JackBenny's 1991 318is Project

[Schniddy]

subscribed@!

[Bmil951]

I just spent about 3 hours reading all 40 pages. Reading this epic thread reminds me of Simon S's "Zen" thread. They're really awe inspiring and motivational to the rest of us, so thanks for taking the time to document this amazing transformation so that the rest of us can somehow vicariously live through your work. I can't wait to see video of this thing at full throttle. Keep up the good work!

[CHIF8008]

just went through all the pages

sub'd :D

[Gobig_us]

That sound clip sounded amazing. I can't wait to see a video of this thing pounding the track. Very nice! Is the 'rubber' section on that MT1 really rubber?

[bejbis]

Updates? I really want to see this car.

Where is your shop in Louisiana? I'm moving to Baton Rouge in the next couple weeks.

-Dan

[jackbenny]

Good to see that stencil worked well for you, I was also a bit worried about the stickiness of the old vinyl.

Car is looking good, you should have said something about wanting one of the e30 mtech spoilers, there are a couple local guys with original nice ones sitting in their 'parts room'. One of them is still brand new in the bmw box, but I doubt that one is for sale.

Oh, and on those tierod ends, just mark where they are sitting now on the threaded rod, pull em off, put the new hardware on and thread em back on, if you mark them well there wont be a need for another alignment.

-Dan

I was a little worried but we moved quickly and were very careful pulling the vinyl up. It really worked great and thanks for making it for me.

I thought about getting an MTech1 wing (a real one) and even tried looking for them. After a while I thought I would take one for the team to see what it would take to get Ary's wing on the trunk lid. I know Newman did it on his project but didn't detail it too much.

Car is back in the air and my hands are throbbing in pain. Lets up the beer does something to relieve the pain. I have fixed the mono wiper to my liking but wow is space tight in there. I had to walk away twice so I wouldn't damage anything. I've painted the electric fan cages black so they won't stand out as much as the red. Put on the carbon fiber fuel rail cover and made some adjustments to the wire bundle mount to make it compatible. And I started making a template for the overflow bracket template.

Bumpers will be completed next weekend and I will bring them home after thanksgiving. I will also be bringing home the next project though it isn't a bmw. It will be polarizing for sure but I might document the build here if there is an audience.

The cooler weather has made the garage quite enjoyable.

[bejbis]

Good to see that stencil worked well for you, I was also a bit worried about the stickiness of the old vinyl.

Car is looking good, you should have said something about wanting one of the e30 mtech spoilers, there are a couple local guys with original nice ones sitting in their 'parts room'. One of them is still brand new in the bmw box, but I doubt that one is for sale.

Oh, and on those tierod ends, just mark where they are sitting now on the threaded rod, pull em off, put the new hardware on and thread em back on, if you mark them well there wont be a need for another alignment.

-Dan

[LivingLegend06]

but with the clear applied...

That came out great. I love all the little touches and can't wait to see it when its all done.

[jackbenny]

^
M3 style links boy
They attach to the strut

The car is looking great
I like the coil cover

Get that overspray cleaned up my man, a little thinner and a rag and good as new
:)

I know right? I've got to get the car back in the air and take care of it but the little one has a cold so my attention has been focused there. I'll get her done soon though.

[TrentW]

/\ I agree. I like the fact that all the details on this car aren't too flashy.

[Gnarles]

Wow, nice work on the coil cover!

[BUDNUNTA]

^
M3 style links boy
They attach to the strut

The car is looking great
I like the coil cover

Get that overspray cleaned up my man, a little thinner and a rag and good as new
:)

[Balleristic31]

missing swaybar in suspension pic?

Btw amazing build. I can't wait for the outcome it will be godly!

[YetiX]

Damn. Every time you post an update I am amazed at the attention to detail in this project. I hope someday to be able to do something even remotely as cool. Resurecting an old Honda dirt bike is all I've done so far. (My car is nowhere near in the league of yours.) I need more garage space first. :)

[jackbenny]

updatez...i haz them

work has sporadic at best but I did make it to the barn this past weekend and my son got introduced to his great grandparents. pretty cool to have a picture of 4 generations. anyhoo, I've been working under the hood trying to sort some things out. I'm beginning to have second thoughts on my monowiper. as big of a pain in the ass it was to do without the engine installed, its much, much worse when it is in. I've walked away 4 times now from it to ensure that i don't break anything.



In addition, I trimmed my coil cover so that it was compatible for my OBD1 setup. I'm still considering the injection rail cover but space is really tight. I'm going to put the car back on stands and look at my front subframe to header clearance to see if I can pull the .25 inch spacers and lower the engine.

I finally have door handles!



another SEM trim paint special. I think they came out nice and it makes getting into the car a lot nicer.

So who knows what's missing in this picture:



Yeah, no lock nut or sleeve. My fault I know but it would have been nice if the alignment people told me BEFORE they aligned it. ugh, it handles so much better now but I'll have to align it again. I wonder if Blunt gets tired of seeing my money?

I got some electric fans a while back. The cages are red which doesn't really go with what I want in the engine bay. So I took them apart.





I'll paint the cages black this weekend hopefully.

Previously, I mentioned I had acquired an MTech1 replica spoiler from Ary at Eurostop.

There is potential...



The "rubber" portion will be painted black (same as the trim on the car) and the insert white so it replicates the original spoiler. Fitment will require some work.







But hey, I've come this far, whats a little body work?

Unfortunately, I couldn't get it accomplished before the trip to the barn.

The trip was to paint my bumpers, do a little project with the coil cover and help out with dad's '02.





there's a metric mechanic 2.3l M10 with weber side drafts going in the engine bay. I have yet to see the motor but I look forward to "testing".

Prepping the bumpers took longer than I expected. The back was cracked pretty bad but dad was able to get it plastic welded on his previous trip. The majority of the time was spent smoothing the bumpers out and filling rock chips.







My uncle was kind enough to let me spray the primer on my parts. This was my very first time using the gun and while I did pretty good....



I tripped on the air hose and got a run. I was quite irritated but we can fix it. unfortunately we were short on white paint so I need to acquire some to complete the process.



I've been wanting to replicate the existing coil cover lettering on the carbon fiber cover. Bejbis was kind enough to make me a stencil of the BMW MPower and stripes. He made this probably six months ago and I decided it was finally time to take the plunge. I, my father and my uncle had never painted with vinyl stencils before. It was quite nerve wracking.

I sanded down the shiny coil cover with 400 grit so the paint would have something to adhere to.



I measured out the center line of the stencil and marked the cover accordingly. The stencil was carefully applied.



From here it needed to be taped up. The vinyl was old and wasn't as sticky as new vinyl and that had me a bit worried. luckily it all stuck well.



We sprayed some left over Porsche silver on the cover. after a quick flash, the tape was removed.



and then the arduous task of removing the vinyl. I was extremely nervous at this point.



fortunately, nothing leaked and the edges held pretty true.



but with the clear applied...







Suffice to say, I am quite pleased. I think it's a neat touch without making the carbon bling too much.

I'm hoping to work on the car this weekend though I have no idea on what. The weather is now making it nice to be in the garage so hopefully I get more accomplished.