" Auric " the odyssey ........

Document your Sixer project here.

Moderators: GRNSHRK, ron, bfons

User avatar
olympia57
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Posts: 1389
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2012 1:47 pm
Location: Ireland

" Auric " the odyssey ........

Post by olympia57 »

Distinct lack of projects on here recently ( shame on you all ) and as I fast approach the completion of mine I figured that it might entertain you a little.
I'll just add to it as we go along rather than deluge you all in one go.


I bought " Auric "my E24 in Nov 2012 thinking that it needed new rear arches , a bit of sill work and some light paint . The interior was 100% ,exterior very good except for the aforementioned and I'd driven it 325 miles home with no mechanical problems .
I was happy .

Anyway, here's how it started ,
IMGP0001 (Large).JPG
IMGP0001 (Large).JPG (532.98 KiB) Viewed 17760 times
IMGP0004 (2) (Large).JPG
IMGP0004 (2) (Large).JPG (493.35 KiB) Viewed 17760 times
IMGP0010 (2) (Large).JPG
IMGP0010 (2) (Large).JPG (372.76 KiB) Viewed 17760 times
Lesson one in owning an E24, especially a Kaschmir Metalic one
" all that glitters isn't gold "
I left it stored in a friends garage until after Christmas that year until my other classic car was sold and a bay was freed up in my garage.
Eventually it all fell into place and I got a chance to get it up on axle stands and carefully started to remove the rusted arches and rear sill areas.
Initial disappointment that I had when I found a bit more corrosion in the very base of the sills was quickly overtaken with mild horror when I started to examine the lower sill flange all the way along the sills . This turned into gut wrenching terror when I got to the vertical flange behind the sill at the subframe mount and then , well , numbness as I moved from the wheel tubs to the floor areas and toe boards.
At some time in the past ,probably six or eight years ago someone had skillfully made up steel sections , shaped them almost perfectly and glued them to areas that were suffering corrosion .
Now these were not roughly made patch sections No , they were almost surgically cut with precision and shaped in a way that Matisse would have looked on with admiration ! They had been carefully attached using a PU adhesive and clamped to narrow the contours where necessary to further disguise them.
A carefully applied coat of light stonechip and a dusting of dirt over the years rendered them, to all intents ,invisible . When tapped with a solid implement they even sounded correct .
I'd say that the work had been done some years ago and certainly not for the sale .
Yup , there was a star in the book of bodgers next to that guys name .
I was so upset and devoid of mojo that the fate of the car hung in the balance for several days whilst I decided whether to restore it or break it.
S'funny how things work out though . It had been some years since I did any serious restorations but after getting involved in the building of a couple of competitive rally cars since I moved to Ireland I had a notion to get a project. I was fortunate to have all the equipment required and space to do it so after considering the situation I decided that as the car was so original it deserved to be saved.
So budget was drawn up and a plan of attack made .
I got the car up as high as I could to allow the work to start on the rear and set to .
Initially I intended to just inspect the mechanics at the rear and replace only what was necessary after tidying it up but as all that was there was past it's best mission creep set in immediately.........
IMGP0008 (Large).JPG
IMGP0008 (Large).JPG (424.33 KiB) Viewed 17757 times
Lesson 2 .... tear up the budget .
The brake backplates were rusty so that meant that the hubs had to be split so it made sense to replace the bearings and if they were being done then what about the bushes and the subframe really needed derusting ...etc. etc .etc ......
So the rear axle was removed and every single component was replaced or refurbished . All parts are available if you search long enough and for a reasonable price if you search even longer .
Image
Image
After much work we got to this point .Quick Eh ?
Image
Pin holes were found in the petrol tank so a new one was sourced from Herr Walloth and Herr Nesch , indeed I got to know them very well ......!
Image
Whilst the axle was out I got to examine the extent of the work involved at the rear .My plan from the outset was to go hunting for and then remove every bit of corrosion that I could find on the car so no corners were cut.
Those of you of a nervous disposition best skip this bit ........
Image
Image
Image
Oooo............the nearside was exactly the same .

