My '82 BMW Project (tiding me over till I can finish the Caddy)

(I just basically copied and pasted this from the Bimmer Forums, so I could share it here)

Bought a BMW 320i for a winter beater. As you read the thread tho, you'll quickly realize that this probably won't end up out in the salt.





Went and blew some $ on paint materials:



I went with Alpine White or "Alpinaweiss" as the label indicates. Decided the white would be a more appropriate color than the silver green it is now, considering some planned improvements in the future.



Rolled the car into the shop to start work on it.







Started stripping body down, sandblasted rust, removed A/C, removed some trim, wrinkle finished valve cover, removed door cards, rolled fenders, and a new OE BMW fender.

Not a bad day and got quite a bit of progress done.























Removed the AC




Woohoo!!!

Won some single rounds on eBay:




Scuffed the engine bay and prepped for paint:





Here are the pics of the fresh paint on the engine bay.

The old headliner was stained and cracked, so I pulled it all out and redid it in grey Alcantara.











Fit a 9" wide race slick on the rear with room to spare. As soon as I go to coilovers, that'll free up even more room. 10"s oughta fit with no problem.



Shaved off the rear quarter lights.



Working on the coilovers using generic AFCO parts.






Scored some VW Recaro Trophy's:



Jambed in the doors.











The gas tank has a slight leak at full, so I put a fuel cell in the trunk. This also allows for me to redo the exhaust with side exits.




Doors are back on, and the trunk is off.



Found more rust than I really wanted in my rear panel. Easiest way to get rid of rust is to remove the whole panel and replace it, so I ordered up a rear euro panel from Bavarian Auto Parts.



Got my coilover adapters in for spring cap seats. So the fronts are done. Just gotta order my Bilstein Sports for the rear from Bav Auto and then (once painted) bring it to the local race shop to get it corner weighted and then order up the correct weight/height springs. The machine shop made 4 of them with the wrong outer diameter so they gave them to me free. I'm going to maybe see about using them in the rear. That way I'll have a complete spare set of the adapters.







I hate rot!

Painted the inside of the trunk lid

The Euro pan arrived!



Had my buddy Jodi over to help me get it all in place. Came out really good. 2 hours to get the old all cut out and the new panel fit into place. We'll weld it in this weekend in addition to make it blend to the sides.

















Took my front valance off to clean it up better and decided to shave the front bumper holes:













Got some welding done:








More work on the rear pan. Jodi is the Mother F-n Man!


























Cut into the rusty Rocker

You really don't mess around do you.

I think is where old euro cars go to hide! Amazing project but get to work on the caddy!

MK3NORTH said:

You really don't mess around do you.

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Well I went shopping yesterday for one of these. Does that count?

Killingcivics said:

...but get to work on the caddy!

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Basically I ran out of money for the Caddy. Got to the point where most of the major fabrication was done and it was just a matter of spending $ to buy parts. The BMW was supposed to be a winter beater, but that got out of hand, so I'm just gonna drive my Coupe GT this winter. But I've got two cars to build for some people this winter. They both want VR6 Turbo Carbriolets. Part of paying for my labor will be in the form of buying parts for my Caddy.

This is wicked.

****ing wicked.

MK3NORTH said:

You really don't mess around do you.

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haha that is the exact response i was going to have!:thefinger

man awsome work! way to get things done!:bigup:

the boys down in vt really dont mess around....

Side exit(s) will be dopE!

aye carumba!

goood freeking work, and i miss MY E21 323I!

You my friend are my ****in idol :bow:
What are you going to come with at Lacolle Fest next year ? You have too many to choose from
As long as it has a hitch to bring the Carbarbeque ! :bigup:

Beautiful work there. Now whats your beater going to be?
\

If this is your beater i RLY want pics of the summer ride!

very sick
which engine are you putting in there?

Yeah, Not sure what I'll bring to Lacollefest. If the Caddy ever gets done, that's the most Lacollefest appropriate vehicle. But depending on when it is, I've also got a VR6T Cabriolet in the works for a friend in BC. But the only cars with a hitch are the Coupe and the Caddy could easily get one. The bimmer won't get a hitch as I don't want to cut a hole in that rear end.

I'd like to put a newer engine in the BMW. Something like a mid 90's vanos engine or something like that.

Remember,without deviation progress cannot be made.

vtgti said:

I'd like to put a newer engine in the BMW. Something like a mid 90's vanos engine or something like that.

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If you want, PM me I can give you online access to all dealer manuals and bulletins, should ease your engine choice.