Yikes. Over half a year since my last update, and boy did things go sideways since then! I had grand plans to go nuts on this car... thinking the time was right to do a major change to the bodywork. I figured now was as good a time as ever to look into a more competitive setting as far as racing is concerned by targetting Gridlife GLTC. I've been watching the series now for a few seasons and really wanted to get into it, and this chassis/roll cage I felt was a good platform, even though I knew there were some drawbacks to using an E30, versus a more contemporary BMW chassis. I had a pipedream for awhile to convert the car to a 2 door body, so I purchased a parts car through a local buddy so I could steal the quarters off, and possibly the roof, as I wasn't 100% sure on how the C pillars and inner structure compared between a 2 and 4 door body.
The plan initially was make the car look like an M3, with the help of some old/spare parts I have kicking around from my M3, and modernize the aero, since that's a somewhat loose rule set within GLTC, and also take the entire driveline from an E90 325i I have kicking around, to do an N52 swap along with the 6spd, ABS, and all that. I can't exactly recall anymore what happened since the last few months have been a blur, but I think it was the wheels that pushed me over the edge; I'd become discouraged that I couldn't easily fit monster wheels on the car, so I ditched the entire plan sometime around January and started focusing on the E90 as a base instead and forgot about the black E30. I ended up getting the car dynoed so I had a baseline, and bought a bunch of crap including some big Apex wheels, MCS dampers, Bimmerworld spherical arms and bearing replacements, 335 brakes, Carbon rear wing, etc...
In late February, all my plans stopped. A friend sent me a marketplace link to a Porsche 996 for sale, in the exact spec I've been looking for, for years (.1, C2, manual, Yellow, Aerokit). Initially I wasn't even interested because I knew the timing was horrible being that money was tied up between these two ongoing projects, but after thinking about it for a day or so, I figured this opportunity doesn't come along often, and I needed to make this happen for myself, regardless of the circumstances (mind you, this car was on the other side of the country, well over 4500km away!). Within a week, I made arrangements, sent money, booked a flight, and packed a bag along with my license plates and went to go grab it! Probably in my Top 3 most ridiculous things I've ever done, being that I was super unprepared and really pushing my luck buying this car sight-unseen and driving it back. I had to change my travel plans due to weather, and ended up going through the States to get home. Drove from Vancouver BC down to Seattle, then across passing through MT, SD, WI, etc etc... Met some new friends along the way, as well as linking up with an E30 buddy in WI, but for the most part the trip went well, and I got back to Toronto with an intact car! Very happy with my decision, and it makes a great garage buddy alongside the M3.
So back to the black E30! I knew the car needed to be fixed, whether I was keeping it around long term, or looked towards putting it for sale, so something had to be done. I decided to just keep it as is, 4 door, and do a quick fix to make it complete, just as how my plans were last fall before my dreams of going competitive racing with it. In April, I finally had the chance to bring it to my friend's shop where he'd let me take a stab at trying to pull it, with his guidance along the way. Unfortunately after my first attempt at pulling it, taking it home and working on it for two days straight, I came to the conclusion it wasn't pulled enough because nothing would line up. I was super frustrated and let the car sit in the corner for a few weeks, while I waited for my friend to have the shop/frame machine free again so I could bring it by a second time.
Second visit to the bodyshop (now in mid-May), I also brought along a spare trunk lid that was straight, and that helped as a reference to make sure everything was looking better. Also, I obtained a quarter panel cut from a parts car that another local E30 owner had, who generously donated it to me for free to help out with the repair. Another day spent on it in the shop ended up working out well. Things are only tacked in place at the moment as a temporary measure, so I can finesse and move things around to try and perfect the fitment.
Hopefully more frequent updates to follow!
The plan initially was make the car look like an M3, with the help of some old/spare parts I have kicking around from my M3, and modernize the aero, since that's a somewhat loose rule set within GLTC, and also take the entire driveline from an E90 325i I have kicking around, to do an N52 swap along with the 6spd, ABS, and all that. I can't exactly recall anymore what happened since the last few months have been a blur, but I think it was the wheels that pushed me over the edge; I'd become discouraged that I couldn't easily fit monster wheels on the car, so I ditched the entire plan sometime around January and started focusing on the E90 as a base instead and forgot about the black E30. I ended up getting the car dynoed so I had a baseline, and bought a bunch of crap including some big Apex wheels, MCS dampers, Bimmerworld spherical arms and bearing replacements, 335 brakes, Carbon rear wing, etc...
In late February, all my plans stopped. A friend sent me a marketplace link to a Porsche 996 for sale, in the exact spec I've been looking for, for years (.1, C2, manual, Yellow, Aerokit). Initially I wasn't even interested because I knew the timing was horrible being that money was tied up between these two ongoing projects, but after thinking about it for a day or so, I figured this opportunity doesn't come along often, and I needed to make this happen for myself, regardless of the circumstances (mind you, this car was on the other side of the country, well over 4500km away!). Within a week, I made arrangements, sent money, booked a flight, and packed a bag along with my license plates and went to go grab it! Probably in my Top 3 most ridiculous things I've ever done, being that I was super unprepared and really pushing my luck buying this car sight-unseen and driving it back. I had to change my travel plans due to weather, and ended up going through the States to get home. Drove from Vancouver BC down to Seattle, then across passing through MT, SD, WI, etc etc... Met some new friends along the way, as well as linking up with an E30 buddy in WI, but for the most part the trip went well, and I got back to Toronto with an intact car! Very happy with my decision, and it makes a great garage buddy alongside the M3.
So back to the black E30! I knew the car needed to be fixed, whether I was keeping it around long term, or looked towards putting it for sale, so something had to be done. I decided to just keep it as is, 4 door, and do a quick fix to make it complete, just as how my plans were last fall before my dreams of going competitive racing with it. In April, I finally had the chance to bring it to my friend's shop where he'd let me take a stab at trying to pull it, with his guidance along the way. Unfortunately after my first attempt at pulling it, taking it home and working on it for two days straight, I came to the conclusion it wasn't pulled enough because nothing would line up. I was super frustrated and let the car sit in the corner for a few weeks, while I waited for my friend to have the shop/frame machine free again so I could bring it by a second time.
Second visit to the bodyshop (now in mid-May), I also brought along a spare trunk lid that was straight, and that helped as a reference to make sure everything was looking better. Also, I obtained a quarter panel cut from a parts car that another local E30 owner had, who generously donated it to me for free to help out with the repair. Another day spent on it in the shop ended up working out well. Things are only tacked in place at the moment as a temporary measure, so I can finesse and move things around to try and perfect the fitment.
Hopefully more frequent updates to follow!
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