Bronzit E30 - OBDII S52 shaved bay - weekend/autox toy - Journey

[Sh3rpak!ng]

make sure you're ready by 2/18

As long as those damn seats get here I will. They are en route from the motherland as of this morning!!

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Alright. An update.

The two weeks before Christmas were very busy so I didn't do much and I was also visiting home/family for another two weeks over Christmas. Then I got the flu almost right after I got home and blew a whole weekend :hitler: so I only got back into it this past week but it feels good!!!


Spotted these e30s in a random driveway in NJ. I was VERY surprised. E30s are rare in that area because they get destroyed by rust. In my years living there I don't think I ever saw one, let alone two tourings and an alpina!





Also got to check out my bros e36m that he keeps safe in my parent's garage. What a time capsule!!





Now on to e30 work.

Made a cover plate to go behind the passenger headlight. This will make the bay look more "finished", help keep water/dust/dirt out and provide more space to mount fluid reservoirs.





Drilled holes in the bumper.





Pulled all the PS parts out of the back of the garage :)





Also pulled the custom saikou michi catch can out to test positioning.





Took a photo of a few different fittings I had on hand to compare. Redhorse are the two on the left, Fragola in the middle and jegs brand on the right. I have been very impressed with the quality and finish of the redhorse parts. They are significantly nicer than fragola and jegs and not too expensive either. We will see hoe easy they install and how well they perform.





Passenger side plate almost finished. The cut out is a little clearancing for the back of the headlight to have proper space.





Also made on for the driver side and added a duct for the CAI to plug into so I will have properly ducted cold air. It was just zip tied in place before and pointing at the radiator and was probably sucking in a lot of very hot air.





Mocking up fitting placement on the PS reservoir.





Also chopped a big hole in the bumper reinforcement to give the PS cooler space.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Progress has been slow but steady. Now I understand why those crazy custom builds take so long to complete. Every bracket, every hole, every bend, every cut has to be measured, measured and measured then made, tweaked, assembled, disassembled, test fit like 10x. It's time consuming but rewarding.

So I finished welding up the headlight plates. Used my propane heater to preheat the sheet metal. I was using 22ga which is pretty thin and warps sooo easily. I managed to avoid any really bad warping which was good.







Next I was trying to find some fittings that would allow me to run a second crankcase vent from one of the front vanos plugs. I tried an m22 to -10an adapter + a "low profile" 90* fitting, but the low profile 90* was just as tall as the regular 90* I had My issue is that space is very limited between the front of the motor and the very thick radiator. Earlier I had dumped out a bag of random fittings I had kept from when I was testing exhaust ccv setups and had an idea. That was also a -10an system so I had plenty of steel tube and steel weld on -10an fittings :)





Pie cut some of the tube





Drilled a hole through the vanos plug, welded it all together, painted it and here it is. Those are also some finished brackets for the lower portion of the headlight plates and some sturdy steel mounts for the fuel rail that I've been meaning to make and install (replacing some "flimsy" thin aluminum tabs I made when I was assembling the car, probably not necessary but it always bothered me)





Here is the driver side cleaned up after welding and test fitted with the PS reservoir.





And here with the CAI plugged in - I am very pleased with the result :)





The only other PS hose that I didn't have supplies to replace was the high pressure hose. I have never liked the way that hose routed. The e30 line is too long and loops all over the place. I found that earls has a line of high pressure fittings and hose made specifically for a PS high pressure system so I went with those. The fittings are steel and the hose is rated for 2250 psi. I decided to use a vibrant banjo fitting at the pump end to keep the mounting compact rather than having a 90* fitting jutting out. Yesterday I noticed that redhorse also has a line of hose and fittings rated for 2500psi which i wish I had seen earlier and would've ordered instead but whatever, I'm sure the earls stuff will be fine.





Yesterday I started making the brackets for the PS cooler. Again far more time consuming than I planned. First measured and cut out strips of steel for the brackets. Then started marking the positioning to center it to the bumper vent holes, then realized I would need to adjust the bumper/valence to their "final" positions first since I wanted to mount the PS cooler to the core support rather than the valence (so I can disassemble the front end without having to disassemble the PS system). After that I could start measuring and bending the brackets. Then had to clearance a few spots on the valence to get the brackets to fit flush, then noticed one of the spot welds on the valence separated so I welded that back together, drilled the first hole in the frame for the bracket and there was something behind the hole so I couldn't put a rivnut... had to remeasure and mark and drill more holes..... it goes on and on

By the end of the evening I finished the first rivnuts and "all" the bending and measuring which are the hard parts. Hopefully tomorrow I can mount the cooler and start running lines.

