REDUX E30 M3 BUILD
Building the ultimate E30 M3...
The Redux E30 M3 build No.2 sits in the body shop, ready to be painted
Words Simon Lord/Jeff Heywood ~ Photos – Simon Lord
Build No.2 has been a long haul for the Redux team. They have experienced the fallout in parts supply that Brexit has contributed to, followed by the disruption the Covid pandemic brought upon the planet. But, after hundreds of hours of prep were carried out to ensure the M3 receives a flawless paint finish, they are nearing the finishing line. Then the final push can begin to fit the doors, boot, bonnet, spoilers to the bodyshell, followed by hundreds of pieces of trim and the special interior that will see Redux build No2 finally cross the finishing line.
The Paint Process
Many people associate a car’s paint job with the final application of the body colour, the part you usually see on carbased TV shows. However, that stage accounts for only 0.75-1.0% of the whole process. The hundreds of hours of preparation work determine whether it will have a deep, flat, mirror finish or not. Next time you visit a car showroom, look closely at the paint finish of any new car; the best way to do this is to focus on a reflection then move your eyes back and forth along it. The reflection is blurred because the surface of the paint has small dimples known to everyone as orange peel. Major manufacturers like BMW, Audi, Mercedes, even Ferrari, cannot justify the additional time and cost required to create a glasslike flawless finish on all their vehicles; that
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would take much longer than the vehicle assembly process. One of the very few exceptions in the automotive world is Rolls Royce, which uses both robots for the initial paint application and humans for additional painting application and the wet sanding. It also has one man, Mark Court, who handpaints every coachline. This is also how Redux achieves a flawless paint finish, every time. Once the metal fabrication work is complete, the shell is seam brazed with a TIG torch; this means adding brazes by hand at regular intervals along the shell’s interior to provide extra stiffness. The shell is then media blasted for a second time to remove any debris left by the fabrication or brazing; the underside is then treated with a hot zinc protection
This shot was taken immediately after painting. The shell is left to cure before it receives a wet sanding and final polish to give it a mirror-like finish
spray to provide corrosion protection. Even if this coating is scratched, the zinc retains its protective properties. Immediately upon leaving the blasting bay, an epoxy primer is applied to the bodyshell to protect it against surface corrosion. With a clean shell, the paint team can www.bmwcarclubgb.uk
