Mid-Missouri 325i

[smp258]

Edit....Whoops. Wrong section. Ill just make this my Member's ride thread. It will mostly just be for me to look up for reference. I doubt I will be able to get on here enough to keep it up to date and entertaining.

Here is my hunk of junk. I have in the past bought cars with issues for cheap, fixed them up for fun, and then flipped them. This one wont be sold anytime soon. I needed a new project in my life, so i decided to pick up a basket case e30 and am going to attempt to do all of the work myself. The goal is to challenge myself and gain some skills. I am also not doing this the easy way, by busting out the CC and charging every single new part i could think of. I am attempting to be thrifty....

1989 325i

m20b25
getrag 260
3.73 not LSD

Completed:
A bunch of maintenance
every gasket from the head gasket up
Gates timing belt
Water pump
Thermostat
Misc. hoses
Exhaust replaced/rebuilt
Fixed a bunch of electrical nightmares
Euro grills
Used foglights (undecided between fogs and fog deletes)
repaired headlight adjusters
Replaced bad fender and front valance
Fixed as many dents as I could at the time

to-do:
S3.73
Full suspension refresh
dampers
H&R sport springs
Fabricate new battery tray (contains rust)
Fabricate rusted section of rear valance
Replace trunk
Body work
Full respray
Replace headunit
wheels/tires
Fix broken hinge to pop out window.
Window regulators need to be checked

Old Pictures

030 by seanpaul707, on Flickr

20141011_151434 by seanpaul707, on Flickr

20141011_151418 by seanpaul707, on Flickr

20141011_151357 by seanpaul707, on Flickr

122 by seanpaul707, on Flickr

118 by seanpaul707, on Flickr

107 by seanpaul707, on Flickr



Ghetto valve spring compressor
I am lucky enough to have access to my dad's 10k Sqft warehouse, which he just moved into.

I am a CPA, it's currently tax season and a crazy one due to Obama care, and have I have an 18 month old daughter. So... I have almost no free time.

I decided to refresh the head of my m20, but couldn't find my valve spring compressor to replace the valve stem seals. So I went to O'Reilly to grab a rental compressor. However, it was a jaw puller style and looked worthless. I couldn't find my c-clamp style compressor which is still packed with most of my tools, so I just made my own with a piece of plastic.

I put the piece of plastic in the lath to make it the same diameter as the valve spring retainer. (I could have used a broom handle)

Then I cut the center out of the piece, now cylinder shaped, with a band saw to gain access to the valve stem collets.


Sorry for the first picture. Didn't realize it was out of focus on the phone.

Valve spring compressor by seanpaul707, on Flickr

Valve spring compressor by seanpaul707, on Flickr

Valve spring compressor by seanpaul707, on Flickr

I probably did some kind of no no, but it worked.