Here are some photos of the finished headlight plates. They are removable from inside the engine bay and have a nice thick gasket around the edges sealing them off from the headlights. I am debating whether or not to also paint the PS res black, we'll see.







Other items I want to do before I "finish" with the engine bay are mounting the new catch can and lines, putting the -10an fitting in the new valve cover, pulling the cams so I can clean/refurbish the lifters or replace any bad ones and hopefully eliminate the lifter tick, install the ARP studs while cams etc. are out of the way, finish wiring the headlights/front wiring harness. Damn I am getting tired thinking of all this...

[Jaker]

Wow! Nice work. All that stuff is looking really well done.

[Nick's e30]

If you ever feel like making duplicate things for whatever reason, I'd buy some stuff!

Love seeing this car progress. It's artwork.

[s14brent]

super clean! are you using your hobart on that sheetmetal? Also the corners look clean, are you using a nibbler or shears? either way kudo's! I want to make some ducting and a shroud for my radiator, but not really sure where to start! and I don't want to pull it all apart again (yet!)

[rzerob]

Your updates are always inspiring. I look forward to seeing the completion.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Wow! Nice work. All that stuff is looking really well done.

Thanks!!

If you ever feel like making duplicate things for whatever reason, I'd buy some stuff!

Love seeing this car progress. It's artwork.

Thank you, let me know what you'd want to have duplicated. I can't promise anything but maybe in the future when my projects calm a bit I'd consider makign some stuff.

super clean! are you using your hobart on that sheetmetal? Also the corners look clean, are you using a nibbler or shears? either way kudo's! I want to make some ducting and a shroud for my radiator, but not really sure where to start! and I don't want to pull it all apart again (yet!)

Thanks! Yes, using the hobart for everything. I LOVE that machine. Changed my life. The trick is to use very thin wire for all this thin gauge sheet metal. I use a combination of an angle grinder with various attachments (flap disk, cutoff wheel, wire wheel), a small belt sander, a die grinder with carbide bits, a dremel with various bits, and a drill press plus hole saws for the circular holes. I spend a lot of time "finishing" everything so it looks nice :D I think radiator ducting is a great idea, been on my list for a while too but I don't know when I'll get to it.

Your updates are always inspiring. I look forward to seeing the completion.

Thanks man, me too!



So I pretty much finished the PS cooler brackets last night. Just need to trim and finish them a bit, add some strength to them, paint and done. But the shape is done and so are the mounting points.

My approach is to have the brackets "lightly" bolted to the frame rails, and then heavily bolted to the valence. This way if I want to remove the front bumper/valence, I can un bolt the cooler from the valence and it will still be bolted and secure to the frame rails and I won't have to disassemble the PS system.

Here are the brackets mounted. Still need to trim them.





Here is the inside of the bracket. One bolt to the frame rail, 2 to the valence.





Here is the headlight side of the backing plate and intake duct.





Drained the PS system and was happy to see the fluid clear red. Literally looks brand new.





Spot welded some nuts to the brackets.





Test fit the cooler and bumper and it looks great! Almost at the point where I can start making some lines and plumbing it all.

[glnr13]

so good, charlie!

[MrBurgundy]

Good shit charlie! Diggin your preheat setup for that sheet metal haha

[rzerob]

Are you going to install some sort of mesh/screen behind the bumper holes to protect from road debris?

[pandaboo911]

Are you sure about that crank case vent location? It likely sees a lot of oil splash from the timing chain. I think a better vent would be on the top of the oil pan

[Northern]

I've been looking for an oil cooler like that derale unit for a while now to fit under my fmic in the stock location... I was pumped and then realized it only comes with -6 fittings on it. Damn.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

so good, charlie!

thanks glen! you need to get out and join a drive soon

Good shit charlie! Diggin your preheat setup for that sheet metal haha

haha I was going to use a heat gun or a torch and then had an epiphany when I glanced at the heater, it worked quite well

Are you going to install some sort of mesh/screen behind the bumper holes to protect from road debris?

probably not, I doubt much debris would make it up that high, or into those holes hard enough to cause damage

Are you sure about that crank case vent location? It likely sees a lot of oil splash from the timing chain. I think a better vent would be on the top of the oil pan

haha nope, not sure at all. I am curious to see what will happen. Though I figure as long as I have a downward slope towards the motor in the line, if liquid oil goes in there it *should* just drain back. I was also planning on taking a look at the area when I take the valve cover off to see if there is some easy way to add a splash guard on the inside

I've been looking for an oil cooler like that derale unit for a while now to fit under my fmic in the stock location... I was pumped and then realized it only comes with -6 fittings on it. Damn.

I was about to reply to your thread on that, I'm sure you can find something that would fit

[glnr13]

thanks glen! you need to get out and join a drive soon

i know! i've been busy... hopefully the next neptune's run.