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Felony Form from New Zealand (E36)
Hello Stanceworks!
This is my first post here, and I'm normally quite the lurker, however with my build almost finished up, I figured I'd share with the world what I've been doing. I've been getting some nice feedback on local forums in New Zealand, so thought why not see what the rest of the world has to say about it.
As the title suggests, this thread is about my almost finished E36 Felony Form Widebody project. As far as I am aware, it is currently the first, and only Felony Form build in New Zealand.
While the widebody project only commenced in late 2015, I figured I'd also use this as an opportunity to illustrate the changes and transformation of the car from when I first got her, to the beginnings of the project. Writing this out retrospectively, has made me realise how much I've learnt about working with cars, and also appreciate all those who have given me their time and helped me with the car.
Without further delay, let's start from the beginning!
The car is a 1997 E36 328i 5 speed manual, with full motorsport trim. I bought this car in March 2014 and this is how she looked the day I got her. She was sitting on 18" style 32s on motorsport suspension. Certainly styled in a way that many people would have no complaints about, but for me, it was a canvas waiting for me to make my mark on!
Literally the day I got her, I put on my BBS wheels as I prefer 17" size, and was looking to have her sitting a bit lower too
The BBS wheels were the set I put together for my last E36. They are a staggered set of 17x8 et20 and 17x9 et19.
Here she is sitting next to my old 318ti when I took her home. SO much more power in the 328 after driving a 1.8L for years haha XD
The compact didn't look too bad with the style 32s I thought! Shortly afterwards, I sold the compact.
Haaaaaaaad to do something about that height next, so with coilover suspension ordered on the way, I figured I start a little home project to build a cold air box/heat shield around the intake, as she had a mushroom pod filter when I bought her. This was the first time I've ever attempted making/fabricating something on my own, and I have no background in anything car/engineering related. It wasn't pretty, but at the end of the day it was functional, and reduced the hot air reaching the intake, so I was happy with that. Little did I know that this would be the beginning of a dark dangerous path of learning to tinker with everything to do with cars hahaha :P
After that next project was to tackle the coilover suspension. I ordered an XYZ set up with 10kg fronts (linear) 12kg rears (progressive), with full front adjustable camber, and I also fitted HardRace adjustable rear camber arms. I was supplied custom shortened rear shocks, with a rear spring height of 110mm. In the following pictures of it being installed, the rear adjusters were on their highest setting.
It was an all nighter to get it all installed, and it was only possible with the help of my very good mates Jibreel and Marcus. I can't thank them enough for the assist that night! I recall we were up to about 5am to get it done. Owe them big time.
How she looked with the coilovers in
Obviously, with driving a stiff and lowered car, came many low car problems ... which I slowly learnt to fix/deal with over time haha ..
The driveway at work was a nightmare, and it decided to remove my front bumper many times.
Next was just to install some LED angel eyes which I like. Not everyone's cup of tea, but is for me. It was good to be able to learn-by-doing when it came to many of these mini-projects/mods.
Unfortunately this car also had a number of issues in the engine bay during this time too, and once again, it was always my outstanding mates who would assist and teach me on how to fix these issues. Can't say enough about these guys!
So after rolling around on the BBS's for a fair while, I decided it was time for a change. I got my hands on some AC Schnitzer Type 2 wheels for a very good deal from a friend. They were in rough condition, so I did some DIY refurbishing with the help of my girlfriend. She suggested to have them finished in something unique, so we ended up coating them in a 'stone' finish, which resembles concrete, essentially.
At the same time, I decided to drop the front a little lower on the car too ...
I love the way E36s sit on these wheels, so very pleased with the outcome of the new front drop and new wheel fitment. The AC Schnitzers are 17x8.5 et13 all round.
I was very happy with how she was, so took her to Mother's Chrome Show and Shine event last year to give her some exposure
Here she is sitting next to my friend Roni's incredibly clean and classic Merc.
I loved the way she looked, but still had to drive her around as my daily ... which eventually was just too impractical. So the girlfriend talked me in to buying a new daily, and then retiring this to weekend car haha.
I bought an E30 318i which was amazing. However my time with her was short-lived, as I was unfortunately T-boned one night at an intersection, when a lady failed to give way to me. Luckily nobody was injured, but the E30 was written off
I have since purchased another daily. another E30. A 323i manual, and she's going strong.
