I'm finished, 2231518 is done

[kasbatts]

Today I 99.99% finished the car, It's been 6 years and a lot of hard work, frustrating at times but very enjoyable.
There are still a few bits to sort out, windscreen (one that fits!), centre consul (being recovered, slowly!) front fender grill vent blinds etc.
Taking the car for wheel alignment and WOF (fitness check) on Tuesday, and then I can drive it (if it passes )

Will post pictures and a small write up in the next day or so.


Steve

 

[deQuincey]

hi steve, my sincere congratulations, you have walked the path, now is time for a different way to enjoy her
wish you best

 

[30csl]

Well done Steve, must be a nice feeling and the to do list seems short!

 

[Bryce]

well you were quicker than me! Though I only have a door inner panel, stripes and decals to put on, it seems to take an age to find the time! Well done, Bryce.

 

[kasbatts]

Thanks guys, been quite the adventure, now looking forward to driving!

PS

Give me a call some time Bryce, we need to meet and compare notes


027 287 7148

 

[Gazz]

Congratulations Steve, would like to have seen your car myself and had a chat to you as I was in Auckland and Russell two weeks ago. BTW Don't let everyone know how beautiful your country is so that it remains unspoilt. Bay of Islands is stunning.

 

[kasbatts]

Bummer we missed the opportunity Gazz, Maybe next time, Or if im over in OZ.

And yes, The Bay of Islands is fantastic, I was up there myself last Xmas for holiday, Quite the spot.

Thanks


Steve

 

[The Don]

Well done.

I keep thinking that I am near completion ...

Andrew

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Way Cool Steve, Don't forget to take it off the critical care list in the registration link and mark her as "On the road again"! That's another great feeling brought to you by the forum

 

[kasbatts]

Well, good news, the old girl passed her WOF check today with flying colours, only thing they picked up was a little bit of a weep on one of the remote master cylinders, so looks like another project coming up!

Wheel alignment went well also.
Just a touch more castor on the RH side than the LH, so a spacer ring or couple of washers on the RH track rod to push the bottom of the strut back will fix the problem.

Everything else pointing in the right direction so we ended up with the following approx

Front

8.5 deg pos castor
1.3 neg camber

Rear

2.2 deg neg camber

Had many nice comments today already, so I'm feeling quite proud.
So, she's all tucked up in the garage again now, will take and post pictures this weekend

 

[wazza.csi]

Hi Steve, Congrats!! just in time for a tour around the north island after Christmas, I will probably head down to the storage shed between Christmas and early Jan just to make sure mine is still all there!! I have been living overseas for the last 4 years so mine is still in a lot of pieces! I am planning on taking all of the wood back to China with me and see if I can get a few sets of blanks made up! and might look at a few other bits as well. Be great see your photos and time for you to enjoy the fruits of you labour!! Cheers Warren

 

[johanaxelson]

Congrats!

Nice to see so close to the finish line.

 

[Arde]

Cool, let me know if you need my swimming goggles to drive without a windshield.

Go enjoy your summer on the coupe!

 

[kasbatts]

Well, here you go guys, hope you like.

(And yes, there are no black stickers behind the front fender grills, I don't like them with the black grill, I think the grill detail gets lost, just personal choice)

will post more pictures as I get them

Thanks



http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/...albums/s198/kasbatts/P1050895_zps653f2cf8.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s198/kasbatts/P1050903_zps6b47407e.jpg

 

[loloe13]

Congrats Steve!
A very nice and shiny e9, looks great!
I quite like the look of your Polaris with the chrome rear bumper but bumperless front.

Ok, I will be the first to ask, what type of alloy have you got on? Are they BMW 17" alloys? Always like to see different wheels on our e9.

Well done!
Gavin

 

[adawil2002]

Looks great, conrat's on a job well done, enjoying it is the best reward for all the work.

 

[kasbatts]

Hi Gavin, the wheels are 17inch BMW e36 M3 wheels with custom made centre caps with a Alpina badge in them, the original BMW centre caps were looking a bit sad so I took the opportunity do something custom (a little bit of inspiration taken from Duane Sword's car, hope you don't mind Duane?) I'm running 225/45/17 Michelin pilot sport 3 tyres.
As the wheels are 3 series I have to use spacers because of the offset being wrong on these for the car, these are also custom made bolt on type spacers approx 30mm thick.
While I do love the look of the 16" Alpina wheels, there was 3 reasons I didn't go for them.

1, There just weren't any 16" Alpina wheels here in NZ, and when I bought the wheels about 7 years ago, with the exchange rate and shipping at the time, it would have cost me a small fortune, about $3000 if my memory serves me correct, I put these wheels with the spacers on the car for about $1200 7 years ago, they custom caps I have only just had made.

2, There is far more choice of tyres in the 17" range here in NZ and they tend to be a lot cheaper than 16" tyres

3, I like being a bit different to everyone else

 

[adawil2002]

I like being a bit different to everyone else

That's why I run original wheels or 16" BBS RSs.

 

[Bez]

Nice coupe Steve. A job well done. Enjoy!!

Just for clarification: The wheels are BMW Style 67 which were OE on the E46 M3.

 

[kasbatts]

Here's a picture of my custom centre caps on the wheel



All the components



This how the all fit together



Looking from the rear of the wheel