E21 Project Thread - Part 2
-
Put to use that old Lincoln flux core welder sitting in back of my garage and tried my hand at some tack welding.

Had to weld a new lip onto my front valance in order to mount the group 2 airdam. I had cut off the old lip for a previous airdam. I think it turned out fairly good for flux core. I will be grinding then down smooth, no worries.
Picked up a cheap welding helmet from harbor freight, so naturally I had to customize it with my decals.

I also cut out the stock passenger seat mounts and started making the new ones similar to drivers side.

-
Picked up an S3.46 differential out of an e28 from forum member Jawa yesterday in preparation for the rear subframe modifications. Just need an e30 diff cover if anyone has one to part with.
-
Medium case. E21 came with small case diffs that don't handle much hp, so upgrading to medium case diff is the way to do it.
-
So after 2 months and one mailing address screw up later, my fiberglass hood from Portugal finally arrived.


Would have been nice if they didn't spray expanding foam directly on hood, but whatcha gonna do, right? Just have to rip it off and sand it smooth later on. I am debating on how to secure the hood down now. Whether to do flush hood latches, dzus 1/4 turn fasteners or hell, even bonnet straps. Any suggestions?
I also tore into my new 3.46 lsd to see what I'm working with. Looks like someone's been in it before.

Also found a little friend inside the diff case.

Taking everything apart revealed some decent looking clutches and plates which I am happy about. The bearings seem to have newer red grease applied to them and seals I am not sure about. I will most likely replace the output seals since they should be relatively easy and I'm testing the input seal right now. Snap gave me the idea of filling the diff with a lightweight oil overnight to see if there is any leaking from input seal. If not, then it will definitely withstand the thicker gear oil when used. I am also going to be adding a third clutch and dog ear to raise the locking a bit while I'm in there.



-
That's one way to go out. Drown in a medium case diff.
Things are ramping up for you! Ride that wave!
-
I got the diff with the cover off already, so that probably explains how the tiny frog got in, lol.
-
Hell yeah Dave! E30 picnic bound. You better make it
-
This weekend I finished cutting, grinding and welding in the passenger seat mounts. I also finished the seam seal on the passenger side floor pan patch as well.

Continuing, I painted the entire passenger side floor with kbs rustseal.

Next will be undercoating the new floor patches, cleaning up the rear seat area, treating and painting it with kbs. Then I will come back with my spray gun and put a second coat of kbs on the entire interior.
I also ripped all the foam off the fiberglass hood and test fitted it. Fits well for being way thinner than the stock hood. Obviously not show car fitment, but I'm happy. I'm leaning towards using 4 aerocatch hood latches to secure it down.

-
What temp is your garage?
-
No idea. I use a turbo heater. If I have it on high I can work in a tshirt out there.
-
Just curious about the kbs drying time when it's cooler (I can get the garage to like 45ish)
-
Just curious about the kbs drying time when it's cooler (I can get the garage to like 45ish)
It would dry fine at 45ish no problem tho.
-
Sweet! Now I have no excuse
-
I've even helped it out at cooler temps with a box fan and its cured fine. Pretty much all in the prep like any paint job
-
Got my rear strut brace back from Rampelsauce tonight too. Looks great! Thanks again!

-
This weekend I got the underside of the floor patches sprayed with underbody coating, so that's officially done. The back seat area was also cleaned up, treated and painted with kbs rustseal paint to complete the first coat of entire interior.


Next will be grabbing one more pint of KBS and spraying the final coat on interior with my hvlp gun.
Lastly I got the exterior bump trim off the car so the flares will have a flat area to bolt up against.

Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login




