1991 "1RüSTYBöI" 318IS rebuild

[bignslow]

I got a build thread going on 2 other forums, figured I would post it here as well.


The story starts last September. I was on my way to a service call and happened to be driving past one of the local repair shops when I caught a glimpse of an E30 sitting out front. The car had no plates so my curiosity peaked instantly wondering if it was for sale. On the way back I remembered about the car and pulled in to take a closer look.


Now, at this point I knew very little about these cars other than I thought they were kinda cool and I wouldn't mind owning one.


Moving on...this is what the car looked like when I first saw it. Original, unrestored, unmolested but very neglected 318IS which may or may not have been used as a dumpster.










At first glance it looked pretty good. No obvious signs of rust other than the tail panel (oh how wrong I was) so naturally I had to inquire about it.



To my surprise the mechanic was getting ready to scrap it. The car wouldn't start due to a dead fuel pump and the owner decided it wasn't worth fixing. So he pretty much said I could buy it for the price of scrap. The rest is history.


I towed it home that night.








After getting it home and swapping a fuel pump for a Walbro it fired right up.

The car does need quite a bit of work as it was neglected by the previous owner. I am planning on slowly bringing it back to life and doing small upgrades but mostly keeping it stock (famous last words).

If there any Jalopnik readers on here you may have seen it already. http://jalopnik.com/what-the-hell-is...-us-1802714329

I managed to fill up 2 large bags of trash with junk that was left inside the car. I think all the crap actually preserved the interior rather well because seats and dashboard looked pretty clean.









After getting it running I decided to see if the paint could be saved. Couple hours later it was looking pretty good.


Paint won't shine like this for a while.

[bignslow]

Finally got a chance to pop the wheels off and get a closer look at the suspension and brakes.

Brakes look like they were recently done. Front strut is leaking so those will be getting replaced. Last week I learned that the struts were completely shot. They may as well not even existed.



Ball joints and tie rods are iffy so those will get swapped too.











This was my preliminary shopping list. Looking back at it now and comparing to my up to date list makes me chuckle.

[bignslow]

The idea with this car was to bring it back to running and driving condition, remove rust but leave the body mostly untouched. I wanted to preserve the patina look. I will still polish the paint so it's shiny but looks circa 1991.


I started working on the rear section of the car.


I hate rust and once I started poking I found some not so nice surprises. It's great that BMW covers the whole undercarriage in seam sealer. Not so great when moisture gets under it and rusts from inside out.

This was the scene when I pulled rear of the car apart and scraped off the seam sealer from all visible rust areas. There are a couple of holes near rear spring mounts. One of the cross beams is iffy and a couple small holes in the floor where brackets for gas tank and fuel hoses were welded in.





Fuel tank vapor hose tube was also rusted so that was first area that I repaired. Cut out rust, fabricated a patch panel then welded it. After that 2 coats of DOM16 which will be covered with seam sealer.





Cleaned up and repainted rear end.











The floor looked quite nasty in some areas.

[bignslow]

Out came section of rotted subframe.








New piece was fabricated and welded into place.






While poking around discovered driver side wheel well had some rust on the bottom. Ended up cutting out and redoing the whole corner.

















And this was after the rear floor was done.

[bignslow]

When I yanked the carpet I discovered that driver's floorboard was made up of undercoating rather than sheet metal. Both cab corners were also toast.







Floor cleaned up and rust cut out.





Patch panel fabbed up and welded in.








Next up I decided to take a break from body work and do something different so I did some work on the wheels. They took a lot of scrabbing but here is a before and after shot.






And here they are painted.

[bignslow]

Back to the body work.









Old and busted was cut out.






New hotness test fitted.

[bignslow]

After the rear subframe section cab corners were probably the second pain in the ass part to repair. Both sides were quite dickered and required replacing.

[bignslow]

Fenders and valence needed a little work too so off they come.











Might as well pull the hood too and address front subframe which tuned out to be surprisingly decent.









Fenders were starting to look iffy so I decided to cut them out and replace lower sheet metal.

[bignslow]

Fast forward to present day, this is where I am at. Working on the car a couple of hours every night after work and on weekends. Body work is 90% done, rear suspension is mostly in. Front suspension is in pieces scattered all over the garage but I have all the parts. Still missing a few odds and ends and I am way over budget but it's coming along.

[rturbo 930]

Wow, nice save. Good fab work too, with attention to detail. Looks nice and proper.

Pics could be a bit smaller though.

[zwill23]

It’s a rescue!

Very strong work man!

[Dj Buttchug]

damn... Hard up dedication is real.

[rzerob]

Subscribed. Awesome job.

[jdt10768]

Great job! u gots some skillZ
Which rear CV axles did you use please?

[mike.bmw]

Impressive work on the 318is! I also like your Volvo wagon, complete with Dave Barton decals! :)