Corey's JDM-Tech 2

[Simple_Smith]

I don't know if the non-smiley euro ellips are the same as the smileys, but you might be able to loosen the screws on the backside and rotate the rear housing to flip the cutoff between RHD and LHD like the smileys. Might be a little tab and some markings on the backside where the front/back sections meet.

Oooh that's good to know. Might have to pull them out of the parts stash to check. I'd imagine they'd make them interchangeable for manufacturing ease, but simple things have been made much more complicated by engineers before.

[Northern]

original RHD cutoff Japanese spec headlights

I don't know if the non-smiley euro ellips are the same as the smileys, but you might be able to loosen the screws on the backside and rotate the rear housing to flip the cutoff between RHD and LHD like the smileys. Might be a little tab and some markings on the backside where the front/back sections meet.

[Ant118]

Pretty sick! Cool finding more JDM MTech 2 cars! I have a 2 tone black based car here in Canada, keep up the content keeps me motivated to finsih my S52 swap.

[2mAn]

Ok, that was an acceptable update.

Dont keep us in the dark, this car is cool

[Simple_Smith]

I like cars.

Aye I'm workin heree!

With a friendly amount of peer pressure, I'm returning to add a small update with not nearly enough pictures.


Over the winter I had spent a bunch of time on the sim rig turning laps in the DTM e30M3 and got motivated to add some DTM touches to my real world car. I ordered up a set of vented DTM style mirrors from a company in England. Upon receiving these fiberglass abominations and realizing I could have paid a lot less to be disappointed by a poorly fitting part I decided to head down a road I wanted to travel since buying my Japanese market car; Ganador mirrors. Some of you may be familiar with Ganador mirrors from seeing them on Japanese tuner cars from MR2s to Skylines to RX7s and more. If you know some of the cars they came on, you'll know they weren't available on German cars of the era. Since this project is a mix of OEM+ and period correct Japanese styled tuning, Ganadors and Regamasters were on the list for me from very close to the start. Since this was an experiment that I wasn't sure what would come of it, I ordered the cheapest Ganador reps I could find on eBay and set to work. The outside portion of the mirror (the shell that actually holds the mirror glass) is the same across all the Ganadors and cast aluminum bases are what differs vehicle to vehicle. My thought was to mount the mirror shell and supplied base to the door then mold my own bases to be 3D scanned then duplicated in 3D printed aluminum to replicate the originals as close as possible. After many revisions, many hours of applying body filler like clay, then sanding, reapplying filler, sanding that, etc. I finally got to a contour and profile that I liked. I then decided I wanted it to work with the OEM mirror seals so I added more filler and sanded, sanded, and sanded some more. Finally ended up with one driver side mirror base I was happy with and ready to be scanned and duplicated; first in plastic, then flipped (mirrored har har) to verify it will work as a passenger side mirror. Still in the process of getting it scanned and reprinted, as I think all of us can relate, life can get in the way.



Moving beyond some custom mirrors, I had also sourced the majority of the tools I needed to fill the large OEM tool kit I had added in the trunk. I found someone parting out e28s and they had a questionable rusty tool kit for $35 shipped that I decided was worth a try given the fact I'd likely never use them anyway. When I received them they were as pictured, rusty but not too terribly far gone. After some time on the bench grinder with a wire wheel most of the tools were looking good. The pliers I was certain were froze shut came apart with some PB Blaster and a bit of force. Gave them a quick paint job and set them in their new home. I'm still on the hunt for a large pair of channel locks and I also need to pull the trigger on the larger foam backing pad to apply to the trunk to get this off the checklist. I'm thinking a light application of acetone on the old foam will lift the glue and some spray adhesive will get the new foam in place.



Another small addition involved an email to Daniel Stern. I had swapped from the original RHD cutoff Japanese spec headlights to US ellipsoids last year and still wasn't satisfied with the output but didn't want to go to HID retrofits. I swapped from the generic 9012/9011 combo, which was an upgrade from the original 9006/9005s to Vosla +120 and HIR 9011s along with brighter reverse lights and 2700k fog lights. What a massive difference. Now they are comparable to modern cars and way way better night visibility. If anyone is feeling their lights are lackluster, send an email his way and he should be able to help you out. Very reasonably priced considering the insane mark-ups on headlights in auto parts stores.

