The Adventures of Golden Boy, my Rebound E30

[DutchieSaxo]

always good to see some updates in this thread. the amount of design and fabrication skills you have acquired over the last years is stunning to say at least, and i have to say i'm in love with that new roofrack.



'bout the e30, the wheels aren't my cup of tea, seat covers look really good tho!

curious how this'll progress.

[BimmerBomber]

This is amazing. You're living the life, man.

[CubbyChowder]

My new seat cover set arrived this morning. For those wondering, this is an eBay kit from "zoomzoomzoom-ing".

First off, I'd like to say that I would have preferred to pay a fellow member/enthusiast for a seat cover set, but all the guys I learned about through researching were either nowhere to be found or weren't offering kits anymore. I reached out to one guy and never heard back, so I figured I'd look more into the eBay kits as they seemed pretty nice, were reasonably priced and had good reviews. I also wanted to get these done sooner than later, so time was another issue.

I did some research and saw a few negative posts regarding these kits, but they were mainly about a few sets of complete sport seats that he reupholstered and sold which had some problems not related to the upholstery itself (twisted seat back, dirty levers, etc). This wasn't much of a concern to me since I'd just be ordering new seat covers. I also happened to talk to another r3v member about his eBay kit and he had really good results, so I decided to pull the trigger.

I went with this standard vinyl kit in pearl beige, it came out to $485 shipped.

This is my first time dealing with an upholstery related project, so I'm expecting things to have minor flaws here and there. I unboxed the kit today and everything looks awesome and well done, I love how plump the seat backs and bottoms are with the new foam, should be very comfortable! Here it is all laid out:



I figured I'd start on rewrapping the driver's seat upper portion since I have good condition bolsters for both sides and the frame is straight. I borrowed some hog rings and hog ring pliers from my shop neighbor and just kinda started going for it. It was pretty straight forward but pretty nerve racking too. It took me about 2 hours to get it all together, but I am actually very pleased with the results. The kit fits great and wasn't too hard to get together, just took a lot of time and focus. It's not perfect, but I bet that's because of my lack of experience.

I couldn't stop looking at it, I can't wait to see both seats done. I think they are going to be super comfortable now too:




I'm still on the hunt for a lower left knee bolster foam piece in good condition. Please PM me if you have one! Circled below:

[CubbyChowder]

Damn thanks for all the nice compliments guys! Much appreciated, seriously!!


Finally an update on the E30!

Got the tires mounted on the wheels today, super pumped on how they look. Was a little disappointed to discover a few things when I went to test fit them though. The hub bore on the wheels is way bigger than the E30's, so I'll have to source some hub adapters, and the fronts were rubbing the caliper bad, I'll have to run at least a 5mm spacer to clear it. Not a big deal, just wasn't expecting it, I thought they'd bolt right up. I'm sure I would've ended up with spacers front and back eventually anyways to dial things in.

Regardless, I'm loving the way these wheels and tires look together, the meaty sidewall really does it for me:





I was able to get the rear to bolt up just to see how it would look, it wasn't interfering with the caliper but there's still the hub bore difference. I just had to throw it into photoshop and see what it'll look like once the suspension overhaul is complete :

[oprahhwinfreyy]

Thanks for looking and please let me know what you think!

[Chuckdee]

Nice rack ......heh heh

Also, where are you getting your seat covers from?

[19birel]

Nicest rack I have seen by far! Great work!

[nsogiba]

awesome work on the rack.

[OEM+ sluts]

That rack is just insane. Awesome work!

[reiernumans]

Wow, that roof rack is amazing man! And you make it look so easy too!

Good luck with the e30, and if you ever start building low profile roofracks again I'll have to see if it's possible to get one for my Saab 900..

[Wenman]

Your work is amazing, the roof rack looks so good!

[Fleetlin49]

DANG!

[spaaals]

that roof rack is beautiful

[delvin]

The rack is amazing dude, beautiful work.

[LCG]

Sorry for posting this big ass picture, but... it can express my feelings about your work better than my ability to type.