Hello, welcome to my build thread.
This will chronicle the resurrection of my beater E30 into a sleeper hoon-machine. The tired powerplant will be replaced by a Ford 5.0L V8 with a T5 manual transmission. I'll be upgrading the suspension and brakes but leaving the exterior and interior untouched, leaving the 300,000+ miles worth of patina. The only indication that this isn't my old $600 car will be the rumble of the exhaust, and the copious amounts of smoke from the rear tires.
Some History
Winter 2011 - I've had my E28 M5 for a couple months and winter was getting close. I needed a winter beater. My buddy from work had his car for sale. He owned a tuning shop and this was his daily driver. He had put an incredible amount of miles on it. A previous job had him making trips to Milwaukee from Detroit once a week, close to 800 miles per trip. His morning commute to work was about 100 miles per day. He said the odometer broke in the upper 200,000 range, and had well over 300k miles. This heap reliably arrived at work every day, despite its long life and slightly ratty appearance. He bought an R32 to fix up and sell and offered to give me the E30 for $600. He had treated it well and it returned the favor so I took him up on his offer. I finally had an E30, chariot of the Gods.
I love this car. This was my first beater and it was a liberating experience, especially during the winter. Some dingbat trying to cut me off or drifting into my lane I'd just smile at them and invite them to marr their shiny new appliance against the sharp edges of my german jalopy. High speed encounters with snowdrifts didn't cause worried inspections for scratches or dents. The car was also unfailingly trusty. No matter the temperature outside the car started right away. It never broke down or left me stranded, it just kept going. The exterior and interior were witnesses to its long and hard life. The paint is faded, rust is eating away at the edges of some of the body panels, the front bumper is held together with zip ties. The classic E30 shape was still there though. It looked more chiseled and grizzled then frumpy and dumpy.
It was also super fun to drive. It has the excellent visibility and powertrain of the classic BMWs, but was much easier to drive than my solid and heavy E28. It was light on its feet, its age made it feel looser than a properly sorted out one but it was super tossable and easy to break the rears out into an easy to control drift. Even though the engine was ancient it could still hustle.
One revealing thing about the car was when my friend was talking about it with his shop's co-owner. He said he someday wanted to totally re-do the driveline but leave the exterior as is. His partner said he'd do the opposite, restore the exterior but don't touch the driveline, like putting a new suit on an old soldier. Each mechanic appreciating a different part of this well made but well used machine.
After falling in love with the car I decided to keep it and give it a new lease on life, but keeping its battered looks in-tact, like a badge of pride. There will be as few updates to the inside and outside as possible, any changes will stay with the $600 car theme. To give it more power I'm replacing the powerplant with a 5.0L SBF with a 5 speed T5 trans. The engine will make around 300hp. The suspension will be upgraded and certain parts re-inforced to keep things stiff. The brakes will also be upgraded to keep up with the excess power. Once finished the car will retain the E30's fluid handling but with a significant bump in power and will sound like a bat out of hell.
I'll be using mount adapters from E30V8.com as well as their guide to help get things sorted. The mount adapters bolt on to the old mounts so the 5.0 bolts right in. I'll be ditching the EFI going to an old fashioned Holley carb to make the wiring easier.
To start off I need to remove the engine and trans. Unfortunately due to its age many of the hoseclamps dissolved when i put a screwdriver to them so I had to cut a lot of hoses. The wiring harness is pretty crunchy as well.
I plan on cleaning up the engine bay and making everything look nice under there. That way there will be a nice contrast when I open up the hood on this old faded POS and there is a shiny V8 in its clean home. I have to get all the old crap out first of course.
2/3/2013
Stripped the wiring harness from the engine and got more excess stuff out of the bay. Its getting close.
Unfortunately a couple exhaust bolts rounded off instead of unscrewing so I need to try to cut them off, lots of fun. Especially with all the room around those bottom bolts. These two bolts and the driveshaft bolts that aren't budging are the only things keeping me from pulling the engine.
In the meantime i pulled the trim from around the shifter, only releasing a small cloud of swears.
I insulated the garage which helps with the heat situation. It will get up to 50 degrees which is perfect, it stayed around 40 today. Drywall will be going up in the spring.
I picked up a cherry picker from a buddy today and will be engine hunting shortly. I read that 5.0s from the mid 90s explorers are most desirable. They have the GT40 heads which flow much better than the stock mustang heads. Upgrading a mustang with these heads can add ~30hp. The accessories are also 2 inches shorter making more room. The cam is what makes the engine less powerful than the mustang version so I'll be replacing that. I'll be doing a mild rebuild on the engine depending on how much it needs. Hopefully I can get over my bolt problems soon so I can get this old engine out and the new one ready to drop in.
