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Big Al's Revenge: an OEM+, MTech1 325e restoration

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    Short update:

    I went to one of the local pick-n-pulls that had what was once a really nice E28, MTech spoiler and all. It had been listed that day and I jumped off the couch to head over to it but the spoiler got snagged before I got there. I was also hoping to find a nice large tool kit, but it was also warped and rotted out. I did however find a cassette cleaner in the glovebox, thought it was kinda '80s cool so I grabbed it:





    And also found this relic:



    I didn't take it but you could tell this car was once top of the line, had all the bells and whistles. It was oddly sad to see it sitting there. Ended up grabbing some switches and things that I could use along with some of the easier to grab interior bits and left the rest for someone else.


    I also visited a local paint supply shop, the road it was on was appropriately named, I took it as a sign that I came to the right place:



    I spoke for almost a half hour with the owner, he's been painting cars for over 30 years. He came out and looked over the car and loved it, and agreed it didn't need all that much body work. He did however strongly advise me to go with single stage paint. I had my heart set on a 2K system, but after a lot of reading on the subject I agree with the expert for a few reasons:
    • It will give me the best possible chance to achieve a really nice finish with my limited experience, especially after color sanding/buffing
    • The car originally came with single stage, so would be more period correct
    • Over time, I think the paint would be easier to care for and won't have to worry about clear coat failure/spider webbing
    • The car is going to be garaged about 90% of the time when not driving it anyway, so the supposed diminished durability often attributed to single stage vs clear coat will be negligible
    • I will probably end up spending less than half as much for a premium quality single stage vs a comparable 2K system
    I've also been going back to some of my bookmarked MTech threads, and lemme just say FUCK photobucket. So many important photos and posts that I had planned to reference are all blurred out or missing altogether. Super frustrating. I had also found a really good website with all the drilling templates for the sideskirts, the most challenging part I've come to find out for mounting the kit right, only to find that the website is also dead. I ended up just test mounting some of the kit and figured out where to make the holes for the OEM brackets and such:



    Last, I found out that the headlight covers in the engine bay for my car no longer fit with the ellipsoids as the new lights are way bulkier than the sealed beams:



    Ended up ordering the later model ones, notice they have a little bit of an indent where the headlights sit:



    Had to trim the passenger side one a bit to fit over the a/c drier and put my Pukar Designs a/c charge sticker on, not a bad match to the original:



    It was kindof a bitch to get the drivers side in as there was only like 2mm or space between the ABS pump and the light:






    Not the sexiest post but sometimes the little details make a big difference
    '86 325e Zinnoberrot /// '02 325ci Schwarz II /// '18 M4 Azurite Black Metallic ///

    Albie325 Build Thread | Albie325 COTM Jan 2021

    Comment


      Quality, quality work as usual....
      E30 320i vert
      But daily drive is Volvo V60 Polestar

      Comment


        Love the updates. This car will be phenomenal when its done!
        Simon
        Current Cars:
        -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

        Make R3V Great Again -2020

        Comment


          Originally posted by Albie325 View Post
          Not the sexiest post but sometimes the little details make a big difference
          These are the jewels of R3v. I can find info about the TPS and lowering springs all day, but small things like that are harder to find. I think the harder to find information is what brings people back to quality build threads.

          Paynemw
          1986 Toyota 4Runner SR5 - Sold!
          the ebb and flow of 325is ownership - In RVA
          1988 BMW 535is - RIP but my dream BMW

          Comment


            The devil is in the details. Car is coming along great.

            What paint are you going to end up using?
            Single stage is fine if you keep the car garaged, and properly protect the paint with quality sealers and waxes.
            I do things.

            Comment


              Originally posted by Albie325 View Post
              Short update:

              I went to one of the local pick-n-pulls that had what was once a really nice E28, MTech spoiler and all. It had been listed that day and I jumped off the couch to head over to it but the spoiler got snagged before I got there. I was also hoping to find a nice large tool kit, but it was also warped and rotted out. I did however find a cassette cleaner in the glovebox, thought it was kinda '80s cool so I grabbed it:





              And also found this relic:



              I didn't take it but you could tell this car was once top of the line, had all the bells and whistles. It was oddly sad to see it sitting there. Ended up grabbing some switches and things that I could use along with some of the easier to grab interior bits and left the rest for someone else.


