cameras ready prepare to flash

[s14brent]

I took a few days off to drive out to Cedar City & Duck Creek, UT for the girlfriends bday. The Tacoma did awesome. I got stuck in some pretty torrential rain coming down the mountain on one of those days, the Falken Wildpeaks might be my favorite tire, but I've only tried nitto terragrapplers, & Bridgestone K02 in the same category tire but with my old frontier. They aren't really LOUD or uncomfortable on the streets, and they have phenomenal grip in the wet (expected with A/T 4W). I didn't even throw it in 4wd this trip and it was effortless.




As funny as it is, I got back and wanted to pick up where I left off on my mid-sized pit bike. Probably all the dirtbike envy I had on all the trails/mountains we visited tbh! The skid plate never really fit right, but I didn't want to throw on the super thin-pot metal skid plate back on. This skid is made of 3/16" 6061 aluminum, and it cost a big more than others that were available, so I definitely was going to make it work. the band saw, bench grinder, finger sander, router bit and tig were used, I had to use the router bit to be able to get a socket on the bikes drain plug and not make a giant mess every oil change.



finally some e30 content:

The condor 5 lug fcabs got delivered on Friday. Its about 3/4" or 18 mm shorter than the SLR fcabs all the way closed down. I did have to thin out the self-lubricating bushing they press inside of there. they are approx 18mm ID, and needed it to fit over LCA which was about 20mm. I will be keeping the SLR fcabs JIC and it'd be dumb for me to take that material off the SLR LCA.




They did the job though and put the wheel where it needed to be. I won't lie, i did use the finger sander on the bumper and sideskirt to give me maybe a few mm more of clearance on ea side...I'm still a bit confused why only the driver side changed so drastically though. condor did supply the fcabs with blue-zinc coated hardware (which are usually grade 12.9) so kudo's for that, but now the fcab is the lowest part hanging past the frame. It still has a ton of ground clearance though so I'm not worried! I already reached out to my alignment guy, i'll schedule a date in a couple weeks. I came back to Las Vegas to record high temps which was 114°F and 30% humidity, so I don't want to drive the car with no AC, it honestly sounds miserable and i'm dreading it. It's very exciting to make some progress.



with the high temps I mentioned earlier, our local drift event got cancelled this weekend due to high heat warning. makes sense unfortunately! I was contemplating just driving one of the bmw's out just to hang/support staff after dark.

07/31 edit:





I did the slowest test drive behind the neighborhood, I think the car is officially ready to make the trip to the alignment shop. I triple checked all suspension bits front and rear have been tightened down to either spec or good enuf. Most of the bolts were used with orange loctite if they are adjustable, mounting bolts were used with blue loctite. I really need to relearn the whole crowfoot wrench+torque wrench math OR find a dedicated crowfoot torque wrench to possibly add into the tool box. So far, there are no signs of leaks (water/fuel/oil) and the car feels super solid so far. I kind of want to bleed the brakes one more time, the 996 front calipers feels fine with the e28 brake master cylinder, but I think i may prefer larger with for a stiffer feel, I'll have to put some miles on it before making any decisions. The solid akg engine/trans mounts haven't made their existence known yet because at the slower speeds it all feels the same - or i'm just numb at this point. Saturday's high is supposed to be 111°F to kind of explain the weather here - we've been having extreme heat warnings every single day for the past month now.. I guess there is no rush, but an august night event would be fun to partake if possible vs going straight to an IFO event in December. For some reason there is nothing on the calendar for Sept/Oct/Nov locally...I guess I'll have a bit longer to decide if I really want to fork out over a grand for tuning it on the LINK while (boring) NA. I also have been holding off on refinishing the style 32s so there is still a lot of things to decide on.

