New Member - 1989 325ix and Evo

[AWDBOB]

Hey all,

I recently traded a Saturn for a 325ix that needed some love, and figured that this would be a good time to join the site, as I was but a lurker since I picked the car up.

Some progress/plans I have for the car:

Plans

The exterior of the car needs some work, but the grime that was all over this car essentially preserved most everything under it, so my first phase has been to bring the OEM paint back up. The fender flares, the front and rear bumpers, the side skirts, and part of the driver's fender all need to be repainted, and the car needs a hood as well (someone stepped on it).

The last two days I spent buffing the car by hand with compound, and I was shocked to see how it looked underneath, minus the parts spray painted by the previous owner. I have slowly been working overspray off the car as well.

The Auto trans only has reverse gear, and I've since sourced a new trans/tcase, replaced the input shaft seals, and got the old trans out.

After tearing into it thus far it is obvious that the car was garage kept before the last owner had it, and the last owner only had it for two months, in which time he almost destroyed it. All weatherstripping, foam pieces, etc are all in fantastic shape without any dry rotted plastic. The dash has but one 2" crack in it as well!


Parts needed:

-Exhaust (2' of pipe missing, no cat, and fart can currently on there)
-Fog lights and corner bumper lights - Purchased
-Hood (dented severely)
-IS Lip (blunttech) - Purchased

Modification Plans:

-HD Bilsteins and IX specific H&R Springs
-Possible rear swaybar upgrade

Pictures


Before (door) and after (quarter):





Drivers Side Buffed and Waxed. The original paint on the car is very rich.





The back quarter and trunk came out great as well.







Areas of concern. First, the rear bumper and rusty battery tray/valance (and rice exhaust). Then, the jacked up front bumper and hood. Then, the drivers fender.








Passenger side came out great:






And this is how clean the underside of the trunk lid was without me touching anything.






FWIW, my other car is a 2003 Mitsu Evo that I've spent the last few years building. She's set up with a 2.4L, 280 Cams, Ohlins, etc.

Picture:










Idle:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQOYTHmuJEY

Anyway, seems like a great community thus far, and seeing how [over] engineered the 325ix is has me excited to dive into the platform.

[goldenbb]

The ix is still salvageable, but it's one of those "cut out the rust and weld in panels" type of deals in at least two places. Check under the driver's side carpet for rust, too.

Just to settle my curiousity--did the person who installed the fart can also paint the wheels black and wreck the transmission?

[nando]

That poor ix! glad to see you're saving it. sadly I believe most of the ix's left are being treated as beaters, or completely neglected.

I'd consider a 5-speed swap while you're at it. you need the stuff to do a clutch, pedals, MC/slave, lines, and at the very least, the front half of a manual TC, or an entire manual TC if you can't find a cheap dead one.

since reverse works, it's probably worth doing the jack test to see if the VC functions - if it does, then you can use the internals and rear half with a 5-speed swap. if it doesn't work, a 5 speed swap is even more appealing as you need a new TC anyway.

the driveshafts and everything else are the same between manual/auto. the car is so much better with a 5-speed!

if your evo is an example of what we can expect out of the ix, this should be pretty good! most of the evo's I see around here are riced out piles of shit.. :(

[lambo]

I have always wanted an understated ix that has the ability to poop on Evos and STi's ;)

[808e30325i]

AWD HOARDER! lolol! I've been wanting to get one for a while now but most are beat to shit :(

[nomansland92]

I've seen this car before, my buddy was looking at it. Glad to see its at a good home though!
Good luck with it and nice evo by the way

[INDOMI]

Judging by your evo i think i can safely say you'll make the e30 look good too

[AWDBOB]

The ix is still salvageable, but it's one of those "cut out the rust and weld in panels" type of deals in at least two places. Check under the driver's side carpet for rust, too.

Just to settle my curiousity--did the person who installed the fart can also paint the wheels black and wreck the transmission?

Let your curiosity be settled. The car was garage kept and beautiful before he destroyed it in the short time he had the car. I'll check under the carpet too, thanks for the heads up.

That poor ix! glad to see you're saving it. sadly I believe most of the ix's left are being treated as beaters, or completely neglected.

I'd consider a 5-speed swap while you're at it. you need the stuff to do a clutch, pedals, MC/slave, lines, and at the very least, the front half of a manual TC, or an entire manual TC if you can't find a cheap dead one.

since reverse works, it's probably worth doing the jack test to see if the VC functions - if it does, then you can use the internals and rear half with a 5-speed swap. if it doesn't work, a 5 speed swap is even more appealing as you need a new TC anyway.

the driveshafts and everything else are the same between manual/auto. the car is so much better with a 5-speed!

if your evo is an example of what we can expect out of the ix, this should be pretty good! most of the evo's I see around here are riced out piles of shit.. :(

It really is a shame. Most of the IXs I see around here are used as beaters and it kills me to see people let 'em go.

I actually already purchased an automatic trans and tcase with a good VC that had ~80K on it. I replaced the steel seals that people say go bad. A manual swap would've surely been ideal, but for now I need to get her kickin' to relieve the Evo from daily duty!

You're damn right about the Evos, too. Kids buy them, trash them, and sell them. However, when done correctly, they're an awesome platform to work with. They just don't look as cool as the E30s!

I have always wanted an understated ix that has the ability to poop on Evos and STi's ;)

I don't blame you, man! Sleepers FTW.

AWD HOARDER! lolol! I've been wanting to get one for a while now but most are beat to shit :(

Yep, people kill them, man. Every once in a while a nice, low mile, one owner car will pop up, but at that point you're looking at a $25-30K price tag.

I've seen this car before, my buddy was looking at it. Glad to see its at a good home though!
Good luck with it and nice evo by the way

Thanks, man! Car needs some work [obviously] but I think it's going to be a fun little project.

Judging by your evo i think i can safely say you'll make the e30 look good too

Thanks man, that's the plan. The IS lip is here, and I already can't decide if it should go black or red.

[nando]

Red :D

[AWDBOB]

Red :D

After some investigation, I think I agree :)

----

Also, I need a stock cat (have a catback), a drivers fender, and a hood if anyone has any of that!

[fresh_TD]

Glad to see you're saving it...I also have an ix '91..took me a while to find a clean one..I need to make a thread on here to show progress..

Sent from my GS4 Active

[AWDBOB]

Car looks awesome!

My little brother (Addison325ix) has a pretty clean gray IX as well! Part of me wanted to dump this one before it becomes a money pit, but I think I'm going to stick it out.

Some pictures of his ride:

[downforce22]

Way to renew the paint, looks like a million bucks!

You're damn right about the Evos, too. Kids buy them, trash them, and sell them. However, when done correctly, they're an awesome platform to work with. They just don't look as cool as the E30s!

You're alright.

[litu]

Cool Red Ix ;)

[anonymous alias]

nice to see another ix


and yes check the floor board underneath the carpet just to see what's there, it may fine down there...this is what turned out to be under the rug in my ix

rear passenger:

front passenger:

front driver


hope u enjoy the car