Wow, Has it really been almost 2 years since I updated this?
Approaching 3 years since the dumpster fire's swap was first on the road. and I have a few thoughts.
First and foremost, Was it worth it?
YES. 100% yes. This was the single best thing I have ever done to my E30. This swap is so much fun, and it can be squirrely and sketchy, but so much fun.
Some improvements I need to make:
I NEED to sort out the brakes better than what I have now. I need to eliminate the ABS, and make some new lines to get rid of the ABS pump. I need to also tune the Bias in a little more, But my remote adjuster came unbolted from the bias bar on the pedal cluster. So I'll have to pull the dash and maybe remove the pedal cluster to make the adjustment. Thinking I'll probably clearance the Garagistic mount to make it easier for the remote adjuster, and future adjustment. I'll probably drill and pin the adjuster onto the adjustment bar also.
I really REALLY need to go to coilovers. I've had issue with blowing valve bodies on the shocks out, when I bottom them out. So I have 2 options, Shorten the front housings and use shorted inserts, and run the Camaro rear shocks. Or I can go with coilovers.
At a minimum I'm going to run coilovers in the front. for the rear I may do true coilovers, and go away from the divorced coil/shock setup. I have to look into what reinforcements and changes I need to do for the body and mounting points to accept this though. I can't see it being a simple bolt in for the rear. Given that the rear points are designed to support shocks, Not shocks, springs and full weight of the car throughout the range of use. The other option I considered for the rear is staying with a static spring in the rear, and using Camaro shocks. I need to figure out what my spring weight need to be. I have a buddy that use to race and crew chief for a circle track, and flat track team. He has corner scales, and knows how to make the calculations.
All of the above said about coilovers, I still want to do a 5 lug swap sometime, so I will probably hold off until after I have done the swap. Mainly because I have not decided which method I want to use for the front. The rear, I'm going to find some E36 Ti rear swing arms.
Wheels and tires are a must. I'm still rolling on stock bottle caps, and 195's....Holy crap, traction is not a thing with this width. I've got a couple of ideas for wheels, But like the coilovers, I need to wait for the 5 lug swap to happen first. I'm thinking basic Steel D-hole wheels, might be cool, but they are heavy. I'm still exploring options. I would love to get at least 225's under it, But I gotta see what my offset and feasibility of that width is. Fender Flares might be an option.
Rear Axles. I have now shattered 2 inner CV axles. It's usually on hard acceleration, or burnouts, and making the 1st to 2nd shift. Lucky, The first time I broke an axle, I was near a friend house, and he towed me home, and the 2nd time I was only like 3 blocks away from home. Not sure if there is a "Factory" upgrade for the axles. I've found aftermarket axles, rated to up to 800hp. I just gotta find the funds.....
Garagistic parts have been awesome. I have not had a single issue with any of them, With the exception of the outboard camber/toe adjusters on my rear subframe. It seems to be impossible to get wrenches on them to make adjustments. Right now, I have quite a bit of toe in on both rear tires because I didn't make the right adjustment when I installed the subframe. The inner/camber ones are great, and were well worth the effort! The engine mounting arms, bushings, subframe spacers, and all the other parts have been great. I'm looking at getting rid of "Ghetto shifter 2.0" and going to one of their new solid mount shifters in the future.
Overall, I am still really happy with the swap. Right now I'm not driving it much, because It really needs an oil change, and a service. But I'm kinda in a tough financial situation right now, and really don't have the money to drop on a thorough service. In the near future, I'm going to pull the drivetrain again, to make re-doing the brake lines easier, and I have a few other things that will be easier with the motor out, Like the heater hoses on the back of the motor.
In addition, I'm working on another project. I got my hands on my great-grandfather's '36 chevy truck, and it's rusty as hell, so I'm building a hotrod out of it. But Like I said before, I'm in a tough financial situation, so funds are limited to non-existent. I'm doing body working, and reworking/reviving rusted parts, like hinges.
I'll try to Keep this updates as I start working on the dumpster fire again.
