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Mission to the Cosmos

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    Mission to the Cosmos


    I did it again, I bought another one

    Hello, my name is Simon and Im an addict. I have a problem. I try hard, but I usually get bored with cars after about a year, some last longer, some less. I've been chasing this dream car, which I dont really know what it is. Its a car that can be daily driven, be fun to drive, be powerful and get good mpg and be legal... oh and reliable too. No problem, right?

    The Cirrusblau car was great but after a few "don't bite the hand that feeds you" episodes, our relationship wasn't the same. I was looking around again. By chance another r3ver was looking for a daily so we traded PMs, then texts and ultimately met up and that was it. Sold it and was on the hunt again.

    Now being daily-driver-less I had a few cars in mind, and I will save you the headache of hearing that nonsense. Ultimately, the day started with asking my friend, "Are you down for an adventure?" and led to me buying a last minute, one-way train ticket from Anaheim to San Diego with a pocket full of cash.


    Ex to the next

    I had been chatting with a woman in San Diego about her 1986 325e. It sounded like the 100% original car I had been wanting. Same requirements as the last car. 4 door, 325, and as original as possible. This was it. Paint is cosmosblau and all original. It had been garaged for most of its life, but after she stopped driving it, it was moved outside and the paint started to go. The roof is pretty much toast, but I was hoping I could save the hood and trunk.


    How about some pics now? We'll start with the craigslist pics.








    There was a few more, but they weren't very good. Lots of hints as to what I might find when I arrived. While sitting on the train heading south, I made a gameplan of what I would do if this worked out, and also if it didnt!..
    Obviously a 5-speed swap would be high on the list and I still have this strong desire to build a 2.8L M20. I'll probably do both at the same time. The other thing that needed to be done would be suspension and I had a feeling the SSRs would look great on this thing. It was all within reach, and I'd have some spare cash for registration and other surprises.

    After arriving in Old Town San Diego, I took a hike up to her place in Mission Hills. We greeted each other, she was a nice 70 year old woman. She handed me to keys and let me take it for a spin. I drove it alone... it was slow and had some obvious issues, but what else would you expect with it being an original 33 year old car with about 110k on it. She had the records going back to the original owner (she was the 2nd owner for the last 20 years) and was looking for someone to take good care of the car. She had refused to sell it a few times because the people coming to buy didnt seem like the right buyer. I was the right buyer.

    After the purchase was made, I took the slow cruise up I5 back to LA on an 8 year old timing belt that had only seen ~5k miles. Slow and steady she goes.




    Made it home with no issues.
    I think I found a keeper.
    Mission complete.

    Last edited by 2mAn; 03-25-2019, 10:53 AM.
    Simon
    Current Cars:
    -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

    Make R3V Great Again -2020

    #2
    I thought this was supposed to be a secret lol.
    I'm selling late model manual pedals if you want them for the 5 speed swap.

    Can't wait to see this gems transformation in a year.

    Comment


      #3
      Congratulations on the purchase! Sweet choice!

      Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

      Comment


        #4
        Awesome buy! A slow drive that is a nailbiter. Looking forward to the updates sir.

        Comment


          #5
          Now that I had a new car, the plan was in full swing. Bought the car on a sunday and on monday I took a long lunch break to go to garagistic to buy some parts, then to meet up with Kevan (Chilezen) to drop off the Strut Housings for the coilover conversion welding that he was going to help me with. After work, I went on the other journey up to the valley sitting in 405 and 101 post work traffic. Purchased some Euro smileys and brand new in box Koni's from r3v members.

          The odometer was stuck at 104,xxx. It had only done about 6-7k miles since that time. When I got home, I carefully took the cluster out, relishing in being the first to take most of this stuff apart. Rebuilt the cluster with garagistics' gears, and added some aluminum trim rings I had purchased a while ago and never installed.



          Workstation ready


          Old.


          New.


          Done.


          I wanted to advance the odometer to 110k but the drill method wasnt really cooperating with the speedy advancement, so I just stopped at 105k.

