JackBenny's 1991 318is Project

[Farbin Kaiber]

I'd do open cell, 1/4, and make sure to pull tight.

[jackbenny]

So today I have most of my interior pieces but I'm struggling to decide what to do about the door panels. I want to have some foam on the cards when I wrap the alcantara around them but my research on tha interwebz doesn't give me too much direction. My thoughts were 1/8" to 1/4" foam but do I go open cell like the car originally had or closed cell foam?

Thoughts or suggestions?

PS, I started wetsanding last night...The sunroof panel. It's looking quite nice.

[StereoInstaller1]

Awe come on Luke, you'll have to go back a few pages to see those of her sanding and the like...;)

She's gotten pretty shy with the pregnancy and all. She promised to help me wetsand so I'll sneak some ninja shots in there for ya.

Caught the beginning and the end...now I will go look.

[jackbenny]

Between the beer bottle I spotted and being high on the tar and paint fumes, I'd say you've accomplished quite a lot. ;)

Sadly my supply of Shiner has been reduced to one each. I might have to get some more variety packs upon my visit to Texas later this month.

All they have here in Alabama is Bock.

(And yes, I know there are far better beers out there but what can I say, I'm a Texan and grew up with the stuff...It's comfort beer!)

[jackbenny]

One of the best build threads on R3V.

Tell wifey we wanna see a pic of a woman working with her man on an E30...kinda like the easter bunny or Santa Claus, we mostly just don't believe it.

Carry on!

Luke

Awe come on Luke, you'll have to go back a few pages to see those of her sanding and the like...;)

She's gotten pretty shy with the pregnancy and all. She promised to help me wetsand so I'll sneak some ninja shots in there for ya.

[TrentW]

Between the beer bottle I spotted and being high on the tar and paint fumes, I'd say you've accomplished quite a lot. ;)

[StereoInstaller1]

One of the best build threads on R3V.

Tell wifey we wanna see a pic of a woman working with her man on an E30...kinda like the easter bunny or Santa Claus, we mostly just don't believe it.

Carry on!

Luke

[jackbenny]

One more tip -- have a fire extinguisher close by. Using a heat gun and flammable propellants in close proximity is generally not recommended. And air out the rags before disposing -- safer than just throwing them in the trash.

Heh, good point. Luckily I have two extinguishers located in the garage to counteract such stupidity. :D

[flipper325es]

Thanks for the adhesive removal tip. I'll try and attack that in a week or two after I'm ready to kill more brain cells!

One more tip -- have a fire extinguisher close by. Using a heat gun and flammable propellants in close proximity is generally not recommended. And air out the rags before disposing -- safer than just throwing them in the trash.

[jackbenny]

Awesome updates!

Didn't see it mentioned, but did you strip the harness of the wires that you no longer needed?

The radio harness is gone along with all the speaker wiring. I have no plans to run a stereo in this car, it will be too loud and I just want to hear the 6 cylinder. I am in the process of removing all the airbag wiring. The computer and sensors are gone but I still need to remove the wires.

Things are getting rerouted in the interior so there will be more harness manipulation. I'll detail that when I get to it but suffice to say there will be no switches in the center console because there will be no center console. ;)

[jackbenny]

How hard was it to seperate the rings from the plastic, and how did you re-attach them?

Held together with integrated clips. Used a screwdriver to release them and they just snapped back together. Pretty easy actually. The clips are at the top and bottom of each kidney.

[jackbenny]

Josh,

To remove the adhesive that was holding the interior anti-vibration tar panels, 3M adhesive remover and a heat gun work well. Use plenty of clean rags, and avoid the fumes as much as you can.

BMW uses friction tape on the interior harness, but all exposed exterior sections are wrapped in heat shrink tubing -- engine compartment and stuff under the rear of the car. Friction tape holds stuff together, but it doesn't protect well against the elements. Electrical tape is better here.

If the car spent any time in a climate with real winters, you may want to examine each exposed electrical connector -- headlights, bumper lights, turn signals, radiator and AC switches, diff speed sensor, etc. If the wires and/or connectors are corroded, this is the time to replace them.

Keep up the good work!

Alex

This stuff is a bit different but I understand what you're saying. I checked the connectors like you said and a few are in bad shape (exterior temp sensor for one...which I won't be using) and of course my poor diff speed sensor. Those will be corrected once I get the car back in the air, my head barely fits between the valence and the ground. I am still unsatisfied with some of the wrapping so I might go back and wrap with electrical tape and then friction tape to keep the same look. For now, it's nice having the wiring out of the way so I don't step on it.

You make a good point though Alex and wrapping wire is kinda therapuetic. I might rewrap some of the wires up front by the valence for added protection this week after work.

Thanks for the adhesive removal tip. I'll try and attack that in a week or two after I'm ready to kill more brain cells!

[phenryiv1]

Your eyes don't deceive you, the kidneys are in the pile too. They are beat up pretty bad so I decided to paint them black. If I don't like it, well I can buy some new ones.



Trim rings painted





Nonetheless, I am quite pleased with the results.

How hard was it to seperate the rings from the plastic, and how did you re-attach them?

[flipper325es]

Josh,

To remove the adhesive that was holding the interior anti-vibration tar panels, 3M adhesive remover and a heat gun work well. Use plenty of clean rags, and avoid the fumes as much as you can.

BMW uses friction tape on the interior harness, but all exposed exterior sections are wrapped in heat shrink tubing -- engine compartment and stuff under the rear of the car. Friction tape holds stuff together, but it doesn't protect well against the elements. Electrical tape is better here.

If the car spent any time in a climate with real winters, you may want to examine each exposed electrical connector -- headlights, bumper lights, turn signals, radiator and AC switches, diff speed sensor, etc. If the wires and/or connectors are corroded, this is the time to replace them.

Keep up the good work!

Alex

[Ray Smoodiver]

Awesome updates!

Didn't see it mentioned, but did you strip the harness of the wires that you no longer needed?