MyE28.com

LeiseyJr wrote:Thanks for letting us see it.

No problem. Glad you could make it out.

Pavel wrote:I am glad you could host us! Impressive work.

I need me a lift like that now.

Let me know when you are ready for some S38 work.

Anytime, thanks!

Haha! Group buy?!

Ill get in touch with you once I get to that stage.

So on Monday I went in for 4 hours and decided to get my steering box painted to get that out of the way. I noticed the paint does not really stay on the aluminum pieces so I decided to leave them alone and just painted the body itself. I de greased it, soda blasted, and brushed it with POR15. POR15 looks bad when brushing it on, but it levels nicely once it starts curing.









I also installed the front flares and will be moving to the rears (still hesitant on drilling into the quarter ) but will finalize that today so I can get started on prepping the body for paint.

Awesome work as always. I love the fender flares, I can't wait to see what the rears will look like

17x9s?

EventuallyAyrton wrote:Awesome work as always. I love the fender flares, I can't wait to see what the rears will look like

Thanks. Ask and you shall receive!

86GT635 wrote:17x9s?

Front yes. Rears are 10"

So I went ahead and bit the bullet. I put the templates aside and with a clear mind, patience, and a measuring tape I drilled the quarter to fit the clips for the flare. I mocked up the template first and marked the holes it says to drill. Than I mocked the flare and installed the clips after to measure the distance from clip center to edge of flare. Voila! got them on the first try. On one of the pics you can see the difference in distance of the template to my measuremets.















Adjustment to suspension will be done once the body is reassembled.

Ill keep it short and sweet as this was just completed. Figured Ill get the body painted first as its the main piece to the puzzle. With that out of the way the interior and etc can start going in. Painting the remaining parts should be a bit more easier. My plan was to have it sprayed yesterday, but a dent was created on the quarter attempting to sway the rear end while pushing it into the booth. That set me back a day but the deed has been done! Enjoy!

That's right keep that momentum going!

Pavel wrote:That's right keep that momentum going!

So I've been working on it more later into the day now that sunset is around 8:30 and weather is also cooler at that time. Last weekend I painted the doors and hood, with now all thats left for painting is fenders, trunk (which I will be doing this Sat), and the rest of attachment part which I think I will leave towards the end since they are mostly all new parts and prepping will be quicker. I don't want them to get damaged either while I work on other stuff.

Other tasks I've completed this week is finally getting around painting the calipers, installing the pedal assembly, took Sherman's advise on replacing the heater core, and ordered more parts that I should be receiving tomorrow from BMW. Saturday I will have a good friend and coworker prewire my audio so I can begin to install the interior. Aside from that, I got in touch with Ivo to scout me some goodies on his end of the pond. Enjoy!

Everything looks incredible. Those yellow calipers are going to go really well with the blue of the car

EventuallyAyrton wrote:Everything looks incredible. Those yellow calipers are going to go really well with the blue of the car

Thanks! That is what I figured, plus with the suspension parts being yellow as well i thought adding another color would just be too much going on.

Quick update. Friday I got my parts from BMW. It consist of the gas tank and most of the seals and weatherstrips that go on the vehicle. I painted the fenders and trunk, so I would say 95% of the vehicle is painted with the misc parts left behind. Today I went in to blast the engine to get started on it this coming up week. I will be painting the block first and I was thinking of using POR 15 on it, but I want the finish to be more of a matte black like it is originally so I need to do some research to see what are my options. All I can say is that I am glad I bought the portable soda blaster. It really saved me a lot of time and hassle of attempting to clean with liquids and a brush, plus all the other tasks it has come in handy for. (P.S. please ignore the VW logo )

Nice project.

Questions: Where did you get the headers? They do not appear to be OEM euro headers. I have seen stainless sets like yours on ebay.de for a good amount less than a set of the BMW ones.

As seen here: http://www.ebay.de/itm/Headers-for-BMW- ... Sw2XFUleql

Cooperman wrote:Nice project.

Questions: Where did you get the headers? They do not appear to be OEM euro headers. I have seen stainless sets like yours on ebay.de for a good amount less than a set of the BMW ones.

As seen here: http://www.ebay.de/itm/Headers-for-BMW- ... Sw2XFUleql

Interesting link, they do look similar. I purchased them from someone on the forums that contacted me directly to my email back when I had posted a WTB thread. You are correct, they aren't OE headers. When I purchased them I did the mistake not to read his discription correctly. I thought I was getting OEs, but when I went back to my emails with him, he did explain they were replicas he had mocked up from the originals. I am still debating if I should run them or not since the front section does not line up. I am going to attempt to get them straighten out and get them inspected by a local fabricator. If they check out I will run them, else I will have to source some and learn from my mistake.

I contacted the seller of the ebay headers to get the specs, but have not heard back from them. Do you know the tubing diameters and what gauge steel yours are? Just curious.

Cooperman wrote:I contacted the seller of the ebay headers to get the specs, but have not heard back from them. Do you know the tubing diameters and what gauge steel yours are? Just curious.

This is what I found from my emails with him. "I used to reproduce those headers long time ago but I stop the fabrication due to the huge amount of labor involved and the cost of materials.
The set I have left is from the last round is mandrel bent with 304 Austenitic Stainless Steel. "

The tubing size I can get once I get to the shop after work... Tubing size is 1.5"

Here is the final look of the engine after primer and paint!

Thanks for the info. Engine looks great.

