• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

Atom's Amazon Wagon Project Update Thread

He did it to make the wiper plug and play with the BMW harness.

OP, did you check the direction the BMW motor turns and where the wipers park? There's a contact disc inside the gear housing that determines where they park and it may not be in the same place. You also don't want them going backwards.
 
Yeah, it was strictly to get it to work with the E30 wiring/switch.

He did it to make the wiper plug and play with the BMW harness.

OP, did you check the direction the BMW motor turns and where the wipers park? There's a contact disc inside the gear housing that determines where they park and it may not be in the same place. You also don't want them going backwards.

I haven't yet, but I have a few options. First is that the Amazon uses short wipers instead of long ones, so I can just have them park on the correct side. Second, a little custom thing Porsche guy do is flip the arm on the motor to make their 911 wipers park on the other side, so I think I have that option as well. I need to order new wiper pieces (drive hubs, arms and blades) before I can get that all figured out.
 
Yeah, it was strictly to get it to work with the E30 wiring/switch.



I haven't yet, but I have a few options. First is that the Amazon uses short wipers instead of long ones, so I can just have them park on the correct side. Second, a little custom thing Porsche guy do is flip the arm on the motor to make their 911 wipers park on the other side, so I think I have that option as well. I need to order new wiper pieces (drive hubs, arms and blades) before I can get that all figured out.

Jack should have most of the parts needed. I may have some odd ball items like the aluminum washer and nut that goes underneath the arm, and I should have some spare arms too.
 
Getting started on the upholstery since it's been raining quite a bit lately. The rear seat factory cloth is TOAST so I'm having to pattern as I go. Probably will only get the rear cushion done this weekend. Foam is always ugly. I sprayed it with bleach water and steamed the foams to "plump" them a bit. I may have to add some thin foam before I hog ring the cover on.

a49fe00d4aea763e747cbf67c24f68dd.jpg
822e3bc8b13b35cab1bd5c996e89b9db.jpg
3abab3b10bf8b5f3bb96ca1283695001.jpg
5b3c7a4a671fd1af1f0a32b3269d1fe2.jpg
99fa816383d80b3c965fae1a3d7485c6.jpg
51dab0fa5e1b94c1027f21d5860ff110.jpg
eb09a4a258758414f0f00cfa51f122bf.jpg


Hopefully some more pictures to come tomorrow.
 
Well, I got the rear cushion cover all sewn up and trimmed, but I left my hog rings and pliers at work so I'll need to attach it later this week, or next weekend. I got the rear backrest stripped and got started on the patterning, cutting and sewing.

e2e4c3b7d29cee2f43d1a06a62c4a45c.jpg
81d3de481250c8763781c2dc178aa2c8.jpg
9ada6613ec1441a332444a5acfa679c1.jpg
d107bce83f8c7aff4e33a615264c4882.jpg
72c560ed96a3d2daf4a453bc6552772f.jpg
2606d79ab46a0faa8de15ca1d6983b5d.jpg
 
The leather looks great -- wondering if you're giving any thought to refreshing that foam....which looks, in the pictures, to be 'tired'...
 
The leather looks great -- wondering if you're giving any thought to refreshing that foam....which looks, in the pictures, to be 'tired'...

I steamed it all, which adds volume and helps kill "stuff". When it comes time to put the covers on I may have to add foam to make them fit tight, but I'm not overly concerned about the rear seat comfort. :-P
 
Understand -- I wouldn't have been concerned about "comfort" per se -- just having the old foam continue to break down rendering the nice fit of the new leather rather "saggy". Can't help but remember years of vacuuming up old broken down foam from the foot well of the back seats every time someone sat in the front seats. I was in denial.
 
The front seats are in much better shape. Foam should be good. The nice thing is I can always find a better E30 'vert rear seat and put my cover on.
 
Last edited:
What do you use for a sewing machine? Do you have a big industrial model, or have a more 'consumer' grade machine and just go slow?
 
What do you use for a sewing machine? Do you have a big industrial model, or have a more 'consumer' grade machine and just go slow?

0ed8c641a9a8f7cd716bdaeada3dbc0b.jpg


Good ol Betsy, putting in work. Using a #100 needle and #96 bonded polyester thread.
 
Speed isn't a problem, the issue is keeping the seams straight when you go fast. The only "thing" is the biggest stitch I can do is 7 stitches per inch. Most car French seams are more like 5 stitches per inch.
 
Since I made my front coilovers with stuff I had kicking around, the mounts were less than optimal. I wanted to thin down the upper mount setup.

13474d385f8ca19e2bae09303cbab223.jpg


So I found some eBay universal pillowball camber plates and tossed the flat part. Then I whipped up some thick plates that would allow for adjustment even if it goes beyond the opening on the strut tower.

7614b118b7f7e8cb9a54aeebd6427894.jpg


5d3c6250ee7c10779c32ae10a7bf1be5.jpg


Then to get the spring to sit up high I made some offset spring seats. I also integrated a reducer for the strut top mount vs the pillowball opening.

944358b4f84cfff5f8d19626f2920f35.jpg
61149ac57b1e82b48aa266310c4d42fb.jpg


Which should slim down the overall thickness quite a bit.

9249d9ff58e88feccb9f9adee79b67da.jpg
c1e9a63896be0492cdc02cf5288bda73.jpg
d13a3c2888aa22a70efe85abf8cfb22b.jpg
3928b40cd2ee5ee3f9c40db9164cff1a.jpg


On the way home ran into what my daily looked like when it was still stock. Same color even.

c47be75cc65bdd544cad56cc2e93e566.jpg
 
Back
Top