[econti]

Man its looking seriously good now though

[s14brent]

I ended up cutting some 9.6mm rack limiters, which were essentially 3mm shorter than the stacked set of spacers I was using beforehand (stacked pair in photo). I think* these should clear once this new issue is resolved. If not I have plenty of stock to cut spares. Note to self, I used 6061-T6 1.5"OD x0.188 wall x 1.124" ID



I finally installed the replacement slr high trail spindle studs that arrived a week ago. Install went super smooth probably because I've done it 5-6x already LOL.I threw in the 9.6mm rack limiters while I was down there. I am a bit confused though, nothing else was changed or adjusted, just swapped out the blocks out and the driver side seemed to gain positive caster (wheel moved toward the inner fender). I'm so confused about this. I'm actually leaving out of town for a few days so I was happy to get the car back off jack stands, but now I'm even more annoyed, as the passenger side seems to have not changed. I know what I'll be thinking about the next few days now. I did throw on my pair of H&R 5mm spacers on the volks and took off the 10mm motorsport hardware spacers. I had to get rid of some of the poke up front. Anyways... I ordered condors e30 5 lug conversion fcabs since they definitely look like they are shorter than the slrspeed adjustable fcabs closed all the way down - I actually didn't know these existed, and was going to order SRS' version, but the condor ones look to be higher quality and should promote more negative caster.



I already ran into some issues with that manual tire changer unfortunately. I even spent some time reinforcing the base and welding the joints/filling the gaps where the factory didn't. I guess you can't really force the mounting operation with it, the shovel arm and bar assembly (which are key components to the rotating assembly) are made of pot metal apparently so I'm waiting to hear back if they will send me replacement parts...When I get the new parts, I'll have to gusset/reinforce them as well. After all of this....I'm actually considering buying a used full size John Bean ehp system II (recently services/piston replaced on it) that's been up on marketplace for over a month now - the seller said he could arrange transportation, so that might just work out... I'd be able to do the reverse mount/dismounting all in-home which would be the ideal situation, the main problem is it will take up a good chunk of floor space in the garage. I plan on checking it out in person maybe end of next week when I'm back. As for garage space.....maybe I just keep the e39 touring parked out on the driveway. and have the e30/tacoma in the garage. That actually might be the best plan of attack for now.

[s14brent]

I haven't had time to do much work on the e30. Last thing I did was figure out the switch wiring for the radiator spray setup. The 3 prong switch wasn't labeled and was popping fuses, simple fix thankfully. I did have to cut up my last spare center console since the other one was cut up for gauge clearance. I did drill 2 holes, one for the 12v cigarette lighter and one for the radiator sprayer switch. Kinda sad to do all that drilling and chopping, but I've got limited garage time currently and I'm trying to button this up already and go get an alignment. I did try out Gyraline, but honestly I'm not getting the same readings consistently....I believe it to be user error or possibly not a completely flat surface to begin with. I need to deep dive in some how-to videos. Either way, its a little too much to deal with right now in the summer heat. I JUST got my replacement parts from SLRSPEED, so I'll be working on swapping out the stud and replacing the knuckle blocks again.



I did buy some aluminum stock to cut my own steering rack limiters while I'm under the front end of the car again. I'm tired of the whole stacking limiters or replacing the beat up worn delrin ones. I think I'm currently running 12mm limiters currently, and the plan is to cut new ones at 8-10mm to get as much angle as safely possible



I bought some TRDpro sema wheels for my Tacoma. They came wrapped in falken wildpeaks and I was getting quotes for $180+ just to change out the TPMS locally. That seemed absolutely ridiculous. I just threw them on and removed the 1.25" spydertrax spacers.



I ended up buying a manual tire machine so I could break the beads and do it myself. I will deal with the sensors later, I have to figure out what rubber valve stems fit these TPMS, I ordered some autel's but the click-in post was too big. Toyota valve stems are $18ea, It might be easier to just buy Autel sensors and reprogram them with the handheld tool I have. Will decide later. Here is the manual tire machine setup.



