1984 325e Turbo Resurrection

[atmh]

What a parts collection! I'm excited to see it all come together.

I've gone down to the Chula Vista yards for parts twice, came back empty handed both times. Stuff is always so picked out there from my experience. I've had some better luck at the yard up here in Oceanside, just got a z3 rack yesterday and I've gotten some other stuff in the past. Still hard to get good stuff though. Can definitely agree about spending a bunch at the yard, just spent almost 400 in one run on prelude parts since I figured I'd never see a second gen again lol.

Yeah, it was picked of the good stuff really quickly. It possibly had a crack free dash, projector headlights, and of course the 885 head, all of which was gone within 24hrs. The part that was really frustrating for me was that some stuff was just busted for no apparent reason. The three spoke steering wheel was broken and the hood linkage. I need the hood linkage and the steering wheel is actually worth kinda something, but they were broken for no apparent reason. :(

Oceanside is an hour away and with a full time job and a toddler it's just hard to get up there during business hours. The yards in Chula Vista are only about 15 mins from my house.

I'm any case I got most of what I need. I did a Carfax on that vert and it was a NY car for most of its life, which explains why all the subframes and some underbody stuff I might have wanted was fairly rusty.

[Panici]

Love the thread and the backstory.
Very exciting for you to get a 2nd chance on a project long abandoned!

Subscribed and looking forward to updates.

[OBD2]

Fun looking project.

I took a slightly different approach to my rusty early model project since my motor was in decent condition. As to not have my garage completely filled with parts and to avoid getting overwhelmed, I started from the rear and will work my way towards the front. Rust repair is a PITA. You seem detail oriented, so it will be an even bigger PITA. Buy a welder and get to it.

[McGyver]

How's this going? No updates in a while.

[atmh]

How's this going? No updates in a while.

Yeah, summer is probably my slowest season for getting projects done, and this spring was particularly busy, too. Also, I was trying to post updates with photos and want to switch to a different photo host than r3v (I want to be able to post higher resolution, and more photos per post) and just haven't taken the time to do that. But here's a quick overview of some of the things that are in the works:

• I ended up pulling the whole block from the convertible 325i back in March. It was kinda rusty on the outside, but I figured getting the internals was worth it to me. Unfortunately I discovered after the fact that despite all the effort to pull a block, they're actually not cheap and probably one of the worst "value" items from the junkyard. I think you can buy them from people doing M50 swaps for cheaper and less elbow grease. I did this because I wanted a new casting (due to the head threads being stripped on my casting) and because I wanted the i internals. Some people have claimed that the i motor has such better combustion chamber geometry that it can actually take more boost than an e/i hybrid, despite having higher compression. It will be years before I test this theory, if ever.
• A 325i coupe showed up at the junkyard a few months back, as well. I went there to pull the entire rear suspension and front subframe, since mine are all super rusty and I needed the "big bearing" trailing arms for my planned 5-lug swap (using a Z4 rear hub).
• While I was there, I realized the whole chassis was rust free. Kinda made me wonder why I'm futzing around with a rust-bucket from New England, but none-the-less I decided to keep futzing: I chopped the whole roof off so I have a donor for the sunroof repair that I'll eventually need to do. I also pulled a piece of frame rail (underneath the driver's feet) that is rusty on my car. There was lots of other good sheet metal, but I didn't have time to pull other sections.
• As it happens, around this time a guy on this board (rudy) was liquidating some of his inventory, so I stopped by his place and picked up a full 325i motor (less valves, since they were all bent) complete with engine stand, harness, multiple intake manifolds, a 325i valve cover (which I somehow still didn't have, but needed) and just a whole bunch of misc items, some of which I need, some of which I plan on reselling.
• I realized that I was amassing lots and lots of parts, many of which weren't being labeled and put into storage because they're super dirty/greasy, and they were just piling up in a queue to be cleaned. So I've been spending the last month or so putting together a parts washing station. Never one to take the easy way out, I decided to modify the hell out of a Harbor Freight unit. Still a work in progress.
• I'm trying to finish up some other projects, which has taken more time and energy than I anticipated (although that's not surprising). Trying to get some woodworking finished and listed for sale online or in a consignment shop, as I want to get this stuff done before I start doing a lot of metal work, since the metal work can damage the wood (either through welding/grinding burns or just being in a greasy/metal dust environment)
• With all that said, I'm *very* close to having everything I need to complete the 5-lug swap, and a reasonable next step would be to get the car sitting on the full 5-lug suspension since I want to test fit this before stripping the chassis down and fixing all the rust. These things aren't necessarily straightforward though, since it might make sense to weld in the subframe and TA reinforcements *before* I do the swap, but that means I need to practice welding and get the stuff powder coated, which are both projects in and of themselves.

