B3 3.2 Touring No.20 - Project Thread

Thought we'd tempt out our budding photographers. Share your photos. We'll add different themes from time to time.
shaziman
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Post by shaziman » Mon Aug 21, 2017 3:58 pm

So its been another year passed, and not much action has seen the Alpina, again!

This year, i'm going to enter the Vehicle Enthusiasts Day on out Test Track in Basildon. Hopefully will be a good day, as its my birthday to boot, and the car will at least see a show or two before the end of the year.

Car needs a little attention since the Head Gasket as replaced, there is some minor rust appearing and cosmetically, it needs a good clean up!

A few bits have happened though, i brought the car to Essex last year in time for the Essex Breakfast meeting and met Terry (MCB) for the first time. The car was cleaned up, and any small bits that have been done, were done but no pictures uploaded due to this stupid photobucket thing.

I have begun to move all my pictures to another hosting site, but this will take time so updates will now follow, but the previous posts will be updated in due course.

I'm sure many are asking as to the condition of the exhaust, as i have had nothing but piss take since restoring it! I'll post some pics up soon, but now i have a metal polishing kit, it may actually get better as the attempts posted previously were all done by hand.

Stay tuned, i have only 23 days to get the car ready, and i have to paint some of the house in that time too!
Last edited by shaziman on Wed Aug 23, 2017 9:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
1995 E36 B3.0 Convertible (rebodied)
1996 E36 B3.2 Touring No:20 - 1 of 5 made
1997 E36 B3.2 Touring No:36 - 1 of 5 made
1999 E36 323 Sport Touring
2011 E92 D3 Bi-turbo no.246 (santorini blue)
2019 Fiat Fullback
2020 Mini Countryman SE (PHEV)
Alpina, BMW and Detailing Enthusiast

shaziman
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Posts: 1389
Joined: Sun Sep 18, 2011 1:59 pm
Location: Nottingham, occasionally S.Wales

Day 1 - Start somewhere...

Post by shaziman » Wed Aug 23, 2017 9:18 am

So for a month or so, i had to use the car as a daily driver, i'd flipped a few cars and my wife was driving my Seat, so i had no option. Where i was working at the time (Dagenham) the floors are filthy with machining oil and coolant so my roller case wheel (aka 'my mobile office') was running its wheel through this oil. All steps were taken short of buying a fully fitted boot liner, to prevent this, but being a roller case, its likes to roll. it would roll just enough to pull the temporary lining off the boot floor, and then mark the beige boot carpet.

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Grrr....

So this had to be attended to. Also, my wet vac was lent to a friend whom i helped buy a really cheap E91 318i, so i couldn't to it on the first day.


So to entertain some of you whom think the exhaust refurb was a step too far, with all the neglect, this is how its fared up.

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Not bad at all. Worth the effort.

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Here is the state of the engine bay, not good at all!

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As usual at this time of year, so pets have found their way in to the wing mirror

Keen viewers may have noticed that the grills were missing from the engine bay shots, the grills had surface corrosion, so this needed some work.

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a Tube of Autosol and some elbow grease was in order.

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Quick check to see if it would come out and its starting to look good

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Sort of 50-50 shot

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All done, now for the black bits!

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Tested on the car to see the effect of how it looks, car looks like its had its teeth whitened! Hamster...

On to the exhaust tip, wanted to try a few extra techniques on this, when i did the huge resto on the full length, i did it all by hand, now i have bought a metal polishing kit, so wanted to see if it worked wonders or not. Firstly a clean is in order

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This is the base i have to work with, pipe has tar on it, carbon and iron on it, so it needs a full decontamination first

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On with Autofinesse Iron Out. IMO better than iron X, but you do need to leave it on for a while, not ideal in 20 degree + temperatures. trick i found is give it 5 mins, agitate and respray a little more. works really well.

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after agitation and respray

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Rinsed

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Autosmart Tardis sprayed to loosen tar and then dried (RHS) 50-50 shot

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Metal polishing kit used initially with the compound bar supplied, it didn't touch it. put some Autosol on, rubbed it in, left it to dwell for a couple of minutes and then went back in with the polisher.
Much Better! Just the rest of the back box and pipes to do when the car goes up in the air.
1995 E36 B3.0 Convertible (rebodied)
1996 E36 B3.2 Touring No:20 - 1 of 5 made
1997 E36 B3.2 Touring No:36 - 1 of 5 made
1999 E36 323 Sport Touring
2011 E92 D3 Bi-turbo no.246 (santorini blue)
2019 Fiat Fullback
2020 Mini Countryman SE (PHEV)
Alpina, BMW and Detailing Enthusiast

shaziman
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Posts: 1389
Joined: Sun Sep 18, 2011 1:59 pm
Location: Nottingham, occasionally S.Wales

Day 2 - Got the wet vac back...