2/11/13
Was supposed to be a big weekend for the build but everything fizzled out. I had a line on an engine to pick up but the vehicle we were borrowing to pick it up wasn't available. A guy on Cragslist I was getting a carb and intake from was sick so I didn't get that.
I tried to make progress on the exhaust but had little luck. It was one of those days where after 2 hours I only got one bolt completely off, the rest were just rounded off like clay. My wrench slipped off a bolt causing my hand to punch the bottom of the car almost breaking a knuckle. That was when I turned in.
Mounts are ordered and on the way. I have an engine supplier and just have to pick it up. hopefully more progress in the next few weeks.
2/18/2013
More plugging away. Was out of town for a few days so its been going slowly. Picked up a new jack which let me raise the car another 6 inches, heres a comparo between the old and new one. the room really helped.
Sawed the exhaust off. Finally got that out of the way.
Pulled all the shields off, got some room to work on the driveshaft.
The axle looks like something from spongebob squarepants, all rust and barnacles. Gonna have to replace that soon.
Got a lot of crap out.
I just have to remove the shift linkage and I'll be able to pull the engine. Can't wait to get this thing out.
3/3/13
I finally have an exciting update for this. Picked up a motor yesterday. From a 99 explorer. Has the GT40p heads which flow much better than the stock mustang heads. The throttle body and intake are also considered upgrades to the stock mustang but I'm stripping all that off to go carbed. I can sell those for $150-200 and recoup some of the engine costs.
At the parts place picking it up which was in the middle of the ghetto. The only thing within a half mile radius was auto parts places and abandoned buildings which used to be auto parts places. Good service though.
The cherry picker was a little jenked up so it took a lot of fenaggling to get the engine on the stand. Nothing like wrestling with a 450lb engine with the crane on two legs trying to get the stand bolted on and upright. My cratered garage floor doesn't help either.
I started stripping it down today. Going to check with some local machine shops to see how much it is to port and polish the head. The block is pretty crusty so that will be fun to clean up and paint.
The rough plan is:
March: rebuild engine, pull the BMW engine and strip out the engine bay.
April: buy the T5 trans, start test fitting, order the custom driveshaft, clean and paint the engine bay.
May: start getting things hooked up, will need to replace the fuel pump and redo the brake system with a remote booster setup.
June: hopefully it is running by now. Would like to make it to the eurohangar show at the end of June.
Also sprinkled in will be suspension upgrades with new bushings. I'll want to refresh/upgrade the brakes as well. New wheels and tires will be nice but I'll have to see how the budget looks. I have to drop a couple hundred into the Miata to get it really roadworthy for the summer as well so it will be a lot of juggling and prowling craigslist and the forums for deals.
Once the weather warms up it will be easier to spend time in the garage and get stuff done. Hopefully the updates will be more exciting from here on.
I also texted a photo of the engine to the previous owner. The first thing he said was how much he missed the car. I told him he's welcome to take it for a drive when its done.
3/10/13
It was beautiful outside so I got a lot done. Stripped almost everything off the motor. Things came off fairly easily. One bolt on the intake broke but I was able to drill it out mostly. The engine looks pretty good so far. The plugs were all clean. besides being dirty the pistons and valves look in-tact. Good news so far. We will see how the bottom end looks soon.
There were the remains of a couple nests on the intake.
All the hoses and crap are off.
Rockers look good, the springs have to be replaced on GT40 heads with an aftermarket cam from what I've read.
Heads came off easily. They look good, just really dirty.
Anyone know about how much it costs to hot tank an engine block and some heads? There is such a think layer of rust/dirtscale on the outside it would take forever for me to scrub it.
It looks a lot smaller than it did before.
At the moment I'm thinking of painting the engine bay white, and the engine block blue. Make it a little patriotic
3/18/13
Another update.
Got some reading material. With a mullet like that you know its good.
I also have to praise the craigslist gods. Holley 650 carb and an edelbrock performer intake for $100.
I got more stuff off the engine. Ended up hitting a snag with the main crank pulley, just couldn't get it off. the diagrams in the books showed a second set screw holding it on but I think that was for an older engine. I couldn't find any other screws besides the main bolt.
Made a little bit of a mess. Its sweating horsepower.
Progress has been slower than I'd like, I can't wait for it to start getting warm out, then I'm not waiting on a propane heater to get the garage comfortable. I'm still optimistic about getting it done by the end of June.
