A well travelled e30 - Cali to London. 84 coupe

[Cptcarisma]

Hey Guys,
How about a “GoFundMe” for Ben to ship his car back to the U.K.?!
Show a little R3vlimited brotherhood.

CAPP. :-)

[benwalsh91]

awesome road trip! I have been on the million dollar highway and it's totally a drive anyone needs to do, plus right after you can stop in Telluride and soak in the hot springs. Glad you liked UT. The whole state is beautiful to be honest, it's not just the southern parts.

Yes, i really wanted to head more northern and visit the Salt Lake City but time just wasn't on our side and i couldn't get there.

I would love to come back on a 2 week trip, spend a week in Utah then do a week in Colorado but i still don't think that would give me enough time!

There are so many places i want to come back and visit but there are also so many other places in the world i want to go and explore!

Hey Guys,
How about a “GoFundMe” for Ben to ship his car back to the U.K.?!
Show a little R3vlimited brotherhood.

CAPP. :-)

I like the idea but i wouldn't let other people pay for my stuff like that. Plus the shipping has all been paid for about 3 months ago, just been waiting for shipping dates.

When it gets to the UK it will not be registered nor will it have "road tax" (even though i will get an import tax at the port) i will not be allowed to have this car sit on a public road so it needs to be stored on a driveway or garage or on private property.

Whats been holding it up is more the lack of room plus me and my wife are looking at getting a new property soon and the e30 will not be allowed on the road for a minimum of 6 weeks if not longer so its more the logistics of that which has been holding me back with it being here.

It takes the DVLA (our version of the DMV) 6 weeks to register a car, when i get them registration documents i can then go about trying to register it which then takes the DVLA a few weeks to sort all that out and thats if its all correct first time around. Once i then have those documents received back i can then get the car MOT'd and then i can put road tax on the car. so realistically when the car actually gets to my driveway i still wont be able to drive it for 2-3 months. and by that time it will be winter and as its a cali car i am sure there isn't any underseal on the car so wouldn't want to drive it on our roads as they salt them. So chances are this car wont see the road until spring/summer 2020. Atleast i got time to do some work to it.

[benwalsh91]

Plus, i was really hoping i could find a way to stay, work and live in USA but it doesn't seem like its something i can do without any form of "work sponsorship" so it looks like i am staying in London.

[CubbyChowder]

Awesome read! I did a very similar road trip last year by myself in a Toyota 4Runner all over the western half of the US and Canada, hitting as many National Parks as I could (hit 22 total!) over the course of 3 months and covered just over 10,000 miles too. It was the trip of a lifetime just as you've described yours to be.

I'm currently restoring a 1973 BMW 2002 and plan to drive it cross country to the east coast and back when it's done. You might've passed through my hometown of San Luis Obispo when you were driving south of Big Sur on the PCH.

Reading through this got me itching to do it all over again, thanks for taking the time to document and share your travels!

[benwalsh91]

Awesome read! I did a very similar road trip last year by myself in a Toyota 4Runner all over the western half of the US and Canada, hitting as many National Parks as I could (hit 22 total!) over the course of 3 months and covered just over 10,000 miles too. It was the trip of a lifetime just as you've described yours to be.

I'm currently restoring a 1973 BMW 2002 and plan to drive it cross country to the east coast and back when it's done. You might've passed through my hometown of San Luis Obispo when you were driving south of Big Sur on the PCH.

Reading through this got me itching to do it all over again, thanks for taking the time to document and share your travels!

Honestly its the best thing i have ever done and i am so happy i got to experience it.

Doing it in an '02 will be amazing.

We plan on coming back soon and spending some time doing California again of which we will certainly be going back down the PCH.

----

In regards to the car and progress we are still waiting on the car to be collected but it should be real soon now.

I have a few bits waiting to be fitted to the car once it gets here and also i can then figure out a plan for the car. I pretty much know what i'm going to do to the car but i take a while collecting parts, doing my research and then i tend to go to work at it rather than doing bit by bit. I seem to have a big problem fitting nice new parts onto old unclean, dirty or rusty parts so i will be collecting nut and bolt everything to replace the entire suspension and brake set up on the car, everything originally such as the subframes will get powder-coated and "updated" and all bushes and other components replaced/upgraded with brand new items.

The car will not be staying stock but it will not be going crazy.

