Invisible Touch Detailing

With the subframes removed i stripped them down, cleaned them up and started painting them. New bushes will go in next I also purchased another lsd, this time with a ratio of 4.10 compared with the 3.64 originally purchased. This one has recently been rebuilt and is the 'holy grail' of diffs for these cars, a rare item and perfect for track use 3.64 is now on ebay

Spent today: removing the old wiring loom in the engine bay on the blue car organising the new loom and the foam shields along the back of the bay as they were different plumbing in the battery cables to run to the boot as it was originally at the front in this car, had to drill through the side of the engine bay into the dash area to fit the oem gromit as this shell didnt have that hole moving over parts such as clutch resevoir etc which werent taken with the engine. fitting a wiper motor and a couple of other bits that had been pinched while the car was previously sat around for ages. started modifying the steering coupler for the E46 rack (although desperately need Dan's advice on this ) removing any other parts from the scrap shell before it gets taken away, just incase i realise i need them later Next job is to get the subframes from the old shell and everything attached to them such as brakes and hubs (blue car has the smaller struts) ready for coilovers Tomorrow i will also be collecting a 4.10 lsd, it was what i was after originally compare to the 3.64 i bought and this one has recently been rebuilt to A quick pic from today, doesnt look like much done, but its getting tidier The plan is to get everything up and running correctly making sure nothing has been missed or any loom issues, then strip certain parts back to prepare for paint. I am slightly considering the option of wrapping. Although i can paint the car myself, it is obviously very time consuming to do correctly and being a track car, there will no doubt be mishaps at times here and there

Bit of progress made The original car has been stripped of seats, roll cage, fuel cell and most other bits. Not much left to take out of this So, engine time. The 1.6 has been removed The 2.5 has been removed And the 2.5 fitted into the new shell. The welding has also been started on this shell with the passenger footwell now looking in much better shape. The E46 rack has also been fitted.

Definetly time for some pics Here are a few from a Focus RS in a while ago. The task was a Stage 1 paint enhancement and 2 applications of Collinite sealant to offer some good protection over winter. Christian

Something to do with the rear strut towers not being designed to handle coilovers and overtime can damage them in some way. As i say, some people say its fine, others say they require a lot of strengthening and bracing. For peace of mind it means having the springs in the original location, like the bc's do, possibly a safer option.

Thats good to hear. Over in the mk4 Supra world, which i have more knowledge of, they are regarded as reasonable quality especially for the price. A few of the guys have had issues with creaking, but nothing that confirms an issue, but equally loads are very happy also. The fact it seems putting coilovers on the front of an e30 means welding them to the hubs seems strange, but thats how its done, still easily sorted though. The BC's also retain a seperate damper and spring setup at the rear, which saves strengthening the rear strut towers. Again some say no need to strengthen, some do

Not many updates lately, but the e46 rack arrived this week as did the custom kit to fit it. Have been reading lots about which way to go with the suspension, finding it all a bit confusing if i'm honest, so many different views on the subject. I do seem to be leaning towards the BC kit though. Will also be nice knowing you supply this Tony, as it will certainly be you setting it up lol Fairly soon i will transfer both cars to my work to get the mechanical work started, which is a fair bit.

The E30 rack is 4.1 turns lock to lock, the E46 one i have ordered is 3. The E30 is known to have very old fashioned steering, common mods are to swap out to a later 3 series system it seems. The parts really havent cost a great deal. Everyone who has done this says what a huge difference it makes to the feel of the car. Am hoping so

The sound deadening came out easily with a heat gun and scraper Tony, then just cleaned off the residue with thinners. Been busy working this w'end so not much car progress, but have recieved today a racing dynamics front strut brace which i'll have anodised, an eibach rear anti roll bar and an lsd from a 325 sport. I've also just ordered an e46 steering rack and custom kit for the pas pipes. This mod is supposed to do wonders for the e30 steering and a much quicker ratio than stock and far better feel. Have also been thinking against painting the car Audi Ibis white, and going for the Ferrari Grigio Silverstone, although thats a few months off as a lot of mechanics i want to do first

Few more pics with todays progress... Dash stripped out Started stripping the rear end Removed a load of parts in the engine bay and started disconnecting pipes from the old 1.6 Everything being labelled up and bagged along the way Removed all the bits to get the rear quarter glass out, but am struggling to get them out. The guides say they should be very easy, does anyone have any tips to save me from damaging them?