It also looks like I'll be doing some change up for the drift spares. I picked up a full set of e39 style 32's (17x8+20 & 17x9+26) Funny enough, style 32's are reverse mount due to the barrel drop center, so the manual tire machine wasn't really of much help here. I'm not sure, but I wonder if I can mount tires with the wheel face up. I'm actually going to dismount the two chrome style 32's and get rid of the pair because they're a little out of round, so maybe I'll find out this week if I decide to just remount the linglong 215/45's that came on the recently picked up set. After that I'll probably have the new set of style 32's refinished in something LOUD, the style 32's I bought have been rattle canned and would need to be stripped. There is also some curb damage, if it was just one problem I'd probably tackle that myself, but I also need to consider its summer and I shouldnt kill myself using aircraft remover and sanding in the 110°F. I'm probably not going to do white wheels again, even though they'd match best, I'm leaning on being a little obnoxious like a full set in High Viz yellow. I also thought about doing them in bronze to throw on the wagon but I think the wagon needs to be on 18s, the e39 touring looks way too big for 17s unfortunately.

[s14brent]

ran into some unexpected issues with the slrspeed high trail knuckle. been in talks with them, they'll be fixing the issue, sucks about timing though, they are in the middle of moving shop right now....meanwhile I'll have my friend try to hit it on his lathe.



noticed this gap when i would shine a light on it. which meant I had to uninstall these and reinstall the old set of blocks. The gap measured about .43mm with a feeler gauge.



That same feeler gauge does not match the height sticking out in the picture, I'm going to have the stud machined .5 mm and call it a day. I know he can get it done much faster than I would get the new studs from SLR anyways.



After torquing the front suspension to spec, I decided I wanted to eye-ball the rear camber and torque that down. Good thing I decided to throw on the TE's, I realized I need splined lug nuts for extra clearance.



I helped my friend press in some s13 subframe bushings and pressed out the studs from the slr knuckle blocks. I'm going to try and throw some locking casters on the press. It shouldn't be a safe idea, but I've seen so many YT'ers do bigger jobs with no issues. i really want to get my alignment taken care of!



I then reinstalled my old DME and had to clean up the old intake/MAF setup. I remember I tossed one of the t-bolt clamps due to wear. I went ahead and ordered another one. I was too worried about getting it to the tuner and having any potential leaks/problems and I also wanted to bleed the PS pump/rack. Something crazy is going on with that.....the AAE rack + SLR angle kit, i'm getting 1 (maybe 1.2) turns lock to lock?! I also took the time to label the relays in the trunk when I pulled the fuse for the LINK G4X, sad thing was I already forgot which was which!. I'll be keeping a baggie of spare fuses/relays in the car now JIC



Maybe I should still try to just slap a supercharger on this motor next year or something..... to justify paying these high tuning costs, I've been getting quotes and they're not bad.....but for a stock tune it kinda is a waste i feel. I have to look into it I guess, and see if the supercharger bracket works with the s54 oil filter housing/alternator mount. I really do like the simplicity of the oil cooler setup now, so that would be unfortunate if I had to revert back to a cap setup.





------- Later that day.....--------

I ended up getting home after work right as the sun was about to set so I decided to finally wash the e30. It had almost a years worth of caked up dust on it, and I wanted to take some photos of it clean.

[s14brent]

work has been kicking my ass, along with the 100°+ weather. I ended up getting hooked up with a primeweld 225x from a buddy who upgraded to a miller syncrowave 212. Both the primeweld and ahp are decently respected china-made machines (probably best bang for the buck) but the main difference is my machine was a 200a vs 225a and is just overall a little more refined in all areas it seems. I def noticed my AHP aluminum settings were HOT on the primeweld. My AHP was purchased in 2018 and the 225x i bought was only a year old, so I ended up selling my AHP with the pedal and torch from the primeweld because I wanted to keep my SSC pedal and CK torch setup since I have mine sleeved and cable tied with the finger pedal currently. I actually broke even on this trade so it just cost me my time. Primeweld just released a new version of the 225 this month after all these years actually!



I picked up the porsche/brembo caliper from my friend who milled the mounting boss down 12mm to run with e46 m3 (compact) rotors (this needs to be done to still clear 17" wheels - if you run 18's you can use this adapter kit with m3 comp/csl 345mm rotors)



brembo ceramic pads....quite different from the porsche pads that were in there...(i had to knock out that pin on all 4 pads) pad size is identical, as is the hardware.



e36 m3 rotor (315x28mm) vs e46 m3 (325x28mm)



I had to hit the top/side of the spindle ears with a grinder & flap disc to clear the adapter. did a quick overnight spray of vht epoxy/suspension black.



bolted the adapter on, 59ft lb for those two bolts



the calipers use a 12pt 1/2" nut that gets torqued at 35 ft lb's. I had to order some e46 rotor retaining screws. the e36 m3 ones are too large. brake lines are all hooked up, I'll need to pressure bleed this another day. I'm unfortunately out of garage time until maybe end of next week.

