With the basic engine location sorted I moved onto the alloy panelling for the tunnel and outside cockpit. 
I ordered a couple of high quality Bosch 3.2mm drill bits in readiness. 

I had expected the panels to need a fair bit of trimming to fit but have been very pleased that they all fitted pretty much as they were delivered except one. I think there must have been a design change to the tunnel at the front passengers side (RHD Car) as I couldn't get it to fit.

In the end I used a G clamp to pull it into shape and the drilled the holes. With a bit of sealer all should be well.

























One of the decisions I made when the engine was fitted was to make a small removable panel so that I could get to the clutch slave cylinder for servicing. So before riveting in the panel I cut out an opening and made a suitable cover. 

On the picture below you can just see the rubber gasket I made from Sikaflex to seal the removable panel.

You will also see that I am going to cover all the interior panels with Carbon Fibre effect vinyl. I am pleased with how good this looks and with the rivets in place it has a very pleasing effect.

One I was happy with the fit and all the holes be burred I cleaned all the mating surfaces with Acetone and put a bead of Sikaflex on the chassis and then with many Clecos riveted the panels in place. 

That's two weeks work! I will add some more photos of the interior in my next post. 

A bit of time has passed since my last post trial fitting the engine. After thinking through the lack of clearance between the bell housing bolt heads and the chassis I did slot the chassis engine mountings and moved everything 10mm forwards. I then jacked up the o/s of the engine to establish how deep the spacer needed to be to get the engine away from the pedal box area. I settled on 6mm and turned up a spacer to fit under the mount. I am now happy that the engine will not touch the chassis even under very harsh loading.

The gearbox mounting was straight forward to fit. I did grind about 5mm of the vertical strengthener to provide more clearance for the gearbox housing.

With the engine in I was able to plan exactly where I wanted all the various front to rear lines to go. I need room for two fuel, one brake and one fire extinguisher. Add to this the wiring loom it its going to get very busy in the transmission tunnel. This agreed in my head I removed the engine so that I could make a start on fuel and brake lines. This has been straight forward although a fair bit of swearing crept in in places. I managed to kink one of the fuel lines twice so I now have lots of short spare bit!

At this point as I am not sure I am happy with the fuel lines. I have left them loose until I either do them again or become happy with them with everything else in place.

Next up is the cockpit panels. 

Well it almost worked. After a busy week and a hectic weekend I did manage to get it on its wheels and out of the garage. Everything is loosely fitted with just sufficient parts to be able move it around.

This enabled me to trial fit the engine. 

My immediate concern was the engine sitting to far back with the bell housing bolts touching the chassis. 

The engine also fouled the pedal box area.  I had run out of time so I left the car on its wheels and rung Peter! He had no explanation to this issue so I am going to slot the chassis brackets and move the engine forwards 10mm. I am also going to turn a 5mm spacer to fit under the O/S engine mounting. I feel this will gain me the clearance I need. 

By my next update I should be able to say if it has worked!

Its been a a busy week. As I worked on cleaning the engine and gearbox I came to the conclusion that I was not going to be able to get the hoist and attached engine/gearbox combination down the side of the car to the front of my garage. Its was obvious but there you go!
My build plan is based on starting in the middle of the car and work outwards meaning the suspension etc would be a fairly late part of the build. A fundamental of the plan is to build the car completely from an engineering perspective so that I can be comfortable that every thing would fit, parts made or modified as required. When the car was complete, strip it down and re build it in its final form.

I think I can still achieve this but I was going to need a rolling chassis to get the car outside to get the engine in.

So, the week has been about assembling the suspension and putting some wheels on.

I used my engine hoist to push all the metalastic bushes in place and a vice for the rubber bushes. The rest of the assembly was straightforward although I will need to shim the wishbones on final assembly to get all the suspension lined up accurately. However, everything fitted very well with no problems along the way. I had been talking to Peter regarding dampers, he was proposing Protech as a supplier so I felt this was an opportunity to pass on the GAZ dampers. I was certainly pleased with them visually, time will tell how they work on the road.

By the end of this week I expect to have a rolling chassis. This means an initial engine fit at the weekend.

Another week gone and more progress. I have continued the strip out of the donor car by getting the diff and drive shafts out along with the handbrake cables. I set about the diff with a wire brush in an electric drill and removed all the muck, rust, and corrosion to leave me with a pretty good looking item. A good coat of Hammerite and its ready to go in. I am having to balance the desire to build against the need to strip!
I am getting funny looks from people living nearby as a fairly decent looking 3 Series is being reduced to a pile of scrap. With no wheels and the load space full of removed parts, mainly interior trim it looks a poor old sight. 
However, I have booked a scrap merchant to come and get it next weekend so hopefully I will avert a complaint. I did toy with the idea of putting it on ebay to see what would sell but thought it better to get shot of it. The only parts I have I do not need are a set of 15 inch wheels. I will keep these so that I can move it around if required.

So, diff all bright and glossy I decided to get it installed. I have to say it was straightforward, the rear mounts lined up perfectly and the front bracket fitted very well after drilling the holes. If this sets the standard for fit I will be very happy.

I am still thinking over the fuel tank. I have received a lot of comments on the Blog and on the GKD Owners Club site for which I am very grateful. I am really pleased people are happy to share their experiences with me. Thank you all.

Whilst on the subject of help, I needed to order some parts from our local BMW dealership, Sycamore BMW in Peterborough I was a little apprehensive about how they would deal with somebody who is desecrating one of their cars to make something very different. I have to say, all the guys in the parts department have been very helpful, interested in what I am doing and knowledgeable. The final positive is the price, old 3 Series parts are very well priced! 

I started the donor car strip out with a thought that I would not take too long. Wrong, it seemed to take an age. Whenever I thought I was ready for the remains to be scrapped I found myself taking of one more part, usually, "just in case". However, I don't regret it in retrospect. A lot of the parts have come in useful.

I am surprised on just how big the keep pile was but not as surprised at the size of the wiring harness. Its bloody huge. I intend to re use the loom so I was careful to mark up the majority of plugs but it is going to be a major job getting rid of all the wire I will not need. However, that is for the future.

Whilst I was stripping the donor I started to think about the fuel system and the tank in particular. In view of my intended use for the car fuel surge is clearly going to be an issue as it it is a simple box. I am going to have a good think about baffles/foam or swirl pot but in the mean time I could start to make the two sender unit retainers and associated fittings.

I now feel like we are properly under way. My target is to be complete and IVA'd by April 2013 so a way to go yet!

Before the start of my build I wanted to have a clear view of what I wanted the car for and the type of events I would use it for. I never intended to build it only for road use. I came up with a broad selection of events just to make the decisions about the build more difficult. I ended out with pretty much everything, sprints, hill climbs, auto tests and autosolos oh, and the inevitable track days. I may even have a go at racing!

A detailed look at the blue book to make sure I could meet all the safety requirements and a large number of  nights with the documents from the Government on the IVA requirements I felt ready to start.....

With woodwork.... I was keen not to have to grovel on the floor but have the car at a nice height to work so a trip to Wickes for some stud wall timber and two nights work resulted in:










Which left my garage looking like:

Now all I need is a donor vehicle. I thought about this for a while and considered a variety of models. One serious consideration was a 330D! However a 328 Touring with a service record, in very good condition which on testing made all the right noises and none of the less desirable ones was finally tracked down in Leicester. This was duly placed on the driveway ready for stripping.