a table saw is all you really need to be honest. In a pinch a circular saw works just as well with some care. Not that this is a budget build, so yea...I get it. But matching he woofer to the box apparently is a lost art.

If you want a USB port to top off that new dash, I'll have some for sale soon. Just let me know.

[Reichart12]

You could read a book off the reflection of the paint. Looks great.

[Jordan]

3000 and 5000 aren't actually paper, they use 3M Trizact pads. Its an microfine abrasive coated foam pad. 3000 is pretty normal, 5000 is just one more step. You have to understand this E30 is a pretty mundane project for Imperial. They cater to high end clientele and constantly have Ferrari, Lamborghini, and various other exotics in for repairs and this sort of work is expected on those vehicles.

Subwoofer box wise GAS makes a far better box than I can make, and for a lot less than I can make it. I don't have appropriate wood working tools for starters, and the time I'd have to invest to try to replicate their product would far and exceed what they charge.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

I believe my painter took mine way up there aswell

[george graves]

The entire car needs to be sanded with 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, and 5000

5000 grit? What????? 1500 or even 2000 is fine enough before a polish. Then polishing compound would do the rest of the work. I've never even seen 5000 grit sand paper- but I'm no body work expert. I'd assume you'd only use 5000 grit if your clear coat was thin, and wanted to save it. no?

Also, that box is awesome looking, but I'm surprised you didn't make your own to match the woofer.

This thread reminds me of your first e30 build! That was amazing as well - maybe there is a link to that?

[Jordan]

Had some free time this evening and managed to finish up the amplifier wiring, wire the LED light bar relay, and install the finish trim panel, also supplied by German Audio Specialties.

Everything looks and fits great. I only briefly fired up the stereo as a system test but everything sounds to be working well. Will fine tune gains etc at a later date. The amplifier is set to high pass the interior speakers at 60hz, and low pass the subwoofer at 80hz. Gains set middle across all channels. Gets plenty loud and bumps nicely.

[Jordan]

Looking at the pictures again I can see where you might think it hangs a little low, but its evenly spaced side to side and top to bottom. The angle definitely makes it look to be hanging below the bumper, when in fact it is not. There is just under 1/2" to all sides.

Ideally I want it to have room to move under engine load and cornering etc without impacting the bumper.

[mmmb00st]

For an off the gun finish, it looks great. They probably flow-coated the last coat of clear. You have a great painter, my friend.

Also, are you going to adjust the rear tips up closer to the valence at all? They look a tad low from the angle provided and I know you mentioned several pages back that you wanted them to sit pretty close to the valence.

[Jordan]

Every painter, shop is going to have their own preference. Imperial all but insisted I bring the car back when it was done and the paint was fully cured to do the best possible color sanding job. Just the same the bumpers and side cladding will be popped off if needed, everything else can be carefully masked.

As an example, the sunroof panel was fully color sanded before it was turned over to me.



and the roof adjacent, which is pretty smooth by all accounts for straight out of the gun, has not has any post spray attention.



The difference is plain to see and very appreciable.

[bradnic]

same q. gonna deal with this with our car as well