i have been looking for an e30 project for my 20 year old boy (as a father/son project) for about 4 or 5 months now. my biggest priority was a coupe with a good body and good paint.
i have been looking for sub $3k examples but they always seem to have bad paint jobs.
first order of the day, i purchased this car off craigslist:
photos fixed.
the body is fantastic other than the valance-which is trashed. it was repainted not too long ago. its not a bullshit maaco/earl schieb job either. someone spent a lot of time and money doing it right. the paint is really shiny all around. the interior is nice but it is what it is. i wish i had a pair of black vinyl sport seats.
of course, as you can see from the pix, the transmission is an automatic. :(
the bottom end of the engine is trashed. the first thing i did when i went to see it was pull the valve cover to have a look. it didn't break a timing belt. i put a wrench on the crank pulley and it is stuck solid !
after loading the car onto my trailer, i drove to my local lkq pick a part junk yards. tomorrow is the last day of half off parts by the way!
at the first jy, i scored this:
she came from a 1990 e34 that looked to be in perfect shape. perfect paint, perfect interior, appeared to be exceptionally well maintained. they had just set this car out that morning. i was the first one to pull parts off it.
the odo was digital, so i don't know the miles. i pulled the tappet cover off this one and i saw perfection. no varnish or sludge anywhere. i spun it over a couple turns and felt good compression. seemed like a good candidate so i pulled it out of the car. once it was out, i unbolted the oil pan and this motor was really clean in the sump too. since i couldn't do a compression check, i took a look at the cylinders from the bottom and they looked like new. my final test was to unbolt a main cap to check the wear on the bearings, which also look new. i snatched it up. only cost 129.00 today plus an 80 dollar core.
junk yard #2
came from an '85 "e". no good way to check it out other than slide it into all the gears.
this interior also came from the same "e":
i know the door panels are the wrong color. they actually came out of another e30. its the best i have right now.
Junk yard #3:
not pictured but a full set of bilstein sports for e30.
anyway, so far, with all those half off parts, i am into the car for a little over a grand.
so.....all in all, this has been one good fucking day!
i have been looking for sub $3k examples but they always seem to have bad paint jobs.
first order of the day, i purchased this car off craigslist:
photos fixed.
the body is fantastic other than the valance-which is trashed. it was repainted not too long ago. its not a bullshit maaco/earl schieb job either. someone spent a lot of time and money doing it right. the paint is really shiny all around. the interior is nice but it is what it is. i wish i had a pair of black vinyl sport seats.
of course, as you can see from the pix, the transmission is an automatic. :(
the bottom end of the engine is trashed. the first thing i did when i went to see it was pull the valve cover to have a look. it didn't break a timing belt. i put a wrench on the crank pulley and it is stuck solid !
after loading the car onto my trailer, i drove to my local lkq pick a part junk yards. tomorrow is the last day of half off parts by the way!
at the first jy, i scored this:
she came from a 1990 e34 that looked to be in perfect shape. perfect paint, perfect interior, appeared to be exceptionally well maintained. they had just set this car out that morning. i was the first one to pull parts off it.
the odo was digital, so i don't know the miles. i pulled the tappet cover off this one and i saw perfection. no varnish or sludge anywhere. i spun it over a couple turns and felt good compression. seemed like a good candidate so i pulled it out of the car. once it was out, i unbolted the oil pan and this motor was really clean in the sump too. since i couldn't do a compression check, i took a look at the cylinders from the bottom and they looked like new. my final test was to unbolt a main cap to check the wear on the bearings, which also look new. i snatched it up. only cost 129.00 today plus an 80 dollar core.
junk yard #2
came from an '85 "e". no good way to check it out other than slide it into all the gears.
this interior also came from the same "e":
i know the door panels are the wrong color. they actually came out of another e30. its the best i have right now.
Junk yard #3:
not pictured but a full set of bilstein sports for e30.
anyway, so far, with all those half off parts, i am into the car for a little over a grand.
so.....all in all, this has been one good fucking day!
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