              I also visited a local paint supply shop, the road it was on was appropriately named, I took it as a sign that I came to the right place:



              I spoke for almost a half hour with the owner, he's been painting cars for over 30 years. He came out and looked over the car and loved it, and agreed it didn't need all that much body work. He did however strongly advise me to go with single stage paint. I had my heart set on a 2K system, but after a lot of reading on the subject I agree with the expert for a few reasons:
              • It will give me the best possible chance to achieve a really nice finish with my limited experience, especially after color sanding/buffing
              • The car originally came with single stage, so would be more period correct
              • Over time, I think the paint would be easier to care for and won't have to worry about clear coat failure/spider webbing
              • The car is going to be garaged about 90% of the time when not driving it anyway, so the supposed diminished durability often attributed to single stage vs clear coat will be negligible
              • I will probably end up spending less than half as much for a premium quality single stage vs a comparable 2K system
              I've also been going back to some of my bookmarked MTech threads, and lemme just say FUCK photobucket. So many important photos and posts that I had planned to reference are all blurred out or missing altogether. Super frustrating. I had also found a really good website with all the drilling templates for the sideskirts, the most challenging part I've come to find out for mounting the kit right, only to find that the website is also dead. I ended up just test mounting some of the kit and figured out where to make the holes for the OEM brackets and such:



              Last, I found out that the headlight covers in the engine bay for my car no longer fit with the ellipsoids as the new lights are way bulkier than the sealed beams:



              Ended up ordering the later model ones, notice they have a little bit of an indent where the headlights sit:



              Had to trim the passenger side one a bit to fit over the a/c drier and put my Pukar Designs a/c charge sticker on, not a bad match to the original:



              It was kindof a bitch to get the drivers side in as there was only like 2mm or space between the ABS pump and the light:






              Not the sexiest post but sometimes the little details make a big difference
              I learned about Photobucket fix from Victell. I use this one on Chrome https://chrome.google.com/webstore/d...bifiaedg?hl=en or try to google for which ever browser you use
              sigpic84 325e

              Comment


                Originally posted by Tzantushka
                Quality, quality work as usual....
                Originally posted by 2mAn
                Love the updates. This car will be phenomenal when its done!
                Originally posted by paynemw
                These are the jewels of R3v. I can find info about the TPS and lowering springs all day, but small things like that are harder to find. I think the harder to find information is what brings people back to quality build threads.
                Thanks guys, I often find myself mid-photo or mid post thinking "who the hell wants to see this boring stuff?" I've omitted a few things this way but may now reconsider. Anyway, I took a hiatus up in CT for the holidays so am out of the garage until after the new year, hoping to have a busy few weeks of sanding upon my return.

                Originally posted by 808ETA
                I learned about Photobucket fix from Victell. I use this one on Chrome https://chrome.google.com/webstore/d...bifiaedg?hl=en or try to google for which ever browser you use
                Hmm I'll have to check that out, thanks man

                Originally posted by Melon
                What paint are you going to end up using?
                Single stage is fine if you keep the car garaged, and properly protect the paint with quality sealers and waxes.
                The guy at the shop seemed to really like U-tech for the "bang for the buck" factor, however I think that he was trying to keep budget in mind. I, on the other hand, have already blown WAY past any potential budget I may have had in mind for this car and am already under the impression that I'll be "saving" a ton of money by going single stage rather than 2K. I want to go with as high-quality as I can within reason. Funny how the mind convinces you that spending a nice chunk of change in the name of progress on your 30+ year old pile is a "bargain," but I digress. I need to talk to him a bit more when I get back in town, but I was thinking a urethane paint from PPG, Sikkens, or Lesonal depending on what he has to say. The fact that it's a flat color and a very specific color red, he said that certain brands color match better than others but that all are really high quality offerings.




                Off topic a bit, but a few months ago a new neighbor ended up moving in and taking the garage next to mine at the apartment complex. He saw me outside tooling around on the E30 one day over the summer, I think I was in the midst of the manual swap and I was naturally coated in grease and grime. He's apparently a gearhead as well and used to work for one of the Porsche dealerships in Maine along with a smattering of VW experience. He did a turbo build on an MK1 Golf that I'll have to get him to send me a photo of to post up here. Anyway we got to talking and he kindof pulls his pants up like a proud dad and is like "cool E30, I have an F80 that I did a euro delivery on last year one bay over" and pops the door to the garage to show me his beautiful yas marina blue over Shakir orange M3, competition package and 6 speed manual as well so I was already impressed with the guy. With a shit eating grin on my face I'm like "Nice! I did a euro delivery on an F82 that's in the OTHER other bay" and popped the garage door to mine. I think he was a bit stunned to say the least but needless to say we were fast friends. Turns out we picked up our cars about 2 weeks apart last year, pretty cool. Ended up grabbing a beer the day before I left for CT to plan a little weekend out at the Tail of the Dragon in NC for an M-car get together in June. Should be a great time, and not too long after the Vintage! Two trips out to the mountains in two different cars should be a blast, will be interesting to see which I like driving out on the twisties more.



                Last edited by Albie325; 12-26-2019, 07:05 PM.
                '86 325e Zinnoberrot /// '02 325ci Schwarz II /// '18 M4 Azurite Black Metallic ///

                Albie325 Build Thread | Albie325 COTM Jan 2021

                Comment


                  All I can think of is step brothers: "Did we just become best friends?"
                  How to remove, install or convert to pop out windows
                  http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=297611


                  Could be better, could be worse.

