Hi All,
I realise it's been a very long time and I've been very slack in posting updates so here the beginnings of a build thread from what I can remember as the timeline.
To date there are no engine modifications as my primary focus has been suspension, brakes & tyres before chucking a load of power at it.
My starting point was to build a set of coilovers as I'm of an age where I developed some unfounded opinions of GAZ products and had a preference for Koni. In hindsight it would have significantly easier and slihtly cheaper to buy GAZ. We'll see how it works out in the long run.
So I sourced some 323i front struts and tore them down for rebuild. That top nut was not fun!
I have used E30 adjustable front Konis & Integra DC2 rear shocks, adjustable also. Top mounts are adjustable also, GAZ up front & Compbrake at the rear.
After replacing bearings etc I had the threaded sleeves (Rally Design) welded to the struts, with 300lb front and 250lb rear springs. Both 12". I also had some threaded nuts made at a local machine shop to save the hassle of those bilstein nuts. They also made up some aluminium spacers for the front so that the strut tubes didn't need to be cut and I gain a little more travel on the shock with no fear of bottoming out.
Here's some photo's of the final result
Whilst building up the coilovers I decided to replace as many bushes as I could with poly units so anti roll bars and control arms were dealt with first. I do also have the rear trailing arms but these have not yet been fitted as I purchased a 323i rear beam with diff etc so that I can convert to discs at the rear so these will be fitted at the same time.
On the subject of brakes I bought a set of 323i front calipers and have rebuilt these and fitted Ferodo DS2500 pads and goodridge lines all round. Once those pads are up to temp the difference is night and day, although there is still more pedal travel than I would like but I haven't decided what I'm going to do about that yet.
So, coilovers ready, time to put them on. Came across a slight issue with the control arm taper joints. Long week later, decided to buy new control arms. Swapped in the poly bushes and here is the result.
If you look closely you can also see something hanging out of the bottom at the front. I was lucky enough to come across a whiteline front anti roll bar so snapped that up straight away but it is a secondary unit and therefore hangs down a little awkward. I have since removed it so that I can cut it down a bit as it was interfering with the control arms. Unfortunately I have also purchase an Ireland Engineering lower brace, which I can highly recommend, but with that in place I am unsure if the Whiteline bar will fit on. Damn it! I need it back on as the cornering would be fantastic with the coilovers, bracing and roll bars, whilst maintaining a relatively civilised ride quality. Anyway, I digress, there are solutions out there.
As we all know, given the rarity of parts, you purchase as and when they come up. So, in my hoarding I also came across some MIM 1800 wheels which are to my preference as I would like to keep the car looking semi period. Having had the green paint grow on me I chose to have the wheels refurbed with a gold powder coat, cut back with a diamond face.
In the flesh they're even more shouty! But I still love them.
Apart from some bodywork, replaced bonnet & passenger door, some rusty sill and boot floor, thats it so far. I have still hoarded a bunch more parts and have nearly all I need for the engine swap but that probably wont be till next year now. I might put these in soon though.
Hope you all enjoy and after 3 years of ownership I still love the car and can't wait to feel it go with that new engine!
By the way, if anyone has any advice on how I can drop the ride height a little further without the control arms fouling on the subframe that would be much appreciated. It would be an interesting project but I don't really fancy designing a set of custom control arms.
Thanks for the heads up on the photo's. Hopefully these work Ok.
Looks great!