I bought another one. (lots of pics!)

[admhndry]

nice color early model ride.
just rebuild the engine yourself. it's not hard.
year a manual swap isn't that hard
i'd recommend you sort out a body kit there. most likely you want to go Mtech1 in the front. also clean up the rust under the battery tray. the head lights look like they were wired poorly. the cruise control unit doesnt look stock (wonders). fixing the cracked dash, that is gonna get very expensive and is a pita to do.

best of luck with the project

Well when you say it's not that hard, I don't have any experience with engines or mechanic stuff at all. My friend has a friend with an M20 with a shrick 272/288 cam (again I think that's a good thing because I check online and they're about 500 each) and he's selling it for 500, 700 with the wiring and ecu. Again apparently I should go for that. It's just thrown me in the deep end is all.

Unless there is some sort of legal issue just replace the engine with the same and you are good to go. Despite it's autotragicness it's a nice car and you might very well regret getting rid of it.

Well I figured while the car is off the road I might as well at least price out a manual swap. Has anyone done if before to give me like an estimate of what parts and prices I'm looking at?

Correction, it's a Nardi Woodline.

Ooh good catch! Well that brightened my day a little bit. Definitely has got quite a few compliments already :)

Wheels are ESM 002R

Good eye my man, been trying to find that out for about an hour of google time :p

Thanks for the correction, I thought it was a MOMO.


Yup that is them:

http://esmwheels.com/access/002r-p-164.html

As most know I don't fuck with fake splits. Guess it was worse than I thought ;)

Yeah it would have been nice if they were real but I never got my hopes up so much.

In other news I have to combat a cold start issue I'm having.
If I don't start the engine and jet off straight away, the bastard will rev, not idle at all and just splutter out and stall. Happened about four times while reversing out of a parking spot. Very embarrassing!

[frankenbeemer]

Get at least one more opinion on the engine diagnosis. Maybe you could get a forum member to look at it?

[Kershaw]

are you kidding? dude. that is a great looking car. i dont know how much m20 engines run over there, but here in the states an m20 runs like $200. maybe $500 if it's in great condition.

pulling an engine is pretty straight forward. installation is the reverse of removal. lol. might as well do a 5 speed swap while you're at it. total cost >$1000. (here in the states.) hell, you could do an m50 5 speed swap for around a grand.

whatever you do, do not take $500 for that car. the front apron and rear apron are worth way over that alone. the rims, although they are knock offs, are worth that alone, more with tires. the steering wheel? $250. you could easily part that car for $2000. hood, fenders, trunk, interior, misc bits, whatever.

[M-technik-3]

Shame the leather is so shot. Could always put some sheepskins over them.

[Court M3]

Clean and looks to be rust free(worth the 3,100 right there). MT2 front and MT1 in the rear...the MOMO is gorgeous BTW.

Those are jap knock off wheels... :( BBS never used a set screw for the waffle, also note the cone is fixed to the waffle. Also note the amount of bolts(25), BBS uses 30 and 34 count on the RS in 16"

I would REALLY love to buy that MT1 rear apron if you want to go MT2 ;)

Jap knock offs haha! If Japan made knock offs there'd no diff. There is a BBS Japan here so no knock offs. Japanese really appreciate quality and will pay for it.

[admhndry]

Get at least one more opinion on the engine diagnosis. Maybe you could get a forum member to look at it?

I would man but there's really not many people around Sydney on the forum if I'm honest, especially not real wrenchers. Thanks for the tip though! I could take it to another place and see if their diagnosis is any different.

are you kidding? dude. that is a great looking car. i dont know how much m20 engines run over there, but here in the states an m20 runs like $200. maybe $500 if it's in great condition.

pulling an engine is pretty straight forward. installation is the reverse of removal. lol. might as well do a 5 speed swap while you're at it. total cost >$1000. (here in the states.) hell, you could do an m50 5 speed swap for around a grand.

whatever you do, do not take $500 for that car. the front apron and rear apron are worth way over that alone. the rims, although they are knock offs, are worth that alone, more with tires. the steering wheel? $250. you could easily part that car for $2000. hood, fenders, trunk, interior, misc bits, whatever.

