1983 Henna Red 323i

[Court M3]

Can't wait to see more updates on this one! Mine is getting resprayed in Henna as well.

[kingston]

Awesome! I love seeing updates on your car. Henna FTW!!

[kdevitt]

Not quite the update I promised - but one of the lads on my site gave it a quick detailing, thought I'd share the pics!

Healyc (Conor) has possession of Ken's E30 323i while he is in Oz. The car is in the process, kinda, of getting alot of work done to it and was parked in Scullys for some time....under a tree! The car was then moved from Scullys to Andys garage so some of the work could take place.
Had seen the car in Scullys when passing but never had a close look at it, but while out in Andys one day collecting parts, I got a closer look....and was the outside was lacking TLC - said to Conor Id throw a bucket of water over it some day!

The paint was very rough, felt like sandpaper so it needed more than just a quick wash. Car got a wash, clay, and protection! No need for a de-tar, the car is hardly driven....just general dirt form sitting up for a few months.

With Chris' help, the work began!!!! :)


The shuts had alot of dirt in them, so they had to be attacked





General dirt and cobwebs from sitting up!











Car was snowfoamed with a very lubricated mixture....plenty of shampoo to protect the paint as the dirt dripped off.
As the snow dwelled, all the shuts, badges, grills, nook and crannies where cleaned using APC and aggitated with detailing brushes....a few pictures of the progress







Results of the shuts after being rinsed down with the power washer






The car was then fully rinsed down; the car remained very dirty but the heavy dirt was removed.
As the paint was pretty bad, we thought it might be a good opportunity to show the advantages of clay. It is hard to show the effects of a good clay in photos, but Ill try! :)
Even though you might think your paint is clean after a good wash, dirt that cant be seen to the naked eye is still bonded onto / embedded into the paint work....contamination such as tree sap, brake dust, iron deposits and others.
They clay will remove these bonded surface contaminants and leave a much cleaner and smoother surface, resulting in more shine!

So before washing the whole car, we used the bonnet as a test panel. In this case, we washed and clayed the left 1/3, washed the middle 1/3 and leave the right 1/3 unwashed (had a snowfoam)

It was difficult to see the results in a photo on the large panel, so to try show a close up, we clayed along the crease of the bonnet, approx 3", and you can see a noticeable difference

As the area that was clayed is alot smoother the water just sheets off the car, where as the panel that was just washed the water clings.
The area that has been clayed has no protection on it and would sheeting and beading would be far greater if it was.....makes the car easier to dry! ;)



Here you can see that the left side of the bonnet has alot less water than the middle of the bonnet. Also the crease on the right side, to the left, you can see the 3" strip that was additional clayed



Car was then washed using the Two Bucket Method, wheels got a scrubs, car was given a good clay, rinsed, snowfoamed a 2nd time and dried. It was getting late and cold and it was difficult to dry with the damp in the air. Here are the pictures














Gave the car a layer of protection which was difficult to remove due to the moisture building on the car, late in the evening. Paintwork remains pretty dull, lacked depth and shine, but its an improvement! ;)
Quick snap of the car after it was done...the moisture was building on the car so quickly, that it wasnt worth taking any more!!

We also spent a bit of time on Chris' car also! He picked up a new, to him, set of wheels and we drove about collecting, trying to get tyres for, cleaning, de-tarring, claying and sealing them and also washing the car!....
.....not to mention, standing back admiring them and taking photos of them!

Busy days work, but well worth the effort when you stand back and admire both cars!

[DuMa]

thats the best 83 car i've ever seen

[kingston]

I ALWAYS love seeing pics of your car! I'm restoring an early model coupe, and your car really makes we want to re-do the paint Henna ;)

[bernzpeed]

awesome car, for sure!

[einstein57]

So when you install the Mtech front spoiler the euro valance is not required?

[kdevitt]

So when you install the Mtech front spoiler the euro valance is not required?

You'll get away without it - I have it installed though.

[einstein57]

Good to know. I have an early 84 valance as well and i don't want to chop it up to make for an intercooler. And plans on getting the mtech front tow hook extention?

[kdevitt]

And plans on getting the mtech front tow hook extention?

Have it sitting in my garage at home!

[kingston]

KDevitt,

I've decided to grab an MTech-1 kit, and it made me think of your car. You back in Australia now? Any updates?

[grays]

love this color

[litu]

Cool color :)

[kdevitt]

So a bit of a minor thread revival here - landed back in Ireland from my stint in Australia at the end of March. Have been pretty busy getting things sorted out, but managed to pop out to look at the E30 last weekend.

Unfortunately not much has happened with it since I left -its still auto, and still with the original M20B23 in place. The lad who built the stroker didn't and doesn't have time to work on the car, and no one else wants to touch an engine they didn't rebuild themselves. So a quick decision was made to sell the engine on - pretty cheap too.

Ultimately, I was never at ease with removing a very original 49k mile engine from the car and replacing with a stroked 100k example. At the end of the day, I have an E46 M3 and an E36 which can provide my speed thrills, and will hopefully be adding an AM V8 Vantage to the stable, so I just don't actually need this car to be fast - its not going to see any track time, and I just want it to be enjoyable and handle pretty well.

So first port of call is to fix the alternator. Its a bit poorly - so will be removing it and having it repaired, rather than replacing with a spurious item. Next up is the manual box - and I've soured a company who will do it quickly for me. Last thing I want is the car to be stuck somewhere for months again while the job is doing in someones spare time.

With that done I'll have the brakes done, fit a Bilstein / Eibach B12 kit and have the exhaust done.

Final piece of the jigsaw is some more paintwork - the front bumper is peeling from the crap paintjob the car had originally, and a bubble of rust has appeared on the offside scuttle panel.

For a car thats been sitting for a while, the interior is remarkably fresh - and the recolouring of the leather interior I did years ago has held up great.

Finally - since the car has hit the 30 year mark, its eligible for vintage status here. Major upside of that, apart form the obvious kudos, is that the annual road tax goes from €1034 per year to €52 per year! So I'm actually saving money with this thing :D

Will have photos soon!

[kingston]

Looking forward to seeing more updates on this car now!! Always one of my absolute favorites!!