Cheap e30 is it worth it?

[chaser86]

Hi, every one I recently acquired a 86 325 v8 swap project that wasn't finished with the engine bay welding and was wondering if it would be worth while to finish and if possible put an M20 back in it because the car came with a lot of parts including an almost finished M20 turbo engine and all of the electronics. I'm not to worried about keeping the chassis because I got it all for super cheap but it would be nice not to let an E30 go to the scrapper. please let me know what you think and thank you in advance.

[LateFan]

Hey Choteau! E30s on the HiLine!

You don't have the V8 or any of the swap parts then?

Burgundy is nice if you can whip it back into shape.

[chaser86]

Ha nice small world, I have always wanted to drive Marias pass with an E30 :-) I would absolutely love to restore it mostly because of the color and it's a 2dr but I don't know about the extent of the work that needs to be done to the engine bay and sadly no I don't have any of the v8 stuff besides I think they were going to use a chevy :-(

[chaser86]

What local are you near? been to Choteau much?

[LateFan]

Missoula. Had roommates from various Hi-Line towns. Friend married a girl from Valier. Rode my bike over the pass and through Choteau once, and my son rode through there last summer on a bike tour he did.

The guys here have just over one metric shit-ton of information on every kind of swap, and putting it back together stock shouldn't be that complicated - just need to locate all the right pieces. Oh...looks like somebody cut up the cross-member - might have to do some cutting and welding. Do some searching and reading - there's a million threads. RealOEM.com has the factory parts diagrams to find all the pieces in every assembly, and the part #s.

Was some Gt Falls kid roddin' it around with mis-matched wheels and windshield stickers?!

We started with a 86es that wouldn't run, and now he (my son) drives it all over the NW to bike races.

So, 86 is the best, and burgundrot is the best color. Good luck.

[chaser86]

Nice, I lived in Missoula for 7 years before marring a lady from out here, I used to do bike racing a lot, but not much riding now days due to kids. Yeah a guy from Bozeman did the start of it and ended up lowering the steering rack and did a pretty good job on the welds but didn't finish them and left the car stripped. He also was converting it to a 5x120 wheel lug pattern. So now I have like 3 cars worth of parts and don't know my ability to resurrect this chassis. I'll give that a check over and do some research but it looks like I could find a really decent chassis for under $1500 pretty easily.

[LateFan]

There's a guy on here today selling an early bare shell for $500...but it's in CA and it would cost more than the car to get it here.

You could find the correct front cross member (which bolts on) from a parts car, and cut out that welded up cross member and patch it? Local welder or muffler shop could help. Looks like it needs the front radiator support bit? Did he cut it out to slide a motor in there?

What happened to the rear springs? They look broken or cut.

Any rust in the body?

EDIT - I have some favorite Burgundrots stored....

[stonea]

If you can save it then definitely save it, but I'd stick to a BMW engine. A early model burgundy M30 sounds cool!

[chaser86]

Those look amazing! The rear springs just need to reinstalled and it has all of its trim and very little rust not that bad for a $200 project 😁 I'm probably going to stick it in the work shop over the winter and finalize the engine build for now 😀.

[chaser86]

Well problem solved, that was easier then expected!

http://helena.craigslist.org/cto/5799015428.html

[Streichholzschächtelchen]

Totally worth it, they're simple to work on, parts are cheap, and it's rewarding even $5 fixes and minor updates (part interchangeability) pay off.

[LateFan]

Well problem solved, that was easier then expected!

http://helena.craigslist.org/cto/5799015428.html

Oh no way! In Burgundy no less, and sport seats. There's a Cemetery Island in Helena?? Oh, out in the lake.. Did you buy it? I'd be interested if I didn't have unfinished projects.

[chaser86]

If I can find someone to buy my DH race bike and it's still available I'll most definitely get it. I have all of the necessary parts to convert it to a 5spd as well :-)