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

[formula driver]

What is the process used to plug them? Looks interesting.

The backs get milled down first (if it's needed) and than the holes are opened up for the plugs, the plugs are than cut, and pressed in. Plugs are cut on a CNC lathe. Faces are machined on a CNC mill.

[Jordan]

Thanks for the explanation Paul!

Today I spent the entire day working on the IHKS unit, and finished out the day with a little work on the dashboard.

The first task was to finish disassembling the upper half of the IHKS unit. BMW did not intend for people to take these apart. You will need to drill out 8 rivets, and carefully excise one section where the two halves of the upper unit meet that BMW decided to melt together for a weather seal.

Here is the upper half assembly torn down:


A close up of the funky filth on the innards:




I soaked everything in a tub of water with cleaner in it for awhile then hand brushed each piece getting it all nice and clean. I set each piece in the sun to dry as I finished the next.



Here is the tub after all the parts were washed:


With everything clean and dry the next matter of business would be to clean what was left of the adhesive residue from the old foam that did not wash off, and rederess each flap with new neoprene foam.

I don't know what kind of cheap ass foam BMW/BEHR used back in the 80's but it aged really poorly. Neoprene foam would outlast the car.



and start reassembly of the upper half of the housing:


New rivets for the stiffener/joiner plate (6mm x 4mm in case anyone needs to know)


Blower motor and shroud in, recycle flaps installed:


Underside of the top assembly:


That is it for the IHKS for today, I'm waiting for another sheet of foam for the lower heater blend door.

The brand new dash I ordered from BMW of Houston North is really nice but it comes devoid of any accessories. All of the vents, ductwork, mounting plates etc must be transfered from the old dash. I didn't have an old dash as the previous owner tossed it out, so I pulled all these parts from a parts car at work.

Moving on to the dashboard.... I dissembled and cleaned all 3 vents:


I riveted the a-pillar catches to the side of the dash:


Outer vents installed:


Ductwork and air manifolds installed:

[parkerbink]

Amazing work as always.

[AndrewBird]

Just a heads up, this guy here is having mixing flaps 3D printed. I linked him here as well.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=370217

[Rouvld]

Where'd you get the foam for the flaps? And when you reassembled did you melt or glue the two halves back together or are you just using the rivets and plate to hold it together?

[Jordan]

I ordered a roll of the neoprene foam strip on Amazon.

I melted the seam back together with a soldering iron, and smoothed it with the same. Looks just like it did before.

[Jordan]

Update from Imperial Collision. They are hoping to have the car in paint at the end of the week. Small parts are in primer, and guide coated. Block sanding underway now.

[Jordan]

Work happened to bring me by Imperial Collision this morning so I got a chance to check out progress with my own eyes. The car is nearly ready for primer and its looking great. I'm looking at getting it back maybe the first week of November.

This afternoon I also picked up some parts from BMW of Houston North I'd been waiting on. New OE foam for the IHKS, and the OE BMW fabric loom wrap. The foam that seals the IHKS to the bulkhead is absolutely critical. If it fails to seal you will get rain water into the cabin. The foam seal to the IHKS output to the dash is less critical but a leak here generally just means reduced air flow and a potential for noise.

This pair of foam seals will set you back about $80. The wire loom tape comes in rolls of 75ft and runs about $28.





I LOVE this OE loom tape, its a wonderful icing on the cake touch for the rebuild of this unit.

[TrentW]

Tuned in

[bangn]

you know the tape is TESA 51026, the stuff your using looks almost vinyl. I buy it by the stack off ebay ex germany, heaps cheaper than from BMW.

[george graves]

OT: How common is it to spray primer outside of a booth?

[Jordan]

you know the tape is TESA 51026, the stuff your using looks almost vinyl. I buy it by the stack off ebay ex germany, heaps cheaper than from BMW.

Hey, thanks for the tip. I'm thinking about wrapping the entire body harness again from scratch so that would certainly save me a bunch.

OT: How common is it to spray primer outside of a booth?

Not terribly common I'd think. It wasn't sprayed outside, it was sprayed in the booth and then moved outside to dry while other production work went inside the booth. They have a couple of covered outdoor areas for sanding and such, working in the direct sun is no bueno.

[bangn]

they come in different widths as well, 19 and 7.5mm from memory. I did my whole harness, bigger tape for the thick loom and skinny tape for the random 5 wire/2wire strands.

you "CAN" spray the primer outside the booth if the primer specify's it can be air dried. Its ideal to spray it in the booth because there is less fall out, plus unless you are spreading out your painting the fumes/spray in the air builds up quite fast without popper extraction if you decide to do a whole car in one day, as long as its in a clean area and the data sheet says it can be air dried its ok, you rub it down before bc/dg anyway. I did my car in a clean shed, however the BC/CC is getting done in a booth.

Outside in the open.. def not.

[Jordan]

Shes in the booth at Imperial Collision getting primer as we speak. *such excite*

[E30 Wagen]

Great work on the IHKS. I'm not looking forward to taking mine apart, but seeing what one looks like all cleaned up is quite motivating, and refreshing to see in a build thread.

Did you shave the airbag accelerometer sensor bracket things in the engine bay?