Project Purkle

Hey guys, it's time again for this girl to start her 3rd e30 project.

I got this car from a guy I know who has many e30s and takes decent care of them. The car has engine problems, the odometer doesn't work, the carpet is wrecked, the seats need repaired and it basically needs some all around TLC.

Due to the fact I will be moving to college at UTI in a little over a months time, I have to finish this project rather quick and the funds to source this project are limited. I (of course) need to replace the carpet but I don't want to spend a large amount of money doing so. The idea that I came up with was to tear all of the carpet out, clean the rust and fix the holes in the metal, and spray paint everything to the color I want. Then I would just put floor mats in and call it done. I was wondering if that's an effective idea and what you guys think of that?

I'm restoring this car from head to toe, replacing the engine with a 325i motor out of my original car and doing some other engine bay work.

Any ideas that you guys have in doing this project would be greatly appreciated, thanks

It wouldn't hurt anything, jeeps still don't come with carpeting. I guess you may have to scrub it out from time to time.

If I was doing what you're doing, I would get brand new black carpet. Because it won't stain, or at least you won't see anything if it stained. Black might not complement the color of your car, but it does mine

I have seen the floors done with truck bed liner... Might make it easy to clean

i would just buy a new carpet. unless you like mats sliding around and getting caught in your gas pedal. you cant even use the OEM carpet locks if you don't have a carpet. if you want to restore a car, do it right. get a new carpet. you can get them from almost any yard for under $20.

They have that rhino liner I use it in my k5 blazer instead of carpet.. you can get the cans n apply yourself this way it's easy for you to clean and no rust problems...

Hmm i might think about the rhino liner..how much would it be?

Originally Posted by BrittnyMarie

Hmm i might think about the rhino liner..how much would it be?

That's a terrible idea.



Or very ganksta.

What I did with my rust was cut and grind out as much as I could. I coated the floor with the Duplicolor Rust treatment (part# RF129) 5 bucks a can. Then welded new metal in. Then coated the floor with black rust tough paint. Once it dried threw away the padding.. vacuumed the carpet, used a carpet scrubber, then vacuumed again. Used Duplicolor truck bed coating (part# TR250) to coat all of floor then put carpet over it next day. Only bad thing about getting rid of padding is the absence of a dead pedal spot.

I never knew they had a rust treatment for it I'll have to do that either way. Thanks for all the tips!

Sounds like you're rushing.
Impressive that you're a high school student on her 3rd car?
Where did you learn?

I'd go with carpet again if I were you. Paint could be done, but I don't think it would look nearly as nice. If you're willing to take the time to remove the stuff to fix the rust correctly, you might as well put in a carpet, even a used one if you can find one.

oem carpet is NLA at this time.

Originally Posted by M-technik-3

oem carpet is NLA at this time.

she is about an hour and 45 minutes from a yard that has over 10 e30's with carpets(new ones added once or twice a week). at a cost of $11, all she has to do is remove it and walk it to the counter. between gas and price of the carpet she is looking at less than $50.

Originally Posted by fcsteve

she is about an hour and 45 minutes from a yard that has over 10 e30's with carpets(new ones added once or twice a week). at a cost of $11, all she has to do is remove it and walk it to the counter. between gas and price of the carpet she is looking at less than $50.

Where is this place? A bunch of south eastern/central pa people on here including me.

Originally Posted by Tkaczuk

Where is this place? A bunch of south eastern/central pa people on here including me.

the fact that there are so many on the forums is why i refuse to post it up for the general public. i don't need a swarm of new people blowing up the spot, which already has too many people raping the e30's just to tripple the price and resell it on CL. i will share 1 yard with specific people who PM me for the location, but the other 3 i will keep to myself, just so i maintain some good yards.

People these days! I'm not currently looking for anything right now so I'll hold you too that someday possibly. As of now the focus is on one Rabbit gti for the time being.

Seems like E30s are a hit in PA. The first two owners of my car were in PA.

Search e30 on Harrisburg Craigslist, there is a guy on there parting out a bunch of e30s!

Originally Posted by JclueE30

Search e30 on Harrisburg Craigslist, there is a guy on there parting out a bunch of e30s!

there is people parting out e30's all over the country. the issue is they want so much more than it can be had for elsewhere. she is best off at a local(ish) yard.