my $500 project

[McGyver]

So we made it out to CA without any major problems or stuff breaking. My steering wheel was slightly cocked to the left the whole drive out, but it wasn't bad enough to want to move it one spline over. Once we got to Oakland, I hit a massive pothole and the wheel ended up slightly cocked to the right. At the time I thought "maybe it was always to the right?". Then one day while I was parallel parked, I turned the steering wheel, the rubber hit the curb a bit, and the tie rod snapped. Good thing that didn't happen while driving, also welcome to CA!

So I went for a drive in the Marin Headlands and stopped to take a picture at an old fort. The bay has so much cool stuff and is really pretty.


Now that both of us were in CA, neither of us had jobs or a ton of savings. The GF was going to Berkeley for Architecture, but I needed to figure out what to I wanted to do. I had a bad experience with my first engineering job, so I decided to be a mechanic again. The experience at the shop was pretty mixed. On one hand, I learned a lot and my work really moved to the next level. On the other hand, all my tools were at the shop and the owner wouldn't give me a key or the opportunity to work on my own car. So repair work and modifications were reduced to what was absolutely required to get me to work. It kinda sucked.

Anyway, I got a HUGE hole in my exhaust which needed to be patched.





Then I started getting a grinding sound for my brand new (less than 5k miles) Graf water pump. Then it started weeping. Then on the way to the shop it let go. It was a real treat to sit outside the locked gate at the shop while I waited for a hungover coworker to drag his ass out of bed to let me in to work. Real fun.



That's an issue (how the fuck do I post a GIF from imgur?!?!?):

https://imgur.com/8LKETmi

So I re-did the timing belt/water pump. This time with a Geba. I swear I can do the job in 2 hours, but I spent about 6 on it so I could clean EVERYTHING. Also replaced the cam seals, which I never knew was part of the job. I was definitely learning.



Around this time I quit the shop and started working as an engineer again. I went to RadWood and got to drive a few slow laps on Sonoma Raceway. The car was running well, but had a bad noise. Part of it was a snapped alternator bolt allowing the alternator to flop around on decel. The other half sounded like bottom end noise, more on that later.



About this time my m30 convertible got totaled. It fucking sucked to lose a car that I spent a decade working on. I eventually bought a sedan, which apparently had a gutted catalytic converter. So I brought the dog to work and swapped exhausts around on a Saturday so I could smog the new car.



Now we're to 2018 when I moved to a place with a garage. This is when things started to take off.

[McGyver]

While still living on Robinson St in Richmond, VA, I backed over the little hump that separated my friend's driveway from his neighbor's. It beached my car on the exhaust and mangled it:


I "fixed" it with a bunch of scraps laying around at my friend's shop:


This was how I worked, in the gravel/dirt/mud with everything laid out. I thought it was the best thing ever:


But when nothing could happen when it rained:


I moved to Floyd Ave in Richmond and got tired of my messed up fog lights:


So I replaced the glass with new glass, shipped all the way from Russia (it took weeks to arrive):


Occasionally the street would fill up after a thunderstorm:


I went to a car meet and apparently my car (Luna) made some friends:


The new place had a little covered "garage", but no doors. So I had to fully pack up any time I was done working. Just getting set up and tearing down took a solid 45 min. BUT I HAD A SPACE TO WORK!!!!


Oh look, two broken cars! I bought the pictured "exhaust", but it didn't have a cat. So I cut the pipe and welded a generic 49-state legal one in. My welds sucked real bad, even though the mig at work was the same machine and put down good beads. I figured it was just cause I was running flux core. (Actually I had it wired for mig AND the wire I bought was gas flux core, no wonder my welds were so bad):


Then my GF got accepted to Berkeley for her Masters of Architecture. So we decided we were gonna drive across country. That meant pulling the whole drive train to replace as much as possible before the drive:






Last day in Richmond. The m30b35 convertible (Scotti) and I was worried I'd have to tow her to my friend's shop to store her until I could afford to have her shipped. Turns out the CPS wire was worn through on the water pump. I popped an m20 CPS on and it worked! I got to have one last drive before leaving.




Loaded up with everything we owned. Dog in my car (without AC) and cat in the GF's car (with AC) to drive across country, going south through Texas, in August. It was a "once in a lifetime experience", I'll never do that again in august without AC. Ever.










And we made it to Oakland!


This gets you to Aug 11, 2016. Four more years of updates to go!

[roguetoaster]

That's quite a few moves, yet the E30 lives on, impressive.

[McGyver]

So many things have changed since 2014. I moved from that apartment to a place that had a covered parking spot in Richmond, VA. Then moved to Oakland, CA where I didn't have a garage. Then moved to a place in Oakland with a garage. Then got forced outta that building and ended up in San Francisco without a garage.

I'll make a couple of posts to catch up with all the work that's happened in the past 6 years, but for now, here's the daily (sedan) and the fun car (coupe) at the last place in Oakland.

[slammin.e28]

wait. what? ok...

Wait yeah ok.

Done yet?

[McGyver]

lover.

wait. what? ok...

[slammin.e28]

no, because I'm lazy and impulsive with money. So never save for parts and fix shit when it happens. So i end up only driving one car until it's so bad i'm forced to fix the other car so i have a daily why my current car is getting repaired.

You do that too!?

We have more in common than you thing....

Touring lover.

[McGyver]

no, because I'm lazy and impulsive with money. So never save for parts and fix shit when it happens. So i end up only driving one car until it's so bad i'm forced to fix the other car so i have a daily why my current car is getting repaired.

[slammin.e28]

Are you done with this yet!?

[McGyver]

the way you held up the green car w the bronzit is so hilarious! hahaha

Oh no, the green car is on jack stands, you can see a blue one in the bottom right corner. I had just parked under the green car a bit.

Also, it seems like my throwout bearing is about to explode, so I guess it's time to fix the vert so I have a daily while the coupe is under the knife. again.

[animal]

the way you held up the green car w the bronzit is so hilarious! hahaha

[McGyver]

Oh, I forgot that I also changed out my strut mounts and CABs while I was doing all this work. Unfortunately something in the suspension is shot thanks to shitty Richmond roads combined with my driving and stiff springs. And yeah, it was super shitty working on the wet ground (which is why it took me so long to do the swap). But, I had started it and couldn't turn back.

Also, went out with a few friends to an empty parking lot and get a little weight reduction on some old tires. It was pretty fun, my e30, a friend's e36m3, and a 650cc stunt bike burning off tires. Best part was having a safe place to practice some car control when sliding.





Also, after I was done and switching back to my daily tires, the damn muffler fell off because both rubber doughnuts died. I ended up having to drive home with some speaker wire holding everything up, but i made it!

[KIRIEIW]

In for more updates. Nice work! Personally, I wouldn't have even thought of working on the ground there, looks all wet from the leaves holding moisture? Regardless you seem to be getting work done!

[animal]

at least the kidneys look great! haha - nice work saving it!

[rcsoundn1]

Love seeing people do this in such crazy spots. The work done in a driveway or parking lot is inspirational. Now DONT make us wait 2yrs for an update.