The car that stole my life

[BimmerJM325is]

The title of this thread reminds me of the other day when my girlfriend started crying because she felt that I would appreciate it more if she bought me something for my car, rather than taking me out on a date...

[Spyke]

one of the best threads ever. hands down. Spyke for president!

Haha, just give me a shop or a CNC machine to run!

The title of this thread reminds me of the other day when my girlfriend started crying because she felt that I would appreciate it more if she bought me something for my car, rather than taking me out on a date...

Poor girl lol. Mine at least knew what she was getting into. You two could always take a romantic drive on a twisty canyon road and find a nice spot overlooking something. Win win, gotta work it man

[E36B1MM3R]

Nice work.

[Worstenemy453]

What fan shroud is that ?

Also that Y type factory bar you posted with a new obviously heavy duty replacement, what is that ?

[matorres86]

Hey which fan did you go with and what thermostat (temp) thanks!

The car looks amazing btw

[Spyke]

Nice work.

Thanks!

What fan shroud is that ?

Also that Y type factory bar you posted with a new obviously heavy duty replacement, what is that ?

Fan shroud & aluminum expansion tank are by Zionsville.

That would be the SPC rear control arm (hefty hefty hefty) next to the stock one (wimpy wimpy wimpy).

Hey which fan did you go with and what thermostat (temp) thanks!

The car looks amazing btw

16" SPAL 2 speed, wired from the fuse box to run full-time on high. I went with an 80* thermostat, pretty pointless to go any lower than that.

[BimmerJM325is]

Poor girl lol. Mine at least knew what she was getting into. You two could always take a romantic drive on a twisty canyon road and find a nice spot overlooking something. Win win, gotta work it man

Hahah nice idea!

[Spyke]

Hahah nice idea!

Just don't make her puke before a picnic

[Spyke]

I don't think I've ever posted a sound clip of my car, so here we go:



Washed the car and wiped down the interior, then decided to drive Mt. Diablo because it was just too damn nice out. Tried to take some photos since I didn't have anything recent... Camera sucks though.


DSCN9289 by greggdrake, on Flickr


DSCN9303 by greggdrake, on Flickr


DSCN9310 by greggdrake, on Flickr


DSCN9312 by greggdrake, on Flickr


DSCN9313 by greggdrake, on Flickr


DSCN9314 by greggdrake, on Flickr


DSCN9332 by greggdrake, on Flickr


DSCN9363 by greggdrake, on Flickr


DSCN9424 by greggdrake, on Flickr


DSCN9436 by greggdrake, on Flickr


DSCN9443 by greggdrake, on Flickr


DSCN9446 by greggdrake, on Flickr

Don't wake the monster...

DSCN9470 by greggdrake, on Flickr

[Spyke]

Nobody is going to know what this is, but it makes me insanely happy!!! Master of Hardcore logo replaced the Punisher stickers I had on forever. You can barely see it on the outside (my side windows are tinted) and it's the only sticker on the car so it's still nice and clean.


MOH Window Sticker by greggdrake, on Flickr

[Spyke]

I've had my hands full lately with building the e30 (attempting to get it on the road this month if I can manage), and came up with a new project I can do for both cars;

Aluminum door card delete panels!! Doing a distressed German flag for my e36 and some kick-ass spider webs for the e30. I'm excited about this one, I've always wanted to find a unique way to incorporate a German flag into the car. I think this will come out really cool, and I can produce everything through my shop.

[Spyke]

Trying to finish the template for my door card delete panels, but we're actually getting a lot of rain in Cali which is bizarre...

Getting close though, I think they're going to be sharp. This is v.3 so far, I had to make sure the panels were sized just right to cover as much as the stock cards do, while being small enough to fit inside the weatherstripping. Now I need to start match-marking holes as I plan to use threaded rivet inserts and some nice hex hardware (instead of plastic clips) so these are easy to remove. I should be able to keep the trim piece around the door handle lever, and I'm thinking about using an "oh-shit handle" as a door pull...

[Spyke]

Okay, so I have the template done, really happy with how it came out. Absolutely nothing on the door skin has to be modified. All existing holes will remain untouched so that stock door cards can still be used down the road. Nobody would ever know. I did about 4 versions of the delete panel until I got it nailed down. I also found some cool industrial looking drawer pulls at the hardware store, and those will be used to pull the doors shut.