So , take a deep breath and start cutting all that mess out .
Image
Image
Image
Image
On the last photo you can see the extent of the corrosion on the wheel tub edge . This was cut out after correct positioning of the outer repair panel and replaced in numerous sections once the arch was fully welded on. This takes longer ( and much more difficult ) but ensures that the outer arch is correct in vertical and horizontal profile .


And after much fabrication and welding ,
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Both rear arch repair sections were purchased from a seller in Germany and fitted very well with the swage lines aligning correctly. The NS arch is only tacked in the photo , it was welded as the OS .
Beyond these photos were what seemed like a thousand smaller sections that had to be let into the structure to bring it back to the original strength , these included all the internal braces for the jacking points and the central membrane .
All these sections , inc. outer sills ,were made from 18swg to replicate the originals . New outer sills had to be hand made as they are not available , these were done on a Polish sourced metal press via good 'ol E bay .
Image

And with that , that was the rear done , Simple !
Last edited by olympia57 on Sun Mar 18, 2018 11:03 am, edited 17 times in total.
m6dave
Posts: 376
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 10:50 am
Location: New South Wales Australia

Post by m6dave »

Congratulations - great quality work has been done. After an epic journey like this it is so rewarding to be able to drive it again.
User avatar
sansouci
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Posts: 1850
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:52 pm
Location: Southampton NY

Post by sansouci »

This is an example of skill and love. It is why the 6'r should not be easily consigned to the crusher after parting out. We need more rust-o-rations.
We have a new section, workshop methods so feel free to add your comments on old vehicle assessment, rust removal, panel shaping and welding.
--Ken
Sansouci
84 E24 633Csi Auto, Bronzit/PearlBeige 6997510
93 E32 740il M60 Auto, Alpenweis/Ultramarine
60 528i M30 5-speed Green/Beige (crushed)
71 240Z 4-speed White/Blue (rusty & sold)
65 396 Chevelle 4-speed, Marina Blue/Black (stolen)
Andy318is
Posts: 63
Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2014 12:56 pm
Location: Bedfordshire, UK
Contact:

Post by Andy318is »

Fantastic opening to a project thread I'm really looking forwards to! :-)
'84 628csi
User avatar
slofut
Posts: 778
Joined: Thu May 30, 2013 1:29 am
Location: SW Ga

Post by slofut »

Hey Don,
Really nice looking car you have there, you have some great fab skills!
Love the wheels, what are they?
Bill
'87 635csi, 5sp man, dk blu on pearl beige
'88 635csi, auto, black on grey
'63 BMW Isetta
'75 XJ6C, 2dr, warm 350
'86 XJ6, th700r4
'75TR6
'64 Olds 88 conv
"68 T120 Bonneville
User avatar
disqord
Posts: 113
Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2014 6:44 am
Location: Oahu, Hawaii

Post by disqord »

slofut wrote:Hey Don,
Really nice looking car you have there, you have some great fab skills!
Love the wheels, what are they?
Bill
They look to be Remotec wheels. Quite rare, but very striking!
1978 635CSi #5545154

Image
User avatar
olympia57
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Posts: 1389
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2012 1:47 pm
Location: Ireland

Post by olympia57 »

disqord wrote:
slofut wrote:Hey Don,
Really nice looking car you have there, you have some great fab skills!
Love the wheels, what are they?
Bill
They look to be Remotec wheels. Quite rare, but very striking!
They are Remotec's , 8x16 ET16 . Bit more difficult to source now as two Eastern European buyers are buying all that are advertised on Ebay DE ,refurbishing and polishing them and then reselling for €1000.
I should add that I did pm Bill with an answer and all info on them.
I stripped mine , painted the centres and polished the rims ,which is a messy time consuming job !
DSCF7698 - Copy (Large).JPG
DSCF7698 - Copy (Large).JPG (293.04 KiB) Viewed 17692 times
Last edited by olympia57 on Sat Mar 17, 2018 10:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
olympia57
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Posts: 1389
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2012 1:47 pm
Location: Ireland

Post by olympia57 »

