E30 Frankenstein Progress Thread

[semaj4712]

Ok so let me start out this update with a huge disclaimer...

I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU DECIDE TO DO THIS TO YOUR CAR< IF YOU DIE BECAUSE YOUR SEATBELTS FAIL!

Okay now that we got that out of the way, i am pretty sure that this is entirely safe however I am not engineer and I am just an enthusiast who likes to make cool shit...

Anyways so I spent the last few months trying to source a set of bmw motorsport seatbelts, you know the red ones with the bmw motorsport stitching that came in the e36 m3 LTW...I know a few companies claim to sell it or maybe they do, but they always seem out of stock whenever I tried to buy them, and sets seemed to always go for 500+ and well, I cant justify spending that much on seatbelts...anyways a cheap pair of fronts showed up on bimmerforums and after nearly getting completely lost in the mail they showed up...and today I got antsy and sat down to see how easily they would go in

I had seen pictures of the e30 seatbelts before and knew they were similar but not the same as the e36 and that it was not a direct fit, what I didnt know was that with a drill and about 30 min, anybody with a little know-how could make them work...

Here the e30 and the e36 seatbelts sit side-by-side

You can see the mounting position is much lower on the e36 but for the most part that is the only difference...and it is...

So I drilled out the ...rivets? things holding the mounts together and with a good bash with a rubber mallet they came apart (I also ground the ends off one side but got too excited to take any pictures of it



I then drilled a 1/2 inch hole dead center in the mount, where I felt as if there was still enough structural integrity left in the mount, however if you drill to high it will not fit, so this seems like a happy medium



After that it literally bolts right in just like stock...shockingly easy, the only thing that doesnt look totally stock is the bolt through the top piece as the e30 cover does not work, but I am going to look and see how the e36 covers it up and possibly see if that will fix the problem...



And the good news is the e36 seatbelts will work the e30 receptacles so no need to replace those, now I just need to figure out the rear seats and getting them to match




...And now I have a new money pit which is just great...

[semaj4712]

damn, love the work that went into this thing, i wouldnt of suggested switching out the leather for the cotton but it looks great either way. also i suggest keep the mudflaps, gives it a cool offroad/rally look! very agressive man!

Thanks man, everyone seems to really like them, and I just dont for some reason, I think they only reason they are still on the car is I am lazy, but who knows maybe they will stay

How much work was it to get the rear seat to fit well?

Well not as easy as the front...the bottom piece is actually reupholstered onto the e30 bottom, but we had to use two bottom seats as there was not enough material in 1 to do it...and the upper piece is essentially bolted through the rear wall as low as I could get the seat to go...the bitch is that with the top seat being taller than the e30, once the top half is in place and bolted in, and flush along the top...its near impossible to fit the lower piece in so that it clips...you really have to force it and every time I work up quite the sweat doing so

[Troy_Shark]

How much work was it to get the rear seat to fit well?

[scweet14]

damn, love the work that went into this thing, i wouldnt of suggested switching out the leather for the cotton but it looks great either way. also i suggest keep the mudflaps, gives it a cool offroad/rally look! very agressive man!

[semaj4712]

Those flaps are looking great on this car

Thanks mate

Anyways so earlier this week I decided, well somebody attempted to steal my front wheel and got the lugs about half way off with a vise grip before somebody saw them, however I was unaware and drove off, thus eventually shearing my spacer in half...

Like this





But motorsport hardware saved me and I picked up some new 15mm spacers from him, and the difference in build quality is night and day, and they fit 100 time better...I will probably pick up a set for my rears when I get some free moneys



Also Bimmerfest was last weekend, so here are some pictures snapped of my car over the weekend...





Also linked my fuelly to this thread, im averaging about 20mpg which I think is pretty good considering how I drive

[rsingh3g]

Those flaps are looking great on this car

[semaj4712]

Figured I would update this for everyone, if anyone cares, but over the last few weekends I have pieced together more of my car for Bimmerfest and it is pretty much ready to go with everything I wanted to get done before then...

