JackBenny's 1991 318is Project

[ahriley91]

Very nice. You do fantastic work. And it sounds great.

[8380 Labs]

I wanted something to hold the gauges so I picked this piece up from summit. not bad for 12 bucks or so.

this is obviously a matter of personal preference but i think an OEM radio delete drilled out to fit the gauges would look a little cleaner here. just a stupid observation, i love your whole project dude.

[defaultName]

You have been nominated...

http://jalopnik.com/5655068/whats-your-favorite-build-thread

Check the comments

[blalor]

You have been nominated...

http://jalopnik.com/5655068/whats-your-favorite-build-thread

Check the comments

I did that. You really gotta dig through the comments ("load earlier discussions") to find it, tho.

[jackbenny]

this is obviously a matter of personal preference but i think an OEM radio delete drilled out to fit the gauges would look a little cleaner here. just a stupid observation, i love your whole project dude.

Tis temporary. This whole panel is going to be redone eventually. I'm not thrilled with it as it looks tacky even though it matches the door cards. If it really bothers me after a while, I'll just paint it black.

You have been nominated...

http://jalopnik.com/5655068/whats-your-favorite-build-thread

Check the comments

I didn't see me in the comments but there are some wicked builds listed there!

[Simon S]

Holy crap!
I've been away too long..
This thread never disappoints.
Cheers to the new family member !

[dirtysix]

This thread never disappoints.

Tis the truth.
Welcome to fatherhood. You'll love it.

[Takahashi]

Fucking awesome build!!! keep working 'til the end!!!

[longms]

Wow!!!! Just read all 39 pages. I feel like I went on a life journey: initially getting the car with a jacked up rear end that seemed to have no future, then making the car look as if it was Superman just coming out of the phone booth, the birth of a child and now a heart beat from the motor that seemed would never get cranked over.

Congratulation on the new family member. I can't say I have seen many builds this detailed and thorough. Amazing job, absolutely amazing!

You got skills!!!!!!

[bejbis]

Meeting for the local bmw club is this coming up thursday, we would love to finally see this thing.

-Dan

[jackbenny]

Meeting for the local bmw club is this coming up thursday, we would love to finally see this thing.

-Dan

Yeah, I know, I've been slacking. I'm going to the Barn this weekend so I can get some trim and the bumpers painted.

Couple of things worked on this weekend but nothing noteworthy to report. I'm dicking with the windsheild wiper as I installed the mechanism not quite bottomed out. It is a royal pain to get to the wiper mechanism with a 24v in there. I may just say screw it and be done with it....no I've come this far.

I'll be repainting the shadowline trim on the left side a THIRD time. Last two cans of SEM didn't work out so well. The last one splattered as the tip kept getting clogged. Needless to say I was pretty pissed. I'm going to try and get it all painted this week time permitted.

I'll try and get some pictures posted but they aren't too exciting.

Well, I got an MTech I replica spoiler for the back from Eurostop but I'll discuss that in a later update.

[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.

[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. :)

[Balleristic31]

missing swaybar in suspension pic?

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

[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
:)