The big news is that I've finally settled into a place with a garage + storage, which has allowed me to pick away at things in the evenings.
I'm hoping the short move to the house will be the last time this car needs a trailer
Getting settled in and adding overhead storage in the garage + storage racks in the basement.
Project wise, I've procured the necessary items to run e46 brakes. After considering all options, including the usual e36 m3 items, the most cost effective and geometry friendly option seemed to have been the following:
Front:
- e36/e46 Hubs
- e46 325i Discs
- e46 325i Calipers
- e30 "spindle sleeve" to run 5 stud hubs and maintain e30 geometry
- e30 control arms
- Garagistic "Treehouse Style" lollipops
Rear
- z4 hubs pressed into the e30 bearing
- e46 325i Discs (e30 handbrake mechanism)
- e46 Calipers
All cleaned up
I'm just waiting on some new seals and brass guides for the sliders.
Due to the intake, I'm using a Massive booster delete with a VW 17/17 master cylinder. We'll see how it feels. I'm hoping that the 17mm master compliments the piston sizing of the 325i calipers, more so than the 330i or m3 options I was avoiding.
Given that I'll soon be 5 stud, I began looking for wheels. I wanted to stay 16" and somewhere in the 8J - 9J range.
I decided upon some Pontiac GTA wheels, which I've enlarged the hub bore to suit the new hubs that'll be going on the e30.
16X8 et16 Front
16X8 et0 Rear
With the aforementioned hub changes, my relative offset in front will visually look more like et0, as the e30 hub sleeves add approximately 15-17mm of track width at the front (on each side).
I'll decide upon tire sizing once I've set everything up.
In terms of the drivetrain, I've kept busy but have been putting off pulling the motor. I'll need to pull it once more in order to pull the CD009 tranny and modify the internals.
I've rebuilt the turbo. 100% balanced @ 1rpm in my own very hands.
Larger 440cc injectors with new o-rings
Old
New
I made oil pressure and return lines
I've tapped the 2JZ water neck to accommodate the stock e30 m20 water temp sensor. This, in conjunction with some of my other wiring should mean that everything on the cluster works except for the economy needle.
Power steering lines meandering around each other and avoiding the engine mount. Ignore the salty nature of everything, the car got a generous coating on the tow from NC to Canada. I'll need to repaint the engine block and a few other pieces as they've had 8 months to deteriorate while in storage.
I made up a template for mounting a 14" puller as flush as possible.
I still need to trim the metal shroud some more, but it should all work out
After that, I finished up the wiring. In theory, I'm only a starter lead away from firing the thing up again.
There is no real gain to starting it now however, as I very much need to pull the transmission before getting too far along.
The plan is to split the trans and cut the main selector rod in half. This will allow me to mount the following half way up the transmission, resulting in a shift lever that pops out in the same spot as the e30
That'll be one huge hurdle overcome, as I'd hate to sacrifice my interior and general ergonomics.
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