2020 A freshen up Part 1

Welcome to 2020 and thanks for dropping by. This year there are some refresh jobs I've decided to do as it's now been nine years since the build first started. The little car has served me extremely well over the years bringing a great deal of joy, from all the hours spent building and improving her to the more than 50,000 km we have driven together. Not bad really, a scrapped BMW 318IS given a whole new lease of life, completely rebuilt into a new chassis, supercharged engine, upgraded brakes, clutch etc. like a phoenix so to speak.

This year it'll be new springs, dampers, bearings, repaint of all wings and bonnet plus repaint of wheels. Some other small jobs too which I'll mention later.

To do list

First off I had the idea to get the wheels repainted but I was put off by the cost of sandblasting and painting as the price of new wheels is quite reasonable. I tried very hard to find a set that would suite the classic look of the car but everything was too modern. In the end I decided that I much preferred the old wheels so got them sandblasted anyway.

I think the original BMW wheels suite the car beautifully. Thanks Per at Allblästning AB.

Now Danbolack AB in Södertälje have powder coated them a light metallic grey plus clear coated them for protection, thanks Daniel. I then took them straight round to the tyre shop which put back the Yokohama Advan Sport tyres.

They look great but I'm sure will look brilliant once in place.

In the mean time I started stripping the front wishbones, dampers and springs as well as rear dampers and springs.

I destroyed the ball joints using a splitter but bought new ones anyway. I intend to take the wishbones off and paint them. 

Upper and lower wishbone joints.

TOP: QH QD1117RHT – Ford Transit Drag Link End RHT (M18)

BOTTOM: Unipart GSJ696 - Ball Joint Saab

Trackrod end: Ball joints Triumph QR1572S (UNF)
Steering rack extensions: 60mm 1/2" UNF

Rear damper and spring removed, a lot easier than the front.

Dampers and springs ready to be measured for ordering.

Rear wings removed for painting

All measured up and ready to go to Protech Shocks homepage to order.

Underbody paintwork all cleaned up ready to put the new dampers and springs on. 

The Protech dampers and springs arrived. Nice looking aren't they? I measured where the adjuster was on the old and set the same on the new. I'll get them properly adjusted at some point.

Rear nearside in place

...

.. and adjusted

Mats the painter finished the rear wings, bonnet and scoop. He did a great job removing a few scratches and repainting everything.

First wing in place ready for the rear lights and repeaters. Between the wing and the body is a strip of rubber which seals the joint and makes it look better too.

Second in place.

First rear light cluster in place.

Bonnet painted over and under. Here adding gloss black U-channel edging for the front and rear edges.

Small job included bolting the air scoop back on.

Continued in part 2 ..