Project Delco - My Intro to E30 life

[JasonWilson48]

Hi all,
I've been lurking this site for the last 2 years as I plotted my entry into the E30 scene, and saved up money. I finally took the monumental task (2 mins) to make an account back in January. That is when I truly began to look for my first E30 purchase.

My list of requirements were below:

1. Late Model
2. Coupe
3. Manual
4. running and driving

I realize those are basically the most desirable qualities many look for in an E30 these days, but I was okay falling into the basic fanboy spec for a car.
Now I was looking all over FB marketplace and this forum. I am in Philadelphia and wanted to something local that I could inspect in person and test drive. That is when I came across a post in the For Sale section that I must have missed before. Because the car was close by to me, and checked all my boxes.

https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/for...-de-area-19342

So I met up with Colin (the owner) and we went for a test drive. He was a great dude, and has been in the E30 scene for a few decades now. He also told me he owns an alpine white E30 M3 as well that is currently in pieces in his garage. That’s why he was able to justify selling this car. The main issue with the car was that it was rear ended more than a few years ago, and since has left the entire rear of the car crunched in and rusty. At the time of purchase, I didn’t care about those issues since the frame and front of the car looked great. The paint was pretty gone, but that also didn’t bother me. All in all, I paid the man his asking price after he got it inspected in PA (I think he had something like an $800 repair bill for a few things to pass inspection), and I drove it home from the tags place.



As soon as I drove the car, my mind started racing with all of the things I wanted to do to it. First was maintenance though. See below:

1. I changed all the fluids (engine, trans, diff, brakes)
2. New tires (they somehow passed inspection but were very old and worn)
3. Replaced trunk taillight seals
4. Repaired left rear taillight mounting brackets.
5. New radio antenna gasket and rebuild of the antenna box to get it functioning again
6. New rear window seals (I was fighting a few leaks in the rear as you can tell by now)
7. Wash and very minor buff
8. Interior detail (carpets, seats, trunk area was full of junk)
9. Fixed sunroof (wouldn’t open all the way when I bought it) and cleared drains
10. Charged the A/c system (I charged it and got it working, but only had a few warm days to really stress test the system before the following below happened.)

At this point I began driving the car daily to work, on the weekends, night drives, errands, etc. I was finding any excuse to drive the car basically. Now with all the maintenance being done, I had an itch to keep working on the car. There was a growing list of upgrades/modifications that would personalize the car to my own taste. I was looking at the rear of the car and the rust all over, and was having second thoughts about letting that issue be for awhile. I didn’t want to throw money at it knowing that rear end would always be on my mind. I began estimating the costs of modifications as well as the work it would take to correct the rear end and paint, and it didn’t make sense financially to me.

Then a few months after driving the car basically every day, I came across another car that was my pinnacle E30. I also thought it was a reasonable price, that I would not be able to build for the same amount. This brough me to a fork in the road, of what to do. I couldn’t justify keeping both with my limited funds and garage space. Do I splurge on this better version (IMO) of an E30, or do I keep what I have as a “beater” E30.

Ultimately, I made the most unreasonable decision as car guys do sometimes, and bought my next E30, and listed Project Delco for sale. So, I owned this car from January to the end of April, and sold it to another young enthusiast at the price of what I had into it. I couldn’t justify trying to flip the car with the great deal I got from another R3V community member. Thus, this short project thread comes to an end, and my next thread will be out shortly.

I will include all of the pictures from my short time owning this car below.

Looking forward to the new thread being longer than one post.

[JasonWilson48]

[JasonWilson48]

[2mAn]

haha they come and go!

Lets see the next one

[82eye]

don't feel bad it took me a few cars to get the e30 i have now as well. the important thing is you've kept at it, that's how stuff happens,

[Il Duce]

haha they come and go!

Lets see the next one

x2!

Something spicy I see based on your signature

[McGyver]

Delco didn't look too bad, assuming you could do some fab work to fix that rear end. I'm excited to see what you flipped it for!

[JasonWilson48]

Delco didn't look too bad, assuming you could do some fab work to fix that rear end.

The fab work is what had kept me from going further. I have never welded or done any major body work like this before. I also looked into costs of replacement panels, and the tools I would need to cut everything out, shape new metal, weld, paint, etc. If I was more knowledgeable and/or had the tools already, I think it would have made me keep the car. But I am not in the position to be building out a workshop right now, so buying a more complete car swayed my decision that way. Eventually in the future I want to get a shell of a touring, and completely build that myself just for the experience. That will have to wait once I have a more permanent workshop that will motivate me to work on the car, vs my current situation where I am sometimes deterred from starting large projects knowing it will be a pain in the butt with my current setup. Alas, next build thread is being typed up now, and will be posted SOON!

[2mAn]

alright, lets see project #2!