Fizzy Bimmer - DOUBLE JEOPARDY

[DavidB 1037]

On 6/4/2020 at 5:07 PM, 320touring said:

It was a £500 heap but pretty good fun!

The 3.91 would come out of an E30 325i.

If going for an E36 318ti, get the engine box and diff. Also, be aware the m44 is a 1.9 (if that makes any difference for regs).The front struts from an E36 also fit, and give you 5stud, so a wider range of wheels if needed.

The rear end from an E36 318ti will also bolt straight on (it's an E30 rear end with 5stud hubs and disc brakes).

Normal E36 have the Z axle which won't work.

Any E36 diff should fit - but again be careful re ratios.

Essentially, you want to keep the gearboxes and diffs matched. 

An E30 box needs an E30 diff ratio, and an E36 box needs an E36 ratio.

 

Drop me a PM if you have any questions!

Doesn’t the E36 Compact have an E30 rear axle?

I would love an E30 - I think the cheap boat has long since departed though.

[dc2100k 436]

14 minutes ago, DavidB said:

Doesn’t the E36 Compact have an E30 rear axle?

I would love an E30 - I think the cheap boat has long since departed though.

Yes it does but with 5 stud hubs. I think I’ll probably end up going 5 stud if I can find a suitable 318TI donor, but will stick with the existing 4 stud setup if I find an E36 318is donor or end up buying a drivetrain separately. 

 

The E30 is a lovely chassis but you are right they are no longer an affordable classic. I think the 325is has forged a course for the two door E30s and the 318is is a similar shell but obvs with a smaller engine. 

[Jazoli 4973]

On 6/15/2020 at 2:54 PM, dc2100k said:

Another two hours hiding from the wife and I got a little bit further with the roof...

 

I managed to wind the solid sunroof panel back into place and fortunately it is pretty good and the headlining seems in decent nick too. Therefore I have elected to try and fix the existing roof skin first and if it turns out rubbish then I will plate with the 1.5mm steel sheet as previously planned. First step was to fabricate some small plates out of 1mm steel, fold them and then steel epoxy them to the underside of the roof skin and the side of the sunroof opening. I have left these to set now and next time I get to the car I will epoxy another piece of 1mm (again with folded supports) right over the whole lot to bring the top of the sheet just shy of the existing roof surface and reduce the amount of filler required. I also filled the other small holes and pitted areas with steel epoxy ready for grinding back, filling and painting.

 

 

Errrrrr...... Did you say this was going to be a rally car? And you're using epoxy to sort out the roof? As Dome alluded to in an earlier post it seems like a very bad idea to me as there's every chance you'll end up on it and you can laugh when you are sliding along the road as the epoxy falls out and lands in your lap. 

It should be welded up, properly, we would have been laughed out of scrutineering when we were banger racing never mind rallying. 

[dc2100k 436]

55 minutes ago, Jazoli said:

Errrrrr...... Did you say this was going to be a rally car? And you're using epoxy to sort out the roof? As Dome alluded to in an earlier post it seems like a very bad idea to me as there's every chance you'll end up on it and you can laugh when you are sliding along the road as the epoxy falls out and lands in your lap. 

It should be welded up, properly, we would have been laughed out of scrutineering when we were banger racing never mind rallying. 

Isn't banger racing a contact sport ?

The type of rallying I'm going to be doing is for production cars and can be done in an E30 cabriolet with no roll over protection if that's your thing! I'm more concerned about the massive sunroof panel next to the roof repair to be honest, I think that would be more likely to fall out in a roll. In any case, I'm still considering plating over the whole thing in 1.5mm steel riveted to the original roof skin, or perhaps the fibreglass roof skin that dome linked to previously. 

[SiC 20212]

Why don't you weld it? Looks easier to do than the faff of trying to get glue to bond. 

Epoxy isn't very flexible and as the roof on the body flexes a lot, it's likely to break pretty quickly. Also a E30 cab will have reinforcement in the door and won't rely on the roof to stop the body flexing. 

[cort16 56249]

Welders and roof skins don’t mix very well it’s really easy to get it all wobbly and set the inside of the car on fire at the same time .

I recon I’d be tempted to bond the repair too but there’s special stuff Automotive stuff that allows a bit of flex . Most modern BMW’s are glued together a anyway .

 

[dc2100k 436]

21 minutes ago, cort16 said:

Welders and roof skins don’t mix very well it’s really easy to get it all wobbly and set the inside of the car on fire at the same time .

I recon I’d be tempted to bond the repair too but there’s special stuff Automotive stuff that allows a bit of flex . Most modern BMW’s are glued together a anyway .

