cameras ready prepare to flash

[spiDmang]

nice work!

[s14brent]

small update:

I found some wheels locally, was told they were enkei 92's but I think they're some cheap knock off since they are 8.5" wide and the center design looks way different. Swapped the two front tires for the falkens I had on the other set of wheels. I'm not mad they're not 92's, I didn't pay much for them and I like the way the car looks so much better now.



They cleared the front fc caliper with the same spacer setup as the rota's had.



The rest of the exhaust pieces came in over the weekend.



Decided to try and get the exhaust done before the weekend, so i can try to get an alignment and recharge the ac.



there were a few issues I ran into, but overall I'm happy with my first (half an exhaust) made so far. I'm hoping the exhaust doesn't have any drone

the exhaust will connect to the headers via 2" sleeve/clamp joints and there will be one more sleeve post resonator (2.5")so that the exhaust can break down in 2 pieces. I'm going to have to figure out hangers after I get it all mocked into position.

[s14brent]

Been a while! I'm back in vegas and I've finally started to work on the e30 again! (slow progress) The swamp cooler is great if there's no humidity in the air....which isn't the case right now.

I got back and had to fix a few things on the e36 m3, had a bad precat o2 and needed a battery charge since it sat in the heat while I was gone. I also found a paint matched pre-facelift nose panel. I like the recessed kidney style even thought it backdates my car more.

I also found a small oil leak at the oil cooler thermostat on the e30 which I took care of immediately. short video of car running. not sure why it sounds so quiet (must be muffled by phone case!)



The nakamichi wiring harness came in, wired it up. and now I've realized I don't get any radio stations due to my lack of an antenna. (will look into a z3 or other upgrades when I have time to care)



I have to check out my digital voltometer wiring, I think I pinched one of those small wires somewhere.



I also sold my condor "tall" shiftknob, I didn't like how long the shifts felt even with the z3 shifter. I also had a zhp collecting dust. I like the way it looks/feels.



The race bucket is starting to irritate me, (how it doesnt match the interior at all) - I might look into some recaro ls/lx series seats in the future.

I also misplaced some of the hood mounting pieces. I went to the junkyard and found a 86 325e with the front end still in tact. I grabbed the pieces off of that, probably won't paint match since I'm anxious to just throw a hood on and go off for an alignment and have my exhaust thrown on.

I have to raise the car a good inch before I take it out though.



This is the current ground to skidplate clearance.... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[s14brent]

small update. I got a smaller sized mobile swamp cooler for the garage. It's working GREAT in this desert summer. Had to hire a plumber to add a water spigot in the garage for ease of use.



Being cooler in the garage I finally moved some things around the single car garage so i could start working under the dash of the e30. I really hate going under there....my body still aches!!

While I was under there I replaced the clutch master cylinder, hardline, soft braided hose that goes to the reservoir, akg brake and clutch pedal bushings and a few grommets (3 total i think) and a new spring on the accelerator pedal.
The throttle cable is new so that one was taken care of earlier - also when I noticed all the other grommets were pretty much missing! I am leaving town for a few weeks. I didn't want to chance losing all these small grommets.





i did the clutch pedal bushing on my e36, and thought it would be just as straight forward. I had no idea the brake pedal bushing needed to be pressed out (deformed thing in pic below). I had to dremel a small lip on one side of the brake pedal to fit the new bushing also vs just crushing it in there. overall very smooth install, while the brake pedal was out I tightened the brake booster down tight since it's a lot easier to access with everything out. Everything seems very tight in comparison to prior. I can't wait to start driving this thing!!





no real picture updates from here, but the car now has both clutch and brake pedal pressure which is HUGE! I can drive the car around the neighborhood if i ziptie the o2 sensor somewhere for now!!

oh yeah....I tried to weld up the garagistic differential reinforcements, but I ran out of gas



----Small e36 m3 update.

i found a stromung exhaust locally for sale. I missed the one on my e30 soo much that i had to have it! I was hoping it would be a little louder than the dinan v2 I had on there, it is by just the slightest, but i guess I was hoping for more. Either way, love it! gotta find a home for the dinan now! sort of thinking of putting it on the cosmos sedan I have out on loan, but that's pointless and i'd rather pocket the cash.



I forgot...I threw a CEL prior to exhaust install, bank 1-3 o2 sensor went bad, luckily i had one from my e30' s52 to throw in. code cleared instantly. awesome!

I also installed a Jwest Engineering steering wheel spacer on the m3, so i could see the top of my gauges again. I wish I could put one on my e30, but with the momo to nardi adapter and the deep dish nardi, I don't think it will work, it will be too close for comfort.



I leave on the 10th, I wish I had time to get an alignment and have the exhaust welded up, but at least I have a few things to look forward to when I get back!

[s14brent]

not much of an update, but made a little progress.

changed the front skidplate hardware to countersunk bolts.



much better



spaced down for optimal clearance.



in other news, i got my new tires from tire rack. i totally fu***d up on e30 front tire size. I may just use them for the rears. ibshouldawent2054516




a local e30 guy was clearing out his garage, picked up subframe with akg toe/camber adjustment and garagistic (i believe thats what he said) subframe bushings. I went ahead and placed an order for garagistic differential reinforcement plates,l trailing arm reinforcements and sway bar reinforcement plates. I'll prep the rear subframe for welding when the parts come in. The trailing arms will probably have to be done whenever i drop the existing subframe in the car.



I started to bolt up the front end again so it looks like an e30 again!! Had to make a few modifications to the front valance to fit with the additional 90 degree fitting at the oil cooler. I still have a bit of gap on the passenger side, not really sure why.....



I decided to inspect the braided line on the reservoir that goes to clutch master, and it's in worse shape than i thought. One thing led to another, I ended up ordering a new clutch master, akg bushings for brake & clutch pedal, new braided hose/firewall grommet. it's probably going to be a huge PITA with the current car location.

----------------------

offtopic...getting ready to do some work on the e36 m3. I've got an oil leak at the oil pan that's driving me nuts. I've been collecting parts for a while to take care of this. (new oil pickup, vac baffled oil pan, offset steering wheel spacer, oil change essentials and new ngk sparkplugs.) I also purchased new crush washers for the PS system.

First off tires. I took off my fiskes almost 6 mo ago due to cracking one on a pot hole. I got the wheel fixed about 3mo ago, and it's been sitting in a corner for too long. I ordered a set of 235/40 Dunlop vII Starspecs. Loving them so far. Had to raise the car to fit them though since I had something significantly smaller 205/40 on the 8" wheel prior.



test fitting the front and rear, I'm no longer running spacers. feels weird.



took the car straight for an alignment. very happy with the outcome. I took the car to get an ac recharge after. guy said I was low a full pound of freon. No wonder I was dying!!



added a few things to install on the e36.





Ever since I got the e30 gauges wired up I've wanted to install oil psi on my e36 (since I'm not sure if the previous owner welded or had a secure wire nut on the pump. I picked up the two vdo gauges locally (used) for a good price, and i had my parts list that I did on my e30, so I went ahead and ordered everything up. I love how oem looking the gauge pods are.