steering box, struts and a caliper done.

A finished caliper on the left and the finished steering box reinstalled to the subframe.
Bilsteins reinstalled in the finished struts

Sub-frame is done!

The finished sub-frame ready to go back in once I get the engine bay coated with some paint. A before shot of the caliper, got the brush on type caliper paint as it is the only stuff with a decent reputation.
A brief glimpse into the chaos that is my project.
I did manage to get the soda blaster working but ran out of soda before I got done blasting the steering box off.
Next on the agenda is to get these cleaned up and coated.

Front Sub-Frame is out

Got the engine bay completely stripped, I am thinking of soda blasting all the paint off and starting with bare metal. We'll have to see how ambitious I am feeling when it comes down to it.

This picture shows how rusty it is under where the Battery was originally mounted.
Here is the removed and dis-assembled front sub-frame along with the front suspension and brakes. The brakes have a little surface rust but are in good shape and appear to be new. They have been upgraded to 320i brakes with vented rotors and 4 piston calipers and stainless braided lines.
These parts will be going back on for sure. Bilstein sport struts, H&R race springs, K-Mac adjustable front Camber Plates, and Ireland Engineering front Sway bar mounts. I may swap the springs for some H&R sport springs that I have as the ride will be a little less jarring and the ride height will be a little higher. The roads in Downtown are not the most forgiving.

Damn, it feels good to sit down!

Finally got a seat in the car and it feels good to be sitting behind the wheel. The seat position is just a little left of the steering wheel center but is not even noticeable. I had to keep it clear of the trans tunnel and e-brake, its pretty close quarters in there.

Of course Kaden gets to sit in it before I do.

Seat mounted.
Plenty of room to get into the back seat, just as long as you don't have any legs. This is in full forward position and for me to sit comfortably it needs to be nearly all the way back.

Here is a view of the fabricated front seat mount. It is 1/4" thick and 1.5" wide with 3/16" thick plate extensions welded to either end to use the original front mounting holes for the seats.

Heres a rear view of the seat mounts. due to the difference in seat tracks I had to drill new holes to attach the rear mount I made. All the bolt holes lined up on the first try thanks to the old measure twice cut (or drill) once rule.

Rust neutralized and sealed

I went over the rust with some naval jelly rust dissolver then went over the whole floor with a brash cup brush on my drill. Fallowed by a couple coats of Chassis Saver, should be another 40 years until that will need attention.

My first floor patch job

Just a small 2"x2" rust hole in the rear floor board. Cut it out and am shaping the new piece of metal to fill it in. It had to be on an uneven surface of course so shaping took a little time.

Got it contoured to the shape and ready to weld.

The welds not the prettiest but it got the job done.
Filled in the welds with some JB stick weld to seal it up real well.

Floorboard ready for paint

Finally got the last of the tar off the floorboards and all the insulation off the firewall and tunnel. I still need to get to the hole where the heater box mounts but that should not take too long. Also found a small rust hole that will need to be patched and some rust on the drivers side rear window sill.