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Project finished - 'MY22' 318is - bare metal, nut and bolt restoration

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    Project finished - 'MY22' 318is - bare metal, nut and bolt restoration

    I had the unfortunate experience of writing off my old 318is. I was very attached to the old car, and set about building a new one.

    I tend to get carried away so decided I should try & make an "MY19" E30 318is... You know... like you walk into dealer and say "one of those please". 318is with some modernisation and such.

    Old car (RIP)




    Sadly, this pal met its maker. So onwards with a replacement. Found a non-runner and began stripping it down to bare shell and putting it onto a dolley. Shell was in amazing condition except for some rust in the battery box, a little rust under the windscreen and a ding on the LHR quarter. Besides that, never been apart. Owner by a crazy old cat lady (interior was disgusting….. solid felt of cat/dog hair under the front seats). None of this phased me because the battery tray and windscreen cowl sheet metal was still available to buy new, so that was ordered.

    It was in super good condition, even the pinch welds near the jacks were mint







    The plan here was to chemical strip the engine shell (except the underbody, because all the underbody was in amazing condition and cleaned up so well… I didn’t see the need to change it)
    I didn’t want to sandblast because that would have removed all the factory e-coat or whatever you’d like to call it and I don’t want this thing to rust.

    Now, the idea here is “OEM+”. So, for example, when the engine bay was cleaned up, all of the seam sealer was removed and re-applied in a much, much neater fashion but none of the holes where covered up and none of the spot welds filled & smoothed. I like seeing the spot welds and factory joins, albeit in a much smoother manner, because it shows that the sheet metal is original and there is ‘nothing to hide’.

    I spent a good 3 weeks with a wire brush on an angle grinder removing all seam sealer in engine bay and all the stone guard along the front valence, sides and rear of the car. This was a substantially time consuming task because when I was strip it, I don’t mean *most* of it, I mean all of it… from every nook and cranny. Also took a long time because one needs a light touch to remove the material without touching the metal beneath too much.

    And, the boot was completely stripped as well. This took an age….





    And on to the stripping of the body… some progress pics







    Overall, I was pretty amazed at the condition of the sheet metal, given it’s 30 years old. There were maybe 2-3 small rust spots where a stone chip had propagated, this were all converted and treated before moving on








    The battery tray is cut out

    Rear ding is fixed

    New cowl is fitted

    New battery box installed


    Engine bay well under way..


    And now onto the interior… this was a thankless task… no fun at all… didn’t take many pics, very long days ��


    Now, we’re getting somewhere…. Chassis in epoxy primer and seam sealer going on




    New parts start to arrive… last RHS OEM dashboard left in world

    Panel spray outs


    Quick trip to BMW to suss out current trim options…


    Closing out the opening post… and we’re in primer

    Last edited by burkey001; 02-06-2022, 09:35 PM.
    88 325is. S54, CSL airbox, Motec M800, Motec C127, Motec PDM15, Stoptech STR, MCS 2 way coilovers, Forgeline wheels, Recaro SPA, Eisenmann, Personal, lots of custom.

    90 318is. As new OEM+, BBS LM, AST 4210 2 way coilovers, Wilwood SL6R/SL4R, Dynaudio, Recaro Experts

    #2
    So YOU'RE the one who got the last dash!

    Thanks again for posting it up here
    sigpic

    (clicky on piccy to get to thread)

    Comment


      #3
      So YOU'RE the one who got the last dash!

      Thanks again for posting it up here
      sigpic

      (clicky on piccy to get to thread)

      Comment


        #4
        WOW!! This isn't going to be good... this is going to be spectacular!

        Sub a dub dubbed

        Comment


          #5
          Nice work!

          [IMG]https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z.com-vbulletin/550x225/80-parkerbsig_5096690e71d912ec1addc4a84e99c374685fc03 8.jpg[/IMG

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            #6
            Wow! This should be impressive when finished.

            Comment


              #7
              I was questioning myself WHY take it back to bare metal. This shell, although the paint was dull it was solid and had obviously never been repaired... initially i thought to just prep it and paint over...

              lucky I am not a spray painter.. and the body shop that did paint it said along the lines "you'll be amazed what's underneath"

              Fortunately, no hidden surprises came in the form of previous damage but, as said above, there were a couple of tiny rust 'spiders' that must have come from stone chips, well hidden under the paint

              example


              now, this is only about 4mm in size, but it would have spread had the paint not been completely stripped so that stuff like this can be sorted :)
              88 325is. S54, CSL airbox, Motec M800, Motec C127, Motec PDM15, Stoptech STR, MCS 2 way coilovers, Forgeline wheels, Recaro SPA, Eisenmann, Personal, lots of custom.

