My new e30 resurrection project

dhithim · 05-14-2018, 07:35 AM

You spend a whole lot cheaper than I did LOL. $1k for a running car is awesome.

shawmcbigdis · 05-13-2018, 07:10 AM

Originally posted by Shu

You need to get down to the image file itself; it looks like you're attempting to embed the page in which the image resides, which isn't going to work, as you're finding. I would recommend setting up an Imgur account and embedding the images from there instead.

Thanks Shu, got it figured out, except it is embedding the full size pics, so I'll need to upload some resized ones because those are huge.

So over the last week I got the cooling system complete after the new clutch fan came in. Got the valves adjusted again, down to .009 and now the engine is nice and silent. Also replaced the speed sensor in the diff and the speedo seems to be working all the time now.

I'm continuing on my ill advised body work, and sanded down the roof and trunk lid. Put some bondo on the heavy scratches on the roof, then sprayed on primer. Need to sand that all down, then start laying paint. I still haven't finished the paint on the hood, so not sure when I will get around to this.

Next is remove the front grill and mirrors and repaint them, as they all all faded and gray as well.

Shu · 05-06-2018, 05:54 PM

You need to get down to the image file itself; it looks like you're attempting to embed the page in which the image resides, which isn't going to work, as you're finding. I would recommend setting up an Imgur account and embedding the images from there instead.

shawmcbigdis · 05-04-2018, 04:24 PM

I fixed all the links, so you can get to the pics now. Still can't get them to embed. Must be the size limit, not sure how to make Google photos resize for embedding.

shawmcbigdis · 05-04-2018, 04:00 PM

So because of the paint/body issues when I took the hood off to do the timing and cooling work I decided to try out the $50 roll on Rustoleum paint job on it.

Here is the hood scuffed up before being primed;

And here it is after 6 coats of rustoleum;

That pic, makes it look pretty good, but it's not that great up close. But it is a heck of a lot better than when it started.

The spoiler was oxidized also, so I sprayed a few coats of Plastidip on it. Before;

After;

I will probably attempt painting the trunk next, then the roof and pillars. Except for the passenger fender and door which I will replace when I have money/find a good deal on them. I may not repaint the vertical surfaces, since they aren't nearly as bad, and they are a lot trickier with the super thin paint used in the roll on method. The new door and fender will probably be a different color, but I can just paint them before I put them on.

shawmcbigdis · 05-04-2018, 03:49 PM

Originally posted by wworm

welcome to the club! $1k for a manual coupe is pretty damn cheap, I'd say. Unless the motor is about to blow up I'd say you didnt overpay at all. Waiting on a pic upload to really get an idea though. Hopefully its not dented and faded to all hell.

That's exactly what it is, dented and faded to hell.

The PO says he got cut off and ran off the road to avoid and ended up going through a barb wire fence. So passenger side front fender, door an rear quarter are all dented. Along with barb wire scraps on hood and roof.

Oh, and the front valance is missing, along with rear bumper and valance, if that's what it's called in the rear.

I want to change to Euro bumpers anyway, so no huge loss with it gone. It's an early model, so wont attempt to hack on the plastic bumpers but will do the Euro chrome if I can ever find them at a time I have money for them.

shawmcbigdis · 05-04-2018, 03:44 PM

This will be a super slow and long project. But that's what I've been wanting, something that I can just tinker with and have fun driving on the weekends and whatnot. I will only have maybe a couple hundred a month to put towards this, so I will just plod along at it.

First project was timing belt/cooling system. I didn't replace the radiator, because of said budget and I couldn't find any leaks. So new overflow tank, hoses, thermostat, timing belt, tensioner, water pump, spark plugs, valve cover and cam gaskets. Set the valve lash while I was in there. Turns out the kid I bought it from did something weird (or I did somehow) and ever single one of the old spark plug ends broke off in the plug wires. So also got new wires from BAV auto.

After putting everything back together and during the filling bleeding nightmare, I realized the clutch fan was bad. So I am waiting on a new one of those, and all the sensors, because I figure might as well at this point.

Oh, painted the valve cover with some high temp gloss black while I had it off.

Number 1 priority now is to take care of maintenance, and just get the basic stuff working. So cooling and timing is in progress. Oil change done, need to do trans and dif fluids soon.

Temp and gas gauge are the only ones that work. Well the speedo works occasionally. Tested the sensor in the diff and didn't have continuity, so I ordered a new one of those, hopefully that will fix the speedo. On the need to do soon list are speedometer gears to fix the odo, and a new SI board to fix tach and fuel mileage (I checked fuses and they are fine, so I am assuming it is the board)

But first, as you might have seen form the pics, I need a muffle. PO cut off the exhaust right after the cat. So that made for a fun drive home from Dallas to OKC when I bought it. Once the new clutch fan and sensors get here and I get the cooling system all bled that will be the next step. Nothing fancy, just going to go to an exhaust shop and get the cheapest thing they can give me. I was toying with he idea of some $90 ebay headers and cheap cat back. But gave up since that will probably cost more, be more of a hassle and give me nothing except look cool.

wworm · 05-04-2018, 03:03 PM

welcome to the club! $1k for a manual coupe is pretty damn cheap, I'd say. Unless the motor is about to blow up I'd say you didnt overpay at all. Waiting on a pic upload to really get an idea though. Hopefully its not dented and faded to all hell.