'84 318i Build

[thebearcough]

I am now the proud owner of a 1984 318i - it doesn't run, it's an auto-tragic, and it's the perfect car. Let me explain ...

About three years ago I began to toy with the idea of building my ideal E30. I started searching for the right car to build up, but found it difficult to find a car that wasn't riddled with rust - I live in New England - or butchered by a previous owner. It turned out that my friend's parents owned an E30 that was sitting due to a toasted transmission and a few other small issues. I told them "when the day comes, give me a call." Three years later, the call finally came!

The previous owner bought the car in '87 and the inspection sticker expired in 2007. It had been sitting inside a garage for 10 years, filled with mothballs and resting on blocks. The car had never seen snow and had the under body sealed by the owner who was meticulous and thorough. The exterior is a 9.5/10 - there are only a few small blemishes on the passenger door. The interior is 8/10 - there aren't any tears, but there are a few small stains and the dash has two minor cracks. No rust, no rot, no signs of rodents. I bought it within the week and picked it up a week ago.

[thebearcough]

Removing the Interior: A tale of a rodent and minimal rust

I started work on the car this weekend. My goal was to remove the interior in its entirety and I accomplished all but the headliner and door panels. Everything came out rather easily. The hardest part was removing the carpet, which required removing the heater core. One of the nuts holding the core in on the engine-side was rusted and had to be cut off. We also found our first evidence or rodents - a mouse nest beside the blower motor.

We removed the heater core and carpet and found the first, and only spot of rust (so far), on the car. It looks like it was caused by the wet feet of the previous owner.


When felt a wet spot when we started pulling the carpet.


Luckily it's not in too tricky of a spot.


The two small holes are ones we made after finding the rust. All in all, not to bad for a 33-year-old car from New England!

[2mAn]

Lets see the exterior!

[thebearcough]

Update: Finished Pulling Interior

Finished pulling the interior this past weekend. Removing the deadening material was a real pain in the ass. We had to remove the heater core, gas pedal, and brake assembly to get it out with minimal tears.



I finished removing the headliner too, which required removing the front and rear glass. We found some minor surface rust in the front windshield.





Started removing the front bumper, AC, and radiator too in preparation for the engine pull which I hope to do in the next two weeks.



Here are some pictures of the exterior:





Here's a nice shot of my e30 and my boyfriend's MR2. We have similar goals for each of our builds. He has a few weeks headstart, but I'm catching up quick!

[thebearcough]

Engine, Door, and Glass Pull

I haven't posted in a while, but last weekend I pulled the motor from the car with the help of my boyfriend and his father. I also got the car on the lift for the first time since owning it and was pleasantly surprised to find no rust whatsoever anywhere on the car! The exhaust had rusted out, but no worries there. The front suspension had also looked like it had been recently replaced.













The engine pull was pretty straightforward - surprisingly so actually. Earlier that day we had pulled the engine from the MR2 which was a real operation.

I removed the doors in their entirety as well as the rear windows. With all the glass and carpeting out of the car I'm about to start the fabrication phase to address the rust, install a new pedal box, and install a 4-point (or maybe a 6-point) cage.



If anyone is interested in an M10 motor, feel free to message me. It's condition is unknown to me, but I can orchestrate a compression test if you're interested. It's useless to me and I'm willing to let it go to the best offer. Meanwhile, if anyone has an S54, let me know ...