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Hey S/W, figured I'd post on here after seeing some of the great builds and build threads that I've really enjoyed. Here's to hoping you enjoy mine!
It feels great to finally be able to start building this project out. Having started this all ~3 years ago it feels like only recently after graduating college has the true financial, and quite honestly, the time commitment opened up. I've had a pretty concrete idea of what I've wanted this car to consist of, and figured why not build it while I'm at a good period of my life?
Originally, this had all started out when I picked up an early model bronzit eta with all the appropriate euro goodies to start with along with some Southern Ways. ~1.5 owner car with 95k miles. Back when I had first purchased the car, I very naively thought that I'd be finishing up the project in about a year.
After about a year though, I sat down and realized that it simply wasn't going to work. The car itself had a decent bit of rust when I purchased it, but thinking I would repair it, decided not much of it. Fast forward about year after a rough salty winter doing DD duties and the various pea sized rust holes that were on my car when I bought it, grew into penny and quarter sized holes. Seeing as I had no other car to drive while I fixed up my car, decided it'd be best to try to leave the current car as a DD and start building out parts for the next shell.
From there parts start to flow in. Which at the moment is simply a matter of waiting for good deals for parts on the list. First thing being an M-Tech 1 Kit that I've been set on (Hence wanting an early model). The front valance is in great shape, but what really sold the deal for me was that it came with a NIB rear valance and original old stock hardware as well for the front and rear.
Doing as any S/W member would do, I kept priorities in check and snagged wheels as well. Originally, my plan was to snag a set of the wider-mesh 5x120 Southern Ways.Which is essentially a poor mans version of an E50. Regardless, they are still very cool wheels that'd I'd still love to have. All of which was in lieu of what I really wanted - BBS E50's. However I never expected that I'd find the faces in the right spec. But something funny happened. In my search I never found any Epsilons, but I had found some E50's!
Wheels themselves were built and used on an E30 M3, (16x8.5 Front / 9.5 Rear) which worked out perfectly as I snagged E30 M3 suspension (No pictures yet, sorry!). And while they'll need to get rebuilt to actually fit a regular E30, it's a step in the right direction. As a bonus, here's what they looked like on my buddy Kevin's S54 swapped M3. Overall, they fit pretty damn well - on an M3. That being said, the wheels will likely need new halves in order to accommodate the change in fender.
Now I was able to snag a E30 to actually start putting these parts on. One of the biggest reasons why it's taken so long to find a car (about 2 years) is due to rust. After dealing with my last car, I simply wanted to get one with as little rust as possible. Simply due to money and time constraints. Didn't want to start my project with hours and hours of welding if it was just an average E30. Between that and the ever increasing E30 tax, finding a rust free early model around Maryland that isn't 7k can be challenging. Enter the current car:
It's a 1985 318i in Cosmos Blue with 180,xxx miles. M10/5 spd that actually ran and drove without any issues, all while avoiding the E30 tax. Originally I had heard that a friend of mine had just snagged a rust-free E30, give it a couple days and eventually I was already leaving messages asking about the car. Fast forward a few weeks of constant and he decided to sell it to me! That being said, I'm more than happy with the way the car is. With the car being about 90% rust free, and being rust free in all the important areas.
Overall things like the rear such as the battery tray and trunk were clear, as was everything in the rear arches. Even the fuel line cover was completely intact. Needless to say I pretty much was ready to shake his hand the moment I saw the underside.
Look at the rocker panels and underside! I was amazed to hear that this thing had never been garaged considering it was a local car it's whole life.
The engine bay still blasted in cosmoline as well. All of which point towards very good signs all around.
The car itself however still wasn't perfect, with rust primarily in the front battery tray from an improperly vented battery that overtime ate away at the battery tray. Other rust includes little minor holes in the rear taillights, surface rust on the roof (Thankfully none in the sunroof housing!) and minor surface rust on a rear arch (Hoping that the angle grinder will handle it when the fenders eventually get a slight chop and heavy pull.)
After really determining the damage, through some sort of miracle it's only affected the battery tray and not the surrounding panels. What makes all of this better is that this is one of the few E30 body panels that BMW still sells (At a very affordable ~80 dollars too) that's spot welded on. It only made sense to buy the panel. Deep down, I was initially worried, due to my welding skills and proximity to the strut tower. But lately, I've wanted to give myself a challenge with some metal work on the car.
Which leads me to where I'm at now, the battery tray. [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Dynabrade-18100-Autobrade-Abrasive-Exhaust/dp/B004AP9VTW"]I've already snagged a sander[/ame] to grind down the spot welds amongst other tools. One of the biggest tasks is making sure I can get access to all the spot welds , which will mean dropping things on the firewall, including brake lines, foam covers, and miscellaneous parts.
