Thee Build.

Originally Posted by petriej

How did Lejeune fair the storm?

Honestly, it was not bad at all. Lots of rain, wind and overall gloomy weather..but no flooding, flying trees..cars..debris. We lucked out

So..started spending money. Except not really on the important stuff I should have

Spend a fair chunk of change on a complete sound system from crutchfield. Nice kenwood HU, BA 5 1/4" Component speakers up front, with alpine type-r 6x9's in the rear via Bavsound's adapters all powered by a SO 4 channel amp @ 100x4. On top of that, new wiring everywhere.

Also went ahead and located/purchased 4 new dove/grey door panels. I plan on keeping the dove door cards and seats, but making almost everything else black. We'll see how I feel.

Speaking of which, I know which SEM color coat everyone uses, but should I use their no/low gloss clear coat on top of it? Not sure if it would alter the look or even matter?

Anyways, going to finish researching and buy all of the suspension and brake parts tomorrow. Possibly try to locate a ZF 5-speed for cheaper than bav recycling quoted me as well.

As far as the engine rebuild goes, I should be able to get away with putting it off until the very beginning of the new year, sometime in January. I'll be getting a lot of bonuses and extra pay over the holidays so I'll have plenty of cash to not have the urge to skimp out on stuff I shouldn't have

...On second thought. With thanksgiving/black friday being so close, will the bigger stores be having sales during the upcoming holidays? (ECStuning, PelicanParts, EuroParts etc.)

If so, I can definitely wait 2 weeks..

Ill keep this simple..

DO MAINTENANCE FIRST.

Dont go on a crusade for "Ram-Air" or any other marketing catchphrase.


..and bottom line...


STOCK IS

Originally Posted by Thee_Antic

...On second thought. With thanksgiving/black friday being so close, will the bigger stores be having sales during the upcoming holidays? (ECStuning, PelicanParts, EuroParts etc.)

If so, I can definitely wait 2 weeks..

This. Definitely wait for all the big holiday sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas. There will certainly be big discounts.

I know it seems unusual to some to take care of looks first..but I absolutely hate riding around without a radio. Nuff said. That, And I feel like the interior is so bad it takes away from the rest of the car. Anyways..next things are complete suspension overhaul, shocks and brakes. I think I said it before, but engine rebuild and trans swap are going to wait until my field op in January is over with.

On a side note, does anyone want to trade a set of prepped oem housings for bilstein sports?

I understand what you mean about the radio...I don't listen to music that much, but like to get my news, etc that way and commute too much for silence (other than my engine 'purr'.
And, Hey...it is your car...as long as you don't wind up walking you get to choose the order of things to 'play' with!

Well..just aquired a new found respect for dealers. Due to the holiday weekend (And the parts guy being a former Marine), I now get wholesalers discounts on everything, foeva

Anyways, just finished the last non performance related purchases, and got everything I needed minus floor mats, and some other low cost goodies. So as of now, my interior/exterior money expenditure is done. ish.

-2oz primer, base, and high gloss clear repair kit from microfinish
-brake/clutch delrin bushings from akg & ecs black anodized pedal covers (tired of my foot slipping off )
-All trim relating to windows (Rear upper/lower, all 3 pieces for the vent windows, the long upper trim piece for both sides etc.)
-Door handle gasket/trim
-Door hinge repair kits (not really needed...but meh )
-Hood/Trunk emblems..for obvious proper representation reasons
-Various clips etc
-All new cluster bulbs
-Fuel filter
-Cabin air filter
-Semi-new, properly operating black glove box
-Semi-new, grey panels w/ dove inserts. About to be black panels with dove inserts
-rear swaybar brackets..because, apparently, the purchaser didn't select the "both brackets included" option when he bought the ****ing car
-Various other trim pieces
-A **** ton of SEM prep/paint for the interior
-Too much random audio crap
-Home depot sound proofing
-...other stuff
-BavAuto Short shift kit

Total cost to date:

-Car: $6000
-Tune-up/cleaning supplies: $1000
-Audio System/accessories: $1250
-Interior/Exterior Resto ****: $2000

Grand total: $10250

Suspension/Brakes will probably put me out $2500, and the Engine Rebuild/trans swap/general drivetrain refresh/resto will probably be $2500-$3000. All in all I should end up around $16,000 deep. Money well spent, well spent indeed.