Any recommendations for a rebuild kit? There are a few out there with all the bearings/seals/etc needed to refresh the engine. Summit seems to have some nice ones. Not sure if I should get one that includes new pistons or not. The ones in there look good but I'll have to take a closer look. I'll probably swap this motor into something else in a couple years (240z?) so I want to make sure its done right and will last a while.
4/21/2013
Been a while since an update. Thankfully there has been progress, just a little slowly.
Pulled the pistons out. You can still see the cross hatching in the bores which is a good sign. They seem to be in good shape.
Stripped the block down and took it to a machine shop. They'll hot tank it, magnaflux it, check all the bores, etc. There was some wear in the bearing surfaces, they'll be checking the crank for straightness as well. All these bearing cups will be replaced during the rebuild.
It will be about 3 weeks until I get the block back, hopefully it is in good shape. The oil pan is also out getting modified to clear the steering rack.
I stripped the heads down and removed the valves and springs. There is a place called Andy's parts that makes a drop in spring kit for the GT40p heads. This will keep the valves from floating. i pulled the piston rings out as well. I got some solution for my parts washer so I'll get those cleaned up shortly, hopefully i can reuse them. Found out there is a bead blaster at my work which will help out.
I was also doing some work on the Miata, needs something welded in for the BOV and am replacing the turbo studs and putting in locking nuts so they don't back off. Will be nice to get that running again.
Have goodies in the trunk
Started pulling the front end off today to make it easier to pull the engine. Unfortunately a light fell off the shelves and knocked my beer into my toolbox. Had to spend an hour washing all my tools off. Fun.
New parts I've gotten:
Steeda 18 cam
Remote Oil Filter kit
E34 brake booster (stock one wont fit)
Sport springs
Engine and trans mount adapters
E30 engine mount bushings (work with the adapters)
Stuff I need to get shortly:
Shocks
Suspension bushings
Head springs
Engine rebuild kit (seals, bearings, water pump)
Transmission T-5
Subframe bushings
Once the front is off the car and I get the engine crane back I can pull the motor. Then it'll be time to clean up and paint the engine bay. Hopefully by the time that is ready the block will be back and I can rebuild and install the motor. Its a lot to do in a little over 2 months, hopefully I can pull it off. My brother will be visiting for several days and will be able to get a couple days work in on it too. Can't wait to be driving this thing.
This will chronicle the resurrection of my beater E30 into a sleeper hoon-machine. The tired powerplant will be replaced by a Ford 5.0L V8 with a T5 manual transmission. I'll be upgrading the suspension and brakes but leaving the exterior and interior untouched, leaving the 300,000+ miles worth of patina. The only indication that this isn't my old $600 car will be the rumble of the exhaust, and the copious amounts of smoke from the rear tires.
Some History
Winter 2011 - I've had my E28 M5 for a couple months and winter was getting close. I needed a winter beater. My buddy from work had his car for sale. He owned a tuning shop and this was his daily driver. He had put an incredible amount of miles on it. A previous job had him making trips to Milwaukee from Detroit once a week, close to 800 miles per trip. His morning commute to work was about 100 miles per day. He said the odometer broke in the upper 200,000 range, and had well over 300k miles. This heap reliably arrived at work every day, despite its long life and slightly ratty appearance. He bought an R32 to fix up and sell and offered to give me the E30 for $600. He had treated it well and it returned the favor so I took him up on his offer. I finally had an E30, chariot of the Gods.
I love this car. This was my first beater and it was a liberating experience, especially during the winter. Some dingbat trying to cut me off or drifting into my lane I'd just smile at them and invite them to marr their shiny new appliance against the sharp edges of my german jalopy. High speed encounters with snowdrifts didn't cause worried inspections for scratches or dents. The car was also unfailingly trusty. No matter the temperature outside the car started right away. It never broke down or left me stranded, it just kept going. The exterior and interior were witnesses to its long and hard life. The paint is faded, rust is eating away at the edges of some of the body panels, the front bumper is held together with zip ties. The classic E30 shape was still there though. It looked more chiseled and grizzled then frumpy and dumpy.
It was also super fun to drive. It has the excellent visibility and powertrain of the classic BMWs, but was much easier to drive than my solid and heavy E28. It was light on its feet, its age made it feel looser than a properly sorted out one but it was super tossable and easy to break the rears out into an easy to control drift. Even though the engine was ancient it could still hustle.
One revealing thing about the car was when my friend was talking about it with his shop's co-owner. He said he someday wanted to totally re-do the driveline but leave the exterior as is. His partner said he'd do the opposite, restore the exterior but don't touch the driveline, like putting a new suit on an old soldier. Each mechanic appreciating a different part of this well made but well used machine.