          The next issue was the sealed beams. I discovered on my way home that the driverside light wasnt working, and my back up plan to use the foglights to suppliment me also revealed a driverside fog that didnt work. Single sealed beam and single fog to get me around ... joy... surprisingly when I hit the high beams revealed that every light stayed on, but I didnt drive this way. I didnt want to be that guy who drove around with their high beams blinding everyone.




          Old.


          New.


          I also wanted to install the last front plate delete that I had, but this one was quite a bit short. Threw it away, trimmed the front plate mount and bent the plate back for aero (lol) and to not hate it as much as I hate front plates.

          The car survived the week and the timing belt job was scheduled for that saturday and this time, I didnt make the same mistake as before. I purchased a new water pump to go with the belt. Of course my friend needed to remind me what happened last time I skipped the water pump.


          Timing belt done on 3/19/19 with 105,075 on the odometer.


          Records.


          New Reservoir.


          Theres more to come. I already installed my Italvolanti, as that was basically the only thing that wasnt included with the Cirrusblau car when I sold it. Theres a few more things brewing this week, but I will share it all at once.

          Im quite happy with this car right now. Happy 3/25
          Simon
          Current Cars:
          -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

          Make R3V Great Again -2020

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Jokester View Post
            I thought this was supposed to be a secret lol.
            I'm selling late model manual pedals if you want them for the 5 speed swap.

            Can't wait to see this gems transformation in a year.
            Already got a 3rd pedal ;) Should have most of the other parts needed pretty soon.

            I was hoping to get a few more things done by today, but today was the day I wanted to reveal it... Thanks for keeping the secret and looking forward to you putting the work into the paint.

            Originally posted by Sonny View Post
            Congratulations on the purchase! Sweet choice!
            Originally posted by e30RS View Post
            Awesome buy! A slow drive that is a nailbiter. Looking forward to the updates sir.
            Thanks guys. I love early models. This will have the euro goodies eventually, representing the E30 the way it was originally designed.
            Simon
            Current Cars:
            -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

            Make R3V Great Again -2020

            Comment


              #7
              psyched for you! you're a sucker for manual swaps!

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by 2mAn View Post
                Already got a 3rd pedal ;) Should have most of the other parts needed pretty soon.



                I was hoping to get a few more things done by today, but today was the day I wanted to reveal it... Thanks for keeping the secret and looking forward to you putting the work into the paint.











                Thanks guys. I love early models. This will have the euro goodies eventually, representing the E30 the way it was originally designed.
                So I'm not the only one who prefers pre facelift? Nice!!! They sure are the nicest[emoji1] in my opinion. I figured there driven very gentle and especially the automatics there always tooken care of by good folks that had it 20 years or so.

                Manual transmission and facelifted bumper ready to go is usually falling apart and leaking everywhere you can think from kids screwing around. Especially suspension and the pain in the ass wheel bearings. Unless you get lucky and find a garage queen. Otherwise I believe in E30s most autos being better tooken care of then the manuals, enthusiast or not. That's if it's still running today and up to date. Still you know what your doing anyways.


                Sorry but you know more than me, just something I instantly realized dude to your post, smart! :) I'll remember this

                Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
                Last edited by Sonny; 03-25-2019, 10:28 AM.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Awwwyissssssss

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by amcp View Post
                    Awwwyissssssss
                    your turn to share! haha
                    Simon
                    Current Cars:
                    -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

                    Make R3V Great Again -2020

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Yeah, I've been slackin. I'll throw something together this wk as theres progress.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        You need some help

                        Good find though.. it's getting harder and harder to find unmolested specimens
                        Originally posted by wholepailofwater
                        Q
                        :devil:


                        WTB: Dove Grey e36 Front Door Panels (2 door)

                        Comment


                          #13
                          freakin freak yeah 4 door banGer

                          is there budget for paint soon for this one?
                          1984 Delphin 318i 2 door

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Nice find. Looking forward to seeing what you do with this one. :D

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Hi Simon, glad to hear about your addiction. Looking forward to seeing your work here. And remember, if you turn your fog lights sideways a little bit you'll be cooler and faster.

                              Instagram: Reichart12

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