I had been working for a while in Photoshop trying to make up a distressed German flag, but it was going slow since I normally only work with Illustrator doing vector art. I did some web searching and stumbled across a design on a stock photography website that I really dig, so I decided to bail on my design. I love that this one looks all battered up, and the rivets are a sick touch that I didn't even think of doing initially. It looks like this could have been on the side of a fighter plane or something.

Here's the art I will be using. I will be printing this out onto vinyl with our 54" printer. The prints will then be protected with a super durable, non-glare Polycarbonate laminate. Final step is to lay them onto my final panels, made out of 1/8" thick Di-Bond. Can't wait to have these bad boys installed!!!

[Moosecakes]

Great build thread!! Love everything about it. Can't wait to see the door skins you're coming up with. I'm still debating that with mine as well.

I need to order my seats... I hate stock seats lol.

[Spyke]

Great build thread!! Love everything about it. Can't wait to see the door skins you're coming up with. I'm still debating that with mine as well.

I need to order my seats... I hate stock seats lol.

Thanks man! You do need seats... you don't even realize what you're missing out on. I don't know if I will ever have stock seats in my personal cars from now on.

I just finished the first "final" panel (without the graphics of course). I think it came out fantastic despite only using a hand-held jigsaw to do the cutting, and a file to finish up the edges.

[z25is]

Nice Job Spyke

I was impressed to find our your car was Sharp'ied after I saw it back at the Berkeley Euro meet earlier this year, and I look forward to seeing it again and it's current progress if you goto the meet again this coming January.

You're car and mine also share the same name Veronica, although mines spelled Veronika, PO's son named it that long before I bought it.

[Moosecakes]

I used to have a carbon kevlar bucket in my old civic years ago, absolutely best money every spent. I hate stock seats lol. I'll probably order my seats tonight hehe!

Those door cards look great! How loud is it inside with the carpet and shiz gone? I'm considering gutting mine when I do the seats, but I also don't have suspension or any of that fun stuff yet hah.

[Gary e36]

Doing good work on her Gregg!

[Bacender]

Oh my god

[Spyke]

Nice Job Spyke

I was impressed to find our your car was Sharp'ied after I saw it back at the Berkeley Euro meet earlier this year, and I look forward to seeing it again and it's current progress if you goto the meet again this coming January.

You're car and mine also share the same name Veronica, although mines spelled Veronika, PO's son named it that long before I bought it.

Hey that's cool, what are the odds?! I will most certainly be at the Berkeley meet again, it's two days after my birthday. I'll probably bring the Sharpies as she needs some touch up, I thought if people have kids they could have some fun coloring it in too.

I used to have a carbon kevlar bucket in my old civic years ago, absolutely best money every spent. I hate stock seats lol. I'll probably order my seats tonight hehe!

Those door cards look great! How loud is it inside with the carpet and shiz gone? I'm considering gutting mine when I do the seats, but I also don't have suspension or any of that fun stuff yet hah.

Order some seats up man! It's actually not bad at all without carpet and tar sound deadening. I maybe have to bump the radio up 2-3 clicks or something versus when all that smelly carpet was in, not bad at all. It's not like the e36 has a super quiet interior to start with anyways... I did use some ultra-thin Dynomat on the bottom of the aluminum floor pans though, more for heat/cold insulation than anything else. I do NOT miss worrying about stains and people with gum on their shoes now.

Doing good work on her Gregg!

Thanks Gary, how are those new springs treating you?

Oh my god

[Moosecakes]

Hmmm I think I may have a weekend project! I just ordered an NRG dished suede steering wheel and a momo hub last night! Can't wait to get rid of the boat wheel in the car now lol. I'll probably order my seats tonight haha.

I'm stoked to see those door cards man!

[Gary e36]

Great handling. Cept there's a clunking sound whenever I turn at slow speeds. Getting it fixed tm

Sent from my DROID RAZR using BF.com

[arsinal4496]

much respect to the time and dedication uv spent on ur car. to bad ur too far away, id love to meet up and take a drive.

btw, all the small details add up to a super clean car. like how u even have a matching spare wheel haha

[MVEED3]

Nice work. My beer/work ratio doesn't allow me to tackle anything more than routine maintenance these days. I did reminisce of my glory days while scrolling though your pics. Props for going way deeper than I ever did

If I ever build my dream garage, I may hit you up to be a part-time Kato (Green Lantern).

Suggestion: Paint the area behind pedals black or install some type of backing there. Make 'em pop.


Allen

[Bergsteiger]

What fantastic albums. I hope to give mine even a percentage of the TLC that you have shown yours!