This thread rules- i just got caught up!! Where are you from in PA? I grew up in 19473.
Are you happy with the 257, or would you do a 252 if you did it all over?
Are you happy with the 257, or would you do a 252 if you did it all over?
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Thanks! I appreciate the recognition from a fellow HooptE owner. That's definitely in the area! I grew up in Kutztown before moving to University City in Philadelphia, Texas may burn up the paint but I'll take that over the PA rust.Originally posted by AWDBOB View Post
I think I would stick with the S257 actually. I posted in the E30 forced induction group on facebook that I would go with a 252 if I did it again, and a member with an identical setup had dyno numbers showing the S252 choking the M20 a bit on the top end, more boost needed for the S252 for the same power made with a S257. The S257 is still quite responsive imo, I'm able to build boost below 3k rpms and it will pull till redline. At the same time, I like that it's not so responsive that I can putt around town under the boost threshold so the blow off valve isn't going off left and right. During spirited driving as long as I'm in the right gear I'm really not fighting with lag.
tldr - I think the S252 is probably a great motorsport turbo and I think the S257 is great for a street car.Comment
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This post feels like more of a life update, but I’ve at least knocked out a bit of wrenching to share.
I’ve officially moved!
A two car garage with an apartment above is a car guy’s dream, but ultimately the fun had to end at some point. I’ll miss the space, I’m very proud of what I accomplished in the four years I spent there. I turbocharged the E30, learned to weld, engine swapped the 4Runner, fixed friend’s cars, and took on so many projects that have helped me turn into the wrench I am today. But I’ve also been ready to move on.
I may be back to driveway wrenching for now, but I’ve also moved in with my partner and I think it was time to make some life moves.
New space!
Worktruck put in some work during the move:
My neighbor gave me a lil E30 model as a moving away gift :’)
Condensing a two car garage into the space of a small single car was a feat in organization, but it’s starting to really feel like a “shop”. I’m also able to run an extension chord / air compressor line easily out the window to the driveway making wrenching a bit more convenient.
We’re also the proud new owner of a boat, so I’ll be updating about Project Cowabunga as well since R3vlimited seems to lack boat content.
Cleaning up them rivets!
Broke in the driveway by dumping coolant all over it while changing my sister’s water pump :)
Attempted two stepping again, parked with the other goat ropers at the dancehall.
Double checked a turbo M20 is faster than a naturally aspirated KA, mission passed.
Been mall crawling a lot lately so went “off-roading” to make sure 4wd still works.
Boss Hog!
Startled the farm animals with my atmospheric wastegate :(
Made the car veryyyyysppoookky for Halloween
Sister dressed up as the Trunchbull from Matilda, naturally we had to recreate the car lifting scene.
We even busted out the boat for some Old Gregg shenanigans:
Andddd back to the wrenching that was promised. Since the car lives outside now I replaced the door seals to keep as much water outside of the car as possible. I’m using the ones from CAtuned, pretty happy with the fitment and the quality. Worthwhile upgrade for the price point I think.
Pulled my cluster to replace the SI batteries and do a couple fun mods.
I’m really not experienced soldering, only the basics so this was my first time soldering on a circuit board. I used a solder sucker and some wick to get the batteries pulled. The hardest part was bending the SI battery tabs back to remove the batteries without damaging the board.
Managed to replace the batteries without ruining the board so this turned out to be a worthwhile risk.
Installed some extra boards for shift lights from E30 Innovative Goods. Pretty awesome piece for the other “race car” drivers out there who need shift reminders.
Adjusting the shift light start and end points:
Added a little lipstick to the needles, used Testors 1150TT red paint per AWDBOB’s recc:
Glued in some gauge rings too, really happy with how everything turned out. The shift lights are awesome, I need to adjust the points a bit but you hardly notice them during daily driving duties. But when you do get after it, they definitely add a bit of flair to the acceleration experience. I would recommend to all the other “race car” drivers out there.