I found that upon completion of the rear of the car it gave a tremendous boost to my enthusiasm and certainly helped motivate me onto the next phase.
So as I said at end of episode one next on the "to do " list was the four floors . Nothing exciting about these repairs I'm afraid .
The rears had some minor rust where the floor adjoins the inner sill . My approach from the start was to cut out and remove every bit of rust I found on the car replacing it with new metal so this area on both sides was cut away to clean steel.
Image
The inner sill membrane had been replaced when I built up the new sills , when this photo was taken I had still to attach the outer sill and then cut the inner to follow the line of the original lower flange . I found a laser line tool the perfect way to get straight alignment between the old and the new part of the sills.
Image
So all that had to be done was form some flat sheet and weld in ,
Image
About 90% of the repairs done to the sill and floors were done with the much stronger 18swg steel.
The circular removeable plates found on each floor of the car always annoyed me . They look so vulnerable to road dirt build up so as I wasn't aiming for total originality on this resto I decided to cut them out and replace .
As you can see the edge of the floor is just starting to rust on this one ,the plate I had removed was actually rustted paper thin at the edges.
Image
Cleaned up and then finished ,
Image
Both sides were done .

Front LH footwell was rusted through at the very front which upon investigation was probably a result of the sunroof drain pipes ending about three inches away from the manufactured hole in the A piller designed to allow the water to exit out of the car . This manufacturing failure had caused ,or certainly greatly contributed to , the rusting of the floor at this point .
here you see both the rusted area and the circular plate cut out .
Image
The sill end was in surprisingly good condition and after cleaning back I only had to replace this section . you can clearly see the end of the sunroof drain and the manufactured hole in the A pillar that it should exit .
Image
And once replated we had thisto attach the new floor to
Image
And finally with the new sections welded in and painted .
Image
I deliberately left the hole where the new sill section was added on to allow me to insert the extension pipe of my Schutz gun into that area and flood it with rustproofer later on. The other hole allows the same to be done to the internal surfaces of the chassis leg .
Lastly the RH floor . This was rusted in exactly the same area as the LH but a bit more extensive . As I was replacing the circular plate I decided that it would be easier to cut out one large section rather than the two .
Image
If you look closely to will see that upon examination of the exposed inner sill it was apparent that the jacking point gusset was too rusty to ignore and would have to be replaced along with the outer sill at that point . To ensure that there was no droop in the door aperture when this was being done I marked up datum points using the laser line tool I mentioned earlier and checked these measurements throughout the time it was at it's weakest. Once they were repaired the new inner sill section went on.
Image
Now all that was left was to fabricate a new floor section and weld it in ,
Image
Image
Unfortunatley I found it impossible to get the shape of the reducing double compound curve on the toeboard and had to make it in several sections to get the correct profile . As I said earlier ,I wasn't looking to return the car to total originality so decided to leave off the square foot normally found here as it just seems to act as a rust trap . Lokari inner wing liners will be getting fitted anyway so this area won't be seen.
Image
sealed prior to paint.
Image
As this was going on I restored the headlights ,taillights and refurbished the new wheels that I mentioned in last post .
Image
Image
IMGP1051 (Large).JPG
IMGP1051 (Large).JPG (289.37 KiB) Viewed 17688 times
IMGP1050 (Large).JPG
IMGP1050 (Large).JPG (390.17 KiB) Viewed 17688 times
Image
So there we are , as I said necessary but unexciting perhaps :roll:
Next time we go inner wings :cry:
Last edited by olympia57 on Sat Mar 17, 2018 7:56 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Andy318is
Posts: 63
Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2014 12:56 pm
Location: Bedfordshire, UK
Contact:

Post by Andy318is »

Now you're just putting us all to shame with the quality of your work!

