project #2. bmw e21 build thread

[1badg35]

Project number two makes its way into the garage, so i figured i might as well start the documentation of the work we plan on doing to it.. It is my younger brother Joey's project car, so I assume he will be taking over the thread and updating things as they progress.

The E21. Its a '79 320i with 90k original miles on it. the 4 speed trans was swapped for a 5 speed unit, and long tube header to an aftermarket exhaust, but other then that and a pair of front seats, the car is pretty much stock.



here is the day we went to look at the car, back in september. took it for a drive, car is in great mechanical shape, so we came back later the next day with a small stack of hundreds, and off we went.
looks great inside and out, minus the monster truck height. but no worries, thats easily remedied..

interior:







i will add a bunch to this post over the course of the day, have to go through some pictures

So now the Fairlady has a new roommate

[1badg35]

*reserved*

but here is a nice picture to hold you over

[1badg35]

*reserved*

[ImAwesome]

omg what is that color

[tdilynch]

Oh how this excites me.

[JPE16]

So fuckin' in for updates.

[E21uro]

nice!! cant wait to see where it goes

[Chuckdee]

So fuckin' in for updates.

this!

[Riskant]

Subbed!

Loving the color!

[1badg35]

the color of the car is bmw topasbraun metallic, i guess translated topaz brown metallic. Its a rust color with a good amount of metallic flake in it. pretty cool factory color, and its in great shape.

one of the first orders of business was shortening the us spec ironing boards. the front bumper on this car is physically huge, and needed to be pushed back as far as possible. eventually euro bumpers will make their way onto the project, but for now this made a big difference.

before:


after:


same idea front and rear, just removed the bumper, drilled out the fluid 5 mph bumper shocks, remounted, pushed it in, and trimmed back all of the plastics, so that it looked like it never happened

then lowering the car temporarily commenced. She will eventually be graced with a custom air suspension that we fab up, probably using universal air components, but for now, cut springs did the trick.
all in all a pretty easy job with a nice angle grinder or cutoff wheel, and we cut almost 5" out of the height all around. we did the front a few times, as the rear was sitting well, but the front still needed to come down a bit more..





joey putting the nuts back on the rear strut towers after finishing it up.



then we threw on a set of 4x100 16" rs that i had finished and sitting around. colors dont work well, but they were not made for this car.

[1badg35]

currently my brother is tackling the job of a mono wiper assembly, and then we picked these up... this will likely happen in the spring after some more work and adjustments.

[E21uro]

so sick need more updates!!

[D.Brown]

Dude i can't wait for you to really get balls deep into this car. I just know that you will not disappoint. Bimmer love.

[ChristopherJason]

Hoping this has the details of the 300z !!!

[Eric M]

After seeing you 300 build I cant wait for future updates on the bimmer!