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

[IronJoe]

Are you relocating the battery to the back? New tray is just to mount the coolant overflow bottle correct?

Wonder if you swap your BBS lips if you would get a non staggered set up

Yep, battery relocation was done from using the stock stuff from the henna car and is ready to go, other than that I haven't actually bought a battery yet :)

[flyboyx]

your fenders/bumper are in the same state on your car as mine. did you do anything with the tow hooks yet?

[IronJoe]

your fenders/bumper are in the same state on your car as mine. did you do anything with the tow hooks yet?

I just removed them. IMHO they aren't the best way to tow a car anyway.

[WestCoastEta]

When life gives you lemons, make a m3 vert!!! Looking forward to progress, which seems to be happening fast. :p

[IronJoe]

When life gives you lemons, make a m3 vert!!! Looking forward to progress, which seems to be happening fast. :p

Thanks! My wife and I are expecting in January so I'm trying to get as much done as I can before then :)

[IronJoe]

Got my wheels in yesterday, I'm pretty happy with them overall. One has pretty badly tarnished bolts so I'm replacing those, and one waffle cap did not match the design exactly, turns out it's for another style of BBS RS. So I have new bolts and a new waffle on order. I'll hopefully get them mounted on new tires and installed by the end of the month!

[Skarpa]

Delicious-looking wheels :up:

[IronJoe]

Not much progress to report as I'm waiting on parts (again), so I spent the weekend polishing my wheels.

2 center caps were already polished, the other two were painted and clearcoated with the clearcoat peeling. My first attempt at a light polish actually just made the flaws stand out even more, so I stripped the paint & clearcoat and started from scratch.

I wetsanded the caps with 600, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, and 3000 grit sandpaper. After that I used three stages of polish to get it to shine up. I also separately polished the center plastic logo cap with Adam's swirl remover & fine machine polish. Turned out pretty well, I'm still working on the last cap. Here's a side by side shot:






I also polished up the lips slightly, didn't go too crazy but they look better.

[IronJoe]

Got a few more jobs complete, got another parts delivery! I replaced the one single coolant line that kept me from putting the top end back together. Then I threw in new plugs, injectors, Sport Evo plug wires, and a few other details. Getting close.




I also rebuilt the power steering pump (pics later). I had a bad seal that was throwing PS fluid around in the inside of the pulley. Pretty easy rebuild and the kit was only ~$30, so I'd recommend it to anyone with a PS leak at the pump.

[george graves]

The wheels looks amazing - nice job with the polish.

[IronJoe]

A little progress this weekend. Got a few more parts delivered I was waiting on, and got a chance to put together these babies:




They were a mismatched set of euro smilies from a friend. I replaced the glass on the passenger side low beam and redid all the adjusters. Now I just need to tackle the wiring.

[QuiqueUy]

Nice progress ! can't wait to hear her rumble !

[TimeMachinE30]

Redid the adjusters by using OEM or ?

[IronJoe]

Redid the adjusters by using OEM or ?

Yeah I used OEM, I swapped out all the rusty ones with the old set of US ellipsoid headlights that came on the car. Nothing special, I'm afraid.

[IronJoe]

I took the day off work for my birthday and spent it wrenching. Here's what I got done:

-Bolted the driveshaft back in with a new giubo and CSB, & exhaust heat shields
-Installed SS clutch line
-Installed UUC shifter
-Changed the diff fluid
-Swapped the rear sway bar
-Mounted new wheels

So I got a lot of little things done, I still need to weld in the battery tray and the mounts for the radiator before I can start it up. Hopefully I'll get to that next week, but for now here's how she sits:




















I also have a second set of startecs coming that are in better condition than these! :o Just a few more small jobs to do before first start-up, then it's going under the knife for bodywork!