Quick dismantling update - Chop chop!!

So - quick update on progress comprising two weekends work...

Finished the interior strip out - got the dash/console out, although even with the Bentley manual couldn't find all the hidden screws and fastenings, so brute force won over anything else. (wasn't really in good enough condition to re-sell anyway). Then proceeded to carefully take the loom out - quite proud that I managed to keep it entirely in one piece. It was a headache following every single wire to a connector to unplug it, but should be worth it and easier to piece together all the necessary pieces afterwards.

Spaghetti Central!! Arghh!

Bare shell

Next was the manky carpet ( maggots, sand and scummy cigarette ends and all). Glad to see the back of that! 

Manage to then fill the trailer entirely with plastics, foams, rubbers; and other stuff that wasn't steel which could be weighed in for scrap or sold on eBay as spares. And yes, I got the usual amount of grief from the people at the tip (standard rant for those of you who live in Plymouth and want to take more than grass clippings and newspaper recycling to the tip)

Off to do battle with the forces of evil at Plymouth dump

Which then left a pretty much empty shell...

Car hasn't felt like this since it was born 17 years ago

... And a desire to buy a weapon of mass destruction - E36, meet your doom!!

Insert evil, and slightly deranged chuckle

First off, safely remove the fuel tank (stray sparks from a 9" grinder, nicht so gut) and sunroof casette (might be able to sell that, although fairly hard work to remove without hitting your head).

I set off by chopping the front structure - although arguably this is the strongest part of the car. Load bearing for the engine, and all the strength of frontal impact / crash protection meant it was an absolute pig! I cut everything I could see and it was still hanging on for dear life! In the end I got the trusty hi-lift jack and used it in "spreader" mode and finally the two front chassis rails let go.

After a LOT of grinding, this was the only way to get them to part company

First the right...

...Then the left

 

Then, my good mate Trev turned up with a cracking idea on how to get the bonded windscreen out (using an old throttle cable as a cheese wire - thanks for all the blood sweat and tears mate!), which left the roof and front windscreen open for some judicious surgical cuts. Nurse! Scalpel! (OK, well Trev, pass me the 9" grinder)

Windscreen and front of roof coming apart

Then finally, cut across the width of the car along the floor and up the transmission tunnel to seperate the front bulkhead from the floor pan

It's a cut and shut motor, only without the "shut" part

If you read this blog in reverse, it's a detailed guide on how to build an E36 BMW

Oh and on the new build, another tiny bit of progress -   engine mounts fitted. Series 2 V8 Land Rover were the perfect height, screw thread and consistency. And a snip at £2.20 + vat :-)

And that was it for 2 weekends! What remains now is a trailer full of scrap, and about 2/3 of a BMW shell. A few people have asked so I'll answer the question "Why?" Well, the local scrap metal merchants won't accept a car whole (no matter how little remains), unless the V5 is provided so they can dispose of the car. Well, I'm not sure how that plan would pan out for me keeping the V5 to prove the age of the donor vehicle parts to get an age-related plate for the finished car. I also thought about selling the shell to someone in case they wanted some bizarre project of their own (rally car? track car? touring car?) but with the amount of copies of the chassis number engraved, stamped and stuck into the shell, there'd still be nothing to stop someone finding out the previous details, re-registering it; and tearing around sending me little gifts such as speeding fines and parking tickets in my name. Far fetched, but not keen on that idea either. So the safest (and arguably most fun) option is to destroy it myself, get the age-related plate; and afterwards inform the DVLA of the fate of one of Bavarian Motor Work's children.

Next jobs, finish cutting the shell, weigh in the remainder, and sell sell sell on eBay! For those of you keeping a running total, in terms of scrap and eBay takings; the car owes me a measly £140. Hopefully would be able to get that fairly easy, and hey presto I've got all the donor parts for free!!!

The missus says this part looks like a car from a ferris wheel... who knows, maybe there's a market for rear-end BMW ferris wheels? All I need is another 50-odd cars and a lot of steelwork to find out...

Cheers,
Steve