E30 325i build - Picture heavy

[Top Secret 2]

Ok, where to start.

I bought an E30 325i with a blown auto from a Mangawai local who wore singlets and had a big rotor tattoo. That says it all really. Car looked like a piece, but we'd already made the drive up so figured we'd take it.

Words can't express how rough it really was.

Anyway, we towed it to my flat in Hamilton and left it til April 2010, when I converted it to manual. It got a wof easily enough (once I put in some legal springs, it couldn't even roll properly as it was above), and drove it around looking somewhat rugged.

Here's a photo of it with my other E30s (at the time).

By this stage I'd replaced so many parts, including an overhaul of the brakes and gradually taking parts from my donor e30.

Come the end of the year, I took it to my good friend James's place, where we would strip it and promptly get it painted. Or so we thought.

That primer you see ended up being the thickest, gunkiest sh*t ever, and any attempt to get rid of it with 80 grit would end up with clogged disks.

So, paint stripper then.

First step is to acquire yourself a properly attired helper. Paint stripper isn't a scent I want to smell (or feel) again in a hurry. You do get used to being burnt though.

Then, start sploshing the paint stripper on the body, and let it sit for a minute until it started reacting. Now you can scrape off the remains.

This pic shows the state of the body we had to work with.

Repeat for every panel on the whole car. I didn't find as much bog as I expected.

After, we went at the body with a 150mm DA sander with 220grit to get it to a workable surface.

Then, we primed it and blocked it back with 320 grit.

Almost ready to paint!

This would be our paint booth.

Lay down the tarps, and make sure to keep them wet in order to minimise the amount of dust that gets moved around.

We would paint the door jams, boot jams, sills, and rear valance first. So, remove the doors and get prepping.

This pic gives a little indication of the colour. The colour is Radiant Ebony Mica (28W) From a Mazda 6. In dark lighting, it looks almost black. When it gets a bit of sun on it, the gold pearl really shows and it is a deep purple. When I saw the colour I had to have it.

Next, the inside of the doors. Acquire helper buddies to help sand and wax and grease remove the inside of the doors. We didn't primer these.

Put the doors back on, make sure everything is straight, and into the paint booth it goes!

To skip ahead a few steps, here is the semi finished product

The tail lights were tinted by mixing in some black with clear, and doing 4 or 5 coats.

If only things were as easy as the pics make them out to be. We had 250+ man hours in painting the E30, but much of it was in the small details.

The valance, sills, and rear valance usually have a textured finish. We got it completely smooth. The bonnet was an absolute mission which I'm sure James hates me for.

I wouldn't trade the learning experience, but my fingers were ruined after months of sanding ). For a ~$1000 paint job I'm very pleased.

I'll make a post later showing how we DIY refurbished the pitted and corroded Hartges.

It still needs the centres of the bumpers painted, the whole car buffed and polished, runs and orange peel removed etc, but this will happen in the mid year uni break.

Hope you all enjoyed my project.

[sti-ted 0]

awesome job!! very nice.

[huff3r 347]

I like it. I want that colour.

[kerry 10]

impressive set up and well done....

[Forrest 35]

So baller man, color is ultimate win

[APT 179]

Hartge's FTW !! Looks good man

[dubman 39]

nice colour, good work

[byza213 1]

looking good man . you saved it!

[Top Secret 2]

Thank you all so much for the kind words. It means a lot.

Anyway, here is how we DIY refurbished my 3 piece Hartges.

Here you can see the state that my Hartges were in. Maybe they were tainted by the primer paint job, who knows. Pitted and corroded, they didn't look good.

First step, for three piece wheels anyhow, is to remove all the bolts. Because these were welded where the barrel meets the lip, there was no risk of leaking air. Then, jack up your carcass of a car, and bolt the wheel onto which ever side happens to be in the shade. We used 4th gear, sometimes 5th and just let it idle.

Next, depending on how rough your lips were, get some heavy grit sandpaper on them. Mine were quite pitted, so we started with 220. This then goes to 400 wet and dry, then 800 wet and dry.

Be careful! I constantly got my knuckles skinned on the spokes by pressing hard, and slipping haha.

You then end up with something looking like this:

You're not done yet! Get some autosol, put it on a rag, and get to work. 15 minutes per wheel got it looking like that, but you could spend even longer to get a mirror finish. I was happy with what it looked like above.

Ok, so I then sanded the wheels with some 220 grit, then 320, and then primered them. After they were primed, give them another scuff up.

For our centre colour, I wanted something relatively dark to hide brake dust, but not black as I think it's a bit of a cop out with wheel colours.

We mixed together S15 Pewter Grey, random RX7 silver, and Lexus metallic grey and ended up with a pretty sweet colour. Here is the finished product:

Word of warning, when you end up spraying the clear, it WILL run. I didn't mind too much, as they are only wheels. If you want to do this properly, get them powder coated.

[_BRS_ 207]

Big congrats man looking so nice, all the hard word has paid off, will be good to see it at a meet one day once finished!

[DrphTa 5]

Man that looks awesome. you must be stoked

[dreadful1 7]

That looks great! I'm so digging that colour!

[Lucan 196]

Great job!

Saved an E30's life.

[Apex 693]

Fantastic job, great effort and patience . I looks ace! Good to see everyone chipping in and helping out.

Just in time for winter!

Get some poser picks up when you can!

[gouba 0]

Awesome color, im sure most would have given up well before you did

[Greg111 13]

Looks really great man, top effort, have seen this colour on Mazda 6's, looks awsome.

Wheels came out very well too!

[Denz 0]

wow, when I picked up that lip and you told me you had repainted your car you didnt tell me that you brought it back from the dead.

Jesus car

[hybrid 1039]

That has to be one of the biggest come backs since Bill Clinton.

awesome DIY work!

[hotwire 352]

Great work & great to see another E30 saved. Good on you guys!

Do love the colour even if it's not an original option

Gotta love the paint booth too

[oscar90 0]

That Colour ..Wow!!

[DarinD 8]

Top job! Most wouldve given up and walked away from it!

[Top Secret 2]

Top job! Most wouldve given up and walked away from it!

In reality I should have, but hey, you get attached

Went for a wof, failed for a few things including a wheel bearing, power steering leak, brake hose, exhaust leak etc. It should all be sorted by this Saturday and then I'll be cruising Hamilton streets.

Thanks for all the comments.

I think we should make a Hamilton mega meet? With a cruise somewhere

[polley 916]

In reality I should have, but hey, you get attached

Went for a wof, failed for a few things including a wheel bearing, power steering leak, brake hose, exhaust leak etc. It should all be sorted by this Saturday and then I'll be cruising Hamilton streets.

Thanks for all the comments.

I think we should make a Hamilton mega meet? With a cruise somewhere

Dont think theres that many cars around in hamilton any more?

[gouba 0]

best to cruise up to Auckland for a meet

[DarinD 8]

In reality I should have, but hey, you get attached

Went for a wof, failed for a few things including a wheel bearing, power steering leak, brake hose, exhaust leak etc. It should all be sorted by this Saturday and then I'll be cruising Hamilton streets.

Thanks for all the comments.

I think we should make a Hamilton mega meet? With a cruise somewhere

Haha yeah mate, plus it must all be worth it to see her the way she is now. Seeing i dont know how to do half the shyt you did yourself, I wouldve walked away as soon as i saw the tattoo

Come on down to Aucks, we should have a shoot with both our purple cars. e30 and 36