the banana!

brennon
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the banana!

Post by brennon »

I have decided to do a build thread as i can see this being quite a long term build and hopefully documenting it will help with motivation and excitement!

So there is a back story, I am a bmw nut and thankfully my better half is as well!
I have had my fair share but nothing from this vintage yet. The closest we have come so far is my girlfriends e28 M535 which is her pride and joy (im sure pics of it will appear somewhere in here!)
She loves the styling of the e21 and has been desperate to get her hands on one. We have had an eye out for one for quite a while and we narrowly missed out on a beautiful black one that was on ebay a few months back. We were both pretty dissapointed. I have had my eye on robs (wiz0r) one but its sadly not realistic for her insurance.

The Banana!
I have been known to take a few gambles in my time and generally i have done pretty well but this was a real push! We regularly scour ebay generally using the search term 'e21 bmw' but for a change i just searched 'BMW' in classic cars. I found a 'bmw 320 auto 1982'. There were no pictures and at most 6 lines of description. The first gamble for me was I wasn't sure when the crossover point for the e21/30 was so i had a worry i could end up with an e30 320 which wouldn't have really been my cup of tea! Secondly it had no tax or mot.
Asking price was £1200. I went in low, £680.
I didn't hear back until the next day, i had a phone call from the better half, " why have i got an email saying enjoy your new car?!" oh yes, i used her account :shock
I called the seller, first off was sorting payment and collection, then on to the car! I didn't ask too much as i was too scared but it turned out to be his fathers and sadly his father passed away a few months back.
i asked if he had any pictures of the car and he said he would text me some.
I held my breath.

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I thought i'd hit gold!!!

so i knew it had an e36 interior. I know with this kind of thing to expect a poorly fitted set of seats. I'm fine with that.

This is what came next.....

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:shock

wheres my roof?!?!

Ok, i've got a car, i just havn't got a roof.

It turned up 2 days later -

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%*&@ the roof, where are my door handles!?!?!?

It arrived just as i was leaving for work, i had just enough time to push it into the garage.

One of my friends was picking up some tyres from mine so i told him to poke his head into the garage and have a look at the car.
over text -

"does it run?'
'not a clue!! i havn't even popped the bonnet, it might not even have an engine! ............................... err can you pop the bonnet and just check for me?'
'its got an engine!'
'Phew, can you send me a picture?'

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'thats not a 2.0!'

After a bit of research and a big thanks to the guys on here i have a 2.3 from a 1980 323 auto.

There has been a crazy amount of fabrication, sadly none of it is up to my standard

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roll bar found its way directly to my scrap pile!

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E36 rear bench removed -

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sadly i forgot to get pics of the sill reinforcements but that can be a giggle for later!

Where am I going from here?

Reshell. Sadly i was let down on a shell today which i thought i had an agreement on but apparently i was mistaken :hammer

Strip down, everything will be stripped and prepped for new shell, i want this to be something special.

Sadly work has ramped up so i'm predicted to be working 6 day weeks until christmas, its going to be slow progress for a fair while but hopefully there will be good progress.

:banana


brennon
Upcoming E21 fanatic
Posts: 104
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2013 12:06 am

Re: the banana!

Post by brennon »

Big things at the moment are
1) i havn't even tried to start it yet
2) i need to figure how to get into the boot! i was hoping it would have filler over the lock hole but ....

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magic torch is claiming it to be more metal than id expected/ hoped for!
drjim
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Re: the banana!

Post by drjim »

Brace the chassis properly, fit a proper cage and make it a track cabrio slag...
1983 316 Pustergrun - track sluG!
1982 Saphirblau Baur 325i

Cars all gone!
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Jeroen
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Posts: 29200
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My E21(s): '81 323i Baur
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Re: the banana!

Post by Jeroen »

Yeah lol it had a cage already! But I can imagine you want to do a reshell. Curious if the engine will run but not bad to have a 2.3 to start with! Does it have a rear disc brake conversion (also 323i) as well? Guess you have a nice project to keep you busy for a while. Please keep us updated. And:

:banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana
Regards/groeten, Jeroen
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Mihajlo
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My E21(s): 1982 315swap323i
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Re: the banana!

