E30 M3 Vert

[968Reckless]

under side of the car was power washed in preparation for some fresh paint. Not a fun time, wouldn't recommend. I decided to paint over the OEM undercoating but found out the hard way some of the aftermarket stuff doesn't react well with whats on our cars. Both the Eastwood brand and Hud Bright didn't want to cure. I had to go over the entire car with SEM trim black in order to seal everything. If i had to guess its something to do with the rubberized compounds of them. Everything worked out well in the end, just a lot of extra work.


At this point everything had been removed from the underside.

[968Reckless]

Rear sub-frame was complete stripped down, painted and rebuilt with new parts. Went with street quality bushing to keep the ride smooth, POR15'd the diff case and powder coated the cover. New sensors, hardware and gaskets throughout.


Ended up going with a 3.25lsd out of an e28. Had to swap the cover and output flanges.











Not pictured but i went with GKN Drivetech shafts.

[968Reckless]

Gas tank was replaced with an aftermarket unit i bought on eBay. Happy with the quality, fit as it should but it doesn't have a drain. Vape tank was also refreshed with new lines and fittings. Everything was scrubbed clean and painted. Will most likely be chopping up the filler neck to account for the wider body, still brainstorming on this....







Every line in the car was basically replaced. You can see how much of this dry rots after 30 years.

[968Reckless]

Over all the car was in good condition. It was clearly been in a rear accident as you can still see damage in the trunk but it drove straight. I had to cut out a few small rust holes in the floor but that was about it besides some surface rust. Any areas that i removed rust were covered with POR15, love that stuff.





Covered a majority of the trunk with 50 mil sound deadener so i used a few extra pieces for under the front seats. Might do more in the cabin and doors but not sure yet. At this time i also ran all new speaker wire, RCA cables and relocated the battery to the trunk. I read the OEM battery cable needed to be extended a few inches but that wasn't the case for me, we'll see if that changes after the rear bench is installed.

[CorvallisBMW]

Awesome project, sub'd

[968Reckless]

Awesome project, sub'd

thanks! lot to come, lot of pics to go though lol

[968Reckless]

At this point i started to tackle the engine bay. Shaved off basically everything, ABS was removed and the expansion tank went to the battery tray. Wire harness was pulled back and folded away. Cardboard cutouts were made to get an idea for the plates i need to cut, surprisingly it was pretty easy and the final product was made. I also cut a few circle pieces to fill the holes on both sides.




seam sealer was ground out....what a pain





plates tacked into place, weldable primer was used on the bare spots and underside.

[Iloveboost]

Awesome work !
you made my day by posting a picture with the oem brand new fuel line cover !
i was trying to find the part number for this pièces for eternity hahaha !

keep on the good work !

[968Reckless]

Awesome work !
you made my day by posting a picture with the oem brand new fuel line cover !
i was trying to find the part number for this pièces for eternity hahaha !

keep on the good work !

LOL very expensive part for what it is.

[968Reckless]

Filler was the next step.

[968Reckless]

While the engine bay work was being done a buddy of mine worked on the rear quarters. Overall I'd say for the body work i have around 30 hours into the bay and probably 15 into the quarters.





I know in the past people have welded strips into the doors but it would still require filler so i didn't see the point. Drivers door had also been hit so after the dents were popped out it required a little filler on the lower sections.









close to done.

[Stan]

wow, great work!

[968Reckless]

Body work continued...








friend of mine broke the driver side skirt so a little glass repair was needed.

[968Reckless]

Was lucky enough to get the rear bumper from a pick n pull for dirt cheap but it did require a ton of work. Had about 20 layers of paint, deep scratches and some kind of tar on it. Most of the ssanding done by hand due to the angles. Also decided to fill the side markers to match my euro front bumper. Applied a thin fiberglass layer from the backside and filled it from the front after it was dry.

[968Reckless]

Picked up a spare front subframe from the classifieds so i could leave mine in the car. Ben @ Bayside Fabrication modified the frame and oil pan. Only good things to say about Ben, good product, good communication and fast turn around time. This was the first modification he did for a convertible so we had a bit of a learning curve, make sure you let him know this when ordering. I ended up modifying the sway bar mounts to fit the longer frame rails of the convertible. Engine isn't in yet but i think everything should be normal moving forward.

Bayside link


https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/for...dification-2-0








Pan back form being hot tanked, looks brand new!





Majority of the engine stuff has been powder coated BMW Silver.