To ruin or not to ruin

[E30 Wagen]

What I initially wanted to do was cut it up, tube up front and rear + roll cage, and throw a 13b rotary or LS and have myself a drift missile

I'm not going to hold back in saying that you would be an absolute moron to ruin your car this way. A slicktop 318is is indeed a special car, especially in the US. I don't think E30s were mass produced as much as other cars and the attrition rate was likely higher. If you've got a survivor that's in solid shape then I 100% guarantee you will regret cutting it up, ask me how I know. Trust me, it pays to think long term and maintain the nice examples for normal road use. It's not about doing it for the next owner, it's about your realistic long term enjoyment of the car and to preserve as much of its value should you decide to sell it. Drift cars always get crashed so just find something that's already been smacked or has some bad history so sacrificing it won't be such a loss. You'll have a lot more fun beating on something you don't care about as much.

Also, this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujm5Mq3Oi3g

[TobyB]

Having been doing this shit for 30 years, the idea of a mass- produced car as somehow 'rare' is goofy.
There were hundreds of thousands of these things pooped out. Cool? Yes. Jag XK120FHC? No.

Having done this for 30 years, hacking the shit out of something original is stupid.
I have a shell sitting outside that would be perfect for that. It's a solid turd.
It could become anything at all, and that would be an improvement. Including a cage,
Viper motor, and Ford 9". Forgiveness is in the 'before' pix.
I have a shell sitting inside. It's nice. It came to me with 5- lugs.
It needs an M54 or N52 to make it nicer. This car
wouldn't be a good 9" candidate.

If you start with a nice car, make it nicer. An N52 is nicer. A 6 speed is nicer.
An S54 might be TOO nice, and would require a mature right foot to not turn everything un- nice.
Nicer is in the eye of the owner- we all have our standards, but one of the better ones is
'I didn't chop the shit out of it- look, the only giveaway is the 3" exhaust. Well, and the 9" tires, I guess'

But at the end of the day, the only one of us who has to live with you is you, so life's short- do what you
want, as long as it's not fucking up anyone else's life.

t