[s14brent]

I only say as a friend's E39 was hit in that manner with the battery still there and it was a debacle

yeah, that's a good call. that's the main reason i moved the battery tbh, I've seen one get smashed and battery acid got on EVERYTHING (including his nuke surge tank). The harness bundle is probably smaller than 2ga power wire, I'll tuck the harness up a little higher if i can, but I also may look into a quick release battery terminal in case of emergency.

[econti]

i feel like it would get more rubbing running the wires on the trunk floor edges through the back seat (like oem battery cable). Hopefully I'm not wrong, but i'll route it so it its only dangerous if it gets hit on the top of the rear quarter now that you mention it. thanks.

I only say as a friend's E39 was hit in that manner with the battery still there and it was a debacle

[s14brent]

Are you worried about the fuse setup being pinched if you get a rear quarter tap from a wall, or is that not really a worry?

i feel like it would get more rubbing running the wires on the trunk floor edges through the back seat (like oem battery cable). Hopefully I'm not wrong, but i'll route it so it its only dangerous if it gets hit on the top of the rear quarter now that you mention it. thanks.

[econti]

Are you worried about the fuse setup being pinched if you get a rear quarter tap from a wall, or is that not really a worry?

[s14brent]

I ended up finishing up all the wiring on the e30 this week. Most of the wait for was for TXL wire from prowire in 10/12/14/16/18 gauge. As of right now, only the top row of relays are in use right now. the power and ground are connected for the lower 3 but I removed the relays and the fuses for them. Those will be utilized in the near future, I also replaced the top 3 relays with bosch relays that took forever to arrive. First relay was wired to the fuel pump, second is IGN switched for my radiator sprayer and link gauges, 3rd is switched IGN for DME.



I didn't take many photos during this process but here's one with the covers on and as it sits currently.



I also replaced the grommets on the super old moroso battery box that i've had in my s14 and my s13 coupe. I also added a few more holes for the battery tender line and the distribution box power line. New positive terminal as well. Its easy to service the setup with this configuration.



I had to modify the dme mounting bracket to clear all the wiring coming out of the dme housing. Not sure if I'll try to do any additional cable management here. It's getting really HOT again in Vegas.



I had to dig out the old windows laptop to install the PCLINK software and update the firmware. Since its a newer version the install guide/menu items are slightly different than the manual step-by-step directions. I managed to unlock the ECU and did the MAP/TPS calibrations only.



I turned the car onto IGN and fuelpump fired right up, and gauges work! Everything seems good so far, I just need to identify the pressure sensors.



I also installed the SLRspeed High trail spindle blocks. I had to modify the ackerman spacers a bit since the locating pin length is different between the two. I actually ordered 2 more of them just to have as spares and I ordered the low clearance tie-rod bolt kit (i didn't know this existed). So I'll focus on the brakes and then torque everything when its all said and done.




I got word my Porsche/brembo brakes will be squeezed into this work week. I can confirm the e36 rally road brake lines for this kit is longer than the condor extended front brake lines so I will be upgrading the lines again as I'd prefer to have the 90 degree fitting at the caliper for tidy-er lines.
Meanwhile I'll be reading up and watching videos on Link ECU more closely and hopefully make some progress before I make some calls & an appointment with tuner. I want to make sure there are no issues before wasting more time x money!

[s14brent]

edit: 05/31 i cant seem to replace an img url if i accidentally post an image twice......whatever i made some progress so i'll just repost.

moving at a snails pace.....used some m6 rivnuts and 1/2" aluminum spacers to mount the relay box into the battery tray. I hope theres enough room to mount the power distribution block I'm waiting for.



I spent a little too long realizing a distribution block would be the way to go.



