Let's make an E30 M3! (M3 S14 cabrio clone project)

[2mAn]

Aaron, how detailed are you going to go? Adding all the subtle M3 specific stuff like the bumper and hood seals too?

[flyboyx]

The hood seals are evo. Those bumper seals really finish off the car though.

[IronJoe]

Yep, I have the one-piece Evo bumper seal new in the package. Debating on whether I'm going to do the hood seals... I had them on the Henna and they survived the wreck so I gave them to Gregolas. Not sure if I'm going to run them on this car.

[IronJoe]

Spent the day yesterday with the welder, got a lot done. There are several little brackets and things specific to the M3.

To sum it up, we welded:
-coolant bottle mounts to battery tray
-battery tray to car
-radiator mounts
-bumper/fender brackets
-rear exhaust mount

Why go through all this trouble? I didn't have to, I could have used a performance 325i muffler and kept the stock body mounts, or use a 325i radiator, etc.. but at this point I'm committed to building this car as if it rolled off the factory floor as a 1989 BMW M3 cabriolet. Every mount, bracket, bolt, etc is as it would be on a true M3 vert. I'm trying to build the best replica out there.

Test fitting the coolant bottle:


Exhaust mounted:



Checking clearances to rear bumper (not mounted in any way yet, its just hanging there)




I think I now have everything done in order to finish reassembly of the mechanical components! Should be up and running soon! :devil::devil::devil:

[spiDmang]

Yes!

[gte175x]

Wow - great work

[DER E30]

Looks awesome!

[hankolerd]

Looking good!

[IronJoe]

Woop woop, this thing is looking more like an engine bay! The new coolant tank & washer bottle makes a huge difference :D



Radiator, fan, shroud, AMM, Evo 2 airbox, etc all installed:


Front view:




I also seam-sealed all the new welds and painted them up factory-style. Once I finish rewrapping the wiring and plumbing the cooling system, it's a matter of filling it full of fluids and firing up!

[2mAn]

Once its running, what body work is left to do?

[IronJoe]

Once its running, what body work is left to do?

Rear:
Skin the rear quarters, wider rear arches, weld on new quarters
Doors:
weld up the door trim channels
Fenders:
Modify fender bottoms to accommodate vert fender differences

Sideskirts are e30 m3 cabrio specific and bolt up with all new OEM hardware.

Then just paint. Oh and it also needs a new windshield

[staysideways]

Wow this build is moving fast. Good work


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[IronJoe]

Well it's been a busy week at work so I haven't had time to get much done, but last weekend I made some progress.


-I wired up the C104 connection that was missing from the '89 body harness
-remounted the fenders, bumper, etc
-Finished installing coolant hoses, miscellaneous engine bay parts.


The engine is now all put back together and the wiring is done. Just waiting for some free time to fill it with fluids and try to fire it up.


Panel gaps look great, so the positioning bumper/fender mounts ended up being pretty spot on.


Engine bay looking pretty together :)


Also got new turn signal lenses - just one of countless brand new OEM parts from BMW.

[IronJoe]

Things were going so well, it was about time something catastrophic happened.


I got the car started this weekend, which would typically be cause for jumping around like an idiot and cheering. But, the engine sounded really bad and I immediately suspected it was only running on three cylinders.

I pulled the spark plug wires one by one, and sure enough, #4 was dead. I spent a while troubleshooting and traced the spark (good) and the fuel (good) and finally did a compression test last night - 0 PSI on Cyl 4

I dropped a scope down the cylinder and didn't see any obvious problems (hole in the piston, cracks, etc). At this point I can only assume I screwed something up when I replaced the cam box, and that a valve is stuck open. Bent? Stuck open via misadjustment? Something else?

[e30austin]

Fuck :(