b5s4c5a6's E36 318is project weekend track toy

[b5s4c5a6]

Spent some time yesterday afternoon installing the new motor mounts and hardware as well as bolting up the freshly powder coated front subframe. went to install the control arms and noticed that the passenger inside inner ball joint is torn. WTF!!! its brand new, never used and its torn, bullshit. Will be contacting Bimmerworld in the morning and hopefully get it taken care of. So wasnt able to mess with the passenger side but managed to get the drivers front corner assembled. Went smoothly, helps when you have new hardware and parts and everything is clean. Wish I didnt have to deal with returning the CA and could just get the front end assembled. Oh well there are other things I can work on while I wait.





its like Christmas opening new parts


after inspection look what they sent me. more bullshit.




got the spindle on passenger control arm and...


go to remove that inner protective cover and find out its torn. Great.


























all new retaining clips in the wheel wells for the liners




well thats all for now, hopefully can get the control arm issue resolved tomorrow and get a replacement asap so I can get the passenger front corner ready. thanks for checking it out. enjoy

[nikos1400]

nice job !!
anxious to see it complete !

[b5s4c5a6]

thanks, yeah I am looking forward to being done. But there is still plenty left before I see a finishing point. Just hope to have it rolling in a week or so... moving out west in Nov and need to get in on the trailer.

Update for today. Front suspension and brakes have been completely installed. I painted the rear trailing arms today.

[BSloss13]

thanks, yeah I am looking forward to being done. But there is still plenty left before I see a finishing point. Just hope to have it rolling in a week or so... moving out west in Nov and need to get in on the trailer.

Update for today. Front suspension and brakes have been completely installed. I painted the rear trailing arms today.

this is a hell of a build coming from where it was.... what the hell did you use to clean the wheel wells? they look brand new

[b5s4c5a6]

thanks man, yeah it really doesnt look anything like it did.

The wheel wells were cleaned with Adams All Purpose and Simple Green in a bucket of warm water. I used various brushes to scrub everything clean. The undercarriage was done in the same fashion. Once everything was cleaned and dry, I did a final wipe with an alcohol/distilled water mix. Then the wheel wells were painted with Bill Hirsch Miracle Paint in black(3 coats) and then that was topped with Bill Hirsch Chassis Paint in black (2 coats). All done with a bunch of tossable tiny high density foam rollers and foam brushes.

The entire undercarriage from the transmission back has been painted in the same fashion and looks just as new. Once the engine and trans come out (after the move) they will be prepped and painted in the same fashion. Then the entire undercarriage from front to rear will have been painted. The Bill Hirsch Chassis Paint claims to have a 500 hour salt spray test with no visible breakdown. And of course the Miarcle paint is similar to POR15.

Will take some pictures and update later today.... its 3:25 am .... haha. late night of working on the car. time flies when youre in the garage. =)

[DrBobOh]

This is exactly what I want to do with my next car. It's too bad the E30 I had for 4 days was a horrible buy.


ANYWAYS- great work, the pictures and detail make this a great read, and I'm intrigued to see more!

When will you be doing a 5spd swap?

[bmw buddy]

the car is starting to become way too nice for a track car

[b5s4c5a6]

thanks guys. yeah its gonna be one clean track car thats for sure... I'll be doing the 5 speed swap once I get moved, just trying to get it rolling so I can get it on the trailer. I have gathered all the parts needed, just need to pull the trans. easier said than done. Might just do the engine and trans at the same time, but thats just gonna push this build back further...

Well today I didnt do much. Just made a chair out of the junk drivers seat that came out.

call it the BMW adirondack


came out pretty good, it still reclines all the way and is completely solid. Its extremely comfortable... haha. Need to make another base for the passenger seat. took about an hour or so.... sorry for the crappy cell picture

Will post more tomorrow, enjoy.

[nono]

Clean work!!

[b5s4c5a6]

Thank you sir, thats the main goal is to have it be a clean build and clean work is the moto. haha.

Well alot has happened since my last post. I was able to extract those two rear trailing arm bolts but not without the help of a buddy creating more work for me. I drilled through both of them enough to get a square extractor in (the hammer-in type). After a few minutes I hear my buddy say "fvck me", what now. Well he somehow managed to break the extractor in half, leaving me with more work. Now I need to get an extractor out and a bolt out. Well I switched my method on the 2nd bolt and ended up drilling it out by start small and just getting wider and was able to save 75% of the threads. I rethreaded it with a tap and with a new bolt it is just as secure as the untouched ones. Now I still had to do the other one, ended up drilling next to the extractor and breaking the hardened steel extractor with a hammer and screwdriver. What a pain in the ass. Then drilled that bolt out and was able to save 60% of the threads, did the same thing and rethreaded it and it is secure with new bolt and with some loctite it should be fine.

Last week I had a mobile welder come out and weld in the rear trailing arm VAC reinforcements and Bimmerworld rear subframe reinforcements. My buddys dad broke his wire feed on his so had to pay to have someone come out. The welder is a friend of a local audi/porsche guy who I have detailed for in the past. The builder of the festicle.. After I got those welded in I was able to finish painting the rear. Again with 3 coats of Bill Hirsch Miracle Paint and 2 coats of Bill Hirsch Chassis paint. Also sprayed the new rear subframe large washers black for that clean look. Got that done and was ready to start installing all the new parts and new hardware. Well the rear is in except for brakes and rear diff. Once I am done moving I will replace the rear wheel bearing as well as install new half shafts and rear hub flanges. Then the entire suspension will be all brand new, except for the pieces that were painted like front spindles and rear trailing arms. I consider the blasted and powdered parts to be new. Just need to get it rolling will finish the rest after the move. Well here are some pictures.....

