Build Thread?

[GunMetalGrey]

Alas I have retired the car for the season again, but this time in a heated shop were it is more likely that I will work on it very frequently!
The oil temp issues got the best of me and I am unable to fork over all of the cash required to put one in, along with the diff dumping a lot of oil I decided it was time again. Start build.
Took off the front again in order to start fitting the oil cooler, forgot how much I hate having hoods on when working on cars. Took that off promptly and I am always annoyed by the hood hinge being half painted and dirty underneath, so I pulled all of that out and cleaned it real nice!

Much better
Started looking at the engine bay and was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with it. I have a few patches of mismatched paint from previous repair and some rust that I would like to replace by the ABS unit, luckily I can still buy the sheet metal that goes under the abs new from bmw for a price that is well worth it!

Well, might as well do my annual engine pull and do things right! 
Started prepping the motor for pulling again and decided that I will do some bay shave and tuck followed by a respray so it will actually match my exterior! I also want to paint the core support because it is not really painted and it is visible from the outside of the car. 

The lowest cross beam in that picture, and most of the core support will be painted black.
Goals
Tuck this

Catch can this

Delete ABS and remove lines, make a better looking and more stealth brake fluid reservoir 

Also contemplating putting the fuse box in the cabin and running the engine harness straight into the firewall and not over the top of the engine.
There, major details, I want to do some small stuff as well, like add a strut bar, replace my strut tops and whatnot, but those are short little projects!

Picture of half of the shop for the kids

[jockhater2]

GunMetalGrey said:

I don't really see the vw in them. I like them a lot though. Simple yet sporty, and nice and clean.

my vw has them...they are vw rims fo sho

[GunMetalGrey]

Ha, digging up some old stuff huh?
Almost two years ago!

[jockhater2]

GunMetalGrey said:

Ha, digging up some old stuff huh?

Almost two years ago!

lol yeah. After I replied I wanted to delete my post because of how long ago it was. But this forum doesn't let you delete your comments.

[Earl]

I definitely support your decision of shaving and tucking=)

[328ci]

shop looks dope

[GunMetalGrey]

Update time, got quite a bit done in the past few days(not really) but I shall post my findings!
First off, this....

Turns out my wastegate never got tightened to the manifold... not sure if this was me or the guy that did my exhaust, either way I cleaned it up and it will be on tight next time!
 

So time for a bit of backstory. I knew that this car had some sort of drivers side damage in its life, as the front drivers side fender has been replaced (by BMW) and I am finally starting to see the extent of what all happened. The bumper is new, the bumper shock on the D side is new and the sheet metal by the abs is bent from the collision. I was showering and thinking about removing my core support and needing to make new radiator mounts after removing the core support (rad mounts are part of it) and I remembered that the radiator didn't really fit because it didn't fit between the frame horns (part the bumper shock bolts too) and I got to thinking that my whole front frame work is bent. So I went to the shop and measured tims e30 and then mine, sure shit my front driver side frame horn is bent 1/4" in.... So I continue cutting the core support out, spot weld cutters are pretty cool! 

that is the driver side where the fender meets the frame, the other side is perfectly straight, this one is bent

the spot weld on the front of this had been drilled already and not re welded, other side was perfect

lower valance mount on the drivers side, bent. 
I think you see the trend. 
Played around with the bent metal near the ABS, this is what I ended up with 

A bit worse than I thought, and the rust is creeping up to other parts, luckily I can get the super rusted part new for 40 bucks shipped! 

Rusted through on the other side too. 
Core support was rusty and bent so I ended up taking it out in a less than gentle manor

And the end result is pretty cool!

Now I wish I had done this sooner! Pulling the engine was so darn easy, super blurry picture of how it comes out.

Leaving me with this.

I started stripping seam sealer after that, which is kind of a pain! 

Interesting note, the frame horn moved back over almost a 1/4" after cutting the core support out, so the core support was pretty bent. 

So, the plans. Replace all rust in the engine bay (going to be a lot of work there), get a new core support and make tabs to bolt it in to the car, and reinforce areas that it will be bolted in to, repaint bay after shaving, stitch weld all seams (seam weld the front) and for now that is all that comes to mind. 
I think I am ending up a litter deeper in this than I initially thought, but I have to learn some how!

[GunMetalGrey]

As it sits now. 
Another interesting note, I will be picking up an e36 328 five speed with 140k that got rear ended Prepare for 900hp engine build....
Also, if you need parts from it let me know! four door, white exterior tan interior, drive line is spoken for already

[GunMetalGrey]

Alright one more then I am done. 
I took the flywheel and clutch off and noticed that there was a lot of dust, and saw that the flywheel had one hot spot on the outer edge. I am glad I took the clutch off because it turns out that the flywheel is no longer straight and wasn't touching all of the clutch disc. Will have to get that taken care of !

[Earl]

Good hood struts on that car? Progress is awesome

[suspenceful]

Dope as always. With all the work you're putting into this thing, you might as well hold onto it forever.

Buy a 1-series, I'd love to see what you do with it

[Rowleym]

900hp you say? I have a hookup for a couple borg warner turbos. Both of them are .91 exhaust side t4, and either 2.8" intake or 2.5". They are s4xx turbo's. Thats about all I got on them though haha. My name is on one of the 2.8", which i will be using in my m50 e30, and I will be building the twin scroll exhaust manifold. I actually bought a whole bunch of sch 10 1 1/4 stainless to build a bunch of them. Plan on making a jig. 

No one produces twin scroll m5x e30 swap manifolds, So i plan to fill that void.

[328ci]

Keeps getting better

[GunMetalGrey]

Life is difficult. Decisions are hard. What todo?! 
Side note, the e36 that I got as a parts car is mint except for the fact it got hit. Playing body shop to see what I can make of it! 
Haven't done much with the E30 lately, started thinning out the engine bay harness and continuing stripping seam sealer. 
Put some Bosch projectors in the e46 with a new set of bulbs/ballasts and did the yellow high buckets. Looks good bro. Also yellow fogs. And snow tires. 
That is all.

[B C]

Life becomes less difficult when you sell your setup to kaiser for $2500

Pics of e36 or gtfo

[GunMetalGrey]

$2500 is a comical amount.

Pics of e36 tomorrow?

[Jdesign]

I need to wonder around these members build threads more often. Hats off to you sir. I have pulled core supports before and its a fair amount of work getting the new one in. Welding it in straight and lined up proves to be quite the challenge when everything is tweaked a little. Luck for you, you have a car to take measurements of off.

[GunMetalGrey]

It sprung back straight after I cut the core support out. New core support will have a tubular frame built into it and will be bolted in!

[GunMetalGrey]

Things to look at, yellow inner headlights, angel eyes, projectors, yellow fogs. Good upgrades!

I like. 
And pictures of the e36 





You may think that I didn't do too much to it, but this is how it was when I got it.

That's all for now folks!

[patsbimmer1]

Does the e36 have any rust?  I can't tell from the pictures but it looks clean!  Even interior doesn't show the usual dirt stains that you get on that tan.