1983 Henna Red 323i

[FredK]

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

Wow, that's a lot of money saved!

I like looking at this project to see what an MT1 car can look like. I'm looking forward to new pictures!

[kdevitt]

Yeah its a pretty substantial saving for the year.

Ended up buying a new (well new to me - its off another 323i) alternator which arrived today, so will be able to get it running soon.

Have started ordering a few new bits for it, did a deal for a 370mm tech 1 steering wheel which I'll have retrimmed.

Will get up some photos as son as possible, I promise :D

[kdevitt]

The car gods are not looking down kindly on me. Got the old alternator off this evening, but its a slightly different design to the one I bought (from an 85 323i).

Have someone lined up to repair the old one, so will hopefully have it all back up and running next week.

[kdevitt]

This isn't much of an update, but I need to get back in the habit of getting work done on the car, and of taking photos of whats been done!

Here's the alternator that came off yesterday - the one I had to stick into it was from a 1985 323i, but it had a separate black connector (this one has a threaded section, but without the black shielding - I reckon it would have bolted up ok), and it also had an earthing strap which isn't present on the old one.



Will hopefully have this one all fixed up by next weekend. Also ordered a new battery from BMW to replace the dead, spurious one which was sitting in the engine bay.

[kdevitt]

Postman arrived today! Very exciting.



Its a jumper!



..and also a 370mm Tech 1 wheel. Tried sourcing one of these new, and it just wasn't happening. BMW Classic couldn't supply one either, and I really wanted to avoid putting in a Tech 2 wheel. The box has been sealed back up and its being posted off for an OEM looking retrim.

[kingston]

Very nice! Great to see progress on her after so long!

[kdevitt]

Great to see progress on her after so long!

You're telling me :D

[kdevitt]

Alternator is just about ready to go - can't say I've ever dealt with anyone in the motor trade before who is so straight up, and thorough - he sent me details of the bebuild:

Just a quick update on the alternator.......



As mentioned the other night got her stripped down and checked over on Tuesday evening.......



The two bearing inside the alternator were really showing their age,
both were rough to spin and the larger of the two shown below was
starting to seize..........



These are all the changeable parts inside the alternator, the two bearings,
the brush pack/regulator (on the left) and the rectifier (top)...........



Collected all the new bits after work yesterday evening..........



the slip rings that the brushes ride on cleaned up perfect with sanding........



Once everything was cleaned the main body of the alternator was rebuilt.........

[e30saam]

Love it!!!! give me your headlight wipers!!!

[kdevitt]

Managed to get out today to get the alternator fitted. Was relatively straightforward, and was pretty excited fitting the new battery and getting ready to start her up. Bearing in mind that it hasn't been running in a year or so, it ran great - took a quick video after a minute or so of idling:



Unfortunately, after putting a multimeter across the battery terminals, it was only reading 12.2V, so it wasn't charging. Didn't have time to do any further investigation, but hopefully its something simple.

And as promised, a photo of the car -



Its pretty dull looking, but am hopeful that it was be gleaming by the time I get it to my spray guy for a paint touchup.

Here's the highlights of the paint damage - I think this should be easily remedied.

[kdevitt]

Not a huge update today - drove the car home the other evening, took a chance on the battery surviving, which it did. Battery was still reading 12.2V by the time I got home, so think theres a chance the alternator is charging - just not at the right voltage. Will be sorted soon enough anyway.

Managed to get all the interior trim back in place over the weekend - some dash bits and a doorcard were off, and replaced some missing fuses and some blown ones. Still having an issue with the windows, power antenna and cigarette lighter which I think are all connected, but its not a priority.

Gave it a good cleaning, so thankfully it looks less like an abandoned car than before the wash!











After:







Also dropped it off at some local mechanics to get a quote on a full mechanical overhaul to get it through an NCT prior to the manual box being fitted. Currently drives like crap!

[kdevitt]

Some more minor updates - nothing to get too excited over!

First up is a little toy I was delighted to see arriving in one piece from the US. Its one of George Graves light dimming units. Will probably will go unnoticed by most people! :D



Next up was a new head unit - the one I had in it was giving me issues. Had a search for something OEM looking, and couldn't really find anything except for the Becker units - which are going for big money. There's a chance I'll go for one at some stage, but for the moment, this cheap Pioneer unit will do the trick. Has audio streaming from the iPhone and is a fairly plain black finish. It looks a bit 'brighter' in the photos will the light reflecting back off it.







New model badge on the boot - I know debadging is particularly popular, but I'm going to try my best to kick off the rebadging craze!





And lastly, a pic of the brakes I picked up ages ago - these fit under the 15's so are ideal. Added stopping power is definitely required.

[kingston]

Nice, man! Really excited to see you making progress on the Henna car again!!!

[kdevitt]

Got the subframes in today -



They're in fantastic condition compared to the ones in place. Cleaned them down with engine cleaner and went over any light surface rust with a drill and wire brush attachment.

Having spoken to a few people about how to finish them off - I decided against powder coating them and went with a chassis paint. First coat is on - once finished I can drop the car in to have the major overhaul done.



In other good news - the steering wheel arrived back from Jack @ Royal Steering Wheels. Very happy with their work as usual.

[reelizmpro]

Good job. I'd love to see more euro/mtech 1's here in the US.