Joe's E30 325i Sport

[TriggerFish]

Aren't e34 those weird metric sizes, or am i getting mixed up? I'm sure you know, but check for rust on them too.

This might not help you lusting

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/261644973053?_mwBanner=1#ht_246wt_1399

Had a call today to say it's ready. Let's hope this version of ready ties in with mine!

[Toxicvrs]

Aren't e34 those weird metric sizes, or am i getting mixed up? I'm sure you know, but check for rust on them too.

This might not help you lusting

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/261644973053?_mwBanner=1#ht_246wt_1399

Had a call today to say it's ready. Let's hope this version of ready ties in with mine!

Yeah the E34 are the metric weird size, exactly same style was what I meant. And don't! I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out :P

[TriggerFish]

Thought so. I assume they'd be less desirable due to the difficulty in getting tyres. Makes £100 seem pretty good I think?

 

You know you want to! Think of it as a winter project

[Toxicvrs]

Thought so. I assume they'd be less desirable due to the difficulty in getting tyres. Makes £100 seem pretty good I think?

You know you want to! Think of it as a winter project

Thankfully I can't afford one yet.

[TriggerFish]

My phone's come back to life again, I'm happy to say

 

In car news, I got a call saying it was ready, so toddled off down there to see, and it's nearly ready - there's just a bit more polishing to go and the wheels to collect from the refurbers, and then it's all done. The finish of the paint I'm very pleased with - there's just a few little blobs and pits in the paint, which I'm told will polish out. The rear boot lid was very bad for this, but I'm told that's not been polished at all yet (and the photos don't show the imperfections anyway)

 

Some photos (first time using my 15mm-30mm DG lens too - I like it!).

 

A nice sight to be greeted by compared to the previous visits:

 

 

 

 

Not too sure on the G60s. They're only there as a temp. wheel while the others are refurbed, but I think with some correctly sized tyres, a paint in silver, and some banding, they should look pretty decent.

 

Two solid suspension towers:

 

 

 

 

Some general reflection shots (there are some tiny scratches in the roof, but they don't show on camera)

 

 

And quite a few on the unpolished boot:

 

 

 

This run on the rear bumper is the worst imperfection though, but I'm told will be removed.

 

 

So it's just polish, and weld up the front bulkhead above the throttle pedal, and it's done. The end of the tunnel is in sight!

Edited 8 November, 2014 by TriggerFish

[BobIzYaUncle]

looking good mate

[Paul007]

I agree.

[TriggerFish]

Went to see it again today - it's been moved back indoors, so I was looking under strip lighting. There's still a couple of imperfections (the sort you can see and feel) - which they're going to solve. There's also some weird zig-zag line under the lacquer on the bonnet, so that'll either be polished or resprayed. 

 

Plan is to go and see it on Wednesday after work, when they're open late, and assuming all is well, get it delivered home for Saturday 

[bert1973]

Love E30's, had a 318is about 10yrs ago in silver, always kick myself for getting rid. Still look top in good condition and getting quite rare in good nick. Got me thinking this mmmmmmmm.

[BobIzYaUncle]

Love E30's, had a 318is about 10yrs ago in silver, always kick myself for getting rid. Still look top in good condition and getting quite rare in good nick. Got me thinking this mmmmmmmm.

+1 :(

[TriggerFish]

Love E30's, had a 318is about 10yrs ago in silver, always kick myself for getting rid. Still look top in good condition and getting quite rare in good nick. Got me thinking this mmmmmmmm.

 

I'd guess now's the time to buy - they're only going to go up in price as good ones become hard to find/rust becomes an even bigger issue. Go in eyes open though!

 

They do look awesome though (me, biased?! )

[TriggerFish]

I just got a quote for SORN cover for the E30 - insurance for the car despite being off the road (so against fire/theft). So, you'd think that the age of the owner (note: owner, NOT driver) would have no difference. Oh no.

 

If I get a quote with my DOB (23) it's £146 for 12 months of insurance.

If I do it in my dad's DOB (52) it's £109. 

 

Why am I £37 more of a risk just to own stuff?!            

[TriggerFish]

Well, I'm home from having a look at it, and it's a     from me! Coming home Saturday I hope, just need to talk to the delivery peeps tomorrow.

 

There's a couple of small imperfections, but one's folded under a crease/coach line in the bumper, and isn't visible, it's just one you can feel. There's another minute one on the side of one of the trim bits, but it's really tiny. Plus, I don't think I'd have much luck asking for any extra work. 

 

When I got there they were polishing it up, but buffed it off the front wing/bonnet for me (hence the weird effect in the photos - which are crap, because I only had one SD card in my camera, and that's throwing an error for some reason, so I used my phone).

