Project finished - 'MY22' 318is - bare metal, nut and bolt restoration

[wworm]

oh man this is gonna be sweet. How are you planning to tackle the upholstery?

edit: realize that's a really vague question- mostly asking about deeper detailing of materials used/machine used etc etc. I have a machine and want to do some custom upholstery some day but have no idea where to start.

[burkey001]

minor update, finally picked an interior colour and leather has arrived from Spinneybeck.
This is their Copenhagen line, which is a full aniline, naturally died leather. It feels superb.







134 sq foot of hide (2 big cows)
It's quite blue, but I'm OK with that

[Melon]

Yay for small victories!

[burkey001]

Random victory. I've been frustrated that the OE auxiliary fan is NLA. Even thought it would be perfectly fine to run a SPAL I don't want to.

Been looking at 'good second hand ones' and realise this is an oxymoron.

Randomly tried to order all the individual components... the fan rotor, the resister pack, the fan body... success! Coming from uncle schmiedmann as we speak...

Why you can't buy the whole thing, but you can buy all the parts... who knows...

hopefully when the DHL box arrives it actually has the bits i hope it does

:)

[Jokester]

Best build thread I have ever witnessed. I wouldn’t change a thing with this car.

[burkey001]

Had a few hours. Finished off the earthing and pinning and plugging the passenger side headlight.






Decided to go with chrome headlights and black trim rings. No shadowline headlights.




Happy days!

[burkey001]

Ah, nevermind on the ITB comment then. Just thought it might make the car more enjoyable without being crazy.

Can you post up what standoffs you used for the wire loom? I really like how that worked out. I am doing a somewhat similar project with a cleaner bay but not “tucked” so I can actually access the wires.

take a look at https://au.rs-online.com/web/p/cable...ounts/0666701/


secure them with an M4 rivnut into the original christmas tree hole

[wazzu70]

Ah, nevermind on the ITB comment then. Just thought it might make the car more enjoyable without being crazy.

Can you post up what standoffs you used for the wire loom? I really like how that worked out. I am doing a somewhat similar project with a cleaner bay but not “tucked” so I can actually access the wires.

[econti]

knipex, more like snipex
I have some of the side cutters for work and have snipped some things that are not meant to be snipped

[burkey001]

Starting this off with fabric. I found another fabric I like to match this Spinneybeck Copenhagen leather. Nice chunky weave, I think I want to get a bigger sample of this.

Fabric…. Sounds so simple, so hard to bring to reality



Day wiring today. Finished all the engine bay wiring, minus terminating the earth lugs and pinning three plugs.


Got some new cable shears, flush cut Knipex. Man, are these great.

This is the horns sub-assembly. Chose to keep this separate as it is from the factory. Upon reflection, not really sure why but there you go






Also got the underside pinned out and plugged. Foglights, horns and indicators




Now, I’ll grant you wiring pictures aren’t the most exciting thing in the world. It’s not an engine bay with an LT4 in it, but it’s small stuff that’s – for me at least – makes the difference. Stuff no-one sees, no-one cares about but I know I have some reliable wiring that’s going to see the car out the next little while.

Pardon the cavity wax overspray on the back side of some of these panels, they actually are flat, clean and glossy.

One of the things I’ve done with this harness is to slightly increase the wire size on all the lights. OE is 1.5mm2 and I have bumped it all up to 2.0mm2. Which, doesn’t sound like much but it’s a fair percentage bump in size. I figure any lessening of voltage drop helps make those lights just a little brighter.. Plus, a lot of the wiring that was pulled had severely oxidised and resistance was significant.

Both lighting and AC/Fans looms are shrunk now, just need to terminate the earth lugs and a do a little detailing of the looms… close up any gaps between them etc.. but out of the box, doesn look too bad.



I know it looks kind of bulky, and I had have just Tesa taped it it may have been a little smaller. The difference is Tesa tape looks ordinary almost immediately because dirt and crap sticks to it. DR-25 going to looks the same for 20 years.

Probably going to take the markings off the glue-line to make it a little more subtle


Then again, this lives behind a headlight cover and you will never, ever see it.



And, across the front of the car to the other side. This is where the approach shows gains. So much tidier.



And that is pretty much the engine bay wiring. I will be doing the same thing to the engine harness when I get around to looking at the motor.

I could have hidden it all and tucked the harness through the frame and whatever. But, that’s not me and that’s not this car.

Few little bits left to do, but time to start on the next bits.


Until next!
 

[burkey001]

Burkey's other e30...

Nic one Luke
[emoji846] so looking forward to this one being quiet and slow and comfortable with working air con and heat [emoji846][emoji846]

Black one is a little bit hostile [emoji2955]



Speaking of orange car, had plans to do some wiring but I got sidetracked because I am going to make a timber bed for a 1948 Chev pickup. So spent the time thinking how that’s gonna work. Bed will be on linear actuators to allow access to the pumps, air tank etc... not my car, starting to pick up work from others. Which is kind of flattering but also makes one have even less time [emoji846]


So all I got done was tail lights install. Mmm shiny and OEM and new


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[lukeADE335i]

Burkey's other e30 has a dry sumped S54 that's modified to within an inch of its life (with a similar level of detail to this build) :) You just need to look carefully at the images in the first post (note the satin black car):



It's a pity the old Australian forum that a few of our Aussie members here used to be on died, as there was an amazing build thread for that car there.

No need to mod this one in that way, it will be a concourse winner for sure.

[wazzu70]

I will say, driving the new 318is has been so much fun. Like 30rwhp over stock would be about right for skinny tyres.

Surprised hes not thinking about a RHD ITB kit from Rama. Improves the torque curve and power.....and that sound!!!!

You have to support your Australian businesses!!

http://racehead.com.au/products-page/throttle-body-kits/bmw-m44m42-complete-itb-kit/

[econti]

I will say, driving the new 318is has been so much fun. Like 30rwhp over stock would be about right for skinny tyres.

[mach schnell]

Plus it's kind of fun to have an underpowered car. Means you can keep your foot in the pedal for more than 5 seconds before having your license suspended and car crushed for speeding :)

So right. That’s the beauty of M42 cars.

Awesome work!