Post by shaziman » Wed Aug 23, 2017 9:27 am

Got the wet vac back from my mate so i thought i'd give the boot a go.

Firstly though, had a quick look at the spare wheel area

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Took the spare wheel cover out and gave a it a coat of Aerospace 303.

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Spare wheel still looking good, just gave it a quick hoover to remove light dust and then a coat of Autofinesse mint rims and a coat of tyre creme.

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Top view of the exhaust, as would be seen normally

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Few minutes using my usual ritual and boot is back on form!

Bumper trims were looking a bit white, because the previous owner must have used a chalky polish and gone over a bit. As far as i can work out, this isn't recoverable, but can be cleaned up to a satisfactory level. Satin sheen can be achieved for the purposes of the enthusiasts day.
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Cleaned using G101 and then treated with first coat of 303. 50-50 shot

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Second coat of 303

Tonight's plan, wash the car with the trims still off, another coat of 303 on the trims, and then assess the paint work for minor correction.
1995 E36 B3.0 Convertible (rebodied)
1996 E36 B3.2 Touring No:20 - 1 of 5 made
1997 E36 B3.2 Touring No:36 - 1 of 5 made
1999 E36 323 Sport Touring
2011 E92 D3 Bi-turbo no.246 (santorini blue)
2019 Fiat Fullback
2020 Mini Countryman SE (PHEV)
Alpina, BMW and Detailing Enthusiast

hap
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Post by hap » Wed Aug 23, 2017 9:54 am

Good job on the tips look forward to final full pictures 👍

shaziman
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Post by shaziman » Tue Aug 29, 2017 10:32 am

So on to the wash:
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Wheels, look clean don't they? Watch this!

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Rinse, then wash with Autofinesse Imperial

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First attack with Autofinesse Iron out

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Proof they weren't as clean as they looked!

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Good agitation works well with this stuff, makes it work again in the areas that are heavily contaminated

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Loads of iron contaminants came out from under the badges and the lock cover

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Much better!

On to the bodywork, thanks to the couriers and postmen delivering parcels and deciding that this car is a good place to hide them under, some big post bag scratches that now needs attention:

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Time for a wash, car was snow foamed and then 2 bucket method to remove the dirt

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Snow foamed with Auto finesse Avalanche

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Loads of built up debris in the joints, best remove these gas strut points and clean thoroughly

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A bit of moss has built up around the lights and under one of the headlamps, i think most of this happened when it was in the garage having the head gasket done

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Well the tin worm has set in now, time for body shop work i think over the winter

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Another couple of post bag scratches

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Some spots of tin worm, needs treating and touching up

Generally though, the bodywork is in amazing condition, i think the machine polishing i gave it once i bought it and maintenance washes using the correct methods has definitely paid off!


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Another coat of 303 on the strips and i think they are now suitable to go on the car. These will be put back on on the day of the show, to prevent runs in the dew and allow maximum curing time

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1995 E36 B3.0 Convertible (rebodied)
1996 E36 B3.2 Touring No:20 - 1 of 5 made
1997 E36 B3.2 Touring No:36 - 1 of 5 made
1999 E36 323 Sport Touring
2011 E92 D3 Bi-turbo no.246 (santorini blue)
2019 Fiat Fullback
2020 Mini Countryman SE (PHEV)
Alpina, BMW and Detailing Enthusiast

Metrics
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Location: Berks

Post by Metrics » Tue Aug 29, 2017 2:40 pm

Lovely work, looking great 8)
2019 G31 B5 Biturbo No.299
2012 F10 D5 Biturbo No.13
1993 Mercedes 190E 2.6 Sportline spec
1991 Mk1 Golf GTI Sportline cabriolet

shaziman
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Post by shaziman » Thu Sep 07, 2017 10:15 am

Been really busy with the painting in the house, took a lot longer due to finding bodges everywhere done by the previous owner, so it turned into a minefield!

Anyway, back to the car, started to sort a few things out in the garage, found that adding yet another coat of Aerospace 101 to the trim has no effect, so this is just being left to cure for a week until the Enthusiasts Day. The grills have been cleaned up and aerospace'd 3 times as well, they look great, but have to be detailed with a cotton bud to be able to get in to the corners!

So i did a bit on the engine bay, cleaned up all the internal painted panels and then aerospace'd the black trim parts. Some work required in the engine bay as the paint has flaked off the oil filter cover and minor rust has appeared on a few components.