2 brand new front wings also arrived on Friday

A few updated pics now the interior is stripped. This afternoon i removed the sound deadening with a heat gun, i'll be cleaning all these areas up tomorrow with some thinners to remove the left over residue. Tomorrow will also see the dash removed as it is covered in cracks. I have another which i will have flocked before refitting. I will also remove a load of parts from the engine bay tomorrow such as bottles, radiators etc to start cleaning this area up. A few areas that will need to be welded, the usual places on these And a huge pile of bits to get rid of tomorrow, i dread to think what this lot weighs, the green bag has to be dragged its that heavy

Cheers Tony. Had a quick google on the BC kits, they seem to say for an E30, the kit has a separate non coilover rear spring and damper assembly. I know that is how the E30 is designed, but some kits do seem to say they will replace the rear design and offer a coilover type setup. So would the BC give you a true coilover kit on the rear? Sorry for the questions, just trying to understand this as best as i can.

I think i'm leaning towards the GAZ Gold kits, with the uprated top rear mounts, which i believe will offer a proper coilover setup on the rear of the E30? I will also use front are rear strut braces and an uprated arb kit. What could you supply the gaz kit for Tony? can pm if you prefer. And also the uprated rear top mounts if you can? Thanks

I know this is a broad question Tony, (and i'm sure you might confuse me with an answer lol ) but what would be your recommendations on getting an E30 to handle well on track? I'm trying to piece things together so i know what i need to buy for the build. It will most certainly come to you for the geometry setup, and possibly even the suspension kit. I have been looking at the GAZ kits, which i know you seem to like. The black and white car came with ebay prosport suspension. Which obviously i wont be using

Just track Tony, not interested in the drifting. I do want it to be road legal though, purely so it can be used every now and then to save it sitting there at times, and also to make it easier to get work done on it. Started gutting it today. Seats, door cards, roof lining, centre console, stereo, carpet, seat belts, loads of random bits here and there and all inside the boot. Dash will be next. Would have been quite a lot of weight out of it. Will get some pics up shortly.

Hi, i thought i would start a thread to keep all the pictures and updates in one place for my track car build. Ever since doing the day at Goodwood in the summer, i'm hooked And i plan to do a lot more, which will need a dedicated car for the job. Last week i purchased this car... The car is a 325i and has been used for a lot of drifting Unfortunately having now realised the shell will not be up to the task as it just isnt solid enough, i set about finding a replacement shell. The 1st car has however come with a few good bits which will be put to good use in the build, some of the other parts will be sold and some scrapped Today, the new shell arrived which i have been very kindly donated for the project. A mighty fine manual 316 This now means my original plans have been hugely changed, as you can see i have a lot of work to do. Ther car will recieve a full strip down, paint and rebuild. My plans were to install the 325i lump from the 1st car, which may well still happen. However i have a real urge to install an M52 328i. With the lengths i will be going to, to get the car how i want, i really dont want to have to be redoing tasks later down the line so some carefull planning will be needed. I know i will have a huge amount of questions along the way for you guys when it comes to getting the car handling correctly. The first huge task of stripping down the blue car will start tomorrow. I'll look forward to sharing this project with you... Christian

Thanks for looking, Christian

The final pictures once all work was completed

Here we have an E46 M3 in Carbon Black, in for a stage 1 paint correction and caliper paint. Not a huge amount of photos, but these are the ones that i took... Once the car had been fully snow foamed, washed via 2 bucket method, clayed, washed again and then taken into the garage for paint readings The car was suffering with swirls, holograms and a real lack of clarity that this fantastic colour should be offering

Cheers guys. I did very few photos on this occasion Smartly, as i was really on a deadline, so not this time no, but the quality of the machine polishing was to my usual standard The license plate 'used' to be pretty accurate. Previously it had one huge single turbo fitted making ridiculous power but very high up in the rev range. This has just been swapped out for 2 smaller turbos making over 700 but at a far more useable range, and will also make it a quicker car on the street.

This Supra was a pleasure to work on and has really given me the itch to get another one. The simple looks, nice wheels and plenty of power under the bonnet, this is what makes a Supra for me Thanks for reading Christian

So after a full stage 1 machine polish to enhance the finish, the paint was panel wiped to remove excess residue with an IPA solution and then treated with 1 layer of Swissvax Best of Show Wheels were polished with NXT, tyres treated with Endurance Gel, glass polished inside and out, interior hoovered, dusted and cleaned with APC. These were the final pictures