It's been a while since I've had an e30, after selling my AW 325is a couple of years back to Jason (tabasco), and I knew I'd have one again. Since the wife and I are getting into Club Racing and plan on kids in the near future, we decided to part with my DD, an '07 Tahoe and her DD, an '02 M3 cab (for sale thread here). When fellow Bf.c member Julius Pleaser listed his '91 small bumper 318ic with an M20 swap up for sale in the Georgia board, I knew I had to have it. Then an S52 practically fell into my lap after seeing it listed on Craigslist last week. The timing couldn't have been better.
Picked up the motor Saturday and hauled it up to The Racer's Market that evening:
Then drove to Birmingham Sunday morning to pick the car up. Clean example with ~130k on the chassis. Was apparently hit pretty hard in the rear, as the spare tire well, rear bumper cover and trunk have been replaced, the latter with a coupe trunk, thus eliminating the third brake light (an improvement, IMO). Put it on the alignment rack today and it is as straight as an arrow, so it looks like this is going to be a great basis for the project:
Seats, as you can see, will need reupholstering, and I'm considering my options. I actually like the blue cloth, and the blue top will look great with the wheels I've picked out. More on those at a later date. I have lots of plans for this thing, and we'll see just how far I take it. The wife and myself are incredibly excited to begin this project as I don't know of too many S52 swapped verts around, and none (that I know of) with forced induction, which might be a possibility with this thing. The Racer's Market will be doing the swap and I'll be doing some of the reinforcing/upgrading of everything else...you know, so the rear end doesn't fall out.
Big thanks to Bret and McCoy at TRM for letting me borrow their cherry picker and for always picking up the phone when I call. And thanks to Larry (Julius Pleaser) for he and his wife's professionalism and hospitality in the purchase of the vert. Definitely made it very easy for us.
I'll keep this thread updated with lots more pics as the project progresses over the following weeks, so keep a looksie here. Thanks for looking and I hope you guys enjoy keeping up with it!
Picked up the motor Saturday and hauled it up to The Racer's Market that evening:
Then drove to Birmingham Sunday morning to pick the car up. Clean example with ~130k on the chassis. Was apparently hit pretty hard in the rear, as the spare tire well, rear bumper cover and trunk have been replaced, the latter with a coupe trunk, thus eliminating the third brake light (an improvement, IMO). Put it on the alignment rack today and it is as straight as an arrow, so it looks like this is going to be a great basis for the project:
Seats, as you can see, will need reupholstering, and I'm considering my options. I actually like the blue cloth, and the blue top will look great with the wheels I've picked out. More on those at a later date. I have lots of plans for this thing, and we'll see just how far I take it. The wife and myself are incredibly excited to begin this project as I don't know of too many S52 swapped verts around, and none (that I know of) with forced induction, which might be a possibility with this thing. The Racer's Market will be doing the swap and I'll be doing some of the reinforcing/upgrading of everything else...you know, so the rear end doesn't fall out.
Big thanks to Bret and McCoy at TRM for letting me borrow their cherry picker and for always picking up the phone when I call. And thanks to Larry (Julius Pleaser) for he and his wife's professionalism and hospitality in the purchase of the vert. Definitely made it very easy for us.
I'll keep this thread updated with lots more pics as the project progresses over the following weeks, so keep a looksie here. Thanks for looking and I hope you guys enjoy keeping up with it!
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