hey guys, just thought you might be interested in seeing what i've been up to as i haven't been on the forum since i sold my car in like june of '13. pasting this thread over from r3v so sorry if its a little sloppy.
the e30 is a 1989 325i coupe. bought the car for 700 bucks in (barely) running condition and have since stripped the rear seats, headliner, etc etc. car is going to be a completely stripped summer daily that will see track use whenever possible. i haven't taken many good pics of stuff yet but now that i have the thread i'll try a little harder.
night i brought her home:
first night of work:
wing windows:
dash out:
first bit of deleted wiring:
sunroof out:
door harness slimmed (only power windows remain)
front end off for hood/ fender/bumper replacement (light damage to all 3)
interior and harness bare. this shows a good majority of the wiring i deleted (active check control, power locks, power mirrors, power antenna, rear defroster, dome lights, etc)
just ordered all of the supplies to make my own plastic door panels. they'lll be secured with threaded rivets and i'm going to be making porsche GT3 RS style nylon door latch pulls as well as nylon handles to pull the doors closed
i'm going to be ordering an 8 point roll bar from roll cage components at the beginning of february. i'll be stripping sound deadening and bedlining the floor, and at some point in the future i'll be installing pole positions and harnesses.
plans for now are to refresh the m20 with an extensive tuneup and then drive the car like that while i do some suspension stuff. front and rear suspension will both be getting overhauled eventually. bilsteins, H&R springs, condor solid bushings all around, e36 rack, etc etc.
body work/paint is last on the list. will be repainting the outside zinno eventually.
small update for today:
i received my new 12 volt plug today (i'm mounting one in the dash or HVAC panel to make it even easier to lose my center console)
it uses 1/4" spade connectors just like the original so i can retain the stock wiring for it. only $5 on ebay so hopefully it works well.
today i also ordered my new amp for my stereo. it is a pyle 2 channel unit. basically this amp is palm sized and will power the 2 speakers in the front that i am keeping (back speakers are staying out). the amp has a direct aux port so i won't even need a head unit for this setup. the amp will be hidden in the glove box so i don't have to worry about a bulky head unit taking up space in the dash or attracting thieves that are still dumb enough to steal stereo decks. these amps are also less than $20 on ebay. reviews of quality are mixed but at this price i can run through 4 of them before i hit the same price as a decent head unit.
should be receiving all of my door panel stuff this week so i can tentatively get started on that. wiring is very close to being done as well. i have split braided loom that will be going on soon. just need to weed out a few more wires, finish the harness for my VDO gauges, and then test everything.
oh and my new bumper should be on the way soon too
some progress happening, i got some dry ice today and stripped all the sound deadening. i ran out before i could do the trunk but the whole inside is done.
wiring is 90% done. just need to mock everything up and finish my harnesses for my gauges and radio. and i need to extend the reverse light switch wiring so it can run through the dash area rather than across the floor. once i do this i won't have any wires running across the floor any more.
some pics:
starting things:
another progress on pass side
random front end shot
driver side mostly done. getting to the stuff under the pedals was a huge pain in the ass
pass side done. complete with two rust holes i have to patch :(
between both floors and the rear seat area i filled up more than half of a 5 gallon bucket. weighed probably 15lbs+
quick update: started wire wheeling the rest of the sound deadening and got started on the seam sealer too. huge pain in the ass here, there's seam sealer for days. so messy. driver side front is almost done though, thinking about doing some stitch welding when i put the roll bar in.
hopefully there's still enough life on this forum for some people to see this.
Looks like a blast. The returns are so rewarding with an e30. Still a light model. From where and what plastic did you order for the door cards? I was thinking of using corrugated. Mine are nice and light now and, umm, interesting.
Have fun, subscribed.
thanks!Originally Posted by Hasbro
it's just straight 1/8 thick stuff from ebay. i'm starting to think maybe i should have gone with 1/16 but i dunno. it was only like 40something dollars shipped for 3 24x36 sheets if i remember right. its a LOT more than that from mcmaster carr or anywhere else.
Im confused, I thought you were building an RX7 with some kind of murican V8, or am I mistaken?
i was planning on it but i have always liked the e30 and found a deal i couldn't pass up. i am by no means a purist but something feels so right about a bmw with a straight 6 versus a mazda with an LS1.
Needz moar ITB!!
did some more wire wheeling today, this time on the passenger side. found some rust up near the pinch weld so i decided to just drill the spot welds and cut out a chunk to replace. por15 incoming
decided to take a break from the annoying and shitty interior prep work today. i yanked my AC and power steering. i was under the impression that i would definitely need a new steering rack but after draining a quart+ of stopleak that the moron PO put in out of the system and cranking the wheel to purge it all out of the rack it actually feels pretty solid and smooth. i plan on upgrading to a z3 or e36 rack at some point anyway but if i can get by on this one for now then i'll definitely be happy. it felt really good to actually focus and finish some stuff up today. when i'm working on the inside my back gets tired and i lose focus really fast.
i reorganized the garage today to help me get through the next steps a little easier.
anyway, on to the pics.
stopleak and fluid were draining for at least a half hour. the stuff is like jelly when it's cold.
this was toward the beginning of the draining
bare radiator with AC gone. need to figure out what i'm gonna do for an electric fan now.
power steering pump and banjo bolts out
AC tank thing. anyone know what this even does? i'm assuming since i deleted AC i probably don't need it.
Ac condenser out. this thing is stupid heavy.
2JZ's fit nicely in E30s.
And in every other car on the planet.
Do something nonJZ.
if i do end up swapping it someday it will definitely be a different bmw engine. probably an m52 or s52. however rebuilding and possibly boosting the m20 in it is very tempting. engine swap is a LONG way away if it even happens so for now i'm just going to enjoy the lightweight and reasonable amount of power that the stock motor produces. even when i drove it home initially the engine was running like shit and it probably had at least 500lbs of extra weight in it, and it was still really fun and torquey.
got some work done on the car again today.
i've pretty much stripped the heater box at this point. i grinded off all the uneccessary plastic brackets and pulled the AC evaporator core, and all of the cables to actuate the vents. basically i'm sealing all vents shut aside from the defroster. i didn't get any pictures of this because it's not all that exciting anyway. i also started prepping the dash for flocking. i filled the cracks with epoxy and sanded them. at this point i pretty much just need to clean it up and flock it.
also cut some more cancer out of the floor and started preparing it for patches. i will also be patching the holes for the heater box drains since i won't have carpet and i'll know instantly if my heater core is leaking. so no need for a drain through the body.
pics of rust removal:
driver side exterior:
chunk of cancer that was removed prior to the previous picture being taken:
passenger side ready for patchwork:
bought an mtech1 wheel locally today. probably gonna rewrap it eventually but for now i might just rock the bare plastic. (the original leather is already gone)
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