Another effort will be most likely dropping the drivetrain in order to sell and part off everything out (2002 / E21 owners, feel free to PM!). Additionally, depending on how the rest of the spot welds are, dropping the drivetrain first might also be a good way (if not lengthy) to give me more room to fix the battery tray.
Primary goal for all of this at the moment is being able to get everything ready for paint stripping and blasting B|.
It feels great to finally be able to start building this project out. Having started this all ~3 years ago it feels like only recently after graduating college has the true financial, and quite honestly, the time commitment opened up. I've had a pretty concrete idea of what I've wanted this car to consist of, and figured why not build it while I'm at a good period of my life?
Originally, this had all started out when I picked up an early model bronzit eta with all the appropriate euro goodies to start with along with some Southern Ways. ~1.5 owner car with 95k miles. Back when I had first purchased the car, I very naively thought that I'd be finishing up the project in about a year.
After about a year though, I sat down and realized that it simply wasn't going to work. The car itself had a decent bit of rust when I purchased it, but thinking I would repair it, decided not much of it. Fast forward about year after a rough salty winter doing DD duties and the various pea sized rust holes that were on my car when I bought it, grew into penny and quarter sized holes. Seeing as I had no other car to drive while I fixed up my car, decided it'd be best to try to leave the current car as a DD and start building out parts for the next shell.
From there parts start to flow in. Which at the moment is simply a matter of waiting for good deals for parts on the list. First thing being an M-Tech 1 Kit that I've been set on (Hence wanting an early model). The front valance is in great shape, but what really sold the deal for me was that it came with a NIB rear valance and original old stock hardware as well for the front and rear.
Doing as any S/W member would do, I kept priorities in check and snagged wheels as well. Originally, my plan was to snag a set of the wider-mesh 5x120 Southern Ways.Which is essentially a poor mans version of an E50. Regardless, they are still very cool wheels that'd I'd still love to have. All of which was in lieu of what I really wanted - BBS E50's. However I never expected that I'd find the faces in the right spec. But something funny happened. In my search I never found any Epsilons, but I had found some E50's!
Wheels themselves were built and used on an E30 M3, (16x8.5 Front / 9.5 Rear) which worked out perfectly as I snagged E30 M3 suspension (No pictures yet, sorry!). And while they'll need to get rebuilt to actually fit a regular E30, it's a step in the right direction. As a bonus, here's what they looked like on my buddy Kevin's S54 swapped M3. Overall, they fit pretty damn well - on an M3. That being said, the wheels will likely need new halves in order to accommodate the change in fender.
It's a 1985 318i in Cosmos Blue with 180,xxx miles. M10/5 spd that actually ran and drove without any issues, all while avoiding the E30 tax. Originally I had heard that a friend of mine had just snagged a rust-free E30, give it a couple days and eventually I was already leaving messages asking about the car. Fast forward a few weeks of constant and he decided to sell it to me! That being said, I'm more than happy with the way the car is. With the car being about 90% rust free, and being rust free in all the important areas.
Overall things like the rear such as the battery tray and trunk were clear, as was everything in the rear arches. Even the fuel line cover was completely intact. Needless to say I pretty much was ready to shake his hand the moment I saw the underside.
Look at the rocker panels and underside! I was amazed to hear that this thing had never been garaged considering it was a local car it's whole life.
The engine bay still blasted in cosmoline as well. All of which point towards very good signs all around.
The car itself however still wasn't perfect, with rust primarily in the front battery tray from an improperly vented battery that overtime ate away at the battery tray. Other rust includes little minor holes in the rear taillights, surface rust on the roof (Thankfully none in the sunroof housing!) and minor surface rust on a rear arch (Hoping that the angle grinder will handle it when the fenders eventually get a slight chop and heavy pull.)
After really determining the damage, through some sort of miracle it's only affected the battery tray and not the surrounding panels. What makes all of this better is that this is one of the few E30 body panels that BMW still sells (At a very affordable ~80 dollars too) that's spot welded on. It only made sense to buy the panel. Deep down, I was initially worried, due to my welding skills and proximity to the strut tower. But lately, I've wanted to give myself a challenge with some metal work on the car.
Which leads me to where I'm at now, the battery tray. [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Dynabrade-18100-Autobrade-Abrasive-Exhaust/dp/B004AP9VTW"]I've already snagged a sander[/ame] to grind down the spot welds amongst other tools. One of the biggest tasks is making sure I can get access to all the spot welds , which will mean dropping things on the firewall, including brake lines, foam covers, and miscellaneous parts.
Another effort will be most likely dropping the drivetrain in order to sell and part off everything out (2002 / E21 owners, feel free to PM!). Additionally, depending on how the rest of the spot welds are, dropping the drivetrain first might also be a good way (if not lengthy) to give me more room to fix the battery tray.
Primary goal for all of this at the moment is being able to get everything ready for paint stripping and blasting B|.
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