 

 

[Toxicvrs]

Looking absolutely brilliant mate, we resisted an E34 and ended up with a 3.2 Jag instead, not the same as the lovely E34, I found a set of chrome headlamp rings and headlamps and bits of tool kits from boot if it's any help to you.

[TriggerFish]

Cheers.

 

Awesome stuff - can't beat a nice Jag!

 

The headlights are different I think, despite looking the same - I think it's the mountings that differ (I've got 6 lights anyway!) and I've got headlight washers, so have different rings, but thanks. The tools though - depending on what you've got I'd be interested

[Toxicvrs]

I'll have a check about the place to see what's leftover

[TriggerFish]

Cheers

 

On a positive note: It's home! 

 

 

Took a lot of shuffling to get it into that space without PAS and with the world's slowest steering rack though.

 

 

 

Lots of world ahead still though. At least it's warm... 

 

 

 

Nice stable mate too (not sure what model, but covered in carbon fibre everywhere)

 

[Paul007]

Now for Edd China to appear and bolt on all the "brightwork"...

[TriggerFish]

He's more than welcome to!

 

In the mean time, there'll be me, wrapped in several layers taking ages cursing the cold :(

[BobIzYaUncle]

finally tapatalk back up and running so can catch up.

its looking lovely mate. I'd be proud to own it

[JoshH]

Posting to keep updated on this. Fantastic so far! Very jealous!!

[mdk1]

Top work so far, great to see it nearly finished.

[TriggerFish]

Cheers guys. I'd forgotten I had a thread here (opps!), so this is a bit of a back-dated update!

 

Not really much of note has happened over Christmas - it's been too cold, and I've been getting up too late to make use of the day light!  I've got the wiring loom in (as in, through the bulkhead - it's not connected). The valve clearance have been adjusted (hoping there's less tapping now!), and I've got the inlet manifold/throttle body/cooling/fuel hoses hooked up again. 

 

 

 

I got a a little stuck with the cruise control actuator as I'm not sure where it mounts, and I'm also struggling with wiring the injectors back up. The loom is in two parts with a plug in the middle. The original plug corrodes, and are often replaced with crimps. The PO had used double ended bullet connectors, so I had to cut them to remove the injectors/manifold. I've recrimped them with proper, removable crimps. but I've fed the wire too far into the female ones, so there's now not space to insert the male counterpart. Should be simple to fix, but space is tight so it's a job I don't want!

 

I've also managed to source some new con-rods and pistons from a 320 (don't need the pistons - but the rods are shorter = longer stroke) to go into my spare block for the 2.8 build.

 

 

The hydrogen peroxide is to be used with other stuff for plastic bleaching (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retr0bright).

 

Then, a couple of weeks later I came across an M52 (e36/e39) 2.8 crank. This goes with the con rods above.

 

 

And last week I finally sourced a mint condition dashboard. Yaaaay!

 

 

 

 

 

These are terrible for cracking around the indented bit on the passenger side. To find one this good is a very, very rare find from what my searching has shown me.

[TriggerFish]

So at this point, things were going fairly well, if slowly. I moved onto changing the fuel filter while the system was still de-pressurised, but the bolts were rusted, so I got the WD40 out and left it. While I was under the car though, I had a look at the work done. After removing the body kit to expose the sills fully, this is what I found.

 

The metal is fine here, but surely some paint/sealing underneath wouldn't be too much to ask for? 

 

 

Rear sill - fuel filter in the background.

 

 

Same area - fuel pipes in shot - leading off right tothe front

 

 

More rear sill - subframe bolt (I think?) in the background

 

 

Front sill, passenger's side (no idea how I managed to get my arm in the photo!)

 

 

Front sill, before any poking

 

 

Same area after 10 seconds of finger poking

 

 

I've only looked at the passenger's side so far. I got in a mood and came home - I didn't fancy taking the body kit off the driver's side in a temper. I'm not sure how this will fare MOT time, so my current plan is to get the car to start, bolt in a seat, seat belt, dash, lights, maybe the front windscreen and take it to an MOT centre. If it fails (on the sills), I've got good strong evidence to moan at the body shop. If not, I will still moan. It's even more gouling to know what I've spent on this would now but me nicely at the top of the market for a good condition one which isn't in need of all this work.

 

Not too sure what to do right now. I don't think there will be much recourse from the body shop, and if it's simple work it might be easier to just foot the bill and get the MOT centre to weld it up (even more so if it's just a simple square like the last picture suggests).

 

Anyway, that's me up to date. Some good purchases made, but still rust issues on the sills. :devil:

Edited 11 January, 2015 by TriggerFish

[BobIzYaUncle]

cool progress, shame about the sills