Alpine e30 progress/build thread
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Making progress on the car over the last week or two. Finished welding in the front subframe reinforcements and in the process of cleaning and painting (KBS rust seal) all the front suspension components. Turns out one of my front wheel bearings on the new setup is pretty noisy so I'll have to change that before I get it out on the road. I was hitting the bump-stops occasionally on the Bilsteins so I popped the bottom cover off to cut them down about an inch and here is what I found:
Looks like the rubber starts degrading over time, but I guess they're shortening themselves so I just cleaned up the loose pieces and put them back together.
I made a trip down to Illinois last weekend and picked up a nearly perfect condition leather rear seat and a few other things. It's tan and currently a little dirty, but I am planning to use leatherique to dye it the correct indigo color. Anyone have any experience doing this? Only thing I didn't realize is that because it came out of a very early model, the seatbelt pockets are reversed, so I will have to figure something out there.
I also picked up a very cheap driver's front fender that is in pretty terrible shape. I will eventually be repainting the whole car so I am going to use this as an opportunity to learn and practice bodywork on something else before I attempt that. I have my very damaged but rust free fender to steal metal from too, so I'll be cutting out and replacing the areas with major rust.
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I wonder how hard it would be to cut and weld the fender, it's quite thin
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I wonder how hard it would be to cut and weld the fender, it's quite thin
Thats what I'll be finding out, Ill most likely have to get my welder set up with gas to go that thin
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Cutting and welding that fender will be more work than just looking for one that is rust free. If you are replacing it because of the damage along the back edge by the door, you have a better chance of fixing that with a dolly and hammer than fixing rust. Ask me how I know
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Cutting and welding that fender will be more work than just looking for one that is rust free. If you are replacing it because of the damage along the back edge by the door, you have a better chance of fixing that with a dolly and hammer than fixing rust. Ask me how I know
I actually have a nice fender on my sedan shell that I will likely be using, and then replacing it with this on that car. This is more an opportunity to learn bodywork and rust repair on something that doesnt matter if I ruin it. The white fender would take the whole A team on overhaulin' to repair, as the front is flattened and folded over on itself from the crash and the whole thing is kinked in the middle of the wheel arch. The damage by the door was from the tow company wrenching the door open after they towed it... I got lucky in that the only two undamaged portions are where e30's typically rot, so I figured why not try and make one good part out of two pieces of trash haha, worst case scenario I still have junk
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I wonder how hard it would be to cut and weld the fender, it's quite thin
Indeed they are. As is most sheet metal on the cars.
The real trick is either having a TIG setup where you have excellent control over your settings and a pedal to adjust as you go, or to stitch weld everything together.
I did rust repair on my car with a flux core harbor freight setup and it turned out quite well. Patience is key! -
Work suddenly has me traveling a lot so progress is slow but not stopped thankfully. The front end parts are cleaned, sanded, and almost done being painted. I did some more work on the front end damage, got the remainder of the core support cut out and prepped everything for the new one. I will be starting on the damage to the bumper mounting this weekend
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Getting more things done:
Wire wheeled all of the M3 brake calipers and carriers down to bare metal. Before and after on the fronts:
These came from a texas car so they are in great shape. The rears were a bit more crusty but eventually cleaned up just as well. Started getting them painted but then got distracted by the rear subframe.
It looks like the subframe has never been removed on my car as the holes under the seat (where the long bolts pass through) were plugged with a giant glob of seam sealer, what a PITA to dig out. I have everything removed or disconnected and it seems that the bushings are stuck in the body. I called it quits at that point, but will be attempting the lag bolt trick for freeing them tomorrow. Hoping to have it on the ground and stripped down by the end of the day tomorrow!
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lag bolt trick worked for me. impact one right into the bottom, then use a long ratchet extension or something and a BFH from the top.
Dan
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Lag bolt trick (5/8") and a BFH worked like a charm. Cranked them into the bushings and had the subframe free within 10 minutes! Luckily, the bushings didn't break off either.
Stripped the subframe down, all that's left is to pull out the old bushings and wheel bearings. I removed a bunch of other random stuff from the car to start cleaning and painting.
While I had the rear seat out, I swapped the seatbelts from left to right so that the receivers would match the pockets in the seat. Only issue now is the seatbelt holder on the parcel shelf is now on the wrong side so I will have to find a way to swap it over and then recover the shelf.
With the rear suspension out of the way, I set one of the new wheels in position for a little motivation:
Couldn't be happier with how it looks!
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Back a few posts: Looks like some oil spilled out when you pulled out the bottom cap of the dampers to check the bump stops. What did you refill it with?
It is supposed to be dry inside from what I have seen, Bilstein recommends you do not put oil between the insert and the housing like you would for a stock insert. I bought these used and the guy I bought them from had run them with ATF in the housings and it looks like some seeped in, I wouldnt be surprised if it contributed to the breakdown of the bumpstops...
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Wheel looks great, will your car be that low? :0
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Wheel looks great, will your car be that low? :0
Thanks! It will most likely sit a bit higher, the wheel wouldnt stay in place so I just wedged it in there haha. Those tires are way oversized and will be replaced (they came off an e24) so it probably makes it look a little lower too
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Let me know if you need a shop that will stretch the tires.
I know of one that operates in a back alley on the north side at 1am.
Tip: You can also get expedited service if you shout the coupon code: "White Power" when you arrive
No streching happening here!
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Stripped down the front end of the sedan over the weekend, got a whole bunch of pieces pulled:
Im hoping the weather warms up soon so I can start making faster progress! Thanks to travelling for work the chances of having this done by the picnic are pretty slim... my backup goal is the brew city cruise night BMW show on 8/15
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! Thanks to travelling for work the chances of having this done by the picnic are pretty slim... my backup goal is the brew city cruise night BMW show on 8/15
aww no! the white e30s are dropping like flies.
Dan
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