clarkson's e46 m3 and previous cars - lots of pics
Discussion
Got a few things thrown on just waiting for 4 bolts to arrive and the engine will be co.plete and ready to go back in
New o rings on injectors
Throttle bodies on
Wiring loom on
I'll probably put it back in after christmas , I need to take the diff out first and retap the front bolt hole or do something g with it as the bolt wont tighten any more it just spins
New o rings on injectors
Throttle bodies on
Wiring loom on
I'll probably put it back in after christmas , I need to take the diff out first and retap the front bolt hole or do something g with it as the bolt wont tighten any more it just spins
Edited by clarkson22 on Friday 11th December 15:08
Well Things have spiralled out of controll again!
Got the diff out and notice rust comming through the fuel tank brackets and a few small spots round the spring perches.
The bolt hole is completely fooked so I need to drill it out with a 14mm bit and retap it with a 16mm tap and get a new bolt and modify the front bush , rogue engerneering gave me this idea
The drivers side rear arch is rusty and deffinatly need to replace it in the future as the inside lip is rusted Badly but I'll do that when the cars up and running and I can be arsed haha
I cleaned up the spot welds in the arch and went over them again and then hit it with some zinc primer
I've got some new brake lines to go on don't worry!
Spent hours grinding back both side brackets back to bear metal and threw some zinc primer on for the time being , I've got a por15 kit comming in the post so will put that on when weathers better, then will paint and lacquer the whole underside , I should of done this when I reinforced it years ago but oh well most of it has held up very well, just got the back fuel tank brackets to tackle
And that's the rust underneath sorted then I can put it back together and get the engine in!
Got the diff out and notice rust comming through the fuel tank brackets and a few small spots round the spring perches.
The bolt hole is completely fooked so I need to drill it out with a 14mm bit and retap it with a 16mm tap and get a new bolt and modify the front bush , rogue engerneering gave me this idea
The drivers side rear arch is rusty and deffinatly need to replace it in the future as the inside lip is rusted Badly but I'll do that when the cars up and running and I can be arsed haha
I cleaned up the spot welds in the arch and went over them again and then hit it with some zinc primer
I've got some new brake lines to go on don't worry!
Spent hours grinding back both side brackets back to bear metal and threw some zinc primer on for the time being , I've got a por15 kit comming in the post so will put that on when weathers better, then will paint and lacquer the whole underside , I should of done this when I reinforced it years ago but oh well most of it has held up very well, just got the back fuel tank brackets to tackle
And that's the rust underneath sorted then I can put it back together and get the engine in!
Edited by clarkson22 on Wednesday 27th January 16:44
Finally got rid of the rust and used por15 on all the bare metal after removing the primer , I used por 15 on my engine plate for the boat which was a 3mm thick 40cmx40cm which had already rusted ground down the rust and applied the por 15 and after drying topcoated it with some silver hammerite , not 1 bit of rust came through or back after 3 years in the sea so it should hold up well under the car!
Anyway ground the fuel brackets down
During
Of course the rust goes further back under the under seal
Went over all reinforcement plates aswell
Needs a good clean before it all goes back what I thought was rust in places was just brown crap
Stupidly ground threw the passenger brake pipe luckily the engine is out and nothing is on the car so I can replace the whole pipe easy enough
That's just brown rust dust from grinding where the seam sealer is don't worry!!
Spent ages getting paint off and down to bare metal ish
During
Paint on some por15
Need to clean and paint the underside and paint the other arms sort diff and it will be back together ready for engine in a few weeks thank god.
Anyway ground the fuel brackets down
During
Of course the rust goes further back under the under seal
Went over all reinforcement plates aswell
Needs a good clean before it all goes back what I thought was rust in places was just brown crap
Stupidly ground threw the passenger brake pipe luckily the engine is out and nothing is on the car so I can replace the whole pipe easy enough
That's just brown rust dust from grinding where the seam sealer is don't worry!!
Spent ages getting paint off and down to bare metal ish
During
Paint on some por15
Need to clean and paint the underside and paint the other arms sort diff and it will be back together ready for engine in a few weeks thank god.