 

I did look at getting some of the 3M panel adhesive but expediency won out and I had the Devcon Steel Epoxy to hand, and a large hole that was letting the rain in!

 

38 minutes ago, SiC said:

Why don't you weld it? Looks easier to do than the faff of trying to get glue to bond. 

Epoxy isn't very flexible and as the roof on the body flexes a lot, it's likely to break pretty quickly. Also a E30 cab will have reinforcement in the door and won't rely on the roof to stop the body flexing. 

I did consider it but I'd read about the concerns that cort16 raised and I just want the hole filled so the car is watertight and I can concentrate on the underside. I'm prepared to revisit this down the line.

[volvov70 140]

1 hour ago, SiC said:

Why don't you weld it? Looks easier to do than the faff of trying to get glue to bond. 

Epoxy isn't very flexible and as the roof on the body flexes a lot, it's likely to break pretty quickly. Also a E30 cab will have reinforcement in the door and won't rely on the roof to stop the body flexing. 

As alluded to earlier in the thread cheaply out appltree’s resto thread on E30 zone.

proper modern glue will allow a skin to be placed over the roof that will be strong enough.

Cabs did not have strengthened doors but the sills were beefed up

[volvov70 140]

I’d be checking out the no see um rust and sorting that before any cosmetic shiz 

[dc2100k 436]

37 minutes ago, volvov70 said:

I’d be checking out the no see um rust and sorting that before any cosmetic shiz 

Once I’ve got the car watertight (there’s a leak into the boot via the tail light to sort out too it seems) I’m going to get it up on axle stands and have a good poke around underneath. The floors seem serviceable from what I can see but I haven’t tried to remove the sound deadening. 

[dc2100k 436]

So I have had a closer look at the 3M panel adhesive and it turns out that it is not flexible but is just a two part epoxy that is specifically designed for fixing roof skins etc. I think the Devcon steel epoxy putty will work exactly the same. I fixed the repair panel in place with a few tec screws to clamp it tight and then let it set. After it was cured I hit it with a 60 grade flap disc and it is completely solid, not going anywhere, and i'll prep it with body filler later. I will revisit this down the line, once the car is up and running and has a few hundred miles of flex on it but for the time being it is watertight and is no longer the immediate concern. The repair panel actually goes over the existing skin at the front and between the skin and sunroof frame at the back.

[dc2100k 436]

Very little progress to report as I have been looking after the offspring and trying my best to do some actual productive work. I’ve been looking out for suitable drivetrain donors but they seem to be few and far between in the M42-engined flavour. I turned down a nice 318TI for less than £1k a couple of weeks ago as it was an Auto, I may come to regret that. 

 

I have bought another pair of axle stands in the meantime so hopefully one day next week I’ll raise her into the sky and get a good look underneath. I’ve got my garage lined up to pick her up next month and take her in for welding repairs. 

 

In the meantime the market for these cars seems to have gone completely crazy: 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333629047209

Nearly £9k and the roof looks a real state on that one! I slapped a bit of Fibral and some primer on my roof repair to waterproof it and sealed up the sunroof perimeter. Next up to sort is the bootlid seal and then I can stop worrying every time it rains.

 

 

 

 

[dc2100k 436]

Bit of an update on this car, much neglected for the last month - as seems to have been her fate since 2009! The car is still in my pal's yard and the virus means my time off for fixorating is limited. I managed to pick up a running M44 engine with all ancillaries for £50, and a Getrag 240 gearbox with prop and 4.27 small case diff also for £50, so the drivetrain is starting to take shape. I also bagged a nice set of 14" basketweaves which is what the car would have come with originally.

 

However, on my searches for a rollcage for the car I have been offered a complete running 318is rally car with everything done, MOT'd and in need of nowhere near as much attention as this car. The price is less than I had budgeted to get this old girl back on the road, let alone rally prepared so I have decided to go for the completed car and I will put this car up for sale as an unfinished project. It's a shame as the new car is red and I don't like that anywhere near as much as the Diamondschwarz but I have to be sensible about the time & cost savings involved. Anyway the new car has a fizzy roof too so we can have a bit more ROOF RUST OMG fun sorting that out, but it is much better underneath and has a running M42 in situ and a bunch of spares. Should be picking the new car up next week and in the meantime I’ll try to find a new home for this old girl.

[dc2100k 436]

So by way of an update: Goodbye

[dc2100k 436]

And Hello.

[bunglebus 14081]

Free ageless plate?

[dc2100k 436]

1 minute ago, bunglebus said:

Free ageless plate?

Haha no, it was one I picked up a while back at a bargain price and I wanted to get it assigned to one of my vehicles in order to properly take ownership.

[jaypee 222]

E30's for the win!