236 replies to this topic

[dirtbag]

I REALLY like the styling of that brown one with the smooth treatment. I even like how they've taken the thumb lump out of the fuel door. However I think if it were mine I'd be tempted to remove the door altogether and mount it in the boot opening, and modify the boot seat channel to go around it so it's still vented to outside. I can explain better if you don't know what I mean.
Keeping the BMW badges would be OK, but personally I'd lose the ones on the C pillar, but that's just me. I also don't mind the idea of it having the front bar, even though I love that brown one and it has no front bar I just like the unity of front and rear both having bars. Smooth of course : )
It's going to be an amazing car. I'm really excited to be involved in the project. It's weird too as I don't usually like silver cars, but can see it working really well on this.
I hope to get at least one more day in this week for disassembly but I'll just have to see how I go. Still fighting off bronchitis but too keen to get into this project : )

[Ice]

Lose those fugly indicators on the front gaurds and those huge number plate lights on that brown car and it would look much better as for the badges well i would lose them to that car has great lines though very nice indeed

[dirtbag]

Yes Ice I agree about those number plate lights on the brown car, however luckily macka's car has the same ones as the silver car above, grafted into the top of the bumper, so quite invisible.

With Macka giving me the green light to rid the world of those horrid front indicators you have no idea how happy that makes me : ) I'll have to replace them with something of course, but definitely something much sublter. Either in the corners of the bumper itself or flush with the body under the bumper HK style. Time will tell.

I do think a front bar with the smooth treatment and no over riders would look good, but with a removable steel chin spoiler underneath just to take the "boat" look away from the front panel. Apart from some smoothing I wouldn't want to change the shape of this car at all. It's very elegant and to me quite unusual. Unless he wants to go 6/71 on the LS1 then maybe a 4 inch cowl scoop could be fun : ) hehehehe

Edited by dirtbag, 13 August 2012 - 02:47 AM.

[Collo]

What's the go with the extra blinkers on the silver one above?

I agree it needs the front bar though, the front of the brown one looks like it's missing something...cause it is

[dirtbag]

Yeah not sure about that silver one above slr. It seems to have extra front blinkers and rear side reflectors too. Not nice. Luckily Macka's car doesn't have them : )

[Collo]

Why have one when you can have two?

They are a nice looking car though. I look forward to seeing what you do with it.

[dirtbag]

^^^^^^^^^^ someone is a good influence : )

[Peter UC]

Cool project, I'm pretty sure those BMW badges on the C piller are also a drain hole, I've got an old UK based buyers guide for the E9 coupe I remember that comment.

[dirtbag]

Oh ok, so maybe a drain for the sunroof? I'll check it out as I get more into the deconstruction.

[Peter UC]

I have a bit of time so this the bodywork section of the buyers guide, keep in mind this is from the UK so corrosion is a lot worse and the article is from 95 so the prices will be way off but anyway:

The unitary pillarless coupe shell was never well rust-proofed compared with the contemporary BMW salloon. It suffered from numerous and embarrassingly obvious built in rust traps. Little attempt was made to seal internal box section or treat them properly from the outside.
The rifle-butt, box section inner wings at the front of the car are the first things to check. The mud sits on a ledge and rots the whole thing out. In advanced cases you can see the rot eating out into the bulkhead by opening the passenger side glovebox.
As the front guards are welded rather than bolted on, putting this right is complicated and involves removing the windscreen and dashboard.
Under the bonnet look at the gutter between the outer and inner guards and check for problems directly related tot he rifle-but rust trap along the bottoms of the A-posts.
At 225 pounds each the front guards are expensive; but the inner repair panel are relatively cheap; Munich Legends' own repair section eliminate the ledge around the rifle-butt inner guard and it also offers a plastic wheel arch liner as added protection. The gutter between the inner and outer guards can be filled with expanding foam to hinder further corrosion.
Box section rot can spread to the strut housing and inner wing in the engine bay, but inner guards aren't too expensive and, if you've got to the box sections anyway, they don't require much time or effort.
Sills come in four sections; inner, membrane and an outer structural sill, and there's a matt-black painted cover sill held on my self tapping screws. The sills rot around the jacking points and on the join along the bottom between the outer and inner sections. Any rust here and you can bet there's some major work to be done inside with the bottom two inches of the membrane rotted to nothing. With the car braced up, this can usually be repaired without needing to replace the whole panel. With the outer sill, it's best to replace the entire section rather than patch it up.
Equally critical is the rear of the inner sill and rear subframe mounting box section: rot here is caused by water draining off the roof and through the C-pillar badge which has a piece of rubber tubing to drain the water away from the top of the inner arches and down onto the subframe box section. There is a good repair section to sort this out, although you'll have to remove the rear suspension to do it properly. Floor go, usually around the drain plug in the foowells, but, being simple secitons, they are relatively cheap to repair.
Rear arches are another favourite for rust - feel for a proper factory-recessed contour inside - and the thin, poorly-undersealed rear valance below the bumper catches road much and rots out.
In the boot the spare wheel well under the plywood boot floor rusts due to condensation and the movement of the spare wheel scratching off the paint. Check around the petrol taank mounting and the tank itself, which rots - and leaks - from the seam in the middle.
The rear suspension turrets in the boot also rust - mud accumulates in them from underneath - but not so badly as on the 2002.
In the doors, the drain holes at the bottom block up and cause the bottom of the skin, and sometimes the frame, to rot out. Full door skins or repair sections are available, as are complete door shells, if you really want perfection, at 440 pounds.
The chrome trim along the top of the doors on all versions is held on tightly by five clips. The paint wears off under the clips where the trim has been taken on and off over the years and the skin of the doors goes rusty underneath.
Good bonnets are difficult to find. They go around the vents inside, which is time consuming to repair. On boatlids check the rear edge, which is difficult to repair, for rot. Sometimes it works out cheaper to buy a new bootlid at 360 pounds.
Front panel tend to be OK, but check the thin, vulnerable lower valance and the panels behind the headlights: where the inner guard butts up to the front panel the metal is, again, very thin.

I won't write the stuff that is for the CSLs, I hope that was of some help. I understand you would have most likely found all the places anyway.

[dirtbag]

Bomber, you're peculiar : )

[Ice]

I hope you change your mind on silver macka imo it looks like polished primer but hey its your car and im sure what ever colour you choose it will be a stand out
if you do go silver look into hok paint they have some really good colours in there range
cheers gene