So I bought an E30.

[Chris]

fun times there Rex...did you dry ice it? glad to hear its really coming along

We actually didn't need to dry ice it. It came out fairly easily with a crowbar and some chisels. It was rusted in some places so all we had to do was get under the tar and peel it up. It came up really easily, we did like half the trunk in like half an hour. We would have done more but it hurts your back leaning into a trunk.


And Pete, yeah just dropping the stuff off back at Rex's parents house is fine. We appreciate you testing them for us.

yeah I did that with mine... I was all contorted in the trunk trying to chip it all out, but its a ton of weight you can get rid of

[JustinG]

wanna buy my MSnS????? looks like that things needs a turbo :lol:

[CaptainHenreh]

wanna buy my MSnS????? looks like that things needs a turbo :lol:

MSnS won't run COP Ignition. I'm in for UMS or custom tune on stock ECU.

But yes, needs more turbo. Find me a 2.8 block from a Z3 first.

[CaptainHenreh]

So here's an update!

I haven't done much but clean up the car and buy parts. Still looking to buy some reseal stuff (valve cover gasket, etc) and I need a clutch, and a master cylinder, and I'll probably ditch the ABS at the same time.

I really just need 500 bucks or so to finish everything up.

I'll definitely hit your brother up with some questions. Mostly wiring stuff.

But...I'm really just stalling until Dad gets his garage floor painted and his Lift in. Maybe have it ready before first HPDE of next season. But I'll definitely be updating soo, if anyone cares. Once it's all done, I intend to write a detailed writeup.

Anyway, here's an update.

#1: I washed the car, and Julie polished the paint. Look at it before:

And After:



Ok, so maybe washing did most of that, but trust me, the paint looked pretty bad pre-polish.

#2: Turns out my trunk wasn't rusted after all, but the rust proofing lead/tar/paste was rusted. Yeah, the rustproofing was rusted. Compare before:

And after:


It's not finished, but it's gotta be 20 lbs worth of stuff, might make me a little tail happy, but it's gotta be actually running first, right? Once it's all cleared out, I'm going to put some Herculiner in it, but I promise to be careful not to get any on my hoobus. Here's a cat litter bucket about 3/4 full of the shit that came out of the trunk:




Anyway, like I said, I need to buy a clutch, and I'm going to build an adapter harness for easy wiring. Still need to figure out starter and acessories (I guess I'll use an E34 alt and power steering pump?) but it's going. Slow and steady wins the race, right? Or at least, gets finshed without being divorced and losing all his money. :wink:

[Feersty]

Does it run?

[CaptainHenreh]

Does it run?

Yeah, on sunshine and kitten kisses, asshole.

[Chris]

man I can't wait to see this thing up and running.

Just to add to Rex's story, I thought I'd share how I found this car for him...


My buddy Eric and I decided to drive his unregistered E30 to advance auto for some parts back when it had multiple colored body panels. Well as we're sitting at a light we see 2 state troopers coming out of the shopping center. At the same time our light turns green, and we're pulling into the lot shaking in our boots. Of course, the cop pulls a U-turn and follows us into the parking lot. We try and get out before he turns his lights on, but that never happens... 45 minutes later, and a very very confused cop, we leave with a ticket and court summons.

(long run-on sentance ahead) See, Eric bought the car from his boss, who stuck some plates on the car from an old honda accord he used to have, which was registered in Williamsburg, but his boss lived in Richmond, Eric's license was addressed in Lynchburg but he lives in Richmond, we were in Powhatan, trying to explain that the car was garaged in Powhatan while it was being worked on, and we had just purchased the car even though it had been several months.

Anways, the cop took the license plates and told us we had to get the car towed home. I had seen some of the good ole' boys with a huge pickup and trailer pull into the local Wendy's a few minutes before. I had the crazy idea to go into Wendy's and find them. 15 minutes and $40 later, we had the car on their trailer headed home. Come to find out, Bubba (as we'll call him) has a friend nearby (Williard or something like that) who also has "one dem BMW's he might sell ya."

Hmmm... I'm in the truck, Eric is sitting in his E30 ON the trailer (to hold the brake down- why? Bubba thought it was a good idea?!?) I'm thinking to myself how much do I really need ANOTHER parts car. Ah fuck it, we go check it out later that day.

The car is sitting between 2 trees, buried in all kinds of shit (see pic above) and we almost buy it. At this point I'm desperatly trying to finish my E30 to get it ready for Hyperfizzle. I pass on the car but know that someone in MM would take it. Long story short, well you know the rest! GO REX!

[CaptainHenreh]

Ok, so I spent an asston of money. Here's the shit I've either purchased or ordered:

• Upgraded water pump (metal impeller)
  
• Upgraded thermostat housing (metal instead of plastic)
  
• All the fan parts channing told me to order to mount the fan up front where the a/c condenser used to be. Cost about 40 bucks...not bad.
  
