Today Jon Baker Jnr and I set about the process of converting 'Project Calypso' from M5 Road cruiser, to Track-focused 'special'.
Jon came over to my place early, and we set about putting the car on a serious diet.
1.) I set about removing the front bumper, removing the foglamps, and replacing the clear lenses with factory-original spec orange ones (from 38 TK !)..
2). Jon meanwhile made a start on the interior of the car - removing Door cards, and all trim in the rear compartment - including the seats.....
3). Next out - all boot fitments - we had some trouble with the bootlid - we intended to remove the spoiler - however, all 4 bolts inside the lid were very badly corroded - and had literally welded themselves in place - we could not remove them today - its a job for another day - we didn't want to halt progress with this issue today.....
4). As we apporached lunchtime, we were making good progress - the interior was coming 'out' far faster than we had both anticipated at this stage......
.........Jon seemed to be enjoying himself immensely, too - perhaps it was my excellent tea making skills and good humour......
5). We broke from lunch when the rain finally came, that the weathermen had forecast. It was, thanfully, a short shower, & when the sun came back out, we made a start on the front passenger compartment.
- Jon lead the charge, whilst I set about removing the rear bumper to facilitate removal the factory tow-bar / hitch, and the fairly-complex accompanying electrical attachments.....
7). The front seats came out relatively-easily - enabling us to get the front carpets out.
At this stage - it's worth mentioning that the carpets in the rear nearside footwell, and front nearside footwell were literally SOAKED in water - both footwells had significant quantities of standing water.
It appears that the good quality of the carpets - and the water-absorbing properties of the underlay successfully disguised this issue from the occupants previously.... the Driver's footwell was also wet - but to a lesser extent..
8). By 4.00pm - we we busy taking-out much of the front lower dashboard and glovebox ........having successfully just removed the headlining.
9). most of the trim came willingly.......with the exception of the steering-wheel shrouds....
10.) Meanwhile, I removed the bonnet insulation -
how many retaining clips.....? 
What these pictures don't show are Jon's perplexed look as I finally gave in to my (irrational) hatred of the non-Shadowline Chrome window trim - which were promptly removed from both sides of the car 'with postive energy' shortly afterwards.......
11.) By 7.00pm the rain was coming in fast, and it got very dark in the Watford skies.
Jon departed - having been picked-up by his better half. A good day's work - with not too many hiccups.
I set about replacing some of the instrument cluster bulbs that amazingly blew during the day - 2 of. I just happenend the have the correct BMW bulbs at home - having ordered an excess of them previously for 38 TK.
That's all for now, folks. Next up - tidying the wiring looms, and finding homes for the electric window switches, e.t.c. and fitment of the GPS RaceLogic Box.
We are also going to be fitting one-piece race seats and 4-point harnessess.
Linear Mode