Excellent work! I doff my cap to you sir!
'84 628csi
User avatar
slofut
Posts: 778
Joined: Thu May 30, 2013 1:29 am
Location: SW Ga

Post by slofut »

I remember ambition like that... :roll:
'87 635csi, 5sp man, dk blu on pearl beige
'88 635csi, auto, black on grey
'63 BMW Isetta
'75 XJ6C, 2dr, warm 350
'86 XJ6, th700r4
'75TR6
'64 Olds 88 conv
"68 T120 Bonneville
User avatar
olympia57
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Posts: 1389
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2012 1:47 pm
Location: Ireland

Post by olympia57 »

When i bought the car I was sure that the front wings were new or almost, so when I removed and examined them when starting to repair the inner wings I was delighted to find that they were just as I hoped. They had been well coated with a Schutz type of underseal and had absolutley no rust or weathering at all .
I found one new rear arch had been fitted when I replaced them both and it had been well fitted but had had zero rust proofing done and had rusted away at the edges again ! The car had received the new wings plus a good quality respray and probably had the crude inner wing repairs done at the same time but the difference in fit and finish of these repairs was palpable .
So with the wings off the true extent of the work in hand was visable . Both were suffering corrosion at the front end and the only way to repair was some serious surgery.

Image[/URL]
Image
First thing done was to measure accuratley between two points along the top of each wing band that would be cut out . This was to ensure that when all was rebuilt all the bonnet /front panel/scuttle gaps would be as original.
The LH side had the rotten sections cut out . I wanted to ,if possible keep as much of the original steel including trumpets as possible so to do so meant the rebuild would require several sections to get back to the original shape and profile .
Image
Battery box and splash shield had to be repaired and fabricated .
Image
This was the most difficult section to fabricate and fit as I wanted a perfect finish inside the bonnet compartment . I ended up having to make it in two sections .
Image
New inner upright ,wing mount ( two sections ) and new trumpet section all fitted and sealed up. Some repairs were also required to the lower front panel.
Image
The RH side was broadly similar but unfortunatley the trumpet section was too corroded at the front so I had to fabricate a replacement section sans ribs . It was almost identical to the LHS only fewer but larger sections were required.
Image
Once complete it was properly seam sealed too
Image
The clamps shown were being used to repair this little section that I mentioned on the LHS . It had to done in two sections too.
Image
Fortunatley when I ground away the surface rust on the inner flanges of the triangular gussets at the rear of both front wings there was no corrosion found . I spent several awkward hours grinding every bit of surface rust off those flanges with a Dremel tool . Once done they were coated in Hydrate 80 and then zinc primed and then epoxy coated. That's an area that really has to be hosed down weekly if the car is being used regularly.
As the bodywork progressed I stripped the front suspension and steering and renewed every component inc. bearings ,TRE's ,bushes ,control arms rebuilt the calipers with new pistons and seals ,pipes etc,etc,etc.......
The inner wings had two coats of zinc primer two epoxy black then three coats of rubberised Schutz stonechip followed by two coats of metal paint .This top coat gives a wipe clean surface that muck and mud just slide off.

Image
Image
You'll notice that there are no wing mounts attached to the new inner wings . I decided to bolt the new brackets onto the inner wings to give me better mounting points for the planned Lokari arch liners that I will be fitting .
And with that the welder was packed up and put away in it's corner again .
It felt like another milestone had been reached as with the completion of the structural body repairs it was onto the actual finishing work .
Next onto the bodywork finishing :(
User avatar
sansouci
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Posts: 1850
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:52 pm
Location: Southampton NY

Post by sansouci »

How 'bout some pics of your shop? Anytime I see an oxy-acetylene torch lurking, I get curious.
Ken
Sansouci
84 E24 633Csi Auto, Bronzit/PearlBeige 6997510
93 E32 740il M60 Auto, Alpenweis/Ultramarine
60 528i M30 5-speed Green/Beige (crushed)
71 240Z 4-speed White/Blue (rusty & sold)
65 396 Chevelle 4-speed, Marina Blue/Black (stolen)
User avatar
zinnocoupe
Posts: 506
Joined: Fri Sep 19, 2014 12:57 am
Location: Vancouver BC

Post by zinnocoupe »

This is fantastic stuff, Great job , I'm gasping in horror at the before pics and practically getting a boner from the after pics. This true art. Cant wait to see the finished project.
User avatar
2I6es
Posts: 258
Joined: Tue Nov 06, 2012 9:05 am
Location: Darwin, Capital of Outback Australia

Post by 2I6es »

Keep it going don, looks fantastic, i had your drive but no where near the ability needed to do what you have done !!!


