Another place to sit

The e24 rear buckets don't match my front seats but they sure are comfy. The armrest is pretty clutch too.

This is my winter beater for this year, a $1200 e36. 1996 328is 5 speed in boston green. The car is a blast to drive but lacks the build quality I look for in BMW's. Its been a bit of a project itself as you would expect for $1200. But by the time summer comes I'll be looking to part ways and should be able to get about $3k for her. 

The trunk is nearly finished

The trunk had a fair amount of rust and had not been resprayed with the rest of the car so it needed some attention. I went with my usual means of rust inhibiting, naval jelly and chassis saver paint. I had to rattle can some of the tight cracks and crevices but it looks fairly uniform. 

 

 I still need to tidy up the wires for the fuel pump and sender. I also need to run new hard metal fuel lines.

I was involved in a car accident in August 2011 that totaled my e46, My wife and son were in the car and we are all fine after countless trips to the chiropractor. Long story short my sons car seat had to be scrapped so I snagged the 5 point harness and used it for a battery box tie down. May be a little overkill but I sure like the way it looks.

I have the original trunk boards and they still have the original elephant skin on them. Not too pretty, very stained and showing age. I am thinking of redo the trunk boards and wrapping them in some grey indoor/outdoor carpet you see at the hardware store.

Gauge Cluster Redo

The devil is in the details and I needed a small project yesterday. One of the pieces of glass was rattling on the gauge cluster and driving me nuts. The M42 is a buzzy little thing and will show you every rattle and squeak. The other half of the project was removing the 70's simulated wood grain on the gauge cluster. I had read that you could just sand it off and it would be black underneath which is what I did but was not thrilled with the final product so I blasted it with a coat of bumper and trim paint to give it a satin black finish with a little bit of texture. Gauge cluster refurb part duex complete

I'm Back!!!

Long time no post I know. Kids and a 60+ hour a week job will do that. I have not had a whole lot of time to work on the project but have driven the hell out of it. It is my daily driver during the summer months and even without creature comforts like heating, air conditioning, a decent stereo or even carpeting it is by far the most fun you can have on 4 wheels. The M42 has proven to be reliable and efficient. Gas mileage averages above 30mpg. It is geared a little low and its extremely low curb weight help its efficiency. Oh yeah all those bimmers are mine, it may be turning into an obsession.

Custom Exhaust Complete

Back to the project

I have recently been sidetracked from the 2002 project to put some time in on the E46. I have done a full Horsepower Freaks weld in rear subframe re-enforcement Kit. Full rear suspension rebuild, shifter rebuild, and front suspension rebuild. Shes driving like new but the 2002 was feeling neglected so I got some time to put in on her.

Pulled the header to apply some ceramic piant. Used VHT header paint in aluminum. came out pretty good.

This is the Factory E30 Transmission mount. It did require some modification to fit properly.
This is my custom Centerlink. It has about a 1.5" inch drop. It clears the Transmission perfectly and does not interfere with the header.

Lots of progress but not many pictures

I have been working hard but have not had my camera to document the work done. I will take pics and make new posts for everything I have completed.

Here is the first ever m42/2002 hybrid long tube header.

Some more pics of dropping the engine and trans in

The Powerplant transplant is complete!

My first attempt at fabricating a part and I have to say I am pleased with the outcome.

here it is bolted to the engine.

and here it is all settled into its new home.

Gauge cluster Refurb

Got around to taking the clock out of the cluster and putting the tack in. The Speedo still wont work but I have plans to install and electronic one anyways.

Heres the Final Product.

both clusters coming apart for a deep cleaning and the tach swap.

And back in the dash

Its headed back in the right direction.

Got the 318is drop in fuel pump and sender all wired up. I decided to run the battery cable down the other side of the car as it is in a better position to hook up to the engine harness if it pops out of the passenger side firewall.

Pedal box install went fairly smooth. I still need to adjust the clutch and brake pedal Height but its probably drivable like this.

Wiring in the Chassis side of the wiring harness so the engine will only have 1 connector when installed.

Brake system Going back together.

Coil on Plug almost ready.

Here is the final product. I just cut up a piece of 3/16" aluminum plate with the angle grinder and drilled some 1-3/8" holes with my step drill bit and then used the bit as a grinder to widen the hole up to 1-5/8".

A little high temp paint and it looks pretty decent. I just need to figure out how to mount it now.