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

[Aikmanson]

My god that plating looks unreal! Curious, what did you set your SA Koni's to in the rear? I ask because I know you need to remove them in order to adjust again which is kind of a pain. I set mine to 1/2 hard, or 1 full turn.

Keep it up! It is inspiring my build.

[Jordan]

I set them to straight out of the box, which should be full soft. All KONI SA's should be broken in as such IMO, then adjusted as you feel the need.

[vitiokas95]

Cant wait to see wheels on

[tak7]

Omg

!

[Wschnitz]

Using textar pads and not Pagids or ATEs, tsk tsk. :P

[Braziliangabriel]

This is amazing! Can't wait to see the final product!

[Jordan]

Using textar pads and not Pagids or ATEs, tsk tsk. :P

I had these essentially new pads laying around, and Pagid/Textar are the same entity (TMD Friction), and both are OEM's for BMW.

I actually prefer Textar over any of the other German brands, and use them almost exclusively on sidework vehicles as they provide top notch braking performance.

[Wschnitz]

I had these essentially new pads laying around, and Pagid/Textar are the same entity (TMD Friction), and both are OEM's for BMW.

I actually prefer Textar over any of the other German brands, and use them almost exclusively on sidework vehicles as they provide top notch braking performance.

Yeah was really just teasing, I liked Pagids the best out of all the pads I used, good combination of stopping power, lower dust, and price.

Textars were not bad but I thought they stopped a little less, even with less dust.

[Jordan]

I got a bunch of little things knocked out today.

Built both right side calipers, save for the boot on the rear which I accidentally tore yesterday. I installed the 3 "oh shit" handles, both interior lamps, and the sunroof crank bezel. Its occurred to me at this point that the 318iS non-check control panel wasn't included with the car and I don't have one at work so if anyone has a clean one... let me know.

I cut up the E46 high pressure power steering line and reconfigured it to be more suited for use in the E30. I'll take it like this to a hydraulic line shop and have them crimp ferrules on it.



I wasted a bunch more time today messing with the dual diaphragm 735i booster and concluded it just wasn't going to work. I realized the point at which I had raised the transmission with the jack to give me the most room was unrealistic as the transmission case was bound against the tunnel.

I lowered the trans down to a suitable position and went ahead and fabricated the crossmember out of mild steel. It turned out OK and it is very solid. There is a welded gusset across the top between the mounts that isn't visible.



With the position of the engine/trans finalized another test fit of the booster and manifold showed it just was not going to work without modifying the manifold or dimpling the booster, both things I had no desire to do.

I was prepared for this eventually, and already had a Porsche 944 booster set aside. This booster fits and clears the manifold like the factory chose it, and it uses the stock master cylinder.



I'll pull the booster tomorrow to neck down the input rod to use the E30 clevis, and sand/paint the booster body to make it look new again.

While I was hunched over the engine bay I sorted the expansion tank/heater line issue with a Y pipe, all factory parts borrowed again from an E90.

[flyboyx]

the napa store on kingwood drive has a hydraulic crimping machine. in the past, i have gone in there with my power steering hoses and ferrules. after asking nicely, they led me into the back and let me use the machine for free.

[Wschnitz]

Jordan you going to undercoat the car before you put all the rest of the stuff on?

[Jordan]

the napa store on kingwood drive has a hydraulic crimping machine. in the past, i have gone in there with my power steering hoses and ferrules. after asking nicely, they led me into the back and let me use the machine for free.

Nice to know, I try to avoid that store. Ingress and egress from that parking lot sucks and its always slick as snot from the carwash right there. Store also never seems to have what I'm looking for.

There is a Hose Power right near my work that I goto. They are really friendly and didn't charge me to crimp ferules on this hose.



New door vapor barriers installed, yes they are almost invisible!



Door panels, map pockets, arm rests etc installed.



I finished up the Porsche 944 booster as well. Threading the input rod was tiring but straight forward. Sanded it well and have it a few coats of SEM 39143 like everything else. Looks new, clears the manifold and uses the stock master cylinder and reservoir.

Jordan you going to undercoat the car before you put all the rest of the stuff on?

The factory body schultz is all in great shape, adding anything on top of that would serve only to increase the cars weight.

[Staszek]

Nice to know, I try to avoid that store. Ingress and egress from that parking lot sucks and its always slick as snot from the carwash right there. Store also never seems to have what I'm looking for.

There is a Hose Power right near my work that I goto. They are really friendly and didn't charge me to crimp ferules on this hose.



New door vapor barriers installed, yes they are almost invisible!



Door panels, map pockets, arm rests etc installed.



I finished up the Porsche 944 booster as well. Threading the input rod was tiring but straight forward. Sanded it well and have it a few coats of SEM 39143 like everything else. Looks new, clears the manifold and uses the stock master cylinder and reservoir.



The factory body schultz is all in great shape, adding anything on top of that would serve only to increase the cars weight.

Jordan, work is amazing! That 944 booster looks perfect. How much more work would you have to do to put an S54 in there with the 944?

[Jordan]

It's always surprising to me how fast you can burn through a day and how "little" you can manage to get done despite working non stop.

I starting this morning by unpacking the Z4 shifter carrier and cutting it down to size. Its about a foot too long for the E30 application, but it is the best starting point in terms of overall shape to cut down.



I completely spaced taking an after picture, but I was working on the photos I took on the last E30 I did this transmission in so it should look about the same.



After I finished cutting it down and was satisfied with the mock up of the part I tossed it in the car with a bag of loose hardware and headed across town to visit my friend Wil at IDB Racing to use his blast cabinet again. While I was over there I dropped the shifter carrier off next door with the guys that do my aluminum welding.

About 2 hours later I had all the hardware blasted and headed back home with it. Another solid 2 hours later I had each piece completely cleaned and wire wheel polished.

I decided to go ahead and do another plating run after how nice the last batch came out. Some of these parts will replace marginally perfectly fine original bolts already on the car, some of it is yet to be installed stuff.



After finishing up that task and oiling all the parts I moved to the air conditioning lines. I took a full set of lines from an E30 at work, 2 of which were newer/updated. I also took both lines from an E46 that connect to the AC compressor.

First task was deciding where to cut and join the hoses. I ended up cutting the connector off the E30 low pressure line end and brazing the E46 line end into it. I had to remove the crimp and take the end free else the rubber would have burned. I brought the union up to about 1000F with my MAP torch and fed bronze filler rod into it until satisfied with the coverage.

The high pressure side was a little more simple, just cutting the hose down a bit and slipping the E46 end into it, again sans crimp ferrule.

With all of this done I then went ahead and stripped all of the original yellow zinc plating from all of the lines before polishing them to a nice luster. Monday I will get the 2 I worked on crimped together and then it will all be dropped off Tuesday for plating. The lines should look really really nice when done.

[0-60 freak]

Excellent work as usual!

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