That's all I've got for now. Happy wrenching y'all!Comment
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Started out 2025 doing something cool - Joined a Lemons team with friends. Picked up a shitbox E30 for $1k that's previously run Lemons before.
The Good:
* Came with safety equipment, fire suits, etc
* 5 lug swapped
* LSD
* Ton of spare parts
* Kind of decent "race" dash
The Bad:
* No engine or transmission
* Roll cage is REALLY low... likely in need of some modifcations
* Dented gas tank
Lemons is suppose to be "$500" cars with unlimited budgets on safety bits. We're hoping since we have some of the safety stuff out of the way we're starting in the negative with budget since Lemons numbers seem fudged anyway but who knows.
If the wheels of this vehicle end up on a track, that's success in my book. I've never been on a track and I think it would be an awesome experience getting to do that in an E30, even a dumpy one :)
Taking suggestions on a new theme:
RACE dash:
Dear god don't make me troubleshoot this harness:
Probably expired race suits and helmets:
Knocked out a road trip over christmas time. Drove from Austin to Asheville to Birmingham and back. All in about 2k miles and 40+ hours of driving, even clicked 280k miles in the 4Runner. What a machine!
Camped near Hot Springs, AR on our way to Asheville to see family. Only hiccup is we couldn't drive into our campsite, whoops lol. We slept in the parking lot instead since we have our camp setup in the back. Lake Ouachita was still beaituful to wake up to, even if it was in a parking lot.
Made it to Asheville! Obviously the first thing we did was head to a brewery where I parked next to this unit:
Romped around the mountains and pretended to need 4wd:
Once we had our fill of family time, we whipped down to Birmingham stopping for libations in Chatanooga along the way:
A beautiful sunset at an ugly gas station:
Made it to Birmingham! Spent New Years eve hanging with friends, eating, drinking, and trying not to get sick. We toured around the city and laid eyes on the Vulcan's big ass:
Continuing our tour we checked out the Barber Motorspots Museum. Incredible number of motorcycles and some cool cars too.
This was my favorite. The "Reading Standard". I grew up near Reading, PA and had no idea Reading ever had a motorcycle manufacturer. These bikes were known for reliablity and even did a cannonball run to prove it!
Proof there were cars there too:
Road trip over, it was time to get back to the Lemons team for our first build day. We managed to get the engine torn down and relocated to Ryan's garage.
The engine is nearly assembled now, I just hope we did it right!
Went for bike ride.
Or maybe I just had a beer in the woods with my bike?
After the long road trip I was feeling smitten with the 4Runners reliabilty. That was until it stopped starting after being parked in the driveway a couple weeks.
Found this cute little squirrel in the engine bay when I opened the hood, at least I thought it was cute until I realized what he was up to...
Completely wrecked the EFI wiring and more. Extremely frustating, but I guess it could have been worse.
Fixed up and moved to the street... where the 4Runner will live from now on. My only concern is the squirrel eating into the E30 wiring now. That'd be my nightmare...
Been doing some part procurement for the Lemons car. Scored a nice radiator and alternator off this poor vert.
Then I took the E30 out to Seguin, TX to pick up a transmission for the Lemons car.
Although I obviously wanted to help our team and score some more parts for us. A big reason I agreed to the drive was to go back to Seguin. A decade ago I pulled the E30 out of a trailer park in Seguin and we've been on a LOT of adventures since.
Looking forward to another decade of evolution with this old machine.
CHEERS R3V, probably wouldn't have enjoyed this car as much without you.
Speaking of joy, knocked out some maintence. Oil change, sparkplugs, and a tire rotation. I like that the direzzas aren't directional so you can get pretty wild with the rotations.
I've now put 27,000 miles on the turbo setup! Cracking 30k will feel like a nice miletstone.
2muchpowaa, glad I caught it before any others loosened up.
Can't forget the BOAT content. Built a transom for the rear, made sure to build it extra thicc so we can put a massive motor on the back.
Rebucked some rivets so it's less leaky.
That's it for now... I want to get started on some E30 rust repair, but we'll see how the other projects stack up.Comment
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