1983 Henna Red 323i

[kdevitt]

My obsession with Henna cars (and yours in particular) made me hunt or this thread and revive it.

Any updates?

None at the moment really to be honest! There are a lot of bits sitting there waiting to go on. The parts for the stroker build are more or less all bought, the donor engine is out of the 325i, but otherwise I'm not sure! Don't think the BBK is even fitted yet to be honest.

Doesn't help that I'm still in Australia and the car is in Ireland - I know I won't be driving it for at least 18 months.

[bernzpeed]

auto dimming? What do you mean? does it have a light on it? Whats the little black circle in the middle bottom of it?

at night time it dims so you don't get the glare from the cars' headlights from behind.

[kingston]

My obsession with Henna cars (and yours in particular) made me hunt or this thread and revive it.

Any updates?

[kdevitt]

An update from my mechanical expert!

Just a quick update.

After plenty of discussions between myself and Ken, we decided that the M20b23 engine with the K-jet fuel system did not compliment the condition of the car and the upgrades that are planned for the car. We did consider changing the fuel system to Motronic to aid performance tuning but tbh you still wouldn't get much power out the b23 lump.

We never mentioned bastardizing the car with an M50/M52 or S50 engine as imho this would be a crime so the decision was made, upgrade it to an M20b25 engine but take it one step better - Change it to an M20B28

There is different versions of doing this conversion but this is how we are going to approach the engine build inc the manual gearbox conversion.

M20b25 Engine and fuel system
M20b20 Conrods
M52b28 Crankshaft
M30b35 Fuel Injectors (will be changed for 4 pintle injectors)
M20b23 Camshaft (might change to a Catcam)
Lightened and balanced flywheel
Ported and Polished cylinder head
Live remap

Swap over all transmission parts to convert from manual to auto.

Most parts have been sourced and just need to be collected or dismantled.

With all of this done inc the full exhaust system we hope for around 200-210bhp.

First up - Donor moredoor 325i bought and I will start to strip it during the week. The shell is in very good nick and apart from a little bit of rust on one of the rear quarters it's rot free. Car has a full bmwsh from brand new with 103k on the clock. When the engine/gearbox is out of it I'll sell on the few remainging bits and scrap the shell.

I'd actually like to hold onto the moredoor shell for a 24v conversion at some stage to be honest!

[kingston]

^ no doubt! I keep going back to the first pic of the front of the car with the Mtech I valence on. Droooooll!

[Steve Zissou]

this car is inspiration to us all

[Iain]

We should have a R3v Aussie Pub Meet in the CBD. Maybe a dinner at the Lowenbrau in the Rocks while the weather is warm?

[CorvallisBMW]

No, thankfully not! Don't like Bondi myself - am in Cremorne, its near enough to Manly

That's what I meant.... got my beaches mixed up

[kdevitt]

Near Bondi? Love that place...

No, thankfully not! Don't like Bondi myself - am in Cremorne, its near enough to Manly

[CorvallisBMW]

Unfortunately not - still considering taking them to court over it.

Moved to Sydney, Lower North Shore!

Near Bondi? Love that place...

[kdevitt]

I hope they are willing to fix it without charging you anything! That's a real let-down, sorry to hear.

Where'd you move to in Oz?

Unfortunately not - still considering taking them to court over it.

Moved to Sydney, Lower North Shore!

[CorvallisBMW]

I hope they are willing to fix it without charging you anything! That's a real let-down, sorry to hear.

Where'd you move to in Oz?

[kdevitt]

Wait, the professional paint job is peeling? Wow, that sucks :( Gorgeous car, BTW, really gorgeous!

Yep - its unreal. Not quite as 'professional' as I expected. I guess the upshot of it for me is that at least 10 people have contacted me through other forums who were going to get their car done with them have now decided against it!

[kingston]

Wait, the professional paint job is peeling? Wow, that sucks :( Gorgeous car, BTW, really gorgeous!

[kdevitt]

Just a quick update with progress on this (no pics I'm afraid)

Anyway - I as mentioned before, I emigrated to Australia in August, so this is being taken care of by a friend, who handily enough is a mechanic and is getting all the required work done.

Bought new brakes for it - a WMS big brake kit, which is designed to fit under the 15 inch wheels. They should be a massive improvement on the stock setup, which is probably about as efficient and throwing a parachute out the back.

Also got a new exhaust, stainless steel up the the manifold - struggled to get an exhaust with the tip style I wanted, so bought a mongoose (blueflame) system. I then bought new plain round tips - the ones on the mongoose exhaust will be chopped off and the new ones welded on.

The autobox should be on its way out any day now - as is the engine. Its fine, but totally underpowered. An M20 stroker is being put in, so it'll still look totally original but should have about 200BHP on tap. I'm holding onto the original engine so I can put it back to stock if I ever get the urge. Have bought a1990 4 door 325i as a donor car for this.

Finally - the paint. It will need to be rectified eventually - some of the runs in it are horrendous, as is the orange peel and deep sanding marks on the bonnet. Worst of all - the bumpers have apparently started peeling. Not a huge surprise...but seriously pissed off about it all the same. Will get some photos up once I have them.