New project old member 84 318i

[5150ct]

Have had numerous E30's and E36's over the years, some posted on here some on other sites. All of my E30's have been late models. Decided to give an early style a shot. I've always liked them for their simplicity and lack of electrical options / problems. This E30 is as basic and as simple as it gets, manual everything! This is a car im building for my son that will be 16 next year as a first car father and son project. Plans call for:

1. Basic maintenance
2. New interior
3. Alpina Rep front spoiler
4. Fender flares KA Motors?
5. Euro bumpers
6. M3 trunk spoiler with flap
7. "IS" skirts
8. full Alpine respray
9. 5 lug conversion
10. coilovers
11. S50 swap
12. rims and tires
13. new exhaust

......not necessarily in that order. Constructive criticism is welcomed, dont be an asshole! here are some pics.

[5150ct]

That is pretty much how the car looked when we got it aside from having chrome bottle caps, which i resprayed stock silver color, the bumpers weren't tucked, and trim was not black. That was what we did on it the first weekend. Then the fuel pump went out, replaced that. The alternator went out, replaced that. The battery was old and no good, replaced that. The interior was complete shit, your ass would go through the seats and hit the floor of the car front and rear due to straw inside seats falling completely apart. So I started with the interior next. Found some used Corbeau seats and had them reupholstered, and found a arm rest rear seat with headrests and had it reupholstered to match the Corbeau's. Decided to go with a black / red stitching theme for the interior. see pics below...

[5150ct]

Going to redo the front seat head rests to match the rear seat head rests. Going to continue the theme onto the door and quarter panel cards aswell as the dash and center counsole.

[Polaris15]

Seats look awesome!

[N2MYE30]

Seats look awesome!

+1! If I were to get another E30, I would be looking for an early 318i. I too like the simplicity of it...and id keep the M10. Nice father and son project. :up:

[5150ct]

Thanks! anyone know what a fair price for Euro bumpers would be? Saw some locally for $500 front and rear but needing brackets. Any input on this?

[5150ct]

Some recent maintenance and upgrades. First the stock M10 radiator took a shit, so i made the E36 S50 radiator work with the M10 since i will be swapping over to the S50 drivetrain later anyway.

the stock fan wouldnt fit so i just relayed the original electric A/C fan to run as the main fan. Temp stays 1/4 past cold!

....also the brake master was leaking, so i replaced it with a new booster and master out of a E32 750 wich is supposed to clear the intake manifold on the S50 when i swap it in.

[rzerob]

The seats are sweet.

Your coolant reservoir is not going to fit when you do the swap. There is not enough clearance. At least it didn't fit with my swap.

S50 swapped E30 for your kids first car seems like a lot. People wreck them with stock engines but if you are not worried you must really trust him.

Good luck with your build.

[5150ct]

This is the look im going for with the finished car, but with the flares and hood painted same color as the body. Anyone know what flares this car is running? KA?

[5150ct]

Thanks! Im trying to leave the M10 in it as long as it runs, the engine swap will be last on the list. Hopefully at least a year, that way im confident in his driving and he's responsible enough to handle it. What radiator and overflow do you recommend / works best with E30 and S50 swap?

[bruner]

alpine early model? i approve, Your sons damn lucky

[2mAn]

The 84 presents a challenge with all sorts of random things when it comes to 24v swaps. ask me how I know

[5150ct]

Im hoping to buy a pre made harness from Tree house so it would be plug and play. I spoke to someone there that seemed pretty knowledgeable and helpfull. Any input on them or their products?

[2mAn]

edit: looks like you're already well on your way. The Radiator and master where two new things that were different from other swaps I read about. Do you have ABS? I used a M42 radiator, but Im not sure if it will handle the SoCal Summer, we'll find out soon. Where are you located??

[funcrew]

Nice project. Good Idea with the swap for your kid; I loaned my S52 ragtop to my daughter one time only:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=318964