(For mental/sanity reasons I am not including the cost of my supercharger kit coming next spring/summer after I break in the build )

Anyways, I only work 2 days for the next 2 weeks..so I'll have plenty of time to install of the aforementioned items. Many pics shall ensue.

The next plan of attack is, All bushings (mix of poly and oem), CA's, tie rods etc., koni yellows (still need someone who wants to trade blown oems for working bilstein sports), and a full brake kit.

Hopefully I can find some deals on black friday, should be fun!

Wow, nice progress! I'm very much looking forward to the photos!

Progress!

Ripped off the door panels to find:



No vapor barrier

Cleaned both doors up of the black stuff (mostly...)





Starting to de-interiorize the car



No cup holders for the next week



And voila, if you don't see it on the car, its becoming blackified




Called it a day, during my trip to home depot tonight I spotted this grand am lol



Sadly the tweeters that came with my component set-up didn't want to just fit..soooo, this happened.









Other than needing to sand down the rough spots, I think I did pretty well for nothing but a new drill and a dremel bit Ready for blackification (Or reblackification for one of them lol)


Tomorrow morning, I clean ze auto. Vacuum the filthy carpet/interior/everything and wipe down whats not been taken out. The seats will probably get lexol'ed too.

After that its sound proofing..then partial speaker install, seeing as crutchfield sent me shorter patch cables then I ordered

Theeen the amp needs to go on the roof of the trunk..should be fun

Wish me luck

Okay...I wish you luck...*****! Lots of work!!!

Detailed the car Sunday, seriously shocked at how clean it all came out.

Before:











After:













About to go buy some mdf to mount the amp, wire/install all of the speakers and possibly start painting tonight.

Wow...I need you to clean mine!!! Lotsa work...but worth it in the long run. Keep us up to date. Thanks...jim

I apologize for the lack of progress and awesomeness being posted in this thread lately I've been hella busy.

As of now my car has no interior



So heres something to tie you all over, I painted ze dash

Blank slate:



Sem prep soap/scrub:



Scrub-a-dub dub:



Dry:



Taped with a few coats of vinyl prep:



First coat:



Second:



Third:



Fourth/done:









to all that said it would look like ****, come at me bro

I have done a ton that I need to get pictures of..all sound stuff is installed and awesomely tucked. Bought all of my front end suspension parts etc. etc.

Everything is on hold right now though, I decided to purchase a second car so I can treat this one properly and not worry about whether I'll be done within a day or weekend. My new and soon to be DD is getting all of my holiday love for the time being, so BMW has to take the backseat for a min. As far as what my new dd will be..........................................










































Hondarific

Looks good.

Looks good now. Hopefully it'll stay that way.

That looks awesome. Looking forward to hear how it stands up to sun abuse.

I sprayed two coats on a test panel, gave it 1/4 of the recommended curing time and went to town on it. Rubbed it with random stuff like credit cards, pennies, screwdrivers, knifes.. The only thing that changed the finish of it at all was the screwdriver and knife..but I had to push HARD to do anything to it. Even then, it didn't rub or flake off..it just looked a little different than the untouched areas.

I trust it.

Originally Posted by TRaV MaNN

That looks awesome. Looking forward to hear how it stands up to sun abuse.

http://www.amazon.com/303-Products-A.../dp/B004HHSGS0

best stuff I have ever used, and I have tried numerous products. formulated with spf 15 to protect from sun fade/cracking. leaves a really nice matte shine, not oily at all.

Never heard of it. Will have to look into that