Being upgraded to 'weekend car' status and having a daily runabout car on the side - talk started regarding doing more, crazy, outrageous things with the E36. Ideas were thrown around making it a drift car, track car, show car etc. I had done some research, and was very interested in acquiring the Felony Form Widebody Overfender kit, and building it in to a show vehicle. At the time, logistics and cost were a limiting factor, however, one morning there was an opportunity to purchase (what I understand to be) the first and only current kit in New Zealand. I snapped it up immediately, and from there, there was no turning back :P
First, mocked up the kit fitment ...
It didn't take long before we started marking, and cutting the fenders ...
Gotta love my girlfriend for being so incredibly talented with car body work, teaching me and showing me how it's done! You'll notice she will feature in many photos doing the hard work, I just stand back and look pretty apparently :P
But really though, I learn so much from this girl. I'm very lucky.
Of course, with the new body, I would need new wheels. I have something secret ordered from overseas, a nice, wide, 3piece wheel. The idea was to build the car to be ready for 4 and Rotary show 2016, however, the wheel manufacturer found a defect in the wheels when they made them, so they have been delayed, likely to arrive sometime Feb/March 2016
With things not looking promising for 4nR 2016, another friend of mine had a set of wheels that would suit as a temporary set! They were not as aggressive as the wheels I had intended, but certainly better than nothing! Have to thank my mates Jasjot and Jasmit for allowing me to run these beautiful wheels. As a result, the work continues!
The wheels, as seen in the corner of the pic above, are Hamann PG-1s, manufactured by O.Z. wheels. They are 18x9 et6 all round, and I will be spacing them out between 20-25mm to make them fit the way I need them to.
Next, to go with the transformation, I wanted to change the colour of the car. I went through many colour choices in my head and had numerous discussions with the gf, but in the end my heart kept going back to this "Battleship Grey" by Avery Dennison Graphics. The girlfriend wasn't a fan of it at the time, but she's since admitted to me that she likes the colour now :P
Wrapping a car was a huuuuuuge undertaking, especially when neither of us had any prior experience, there were certainly many frustrating moments, but we just had to keep reminding ourselves that this was a learning experience, and that it would all be worth it in the end. Since finishing the wrapping for the car, I can now say I'd definitely do it again, it's not too bad once you get the hang of how the material behaves, and what kind of prep work you need to do first.
Next, I wanted to add something to the front end of the car, some more aero, to make things look more aggressive. So two weekends ago, I was lucky enough to have help from two new friends help me build a functional, aggressive, custom front splitter for the bumper. The splitter is made from a plywood base, then covered with fibreglass. It is hard-mounted to the chassis.
I have to give a MASSIVE thank you to Daniel for designing the splitter for me, and Bradley for allowing us to use his fibreglassing material and facilities. Not only that, also dedicating an entire day with me to starting and finishing the splitter in a day!
A month ago, I had never met either of these two people before. Both of these guys had left the occasional comment on my photography work, expressing a fair amount of interest and following my build. Over a few chats over the internet, we managed to get all 3 of us together, as car enthusiasts to build something for the car. Through this, I can now call both of these guys good friends of mine. The fact that they had never met me, or knew who I really was, and were just so willing to lend a hand and dedicate their efforts to me and the build is unbelievable. It's moments like these that make me want to continue building a car community like this, where people can connect just through their shared love for cars.
The following week was a tough one, fitment with tyres revealed I had not cut the original factory guards high enough, and the wheels were approximating with the factory guards before reaching intended ride height. So the week was spent re-measuring, and re-cutting the guards, followed by re-welding them. It was tough, but we managed to get it done in time.
After much tinkering, we finally had the car sitting on the ground. It's not quite perfect yet ... but I figure pics are appropriate ...
This car is the embodiment of a vision I had in my head, that I wanted to produce and show the world.
Just a few final things to work out for the final fitment and looks for the show, and she'll be ready to roll. In the meantime, we're working hard to finish up the girlfriends 280zx project for the show too.
Thanks for reading, please do leave a comment or two, I'd love to hear what the rest of the world thinks about what we're trying to build here in little ol' New Zealand. Here's a little bonus pic of the girlfriend's Work wheels getting some tyres thrown on :P
P.S.
If you do like my photography work you've seen on this thread, I would really appreciate it if you could check it out on my social media (FB/Instagram) and throw me a like/follow! I normally just update build progress on my car and the girlfriends car there first, before finding the time to post on forums etc. So check it out if you want to see how the build goes, plus how the 280zx widebody project is going :P
Facebook: JW Photography NZ
Instagram: @jw.photography.nz
And if you're interested, our little car club who love stance in NZ: StanceMob
PEACE!
