Black Betty the Bavarian Beast....

[stonea]

Great build! I love that suspension and brake set up.

[ArtFoodBMW]

This thread is full of awesome. Good work mate!

[Kershaw]

Damn, this is awesome.

[IceWhite]

Great save!!

Nice work.


I hope you don't mind.

[bruner]

Awesome build so far man! You should give us some more details on your 5lug Frankenstein setup

[ApexGoblin]

Great story! Awesome to see someone on the forum that knows the infamous Richard too, I've known him for years. My e30 is almost in drivable condition again, perhaps I'll cruise over there and meet you (if I haven't already?) looking forward to seeing this progress.


Edit: lol nvm what's up Tyler.

He is a legend in this community imo.

Nice to see an e30 escape death. How's the interior?

Interior, now is ok, of course everything is modified for the better.

Whoa-oh, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam!

Nice work on the engine. Isn't it fun to bolt on clean new parts? Nice wheels.

Exactly my thinking with the name!

nice! I love the seats!

Thanks me too! SR3 are an exellent cross over/dual duty seat

Dude! Amazing save and rebuild. I'm lovin it!

Thanks!

Nice work tyler

thank you sir! and I have updated all the videos so they embed properly!

Looks badass Tyler!! Love the wheels!

How do the revalled ix struts feel? What spring rates?

The revalved struts are the way to go! I am currently on 440/650, before I was on 525/750 and it was a bit harsh for the street.

Awesome save!

Nice save and great build!

thanks guys!

[ApexGoblin]

Great build! I love that suspension and brake set up.

Thanks!

This thread is full of awesome. Good work mate!

Damn, this is awesome.

:pimp:

Great save!!

Nice work.


I hope you don't mind.

Dont mind at all! thanks

Awesome build so far man! You should give us some more details on your 5lug Frankenstein setup

I will post a build list here in a bit that should help.

[ApexGoblin]

Mods list... to be updated....

Engine:
M20 Rebuilt from oil pan to valve cover (about 15k on rebuild), this means:
-brand new pan with oil baffle installed
-Micro polished and balanced crank
-New main bearings
-new rod bearings
-block line bored, honed, and deck checked
-new piston rings
-head decked and pressure checked
-valve job
-new valve guides
-new water pump
-all new seals (head gasket, oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket, etc etc all of it, yes really all of it)
-Gates racing timing belt
-RC engineering rebuilt injectors
-new distributor, coil, plug wires, and plugs
-new alternator
-Powder coated parts throughout (engine mount arms, pulleys, valve cover, intake manifold, coolant cross over pipe etc, anything that needed re coating, block high temp painted)
-Euro 635csi engine mounts (upgrade from stock without being stupid loud)
-320i auto transmission mounts (again an upgrade from stock)
- Mishimoto radiator, new hoses
-new fan, fan clutch
-rebuilt afm
-new throttle cable
-rebuilt AC compressor (the ac is r134a retrofitted, resealed, and yes it works)
-Stromung Exhaust (absolutely love this exhaust)
-50 state legal new Cat, thats right she passes smog on her own merit
-Probably some other stuff I am forgetting

Trans/Diff:
-new throw out bearing fork and pivot
-new slave, new master, uuc stainless line
-m3 clutch, stock flywheel (I have RHD lightweight flywheel in my garage waiting)
-new guibo
-rebuild driveshaft
-Z3 short shifter, upgraded bushings
-Rebuilt 3 clutch 3.73 lsd (i love this diff it makes the car rotate so much better under throttle with the upgraded lsd)
-delrin diff bushing

and we're just getting warmed up....

