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    #31
    While Corey worked his way back, Steven offered to do my brakes for detailing services. My brakes felt fine but man they were in need. I went with slotted in the front, Bosch standard type pads, stainless lines all around, and painted the calipers once Steven had it all apart. I typically have gone red, but my blue engine block and the brakes on the new M5 inspired me to change it up.



    Clean:







    Sadly no photos of the completed brake setup until later.
    Last edited by butters; 10-23-2017, 03:27 PM.

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      #32
      By June the exhaust was nearly complete:






      Picture I took later of the rear subframe section:



      I had ordered brand new lifters to go in with the new exhaust so that I might be at peace with the engine for awhile, so Corey put those in before I came to take delivery once again. The initial startup was louder than I imagined but on the road, the drone was very much minimized. The bark upon firing was gone, the engine sounded much smoother, and ran more beautifully than ever.

      Austin, this is probably more like your car will sound. If you don't have headphones or you listen through speakers with no depth, you won't get the same effect and my saying "it's loud as shit" will seem wrong.

      Last edited by butters; 10-23-2017, 03:49 PM.

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        #33
        Many thanks to Steven for the use of his lift and Corey for his blood/sweat/tears that went into building the exhaust:

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          #34
          But it's far from over! My time in Portland was coming to a close within a few weeks (mid-July move-out date) and I couldn't leave without hitting up the E30 stereo guru, the PNW's own Luke Fisher for the german audio specialties touch. I convinced him to do my installation as long as I drive to his shop.

          My setup was ordered as follows:

          E3010 10" box with amp rack / pretty panel
          Infinity Reference dual-coil subwoofer
          Planet Audio 5-channel amplifier
          MB Quart component speakers to go in the front along with premium tweeter pods
          OE rear premium speakers in black
          Sirius antenna relocated to underneath parcel shelf

          I made it up to Luke's place and he invited me to take pictures as it came together.























          It's been said, but the sound is incredible. Money well spent.
          Last edited by butters; 10-23-2017, 04:13 PM.

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            #35
            Sadly I had to leave Portland. I moved out of my apartment and into a hotel for the last week, got lucky with a balcony and a view to remember:



            The E30 was picked up to be taken to the DAS hub, and I insisted on an enclosed carrier this time:



            I was then on my way back to the east coast, for what I thought would be a year in central Massachusetts. I started trolling craigslist for a winter beater early on, there was no way I wanted to put my baby through a mass winter.
            Last edited by butters; 10-23-2017, 04:24 PM.

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              #36
              Holy shit, that is loud as balls. Love it!!!
              '72 2002 pickup | '88 M5 | '89 330is | '89 M3 | '01 Z3M | '11 328xi-t

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                #37
                Happily the car ran great for me when I got to Mass. I would occasionally still detect lifter tick but nothing as bad as it was before. I arrived just in time for the dog days of summer, but the M42 radiator was holding steadily for me, even as I sweated my ass off in there a few times.

                I was looking forward to bringing the car home and showing friends and family as soon as I could, so I really sweated my ass off one hot Friday afternoon with the temps in the upper 80s... for nearly 6 hours. Traffic at the GW prompted me to pull off and let the car cool down before attempting. Frustrating, but I made it without really pushing the needle past 52%. In a few months I plan on ditching the M42 radiator so that I can have peace of mind and not worry about overheating.

                Back in Portland I was able to sell the cardinal red rear bench I had picked up, because I bought a mint set of black door cards, speaker panels, rear black vinyl sedan bench with armrest, and minty black vinyl headrests with bracketry. I figured it would be alot easier to find a mint set of vinyl front sports in black, and even at a few hundred dollars there would be significant savings over reupholstering. I actually wound up bringing the cardinal red vert seats to Mass, after putting the factory seats back in, but was able to find a buyer who was willing to come to Worcester to pick them up.

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                  #38
                  Within a couple weeks I had found a couple CL contenders for beater car status. I spotted an '02 Jetta listed near $3k but with 230k miles on it. 5-speed, APR K04 kit, R1 dv, hi-flow downpipe, intake, silicone hoses etc. with very recent timing belt, water pump, replaced radiator, rta bushings, 1-year-old a/c compressor, longbeaches, silver on gray leather with heated seats and the works, and paint I could work with. Rear rubstrip was "at the body shop" but I loved the car. Figured it was worth the risk of high miles, stack of receipts, and I deserved a more normal looking car vs. uber beater status (which doesn't bother me). I got him damn near 2k for it and sealed the deal, taking delivery 1 day before I planned on putting it to the 5-hour test to Philly.
                  Last edited by butters; 10-30-2017, 07:09 PM.

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                    #39
                    I enjoy the relative smoothness of the jetta (never thought I'd say that, it really does ride great), the cruise control and other features, moonroof, and the air conditioning was a blessing in August and September. gas mileage helps too though the E30 will do 22/29.

                    Here it is after clay and wax:





                    and I still love the instrument lighting at night.

                    Here's an odometer you don't see often, taken in late November. I must have done 10-12 trips to philly and back in the past 6 months. Hit 237k last month.

                    Last edited by butters; 10-30-2017, 07:14 PM.

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                      #40
                      With two cars, the freedom is great to work at a comfortable pace on the E30.

                      I upgraded to the redesigned S50 primary timing chain tensioner, having done the secondary at the time of the lifters, just to be sure of proper lubrication.

                      I finally got around to cutting/polishing the paint as well. People remarked on it before, though it was just looking good from the care of the PO. I wasn't expecting such a dramatic change.

                      Here's a before shot from Portland showing off the shine:



                      and the transformation after just 1 pass, just like on Steven's vert:

                      Last edited by butters; 10-30-2017, 07:17 PM.

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                        #41
                        I found a mint set of black vinyl sport seats and drove through Brooklyn to pick them up during one trip home. Finally got around to assembling the rear bench while I was swapping the seat rails and seatbelt clickers over.

                        Last edited by butters; 10-30-2017, 07:19 PM.

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                          #42
                          I used a short-bristle upholstery brush and some Meguiar's vinyl cleaner to spruce everything up. The dirt that gets stuck in the feaux-stitch indentations is a royal PITA. It improved but once dry is still visible. If anyone has a great solution, let me know.





                          Last edited by butters; 10-30-2017, 07:24 PM.

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                            #43
                            The black door cards I had been storing for nearly a year were mint, but the adhesive holding the vinyl around the edges was failing in some spots.

                            I had some Zap glue left from the tweeter pods and it worked perfectly.



                            Last edited by butters; 10-30-2017, 07:27 PM.

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                              #44
                              I was back and forth on what to do with the carpet - dye the tan or try to get used in the right color. I was all ready to use Rit but someone happened to have anthracite carpet out of a '91 four door so I was saved the hassle. I'm planning on installing it this Friday while I'm home for the weekend. Here's a teaser pic of the seats installed.

                              Last edited by butters; 10-31-2017, 04:21 PM.

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                                #45
                                I was offered a change of location for my last 6-month stretch in the program, and moved out to Cleveland last month.

                                I assembled the car fully, minus the carpet, to haul it down the east coast. I've chosen not to bring it to Ohio, and I miss it terribly but I'm very glad it doesn't have to go through this weather.



                                Together for a brief moment before heading out from home:

                                Last edited by butters; 10-31-2017, 06:17 PM.

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