Second can-gauge and jumper harness got delivered, so I had to mock that up and tesa tape the jumper harness for a cleaner look.



Side quest Saturdays. I picked up a pair of 996 porsche oe brembo calipers locally. I already dropped it off at a friends' place to get the mounting boss shaved 12mm (to fit under 17s). I have some brembo pads and e46 m3 stoptech rotors on the way from rock auto, and also ordered the rallyroad mounting brackets and lines. I know its not a huge performance brake upgrade, but the weight drop per corner and ease of swapping pads at the track is a huge benefit imho!

I already ran the new txl wires I ordered from prowire + tesa taped from through the trunk in oe wiring location up to almost the a-pillar. routing the wires through the dash is going to be a bit more time consuming I'm sure. I'm probably going to replace the 12ga lines for the fuel pump for 10ga (while i'm in there). So I'm waiting on another order of wire for now.

I think I've decided to remove the factory parking brake and remove the lower dash/center console. (basically everything under the climate control). Less weight + clutter. It wasn't super secure in there anyways without the carpet to be honest, I just have to figure out what to do right now with the window switches. I was thinking about making an aluminum lower dash panel with the radiator sprayer, window switches, and 12v plug. Removing all that also gives me the option to change to a pull-up style hydraulic hand brake in the future, which would be a cleaner setup for sure.



I've been practicing my aluminum welds with the new finger pedal, I'm making slow progress on that as well but it's coming out a lot better than where i was a few weeks ago, so maybe i can just hot glue gun a few pieces of alum since this will probably be a temp setup. I swear I keep adding things to do and the project keeps getting pushed back, but I'm very pleased at this latest round of upgrades.



I got the distribution block from the same company as the relay block, so matchy-matchy! I spent way too long doing service loops on this one....I think it came out great - so it was worth it!



I had some 4awg stereo wire in storage and I ordered some 4ga copper terminals and crimped/punched it and then bent the connector in my vise. 1/2" aluminum spacers were used again for mounting, but I used some kawasaki aluminum JIS case bolts to mount this one. socket cap or 10mm was a PAIN to try to install since the mounts are kinda tucked in on very corner. I figure aluminum was a safer bet anyways. I'll probably re-run 10ga to the fuel pump and get rid of all the old wiring I did in the past, and actually start to wire up the different relays next week. I got my SLRSPEED tracking info so I'll be able to wrap this all up soon hopefully

[s14brent]

I got the right delphi pins finally so I was eager to finish up the wiring job......as soon as I was plugged it in the locking clip snapped...I hate how this goes sometimes.....



While waiting for the parts I cut up a 3.5" 45° intake tube and replaced the mishimoto intake tube since the other was getting a little "soft".



I also got finished up the other end of the can-extension with the deutsch DTM 4 way. I really like all these crimpers & strippers that I picked up lately.



Here we have the CAN-LAMBDA up top and CAN-Gauge on the bottom. I actually purchased another can-gauge and daisy chain cable to cut down on all the info on a single display. I'll need Water temp, oil temp/psi, fuel psi, and air fuel ratio split up between the two. I can also eventually throw boost psi onto one so its a future-proof purchase. I'm not going digital dash when i have under 240hp, that's just uncalled for LOL!



So when I was removing all the VDO 52mm gauges & wiring for them the thought came up to add a relay block under the dash. However, with how much the wires protrude past the blocks mount, I'm thinking of making an angled sheetmetal box and mounting it in the battery tray in the trunk. It will be 1000x more easily accessible. I need to go crawl back under the dash and figure out if i want to proceed with this. It's another sidequest I'm not sure I want to take on just yet.



and I finally got a "finger pedal" for my tig torch. I've been wanting one from 6061 (technically the "tig button", but this got announced right before i placed an order so I've been waiting for it to become available. I've only used it on some aluminum coupons so far, but it doesn't take long to get used too! And I gotta chill out on the tool purchases after this though!

[s14brent]

well i keep having to wait for parts....i ordered the wrong delphi connectors so I only got the bosch 5 pin wired up for now while I wait.



