e21 BMW 316

[stikrz]

cheers!

I damn near read the entire thread, and I love your e21! I love e21's and currently have one myself, a US 320i 5 speed. Your car though has come a looooong way!

I may have missed a few things, though, such as where you got that 3 gauge panel that replaces the air vents.

[e21mark]

Well that's the brakes all sorted. It was a combination of sticking master cylinder and 2 pipes on the servo being incorrectly placed. Doh! Oh well, I'm only human. The brakes now are awesome and really powerful, hauling it down from licence threatening speeds with ease. I'd go as far as to say they're the best brakes I've ever experienced on an e21 BMW.

The slight issue with the exhaust manifold touching the steering column is also sorted. Well almost anyway. There's still the slightest of touches on full lock but that's down to the amount of give in the OE engine mounts. I just need to find some harder ones and it'll be fine. Hopefully the sun will be out this weekend and I can get some decent video footage. Meanwhile, despite being a rubbish bit of film, you get an idea of how it performs and sounds here....

(Start at 30 secs)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX7UP8ql1cQ

[e21mark]

Thanks. Appreciate the positive comments.

Have been having a couple of teething troubles with the e21. The exhaust manifold touches the steering column under hard acceleration. It's only slight but wanted sorting. Fortunately some heat and brute force solved the clearance issue pretty easily. The other problem was the remote servo, which just refused to maintain a vacuum. Obviously that's not good in a car which has pretty strong performance. I had hoped I could simply return the unit and exchange it for a new one. Unfortunately they were out of stock and the Spanish manufacturer said it would be weeks, possibly months, till more would be available. In the end I opted to strip the thing down and see if I could find the fault for myself? The most obvious issue was the gasket between the 2 halves of the vacuum reservoir, which was pretty much useless. I opted to make a new one from cereal box cardboard instead. I also replaced the rather cheap bolts, that joined the 2 halves, with decent quality stainless items. I bolted the whole thing back together and now, on the bench anyway, it appears to hold a vacuum! I'll be bolting it back in and bleeding the brakes again later today.

The E30 is still pretty much on the button and I'm making the most of some unseasonably good weather of late. I've repainted the cam cover, although really it needs powder coating and the tri colour replacing. I also want the race seats re covered in dark grey alcantara with red stitching.

Both cars are going to be on the Wheel-Whores stand at Ultimate Stance on November 1st. This will be the final show of 2015 and I'm really pleased to have been invited to take both the E21 and the E30. The E21 is soon to be featured in Performance BMW Magazine and Retro Car Magazine.







This is how the cam cover was and how I want it powder coated.

[trm-]

This car, especially the color of it, is stunning.

[e21mark]

As my speedo (on the e21) is reading low, I looked online and bought myself a digital heads-up display that uses GPS. It was only £15 and just puts your speed in your line of sight. You can even switch between MPH and KPH, or set an audible alarm for when/if you reach specific speeds.

Under power, the lower steering UJ is touching the exhaust manifold ever so slightly. I also want to remove the rubber coupling, as the heat from the manifold makes it soft and allows too much play I think? It's not a huge problem but just teething troubles really. I've got a smaller bore brake master cylinder now, which I want to clean up, paint and rebuild prior to fitting. I also intend re-drilling the brake pedal to alter the fulcrum point and decrease pedal effort.

Eventually I intend fitting throttle bodies but till then, I want to shield the air filter from engine bay heat. I was thinking along the lines of an aluminium box or something, that could simply be mounted on the inner wing? I may have to indulge in some CAD. (cardboard aided design)

Hopefully today will be dry and bright, as tomorrow Retro Car Magazine are doing a photo shoot.

I was chuffed to see the E30 make a few nice pics from RRG15.



Few random pics.

[Mehowski]

Looks like all the hard work is paying off

[e21mark]

Performance BMW photo shoot done and another with Retro Car Magazine coming up soon.

[e21mark]

Thanks. Tax paid and have put a few miles on it now. Slight issue with the brakes sorted.

[Grime]

Crazy nice car man! Didn't think I'd like the blue, but it turned out more than perfect.

[whyisthernousernames?]

Saw this on RR. Its gorgeous!, love the rear louvre and yellow lights

[sotiris cb3]

Well done,Mark!If it was mine I wouldn't paint the wheels.

[e21mark]

Thanks guys. I must admit, I'm pretty chuffed with how it looks.

[Mehowski]

This thing is absolutely mint mate

[Suburuuh]

Oh man!!!!

Such a job well done. The color of the paint, the wheels, the headlights, everything.

[e21mark]

740 mile round trip today. Worth it though.