Post by Mihajlo »

reshell +1 :mrgreen:
Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car. Oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car.
Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall. Torque is how far you take the wall with you.
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polov8
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My E21(s): '83 Polaris silver 316
Location: Dronfield

Re: the banana!

Post by polov8 »

Some "interesting" modifications and craftsmanship there, I can see why a reshell is the preferred choice!
Andy
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Re: the banana!

Post by TURBINE »

the twin exhausts would have been a clue that there was something else hidden under the bonnet! nice
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Jeroen
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Re: the banana!

Post by Jeroen »

Well, not really! This is what my first E21 (a 316) looked like when I just got it, btw that was about 6 centuries ago

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Regards/groeten, Jeroen
TURBINE
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Re: the banana!

Post by TURBINE »

Jeroen wrote:Well, not really! This is what my first E21 (a 316) looked like when I just got it, btw that was about 6 centuries ago

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True!
Complete with 323i badge! lol it was a nice looking car none the less jeroen! Alpina wheels etc..
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Jeroen
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Re: the banana!

Post by Jeroen »

Defo, I know I was way proud back then, loved it!
Regards/groeten, Jeroen
brennon
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Re: the banana!

Post by brennon »

Jeroen wrote:Yeah lol it had a cage already! But I can imagine you want to do a reshell. Curious if the engine will run but not bad to have a 2.3 to start with! Does it have a rear disc brake conversion (also 323i) as well? Guess you have a nice project to keep you busy for a while. Please keep us updated. And:

:banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana

the seller claimed that he had it running and drove it to the end of the road and back before he listed it for sale. Hopefully i will get time this weekend to try and start her up.

Sadly it hasn't got the rear disk brakes or the 323 front struts, ah well, we can't win them all!
brennon
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Posts: 104
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2013 12:06 am

Re: the banana!

Post by brennon »

update time!

i came back from work today to find this -

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:boogie

no tax or test, last on the road a few years ago and it does have some rust. I fully expected rust and to be honest i'll probably enjoy getting stuck in on some welding! its been about 5 years since i last did a good bit of welding so i think it could take a while to retrain myself!

its a 316 and from what the seller says its had a fair bit of love thrown at it. Weber carb fitted and i couldnt belive it started absolutly spot on! i've had my fair share of starting carb'd cars so gave it the good old 3 pump trick and was expecting to have to balance it on the throttle but no need at all! beautiful!
The interior is suprisingly nice, really does not show its age! was really suprised to find the origional owners handbook with it!

some pics for you -

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came with origional alloys -

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so at a glance bonnet and wings are shot and the rear bumper is a little 'aged' but thats what the yellow car is for!


so at the moment i'm still undecided on what engine i want to use, i have both the 4 and 6 cylinder front frame so anything is an option. I know i want something retro so i'm not really looking down the m52 route, the m4x would be a nice option but not really what i'm after.
M30 is an option, i know people are trying to nudge me in that direction.
M20 is an option, i have one already but no manual box yet.
M10 is an option, i would quite like one. Twin webers, shrick cam and 4 branch would really get me going.

It is being built for her indoors so i think she might get a big say in it :sealed
drjim
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Re: the banana!

Post by drjim »

Fix the 316 break/scrap the yellow thing. Put it down to experience.

Spoken as one who has had experience...
1983 316 Pustergrun - track sluG!
1982 Saphirblau Baur 325i

Cars all gone!
brennon
Upcoming E21 fanatic
Posts: 104
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2013 12:06 am

Re: the banana!

Post by brennon »

drjim wrote:Fix the 316 break/scrap the yellow thing. Put it down to experience.

Spoken as one who has had experience...

For sure that's the bones of the plan, yellow monstrosity will be cut for repair panels for the 316, it's just deciding what engine to go with
brennon
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Posts: 104
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2013 12:06 am

Re: the banana!

Post by brennon »

I had a set of wheels in my watch list for the car, came up on my phone that it was ending soon, i was mid conversation with the inlaw and the mrs cracked on with the bidding :?

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pretty reasonable price and pretty local so im reasonably happy! should look quite different on an e21 and i have loved these wheels for years!

pick them up tomorrow!
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