Project Ring-shed E36 325i
Discussion
bulletproofbob said:
why i didn't get a 325 or 328... its always an option to drop a lump in it later!! cheap car meant i could get coilovers, 17" alpina copies, m3 brakes and polybushes within budget for xmas fitting!!!
Ok, it's just I found that the larger engined E36's aren't really any more expensive than the smaller ones when you shop around. This 325 cost me £300 and the red one was only £25!bulletproofbob said:
all that about prices... just bagged an mot'd 325i coupe on a J for a couple of hundred!!!! engine is now going in the saloon!!!
Told you it could be done for the price. It's an easy swap but it is a heavy engine, I beleive the gearboxes are the same on the '20i and '25i. By the time you've sold your old 2l engine and a few bits off your donor car you'll end up with the engine for nothing. Should get more interesting over Christmas when I get 16 days off and can finally do some more work on it. Next week I'm hopefully getting the cage welded in by fellow Pistonheader Chassis33 who runs a car-preparation business. Can't wait to get it painted and start fitting out the interior.
At long last the cage is in, a huge thanks to Pistonheader Chassis33 who probably didn't realise what he was taking on. Even getting the main part of the cage through the door opening was hard enough:
With the front doors and sunroof off it made things a bit easier, but it was still a right kerfuffle. Looking back Sparco list the same cage for the coupe so maybe it's easier to get through the larger door openings of the 2 door.
Once in it was off to Iain's to be welded over Christmas:
Got it back on New Years eve and gave it a couple of coats of primer today:
Hope to get a couple of coats of Hammerite on it tomorrow.
With the front doors and sunroof off it made things a bit easier, but it was still a right kerfuffle. Looking back Sparco list the same cage for the coupe so maybe it's easier to get through the larger door openings of the 2 door.
Once in it was off to Iain's to be welded over Christmas:
Got it back on New Years eve and gave it a couple of coats of primer today:
Hope to get a couple of coats of Hammerite on it tomorrow.
DaveShark said:
Excellent news Sniff, I bet you can't wait to start fitting the interior out!
Did you drop the fuel tank before welding or not? I noticed on the bmwtrackzone site that most do, but I wondered if it was possible to weld it without the extra hassle.
Get painting!
Certainly looking forward to the more fun jobs.Did you drop the fuel tank before welding or not? I noticed on the bmwtrackzone site that most do, but I wondered if it was possible to weld it without the extra hassle.
Get painting!
The fuel tank was still about half full whilst the welding was going on, apparently the fuller the better when welding as it's the fumes that are the most volatile.
Progress is never as quick as I'd like but it's moving forward none the less.
Had another in E36 for a few days as it had a few tasty parts on it, kept a few decent parts for myself, sold a few bits to help cover some costs then scrapped the rest.
It was a 320i that had been fitted with a 325i engine (actually the engine out of the red one I scrapped last summer) but the project was never finished. If I can't get an LSD for a reasonable price then I'll fit the diff from the 320i as it has a 3.45 ratio rather than the 3.15 the standard 325i runs with so should give slightly livelier acceleration.
Had a few days off work this week so been busy trying to get things done. Ordered what should be the last few parts: polycarb for the windows, seat subframes, Powerflex bushes, Goodridge brake hoses, wheel studs and hubcentric spacers, strut brace.
I'll get some pictures tomorrow hopefully. The cage is fully painted, took about 7 coats in the end. I've got some ex World touring car 17" slicks fitted to the BBS rims and bought another set of identical rims ready for a set of wets. If I was buying newly made rims then I'd have gone for a wider offset but using spacers is a lot cheaper. I wanted to convert from bolts to studs anyway for easier wheel changing, I think the studs should be stronger than bolting a spacer to the hub, then a bolt for the wheel. I've flared the wheel arches out to fit the wider wheels, these will need filling before painting. One of the front wings crumbled away so I swapped it for a red one that was in a lot better condition. I'll definitely have to have the whole car painted now.
I'd cut the original grey dash to fit in around the cage but with the cage in place I've lost a lot of the original mounting points so will probably have to use a good dose of adhesive. I've since decided to use the black dash from the 320i now as I prefer the look of it. I've removed the rear screen and tomorrow I intend to cut the windows to size ready to bond them in when the car returns from the paint shop. I'm thinking of getting them to spray the inside too to tidy it up.
List of jobs that still need doing are:
-fill and smooth wheel arches,
-fit rear wing,
-respray in and out,
-cut and fit windows,
-cut and fit dash with switches,
-find out why the rear lights and wipers no longer work since trimming the wiring (may just get a single wiper from a Citroen for that touring car look),
-fit seats and harnesses,
-fit front bushes,
-fit brake hoses and change brake fluid,
-fit some ducting to the front brakes and remove backing plates,
-get the suspension set up,
Had another in E36 for a few days as it had a few tasty parts on it, kept a few decent parts for myself, sold a few bits to help cover some costs then scrapped the rest.
It was a 320i that had been fitted with a 325i engine (actually the engine out of the red one I scrapped last summer) but the project was never finished. If I can't get an LSD for a reasonable price then I'll fit the diff from the 320i as it has a 3.45 ratio rather than the 3.15 the standard 325i runs with so should give slightly livelier acceleration.
Had a few days off work this week so been busy trying to get things done. Ordered what should be the last few parts: polycarb for the windows, seat subframes, Powerflex bushes, Goodridge brake hoses, wheel studs and hubcentric spacers, strut brace.