                  Comment


                    Where did you buy the laminx covers? Great idea i have new glass and want to protect it1
                    Euro Delivery Thread///E30 Project Klaus///COTM August 2021

                    Comment




                      Staszek, I ended up just ordering directly from their site: https://www.lamin-x.com/precut-film-...sid=MWts7buayQ

                      I plugged in my model/year but you can adjust at the top, they should all be the same for the euros. Also, make sure you order the euro spec covers (obvi) as the US spec covers are a little different. They also sell various sized plain sheets of material, I ended up buying an 8x8in piece to cut for the fogs when I eventually get around to putting those on.
                      '86 325e Zinnoberrot /// '02 325ci Schwarz II /// '18 M4 Azurite Black Metallic ///

                      Albie325 Build Thread | Albie325 COTM Jan 2021

                      Comment


                        Originally posted by Albie325 View Post


                        Staszek, I ended up just ordering directly from their site: https://www.lamin-x.com/precut-film-...sid=MWts7buayQ

                        I plugged in my model/year but you can adjust at the top, they should all be the same for the euros. Also, make sure you order the euro spec covers (obvi) as the US spec covers are a little different. They also sell various sized plain sheets of material, I ended up buying an 8x8in piece to cut for the fogs when I eventually get around to putting those on.
                        Good idea because I have new glass on the fogs too! Thanks!
                        Euro Delivery Thread///E30 Project Klaus///COTM August 2021

                        Comment


                          I'll be in TN @ The Tail of the Dragon in mid-May and last week of July.

                          I'll leave you a note at the overlook.
                          I do things.

                          Comment


                            It's taken a few weeks to get the paint selection process sorted. After deciding on single stage I went to my paint shop only to find out that they didn't carry any single stage aside from some super cheap stuff in paint code 138 (zinnoberrot). They pointed me in the direction of a few other local shops and they also didn't have any single stage in 138.

                            Back to the drawing board. I started pricing out various brands and materials for a base/clear system and after a ton of discussion with a bunch of people, I've decided to use Axalta Cromax products for this car. When the F82 booboo was repainted they actually used Cromax as the shop said the paint match is excellent particularly with BMW's. I've also reached out to a guy on YouTube that I've been watching who has (conveniently for my learning and planning purposes) repainted an MTech1 kit, MTech2 kit, E34 M5, and E30 M3 all using Cromax products with excellent results. I plan to place my order by Wed/Thursday of this week so I can start breaking down the car.

                            I haven't been asleep at the wheel, however. I've gotten the MTech kit pretty much ready for primer:





                            The front air dam came with one set of the front vents still uncut. I like the look of the vents all cut out, and also the upper vents allow for better air flow for the A/C, and I've already documented how difficult it was to get that working. Lemme say I was a bit puckered while cutting these out:



                            Took my time and it came out great:





                            The most time consuming part of prepping the MTech 1 kit was sanding out all the areas with the 3 grooves by hand. It easily took me as long just to do those spots as the rest of the entire piece in most cases. Most pieces (front, rear, and one sideskirt) had only 1-2 layers of paint, however one sideskirt was painted easily 6-7 times and took the longest to sand down. There's a few small spots that will need repair (I'll use 3M 05887 plastic repair) and some small rock chip filler here and there but otherwise ready for primer.

                            I was also able to order a few parts that I thought were NLA, but found through Schmeidmann for much cheaper than anticipated:






                            I'll hopefully get the ball rolling on the car itself this weekend.

                            Also, now that I've decided on which bits I will actually be using from the MTech kits I have, I will be listing the duplicate parts (front and rear air dams, sideskirts, and some various extra trim bits I have) for sale over the next couple of days. I need the space in the garage for all the trim etc that will be coming off of the car, as well as the cash to help pay for the paint and other supplies. If you know anyone looking for an OEM MTech 1 kit in excellent shape, send them my way.



                            '86 325e Zinnoberrot /// '02 325ci Schwarz II /// '18 M4 Azurite Black Metallic ///

                            Albie325 Build Thread | Albie325 COTM Jan 2021

                            Comment


                              Exciting times! Glad to see updates!

                              Comment


                                Ended up driving up to see my parents last weekend and took the E30 since it will be one of the last times for awhile that I'll be able to drive it. It was also the first time Big Al got to drive the car since swapping in the 5 speed, I think he enjoyed it:



                                Anyway, a quick question for you guys:

                                Over the last 2 weeks or so I've noticed my inspection light keeps coming on. I'll reset it and get all greens across the board and it'll stay that way for a day or so, but the next day I'll go out to start the car and the inspection light will be back on. I just had the cluster refurbed by BavRest within the last 6 months, is it possible the SI batteries are already no good?? Car starts and runs fine otherwise.
                                '86 325e Zinnoberrot /// '02 325ci Schwarz II /// '18 M4 Azurite Black Metallic ///

                                Albie325 Build Thread | Albie325 COTM Jan 2021

                                Comment

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