Valentine - A family's story of E30s

[e30austin]

Swap your AC line with one from another M20 car without fuel cooler and remove all traces of the cooler. Swap the line going into the fuel rail from the cooler with the one coming from the fuel hard line. Done.

I think the pro3 guys buy those fuel coolers if I'm not mistaken. Might be worth saving?

[marc55]

I've been in the hobby for 9 years now and i've never seen OEM fuel cooling via AC before. :o Amazing, you learn something new every day. They probably weren't available here in Europe.
Anyway, nice ride! :)

[lukeADE335i]

Nice story & car!

I've never seen a fuel cooler down here in Australia either, and we tend to get "hot climate" euro spec cars.

[NMusolino]

Replaced the fan clutch, now the coolant temp barely goes past halfway. Haven't permanently fixed the fuel system yet, approaching college decision day and AP tests have put car work on hold. Did pick up a neat eBay find, however.





A key ring from the dealer the car came from. Seller said it was from '85 or '86, seems to be true given the old 206 phone number. I still run the original dealer license plate frame on the car.

[NMusolino]

Been caught up with school over the past month, luckily AP tests ended yesterday, so I can get back to it on the car.

Picked up a new used electric aux fan from Kid325e with euro brackets so that I can mount it without the AC condenser. I hear it's not really necessary without AC if your mech. fan works, but going overkill on cooling isn't too bad of a plan.

Hoping to have that installed, the remnants of the AC removed (the compressor is still just hanging there), and have it shined up for Bimmers and Burgers at the end of the month.

Other than that, looking for recommendations for replacing the stock head unit. The tape deck stopped working, so I don't have any way to connect up my iPod. Looking for something basic that has an aux input, and something that's cheap (the rest of the sound system will stay the original "BMW Premium Sound" :-P ).

[Stanley Rockafella]

came here for pics of a Buick Skylark, leaving disappointed :(

nice picture story. See ya at the picnic

[NMusolino]

Valentine - A family's story of E30s

came here for pics of a Buick Skylark, leaving disappointed :(

nice picture story. See ya at the picnic

This body style, in two-tone maroon and brown. Oh yes.

Been busy since my last update, started with the starter falling out in the parking lot of an elementary school a couple weeks ago. Turns out one of the bolts was missing and one of the ears on the starter sheared off as a result. West Werks made it right, and inspected other things.

Since then, I've replaced the rear sway end links, exhaust hangers, the fuel filter, replaced the diff and trans fluids with Redline, and deleted the fuel cooler and replaced the old lines. Also removed the last remnants of the AC system, just in time for this weekend. Still needs CABs and RTABs, I'll probably take it in for those.

Went to two shows, Exotics at Redmond Town Center, and Bimmers and Burgers at the Triple X Root Beer Stand. Pretty Decent showings.







RWB!



S52 Swapped

ebox86's car I believe

If you look closely my car is in there. Met AAA325iSand had a great time this weekend. Month out from the picnic, can't wait.

[NMusolino]

Had a blast at the picnic yesterday, it was my 4th and possibly final one. I'll be shipping off to college soon, but hopefully I'll be able to make it back for next year's.

Drove out to Le May with Francis from West Werks, battle///m3, Black325e, as well as another 325.














Glad to be a part of it one more time, met a lot of cool people and saw a lot of cool E30s. Looks like the PNW E30 scene is as strong as ever 8-).

[K20RI_211]

We have very similar cars and tastes. Mine is an '87 IS, alpine over pearl beige. OEM mudflaps, dealer plate frame, diving boards at full extension, etc.

She's a beauty. Keep her that way.

[AAA325iS]

👍 thanks nick, very nice to see you!

[freeride53]

That's a sweet stock looking E30. Please keep it the way it is.

[NMusolino]

Well, time to come clean about why I haven't updated this thread in three months.

The car is gone. Kind of.

Exactly a week after the E30 picnic, my parents got divorced.

Doesn't matter that I drove the car every day for the past two years. Doesn't matter that I put my own money into it. Doesn't matter that I pulled numerous all-nighters working on the car. My Dad's name is on the title, so the car stays with him, something I'll never do.

I'm off in college now (Cal Poly, go Mustangs!), while my family is back at home and he has his own place. That means that he'll do whatever he wants with it. I hope he takes care of it, but unfortunately I'm not sure that's something I can count on, considering he's been actively destructive with it before, both in front of me (think tin shears) and behind my back (think keys to the door paint), and then lied to me about it.

Ultimately my parents separating is a good thing, for my siblings, my mom, and myself. That still doesn't change that I'm going to miss that car, the car I thought I was going to have forever, the car I thought I was going to take to college with me, the car I was going to hold on to through thick and thin.

Sometimes life gets in the way, things are out of your control, and you just have to roll with the punches instead.

Hopefully I can buy it from him when I graduate, that is if it lasts that long, as the condition it's in (leaking head gasket, oil pan gasket, poor compression on the aft 2 cylinders, among other things) isn't exactly something you want in your daily driver. Right now, he's worried about the windshield washers not working...I don't think he's willing to put the work in to fix it, nor do I think he's capable of doing all of it, which is why I'm worried he'll just sell it instead while I'm away.

Someday I'll have an E30 again. I'll do my best to take care of it, build it to the way I see fit, and drive it as much as I can. Until then, I'll be wrenching on the Formula SAE car at my school and scraping my knuckles to save up to buy one of my own. This is what happens when you get hooked at a young age.

Here are a couple pictures I took the last day I had it. Until next time.

[Porthos]

I am telling you buy it now. Don't wait because only heartache will come if you wait. I know money is a problem but, you can get a part time job in school that will pay the big three (car payment, insurance, and gas).