I got the c101 pins from falk mfg. I'd probably recommend 3 packs of 14-20ga pins and 1 pack of 12-14. The IGN coil (green pair) is a tight fit, but I didn't order a 10-12ga pack. Kind of hard to justify the 12-14 for just the starter pin and 10-12 for the ign coil pin (that makes it $10 per pin!)



I tried to tidy up the e36 engine harness bulk, its a lot cleaner without the bulk on the driver side now. Nothing was wrong with my soldered connections, but its nice to not have that! People complain a lot on the solder vs crimp arguement but i've been fine on a car with heavy NVH so whatever. I was struggling to get perfect crimps on the different types of pins....its a real challenge, some came out decent, some came out like a blind person did them......they all passed the tug test and locked in place - that's all that matters!



Since I got stuck I started to run the wideband/can-lambda. Its a tight fit (limited places to mount the control unit due to provided wire length). It is out of the way of the drive shaft and the steering column, so that's fine. I used 3m double sided tape behind it with some basic self tappers. I don't think it'll be a problem. I've seen a lot of cars just ziptie it to a random loom and be good lol.




In my head, the link can-ext cable (to connect the can lambda to the standalone) would work, but the connectors they use are HUGE and won't be able to go through the firewall without a giant hole+grommet. So instead, I ordered some 4 way deutsch connectors and another friggin crimper for 20ga closed barrel terminals. I'll just make my own, it will be much easier to run.

I am almost getting closer, no word from SLR on my order yet unfortunately! Progress is progress or whatever!

[s14brent]

Good morning, Love the fab work you have done to the E30. I did not read to far back so forgive me if I missed something. I am a GC in California. Let's talk mini split. With your fab skills you can easily do your own install. Some units come pre charged. What I have done in the past is use a Panasonic unit with everything needed to get heat and air so (head units, lines and condenser / heat pump). those supplied lines are not very long get an extra length if needed. If you're in need of a 20A 240V breaker and have space in the main panel that is also easy just use a conduit to protect the wire. Garages are not insulated well and if you're ceiling isn't insulated any unit you install is going to run continuously. Insulation can be a bigger job because you have to remove the garage contents. You as a homeowner can pull your own permit and they are going to just ask for a drawing mapping your work. If your unit needs to be charged you best to call an AC guy to do that and test the lines. Unfortunately, that not cheap job. The AC trade along with plumbing, electrical and roofing on home repair are expensive because most homeowners can't even change their own oil and the contractors know it. If you get a labor only quote, ask for the per hour rate and estimated time to do the job. $ 60.00 an hour is fair for these trades and 5k for an 8-hour shift is taking advantage. Vegas heat sucks.

thanks man, i've really been enjoying the whole learning process and i'm seeing better results here slowly. A lot of the things I've done on the e30 could be revisited and improved upon. I don't work in the trade so it's a lot slower learning process. Its also very costly "hobby" if you add things up at the end of the day. I'm actually almost relieved i'm pretty much out of garage floor space tbh.....I have been looking for tools i really have no space for.... ideally a tire machine would save time & money for sure, I'd love a quality stand up drill press that doesnt have chuck wobble and possibly a jd2 tube bender to build myself some bash bars for the first project.. I'm pretty sure I follow you on IG, you've been doing a ton of corvette cages right? killer work btw! (sorry if i have you mistaken). The pioneer unit is one of those precharged units but cheaper than say a mrcool unit. The cheapest kit comes with like 10ft install kit, and I was probably looking at getting the 16ft kit. My garage walls are definitely not insulated, and I'd really only plan to have it on when I'm working in the garage. I can't use swamp coolers, they attract the mosquitoes.. The main panel is right behind the work bench with the grinders so technically the lines won't have to be ran very far. I'm at the point where I'd want to attempt to DIY the minisplit, but yesterday was already 104°!! I have a feeling it might be an extra long summer here....I'd have to crawl through the attic space more than likely so its off the table for now, maybe 2027 if this next quote is high as well.
Also, I had the chance to test out the lincoln 3350 helmet. It is absolutely night and day - i'm super impressed by the viewability and not having that OG gambeboy green tinge anymore!