3rd Time Lucky; E36 M3 Evolution Saloon
Discussion
Mr Tidy said:
I guess you have to remember that many of those fittings have been there for 20+years. When I stripped an old motorbike some years ago I found out how helpful an overnight soak in WD40 was before I resorted to Mole Grips, drilling out, taps and dies then the angle grinder (maybe not near the tank though!) But so many times I didn't want to wait for things to soak, I just wanted to get on!
Looked at one of these a year or so ago up for about £6,000 - it looked good and the description was promising but I bottled it, so fair play to you for saving one! 4 door M3's aren't exactly plentiful!
Would love to do something like this myself but an allocated parking space isn't an ideal working environment.
Keep going - it will surely all be worth it.
Cheers, it will be worth it, it's just a very long road. Looked at one of these a year or so ago up for about £6,000 - it looked good and the description was promising but I bottled it, so fair play to you for saving one! 4 door M3's aren't exactly plentiful!
Would love to do something like this myself but an allocated parking space isn't an ideal working environment.
Keep going - it will surely all be worth it.
I have taps, bolt extractors, WD40 etc. You just can't tackle a job like this without them! I didn't expect to have to flare brake lines for the first time when I started this though....
I get that the wheel is bad but it's a track car and is the right shape and size. I needed a flat bottomed wheel and it wasn't expensive. If it does my head in once I'm using it, I'll change it
Argh, that steering wheel has devalued the car by £2k
What did you pay for the car op? How much have you spent on parts/mods?
I'm always interested in threads like these because I often reckon that it would be better to buy a better, lower mileage more original car in the first place but I could be wrong
Good choice of car
What did you pay for the car op? How much have you spent on parts/mods?
I'm always interested in threads like these because I often reckon that it would be better to buy a better, lower mileage more original car in the first place but I could be wrong
Good choice of car
jonah35 said:
Argh, that steering wheel has devalued the car by £2k
What did you pay for the car op? How much have you spent on parts/mods?
I'm always interested in threads like these because I often reckon that it would be better to buy a better, lower mileage more original car in the first place but I could be wrong
Good choice of car
Hi Jonah, basically the car cost me £4.5k. Having got to grips with it now, I'd say it should have been under £4k, but hey ho. The way the guy has undersealed it made it look like it had had things done properly etc. but we now know that's not really the case!What did you pay for the car op? How much have you spent on parts/mods?
I'm always interested in threads like these because I often reckon that it would be better to buy a better, lower mileage more original car in the first place but I could be wrong
Good choice of car
But the main thing here is; this is a track build, not a restoration as such. It's had a blow over by the looks of it to tart it up a bit and in all fairness other than a couple of tiny bits of overspray in just one or two areas, they haven't done a bad job. But the thing I have to accept is that it's going to get beaten, battered and bruised so spending extra on a mint example just made no sense.
I could have done without the rust under the wing and the underseal bodge but the truth is, that's the worst of it. Now I've dropped the subframe and can see it all, I've no longer got any worries about that.
If I had spent say, £6.5k on a minter then I would still have had to change:
Suspension
All bushes
Steering rack
Brake hoses
Seats
and so on. Then I'd have had to see it get beaten up on track knowing that I destroyed a minter that deserved preservation. I couldn't do that. I had the money and could have bought such a car had I wanted.
I do hope that makes sense though?
As for costs, wow, let's have a think:
Car: £4.5k
THAT steering wheel: £60 new from DT
HSD Monopros, used but only for 2k miles: £450
Used braided brake hoses: £50
New silicone plenum hoses: £110
Bonnet struts: £35
Momo E36 airbag steering boss: £40
Z3 steering rack: £70
Z3 rear strut reinforcement plates: £15
Powerflex Black RTABs: £60 ish I think
Powerflex black front wishbone bushes: £55 ish I think (can't for the life of me remember for these)
Strongflex rear axle bushes, complete set + front ARB bushes: £200
Dave F induction kit: £Free, taken off other car
Scorpion exhaust: £Free, taken off other car
Low entry, high lift jack to do rear axle work: £200
Aux belts: £20
Spark plugs: £40
Fuel filter: £8-10
Oil filter: £8-£10
Oil: £30 (Just bought Triple QX from ECP for the first change as a flush)
Underbody X-Brace: £50
Assorted nuts, bolts, seals etc. from BMW probably £100
And there's likely some things I have forgotten and there is more to spend on seats, cage, welding, geo, fire extinguisher etc.
But that's the beauty of having a long term project. It's definitely cheaper buying a car all done, but you won't know it inside out nor will you have the fun of building it, which for me is important.
TheAllSeeingPie said:
Isn't this supposed to be a cheap track car? If so the wheel looks fine if it's the right size/shape the OP wants. I'd prefer he spent his money on performance than trinkets 
Indeed! 