Not much has been going on since I am at a stand still. Due to my bad planning and last minute decisions I have to wait to get the important pieces that I thought could've been done last minute back from outside vendors. My plan was to buff around the windshield opening and back glass to install the headliner, dash, and glass to protect the interior once I had started to put it together. Well that plan has backfired because just last week I called my upholstery guy to get started on it. Dash cannot go in since I need to go to Sherman's backyard and source the center air vents that is NLA, which hopefully I will be able to do tomorrow.

My next priority was to get engine ready to put in, well that did was a no go either since I decided to send all the bolts to get zinc coated and the headers ceramic coated. I should expect to get those mid next week hopefully.

So only advancements I've done so far was install door latches, brake bomb with new hoses, and the timing chain/tensioners installed. I'm in a time crunch as we are already in July and have only a month really to get this close to completed. Being in the middle of a car restoration, wedding, and now add a home purchase will really drain you out. I'm still staying positive that I can get it done but also will not rush it to get it completed since I don't think it would be wise after all the time and money that has been put into it.

Happy 4th everyone!

See ya tomorrow.

What is your deadline for?

Good luck!

wkohler wrote:What is your deadline for?

Good luck!

Our Wedding day, Aug 27th. I do have a little over a month, but don't want to depend on a week before the wedding as I know attention will have to go towards it.

Thanks! it's much needed.

So after taking a break last weekend, I got to rest and go over the project as a whole to manage to get this done for my deadline. I must say that was much needed since you feel you aren't getting anywhere when you want to do all of it at once. I get a call from the uployster mid week that he was ready! I was very happy to hear that news, so since I'm still waiting on the hardware and headers to come back, my priority was the inside. The second the headliner was installed I was ready to rock! I plan to get the interior done by Tuesday, so hopefully than the other stuff are ready and I can get back to working on the engine. Now to pics, enjoy!

Floorboard insulation done



Headliner:





Crack free dash in!

Looking great!!!

Sorry fellas for not updating, I'm sure some think I probably threw in the towel and left this resto alone. But not at all, I have just been so focused on it trying my best from every angle to get as much as I can possible and of course with the help of my brother, father, and friends. At this stage, if I get stuck in one area because of parts I can focus on another task or area.

So far engine is almost ready to go in as my brother has been working on it during the day, still waiting on the headers, their polisher broke down so a week has turned into three. Hopefully I get them this week as I am really pushing to get the engine in before this month ends and have a running vehicle. *fingers crossed*.

I went ahead and buffed the doors so we can install them on the car as the interior is 75% done. I want to have all glass installed before seats go in to make sure they are not ruined by the shop environment, so far only front glass is in but should have the rear in this week and the door glass installed once the door are on.

Rear end of the car should be completed by tomorrow. All lines have been installed and with the help of Sherman and Pavel I got the parts and guide needed to install the single fuel pump mod. Axles and stab bar was put in today with only the fuel tank and brakes pending for tomorrow to go in.

Special thanks to Ivo for the shipment, he sourced all my new lights and I cannot wait to install them! I am sure there is a lot more but Ill let the pics do the talking now!

So officially tomorrow I am 27 days away from the big day. Which means I truly have 3 weeks, since I should not be counting the wedding week, as I'm sure I will be busy with preparations and what not. Thursday I officially became a homeowner so that is done with and the car has a home once its completed. Now I think I feel comfortable of being able to finish it in time with that pressure out of the way. Doors, lock mechanisms, and front seats have been put in. I was going to install the door glass and wrap the doors up today but found out I never ordered the pillar trims on the door frames. So tomorrow I need to call the dealer and hopefully they are available within the country and not Germany, else Im screwed. My original plan was to have the engine in by the ends month and that backfired as I am still waiting on the headers. Last I spoke with them my set was next and should see them Tuesday/ Weds, so lets hope thats the case. Other than that I plan to assemble what I can so in case I need a part I can still have time to source it. Other than that it is finally looking like a e28!

There's so much inspiration in the eye candy section lately, maybe someday I'll bump my resto.

When the time comes I may have some questions for you regarding the firewall and floor padding insulation that you did. I have a firewall insulation piece but sadly the old rubber was two brittle and cracked in half when it was shipped. But it could be used as a template. I may have a lead on carpet padding from a forum member but it's always good to have alternatives in case that doesn't work out.

There is some serious hustling going on with this project. Building a m5 from the ground up along with custom touches in a few months.. wow.

I'm happy for you- a lot going on and that's awesome. Great work. Car looks awesome too. If you can't find the a pillars I'm sure someone here will let you borrow theirs.

Adam W in MN wrote:There's so much inspiration in the eye candy section lately, maybe someday I'll bump my resto.

When the time comes I may have some questions for you regarding the firewall and floor padding insulation that you did. I have a firewall insulation piece but sadly the old rubber was two brittle and cracked in half when it was shipped. But it could be used as a template. I may have a lead on carpet padding from a forum member but it's always good to have alternatives in case that doesn't work out.

Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. I used some foam like wrap that bumpers come in to make the template and I think I still have the ones I used. I will have to make sure of that tomorrow as they will probably come handy in the future. The final product was pretty spot on, only trimming I had to do when I started to install the dash and components was around the pedal bracket, but just enough to get it to mount flush on the firewall.

86GT635 wrote:There is some serious hustling going on with this project. Building a m5 from the ground up along with custom touches in a few months.. wow.

I'm happy for you- a lot going on and that's awesome. Great work. Car looks awesome too. If you can't find the a pillars I'm sure someone here will let you borrow theirs.

Thanks for the kind words! It has been non stop since November, but I couldn't have gone this far if it wasn't with the help I've been getting from my father, brothers and friends and lets not forget the amounts of info on MyE28. Any helping hand comes a long way. Especially with having the 2 biggest changes of my life happening at the same time.