Oh I wouldn't take five hundred for the car, that's just what the mechanic would have to pay for it to turn a good enough profit on his end. I was never considering it as a serious option.
I do have a contact who is looking to sell an m20, albeit not as cheap as one over in the states. It would be a good opportunity for me to start work on cars.

Shame the leather is so shot. Could always put some sheepskins over them.

I could, but I was thinking of getting them reupholstered down the track possibly after the engine situation gets solved :)

[noE30]

Nice find!
If you sell this or part it out, I would be interested in the steering wheel possibly. (it's the same wheel I have but it looks a little nicer...
Good luck with what ever comes of it. Hopefully you can fix it

[admhndry]

Nice find!
If you sell this or part it out, I would be interested in the steering wheel possibly. (it's the same wheel I have but it looks a little nicer...
Good luck with what ever comes of it. Hopefully you can fix it

I'll keep that in mind man! But I think I've had a change of heart about the car. I was really sad when I first heard the news but I'm kinda looking forward to a project. Got nothing else to do in my life :p

[EREKSHUN]

Nice! Loving right side drive.

[admhndry]

Woe is me, man. I really know how to pick them.
Basically it rained last night (not sure if this is related), then I go to my car this morning and attempt to unlock the door. No dice. Then I try to see if it'll slide into the double lock position. Goes in there. That's good. Try to turn it back the other way. Nope.

Try the other door. It unlocks then locks immediately. So I can technically still drive it if I open up the passenger door. But the driver's side door doesn't open at all now.

Again, like I said, I know how to pick them.

[admhndry]

Quick update again. Yesterday I organised to buy that engine to go into the convertible.
I tried to open up the car again, try to literally just open the door. Even worse f**king new. Neither of the doors open now, only the boot. I literally cannot get into my car with either of the keys in either of the doors. I am sick and tired of this car, and it's been raining for two days straight so I have no idea what to do.
How can I troubleshoot the doors when I can't even open them. I can't even.

[admhndry]

Okay so a long time in between updates, but I do have some updates! The car at the moment is under a tarp at my friend's house, whose 318i is getting an M52 swap.
There is no engine in it, as we managed to get it pulled out, but it was tough work. Now I have done NO mechanical stuff EVER before and there is no way I could have done it without my friend Mark who is a legend. Big legend.
Got one picture of it coming out, and a picture of all the bullshit wiring we took out of the car, and also a radar detector that we located! pretty illegal!
I've also sourced the parts for the manual swap recently. It was expensive, but things are expensive in Australia so I'll suck that up.
I also got an almost spotless cream leather interior for it! Four seats and door cards. Really glad about the way they looked, and they feel ten times better to sit on!

[admhndry]

Long overdue update

Pictures here: https://imgur.com/a/WT5cq

Righto boys, the last time I posted in this thread was in 2013 and boy do I have a disappointing amount of updates for you! Life, laziness and an inability to do any sort of meaningful mechanic work really gets in the way of getting a project car done.

1. There is an engine in it. This came out of an E30 drift car, which was a UK spec 325is from the UK with higher compression and a 288 degree Schrick camshaft.

2. There is a transmission in it. This is the forth transmission I bought for it and after returning a few and getting stuck with one due to eBay returns policy, my friend bought a 1989 525i with an M20, and we basically used it for the gearbox which is now in the car.

3. There is a driveshaft in it. We had one cut down to length and rebalanced and fits in there well now. Add in the pedalbox, shifter, wiring, park switch bypass and a few other things, and the car is fully manual, no worries.