Jeff
This is my first post here, and I'm normally quite the lurker, however with my build almost finished up, I figured I'd share with the world what I've been doing. I've been getting some nice feedback on local forums in New Zealand, so thought why not see what the rest of the world has to say about it.
As the title suggests, this thread is about my almost finished E36 Felony Form Widebody project. As far as I am aware, it is currently the first, and only Felony Form build in New Zealand.
While the widebody project only commenced in late 2015, I figured I'd also use this as an opportunity to illustrate the changes and transformation of the car from when I first got her, to the beginnings of the project. Writing this out retrospectively, has made me realise how much I've learnt about working with cars, and also appreciate all those who have given me their time and helped me with the car.
Without further delay, let's start from the beginning!
The car is a 1997 E36 328i 5 speed manual, with full motorsport trim. I bought this car in March 2014 and this is how she looked the day I got her. She was sitting on 18" style 32s on motorsport suspension. Certainly styled in a way that many people would have no complaints about, but for me, it was a canvas waiting for me to make my mark on!
Literally the day I got her, I put on my BBS wheels as I prefer 17" size, and was looking to have her sitting a bit lower too
The BBS wheels were the set I put together for my last E36. They are a staggered set of 17x8 et20 and 17x9 et19.
Here she is sitting next to my old 318ti when I took her home. SO much more power in the 328 after driving a 1.8L for years haha XD
The compact didn't look too bad with the style 32s I thought! Shortly afterwards, I sold the compact.
Haaaaaaaad to do something about that height next, so with coilover suspension ordered on the way, I figured I start a little home project to build a cold air box/heat shield around the intake, as she had a mushroom pod filter when I bought her. This was the first time I've ever attempted making/fabricating something on my own, and I have no background in anything car/engineering related. It wasn't pretty, but at the end of the day it was functional, and reduced the hot air reaching the intake, so I was happy with that. Little did I know that this would be the beginning of a dark dangerous path of learning to tinker with everything to do with cars hahaha :P
After that next project was to tackle the coilover suspension. I ordered an XYZ set up with 10kg fronts (linear) 12kg rears (progressive), with full front adjustable camber, and I also fitted HardRace adjustable rear camber arms. I was supplied custom shortened rear shocks, with a rear spring height of 110mm. In the following pictures of it being installed, the rear adjusters were on their highest setting.
It was an all nighter to get it all installed, and it was only possible with the help of my very good mates Jibreel and Marcus. I can't thank them enough for the assist that night! I recall we were up to about 5am to get it done. Owe them big time.
How she looked with the coilovers in
Obviously, with driving a stiff and lowered car, came many low car problems ... which I slowly learnt to fix/deal with over time haha ..
The driveway at work was a nightmare, and it decided to remove my front bumper many times.
Next was just to install some LED angel eyes which I like. Not everyone's cup of tea, but is for me. It was good to be able to learn-by-doing when it came to many of these mini-projects/mods.
Unfortunately this car also had a number of issues in the engine bay during this time too, and once again, it was always my outstanding mates who would assist and teach me on how to fix these issues. Can't say enough about these guys!
So after rolling around on the BBS's for a fair while, I decided it was time for a change. I got my hands on some AC Schnitzer Type 2 wheels for a very good deal from a friend. They were in rough condition, so I did some DIY refurbishing with the help of my girlfriend. She suggested to have them finished in something unique, so we ended up coating them in a 'stone' finish, which resembles concrete, essentially.
At the same time, I decided to drop the front a little lower on the car too ...
I love the way E36s sit on these wheels, so very pleased with the outcome of the new front drop and new wheel fitment. The AC Schnitzers are 17x8.5 et13 all round.
I was very happy with how she was, so took her to Mother's Chrome Show and Shine event last year to give her some exposure
Here she is sitting next to my friend Roni's incredibly clean and classic Merc.
I loved the way she looked, but still had to drive her around as my daily ... which eventually was just too impractical. So the girlfriend talked me in to buying a new daily, and then retiring this to weekend car haha.
I bought an E30 318i which was amazing. However my time with her was short-lived, as I was unfortunately T-boned one night at an intersection, when a lady failed to give way to me. Luckily nobody was injured, but the E30 was written off
I have since purchased another daily. another E30. A 323i manual, and she's going strong.