• Valve cover gasket
  
• Rear main seal and housing gasket
  
• Alternator
  
• Motor mounts
  
• Transmission crossmember
  
• Brake booster (though I'm trying to find one I won't have to modify to work)

Now, I still need to buy a clutch, a starter, and maybe a oil pan gasket. I know where I'm going to buy my clutch, I'm just waiting until I finish parting out the Saab and selling some other stuff before I do it. It'll be the last thing to go on anyway. I also decided to eliminate power steering, for a couple of reasons. 1: It'll save me between 50 and 150 bucks, as I don't have a power steering pump (except the one from my M20, which won't work.) It'll also clear up a *lot* of clutter in the engine bay. Like, tons. Plus, that's one more thing not sucking power from the car and it is Sean Thompson's recommendation, for what that's worth. I feel like the car is small enough I won't miss it unless I'm parallel parking.

Dad's finishing up the Garage, so I might get the motor in the car before the end of the year, and at that point it's just wire it, troubleshoot, and sell my stock parts. I also need to install my suspension, and finish (ok, start) parting out my and Sean's parts car.

But, alot of money spent, and quite a bit of progress made -- worthy of an update.

[WRXtranceformed]

Nice man, slowly but surely! =) Can't wait to hear about it running.

[Beej]

Cool stuff! I love e30 updates. Good to see you're replacing all the deadly stuff in the e36 cooling system.

I have a buddy has runs manual steering in his e30's and he loves it - but they're euro manual racks, not converted power racks. I don't think you'll mind though. My swapped car has p/s, and it's not too cluttered. He basically just cut the hoses short and dropped the reservior down so it's by the motormount/above the rack. Clean install.

What fan parts did you get, and do they bolt up? I currently have the mechanical fan still on there, but I'm debating switching.

[CaptainHenreh]

What fan parts did you get, and do they bolt up? I currently have the mechanical fan still on there, but I'm debating switching.

The fan parts are what channing sent to me. Basically, they take the fan that's already attached to the a/c condenser and mount it differently...it's the parts that came on (apparently) a fairly rare non-ac E30:

Click for RealOEM page

I bought parts 5, 6, 11, 12, & 13, PN#'s:
17401372828
17401372829
17401373069
17111150984
17111150983

I called BMW of Fairfax and rattled off those numbers...they seemed very helpful, and were happy to go ahead and order them for me. I'm not really worried about having a converted rack vs. a native manual rack...I think I'll be alright, and if I'm not...well I'm at square one anyway, right? I'd still need to buy an M50 pump, reservoir, and lines. And as far as the "deadly cooling parts"...I could barely afford not too! 70 bucks shipped for both pieces, gaskets included. Can't argue with that.

I still don't know what I'm going to do for an exhaust. I'll have to be creative. I've got the stock shorty pipes, but no downpipes. I might just haul it to an exhaust shop, hand them a cat, a muffler, and the Visa, although SS Autochrome has got some XS power knockoff headers and downpipes that might be worth looking into...very reasonably priced.

I realize this swap has taken a long time, but I promised Julie I'd do it in cash...and that takes some time. And it'll be pretty wicked when it's finished, and I basically have all winter to do it. So, I'm not worried. Anyone who knows me knows I enjoy the build, study, and mental exercises almost as much as the finished product. Then, once it's finished, I'll drive it until I'm faster than the car, and go looking for some power adders. I'll probably start with the M3 cams and a chip, should net me 200whp...if that's still not enough, I'll start a 2.8 forced induction build.

[Jeff]

Yay for updates!

[ScottyB]

good deal Rex! that's really sweet how you can rearrange alot of those OEM parts to come up with solutions for your swap....gotta love that.

[Chris]

sounds awesome Rex. Just so you know, I deleted my power steering and it feels great. I thought it was way too over assisted before. It drips a little power steering fluid every now and then from where I ran a hose between the two open hoses, but so far it seems just fine.

[Jeff]

Maybe you could try a hardline setup between the two connection points on the rack. just run a 1/4in steel line between the pressure and return points. That would look clean and work well.

[.RJ]

If you loop the lines, make sure you put a vent/breather/catch can on it.

[Jeff]

If you loop the lines, make sure you put a vent/breather/catch can on it.

It will work as a closed system.

[.RJ]

It will work yes, but the steering feel will be better with it vented.

[D_Eclipse9916]

IF you need any of those OEM/aftermarket OEM stuff and consider getting it from advanced auto, let me know I get 20% off everything in the store down to candy.

[CaptainHenreh]

IF you need any of those OEM/aftermarket OEM stuff and consider getting it from advanced auto, let me know I get 20% off everything in the store down to candy.

w00t! A new AAP bitch. I milked my discount as long as I could! But I will keep you in mind for sure! I'm gonna need a starter, and don't know the best place to get it. Which one are you working at? If it's the one on 11, tell Mary you know Travis and Rex.