318ti build codename "Safety Cone" I'm currently fixing up a 1995 318ti 5 spd and thought it would be fun to document the process. By fixing up, I mean get to a reliably running state and not look like a dumpster fire. The car will be plastidipped orange, therefore it's name "Safety Cone". It will be used primarily as a daily driver and to beat the snot out of on the track (hopefully) so reliability is key. I have other vehicles and projects so this 318ti is going to be a 'best bang for buck' setup. I'll probably keep the wee little M42, at least for a while. Background: My friend purchased this car many years ago (I think around 2009) and drove it for many years. The passenger door/fender got crumpled. Then a series of maintenance issues left the car inoperable and my friend decided he wanted a new car and this 318ti sat for a little while. At this point my friend offered that if I fixed the car I could buy it for cheap. I got the car running and I couldn't use it at the time so my brother took ownership of the car and drove it for a year at which point the cooling system experienced many failures. The car sat in his driveway for a year inoperable underneath trees accumulating barnacles and generally being reclaimed by nature. He decided he didn't want the car anymore so I took ownership of the car and towed "Safety Cone" back to my place via flat bed. Safety Cone in the garage slightly de-barnacled and all leaves/wildlife removed http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...psiqq5wjyu.jpg http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...psg2nkcgho.jpg Interior http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...psilnoi9ox.jpg Started fixing the cooling system. The car already has a new radiator and water pump. Currently working on replacing all the hoses and the plastic flange which was broken http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...psovvfmeh8.jpg Man, that lower intake manifold is a mighty pain to remove considering the wiring harness goes through it. But I did remove it and cleaned all kinds of disgusting crap out of it. Bought a door and fender for the car http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...psvbt5ct31.jpg http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...pso2qeejii.jpg After these are replaced I will plastidip the car "safety cone orange" http://i.ytimg.com/vi/u7eqdeWHQII/hqdefault.jpg I currently have about $185 worth of hoses, pipes, tubes, and gaskets on order to replace all the crusty nastyness in the engine bay. Hopefully all of this will be here by the weekend so I can get this beasty running. I'll post more pictures as "Safety Cone" shapes up. |
i've done that lower intake pull, such a crazy mess. good luck! looking forward to seeing how the orange plasti-dip turns out. any chance of a reverse gulf livery? http://content.worldcarfans.co/2009/6/medium/204453.jpg |
@Frink84 I've always liked the gulf paint scheme but I probably won't implement that scheme on the 318 initially. Maybe if I get bored with the solid orange I will add the gulf elements. With plastidip it's pretty easy to just spray over the existing finish. I'm still waiting on engine parts unfortunately so I continue working on other things. I cleaned the remaining barnacles off of Safety Cone yesterday to see what I am working with and got most of the leaves out of the hatch and hood seal areas. Before: http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...psdy9e72sr.jpg http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...psknp8syet.jpg After: http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...psbfohe70p.jpg http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...psacrsfdqh.jpg Tonight I'm working on refinishing the headlights and getting the door and fender swapped out. Will post more pics. I'm thinking about putting aftermarket Mtech body work on the car before plastidip. I think that would be a good 'bang for buck' improvement. |
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Got the headlights refinished last night Before and after http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...pswukchfgh.jpg I documented refinishing the second light. Tools; http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...psvc1fjmdr.jpg 220 grit sand to remove the deteriorated layer of plastic http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps6gwp5u4l.jpg Wet sand http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...psk9wfxqud.jpg All done! http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...pszazexnbd.jpg Not too bad for 20 year old headlights. Now to make the rest of the car look as good as the refinished lights... |
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I plan on leaving the belt trim black (It will also probably be replaced with Mtech stuff as I am missing some pieces and also some other pieces are damaged) Additionally I will probably plastidip the spoiler black to break up the orange a bit. We'll see how it looks. Again, the awesome part is, if it's ugly I can just re-spray it easy. |