Cheers Vinny
$DO || ! $DO : try
try: command not found


02 XR6 (m) 5sp (OD) 1701 D - "ENTERPRISE"

Long time lover of all hot I6's - BMW 635, Ford XR6 and the mighty Chrysler E49 six pack Charger
User avatar
olympia57
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Posts: 1389
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2012 1:47 pm
Location: Ireland

Post by olympia57 »

Thanks or all your replies especially your Vinny .

So with the repairs all done attention was turned to the finishing and painting of the bodywork.
The overall paint finish was very good on the car when I got it so i decided to paint from the body swage line down . Being a metallic gold car this was a risk but I'd sucessfully painted metallics before so thought It worth a try.
The rear arches and sills (rockers) had to be finished and although I'd taken great care to minimise distortion when welding it still occurred. I had to spend some time heating and shrinking the areas that had spread but managed in the end.Once the welds were linished only a skim of bodyfiller was required but the rear arches on the E24 look simple but are actually quite complex. After a weeks work I wanted to shoot some primer over the arches to get a good idea of the contours . I hadn't ordered the paint materials and in my impatience mixed and sprayed some 1K that I had on the shelf. For whatever reason it failed to go off and after 48 hours I realised that all my work would have to be destroyed to remove it and start again .
That was a low point indeed.......
Anyway , no option but to get back into it again and after another week I was back where I wanted to be . I used 2K primers/fillers and lacquers and 1K base coat throughout .
Early filling .
Image
Filler work finished ,trim removed and wings fitted.
Image
Image
Image
There's no shortcut in painting so it was slow progress ensuring all was clean and properly prepared .
Choosing the correct shede was interesting as here in Ireland solvent based paint is outlawed and only the awful water based stuff is officially available . I've always arranged to have my solvent based paint sent from a supplier back home in Scotland but after ordering two sample pots I got a very threatening letter from Royal Mail stating that I had been found to have been trying to ship a banned substance and if I ever repeated the act I'd be prosecuted , that would be interesting as I am in a different country ....... :shock: Anyway they destroyed the paint even though I had had it sent surface mail which would not have caused any danger .
A quick cll to the Scottish supplier gave me the manufacturer's name , a call to them got me the area rep. and a call to him got another sympathetic supplier in Northern ireland ( different country ) and the same two samples were with me two days later . After a trial one was found to be almost perfect and duly ordered.
Image

Base coat applied .
Image
Image
I couldn't get the lacquer I usually use ,Upol , and had to settle for a Polish brand which I was assured was very good quality. It was mixed as per instructions and applied at correct pressure temp. using correct tip size on the gun . It was immediatly apparant that all was not going well when it refused to "flow " and seemed to coagulate as soon as it landed . I had no option but to shoot three heavy coats and plan to wet flat it smooth.
This was heartbreaking as it had the look of thick porridge and was way beyond orangepeel. I believe that the 2K hardener supplied was past it's use by date but cannot confirm.
So the difficult and painfull task of wet sanding the lacquer commenced and took over a week to complete , my fingertips actually bled when doing this .
First pass.
Image
Image
Front panel was painted .
Image
A second wet sand got it close t what I wanted and after first machine compounding I refitted the body trim . Ron had alerted me to a source of new NLA early trim so i bought what he had left and afte what seemed like hours sorting through the many types of trim clips I managed to get it all together .
Image
Expensive new front bumper trims :shock: and after trying to replicate the OE body stripe using vinyl tape I sourced a good quality OE stripe kit from Czech Republic for very little money. This saw the front spoiler complete and fitted .
Image
The rear was built up and centre section painted matt black as original .
Image

And that completed the bodywork.
Colour match seems very good under artificial light but all will be revealed when it comes down off the axle stands and is taken out outdoors.
I also redyed the seats prior to refitting the interior . This was a satisfying if time consuming job. I followed the instructions to the letter and used an airbrush to apply the dye . It took about four very light coats allowing each to dry off thoroughly before the next but I'm very pleased with the end result .
IMGP2014 - Copy (Large).JPG
IMGP2014 - Copy (Large).JPG (270.16 KiB) Viewed 17688 times
IMGP2052 (Large).JPG
IMGP2052 (Large).JPG (331.6 KiB) Viewed 17688 times
Nearly there now.... [-o<
Last edited by olympia57 on Sun Mar 18, 2018 12:12 pm, edited 3 times in total.
baders
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Posts: 1084
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2014 7:38 am
Location: Perth Australia

