From rags to riches - the junkyard dog. 325iS rebuild + k swap!

[DEV0 E30]

Oh --- you may have posted it, but what are you into the kswap? I know the kpower kit has fans and critics, would you go that same route again or another kit/parts list?

[grandeswag]

If you put a straight edge across the exhaust tips does that line extend out of the valance by an inch or two for both? They look close. When they terminate near the confines of a panel it can really bump the drone up since more sound finds its way into the cabin, my wagon resonated like crazy before I finished the exhaust with a tip that stuck out a bit. Two decently sized straight through mufflers seem to be the recipe for success with my turbo cars, so maybe a larger one will work for you, but NA is louder.

Huh that's interesting, they definitely don't both clear as described. I'm chatting with a fab guy about swapping the resonator, we can explore this too. Thank you!

Haha, I've told it a few times. So, I was arriving at a friend's party late at night, but I was aware of how loud the car was - so I didn't rev it or be an asshole especially in neighborhoods. I turned around in a culdesac to park closer to the house but opposite of it. Apparently in that culdesac lived deaf children, and like many mom's there were plates all over the kitchen on the wall. It hit the right frequency and droned so it reverberated the walls and the deaf children picked up on the vibrations and thought the world was ending. She ran outside but by that time I was already inside - but she saw it was a white car (my e30). Another friend arrived just a few moments after me and the lady was looking around to see if she could find the car and told him the story. He acted completely unaware but as soon as he found me inside he just looked at me and said, "You son of a bitch - you made deaf children wake up and think the world was ending." So I like to say that car was louder than the second coming of christ, as even deaf children felt it coming.

And I second varg's comment - worth trying - if I remember correctly my tips may have been close to the panel/body which probably made the drone/noise/volume even worse.

Lol damn. When I lived in brooklyn every now and then someone would drive by with an insane stereo system, subs shaking the entire neighborhood. Like the t rex approaching in Jurassic park and shaking the water cups!

Oh --- you may have posted it, but what are you into the kswap? I know the kpower kit has fans and critics, would you go that same route again or another kit/parts list?

I got most of the swap components second hand - motor, oil pan, pump, fuel rail, intake, brake fluid relocation, engine mounts, trans mounts, radiator, etc. (mostly TF Works parts) for like 6k or so I can't remember. So that ended up being like 20% off retail. I'd say a budget of 10k is realistic. I went overkill in many ways for aesthetics mostly which drove the price up a bit.

Overall I had a very poor experience with Kpower and don't recommend their parts to anyone. Their only appeal is that they "have everything". I had issues with the following: engine harness, adapter harness, headers, throttle body and idler pulley. I'm not alone either, if you look on the e30 kswap facebook group you'll see a ton of complaints about the throttle body and headers. While I understand it's complex to make these parts work on old cars, their customer service is really where they were lacking.

On the other hand TF works was awesome and quick to answer questions on parts that I didn't even get from them directly. There are also some awesome parts coming out from T7design, eventually to include a s2000 transmission setup.

[DEV0 E30]

Lol damn. When I lived in brooklyn every now and then someone would drive by with an insane stereo system, subs shaking the entire neighborhood. Like the t rex approaching in Jurassic park and shaking the water cups!

Yeah, never want a droning/loud car like that ever again. Long trips it was annoying. Haha!

I got most of the swap components second hand - motor, oil pan, pump, fuel rail, intake, brake fluid relocation, engine mounts, trans mounts, radiator, etc. (mostly TF Works parts) for like 6k or so I can't remember. So that ended up being like 20% off retail. I'd say a budget of 10k is realistic. I went overkill in many ways for aesthetics mostly which drove the price up a bit.

Overall I had a very poor experience with Kpower and don't recommend their parts to anyone. Their only appeal is that they "have everything". I had issues with the following: engine harness, adapter harness, headers, throttle body and idler pulley. I'm not alone either, if you look on the e30 kswap facebook group you'll see a ton of complaints about the throttle body and headers. While I understand it's complex to make these parts work on old cars, their customer service is really where they were lacking.

On the other hand TF works was awesome and quick to answer questions on parts that I didn't even get from them directly. There are also some awesome parts coming out from T7design, eventually to include a s2000 transmission setup.

Gotcha, thanks.

[Northern]

Two decently sized straight through mufflers seem to be the recipe for success with my turbo cars, so maybe a larger one will work for you, but NA is louder.

I will always say this too. I have a vibrant ultraquiet resonator and a vibrant streetpower muffler on my turbo 24v and it is quite loud/not highway friendly. Dual muffler setups are the way to go, and the Borla ProXS + Vibrant combo has been the go-to for a bunch of cars on this forum.

[grandeswag]

Alright I found a local-ish fab guy to rebuild my midpipe with a vibrant ultra quiet resonator. He also pushed the muffler back 1.25" inches or so. Lastly he had to clearance the headers a bit to help clear the control arm bushing. Another Kpower L...

Result is a much more acceptable tone. Still loud but not headache inducing. Sound clip here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DPzbMdOj6M3

[Northern]

Looks great!

[westside]

I started to remove just about everything. If you've ever worked on a car like this you know the pain of rusty parts. Something simple like removing a lug nut was an hour long process on this car. You can see my special trick to get the gland nut off the strut here. My hope was to restore as many parts as possible without buying replacements. But some things were just too far gone. The trailing arms and subframe were totally roasted.

Seems like you're having fun with it, so nice