Mission 310: South Bay LA e30

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  • DDKing13
    Advanced Member
    • Aug 2014
    • 144

    #1

    Mission 310: South Bay LA e30

    Hello everybody, i'm new to the forum. My name is Donavan.
    So about a month ago, I was a very proud GTI owner. OEM bixenons, OEM roof rack, Interlagos wheels, coilovers, fenders rolled by the man Tony (Tonys18t) himself, and a few other mods. There was a few other things I wanted to do to it, but for the most part, I was pretty much done with the car. That thing was my baby.

    Then one morning, on the way to work, I was reared by some stupid lady who wasn't paying attention, and I got sandwiched between her and the person in front of me. Here's a before and after pic. If you want to see more, here's the thread.




    So with the settlement money, I said :finger: to another car payment, and bought this '91 318i off craigslist. Nice interior, some cracks here and there on the front seats, minty rear seats, even included the nardi steering wheel. He also put bigger motor mounts to raise the oil pan higher. Since he was so low, he was frequently cracking them before that. But now the engine rubs the hood lining, which bugs me.

    One thing that jumps out at you is how freakin low it is. He slammed it on d2 coilovers. Me planning on making this my daily driver, I was not trying to drive on LA streets everyday 1.5" off the ground. BTW, there was an is lip on it, but it broke off just going into my driveway. As you can see, my driveway isn't even steep. I even had to put wood under the wheels to fit my LOW PROFILE floor jack. THATS how low the car is. But since its on coils, it should be easy to just raise it up to a decent height, right?








    Or so it would seem....

    Driving it back home (which was only like a 10 min drive) was the scariest and most violent ride i've ever driven. Turns out, not only were the shocks blown, but the previous owner did some kind of homemade Dr. Frankenstein hack job drop using the d2 parts. It wasn't even adjustable anymore. The "coilovers" were rendered useless.



    As you can see, he cut the strut housing, put some kind of thread around it, and just used the locking ring, which was dialed all the way down against the cut strut housing, as the spring seat ring. The threading doesn't even fit flush around the strut housing. It's about half an inch wider. The ACTUAL spring seat ring (which happened to be in the trunk) doesn't even fit on the threading!

    After considering my options (which included just getting the spring seat ring machined to fit onto that thread and keep rocking with that setup), I decided to completely re-do the suspension.

    So here I am now, just waiting for parts to come in the mail.

    I never made a build thread with my GTI, and I always regretted it. So I made sure to start one with this project, and I plan to keep this very updated. Stay tuned!
    Last edited by DDKing13; 08-15-2014, 06:19 AM.
    Build Thread
  • N2MYE30
    R3V Elite
    • Oct 2007
    • 5536

    #2
    Yikes! Looks like you have some work ahead of you to get that not only safe but primo. GL.

    COTM

    Comment

    • DDKing13
      Advanced Member
      • Aug 2014
      • 144

      #3
      Originally posted by N2MYE30
      Yikes! Looks like you have some work ahead of you to get that not only safe but primo. GL.
      Thanks man. Ya it's definitely gonna be a long process. Looking forward to it though. I always wanted an older car I could basically start from scratch with.
      Build Thread

      Comment

      • 2mAn
        Moderator
        • Aug 2010
        • 20025

        #4
        What suspension are you going with now?
        Simon
        Current Cars:
        -1966 Lotus Elan
        -1986 German Car
        -2006 Volkswagen Jetta TDI

        Make R3V Great Again -2020

        Comment

        • DDKing13
          Advanced Member
          • Aug 2014
          • 144

          #5
          Originally posted by 2mAn
          What suspension are you going with now?
          I wanted to get coilovers, but I thought about back when I had coils on my GTI, I NEVER adjusted the height anyways, so what's the point? lol Decided to try Bilstein Sports with lowering springs.
          Build Thread

          Comment

          • 2mAn
            Moderator
            • Aug 2010
            • 20025

            #6
            Yea coils let you dial the height exactly where you want it, but after that... you're done. I have Bilsteins with IE3 race springs because I wanted something firmer. What kind of springs did you get? Good call on the Bilsteins
            Simon
            Current Cars:
            -1966 Lotus Elan
            -1986 German Car
            -2006 Volkswagen Jetta TDI

            Make R3V Great Again -2020

            Comment

            • Bullwings
              Member
              • Feb 2012
              • 83

              #7
              Good luck, that will be the first of your mickey mouse finds...

              If you find something basic like that mickey moused, you can be assured that the entire car is going to be full of all sorts of mickey mouse surprises... ask me how I know (don't actually, since i'm sure you now know the answer)...

              GL - it seems like a decent starting point. I hope you didn't over pay for it (I did with mine). Prices are ridiculously OP here in SoCal.

