Pantless Spencys zinno ETA fix-up thread. ~NOW RUNS YAY~

[Pantless Spency]

haven't made a thread yet for my piece of work e30. only made intro thread/other random bs threads....
time to get to work!
so about two months ago i bought an 86 zinno for 1k, i'm the third owner of the vehicle and it has just over 213k miles.
turns out the car has a blown head gasket, so my priorities are to do the HG and while i'm down in there replace the timing belt and the water pump, new thermostat and possibly a new rad. since i haven't a clue what made it blow in the first place.
i'm not mechanically savvy but i know how to turn a wrench and i'm damn good with lego's, i'm sure with a bentley manual, online information, and a mechanically savvy pal to help me with my problems, i'll be able to get the job done...


so far on my purchase list is:
HG+machine shop fees...
TB+ tensioner
WP
thermostat
torque wrench
head bolt set(lol is that what i would call it?)
used/possibly new rad.

anyone know what my total cost should estimate to for all of the parts listed above?


above are things i would need for the project,
but i would like to do an 885 head swap on to the 2.7 bottom end...
although i know nothing about the procedure/ other things that need to be tweaked to run that set up.


so this will be my project thread.
hopefully it will go well :P

[lolcantturn]

Seriously though.

[Pantless Spency]

^^^ i wish!!!
that would be so much longer of saving up tho and not driving my e30 :( i havent taken it out in 3 weeks and i already feel like my heart has stopped. been driving around a GMC pickup truck..... makes me want death.

[lolcantturn]

^^^ i wish!!!
that would be so much longer of saving up tho and not driving my e30 :( i havent taken it out in 3 weeks and i already feel like my heart has stopped. been driving around a GMC pickup truck..... makes me want death.

Dude I bought my E30 as a present to myself for my 17th birthday like 5 or 6 months ago. I was in the same slump as you, I bought it with a bad HG unknowingly. I had to do all that work by myself without any prior mechanical experience.
Then the following 4 months were complete hell cause my M20 was terrible, I had to do so much work and put so much money into it. I finally got it perfect right as I bought an M50 because I was just tired of working on it.
If I had to do it all again, I would have saved up from the very beginning for an M50. I woulda never changed that HG.
If this is what you really want to do, go for it. Driving around in a pick-up truck for a couple more weeks will definitely be worth it if you're able to go 24V.

But that's just me. I hated my M20 ;)

[KamakaziX]

haven't made a thread yet for my piece of work e30. only made intro thread/other random bs threads....
time to get to work!
so about two months ago i bought an 86 zinno for 1k, i'm the third owner of the vehicle and it has just over 213k miles.
turns out the car has a blown head gasket, so my priorities are to do the HG and while i'm down in there replace the timing belt and the water pump, new thermostat and possibly a new rad. since i haven't a clue what made it blow in the first place.
i'm not mechanically savvy but i know how to turn a wrench and i'm damn good with lego's, i'm sure with a bentley manual, online information, and a mechanically savvy pal to help me with my problems, i'll be able to get the job done...


so far on my purchase list is:
HG+machine shop fees...
TB+ tensioner
WP
thermostat
torque wrench
head bolt set(lol is that what i would call it?)
used/possibly new rad.

anyone know what my total cost should estimate to for all of the parts listed above?


above are things i would need for the project,
but i would like to do an 885 head swap on to the 2.7 bottom end...
although i know nothing about the procedure/ other things that need to be tweaked to run that set up.


so this will be my project thread.
hopefully it will go well :P

I'd say your set then.

[Pantless Spency]

Dude I bought my E30 as a present to myself for my 17th birthday like 5 or 6 months ago. I was in the same slump as you, I bought it with a bad HG unknowingly. I had to do all that work by myself without any prior mechanical experience.
Then the following 4 months were complete hell cause my M20 was terrible, I had to do so much work and put so much money into it. I finally got it perfect right as I bought an M50 because I was just tired of working on it.
If I had to do it all again, I would have saved up from the very beginning for an M50. I woulda never changed that HG.
If this is what you really want to do, go for it. Driving around in a pick-up truck for a couple more weeks will definitely be worth it if you're able to go 24V.

But that's just me. I hated my M20 ;)

lol true,
but i'm pulling like 250-400 pay checks every two weeks and im in college...
how much could a whole s/m/5X swap set me back?
also i would have to somehow get around smog here in california... and how in the hell did you do an m50 swap with no experience? -____-

[Pantless Spency]

I'd say your set then.

lmfao haha i knew id get shit for that line.
it makes sense.... somewhat. i'm really bad at comparisons.

[drutt23]

Sounds like you have a good start man. I'll be paying attention to this. You should post some pics btw. Lets see this thing!!

On other topics from that, I think that the M20 is a good base to start with for learning some mechanic work and just due to the fact that it has some sick potential imho. I also agree that an M/S/50/52 is somewhere good to start. It is entirely up to you though. I first started out wanting to fix up my M20 after spinning a rod bearing in it, then I decided to go M50 for awhile and now I'm back onto to the M20 (cuz NOBODY can say that a stroker M20 with ITBs and a turbo isn't gonna be cool) LOL

[lolcantturn]

lol true,
but i'm pulling like 250-400 pay checks every two weeks and im in college...
how much could a whole s/m/5X swap set me back?
also i would have to somehow get around smog here in california... and how in the hell did you do an m50 swap with no experience? -____-

I paid I think $350+springs for a 90k M50 with oil pan and wiring harness. Got S52 headers,downpipe, E36 motor arms and E34 engine mounts for $50 total, and a porsche brake booster for $40.
You'll find a good deal being over there in Cali.
How'd I swap an M50 with no experience? Carefully ;) .

But honestly just really plan ahead. I know you're in college and I just graduated HS, so I really like Ultimate Ballin on a School Budget E30 builds. Going 24V really helped me not lose my fucking mind stressing over M20 stuff and gave me a lot more time to myself, not just working on my car all the damn time. It's all what you really want. My M20 basically taught me everything I needed to know about building a SOHC motor so some good came out of it.

[bernzpeed]

i have an m20 325is engine and an m20 i head. pm me. SOLD.

[Pantless Spency]

damn all you guys got me convinced on 24v...
shit lol.
m20 could be a good little engine though..
what to do what to do.
in the mean time heres some photos.
second to last is day of purchase lol, bad temp gauge + 3 hour drive and it still made it home without blowing up! haha.
and last pic is just for shits and gigglez, me skating a few months back.

[KamakaziX]

Hipster.

[drutt23]

Ah there we go!! Now we know what she looks like

[Pantless Spency]

Hipster.

?!:O how. haha.

[Danny]

Still have that motor.