Got a few more things painted up
Subframe with por 15 and some hammerite smooth black on top
During
Por 15
Few days later some hammerite smooth black
These received por15 then some hammerite black
I've got loads of 2k lacquer so I'm going to hit them all with a few coats of that aswell I've already lacquered the brake caliper and it didn't react with the hammerite so all is good .
I will remove the drive shaft from the hub and clean all the inside I just don't have a 36mm socket
Diff time
After hitting it with a wire wheel on the grinder I treated it to 2 coats of por15 will hammerite it in a few days
Pile of bits
Still got other trailing arm both springs the other rear caliper I'm going to get some adjustable eBay camber arms probably powerflex instead of the OEM ones ,I've just bought and received some kunifer brake line and flaring kit to sort the rear brake lines out
Will update again soon
Subframe with por 15 and some hammerite smooth black on top
During
Por 15
Few days later some hammerite smooth black
These received por15 then some hammerite black
I've got loads of 2k lacquer so I'm going to hit them all with a few coats of that aswell I've already lacquered the brake caliper and it didn't react with the hammerite so all is good .
I will remove the drive shaft from the hub and clean all the inside I just don't have a 36mm socket
Diff time
After hitting it with a wire wheel on the grinder I treated it to 2 coats of por15 will hammerite it in a few days
Pile of bits
Still got other trailing arm both springs the other rear caliper I'm going to get some adjustable eBay camber arms probably powerflex instead of the OEM ones ,I've just bought and received some kunifer brake line and flaring kit to sort the rear brake lines out
Will update again soon
Edited by clarkson22 on Sunday 7th February 21:54
Really admire the dedication and willingness to get your hands dirty op.
It would have been far to easy to give up and break her after the rod bearing failure.
e46 M3's really do seem to be dropping like flies, even with the future classic talk.
Look forward to more updates and any progress you make in the coming weeks and months.
It would have been far to easy to give up and break her after the rod bearing failure.
e46 M3's really do seem to be dropping like flies, even with the future classic talk.
Look forward to more updates and any progress you make in the coming weeks and months.
HaydenS2k said:
Really admire the dedication and willingness to get your hands dirty op.
It would have been far to easy to give up and break her after the rod bearing failure.
e46 M3's really do seem to be dropping like flies, even with the future classic talk.
Look forward to more updates and any progress you make in the coming weeks and months.
It would have been far to easy to give up and break her after the rod bearing failure.
e46 M3's really do seem to be dropping like flies, even with the future classic talk.
Look forward to more updates and any progress you make in the coming weeks and months.
Absolutely.
I LOVE mega DIY builds like this! The satisfaction of building it yourself and being able to paint so many parts and replace nuts/bolts/fasteners to make it better than factory finish is well worth it. I take the view that all the extra effort now SHOULD be rewarded by additional reliability & longevity plus the smug fuzzy feeling you get when you take a car that's had a full underside rebuild to a garage who will be expecting it to look like any other random E46 that they've seen in the last 20 years is rather nice.
I had a mk2 Golf that I'd completely stripped/repainted everything on the underside, had all new suspension/steering/braking components etc and had only done about 500 miles since finishing it when I got pulled over by the police who were running a mass stop/inspection operation.
When two coppers approached the car and began telling me what kind of faults they were looking for I was more than happy for them to crack on. One got down on his hands an knees ( awful cold/wet October night) flashed his torch under it and said "JESUS CHRIST its clean" just as the other looked at my new front tyre, new discs/pads painted hubs an so on.
30 seconds of inspection, five minutes talking about VWs and I was waved on my way - my most pleasurable experience with the police.
OP- Love that this M3 is getting so much attention, I would rather buy a car like this than one that's had 10+ years of being run on a "only replace the absolute essentials" maintenance plan with a underside that looks like a crusty mess
HaydenS2k said:
Really admire the dedication and willingness to get your hands dirty op.
It would have been far to easy to give up and break her after the rod bearing failure.
e46 M3's really do seem to be dropping like flies, even with the future classic talk.
Look forward to more updates and any progress you make in the coming weeks and months.
Thanks mate really appreciate it It would have been far to easy to give up and break her after the rod bearing failure.
e46 M3's really do seem to be dropping like flies, even with the future classic talk.
Look forward to more updates and any progress you make in the coming weeks and months.
aka_kerrly said:
HaydenS2k said:
Really admire the dedication and willingness to get your hands dirty op.