Engine bay at the moment:

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Tried Autofinesse Dressle on the car, very very disappointed, as you can see in the photo below:

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Left is Aerospace 303, one coat, and the right is Dressle, 2 coats. Almost no effect, so i will stick to 303!
Last edited by shaziman on Tue Sep 12, 2017 5:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
1995 E36 B3.0 Convertible (rebodied)
1996 E36 B3.2 Touring No:20 - 1 of 5 made
1997 E36 B3.2 Touring No:36 - 1 of 5 made
1999 E36 323 Sport Touring
2011 E92 D3 Bi-turbo no.246 (santorini blue)
2019 Fiat Fullback
2020 Mini Countryman SE (PHEV)
Alpina, BMW and Detailing Enthusiast

shaziman
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Posts: 1389
Joined: Sun Sep 18, 2011 1:59 pm
Location: Nottingham, occasionally S.Wales

Post by shaziman » Fri Sep 08, 2017 4:01 pm

All pictures should now be restored, after hours of copying and pasting from Photobucket to another site that actually allows third party hosting!

Also, looks like the register photo upload/showing function is now also up and running again!

Thanks Neil.

Can someone confirm that all photos are now showing please?
1995 E36 B3.0 Convertible (rebodied)
1996 E36 B3.2 Touring No:20 - 1 of 5 made
1997 E36 B3.2 Touring No:36 - 1 of 5 made
1999 E36 323 Sport Touring
2011 E92 D3 Bi-turbo no.246 (santorini blue)
2019 Fiat Fullback
2020 Mini Countryman SE (PHEV)
Alpina, BMW and Detailing Enthusiast

hap
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Posts: 5129
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2006 11:22 am
Location: Scunthorpe, North Lincs

Post by hap » Fri Sep 08, 2017 8:09 pm

Yep looking good

shaziman
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Location: Nottingham, occasionally S.Wales

Post by shaziman » Fri Sep 08, 2017 8:12 pm

Thanks Hap!
1995 E36 B3.0 Convertible (rebodied)
1996 E36 B3.2 Touring No:20 - 1 of 5 made
1997 E36 B3.2 Touring No:36 - 1 of 5 made
1999 E36 323 Sport Touring
2011 E92 D3 Bi-turbo no.246 (santorini blue)
2019 Fiat Fullback
2020 Mini Countryman SE (PHEV)
Alpina, BMW and Detailing Enthusiast

shaziman
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ALPINA
Posts: 1389
Joined: Sun Sep 18, 2011 1:59 pm
Location: Nottingham, occasionally S.Wales

Post by shaziman » Tue Sep 12, 2017 10:48 am

Some more touches taking place:

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Boot gas strut brackets cleaned up and body cleaned underneath. This area is a definite design flaw!

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Rear lights cleaned up, black plastic 303'd.

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Boot carpet thoroughly hoovered and striped along with the Alpina Floor mats

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Floor mats and general clean up done

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Grills reassembled, looking much better than before!

Plan for tonight is a quick snow foam wash and then a dry off, followed by all black plastics and grills etc reassembled. Set up a quick detail arrival kit and then pray the weather holds off for tomorrow!
Last edited by shaziman on Tue Sep 12, 2017 5:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
1995 E36 B3.0 Convertible (rebodied)
1996 E36 B3.2 Touring No:20 - 1 of 5 made
1997 E36 B3.2 Touring No:36 - 1 of 5 made
1999 E36 323 Sport Touring
2011 E92 D3 Bi-turbo no.246 (santorini blue)
2019 Fiat Fullback
2020 Mini Countryman SE (PHEV)
Alpina, BMW and Detailing Enthusiast

rc944
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Post by rc944 » Tue Sep 12, 2017 4:49 pm

looks great - dont you find that aerospace wears off in the real world quite quickly?
Porsche 997.1 GT3 CS I Alpina E46 B3s Coupe I Alpina E46 B3 3.3 Touring I Ducati 749S Mono I Ducati 748R I Ducati 749 Track Bike I Ducati 916S

shaziman
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Location: Nottingham, occasionally S.Wales

Post by shaziman » Tue Sep 12, 2017 5:17 pm

That is true, but us the only thing that restores colour, and also stops the whitening or fading from coming back. I try where possible to take the plastic off, apply and leave indoors to cure for as long as possible to aid the effect. Not always possible I know. You can see this from the fact that my black strips are still off the car, I think for almost 2 weeks.

I think unfortunately, there is no real permanent cure. I tried nanolex trim rejuvenator, that lasted about a month and then it looked worse than before
1995 E36 B3.0 Convertible (rebodied)
1996 E36 B3.2 Touring No:20 - 1 of 5 made
1997 E36 B3.2 Touring No:36 - 1 of 5 made
1999 E36 323 Sport Touring
2011 E92 D3 Bi-turbo no.246 (santorini blue)
2019 Fiat Fullback
2020 Mini Countryman SE (PHEV)
Alpina, BMW and Detailing Enthusiast

simon13
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Location: Camberley, Surrey

Post by simon13 » Tue Sep 12, 2017 8:47 pm

i used on my old e36 something called C4 from G techniq. Unreal! and lasted

Trims on my bumpers and doors were always grey, not any more!
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simon13
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Post by simon13 » Tue Sep 12, 2017 8:48 pm

its a tiny bottle though and its £40
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