BMW S65 MT in a 1933 Ford Roadster

[regular guy]

Originally Posted by Hujan

Really coming together now! Keep it up! This is main-page material here when it's done.

+1000000

I'd call it front cover magazine material too!

Such a great build.

[In33anity]

You boys are making me blush!!!

Starting to all go back together again. Special thanks to fellow '33 builder extraordinaire, Chuck (arm7419 on the ffcars forum), who took a day out of his Hampton's vacation to come over and wrench with me. We got the front suspension back in and wrestled the grille, radiator and intercooler back in place. Awesome having a second set of hands, but even better having the company of a fellow kindred spirit!!! On the opposite end of the spectrum, worked out a deal with my 17 year, old son who was looking to make some extra money without finding much success locally, that I'd pay him (commensurate with experience) for all that grunt sanding and prep work on the body as far as he could get while I spent the next few weekends finishing the chassis. After loading up on grease and wax remover, filler, blocks and paper, lasted one hour before he proclaimed no amount of money on earth is worth sanding fiberglass and I'm on my own!!!


By the end of the weekend, besides the suspension and cooling package, remounted the oil block, thermostat housing, alternator, supercharger, front bumpers, headlights and turn signals (subtly mounted on the front rails), secondary air pump, etc. The rim of the grille is polished, the ribs will be painted to match the body. Similarly, as soon as settle on a final color (and running out of time), plenum goes back to Active to do their magic.





The polished Rotrex blower and garage brewed charge pipe:



Front suspension with all its pieces individually chromed:



Chromed front bumper and light bracket:



I had the OEM crank pulley anodized to match the Active SC pulley and got that back on as well.

Before:



After:



OEM mount for the secondary air pump is on of all things, the engine wiring harness cover. The harness was sold with its cover a long time ago, so fashioned a bracket, had it powdercoated and mounted the pump to the firewall, tucked behind the plenum in roughly the OEM position.



Finally, I've had an idea for an access panel for the fuel pump and filter under the trunk stuck in my head for a long time. Finally found it by way of a valley cover for an old school HEMI!!! Had the ribs polished and its off to have the valleys powdercoated the matching yellow and then fit in, but here's a mock-up look:



***

Together with all the typical following-up and Sunday planning for next weekend, that's where I got this weekend. Trigger finger surgery early this week, so I've staged next weekend for some lighter tasks I've been assured by the doc are within grasp (pun intended!) -- I

[douglee25]

Great work!! Loving the progress.

Just a suggestion here - instead of shooting wide open or in your case f2.2, stop down once or twice. Your DOF is so small that I'm having a hard time seeing any detail past 2"-3". Even stopped down a little more will get you the bokeh that I think you're after.

Otherwise, feel free to ignore me!

Carry on! Amazing work!

Doug

[In33anity]

Originally Posted by douglee25

Great work!! Loving the progress.

Just a suggestion here - instead of shooting wide open or in your case f2.2, stop down once or twice. Your DOF is so small that I'm having a hard time seeing any detail past 2"-3". Even stopped down a little more will get you the bokeh that I think you're after.

Otherwise, feel free to ignore me!

Carry on! Amazing work!

Doug

Doug,

Guilty as charged. Shallow depth of field, highly saturated colors, vibrance has been part of my shooting aesthetic for so long I don't even think about it. Going to try next weekend. ThanksX2!!!

[squartus]

This is pure car sex, as much as I love watching it being built...I cant wait to see it hit the road.

[regular guy]

Originally Posted by squartus

This is pure car sex, as much as I love watching it being built...I cant wait to see it hit the road.

Ditto, and this is one of those builds I think we all know will actually hit the road. I can't wait to see it.

[douglee25]

You'll have to get some good audio of this thing running and driving down the road too!

[Richbot]

ERMAHGERD

RERDSTER






Awesome. Bimmerpost front page material? More like front page material on every major auto website. Deserves more press than the place where putting rims and tints on a new model gets you on the front page.

Only thing I've wanted to see more than this in a 30's ford body is a rumble seat equipped with a Porsche flat-6

[bradleyland]

I'd be willing to bet this makes front page when it moves under its own power.

[Magna_Flow]

What a fascinating build! We obviously wish our parts were on the car, but the scope of this goes beyond what aftermarket parts are on the car. This a work of art in terms of fab work—all thousands of hours of it—and it's just out of this world. Incredible stuff!

[Swiftym3]

More excited for this update than Game of Thrones S5 finale. Nuff said!

[In33anity]

Thanks guys. Super motivating. Magna flow, kudos to you. A post like that on a build page with someone elses competing product on the build makes me think super highly of how you must stand behind your products and the values of your company in general. Incidently, a search of the 33 hot rod forum on the ffcars website will show your muffler is the version of choice for upgrades on the Factory Five Racing hot rod with all the other engines being run.

Swiftym3, here you go

So I underestimated effects of hand surgery. Took two weekends not one. Had planned on light work the first to button up the wiring, but was too fine. Ended up sanding the body, applying a coat of the rage gold ultima to all the seams and taking that down as well. Also had on the list since the fall to remill a more aesthetically pleasing version of the front brake mounts. Managed to get that in as well. Forgot to take pics of both so maybe that weekend didn't happen?