Being upgraded to 'weekend car' status and having a daily runabout car on the side - talk started regarding doing more, crazy, outrageous things with the E36. Ideas were thrown around making it a drift car, track car, show car etc. I had done some research, and was very interested in acquiring the Felony Form Widebody Overfender kit, and building it in to a show vehicle. At the time, logistics and cost were a limiting factor, however, one morning there was an opportunity to purchase (what I understand to be) the first and only current kit in New Zealand. I snapped it up immediately, and from there, there was no turning back :P
First, mocked up the kit fitment ...
It didn't take long before we started marking, and cutting the fenders ...
Gotta love my girlfriend for being so incredibly talented with car body work, teaching me and showing me how it's done! You'll notice she will feature in many photos doing the hard work, I just stand back and look pretty apparently :P
But really though, I learn so much from this girl. I'm very lucky.
Of course, with the new body, I would need new wheels. I have something secret ordered from overseas, a nice, wide, 3piece wheel. The idea was to build the car to be ready for 4 and Rotary show 2016, however, the wheel manufacturer found a defect in the wheels when they made them, so they have been delayed, likely to arrive sometime Feb/March 2016
With things not looking promising for 4nR 2016, another friend of mine had a set of wheels that would suit as a temporary set! They were not as aggressive as the wheels I had intended, but certainly better than nothing! Have to thank my mates Jasjot and Jasmit for allowing me to run these beautiful wheels. As a result, the work continues!
The wheels, as seen in the corner of the pic above, are Hamann PG-1s, manufactured by O.Z. wheels. They are 18x9 et6 all round, and I will be spacing them out between 20-25mm to make them fit the way I need them to.
Next, to go with the transformation, I wanted to change the colour of the car. I went through many colour choices in my head and had numerous discussions with the gf, but in the end my heart kept going back to this "Battleship Grey" by Avery Dennison Graphics. The girlfriend wasn't a fan of it at the time, but she's since admitted to me that she likes the colour now :P
Wrapping a car was a huuuuuuge undertaking, especially when neither of us had any prior experience, there were certainly many frustrating moments, but we just had to keep reminding ourselves that this was a learning experience, and that it would all be worth it in the end. Since finishing the wrapping for the car, I can now say I'd definitely do it again, it's not too bad once you get the hang of how the material behaves, and what kind of prep work you need to do first.
Next, I wanted to add something to the front end of the car, some more aero, to make things look more aggressive. So two weekends ago, I was lucky enough to have help from two new friends help me build a functional, aggressive, custom front splitter for the bumper. The splitter is made from a plywood base, then covered with fibreglass. It is hard-mounted to the chassis.
I have to give a MASSIVE thank you to Daniel for designing the splitter for me, and Bradley for allowing us to use his fibreglassing material and facilities. Not only that, also dedicating an entire day with me to starting and finishing the splitter in a day!
A month ago, I had never met either of these two people before. Both of these guys had left the occasional comment on my photography work, expressing a fair amount of interest and following my build. Over a few chats over the internet, we managed to get all 3 of us together, as car enthusiasts to build something for the car. Through this, I can now call both of these guys good friends of mine. The fact that they had never met me, or knew who I really was, and were just so willing to lend a hand and dedicate their efforts to me and the build is unbelievable. It's moments like these that make me want to continue building a car community like this, where people can connect just through their shared love for cars.
The following week was a tough one, fitment with tyres revealed I had not cut the original factory guards high enough, and the wheels were approximating with the factory guards before reaching intended ride height. So the week was spent re-measuring, and re-cutting the guards, followed by re-welding them. It was tough, but we managed to get it done in time.
After much tinkering, we finally had the car sitting on the ground. It's not quite perfect yet ... but I figure pics are appropriate ...
This car is the embodiment of a vision I had in my head, that I wanted to produce and show the world.
Just a few final things to work out for the final fitment and looks for the show, and she'll be ready to roll. In the meantime, we're working hard to finish up the girlfriends 280zx project for the show too.
Thanks for reading, please do leave a comment or two, I'd love to hear what the rest of the world thinks about what we're trying to build here in little ol' New Zealand. Here's a little bonus pic of the girlfriend's Work wheels getting some tyres thrown on :P
P.S.
If you do like my photography work you've seen on this thread, I would really appreciate it if you could check it out on my social media (FB/Instagram) and throw me a like/follow! I normally just update build progress on my car and the girlfriends car there first, before finding the time to post on forums etc. So check it out if you want to see how the build goes, plus how the 280zx widebody project is going :P
Facebook: JW Photography NZ
Instagram: @jw.photography.nz
And if you're interested, our little car club who love stance in NZ: StanceMob
PEACE!
Jeff
But yes, AC schnitzer concaves on E36s are a classic for me!
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