Suspension and chassis:

-fully reinforced and powder coated front sub frame, including control arm mounts (courtesy of Garagistic)
-HIK fabrication skid plate (simply the best, and strongest, you can lift the car from it if necessary)
-Fully reinforced adjustable powder coated rear sub frame with Posi lock adjusters, again courtesy of Garagistic (thats right boys and girls adjustable camber and toe in the rear)
-Raised AKG subframe bushings, with drop stud mounts for the diff to keep it all aligned properly
-Ireland poly rear trailing arm bushings
-Dtm style reinforced trailing arms, powder coated
-Full ground control coil overs
-properly cut and re-threaded strut housings for shorter bilstein IX shocks, M3 swaybar link tabs welded on, also powder coated
-Re-Valved/Rebuilt Bilstein IX front struts, Bilstein Sport rears (these were sent directly to Bilstein for rebuild and were valved to the spring rates currently on the car)
-Garagistic M3 swaybar links
-ground control camber plates
-ground control raised rear top hats (keeps rear springs captive)
-sparco strut tower bar
-new front control arms
-Garagistic Delrin control arm bushings

And now what somewhat sets this car apart

-Full 5 lug and big brake conversion done with all NEW parts
-E46 M3 Front calipers (profesionally rebuilt)
-E46 M3 Front Rotors
-E36 M3 front hub and bearing (installed brand new)
-E39 540i Rear aluminum caliper (professionally rebuilt)
-E46 325i rear rotor (this allows for the bigger brake and RETAINS the stock e30 emergency brake)
-Rebuilt E30 Ebrake with all new parts (pads, springs, adjusters, cables etc)
-Motorsport hardware 90mm bullet stud conversion (motorsport hardware lug nuts too)
-All stainless brake lines
-Castrol SRF racing brake fluid
-Enkei NT03+M wheels 17x8 +38
-Currently on a set of Bridgestone Pole Position S04 tires

This car turns and stops like bejesus and is really easy on pads as well, the best stopping e30 I have ever driven. There may be a few other small suspension mods I am forgetting but that's most of it.

Exterior:

Honestly not perfect, but I bought the car with many of the imperfections it has and paint was never the first priority for the car, with a respray and a little work this car could be gorgeous. The car has been keyed on the driver side and previous owner tried to touch up paint it, not very well. Front fenders were previously rolled and cracked the paint a bit. Rear passenger wheel arch has a small scrape. someone backed into me at a parking lot put a bit of a dent in the hood and broke a high beam (i have a replacement hood and headlight I will supply with the car) and well its 27 year old original paint. Below is a list of things that I have replaced/upgraded on the outside:

-Abrahams Euro grills
-shadowline Kidney
-Euro smiley headlights with DDM HID kit (one extra driver headlight assembly comes with the car)
-Working oem glass fogs
-Flat across front lip (the idea was eventually to do a under tray/splitter)
-Smoked side markers front and rear
-OEM smoked front blinkers
-New rear bumper trim pieces

Interior:

-Crack free dash (at least so far)
-Recaro SR3 Challenge seats
-Massive Recaro seat adapters
-Turner racing pedal set
-Grey carpet conversion
-Black door cards
-headrest and ski pass rear bench seat in black leather
-black painted rear deck and speaker pods
-Rebuilt cluster with working odo gears from Garagistic
-working 13 button obc with led conversion
-MOMO tuner wheel
-MOMO hub
-NRG slim quick release
-LED converted interior lights
-Dual light trunk, also LED converted
-Macht Schnell Delrin shift knob
-Black leather boot and ebrake boot
-Volt meter above the stereo
-E36 Vert antenna base
-Aluminum stubby antenna

-Pioneer DEH-X9600BHS head unit (bluetooth, CD, HD radio, USB, all the bells and whistles including variable display colors, i like to match the amber)
-MB Quart oa1100.5 Five channel amp (this amp powers every speaker in the car)
-Luke box 10" sub enclosure from German Audio Specialties (amp is mounted to the back)
-JL 10w3 Sub (hits hard and very clean)
-All 4 speakers replaced with e39 540i front passenger speakers, crystal clear quality with good mid range, forum reccommended.
-4x Dayton tweeters, very crisp but not overly bright, awesome performance
-4X German Audio Specialties Crossovers (filters the signal fed to the tweeters and mids so they only receive their appropriate range, really adds clarity to the system)

Thats about all I can think of at the moment.... There will be more to come, and somethings may or may not change!

[CubbyChowder]

Damn man, really good job on everything! You don't half ass anything, and I really respect that.

[slammin.e28]

Beautiful build! Awesome save!