It would have been far to easy to give up and break her after the rod bearing failure.
e46 M3's really do seem to be dropping like flies, even with the future classic talk.
Look forward to more updates and any progress you make in the coming weeks and months.
It would have been far to easy to give up and break her after the rod bearing failure.
e46 M3's really do seem to be dropping like flies, even with the future classic talk.
Look forward to more updates and any progress you make in the coming weeks and months.
Absolutely.
I LOVE mega DIY builds like this! The satisfaction of building it yourself and being able to paint so many parts and replace nuts/bolts/fasteners to make it better than factory finish is well worth it. I take the view that all the extra effort now SHOULD be rewarded by additional reliability & longevity plus the smug fuzzy feeling you get when you take a car that's had a full underside rebuild to a garage who will be expecting it to look like any other random E46 that they've seen in the last 20 years is rather nice.
I had a mk2 Golf that I'd completely stripped/repainted everything on the underside, had all new suspension/steering/braking components etc and had only done about 500 miles since finishing it when I got pulled over by the police who were running a mass stop/inspection operation.
When two coppers approached the car and began telling me what kind of faults they were looking for I was more than happy for them to crack on. One got down on his hands an knees ( awful cold/wet October night) flashed his torch under it and said "JESUS CHRIST its clean" just as the other looked at my new front tyre, new discs/pads painted hubs an so on.
30 seconds of inspection, five minutes talking about VWs and I was waved on my way - my most pleasurable experience with the police.
OP- Love that this M3 is getting so much attention, I would rather buy a car like this than one that's had 10+ years of being run on a "only replace the absolute essentials" maintenance plan with a underside that looks like a crusty mess
Just finding it time to get it done luckily the misses is off this week so I've been outside everyday doing bits it's nearly all ready to go back together !
There's a couple of snpaped bolts under the car from the exhaust brace and the v brace from subframe I need to get out which is the next job!
Edited by clarkson22 on Friday 12th February 15:53
Just read this thread start to finish....amazing that you’ve had the M3 for so long and your dedication and expertise is inspiring.
I did laugh when you started with the angel eyes and black grills etc and then years later took it all back to oem!! Funny how trends change or whether we get older and want the subtle look!
I had an e46 back in 2010, exactly the same as yours...manual titan with imola. Sold it a few years later and it was the one car I couldn’t get out of my system...so bought another last year...
Look forward to reading more on yours and all the best with the rebulld.
I did laugh when you started with the angel eyes and black grills etc and then years later took it all back to oem!! Funny how trends change or whether we get older and want the subtle look!
I had an e46 back in 2010, exactly the same as yours...manual titan with imola. Sold it a few years later and it was the one car I couldn’t get out of my system...so bought another last year...
Look forward to reading more on yours and all the best with the rebulld.
Thanks guys
Got a few things painted today just got the rear springs and rear anti roll bar to paint and I can shove it back together
Making the brake line I cut threw!
Near enough
Rear anti roll bar brackets and rear body brace
Por 15
Lacquered this
I've painted and lacquered the parts I painted in por15 today there sat drying just forget to get some shots but you know what gloss black parts look like!
Need to remove a broken bolt from the underside and I'll start putting it back together!
Got a few things painted today just got the rear springs and rear anti roll bar to paint and I can shove it back together
Making the brake line I cut threw!
Near enough
Rear anti roll bar brackets and rear body brace
Por 15
Lacquered this
I've painted and lacquered the parts I painted in por15 today there sat drying just forget to get some shots but you know what gloss black parts look like!
Need to remove a broken bolt from the underside and I'll start putting it back together!
That's good use of the engine crane, I'm usually making sketchy props and lost count of how many times I'm halfway through painting some parts and one has fallen over/dropped on the floor
The POR-15 is certainly doing the job, are you using a brush on the base coat and then using spray cans for the clear coat or do you have a spray gun/compressor setup?
Haha yes mate I've got a compressor and spray gun I've just brushed the por15 and hammerite on but it smoothes out good if you don't slap loads on and use a decent brush .Let the hammerite go touch dry and spray it with 2k lacquer they don't need to be perfect but it will hopefully stop the rust!
The engine crane has many uses!
The engine crane has many uses!
Edited by clarkson22 on Wednesday 17th February 07:11
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