1983 Henna Red 323i

[kdevitt]

Finally got down to have a look at the finished result. Took it out to see how it felt -

Hadn't been started in a few days, but still started up straight away. Initial idle was slightly lumpy, but it settled into a nice smooth one pretty rapidly. Pretty strange having a clutch pedal in the car after all these years. Its definitely a heavy clutch - very similar to the E46 M3 I have. Dave told me to keep the revs below 4.5 k, which wasn't an issue.

So first up - the car is crazy quick. You could probably stick it in 5th gear and drive everywhere without switching cogs. At 30mph and 1k revs it produces enough torque to comfortably overtake without changing down a gear. It is ticking over at roughly 2.5k at 70mph, and a throttle blip took it from 60 to 80mph on the private road I was on :). It definitely sounds meatier than the M20 which proceeded it, but its not over the top loud. Very happy with that, and bearing in mind that there's almost no interior in it, I'd expect it to be slightly quieter in the cabin once all is finalised.

Not completely sold on the short throw with the E46 M3 shifter in place, so will take a lot of convincing to stop me putting back in an E30 item. I know a lot of people aren't keen, but the long throw on BMW's is something I love.

Seeing the state of the paint job is dragging it all down for me though - so I think that needs action sooner rather than later.

[kdevitt]

Few more updates from today - loom for the washer bottle -



All plugged in -



Also bought brand new hoses and clips for the headlight washer jets. The crowd who did the respray just cut them out.





Bit more tidying -





Headlight cover in place - needed some modification -



New pipe from radiator to expansion tank -





Other headlight cover in place -



Also needed to relocate the diagnostics plug once more -



And two last gratuitous engine bay shots before the bonnet went back on





And this is not a before picture. Car was out for 30 miles or so - sits pretty well with the new engine in place

[kdevitt]

Cracks are gently sanded before filler - but you totally change the texture if you go too far. I've sanded them back too much in the past - its not the way to go, as you said you end up hitting the hide quite quickly.

Definitely doesn't replace new upholstery, which is what I'll go for eventually - but I'll hopefully have some recaro LS's at that stage.

Thing on the steering wheel hub is the mic for a bluetooth kit! Not very retro :D

Edit - just in terms of your edited post, the dye used is waterbased - it doesn't cure - it dries by evaporation. I know there are other dyes which would cure in the traditional sense, but I'd imagine they're more aimed at professionals.

[Javier h]

Seats

I was told you need to sand down as much of the cracks as possible

as in almost

removing the cracks entirely (stripping in certain areas)

before applying any filler

after applying the filler and dying the leather...

let the seats cure....as in weeks if possible.

Somehow you would need extra seats to make this possible if the car is a daily driver!

Makes sense if you think about it. If there are no cracks, how would the cracks come back? Just be careful as you don't want to sand enough that you hit the hide itself.

But please keep us posted. I dont believe nothing will ever replace new upholstery but certainly this will lengthen your seats life for years before you buy leather and therefore worth it to do.

I dyed my seats about 8 years ago....and am finally pulling the trigger on new leather.

What is that gadget on top of the steering wheel hub?

Btw, your car has to be one of the best in most people's books. Great attention to detail. That Mtech1 versus Mtech2 shot...classic.

Congrats.

Javier

[kdevitt]

I was meant to pop down to see the car today, but had too many meetings on and couldn't. In the meantime, Dave sent me the money shot -



Naturally I haven't driven it - Dave seems happy though. Said gearbox is excellent, perfect throw on the shift, unbelievable torque in 5th too. And thankfully the brakes are working nicely.

He took it out for a spin - ended up meeting this at the dealers by pure chance



What are the odds!!

[kdevitt]

Getting very close now - needed to reduce a pipe down to allow the M20 exhaust my my car to sleeve snugly into the M30 downpipe section -



Exhaust was clamped and welded into place -



Turns out theres a blow from cylinder 4 at the manifold though. So it will all need to come off again to plane the manifold - we're hoping its just sightly warped.

Washer bottle in place. This is an OEM part from an E30 324td. Its secured over a grounding point on the offside turret - which most E30's have. Naturally it was missing on my car. Dave welded in a bolt to replicate the grounding point.



And voila - one washer bottle in place. This has dual pumps, so will allow the headlight washers to still work.

[kingston]

Soooo close now!!

[kdevitt]

It really is becoming a case of tidying up some bits and wrapping the whole thing up now -

A new centre bearing and guibo arrived during the week - more expensive than expected but that's par for the course at this stage. I managed to get an E36 328i prop second hand a week or two back, as luck would have it, the seller lives close to Dave and was able to drop it in.

Centre bearing fitted to the prop -



New pilot bearing fitted. Shows you how things are with this build - have absolutely no recollection of buying that part.



Guibo in place - same part is used on a number of models. Exact same between E34 535i and E36 328i - works out nicely given the box / prop combo.



Prop was fitted up and is perfect. Dave also did some tidying on the headlight wiring - some of this is unfortunately my handywork. In my defence... ok theres no defence.



All soldered up and tesa taped -



Last bits now is to get an exhaust in place. I do plan on going for some BTB kit at a later stage, so the exhaust solution isn't a final one. Using a standard M20 downpipe to mate to the M30 bits, a scorpion stainless steel centre silence, and retaining my Eisenmann rear silencer.

Also need to pick up a medium case diff - preferably 3,46 although looks like a 3,25 is more common. Diff on it is rare enough - small case 3,25 LSD, but it won't last long with the M30 torque.

[kdevitt]

That leather, wow!

Any chance you'd share a step-by-step?

As requested :)

First up is the side by side of a finished seat and the seat I'm about to do -



Seat was generally ok - very shiny and with lots of cracking though.



First step is to fill the cracks - this filler feels like pva glue. I'd imagine they're similar in chemical makeup, they both remain pretty flexible once dry, however this stuff sands back nicely.



Not too much required on this seat - mainly the bolsters and thigh support. There were some deep scratches as well though.



You need to remove as much excess as possible while making sure the filler goes into the cracks.



This is then all sanded back and I cleaned the seat thoroughly at this stage, you don't want any silicon type products left on the seat or the paint will react.





Have skipped the part where I took the seat apart - you probably all know how to do that at this stage.

This is the dye I've been using - its waterbased. Needs some very slight dilution when its being sprayed.



Air brush is the weapon of choice these days.



Seat ready for first coat -



Two coats in - I dry the dye with a hair drier after spraying it which speeds up the process nicely.



Six coats! Lighting wasn't great but you get the idea. This still needs three coats of sealant. Will update once done - sealants are available from matt to gloss. This will get matt.



And thats its really - plenty of time required. I do find black to be the most hassle to do - it tends to show blemishes more than other colours (especially lighter ones).

[kdevitt]

Fitted up the ecu and tidied all the wiring under the dash



All back in place -



Centre console all back in - expecting a drive next week.

[kdevitt]

Most of the big work is done now - so lots of small bits to do.

Dave flushed out the brake fluid and refilled. It appears someone had put cider in there -



Extended the wiring to exp tank level sensor as mine was on the other side



New clutch pipe collected - its the small bits like this that drive the cost up. Small bits like this, and EUR500 oil pumps.



Finally, the engine wiring as tidied up and the diagnostics plug was mounted.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

it's on right hand drive e30s

lol good that confused the shit out of me I though i had more parts to buy

[kronus]

it's on right hand drive e30s

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Ah ok - its the expansion bottle for the clutch fluid.

say what I didnt know there was an expansion bottle is it aftermarket? is it on all motors?

[kdevitt]

Ah ok - its the expansion bottle for the clutch fluid.