Approaching 3 years since the dumpster fire's swap was first on the road. and I have a few thoughts.
First and foremost, Was it worth it?
YES. 100% yes. This was the single best thing I have ever done to my E30. This swap is so much fun, and it can be squirrely and sketchy, but so much fun.
Some improvements I need to make:
I NEED to sort out the brakes better than what I have now. I need to eliminate the ABS, and make some new lines to get rid of the ABS pump. I need to also tune the Bias in a little more, But my remote adjuster came unbolted from the bias bar on the pedal cluster. So I'll have to pull the dash and maybe remove the pedal cluster to make the adjustment. Thinking I'll probably clearance the Garagistic mount to make it easier for the remote adjuster, and future adjustment. I'll probably drill and pin the adjuster onto the adjustment bar also.
I really REALLY need to go to coilovers. I've had issue with blowing valve bodies on the shocks out, when I bottom them out. So I have 2 options, Shorten the front housings and use shorted inserts, and run the Camaro rear shocks. Or I can go with coilovers.
At a minimum I'm going to run coilovers in the front. for the rear I may do true coilovers, and go away from the divorced coil/shock setup. I have to look into what reinforcements and changes I need to do for the body and mounting points to accept this though. I can't see it being a simple bolt in for the rear. Given that the rear points are designed to support shocks, Not shocks, springs and full weight of the car throughout the range of use. The other option I considered for the rear is staying with a static spring in the rear, and using Camaro shocks. I need to figure out what my spring weight need to be. I have a buddy that use to race and crew chief for a circle track, and flat track team. He has corner scales, and knows how to make the calculations.
All of the above said about coilovers, I still want to do a 5 lug swap sometime, so I will probably hold off until after I have done the swap. Mainly because I have not decided which method I want to use for the front. The rear, I'm going to find some E36 Ti rear swing arms.
Wheels and tires are a must. I'm still rolling on stock bottle caps, and 195's....Holy crap, traction is not a thing with this width. I've got a couple of ideas for wheels, But like the coilovers, I need to wait for the 5 lug swap to happen first. I'm thinking basic Steel D-hole wheels, might be cool, but they are heavy. I'm still exploring options. I would love to get at least 225's under it, But I gotta see what my offset and feasibility of that width is. Fender Flares might be an option.
Rear Axles. I have now shattered 2 inner CV axles. It's usually on hard acceleration, or burnouts, and making the 1st to 2nd shift. Lucky, The first time I broke an axle, I was near a friend house, and he towed me home, and the 2nd time I was only like 3 blocks away from home. Not sure if there is a "Factory" upgrade for the axles. I've found aftermarket axles, rated to up to 800hp. I just gotta find the funds.....
Garagistic parts have been awesome. I have not had a single issue with any of them, With the exception of the outboard camber/toe adjusters on my rear subframe. It seems to be impossible to get wrenches on them to make adjustments. Right now, I have quite a bit of toe in on both rear tires because I didn't make the right adjustment when I installed the subframe. The inner/camber ones are great, and were well worth the effort! The engine mounting arms, bushings, subframe spacers, and all the other parts have been great. I'm looking at getting rid of "Ghetto shifter 2.0" and going to one of their new solid mount shifters in the future.
Overall, I am still really happy with the swap. Right now I'm not driving it much, because It really needs an oil change, and a service. But I'm kinda in a tough financial situation right now, and really don't have the money to drop on a thorough service. In the near future, I'm going to pull the drivetrain again, to make re-doing the brake lines easier, and I have a few other things that will be easier with the motor out, Like the heater hoses on the back of the motor.
In addition, I'm working on another project. I got my hands on my great-grandfather's '36 chevy truck, and it's rusty as hell, so I'm building a hotrod out of it. But Like I said before, I'm in a tough financial situation, so funds are limited to non-existent. I'm doing body working, and reworking/reviving rusted parts, like hinges.
I'll try to Keep this updates as I start working on the dumpster fire again.
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