              90 318is. As new OEM+, BBS LM, AST 4210 2 way coilovers, Wilwood SL6R/SL4R, Dynaudio, Recaro Experts

              Comment


                #8
                Also interesting was the voracity with which the paint on the front half of the car clung on versus the rear of the car...

                All the front hanging panels - fenders, front valance, bonnet - all clearly have a different metal treatment / etch primer type treatment than the rest of the shell. You can see its a much darker grey.

                Whilst the bod itself stripped 'reasonably easily enough', i.e. ladle enough stripper on, cover it with plastic and you can peel off long strips of paint... the front of the car was an absolute bitch. the paint simply refused to detach itself from this black metal treatment... man did it stick.




                Kudos to BMW for an amazing surface prep back in the day, no wonder most of these cars still look so good today



                AND THIS is about where I stopped on the body work. I wanted to do the grunt work myself - but I trust the prep & paint to professionals - so over to them for the colour :)
                88 325is. S54, CSL airbox, Motec M800, Motec C127, Motec PDM15, Stoptech STR, MCS 2 way coilovers, Forgeline wheels, Recaro SPA, Eisenmann, Personal, lots of custom.

                90 318is. As new OEM+, BBS LM, AST 4210 2 way coilovers, Wilwood SL6R/SL4R, Dynaudio, Recaro Experts

                Comment


                  #9
                  Subscribe

                  Στάλθηκε από το Redmi Note 4 μου χρησιμοποιώντας Tapatalk
                  sigpic

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                    #10
                    INSANE. sub'd

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Colour samples.

                      so way back when.... a couple months back, the choice of colours was debated...

                      Colour to paint an E30 that you're doing a 'nut and bolt' restore on. Something truly over-capitalised.

                      Opinions pls.

                      After pining for Champagne Quartz metallic for so long I think I am shifting to a non-metallic colour. Painter has put me off CQM as its a 3 layer paint (basecoat + 2 pearl + clear). Quite reasonably says I'll never ever get a colour match if I need anything touched up, will need to paint whole car.

                      Car will be on some genuine BBS LM, not on airbags but low enough (if you're 40). Interior complete retrim is looking like dark anthracite with saddle brown/tobacco seats.

                      I'm not aiming for a car that shouts "I'm modified" I am trying to create a contemporary E30 through the lens of "If BMW still made E30, what would the series options be via Individual?"

                      Colours as you see them
                      Porsche Oslo blue Z77 x2
                      Porsche slate grey 6601 x2
                      Porche slate grey Y97 x2
                      Porsche graphite blue metallic (broke my own rule) x2

                      I know these all look quite similar... let them wash over you...









                      after all that... someone threw a curveball at me... orange!

                      BMW Champagne Quartz Metallic and Feurorange II
                      With my current diamond black BBS LM for reference, though I think silver discs would suit better. Strongly considering ordering some BBS E50 silver / polish lips.
                      i like both colours a lot. CQM is pretty classic and inoffensive. Classy looking colour and I am convinced it would look great on an E30. However that orange... Gee I really, really like it.
                      88 325is. S54, CSL airbox, Motec M800, Motec C127, Motec PDM15, Stoptech STR, MCS 2 way coilovers, Forgeline wheels, Recaro SPA, Eisenmann, Personal, lots of custom.

                      90 318is. As new OEM+, BBS LM, AST 4210 2 way coilovers, Wilwood SL6R/SL4R, Dynaudio, Recaro Experts

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Amazing work. I am in love with those BBS LMs. Is there anything those don't look good on? :D

                        Comment


                          #13
                          WOW

                          Originally posted by mike.bmw View Post
                          Amazing work. I am in love with those BBS LMs. Is there anything those don't look good on? :D
                          BBS LM's look great on everything

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Can't wait to see the shell painted!
                            Build Threads:
                            Pamela/Bella/Betty/325ix/5-Lug Seta/S60R/Miata ITB/Miata Turbo/Miata VVT/951/325xi-6

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Wow, so sorry to hear about your old car, it was my favorite on the board and almost made me buy LMs (I actually think I still may).

                              As for the color, soooo many great choices.

                              My first choice would be Porsche slate grey 6601 x2 although you already had a grey one so if you want something different. I say Graphite Blue Metallic.
                              Euro Delivery Thread///E30 Project Klaus///COTM August 2021

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