I think I've decided to put this back on the road..

[PrussianMotors]

...But I'm not sure which direction to go with it (red car). Part of me wants to rat-rod it because it's pretty rough. The car has been sitting since the early 90's. I've never brought a car back from the dead like this. Previous owner said: the previous owner told him; that the engine was bad. I don't expect this to be easy, and I'm not even sure I'll actually complete this journey (We parts cars at Prussian Motors, not bring them back to life) That said, I'd like to try. I've been searching these forms for a bit now, and will use the threads for guidance! Thinking about putting a newer engine in (perhaps out of the e32 pictured in the background). Not sure how hard that would be.

 

[Markos]

Congrats on the decision. Without question, pick the car with the better body. Check the fender boxes, the windshield seal, the rockers. Remove the rocker covers. Look at the area above the glove box, and the fuse box. The good news is that if you abandon the idea you can fall back on what you are good at. Every part on the E9 is valuable, even the old rubber. You you have to be careful when you part them out. The B35 from the E32 motor is a good option and for the most part ads value to the car over the original motor (perhaps not in Europe but seems to be the case in the US). I would consider the engine to be the easy part. You'll need motor mount adapters but they are available. Take a look at this swap to learn a bit

M30B35 Swap FAQ

 

[Ohmess]

Once you get the engine in, DeQuincey has how-to threads on most of the rest of the car, with pictures and comments. We really should make a book out of those.

 

[PrussianMotors]

I would read said book front to back. I'm terrible with research.. I get side tracked easily!

 

[tmason]

Pm sent.

 

[PrussianMotors]

Well, I finally started tearing it apart. I forgot to take a picture while I had it up in the air, but I have a lot of work to do there as well. Left side rail is basically gone. Right side is solid.

I've decided I'm going to "Rat-Rod" this car. Think I'll cut the floor out of an e46 and put some convertible seats in the front. (Makes having a shoulder seat belt an easy job) Not sure how well it work line up, but I'll cut up the e46 and size it before I make my final decision on that.

The rockers are pretty bad as well. I have an idea on how to strengthen them up nice and solid.

If the rear end gives me any issues later on, I'll swap it for a z3 rear end. I have an M30B35 from an e32 that I'm going to swap in and upgrade it to fuel injection.

This is the first time I've ever taken on a project like this. Not sure how long it will take. I see myself growing tired at times and taking a break from it... so it may take a while. So far I have half a days work in and I'm beat.

The front floor wells have already been patched a couple decades ago. Not the best job done there. Here's some pictures of the interior:

 

[aearch]

WELP HERE COMES THE FUN
more money for wallly
will enjoy watching this one.

 

[PrussianMotors]

Spent another Saturday working on the car. Still in the dismantling stage:

Here's a shot showing the rust from below:

The front half of the left frame rail is gone. Right side needs no work.

Pulled the engine out:

I jinxed myself by saying this looked like one of the easier engine to remove. I swear.. this joint holds half of the car together.

 

[PrussianMotors]

I started cutting away the rockers and just found more and more rust. So, I decided I'm going to try and make this work:

 

[jmackro]

I started cutting away the rockers and just found more and more rust. So, I decided I'm going to try and make this work:

Uh, and what is "this" ?

 

[xjan99]

Z3 + e9 coming up?

 

[PrussianMotors]

"This" is an e46 convertible. I'm not sure yet how much I'll be putting under the e9, but I cut off what I definitely will not be using.

I did some measuring, and the two door e46 has almost identical measurements. Outside rocker to outside rocker is a 1/2" wider on the e46. The frame rails line up almost perfectly. Firewall to shifter cutout, again almost identical. Looks like I'll be using an e46 front suspension instead of a z3. I still plan on using the rear from a z3. (The red z3 in the background is hit in the back, so I'll have to pick up another that's hit in the front)

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

They sure are hard on cars in PA!

 

[Gransin]

Interesting! If I remember correctly this has been done before with an e39 M5? However, I hope you post a lot of pictures.

Cheers,

 

[PrussianMotors]

Wow.. has it been said before that these are beautiful cars but terribly engineered? I always end the day exhausted and slightly deterred by how much "progress" I've made after working on this car.