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Ashley1995

Ash's 325 E30 - Restoration

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So the last few weeks I have just been mainly cleaning up the engine and ancillaries. 

Iv'e painted a load of brackets and the engine block itself. Cleaned up the head, and iv'e dropped the inlet manifold off to be sandblasted. Once that is back I can paint it and then start putting things back together. Iv'e replaced the gear selector joint and installed the new Z4 shift and replacement bits. I've also started to paint the exhaust manifold. 

Also then had a friend round to do  some welding. Started off with the front arch. made up some plates, cleaned up the metal and spot welded them in place. 

I now need to grind them back and make it look a bit nicer, but at least this side is now solid. He's left me the welder to have a play with so i'm going to practice and then have a go at the other side myself. 

New and old slecter joint

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Halfway through painting the engine, Dipstick also painted

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I'm in the middle of doing the gearbox bits at the moment. Have you done the oil seals too? (I'm struggling to find a socket to get the output flange off the gearbox...)

The amount of play in the old gearbox parts vs. the new ones is shocking isn't it!

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Had a busy few days getting a load done. got the other side of the engine block painted, painted the exhaust and the inlet manifold and some other small parts including the engine mounts, fuel rail etc

All new studs on both sides, new exhaust heat shields and gaskets. Manifold back on with new nuts and washers too.

It's nice to finally be putting bits and pieces back together rather than taking things apart.

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Edited by Ashley1995
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Bit more work done on the engine this weekend. New injectors seated into the freshly painted fuel rail, fuel rail back into freshly painted inlet manifold and  then manifold back onto the head with new studs and nuts. Also painted the thermostat housing and put this back on too. 

Still need to sand the BMW logo on the inlet manifold and paint the rocker cover but it's getting there slowly. I went to Players at Goodwood  this weekend and it gave me some motivation to get some work done on the car. I miss it! 

 

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Looks much better :) 

I really want to paint mine, but I don't want to paint over the OEM blue sticker on it. How anal is that?!

Like a tool, I painted the lower half before fitting the engine, then noticed the sticker, so I'm stuck with worst of both worlds now.

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10 hours ago, TriggerFish said:

Looks much better :) 

I really want to paint mine, but I don't want to paint over the OEM blue sticker on it. How anal is that?!

Like a tool, I painted the lower half before fitting the engine, then noticed the sticker, so I'm stuck with worst of both worlds now.

I thought that...then i thought against it... and just pulled the stickers off. 

I think someone on E30Zone makes all the OEM stickers, could always try him for a replacement instead. 

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So the engine is coming together!

The last two days I've been cleaning and painting and replacing parts and putting the engine back together.

Everything is getting new nuts and washers too.

Starting to get some good progress now, shame the car isn't ready to take the engine yet.

New silicone hoses make a nice difference, shame the wiring loom is messy but I'll try my best to tidy it..

Pics!

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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This has come to a bit of a halt at the moment as i'm kind of stuck until the welding is complete. I need to sort a decent mobile welder, Iv'e decided against using a friends welder as i want the finish to be top notch.

I have stripped the interior completely now and found my dash to have a couple of cracks in :( Nothing to bad but i may try and source another, although these are becoming hard to find. 

I need two new wings so I cannot decide whether to drop the engine back in, rebuild the whole front end and then MOT the car and enjoy it a little, then just take it to a bodyshop to have the whole front end sprayed including the engine bay, or get the engine sprayed (by a mobile sprayer in my garage..) then have the wings done at a later date.  

Parts are building up though,  All new suspension parts are here and all new brakes excluding calipers as i can't seem to find any new ones for sale... Oh yeah and found more rust in the rear passenger footwell! Arggghh!

Now just to find some more motivation! 

 

 

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Agreed with Simon!

That floor pan looks OK - I think those disks are available from BMW as new panels.

If you can get a new dash, do so. Everyone that got in mine (for the 2 days of its life it's been working!) would always comment 'what's that on your dash? Oh. It's a crack...' I paid £130 for a pristine one, with vents and a light switch last December if that provides any sort of ballpark figure.

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Agreed with Simon!

That floor pan looks OK - I think those disks are available from BMW as new panels.

If you can get a new dash, do so. Everyone that got in mine (for the 2 days of its life it's been working!) would always comment 'what's that on your dash? Oh. It's a crack...' I paid £130 for a pristine one, with vents and a light switch last December if that provides any sort of ballpark figure.

Any idea what the purpose of these discs are Joe? I think there's four altogether, two large two small.

I was think I could just cut a square out around it and weld a square plate In?

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No idea I'm afraid. Maybe used during manufacturing? Ive heard then called drain holes, but I don't imagine many people ever taking it apart to drain the footwells...

Mine has large round plates fitted I think - the chassis was fine, so some new plates were just fitted instead. If the chassis is solid, I would try to avoid cutting it further. The small ones i would happily weld over - I think some of mine have been cut out and replaced with new metal. 

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Well I've not updated this for a while.. but to be fair, I've not touched the car for a while! 

I have now arranged with a friend to have him do the welding. I just have to get the car rolling, which isn't that big a job. The whole front suspension is rebuilt now anyway and the rear i haven't started on. 

Whilst the car is at his place and on a ramp we are going to tackled the brake lines too. I do need to get a cheap set of steels for it though. 

Hopefully a bit more of a proper update soon! 

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If you just want wheels to roll around on, I've a set of bottletops you're welcome to borrow? No rush for them back, I only picked them up as wheels to stand it on over winter, and I've got two other sets I can use for that purpose. 

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2 hours ago, TriggerFish said:

If you just want wheels to roll around on, I've a set of bottletops you're welcome to borrow? No rush for them back, I only picked them up as wheels to stand it on over winter, and I've got two other sets I can use for that purpose. 

ohh that would be good. It's an excuse to come up and see the E30 too at some point 

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Drop me a message and we'll sort a date out. Busy this weekend, and possibly next, but evenings are free. It'll be a good excuse to take the e30 for a run too. 

I think I gain more from seeing the 140i though!

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So finally some progress!  

 

I've got the front suspension all re-built now, all connected and torqued up. I have installed the front brake discs and repainted caliper carriers. 

 

I have bought two new refurbished calipers for the front that i will fit Saturday with the new pads I've had sat for over a year now! :o At this point it will be ready to take the wheels and i can roll it out. 

 

I also fitted the steering pump and HT leads back onto the engine and then painted some areas within the wheel arch with underseal that needed it.

 

More pictures to come next Saturday 

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Edited by Ashley1995
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I spent two days working on this at the weekend and my love for it has really returned, I have that energy back now to get on with it and make some progress. 

So I sourced two brand new front callipers (at £100 each! :() Got these painted and then fitted with new pads too. A friend of my dad is able to get good discount on genuine BMW parts so I hoping he can get me two new front wings for a good price. 

I then removed the exhaust and put the wheels back on. The car then came down off its axle stands for the first time in about 18 months! 

I had a really good clear out of all my parts, sorted them all into boxes (and found a mouse nest in the boot!) then rolled the car outside, again for the first time in about 18 months. I gave the whole garage a good sort out and a clean up too. 

Seeing it out side again bought back my love for this car, even in pieces. I just cannot wait to get it running again. 

 

Now its fully rolling and mobile again I can get it down the road to a garage that is going to do the welding for me. hopefully in the next few weeks! 

 

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Sorting the pile of parts!

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