The most recent change was to a set of Bridgestone Potenza RE71-RS tires in 215/45/16. This isn't the optimal sizing I wanted for this car aesthetically and when I was shopping for new tires I was originally set on the new "fast" 200tw, the Yokohama A052 in 225/45/16. At $280/ea they were nearly $100 more per tire than I had paid for my direzzas so that was a very tough pill to swallow. After going back and forth then finally watching a TireRack review video going over this year's competitive 200tw tires, I decided to go with the RE71-RS. They weren't the fastest tires tested but the drivers said they had the most feel and feedback and the A052s I was initially interested in didn't seem to communicate the grip levels as well. As much as I enjoy spirited driving, I'm not competing and feel and feedback are what is most important to me for this vehicle's goals. All the people I know that have run these tires absolutely love them so I'm excited to get them scrubbed in and up to temp on some mountain roads soon.

As for the fate of the ill fitting DTM mirrors, they're on the shelf collecting dust awaiting a burst of energy accompanied by a lull in the never ending to-do list that is home ownership and starting a family. I'm sure there will be a late night in the garage I'll pick them up and begin that process again.

[2mAn]

I like cars.

[Northern]

I am also ditching the 16s because of the 225/45R16 availability. Shame because they really look like the right size wheel on the 2dr cars.

[varg]

Shame about the fan clutch, they are flaky when cheap too, gotta get the expensive one. The 225/45/16 situation is really getting pretty dire. I have been on Toyo R1Rs for the past two tire changes and they're pretty good, but I have a feeling my next tire change on my E30 will be a wheel change as well because it's a few years away. The funny thing is the 225/50/16s for my FD are significantly cheaper than the 45s are for my E30.

[Simple_Smith]

Here are a few pics from the Canadians at the Gap trip in September. We stayed a few days at Deal's Gap then another 4 days near Asheville, driving the surrounding areas west to Tellico Plains, south to Highlands, east to Black Mountain, and north to Hot Springs. Ice cream was had, BBQ was eaten, beer was drank around the campfire, and a few of us got to meet a very nice Tennessee State Trooper. Over the years of coming down there for the strict purpose of spirited driving and eating good food, our group has become good friends with some of the locals and our Touge Tour Guide (check him out on youtube) set up a couple routes for us to check out since a lot of the main roads have been explored over the years and we're always looking for a new fun road to add to the rotation of favorites. This year the new addition was a small figure 8 loop around Lake James State Park east of Asheville. This years group was smaller than normal so we actually got some time to just relax and hit some breweries along the way. Driving days with no timeframe or destination can be some of the best, just goofing around with friends, talking shit, and enjoying the day and their company.




The return trip from Asheville also plagued me with a less than ideal car issue. The clutch fan failed on me and wasn't keeping the car properly cool when we got caught up in some bumper to bumper traffic in Kentucky so I cranked the heat on and sweat it out until we got through the traffic. Thankfully it was about a 6 minute stoppage so not the end of the world, just something to put in the FCP cart once I got home. As a side effect of a week's worth of spirited driving, my Direzza IIIs were at the wear bars for the return journey, which wasn't a problem until it started to rain. It felt like I was driving in snow. I was limited to 60mph on the highway trying to stay in the tire wake from the car in front of me, which would've been fine except the e30 was narrower than the van I was following so one side of the car was just wanting to push absolutely everywhere. Miserable conditions. At that point I was halfway through Ohio so I jumped off 75 and proceeded to take abandoned farm roads north back home to Michigan. It was actually quite pleasant cruising despite it adding quite a bit of time to the trip. Ended up getting home two hours later than projected and exhausted from the last several hours of rain driving.

My search for a 225/45/16 200tw tire to replace the spent Direzza IIIs begins. A052s would be awesome but not at $280/tire or whatever they currently are. Knew I should've bought another set of the Direzzas when they were on closeout. Another option is ditching the RegaMasters and going back to a TRM C1 15x8 and running a 245/40/15 but not sure how much I want to do that since there aren't any new tire tech 200tw in that sizing, just the tried and true Rival 1.5s. One notable mod I did do before the Canadians at the Gap trip was swap headlights to US Ellipsoids and retrofit 9011/9012 bulbs and aim them properly. Literal night and day difference from the Japanese spec H1s. I strongly recommend this to anyone that does any amount of nighttime driving. Properly aimed headlights are so often overlooked and can change your driving experience drastically depending on the conditions.