Possibly not so cheap anymore, but still..... I can't wait to take it for its first track outing, however far away that might be just now.
M3John said:
^I had mine done by him. Absolutely superb work and finish!
Just been amassing part numbers for new nuts and bolts for the rear axle. I think I am going to take my brave pills and try to get those fuel tank bolts out when I'm done refurbing the axle assembly. I'll get right under there, clean it and rust proof it.
Minor update; I have made a start on the subframe bushes. But I got a bit eager and should have really separated the subframe from everything else first. I think I will do this before I attempt the get the front two out, although I did give them a bit of abuse last night
So, everybody on the forums says to burn the bushes out, it's easy etc. So how come when I try, it takes all night and they don't really burn out, they just burn a lot but still don't want to budge?
I ended up burning them, a lot. Then I drilled a few holes through, burnt them some more than managed to remove the metal sleeve in the centre with a bit of brute force, a lump hammer and a socket extension bar. Then I burnt them some more.
Once that was done, I removed them with a bush removal tool. I've read that you can't do these the same way as something like the RTABs because there's less metal around them and they won't take the pressure, and this is why I didn't use the bush tool from the off. With the centres all burned out, the removal was actually fairly easy.
I just wish I had not lost the use of my impact gun, as I would have taken the subframe off first had I had that still. Then I could have done this without worrying about the heat making the inner CV boots brittle, which I honestly didn't consider before I started. They do seem OK but I guess time will tell!
Pics:
More firepower needed!
Unfortunately I had a bit of a fight with the ARB brackets. One of them, the nut and bolt came off easily, no hassle at all really but for a bit of crud on the bolt. The other, well it was pretty much welded in place and wasn't interested. I managed to whack my sore thumb right on the wound when trying to undo this and the socket slipped off.
That made me a little angry, so out came the grinder!
I ground the top of the bolt off and then hammered away with a screwdriver to get the bracket off of the subframe. More new bits to buy!
I'm slightly annoyed because the grinder grazed the anti roll bar twice. The direction I had to use it in meant that it was always trying to move down towards the bar. Luckily it genuinely is just a couple of grazes so shouldn't actually affect it. I think my pride is more hurt than the bar!
I'm learning a lot as I go, and I think I will take the axle assembly apart next, before trying to do any more bushes. I'm glad I did what I did last night because even though it took me hours, it's time saved when I next dedicate a full day to it on a weekend and means I'll get that bit further ahead. I can't be angry about that.
I still feel a million miles away from getting her on the road, but things are still moving and that's the main thing.
I have discovered a pair of rear trailing arms for sale with new wheel bearings and hub ball joints in for a ton, and the ball joints alone will cost me £76 plus the effort of changing them, so I may buy these arms....
As always, thanks for reading.
So, everybody on the forums says to burn the bushes out, it's easy etc. So how come when I try, it takes all night and they don't really burn out, they just burn a lot but still don't want to budge?
I ended up burning them, a lot. Then I drilled a few holes through, burnt them some more than managed to remove the metal sleeve in the centre with a bit of brute force, a lump hammer and a socket extension bar. Then I burnt them some more.
Once that was done, I removed them with a bush removal tool. I've read that you can't do these the same way as something like the RTABs because there's less metal around them and they won't take the pressure, and this is why I didn't use the bush tool from the off. With the centres all burned out, the removal was actually fairly easy.
I just wish I had not lost the use of my impact gun, as I would have taken the subframe off first had I had that still. Then I could have done this without worrying about the heat making the inner CV boots brittle, which I honestly didn't consider before I started. They do seem OK but I guess time will tell!
Pics:
More firepower needed!
Unfortunately I had a bit of a fight with the ARB brackets. One of them, the nut and bolt came off easily, no hassle at all really but for a bit of crud on the bolt. The other, well it was pretty much welded in place and wasn't interested. I managed to whack my sore thumb right on the wound when trying to undo this and the socket slipped off.
That made me a little angry, so out came the grinder!
I ground the top of the bolt off and then hammered away with a screwdriver to get the bracket off of the subframe. More new bits to buy!
I'm slightly annoyed because the grinder grazed the anti roll bar twice. The direction I had to use it in meant that it was always trying to move down towards the bar. Luckily it genuinely is just a couple of grazes so shouldn't actually affect it. I think my pride is more hurt than the bar!
I'm learning a lot as I go, and I think I will take the axle assembly apart next, before trying to do any more bushes. I'm glad I did what I did last night because even though it took me hours, it's time saved when I next dedicate a full day to it on a weekend and means I'll get that bit further ahead. I can't be angry about that.
I still feel a million miles away from getting her on the road, but things are still moving and that's the main thing.
I have discovered a pair of rear trailing arms for sale with new wheel bearings and hub ball joints in for a ton, and the ball joints alone will cost me £76 plus the effort of changing them, so I may buy these arms....
As always, thanks for reading.
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