Ryan's Hennarot 318is (s54, slicktop conversion, MT2)

[e30davie]

Dunno how i haven't come across this thread before, what a great project. love the kids getting involved.

Car painting is a hell of a lot of work in a home gamer environment, but it is very rewarding to say "hey i painted that shiny thing over there" when you are done.

[rjmcdermott81]

Shined up the lower quarters and the top of the rear bumper so I could get it on. I'm going to prioritize getting the car together and only polish the areas that will be hard to do when assembled. I'm worried if I don't do this...I'll end up rushing and screw something up. Need to get it in a good enough state to take it over for the new headliner.

I'm pretty happy with the modified mt2 bumper to fit the exhaust. Exhaust fills the hole up nicely.

[rjmcdermott81]

Got the front bumper, new fogs, and valance on. Sanded through the clear in a small spot on the top of the bumper so I'll have to re-shoot it but that's for another day... It's not really noticeable.

[rjmcdermott81]

In preparation for dropping the car off to get a headliner put in I finally dug the pristine dash out of the attic. I picked this up in Houston a couple years ago and I'm happy to see that it didn't get ruined sitting in the attic.

Super nasty old dash:


This thing really makes it start to look nice:

[Nick_S]

I always tell myself I don't really care that my dash is cracked till I see one that isn't...looks killer.

[HawaiianE30]

Damn good work! I got all the gear to shoot my own car a long time ago but never bit the bullet... any tips to do it now? Gun to use etc.? Also was it just practice that made the second time around better or a specific tip?

[Motheye99]

I just want to commend you on this thread, this is 100% where I want to take my 318is. slick-top and S54. I will for sure be coming back here.

Bravo

[jeenyus]

wonderful work.

[rjmcdermott81]

I just want to commend you on this thread, this is 100% where I want to take my 318is. slick-top and S54. I will for sure be coming back here.

Bravo

Thanks man - best of luck on your build!

[rjmcdermott81]

My car has been at the shop getting the headliner put in so no major progress. The headliner was a bit hard to figure out for two reasons:
1. I took it all out a year ago so I didn't remember how it all went together
2. I needed two extra rods for the space that the sunroof used to occupy. The shop sourced some old 5-series rods and I was able to bend them and cut them down to fit. Wish I would have taken a pic.

In the meantime I'm painting all my trim. The paintshop guy recommended this SEM spray and it looks incredible. The prep was easy - pressure washed it, scuffed it with a red scotchbrite, cleaned it with windex, hit it with wax degreaser, and finally with a tack cloth




I'm also trying to figure out how to make the parts that surround the sidemarkers for the mt2. They seem to be NLA and finding them used will be near impossible. I ordered an inexpensive 3D printer that you have to assemble yourself. It showed up in 500 pieces and my son and I are slowly getting it together.

[ArtFoodBMW]

oh my god. This is 100% on every level

[rjmcdermott81]

Progress is moving forward. 3D printer is up and running so next I need to design the mt2 sidemarker surrounds.


I also got my car back from the shop. I can't say enough about Leather Menders (https://www.yelp.com/biz/leather-menders-austin) in Austin. Really down to earth guys. Changing this from a sunroof car to a non-sunroof wasn't easy. They helped me figure out how it all went back together and we decided to remove the vinyl section in the front by the rearview mirrors. Finding a non-sunroof one would probably take me 6 months.




They also dyed my carpet and rear parcel shelf. I wish I had a before picture... even after an hour of pressure washing this carpet it looked more brown from stains than gray in most areas. It looks brand freaking new now.

[rjmcdermott81]

Dynomat!


I put it on the roof before the headliner too. Didn't grab a pick though.

[2mAn]

This is going to be quite special when you're done! Keep it up

[rjmcdermott81]

Stereo time. Nothing terribly special, but at some point in this cars life someone cut a huge hole in the parcel shelf and stuck a 6x9 in there. I figured what the heck, I'll just stick a slim sub up there and see how it goes.