This weekend, still operating at less than full speed, but the new ball joint boots came so managed to mostly finish up remounting the front suspension (turns out the e46 M3 front hubs are just a tad narrower than the Mustang's the spindles were designed for, keeping the hub nuts from tightening them. A pair of washers should take the slop out) and started re-plumbing. I'm feeling pretty anal about lining all 5 runs (2 AN6 for the SC Cooler, 2 AN12 for the oil cooler, and an AN10 for the fuel line -- AN8 return on the driver's side) of braided hose on the passenger side under the cockpit. Mocked it all up, but couldn't quite bring myself to drill the holes for the hose separators without sleeping on it for a night.

Finally, as the project is getting down to the nitty gritty, focusing on the minimal amount of creature comforts and a final shot of BMW DNA. Looks like I'm going to retrofit a full NBT in with the 10" screen from a '13 F10. Have all the modules, the head, display and pigtails, etc. Been through all the internet posts, all coding or other advice as a standalone, super appreciated.

That, and the usual daily chasing down and resolving problems, and here's where she sat (squats?) as of yesterday.

[ArthurL]

Thanks for the update! Looking forward to your next one.

[Magna_Flow]

Originally Posted by In33anity

Thanks guys. Super motivating. Magna flow, kudos to you. A post like that on a build page with someone elses competing product on the build makes me think super highly of how you must stand behind your products and the values of your company in general. Incidently, a search of the 33 hot rod forum on the ffcars website will show your muffler is the version of choice for upgrades on the Factory Five Racing hot rod with all the other engines being run.

Kudos are all to yourself and the people like you who are building their butts off on projects they're passionate about. We do stand behind our products, of course, but more than anything we're all car guys who just love cool projects like this and can't wait to see them rip down the street.

Thanks for the tip on the FFCars stuff, too! Much appreciated.

[Antonio1988]

Amazing update as always, thank you! Keep up the great work!

[In33anity]

Every so often with a project like this, you hit a weekend where the car really kicks your ass!!! Tyler, my BMW Tech buddy came out for the weekend to help and we had big plans and high hopes, but set back at every step. Fortunately the tide changed today so maybe some momentum next week. Intent was to get the rear back in and get back to being a roller this weekend. After a several week disaster with the subframe, had the Turner solid subframe bushings pressed in and the subframe re-powdercoated, which I picked up Friday morning with the trunk access panel. Of course spent so much time chatting with the good folks at the powdercoater and showing pics of the car, got 20 minutes away before I realized I hadn’t loaded the car!!!!

Then, on to the body shop. I had the pumpkin and the half shafts sprayed to match the powdercoat and the axle covers sprayed black to match the boots. Of course they never did the axle covers and they were sitting in a box totally mangled under the boots when I went to pick it all up. Ran to the BMW dealer to see if I could grab new ones, but not in stock. So much for getting the axles in. I had intended to hit the dealer anyway to get the bushings pressed into the knuckles, but also super nice guys—they just lent me the tool!!! At this point was clear wasn’t going to be a roller, but could get it all done but for the half shafts—or so I thought.

We started Saturday prepping the pumpkin, went to put the powdercoated diff cover on, only to realize the bolts never made it back from the chromer (not sure now what the other set of bolts I Thought was them are, but I guess I’ll figure that out!). Anyway, here it sits:





Managed to get the Powerflex bushings in the subframe and the subframe mounted, started on mock-up.





Moved onto the knuckles! We wasted extraordinary amounts of energy trying to press the bushings out. Nearly impossible! Finally burned the rubber out and cut reliefs. Discovered one side was somewhat distorted on the lower bearing. Can’t imagine the full body force that did that, or how I haven’t noticed it in two years. Called it quits last night really questioning if we’d ever get a bearing in that knuckle again or if have to get a new knuckle and get it redone again!

A few other nightmares and that was yesterday. Woke up this am and we managed to line up the knuckle in the Bridgeport and hit it with a bearing bar—worked. Bushing went in. Coufdn’t get enough force to seat the wheel bearings, will bring in with the cushion bushings and outer control arm bushings, track down diff bolts, get the axle covers sprayed, and maybe next weekend a rolling chassis, That and a few other more of the sames this weekend. Progress!

--I

[Peertwelve]

Keep the chin up! These setbacks will wash away on the first drive! I look forward to your report next week. Thanks for sharing!

[bradleyland]

You're a soldier, dude. My job is basically wrangling cats all day, and I'm amazed at your persistence!

[Orange fever]

Oh Mann !!! Awesome can't wait for the vid

[Swiftym3]

I can't wait any longer. I'm assuming the lack of updates can only mean you've completed this project and have been too busy driving non-stop to post.

[SflBimmer8484]

Speechless every time I see this thread bumped.

[Hujan]

The rough patches will only make it all the more gratifying when she fires up for the first time!

Keep on keeping on!