Drivers rear painted...


painting rear trailing arms (same method, 3 coats miracle and 2 coats chassis)


dash back in and momo hub mounted. Momo mod78 wheel is installed as well and will post a picture of that later...


test fitting the ~16lb Kosei's. dig it




moving along




undercarriage


more of the chair


the base, very solid






installed some new shoes on the S4. Traded a customer a full detail with massive paint correction for them, brand new. Will most likely powdered them satin black because Im not sure I like hyper silver on a silver car


Kinda like the summer mode more... you be the judge. Here is how she was sitting before.


after


all wheels prepped like usual, also did my normal routine suspension detail for the winter months. Wheel well liners cleaned and treated for added protection.






example of the detail I did for the customer
before... side rear of bed


after


If you feel like reading a writeup on the detail or seeing other pictures of the paint correction...
http://forums.quattroworld.com/detail/msgs/6075.phtml

leftovers from one of the bolts drilled out.




VAC rear trailing arm reinforcements welded in before paint




Bimmerworld rear subframe reinforcements welded in before paint










after paint...


One day I will drop the fuel tank and paint the area behind it, shouldnt be that dirty just the edges.

[b5s4c5a6]

drivers rear upper and lower control arm bolts




Drivers rear installed...


lower Ground Control/koni shock mount


really hope I have these in the right direction... no instructions on rear postion. This is drivers side. I have their reinforcement upper bolt that are inside the car facing outwards. I guess I'll just have to call Ground Control when they open and ask. Well for now these are installed and can always be flipping around if they are positioned wrong.




so clean




all clean when new oem bolts and nuts


the large washers I sprayed, with the AKG subframe bushings






drivers lower control arm outer mount, again new hardware


passenger side upper










rear trailing arm mount


adjustable lower control arms








another drivers side


that steering wheel interior picture I promised earlier. haha. I dont wanna dirty this thing its too nice






BavAuto rear strut bar

[TOOLEAN]

Are you using Adjustable Lower Control arms AND the OEM Eccentric bolt?

[b5s4c5a6]

yeah the SPC instructions state to use the oem hardware. why, what are your thoughts?

[jpreston]

Looks like he just used an OEM eccentric bolt in that position. The SPC control arm would have to have a slotted bolt hole with walls for the eccentric to rotate between to allow adjustment via an eccentric bolt.

Edit: too slow...

[b5s4c5a6]

exactly. figured a new oem eccentric bolt would be easier and more reliable than replacing with say a random one from ACE or the like.

[jpreston]

I seem to remember one of the other non-eccentric rear control arm bolts being the same length/diam as that eccentric and making a mental note to order another of those to replace the eccentric. That was a month or two ago when I was taking stuff apart though and I haven't gotten around to verifying things and ordering new bolts yet, so I could be wrong.

[b5s4c5a6]

yeah I think the bolt for the upper control arm to trailing arm mount is the same size as the eccentric lower.

Thanks to Luke@Tirerack for getting me some tires overnight. I placed the order yesterday for some Yokohama Advan neova's 235/40/17 around 4pm and they are already on my doorstep by 10am today. Now thats what I call service. anyone looking for friendly tire advice contact Luke and he will be sure to take care of you. Thanks again man, appreciate all your help and knowledge. Off to have them mounted to the black kosei's. Looks like I'll have it rolling shortly. Woot woot. will post a picture later.

[jays01s4]

Very nice man. Where did you get the diamond plate floor pieces for the front?

[b5s4c5a6]

thanks Jason, much appreciated. My buddy had the floor plates in his E36 M3 and wanted to go back to original carpet mats, so he just had them sitting around. I traded him the coin/card holder that goes in the drivers door card. I need to fab something up to make them more level, but they do the job. Have been thinking about getting rid of them and buying the VAC floorpans instead, they look like a much nicer fit.

[ningshao]

this is definitely one of the cleanest builds ever! keep up with the good work. subscribed.

[E36ing]

very clean build , keep up the good work.

[b5s4c5a6]

thanks for the kind words guys, really appreciate it.

Well yesterday I was able to get tires mounted and balanced and when I got back home I couldnt wait to install them. So its getting close to rolling, few things I want to address tomorrow and then hopefully I can get it safely lowered off the stands and back on the ground. Think it will have been a year since I had it on the ground last.

Will be a good feeling, but will be an even better one when I finish. ha!

well here are some pictures I just snapped for your viewing pleasure. enjoy!




rubber was treated of course.




damn pole in the way


thanks to the PO for the bashed in lower rear quater panel. gives it character.

[Corky325]

WOW, nice work.

[b5s4c5a6]

Thanks for all the great comments guys, really appreciate it.

Well last night I lowered the car to the ground and what a good feeling that was. Its rolling, but only rolling for right now, need to get it on the trailer for the move and once situated I will get it back in the air and deal with the motor and trans. Also I am guessing it needs to be a little lower front and rear, right now after lowering it its at 24" all around from ground to fender edge. lucky for the first try. well here are some pictures I snapped last night. enjoy guys.

[b5s4c5a6]

Was sorting through some pictures and came across these that I never posted. These were pictures of the parts purchased for the manual trans, clutch stuff. Also a bunch of random brake hardware. Thanks to Pelican parts and BAVauto.

bunch of small things, like rotor hold down bolts, sway bar brackets and links, BAV jack pad, Brake fluid, Brake sensors F&R, shift boot, brass caliper guide pins, clutch lines, front hub nuts and dust shield covers, bleed screws, flywheel bolts, clutch tool, and someother small random things.