E30 Touring resto - Pic heavy

[Jozi]

Another part finished and ready to go onto the car.

I cleaned up the brake master cylinder ages ago with a wire wheel and wire brush and then left it soaking in Deox-C poweder to de-rust it.

The original servo is massive and doesn't fit any longer with the m52, fouls in the intake manifold, so a Clio one was used. The rod inside needed to be removed and after figuring out it wasn't metric but actually 1/4" UNF I got a threaded rod and cut it down so it was just about level with the face of the serve (same as on the original servo).

Original


Clio


The Clevis pin hole also needed filing out a little to accommodate the E30 pin



Dificult to see but I used a threaded round bar/slieve on the rod to stop it moving and it's also nice and snug inside the end of the MS

[Jozi]

Been waiting for this sight for a long time


Bit dark to see much but apart from being wet it looks great Colour doesn't really come out because it was a bit darker than it looks in the picture.

I'll get some better pics tomorrow after I hose of all the road grime from transporting it home.

[Wuzie]

Looks great! Can't wait to see more stuff bolted onto it.

[Jozi]

Likewise Wuzie, going to be tough not scratching the paint

[Jozi]

Only got a chance earlier to have a proper look in day light, after lastnight there wasn't much light left by the time I made my way outside.

The paint looks class, so smooth and shiny, very happy with it and the colour.

Other than the first pic the others are straight from the camera.









I couldn't help myself, had to fit a arch flare and a wheel. Thats as low as she goes without any weight in the back.

[CubbyChowder]

Looks amazing!

[Jozi]

After a few afternoons spent labelling the loom and all plugs I finally got the whole loom pulled from the car!



It's a bit all over the place and I'm not sure if its right but it's out now with some of it rolled up so it doesn't tangle up to much.

Also met this little fella when I removed the speaker grill

[Nixxon]

Did you intentionally have the engine bay painted glossy?

[Jozi]

Did you intentionally have the engine bay painted glossy?

Yeah that was always the plan. To be very honest, I wish I had done some of the smoothing myself as he didn't go quite as far with it as I have done. I'm more than happy though with how it turned out, I didn't want to go to far away from it looking factory which is how it is now, more or less

[Jozi]

Not much of an update really (being far lazier than I should be) but I do have some work in progress things.

I wanted to get the doors built up but I couldn't let myself use the old grubby catches that go on the door shuts. So I came up with a plan:



Plan was to take the old catches and pretty much ever nut or bolt that will be visible and zinc plate them myself. Couple of nuts, a bolt and a door catch to try it out on after bit of a going over with a wirewheel:



I started with the lock catch thing:



But I got my current a little high and burned the part. Second attempt but with another spare catch went much better, I still managed to burn it a little (user error) but up until that point it looked to be going real well! No pics of it : but I do have this after yellow passivating it



I also tried it on a bolts, as expected zinc won't coat the rust but it still came out quite well:



And here's both compared to an original catch from one of the shells (it was actually in pretty good condition considering)




A little more testing to do before I plate the parts that will go back on the car but so far I'm pretty happy with it!

Progress-wise, it's been slow having to do one thing before I do another etc...

So far I've pretty much got everything cavity waxed, sills will be done a 3rd time and I also have to do the subframes and some other parts.
The loom is in the car but hasn't been routed around because I needed the holes for the cavity waxing.

[Jozi]

Did these yesterday, mostly a trial run again, brake res bracket will be used as is though, I might possibly to all brackets and bolts in the bay gold passivated.

Cleaned up as well as I could do them:


Zinc plated


And passivated

[CBREEZ]

this is truly an impeccable build, I can't wait to see the finished product!

[Jozi]

Been awhile since I did an update. I was getting the hang of the zinc plating and then it went to shit and just couldnt get a nice plate. I cooked up a new batch of electrolite and it's pretty much been working 100% since. For anyone thinking of doing it, you need patience and it's prob less hassle to let the pro's do it :p

This is more or less what I've done so far


Most of the bolts for the door lock, the lock brackets and bit are plated and a few other bolts from around the door also. Have started on doing the subframe nuts/bolts also, eccentric washers and nuts below for the rear arms. They were new but I decided to strip the coating from them and make them more shiny and maybe? more resistant to rust than what ever bmw had on them.



I also gave the rack a good clean, new inner track rods (don't have or can't find outer ones) and new rubber boots, hardlines got some surface rust removed and a coat of paint, likewise with the spline and the two banjo bolts were zinc plated.

[Jozi]

Small update as progress has been nearly non-existant since starting a new job 5 weeks ago.

Old shell is another step closer to being scrap ready now that I got the last of the shadowline trim removed last weekend and the rear quarter glass.






And yes that one pice of glass missing


Good thing I have spare from the red shell that has been restored.

[Jozi]

Little bit of progress this weekend, quite happy with what I got done for once

Subframes were looking a bit worse for wear with dust from the paint shop and some paint chipped etc from being moved around. Decided to make use of some of bmw's own stone chip, more like a heavy rubberized paint than anything else, and treat the underside of the front subframe and the whole rear subframe with it, and some satin paint to make it look a little better. Both are ready to be refitted once I do the same with the trailing arms and wishones next time I'm home.





Close up of the slightly textured finish.


I also got the front of the car soundproofing started, made patterns using the old car as a template. Front of the car is done, will be adding more to some of the larger empty areas and I have another product I might use to cover the whole floor pan.