              Comment

              • 2mAn
                Moderator
                • Aug 2010
                • 20025

                #8
                Judging by the plate, he didnt own it for very long. Lets just hope that he wanted to slam it and was done with it.
                Simon
                Current Cars:
                -1966 Lotus Elan
                -1986 German Car
                -2006 Volkswagen Jetta TDI

                Make R3V Great Again -2020

                Comment

                • DDKing13
                  Advanced Member
                  • Aug 2014
                  • 144

                  #9
                  Originally posted by 2mAn
                  Yea coils let you dial the height exactly where you want it, but after that... you're done. I have Bilsteins with IE3 race springs because I wanted something firmer. What kind of springs did you get? Good call on the Bilsteins
                  Im actually meeting up with this guy from CL this sunday. He's gonna sell me his stock strut housings, and his springs for $175. The 2 front springs are H&R Race springs with 1 loop cut. The rears...he has no idea haha. But I figure for the price, what do I have to lose by just trying it out? lol

                  Originally posted by Bullwings
                  Good luck, that will be the first of your mickey mouse finds...

                  If you find something basic like that mickey moused, you can be assured that the entire car is going to be full of all sorts of mickey mouse surprises... ask me how I know (don't actually, since i'm sure you now know the answer)...

                  GL - it seems like a decent starting point. I hope you didn't over pay for it (I did with mine). Prices are ridiculously OP here in SoCal.
                  I don't think I overpaid....but I also know there's better deals out there from time to time. Average pricing I guess you could say.

                  Originally posted by 2mAn
                  Judging by the plate, he didnt own it for very long. Lets just hope that he wanted to slam it and was done with it.
                  He said he owned it for about a year - year and a half.
                  Other than the fucked up suspension, the big ass motor mounts, and the aftermarket intake, everything else is stock. As far as I know so far....lol
                  Build Thread

                  Comment

                  • Nats88M3
                    Wrencher
                    • Sep 2013
                    • 209

                    #10
                    Those rims....I like!

                    Comment

                    • DDKing13
                      Advanced Member
                      • Aug 2014
                      • 144

                      #11
                      Originally posted by Nats88M3
                      Those rims....I like!
                      I'll sell them to you when I get new ones? lol
                      I'm not the biggest fan of them. They're like brand new. Previous owner put them on like 2 weeks before selling the car.
                      Build Thread

                      Comment

                      • DDKing13
                        Advanced Member
                        • Aug 2014
                        • 144

                        #12
                        Something to hold me over for now.
                        Ordered an adapter for my TWM Specter knob. I highly recommend one, if you have the cash laying around. Or if you get a little spending happy sometimes, like I do lol

                        Before (I already yanked it off before i took the pic. I was anxious lol)


                        After
                        Last edited by DDKing13; 08-21-2014, 07:26 AM.
                        Build Thread

                        Comment

                        • DDKing13
                          Advanced Member
                          • Aug 2014
                          • 144

                          #13
                          So over the weekend, I bought these off a guy on CL for $150.
                          His front strut housings (since mine were chopped), and his spring set.
                          He also threw in his KYB shocks as well, that I didn't even ask for.
                          The 2 fronts are H&R Race springs with 1 cut loop.
                          The rears, he didn't know what they were.
                          But I figured for the price, it wouldn't hurt to try em out.


                          But I wont be needing the KYB shocks, cuz this came in the mail today



                          Bilstein sports, and a Turner Motorsports Strut/Shock Mount Kit.
                          Now I just have to wait for 1 more package of misc suspension components, which is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, and i'll be able to finally install my new suspension, and get this car out of the driveway finally.

                          I also bought a lot of other stuff in the past few days that i'll post later on.

                          Stay tuned! :pimp:
                          Build Thread

                          Comment

                          • IRON-E
                            I waste 90% of my day here and all I got was this stupid title
                            • Dec 2007
                            • 16548

                            #14
                            Welcome aboard dude, sadly enough that poor car fell into the hands of a previous 240 owner, I seen him post on FB.

                            He owned the car for about 3 months and, after 2 weeks of ownership, he was trying to flip it. :D
                            @IRON-E30 aka Edwin:D

                            Comment

                            • freeride53
                              R3V OG
                              • Jul 2007
                              • 11972

                              #15
                              Very nice. I have M3 H&R Race springs on Bilstein Sports - you will love it.

                              Do E90 front drop hats and call it a day.

                              1991 BMW 318i (Old Shell RIP, Now Being Re-shelled & Reborn)
                              1983 Peugeot 505 STI
                              1992 Volvo 240 Wagon
                              2009 Toyota 4Runner SR5 Sport 4WD

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