4. It runs and drives. it shifts into rear, it starts and stops (needs a brake bleed)

It's come a fair way in the few days that we've worked on it since I last posted, but I feel on a roll with it and am always thinking about what's next.
What needs to be done now before I get it tested and passed for registration:

1. Trunk shocks
2. Brake light
3. Exhaust manifold gasket
4. Exhaust seal ring
5. Radiator/fan temperature switch
6. Door stop driver's side (currently doesn't have one which is a bit annoying)
7. Bulb for right rear light
8. Sound deadening under hood
9. One power window switch
10. Boot carpet clips
11. Front cigarette lighter socket
12. Oil drain plug washer
13. Boot roundel.

Little things that I've done apart from it running and driving:

1. Painted the armrests and map pockets black - so much better than they were. The door card was a different colour to the armrest and the armrest was different to the map pocket. Now there's only one tan! I purchased the paint from Supercheap Auto, and was more than enough to do both sides. First time I've ever painted anything too.
2. Tightened the headlight switch, just a loose nut
3. Purchased a new head unit, a Continental TR7412UBOR. Looks good but I'm not game to wire anything at this stage.
4. Purchased a plug for the aerial hole from Garagistic. Nice part, good fit!
5. Purchased the cover for the temperature slider from eBay. I took the original one off and it warped in the Australian sun unfortunately.
6. Brake Pad warning on, because the sensor wire is disconnected.
7. Purchased a ZHP shift nob from eBay, should get here in like a month
8. Purchased and installed an under dash panel from an Australian site called E30 Intl. Nice guy to deal with and the fiberglass fits in nicely with its own hardware to the OEM mounting points.
9. Purchased a pre-third brake light bootlid for $80 and fitted it up. Personally I much prefer the cleaner look, I always thought the third brake light looked like an afterthought (because it was).


Other bits and pieces to be done:
1. Replace power steering fluid
2. Find wheels and tyres. Was looking at ordering the new AC Schnitzer reps (ESM 005) but shipping is a fair bit from the US, trying to find some wheels locally in 16 or 17" with tyres to get me through roadworthy and look decent.
3. The kidney grill was painted black so I need to try to strip the paint off that and get it back to normal - or buy a new kidney I guess!
4. Look into getting an Mtech 1 front bumper, vert side skirts and rear spoiler to finish the Mtech 1 look - prefer that to Mtech 2 on convertibles.
5. Get that head unit installed
6. I bought these recaros for it but didn't notice that someone messed up the bases royally and cut out the mounting point on one of the sides. Really disappointed with that, so I suppose I'll need to get it welded or get a new base.

7. Bleed the brakes, definitely a fair bit of air in them.

After that, it'll be lowering springs, drive it around a bit and then see what else needs to be done! It's been a long time, but I feel really good about the project at the moment and I'm looking forward to getting the rest done!
My thanks as always to my friend Mark, who helps and guides me through everything, and always makes sure I've tightened my bolts correctly!

-Adam

[admhndry]

**If anyone has tips on making the photos appear smaller, that would be appreciated!

A little bit of progress:

Installed a new shifter (ZHP) that I ordered from eBay from Latvia - arrived quickly to Australia and looks and feels great! It will go nicely with the Z3 1.9 shifter I have in there.





I bought a new shifter boot from Pelican ages ago, and it has a plastic round part in the top, but I had to remove it to install the shifter properly. This took a screwdriver and about 5 minutes, and I'm really happy with the result.



Next thing was the kidney grill.
I've always disliked it in black, and it wasn't spray painted very well. I set about fixing that back to its original chrome glory. After about half an hour of rubbing cutting compound all over the surface, it was all done and back to normal. Here's a picture of before (like five years ago haha)



And here it is now:



I'm also thinking of what to do with wheels. These are what the wheels look like now, but I was thinking of doing like a gun metal grey look and then leave the lip polished.

Now:

After:


What do you guys think? I apologise for the basic photo editing skills!

[Mazdayasna]

**If anyone has tips on making the photos appear smaller, that would be appreciated!

If you add "h" before ".jpg" in your imgur embed link, it resizes it to 1024x768, which fits comfortably on any modern screen.
Also, that head unit looks fantastic! Where did you get it from? I can only find questionable eBay sellers.