About a week later I started seeing the devastation from hurricane Helene take its toll on the area. The bar we stopped at in Hot Springs had their patio seating swept away by the rising waters of the French Broad along with a ton of other damage to the town. The pictures I've seen are truly heartbreaking knowing how much of their lives these people have put into their businesses and homes just ripped away, not to mention the folks that have died and the others that are just struggling to survive.

[Simple_Smith]

You live and learn, it's often times the simple things. On a multi-day adventure with others across most of southeastern AZ I jostled a battery connection loose on my truck. I thought it was a more serious electrical connection or alternator issue. You often times don't have the bandwidth to diagnose like you would if you were at home.

That reminds me of an issue I had with my dad's 85 Monte Carlo, weird weird electrical problem. It had just shut off on him while he was driving and we chased our tails on it for a while. You could take a test light from the negative battery terminal and ground it to the block and it would read 12v. Wild. After banging my head against the wall for entirely too long, we replaced the internally shorted battery and that was that. Weirdest problem I've come across when it comes to electrical work. I'm no wizard at electrical but given a wiring diagram and a test light I can solve most stuff unless its CAN related to the point I need additional tools. Or if a main relay jostles itself out of the harness apparently..

[Simple_Smith]

Sounds like an adventure! Some great roads around that area for sure.
Did you take many pictures?

Sometimes that's how it goes on a long trip, you're mentally and physically exhausted and poking around diagnosing seems like a big hurdle.
Glad you got home safe, it's nice to have family who can be there for you!

After 8 hours on the road and a lot of it driving through pouring rain, I just wanted to be home with the car, regardless of its running state. I didn't take a ton of pictures and I haven't resized any of them to host on r3v but I'll go through them in a bit to see if there are any worth posting. I'm super thankful that I have family members that I can rely on for support in a pinch and having a father with an interest in cars is huge. He's more into American muscle cars and has a pretty wicked small block S10 but its a great hobby to bond over despite the fact that we'd both be much more financially well off if we just both drove unmodified Japanese econoboxes, but what's the fun in that?

[Simple_Smith]

Yay vintage!

In Louisville Ky, welcome to caravan depending on how 2025 looks like.

Man I'd love to but I'm shooting for a trip to Japan instead of a Vintage trip. Definitely pencil me in for 2026 though!

[moatilliatta]

Yay vintage!

In Louisville Ky, welcome to caravan depending on how 2025 looks like.

[Panici]

Sounds like an adventure! Some great roads around that area for sure.
Did you take many pictures?

Since I was about an hour and a half from home at this point and not really in a headspace for diagnostics, I called my dad for a road rescue favor and he was there with his truck and car trailer in a couple hours and we got my car home in another two.

Sometimes that's how it goes on a long trip, you're mentally and physically exhausted and poking around diagnosing seems like a big hurdle.
Glad you got home safe, it's nice to have family who can be there for you!

[DEV0 E30]

After letting it sit a few days as I got back into my regular routine, I finally got the bentley manual [out of the back seat] and a test light [out of the glovebox], I started on the diagnostics. It didn't take long. The main relay had gotten jostled out of the harness to the point that it just wasn't making contact. Five minutes of diagnostics and the car fired right back up. Why I didn't do that on the side of the highway and get back on my way is beyond me. I try to prepare for all kinds of scenarios like this to keep me going while hundreds of miles from home by carrying all the tools I can think of needing for tearing down an M20, dropping trans, doing a timing belt, wheel bearing, etc. but just gave up on something as easy as looking at the main relay. And to top it off, a previous e30 had a main relay fail on me so I should've recognized this, although that was a no start issue, not a shut off while driving issue. I'm still a bit bothered by the fact I didn't diagnose this immediately and get back on the road.

You live and learn, it's often times the simple things. On a multi-day adventure with others across most of southeastern AZ I jostled a battery connection loose on my truck. I thought it was a more serious electrical connection or alternator issue. You often times don't have the bandwith to diagnose like you would if you were at home.