After falling in love with the car I decided to keep it and give it a new lease on life, but keeping its battered looks in-tact, like a badge of pride. There will be as few updates to the inside and outside as possible, any changes will stay with the $600 car theme. To give it more power I'm replacing the powerplant with a 5.0L SBF with a 5 speed T5 trans. The engine will make around 300hp. The suspension will be upgraded and certain parts re-inforced to keep things stiff. The brakes will also be upgraded to keep up with the excess power. Once finished the car will retain the E30's fluid handling but with a significant bump in power and will sound like a bat out of hell.
I'll be using mount adapters from E30V8.com as well as their guide to help get things sorted. The mount adapters bolt on to the old mounts so the 5.0 bolts right in. I'll be ditching the EFI going to an old fashioned Holley carb to make the wiring easier.
To start off I need to remove the engine and trans. Unfortunately due to its age many of the hoseclamps dissolved when i put a screwdriver to them so I had to cut a lot of hoses. The wiring harness is pretty crunchy as well.
I plan on cleaning up the engine bay and making everything look nice under there. That way there will be a nice contrast when I open up the hood on this old faded POS and there is a shiny V8 in its clean home. I have to get all the old crap out first of course.
2/3/2013
Stripped the wiring harness from the engine and got more excess stuff out of the bay. Its getting close.
Unfortunately a couple exhaust bolts rounded off instead of unscrewing so I need to try to cut them off, lots of fun. Especially with all the room around those bottom bolts. These two bolts and the driveshaft bolts that aren't budging are the only things keeping me from pulling the engine.
In the meantime i pulled the trim from around the shifter, only releasing a small cloud of swears.
I insulated the garage which helps with the heat situation. It will get up to 50 degrees which is perfect, it stayed around 40 today. Drywall will be going up in the spring.
I picked up a cherry picker from a buddy today and will be engine hunting shortly. I read that 5.0s from the mid 90s explorers are most desirable. They have the GT40 heads which flow much better than the stock mustang heads. Upgrading a mustang with these heads can add ~30hp. The accessories are also 2 inches shorter making more room. The cam is what makes the engine less powerful than the mustang version so I'll be replacing that. I'll be doing a mild rebuild on the engine depending on how much it needs. Hopefully I can get over my bolt problems soon so I can get this old engine out and the new one ready to drop in.
2/11/13
Was supposed to be a big weekend for the build but everything fizzled out. I had a line on an engine to pick up but the vehicle we were borrowing to pick it up wasn't available. A guy on Cragslist I was getting a carb and intake from was sick so I didn't get that.
I tried to make progress on the exhaust but had little luck. It was one of those days where after 2 hours I only got one bolt completely off, the rest were just rounded off like clay. My wrench slipped off a bolt causing my hand to punch the bottom of the car almost breaking a knuckle. That was when I turned in.
Mounts are ordered and on the way. I have an engine supplier and just have to pick it up. hopefully more progress in the next few weeks.
2/18/2013
More plugging away. Was out of town for a few days so its been going slowly. Picked up a new jack which let me raise the car another 6 inches, heres a comparo between the old and new one. the room really helped.
Sawed the exhaust off. Finally got that out of the way.
Pulled all the shields off, got some room to work on the driveshaft.
The axle looks like something from spongebob squarepants, all rust and barnacles. Gonna have to replace that soon.
Got a lot of crap out.
I just have to remove the shift linkage and I'll be able to pull the engine. Can't wait to get this thing out.
3/3/13
I finally have an exciting update for this. Picked up a motor yesterday. From a 99 explorer. Has the GT40p heads which flow much better than the stock mustang heads. The throttle body and intake are also considered upgrades to the stock mustang but I'm stripping all that off to go carbed. I can sell those for $150-200 and recoup some of the engine costs.
At the parts place picking it up which was in the middle of the ghetto. The only thing within a half mile radius was auto parts places and abandoned buildings which used to be auto parts places. Good service though.
The cherry picker was a little jenked up so it took a lot of fenaggling to get the engine on the stand. Nothing like wrestling with a 450lb engine with the crane on two legs trying to get the stand bolted on and upright. My cratered garage floor doesn't help either.
I started stripping it down today. Going to check with some local machine shops to see how much it is to port and polish the head. The block is pretty crusty so that will be fun to clean up and paint.
The rough plan is:
March: rebuild engine, pull the BMW engine and strip out the engine bay.
April: buy the T5 trans, start test fitting, order the custom driveshaft, clean and paint the engine bay.