Post by baders »

Brilliant, simply brilliant. I wish I had 1/10th of your skill ! I am quailing as I consider attempting minor re-spraying on small areas :shock:
1986 635csi LOCUTUS / Arktis Blau Metallic / Pearl Beige / S38B36/ Close ratio dogleg 5sp
2002 E46 M3 / Topaz Blau Metallic / Black Nappa / 6 speed SMG software tuned / Bilstein PSS10 Coilovers / CMP RACP reinforcement
White 6
Posts: 40
Joined: Sat Mar 23, 2013 2:58 am
Location: La Mesa CA

Color of your 6

Post by White 6 »

Hi,

I was wondering if you used a lacquer base 2 stage paint, second stage clear coat paint?? I live in California and I am dealing with BMW dealers telling me that my Euro 635csi was painted with a urethane 2 stage paint. If you did use a 2 stage lacquer would you say that the lacquer has a better shine and deeper color then a urethane 2 stage paint? I have a Euro 1985 635csi in the BronzitBeige Metallic. I am having the whole car repainted by a private body shop. My gut feeling on this is this car was originally painted with a lacquer base paint? I have been told that lacquer will only last for a few years and possibly crack from this body shop?

Can you tell about this more.

Thanks,

Jay
User avatar
kief
Posts: 113
Joined: Sun Feb 02, 2014 1:22 am
Location: PA, USA

Post by kief »

:shock:
1984 BMW 633CSi - traded for 1979 Yamaha XS750
User avatar
olympia57
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Posts: 1389
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2012 1:47 pm
Location: Ireland

Re: Color of your 6

Post by olympia57 »

White 6 wrote:Hi,

I was wondering if you used a lacquer base 2 stage paint, second stage clear coat paint?? I live in California and I am dealing with BMW dealers telling me that my Euro 635csi was painted with a urethane 2 stage paint. If you did use a 2 stage lacquer would you say that the lacquer has a better shine and deeper color then a urethane 2 stage paint? I have a Euro 1985 635csi in the BronzitBeige Metallic. I am having the whole car repainted by a private body shop. My gut feeling on this is this car was originally painted with a lacquer base paint? I have been told that lacquer will only last for a few years and possibly crack from this body shop?

Can you tell about this more.

Thanks

Jay
pm'd
Don
User avatar
olympia57
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Posts: 1389
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2012 1:47 pm
Location: Ireland

Post by olympia57 »

So , 28 months after starting , save for a few detailing jobs it's finished.
Dropped her down off the axle stands onto wheels at the weekend and took her for a drive around the house . No bangs creaks or groans over the rough gravel so that's a positive sign :roll: After all the grief getting the brakes 100% they are simply awesome .
Not too sure about the Moto-Lita steering wheel as it seems a little too '60s MGB rather than E24 but it's a very tactile wheel to use and the stock wheel takes two minutes to refit.

The new lights ( thanks Ron ! ) have to be set ,tracking has to be done on it and the wheels require rebalancing after the self adhesive weights decided to " un " self adhese :o
There's a little "ding on the bonnet that my local PDR guy will fix then I'll be able to fit the new under bonnet insulation I have , the OE body stripes require a little touching in with an airbrush to make perfect and I'll give it another pass with a final polishing compound , but then it's got to be tested and driven .
Future plans may call for a manual conversion but I think I'd like to keep it "15 minutes work " from original spec.
I have to thank each and every one of you who helped me along the way ( so far ) since I started out with this car ,I simply would have been unable to do it without you all , BC is one of, if not the , most helpful ,encouraging sites I've used. =D>
So here are a couple of photo's on it's first day of freedom again with more to follow as we get out and about . The UV lens filter on the camera seems to have dulled the paint but in the flesh I'm very happy with the shine .
Don
DSCF0037.JPG
DSCF0037.JPG (280.95 KiB) Viewed 17737 times
DSCF0006_3 - Copy.JPG
DSCF0006_3 - Copy.JPG (281.85 KiB) Viewed 17737 times
DSCF0040.JPG
DSCF0040.JPG (310.48 KiB) Viewed 17737 times
DSCF3664 (Large).JPG
DSCF3664 (Large).JPG (399.61 KiB) Viewed 17709 times
Last edited by olympia57 on Sat Mar 17, 2018 7:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
2I6es
Posts: 258
Joined: Tue Nov 06, 2012 9:05 am
Location: Darwin, Capital of Outback Australia

Post by 2I6es »

So glad I got to see it Don - well done mate - you should be very proud.


