Hello. My name is Dan, and today I doomsday prepped

[KaiserRolls]

Dan your updates are awesome. Pics are just as nice as the work you do.

(Also that helmet is cool and I want it)

[straight6pwr]

well thank you, kind sir.

i will decorate your helmet for you. little miata silhouettes?

[KaiserRolls]

straight6pwr said:

well thank you, kind sir.

i will decorate your helmet for you. little miata silhouettes?

[Jdesign]

Dan that color looks so nice. Ugghh now I am reconsidering the Buckskin.....

[straight6pwr]

Jdesign said:

Dan that color looks so nice. Ugghh now I am reconsidering the Buckskin.....

i agree, but what about the color of your top? personally, I couldn't mismatch them.

well, I'm all done with the interior, just have to install it when we get better weather. officially, the paint booth is disassembled and I can have my room back (and also have women over without them thinking I'm a weirdo).  I have somehow lost one of my memory cards (i think the cats stole it) and therefore a few pictures of the bolster replacement and vinyl repairs are AWOL, but i still have some pictures to show.

driver's seat had one crack in the frame, at the bolster.  i had dave weld this up for me

driver's side seat also had very seized mechanisms (but not broken) so a good 2-day soak in PB blaster, followed by silicone lube, followed by white lithium grease and they are all back to good.

driver's outside bolster was f'd, but i replaced it with a brand new vinyl bolster and a good replacement foam. no pictures of the replacement piece before dying, for now.

and the final result! the pieces are not actually this shiny, the light in the room is super intense from the paint booth setup, so it appears that way (2x100w bulbs)

[m42b32]

Wow... if my interior ends up even half as good as that, I would be stoked.

[Boris3]

This all turned out really well. Nicely done!

[Bassboy3313]

Amazing!!!

[Jdesign]

Dude Yes. And yeah you are right about matching the top.

[RobZR]

Nice work.  Quite the transformation.     Ohh!, the single life,  turn a spare room into a paint booth and here nothing but silence. jealous!!

[straight6pwr]

RobZR said:

Nice work.  Quite the transformation.     Ohh!, the single life,  turn a spare room into a paint booth and here nothing but silence. jealous!!

oh, don't be jealous of my situation.  i'm just making hay while the sun shines.

also, you own like 12 bmws and have a couple of them in pieces, so I think you're doing OK in that department

and thanks, everyone.

[straight6pwr]

to quote brian

Snap said:

Four steps forward, three steps back.

got the carpet pulled today.

discovered a couple things:

1)there is water getting in the cabin somewheres (wet in passenger rear footwell)

2)my heater core is leaking

3)i think the radio is just DED dead. does that happen that one day a radio just doesn't turn on anymore? i thought it was from the aftermarket stereo/old alarm wiring that I cut to the battery, but I traced all the wires and none of them actually went to the radio, besides some rca subwoofer cables.  pictures for my further investigation.  EDIT: Just crossed check the radio/car wiring charts, and everything is in order. Also double checked for a blown fuse, did not find one. Just need to confirm the violet and red/green indeed have power.

4)there are remnants of an old keyless entry/alarm system which I have to weed out. not looking forward to this.

5)i did some work on the central locking.  when I got the car, central locking wasn't doing anything. as well, the drivers lock cylinder didnt work, and there was a separate key for the ignition. well, the PO had removed the microswitches from the door locks and they were just bouncing around in the door.... so, i rebuilt the drivers side lock, greased up all the latches/handles, and reconnected the microswitches.  luckily, that's got me half way there. central locking will lock the doors from the drivers side, but not unlock, so i think the actuator is dying or a wire is corroded on that side. passenger microswitch is dead. trunk lock seems 100% OK.

[KaiserRolls]

My radio randomly stopped working during an autocross. Which is perfect because I'm removing it and putting gauges in. It was intermittent before that though, never put time into tracking it down.

I am no help

[Boris3]

Good thread on e30 water leaks:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=89648

[straight6pwr]

KaiserRolls said:

My radio randomly stopped working during an autocross. Which is perfect because I'm removing it and putting gauges in. It was intermittent before that though, never put time into tracking it down.

I am no help

no this helps, thanks. i just said f* it and ordered a new radio. old one is a garbage pile anyhow.

Boris3 said:

Good thread on e30 water leaks:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=89648

thanks!

[straight6pwr]

got a lot done today. spent 11 hours out with the car.

1. Installed a new radio. Its a Continental tr7412ub-or. Great unit, had to order it from German ebay. No CD player, matches the e30 vintage look, and has bluetooth for music and calls. Forgot a picture...next time.

2. Waterboarded my car.  "SHOW ME WHERE THE LEAKS ARE!!" followed by dumping a bucket of water on the car. Well, the car gave in to my demands and I learned about 3 leaks. Passenger rear window is the rear footwell culprit.  Both taillight gaskets and the trunk seal are also shot. Ordered replacements. F* my wallet.

3. Removed the rest of the aftermarket security system. good riddance.

4. Installed a new heater core and pipes.  easy job except 24v makes it hard to get to the hoses on the engine side of the firewall. had to pull the wire harness out of the way and also attack it from under the car. oh, and I found the heater valve is leaking too....its a $280 part, so not sure what the hell to do with it because I'm not paying that. tried to temporarily seal it up for the moment.

5. carpet time!

1st step was getting some prelimary holes cut so i could actually drop it in place for fitting. used the original carpet as a guide.

set into place. mmm how pretty is that?

driver's footwell all trimmed up

driver's seat/belts/vent trimmed

passenger side done.

the fit of the carpet is good, not great. had to cut it in the center over the trans tunnel to get it to reach better at the door sills.

door trim back on.  it did reach both sides, but it was close.

the carpet is one-piece, instead of the factory 2-piece.  the area where the trans tunnel meets the rear seat leaves a little to be desired...

but I ended up cutting up the seam and using a couple hog rings to tighten it all up which got rid of the bunching.  the 'Y' on top will be hidden by the rear seat bench.

teaser picture!

overall, a bit of work, but I'm happy with it.  there are wrinkles but I'm hoping with time they flatten out a bit. I also will revisit the trans tunnel area to tighten it up down the line. i wouldn't bother using this brand of carpet if you are doing a stock color (black, tan, etc) but for a unique color I think its pretty good. not show car standards, but I am not a show car standards kind of guy.

[B C]

Huge p

[B C]

Huge progress. Will you be making it to the picnic?

[RobZR]

nice progress!!!

re: heater valve.  some of the E28 guys have been retrofitting E46 valves with some creative plumbing.

it's just a solenoid valve, and a couple of hoses.

[straight6pwr]

Snap said:

Huge p

i've been told that, yes. not sure how you know, though.  creepy.

Snap said:

Huge progress. Will you be making it to the picnic?

well yes, in part or in whole. hell, i will probably drive the car with basically no front end on it this weekend to the cruise.

RobZR said:

nice progress!!!

re: heater valve.  some of the E28 guys have been retrofitting E46 valves with some creative plumbing.

it's just a solenoid valve, and a couple of hoses.

the e30 is a bit more complicated with the location (under the dash) and very specific style of pipe fittings that connect the valve to the system. unfortunately its not as easy as plumb a different valve into some rubber hoses. i'm thinking i might try and find a used unit and roll with that.