One thing....I spy a stamped aux shaft gear....please say you didn't use that....or the stamped cam sprocket...

[QuiqueUy]

Amazing , great work on suspension !!

[ApexGoblin]

Damn man, really good job on everything! You don't half ass anything, and I really respect that.

Thanks man! Half assing is not in my nature, and old man Richard would beat me with a breaker bar if I even tried HAHA

Beautiful build! Awesome save!

One thing....I spy a stamped aux shaft gear....please say you didn't use that....or the stamped cam sprocket...

At the time of the engine rebuild funds were tight, so yes for now the factory gears were used.... maybe on the next timing belt job I'll swap them, however I've never seen one fail under stock power... There are also plans for a new motor.... :devil:

Amazing , great work on suspension !!

Thanks!! It took a lot of time and planning but it was well worth the end result!

[ApexGoblin]

Steering rack and diff, mods mods mods more mods!

I keep going back through my photos and finding other things that I have done and forgot to mention/put here. Hopefully soon I will be up to date with all the things done to the car.

At about this level of modification I decided to take Black Betty out to the track and see what she was made of! It was my first big track event ever, and my first event in this car. Two days at Buttonwillow Raceway, one day Counter Clockwise, the next Clockwise. The event was an absolute blast, I had found my new addiction. The car also performed flawlessly, not a single issue the whole event!












I decided after that track event that I wasn't too fond of the stock e30 steering ratio. I had to do more tossing of the wheel than I would have liked. My next track day was to be at Streets of Willow, a tighter and more technical track than Buttonwillow so I set out to tighten up the steering before then! With a little research I decided to install a z3 1.9 steering rack, the linear ratio rack. What a world of difference! The steering feels lightning sharp and really makes the car come alive on turn in. I have to be a bit more conscientious while driving now however, if I sneeze holding the wheel I can change lanes on the freeway! :-o At the same time a poly steering bushing and fresh Garagistic reinforced front subframe were installed!



Supporting the motor with a front brace and the trans mount while I drop the front subframe...



Old rubber steering bushing....



New poly unit with spacers for the rack conversion...



The ends of the knuckle require a little love from a grinder to not bind at the new steering input angle...



I also Recklessly decided that I should rebuild my diff before Streets... A last minute enterprise I don't ever hope to do again. I sourced a spare diff and I ordered the new Clutches and rebuild kit from Thayer Motorsport. Due to a shipping mix up (it happens) by the time I got the correct stuff it was down to the wire to get the diff rebuilt and in the car! A big thanks to my friend Alex (iwantspeed) for helping me rebuild the diff and get it in the car in time! If I remember correctly we finished the install some time around 1am the night before the track day!



soaking the clutches before install..



The old dirty diff



After pulling out the guts I made sure to clean everything thoroughly





The key to properly replacing the clutches in a diff is to make sure you disassemble and reassemble the diff in the exact same order just with new parts. In order to do this a fresh work space is important so you can lay out and keep all the parts organized.







With the new 3 clutch upgraded diff installed I was ready to hit the track again! It was a hot day up in Rosamond and I drove poorly due to my lack of sleep. That along with my tires not taking the heat it was a difficult track day. It was still fun however and a great learning experience!

[ApexGoblin]

the track days keep coming...

A few months later I headed off to another track day with my friends. This time Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. I told you I was addicted right? This track day prep was much more mellow as my car was essentially ready to go! An oil change, brake fluid flush, some minor alignment changes, and a thorough pre track inspection was all she needed!









I spun once coming over the hill and damaged one of my tires this event, a relatively uneventful mess up. However I didn't push it for the following two sessions to make sure the tire didn't get worse. It held the rest of the day and I was just starting to stretch her legs as the day ended. So far Chuckwalla is my favorite SoCal track. It is just a blast to drive with great rhythm and a really nice surface!

By this time I was starting to collect a small list of track experience!

[ApexGoblin]

Diff Rebuild services!

On a small side note from the build, my friend Alex (iwantspeed) is offering e30 Diff rebuild and upgrade services. Give him a shout if you need your diff rebuilt!

Contact him at:

Alexreng@yahoo.com

or on instagram:

iwantoffroad