Cheers Vinny - very tired but still here
$DO || ! $DO : try
try: command not found


02 XR6 (m) 5sp (OD) 1701 D - "ENTERPRISE"

Long time lover of all hot I6's - BMW 635, Ford XR6 and the mighty Chrysler E49 six pack Charger
User avatar
rattusM6
Posts: 105
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2015 5:40 pm
Location: Wiltshire, United Kingdom

Post by rattusM6 »

Hi Don,

Well I have just spent my lunch break reading the entire post and I am utterly blown away with what you have achieved.

I hope you have many wonderful years with her.


Kev
Realised I was dyslexic whilst at a toga party dressed as a goat.
85 E24 M6 - 14 years
92 E30 M3 - 11 years now sold
06 E46 M3 - 2 years
13 Ford Grand C-Max, the family wagon
99 E36 323i Sport Touring - now sold
02 E46 Alpina B3 3.3 - 1.5 years
User avatar
sansouci
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Posts: 1850
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:52 pm
Location: Southampton NY

Post by sansouci »

Lovely!
Whose mats are those and where did you get that nifty shifter handle?
I like the steering wheel instead of the heavy black OEM wheel.

My Garage Queen is Bronzit Beige and it will never look as good as yours as my skills are not nearly as well developed as yours are.
--Ken
Sansouci
84 E24 633Csi Auto, Bronzit/PearlBeige 6997510
93 E32 740il M60 Auto, Alpenweis/Ultramarine
60 528i M30 5-speed Green/Beige (crushed)
71 240Z 4-speed White/Blue (rusty & sold)
65 396 Chevelle 4-speed, Marina Blue/Black (stolen)
User avatar
olympia57
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Posts: 1389
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2012 1:47 pm
Location: Ireland

Post by olympia57 »

Thanks for your kind comments lads .
Can't help you with the source of the mats Ken as they were in the car when I bought it needing only a good clean to get them as new again. I'll look through the invoice /receipts file to see if there is any for them.
The shifter knob is actually a later phase 2, 4 speed plastic item that I cut down and modified sightly to fit the 3 speed shaft ( that was wrapped in chrome vinyl wrap ) . I painted the faux wood finish on both it and the shift console surround wishing to introduce a little detail to the car to better integrate the steering wheel. It's another hobby of mine and I've done a number of parts and steering wheels for older cars along with many pieces of furniture .
DSCF7932 - Copy.JPG
DSCF7932 - Copy.JPG (576.6 KiB) Viewed 17709 times
I kept the original shift knob and got another console from Ron so I could reinstate the car to original if needed . I tried several " wood " finishes before settling on a burr walnut theme , here's a sample of the selection I made .That's genuine Oak underneath !
IMGP2434 - Copy (Large).JPG
IMGP2434 - Copy (Large).JPG (271.66 KiB) Viewed 17709 times
Last edited by olympia57 on Sat Mar 17, 2018 7:17 pm, edited 3 times in total.
User avatar
sansouci
Platinum Member
Platinum Member
Posts: 1850
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:52 pm
Location: Southampton NY

Post by sansouci »

Did you relocate the diagnostic port? The loop on the forward engine strut is where mine in mounted.
Sansouci
84 E24 633Csi Auto, Bronzit/PearlBeige 6997510
93 E32 740il M60 Auto, Alpenweis/Ultramarine
60 528i M30 5-speed Green/Beige (crushed)
71 240Z 4-speed White/Blue (rusty & sold)
65 396 Chevelle 4-speed, Marina Blue/Black (stolen)
Post Reply