Aus 323i (first second and third)

dilmah_323i · Post by **dilmah_323i** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:01 pm

update;
locked diff in, noltec camber/castor plates in, 35mm custom made wheelspacers and homemade coilovers in the front with 600 pound springs.

handling is vastly improved and that locked diff is some fun.

Next project is flaring the front guards a little. I had this idea of using the lip off of vw beetle quarter panels then chopping and welding them to suit, i bought the panels today. So ive got some work ahead.

dilmah_323i · Post by **dilmah_323i** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 3:53 pm

Adame21 · Post by **Adame21** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 10:35 am

Bad to see i nice car writen off like that

Hope the new one is insured with a good company like shannons etc

dilmah_323i · Post by **dilmah_323i** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 4:37 pm

I needed to pump my guards a little to stop the scrapping caused by overly wide rims/offset/wheelspacers etc. I like the look of those 2002 fender flares but never liked the idea of bolting plastic or fiberglass guards onto a bmw.
So i had the idea of using the lip off of vw beetle fenders. and on the offchance it might work i went out and bought a pair of vw fenders and a pair of e21 quarterpanels from the wreckers and got cutting.
Here are the results so far;

vw lip cut for sizeing up;

shapped and tack welded in place

Hopefully my competent welder friend can help me weld up the rest tomorow. Then alls I have to do is a little filling and paint and hopefully by nxt week ill have my all german steel fender flares installed.

--ALPINA-- · Post by **--ALPINA--** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 7:41 pm

The suspension looks good, ive actually seen this done before and the guy drove it a few months and the suspension came apary and apparently rippint the strut top and damaged the inner flitch... he scrapped it 2 months later as he stripped the car and sold what he had.. he was very pissed...

j

Adame21 · Post by **Adame21** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 12:34 am

Flares look the good , great idea there

I did my track car that way but started with left over HRT taxi racing inner wheel tubs , my advise is go slow with the mig , i used 0.6mm wire but i guess the E21 is made with thicker steel so 0.8mm should be fine. You should be able to end up with a finish that required very little or no filler. If there is a area that still need to be pushed out futher after is amazing how far you can push a guard into shape with a cheap roller. In the pic i moved the lip 30mm.

With the struts do you have room to internally sleeve the strut tubing between the insert ? being a mac strut the highest pressure area is in the middle of the strut as looking at that area you have the coilover sleeve external on that area. If you want to start with fresh steel orrcon have most sizes for struts.
http://www.orrcon.com.au/dist_support/direct.html

tommi_e21 · Post by **tommi_e21** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:31 am

where did you get the weld on coilovers from????? could you start a thread explaining how you did the whole custom made coilevers, much interested for myself. cheers

e21-Mark · Post by **e21-Mark** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 7:37 am

Rally Design in Kent do a kit thats aimed at the RWD Escort owner but can be used on most things.

Flares look really good. Might have to steal your idea when my Baur goes in to be done over the winter!

dilmah_323i · Post by **dilmah_323i** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 9:34 am

Cheers for the good words!

Adame21 wrote "do you have room to internally sleeve the strut tubing between the insert ?"

no there is very little room between the stut and housing, only enough for the thinest of tubing, so im not bothering. Id be surprised if they fall apart but only time will tell!

Austin25uk wrote "where did you get the weld on coilovers from?????"

Well theyre a coilover kit made by Mad Dat Motorsport and are part number CK001, available in red gold or blue, I bought mine from Car Torque Products in Kent Town Adelaide for $270. When I bought them i was told they were made up by a local engineering company. The quality looked better than the more expensive competitors product. The kits are universal for 51 mm od strut tube housings, so will fit 323i but youd have to get something different for 318i. Ill do a write up on how to build them up when i get some time.

RetroBeemer wrote "Flares look really good. Might have to steal your idea when my Baur goes in to be done over the winter! "

Steal away my friend!! enjoy!

The welds turned out a little rougher than expected so paint and panel on the flares is taking longer than I thought, but they're comming along nicely!

peace.