So that's the current state of things! I'll get some photos up at some point for those that would rather see than read about the progress. :)

[2mAn]

Lots of progress!... sort of haha

[atmh]

Lots of progress!... sort of haha

Yes, exactly. I just don't have the time to do this project quickly - some people seem setup to completely rebuild a car in a year, but I expect this project to take me ~3 years before it's road worthy, which probably means it's going to be more like 5 years. Turns out going through an *ENTIRE* vehicle is no small undertaking, and doing it in stages is not the most efficient way, but has other benefits (reduced inventory, car is that much closer to being a rolling chassis in the event I need to move it, easier to remember where all the parts go, etc).

I'm actually a year in at this point, and have hardly done any actual work to the car itself. It's almost all been prep work. Either way, if you just keep chipping away at it one piece at a time, progress is made. I thought I was working pretty slowly, but typing that all out I'm actually pretty happy with the progress over the last 5 months. If I can get my other projects cleared out of the way, I should be able to strip the car down to the chassis this winter and start doing rust repair in full force. I honestly didn't even realize how much work I needed to do to just get my shop setup. Doing a full rebuild requires a lot more tools than occasionally changing the oil or brakes on a car. I still don't actually have a bench vice, because I don't have a bench to mount it to: Another one of the many projects I'm trying to wrap up before digging deep on the e30.

[McGyver]

I realized that I was amassing lots and lots of parts, many of which weren't being labeled and put into storage because they're super dirty/greasy, and they were just piling up in a queue to be cleaned. So I've been spending the last month or so putting together a parts washing station. Never one to take the easy way out, I decided to modify the hell out of a Harbor Freight unit. Still a work in progress.

Well show us some pictures of this!

It's amazing how long car projects get dragged out when life gets in the way. I started building a MegaSquirt for a turbo project back in 2020. It seems like it should work, and now it's sitting in a box in a storage unit and I don't have a garage. I guess I'll shoot for 2023!

[Panici]

Yes, exactly. I just don't have the time to do this project quickly - some people seem setup to completely rebuild a car in a year, but I expect this project to take me ~3 years before it's road worthy, which probably means it's going to be more like 5 years. Turns out going through an *ENTIRE* vehicle is no small undertaking, and doing it in stages is not the most efficient way, but has other benefits (reduced inventory, car is that much closer to being a rolling chassis in the event I need to move it, easier to remember where all the parts go, etc).

It's not a race. I'm on year 8 of my E30 project, and am still not "done".
You have to enjoy the process. I've found it helps to have another fun car to drive while I work on the E30.

[atmh]

I'll post an update on the parts cleaner when it's up and running. My current project is planting a few trees in my yard to ameliorate the intense afternoon sun we get (especially in the summer). There's always another project, and it's just a matter of which one is top priority. Once the trees are in the ground I'll wrap up the parts cleaner. :)

It's not a race. I'm on year 8 of my E30 project, and am still not "done".
You have to enjoy the process. I've found it helps to have another fun car to drive while I work on the E30.

I'm ready to accept the fact that it won't be "done" - perhaps ever. I'm just working towards having it roadworthy, currently. The e30 project is a slow burn for me. I agree that having another fun car is pretty key. I'm under no pressure to get the e30 done quickly. I'm fortunate enough to have another sports car to keep spirits up when the going gets tough on the e30.

[atmh]

It took me an absurdly long time to "complete" my parts washer upgrade, but it's finally "done" and ready to be shared with the world. You can check it out here!

As for the rest of this project, it will remain slow going for the time being. I have my hands full with some other priorities, and I always knew I was jumping the gun a little bit on being ready to take this project on. I am still slowly amassing parts, and once I start doing some of the subsystems I plan on posting them to video and keeping this thread updated.