PARTS!!!! Finally. http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps0i6f5uzx.jpg Got most of the hoses replaced. Need to run to the parts store tomorrow and get some new vacuum lines and other small hoses. Since this will be used on the track I want to eliminate as many simple maintenance problems as possible so I don't have to cut a track day short for a broken hose. http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...psofmmimcb.jpg The dreaded stupid plastic thing. This was the root cause of the car sitting for a year. http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps4owbjxth.jpg A bunch of random other maintenance parts are also on the way. Hopefully soon I will be posting pictures of doing cool stuff with the car instead of just fixing it... |
Can anyone recommend good Mtech side skirts? I've looked and it seems like some aftermarket side skirts don't fit the car very well (hang off a few cm on each end). |
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all E36 (except Z3) use the same side skirt |
The old girl wheezes back to life. http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...pseyh6k5lo.jpg She's a little sick but she runs. I broke that vacuum T for the injectors so I had to order a new one... $40 later it's on the way. I removed the spark plugs (which were disgusting) and performed a compression test. #1 - 168 #2 - 179 #3 - 172 #4 - 182 Seems healthy? I looked a little bit online and couldn't tell exactly what it's supposed to be, but I'm sure it's fine for a 20 year old car. At the very least I know the head gasket is fine which is good news considering the cooling system problems and likely the engine has been overheated. I changed the valve cover gasket, when running the car left a small puddle of oil on the ground... geeze I hope that was the valve cover. I'll have to chase that down later. http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...psgv9pajev.jpg All done! http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps1zepfvlf.jpg Since the car runs and has proven itself I ordered a bunch of Mtech stuff. Standby for some hopefully more interesting posts. |
Updates? |
Here are a bunch of mannnnnnnnnnnnn filters for the car. Cabin microfilters because the car... had none and the blower was sucking in leaves and grinding up dead lizards and stuff... Also fresh spark plugs, oil filter, fuel filter installed. http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...pspfq6kvda.jpg The new $40 BMW OEM vacuum zoidberg that I broke when removing http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps0n99bon6.jpg Assembled and running. Car runs great for 20 years old! http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...psuwdm7rwy.jpg I think sombody pooped in the power steering reservoir... but it was low so I poured some fresh fluid on top of the poop. I will change the fluid this weekend. Hopefully the pump is well. Took the car for a spin. Here are some majestic sunset pictures that highlight the delicate crumpled curves of the fender and door. http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...psvlpm8c2b.jpg http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...psuthscrbp.jpg The UPS guy dropped off some junk. http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...psks7ouslq.jpg Oh, it's actually an Mtech rear bumper http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...ps72tyhnkb.jpg And what's this? http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...pscrwlb3t3.jpg A front to match. Cool Let's not forget the ///m's http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...psw57yadh2.jpg At +5 HP per ///m badge, not a bad power upgrade for the price. the UPS delivery personnel also dropped off some luxo side skirts (I didn't really like the twisty ones) http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...psqgz5hxme.jpg At this point a special thanks goes out to my faithful UPS delivery person whom has brought me half a BMW worth of parts. So after driving the car a bit. Wow these cars are slow! I was honestly expecting a little more pep. But... the car still puts a giant grin on my face as the little engine winds up with all it's might. It is genuinely fun to drive. I'll put some track days on the car and if I feel the need I might plop a S52 in there. Next up is bolt everything on, window tint, plasti-dip and then... suspension... |
Awesome progress! Let me guess rear bumper and skirts from quarrymotors?? :) |
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Hey, question for you suspension gurus and/or someone who has tracked a TI. Going for a cheap track car (although I've already gone a bit overboard with bodywork) 1.) How's the trailing arm suspension on these things? 2.) How much better is the double wishbone or Z axle or whatever they call it on the standard E36 cars? Is this something to be concerned with? 3.) Any advice from someone who has tracked a Ti? Just making sure I'm not sinking money into something that will suck on the track. I'm thinking coil overs maybe? Again best bang for buck but still decent for track use. Maybe 330 front brakes or something I can get at a junk yard. |
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