First off I finally pulled the trigger on the red mudflaps from Rally Armor...

but before I installed them I wanted to fix up the bottom most portion of the body where there is this black line that clearly wasnt painted when the car was resprayed, the original bronzit is coming through and it looks like ass...


So I tapped off the side of my car and went to town, I did the sides and rear lower parts




I think the end result speaks for itself, A TON BETTER!

So then onto the mud flap installation, the fronts simply drill a hole in the universal mud flap from rally armor, and then attach it...I also drilled in another screw to prevent the flap from spinning but super easy on the fronts...




The backs were more of a pain, infact a complete pain, so much of a pain infact I didnt take any pictures

But here is what it looked like finished...


And as you probably dont remember I broke my front plate and so I ordered this for bummerfest, but still on the fence about it, not sure that I like it too much...


And then the other day I picked up the old gauges out of my old car from the new owner, and I recylced the oil pressure and oil temp gauges and put them into my center console where the ashtray was. I am extremely happy with how they look, still need to instal the sender tho, but that will prolly happen in the next week or two depending on how much time away from working on my bike I get



I know the pictures is shit, Ill get a better one tonight when I leave work

[semaj4712]

Okay so now that taxes are done and figured out, lets get back to working on this...

I have some rather simple things I want to try and do before Bimmerfest rolls around...

First off got the car into JMP finally to replace the oil pan and fiddle with some other stuff...
Yes I know I never replaced the oilpan that was JB welded when I first bought the car, well now it is...
Also replaced the intake boot and idle control valve which was causing a relatively massive vacum leak...and also a few small here and there things, which I still have more to do have them do in a few weeks

But okay so on to some other stuff...
So this happened, today I finally got it hammered back into place...it looks actually really good now, some paint chipped off but thats happening in a few places and will probably in the near future get some touchups around the car...

I dont have a picture of the after results but it looks the same without the flipped out part

Also one day while riding the bottom of my seat fell out...
The net on the Recaro broke, like this

So I attempted to fix it by Gaff taping it back together...


However, it ripped again, I kind of figured it would, so I picked up a pair of the nets on the poortex and now its all better...and I also have an extra for when one of the seats goes again...




and then I decided it was finally time to finish the rear seat, so I cut the material for inside the armrest...


Test fit the size of the 1/8 board backing


I knew stealing all my textbooks would pay off for something...



Then drilled through the backseat mount...and finished


I then ran the euro plate into the exhaust of my bike, poked a hole into the front euro plate and then knocked the bike over...so now theres no front euro plate on the car but I am playing around with a new look for bimmerfest...but right now it looks like this...


And now my bikes in my kitchen getting rebuilt


And heres a bunch of pictures Ive taken or have been taken recently...










Somebody even wanted to buy my car


Soon to come things I need/want to do...
Mudflaps
Paint underbody that you can see from the side just below paint line
New emblems
fix sunroof crank
touch-up paint
floor mats

[edirty6eddie]

this thing is beautiful!!!!!

[H3NRY]

Dat bike.

[semaj4712]

So I know its been ages since my last update, over a month to be exact...but I havnt forgotten about her, I actually picked up a bike about a month ago and have spent most of my resources and time on that...

However I did re-do the entire windshield wiper and resivior setup because I was annoyed that my "Waschwasser" light kept coming on...I didn't think it was worth a whole update so I mashed it with this one...

I finally got my rear strut brace I picked up from Dussen installed...custom made and powdercoated, looks pretty good and the build quality is the best I have seen from any non-three point rear strut braces...easy install too



heres a pretty dope pick of the bike I picked up...75 CB500T

[rsingh3g]

This is a sweet build, I love everything going on with this car. I also think those red mudflap will work great with this car.

[slimadi]

Sweet build thread keep up the good work

[semaj4712]

After being backordered and then lost in the mail my horn button for my 911r monza wheel finally showed up, looks amazing!



Test fit


And installed

[semaj4712]

I didnt, You can get the AKG selector rod however I have been told that this may require your to run sold motor mounts and trans mounts as it will pop out of gear at high RPM...I opted not to do this as the play is similar IMHO and I didn't want to have to switch to solid mounts, other than that it just drills right in