The plan i have in my head is to go a resto-mod style. Yes some things wont be to everyone's taste but it will be how me and my wife want it. plan is updated and new underneath but keeping a very OEM/period correct aesthetic feel to it. I cant wait for this part of the adventure to begin and all of you guys (and girls) to be on this adventure with me. It will be a long build but the plan is to do it right first time around.

I never plan on selling this car!

If anyone has a link to a good guide to restore the trim that would be great, with the car coming to England i will not be able to easily get trim for the car.

I have 88' front bumper trim on the car with the smaller side markers.

I have in the trunk of the car to be fitted 88 rear bumper trim, this is from a convertible and is painted white. i will want to get these painted to as close as i can get OEM black plastic finish on them. I will also be reconditioning a set of euro grills to make look new again too in whatever process i do the bumper trim.
also have 4x brand new from BMW marker lights for the bumper trim.

[rzerob]

My opinion to restore the trim is heat. Take a torch or heat gun over the plastic. Be careful you don't melt it. I have tried SEM trim paint and that works if you need to recondition a damaged, gouged or broken piece that needs some work already. But if there is nothing wrong with the piece except discoloration then I will use the heat method.

[jpod999]

Do you plan to get the car on the road in the UK ever, or track car to be towed only?

[agent]

Here are some of the items heading Ben's way:

[benwalsh91]

My opinion to restore the trim is heat. Take a torch or heat gun over the plastic. Be careful you don't melt it. I have tried SEM trim paint and that works if you need to recondition a damaged, gouged or broken piece that needs some work already. But if there is nothing wrong with the piece except discoloration then I will use the heat method.

The trim is white and i want it to be the factory black colour for the car as i am not a fan of colour coded trim. I have tried to find SEM pain over here but i can not find it anywhere, even Amazon!! but i shall have to find an equivalent or just buy it when i am back in America and take it home with me... but i am unsure the legalities/safety of taking something like that on a plane

Do you plan to get the car on the road in the UK ever, or track car to be towed only?

Oh the car will be a road car so going to go through the painful process of getting it UK road legal.

Here are some of the items heading Ben's way:

Thank you so much for all of this stuff, i will get that sorted my end for you!

[benwalsh91]

Where the car currently sits, waiting to be collected.

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

I promise next time i update this thread its with a photo of it being loaded on a truck and on its way to me!!

[benwalsh91]

So as the car is due to go i asked my friend to take plenty of photos around the car so if it turns up with any marks that wasn't on it before hand i have some form of evidence that it was there prior to shipping.

he sent me plenty but i thought i would just drop a few in here so we know at what point we are starting at with the car before i start chucking money at it.

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

That big ol' oil mark on the hood is where i topped the oil up in north Georgia, forgot to put the cap back on and drove all the way to Tampa with it off, done almost 9 hours of driving before i realised. the cap was still sitting in the engine bay after all that time on the freeway. topped it up with oil put the cap back on and she still drove asif nothing was wrong.

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

trusty old dog with almost 300k on it.

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

missing mirror glass, i have no idea where that went, it was there when i left the car.

also that black trim around only the door really really pisses me off. i can never not see it. need to get new trim but i am unsure if you can change it so i guess i will need to find a white early model door with chrome trim that i can chuck on there.

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

oh and also, seeing as a promised at the end of my last post...

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

[rzerob]

That trim can be removed. Just take you time it bends very easily. Ask me how I know.

[benwalsh91]

So, this has been a super long wait.

I have been just busy with life, things have been getting me down i feel like as soon as i start getting ahead on life something else drags me back down. its been hectic to say the least.

Cars for me was always an escape from every day life. Something to focus on and take me away from the real world or whats going on around us. This is why i never wanted to work with cars and i always wanted to keep it as a hobby, an escape.

Having no car or project car for the past year has been tough but on the other hand i have also been super busy. But now i guess i have one back in my life again.

Its finally home.

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr


My old man took delivery of the car as i am at work all day and due to them only telling me yesterday that the car was getting delivered today i couldn't get the day off work so the photos are pretty blury and terrible but they are better than nothing and i have something to document this moment with.

When the car arrived it wouldn't start, the battery appears to be dead which is understanding as it has been sitting at a port and on a boat for quite a while.

whats pissed me off is they clearly have used forks to move the car either on or off the boat and look at the state of this.

Untitled by Ben Walsh, on Flickr

Yes its fixable but its frustrating! but in the grand scheme of things its back with me and that's whats most important.

[moatilliatta]

Great stuff! I’ve been dyeing just take my own E30 through the states on a trip like that!

Good Insperation.

I like diving boards!

[freeride53]

Congrats!