I'll get some pictures tomorrow hopefully. The cage is fully painted, took about 7 coats in the end. I've got some ex World touring car 17" slicks fitted to the BBS rims and bought another set of identical rims ready for a set of wets. If I was buying newly made rims then I'd have gone for a wider offset but using spacers is a lot cheaper. I wanted to convert from bolts to studs anyway for easier wheel changing, I think the studs should be stronger than bolting a spacer to the hub, then a bolt for the wheel. I've flared the wheel arches out to fit the wider wheels, these will need filling before painting. One of the front wings crumbled away so I swapped it for a red one that was in a lot better condition. I'll definitely have to have the whole car painted now.
I'd cut the original grey dash to fit in around the cage but with the cage in place I've lost a lot of the original mounting points so will probably have to use a good dose of adhesive. I've since decided to use the black dash from the 320i now as I prefer the look of it. I've removed the rear screen and tomorrow I intend to cut the windows to size ready to bond them in when the car returns from the paint shop. I'm thinking of getting them to spray the inside too to tidy it up.
List of jobs that still need doing are:
-fill and smooth wheel arches,
-fit rear wing,
-respray in and out,
-cut and fit windows,
-cut and fit dash with switches,
-find out why the rear lights and wipers no longer work since trimming the wiring (may just get a single wiper from a Citroen for that touring car look),
-fit seats and harnesses,
-fit front bushes,
-fit brake hoses and change brake fluid,
-fit some ducting to the front brakes and remove backing plates,
-get the suspension set up,
jamiebae said:
Looks great 
What do you think this will have cost you when it's all done?
Thanks, but please don't ask. Even doing things on the cheap, shopping around, using second hand parts etc, it's already over £3k plus 6 months worth of spare time to get this far. Hopefully be not much more than another grand to finish it (for now)What do you think this will have cost you when it's all done?
bulletproofbob said:
i needed an update from you to keep me going mate!! i'm so close to running with my shed but just too far for the bloody trackday i booked for tomorrow!!!!!!! good to see it going well, i could do with a few bits for mine, exhaust been main one... mind coupe still has my 2.5 in it... oh back onto the drive tomorrow....
I'm adamant I'll have mine finished before it needs MOT'ing again. There's so much more work with these projects than you ever realise untill you get stuck in.I've got a few exhausts kicking around Bob, got a standard 325i one and these 2:
http://www.zonemotorsport.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.ph...
Feel free to make us an offer.
castrolcraig said:
looking good fella, you going to have 1 or 2 seats in front??
Cheers Craig, going for 2 seats - will fix the passenger one in place but have runners on the driver's seat for when I let other people drive it (saves a bit of weight and expense not having the passenger seat adjustable). Got these waiting to go in:
Done a bit more today before the Rugby. Fellow PH'der buggalugs called round this morning to collect the M50 engine I'd sold him that he intends to put in his E30. Had to shunt the Beemer onto the front lawn to get the van down the drive, so here's a slightly arty shot of project Ring-shed in the snow:
Then I spent the rest of the day cutting the polycarb to size for the windows:
I know it doesn't look like much but that lot took over 4 hours to make templates out of cardboard then cut the sheets to size. One of the advantages of a 4 door shell is the framed doors that give a nice lip to hide the edges of the polycarb under. I'll bond these in when the car comes back from the paint shop. Just need to get some sliders for the front windows before they go in - can anyone recommend a somewhere other than Demon tweeks to supply the sliders?
Then I spent the rest of the day cutting the polycarb to size for the windows:
I know it doesn't look like much but that lot took over 4 hours to make templates out of cardboard then cut the sheets to size. One of the advantages of a 4 door shell is the framed doors that give a nice lip to hide the edges of the polycarb under. I'll bond these in when the car comes back from the paint shop. Just need to get some sliders for the front windows before they go in - can anyone recommend a somewhere other than Demon tweeks to supply the sliders?
jamiebae said:
Are you having it sprayed in Dolphin Grey again or going for something else? I vote white if it's having a colour change, easier to DIY spray after a bump than a metallic too.
I'll just be going for a basic Ford Transit white, should look good with a few stickers on it.bulletproofbob said:
i think you should post me those templates, windows is my next job!! i did some ally door cards friday, but need windows before i can fasten em in!!!
You can do the windows without needing access from inside the door panel but it depends how you fix them. I'll be using the little lip that used to be used to secure the rubber strip on the bottom edge of the window to fit mine in, then bond around the edges to seal it against wind noise and water proof it. Depending on how you fit the windows depends on the shape of the templates (mine will be a bit soggy now after contact with the snow, sorry Bob.jamiebae said:
sniff diesel said:
jamiebae said:
Are you having it sprayed in Dolphin Grey again or going for something else? I vote white if it's having a colour change, easier to DIY spray after a bump than a metallic too.
I'll just be going for a basic Ford Transit white, should look good with a few stickers on it.Got around to fitting the braided hoses on the front today, and removed the backing plates from behind the front disks. Also fitted the wheel studs:
Will be fitting the rear hoses tomorrow, don't know if I can remove any of the rear backing plates what with the same plate forming the backing plate for the drum type handbrake mechanism.
Got the front bushes off, will be fitting the eccentric Powerflex bushes tomorrow.
Will be fitting the rear hoses tomorrow, don't know if I can remove any of the rear backing plates what with the same plate forming the backing plate for the drum type handbrake mechanism.
Got the front bushes off, will be fitting the eccentric Powerflex bushes tomorrow.
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