New member intro...and my new to me E30

[boy412]

Just a short post to introduce myself...and my new (to me) '88 325i 'vert. I had an '87 325iS back in the day and always regretted selling it...it was the funnest car I've ever had. So to take a break from modding my '03 Audi Avant () I figured I'd look for another E30. Found this car locally and paid what I felt was a fair price for it:



Its in fairly sound shape and I'm really looking forward to working on it. Expect to see quite a bit of me on the boards...and I'll start a project thread at some point to document the "restoration". First things first...need to replace all the ignition components and get the engine bay respectable looking. Right now its downright embarassing. I want to track down all the previous owners of this car and kick them hard in the nards.

:-x

[eurotrash]

You said nards. Thats silly.

Welcome

[MkII]

I keep finding stupid things that the previous owner did to mine too, good luck with the project it looks tidy.

[dillon7]

I keep finding stupid things that the previous owner did to mine too, good luck with the project it looks tidy.

I'm right there with you.

Good luck with the car though. White verts are definitely my favorite.

[boy412]

OK...so first box of parts has showed up. More en route!



The first round of things I bought once I stripped off all of the worn ignition components, etc. I've since removed the intake manifold, t-stat housing, etc...so another box with gaskets and new hardware is (hopefully) on its way soon.

Also going through and replacing any suspicious looking ground cables. The hood ground was shot so going to fab up a new one (or just order an OEM one...haven't decided yet). But I'm definitely replacing this beauty:



I'm sure it was doing an awesome job. I gave the terminal a little twist and the thing came right off (and left a little pile of green dust on my counter):



Going to replace this with some 4AWG welding cable and new terminals. Will crimp the new terminals on and solder them for good measure...because why not?

I can only get so much done before putting the intake manifold on but this should keep me pretty busy. I also need to figure out how to repair the mechanism for releasing the convertible top storage compartment cover. One of the PO's tried to do something involving bicycle brake cable and its not working out so great. I haven't taken a picture of this engineering marvel but will do so later.

High on my priority list is getting the engine bay more respectable looking. Its a real mess right now and I want to give it a good once over while the intake manifold is off. Everything I touch seems to be covered in grime...so if anyone has any products they recommend I'm all ears. More pictures and updates to come this weekend. I hope to have the car on the road NEXT weekend.

[boy412]

OK. Finally got to install some new parts! First thing I did was fab some new ground cables/straps. 4AWG welding cable and new lugs, plus some marine grade heat shrink tubing for good measure. Here is the new battery ground cable.

Chassis end:



Battery end:



new vs. old:



Also fabricated something similar for the block-to-chassis ground, since it was also not in the best shape:





More 4AWG welding cable, lugs, and this Ancor heatshrink tubing. This stuff is awesome...I'm totally getting more in different sizes. New vs. old:



And I also installed a new ignition coil, and re-finished the clamp in a satin black:

[boy412]

I also removed the intake manifold (that bitch tube sucks) and stripped it as well as I could. I hate cosmoline! Aircraft coating remover did a pretty good job but there were still lots of nooks and crannies that I couldn't get to. I dropped it of at a local shop to be media blasted (along with the fuel rail). Here's what it looked like right after I pulled it off, prior to stripping:



...and this is what my valve cover looked like (and this is after a bit of cleaning mind you):



This was a lot easier to strip so I was able to get some paint on it. VHT Wrinkle +, after three coats:



Paint is still curing but afterwards I'm going to sand down the bars and roundel so they go back to being silver. Gotta have some contrast!

I also gave the upper timing cover some love and finished it with some silver caliper paint I had on hand:

[boy412]

Oh...and I also installed a new timing belt, tensioner, tensioner pin & spring. No pictures of that because I was pretty grimy at that point, and pretty worn out. And pictures of new timing components isn't very exciting.

Nice to have some new parts going on instead of wrestling the old ones off. And cleaning...lots and lots of cleaning.



During my cleaning adventures I've encountered several connectors that weren't plugged into anything. Any guesses what this is supposed to go to? I found it underneath the fuse box...and the other end seems to run towards the front of the car. Its a two pin connector but I can't see what it might plug into in the fusebox area:

[Lingurade]

Nice progress! did you bake your valve cover after paint, or will it hold up as is? also what exact paint did you use? thanks

[boy412]

My oven is pretty small so the VC wouldn't fit. I wanted to cure the paint per the directions but I've seen plenty of people skip that step with no adverse effects. Even the manufacturer says the heat of the engine will effectively cure the paint...so I'm not concerned.

The product I used is this:



http://www.vhtpaint.com/products/wrinkleplus/

I used a primer on the VC as well but not their product. I made absolutely sure the surface was free of grease, oil, or anything else that would affect adhesion.

[Lingurade]

Sweet i like the way it looks over powdercoat and this is much cheaper, looks like i'll be doing what you did, post a pic after a few days of you having it installed too so we can see if it changed at all

[RaidoM]

the connector in last picture looks like a fog light connector or headlight.
If your headlights are working and you don't have foglights then it's definetaly fog light connector.

[boy412]

the connector in last picture looks like a fog light connector or headlight.
If your headlights are working and you don't have foglights then it's definitely fog light connector.

If its a fog light connector where does it plug in?

Sweet i like the way it looks over powdercoat and this is much cheaper, looks like i'll be doing what you did, post a pic after a few days of you having it installed too so we can see if it changed at all

I actually wanted to have it PC'd but it wasn't in the budget at the moment. There's lots of other things that need to get addressed first. The paint on the valve cover should hold up pretty well I think. I'll post pics when I have it finished.

[///M42 sport]

i have same plug in that area. Has been mystery to me too. My have fogs already too

[boy412]

Nothing should be a mystery in a 25 year old car. :p