May: start getting things hooked up, will need to replace the fuel pump and redo the brake system with a remote booster setup.
June: hopefully it is running by now. Would like to make it to the eurohangar show at the end of June.
Also sprinkled in will be suspension upgrades with new bushings. I'll want to refresh/upgrade the brakes as well. New wheels and tires will be nice but I'll have to see how the budget looks. I have to drop a couple hundred into the Miata to get it really roadworthy for the summer as well so it will be a lot of juggling and prowling craigslist and the forums for deals.
Once the weather warms up it will be easier to spend time in the garage and get stuff done. Hopefully the updates will be more exciting from here on.
I also texted a photo of the engine to the previous owner. The first thing he said was how much he missed the car. I told him he's welcome to take it for a drive when its done.
3/10/13
It was beautiful outside so I got a lot done. Stripped almost everything off the motor. Things came off fairly easily. One bolt on the intake broke but I was able to drill it out mostly. The engine looks pretty good so far. The plugs were all clean. besides being dirty the pistons and valves look in-tact. Good news so far. We will see how the bottom end looks soon.
There were the remains of a couple nests on the intake.
All the hoses and crap are off.
Rockers look good, the springs have to be replaced on GT40 heads with an aftermarket cam from what I've read.
Heads came off easily. They look good, just really dirty.
Anyone know about how much it costs to hot tank an engine block and some heads? There is such a think layer of rust/dirtscale on the outside it would take forever for me to scrub it.
It looks a lot smaller than it did before.
At the moment I'm thinking of painting the engine bay white, and the engine block blue. Make it a little patriotic
3/18/13
Another update.
Got some reading material. With a mullet like that you know its good.
I also have to praise the craigslist gods. Holley 650 carb and an edelbrock performer intake for $100.
I got more stuff off the engine. Ended up hitting a snag with the main crank pulley, just couldn't get it off. the diagrams in the books showed a second set screw holding it on but I think that was for an older engine. I couldn't find any other screws besides the main bolt.
Made a little bit of a mess. Its sweating horsepower.
Progress has been slower than I'd like, I can't wait for it to start getting warm out, then I'm not waiting on a propane heater to get the garage comfortable. I'm still optimistic about getting it done by the end of June.
Any recommendations for a rebuild kit? There are a few out there with all the bearings/seals/etc needed to refresh the engine. Summit seems to have some nice ones. Not sure if I should get one that includes new pistons or not. The ones in there look good but I'll have to take a closer look. I'll probably swap this motor into something else in a couple years (240z?) so I want to make sure its done right and will last a while.
4/21/2013
Been a while since an update. Thankfully there has been progress, just a little slowly.
Pulled the pistons out. You can still see the cross hatching in the bores which is a good sign. They seem to be in good shape.
Stripped the block down and took it to a machine shop. They'll hot tank it, magnaflux it, check all the bores, etc. There was some wear in the bearing surfaces, they'll be checking the crank for straightness as well. All these bearing cups will be replaced during the rebuild.
It will be about 3 weeks until I get the block back, hopefully it is in good shape. The oil pan is also out getting modified to clear the steering rack.
I stripped the heads down and removed the valves and springs. There is a place called Andy's parts that makes a drop in spring kit for the GT40p heads. This will keep the valves from floating. i pulled the piston rings out as well. I got some solution for my parts washer so I'll get those cleaned up shortly, hopefully i can reuse them. Found out there is a bead blaster at my work which will help out.
I was also doing some work on the Miata, needs something welded in for the BOV and am replacing the turbo studs and putting in locking nuts so they don't back off. Will be nice to get that running again.
Have goodies in the trunk
Started pulling the front end off today to make it easier to pull the engine. Unfortunately a light fell off the shelves and knocked my beer into my toolbox. Had to spend an hour washing all my tools off. Fun.
New parts I've gotten:
Steeda 18 cam
Remote Oil Filter kit
E34 brake booster (stock one wont fit)
Sport springs
Engine and trans mount adapters
E30 engine mount bushings (work with the adapters)
Stuff I need to get shortly:
Shocks
Suspension bushings
Head springs
Engine rebuild kit (seals, bearings, water pump)
Transmission T-5
Subframe bushings
Once the front is off the car and I get the engine crane back I can pull the motor. Then it'll be time to clean up and paint the engine bay. Hopefully by the time that is ready the block will be back and I can rebuild and install the motor. Its a lot to do in a little over 2 months, hopefully I can pull it off. My brother will be visiting for several days and will be able to get a couple days work in on it too. Can't wait to be driving this thing.
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