Project KEEP MOVING FORWARD

[JasonWilson48]

For all the masochists

https://youtube.com/shorts/eGRLBWKnxJ8?si=BEJCEqhYOfJM8ixz

[McGyver]

Congrats on the wedding! I agree that it may feel better to step away from the project for a while and come back when it feels fun again.

I assume the m52 should be a pretty easy replacement for the s52, so putting it in should get your car moving again. Or you could take some time to rebuild the s52 and sell the m52 stuff as an e30 swap kit.

[Panici]

Congratulations on the wedding!
I am glad Mrs.JasonWilson48 seems to be onboard with the car related shenanigans.


Sorry to hear about the S52. Any ideas why it locked up so suddenly?
I'm with AWDBOB. Get the two engines out and side-by-side, then take a break to recharge.


M52B28 is a great engine for the E30 chassis with some light mods. I was happy with mine even when it was naturally asperated.

[2mAn]

KEEP
MOVING
FORWARD

Congrats on getting hitched though...

[AWDBOB]

'grats on getting hitched! Absolutely sucks about the s52. Pretty rad that guy absorbed some of the stress that day by letting you keep it there overnight.

You have no short supply of discipline it seems which will burn you out when shit hits the fan and you try to solve the problem with brute force.

Make that 5 series disappear, put both engines on a stand, and don't touch it for at least a month while you take a pottery class w wifey and refill the tank.

[JasonWilson48]

Update #11

*Huge Sigh* well... June/July were full of highs and lows.

Lowest of lows -> S52 seized
Highest of highs -> I'm married to my best friend, and both wedding and honey moon were amazing

Ok, let's go through chronologically of everything since the last post.

Sold the shell after fully stripping it down. Got that gone a week or two before the wedding.









Decided to do something fun with the E30 for the wedding. Wanted to make it our wedding book for people to sign, after I was able to snag a free hood from another E30 enthusiast I met recently who was scrapping a rusty shell. Thanks again Steven!




Unfortunately, the drive to the wedding did not go as planned. The venue was about an hour and a half from our house. My wife drove the Element to carry all the big decorations, so I was driving the E30 solo. Checked the oil, coolant, and did a once over from underneath the car the day before I left. Nothing out of the ordinary. Made a joke about the car breaking down on the way to my wife... She did not like it... and I completely, totally, utterly, fucking jinxed myself. 2 months of commuting to work, and the only day I needed it to work properly, it did not. Karma or bad luck. Probably a bit of both.

So what happened... I had been driving the car for about 2 hours now. Had to make some stops for wedding supplies. It was probably 90F outside, but not bad driving since it was mainly highway. The coolant temps never climbed, and the fan was kicking on properly when I came to traffic stops. As I got close to the venue it became more stop and go on backroads. I was leaving from a stop sign, and was probably around 4500 rpms when all the sudden I started hearing what sounded like piston/valve slap. I immediately let off the gas and started coasting in 3rd gear. I was probably going about 45mph. The noise was still there, so I immediately threw it into neutral. less than 5 seconds later the engine locked up. I was lucky enough to coast into someone's driveway 100 ft up the road. Tried turning the key again, and nothing. It was seized. Opened the hood and see my dipstick had oil spilling out of it. Oil was all the way up the dipstick and nothing in the coolant reservoir. I immediately knew the engine was toast.


At this point, it is the Wednesday before my wedding on Friday. I'm about 15 minutes away from the venue. I have time to figure out a plan. The options were to either tow it back to Philly, or tow it to the venue still. Fortunately, the old guy who's yard I broke down in was super cool. He towed me up his driveway with his tractor (wish I got a picture of it). Then he let me leave the car over night, and gave me a ride to the wedding venue. Helped relieve some stress from having to get my wife to pick me up.

Then I got it towed for free with AAA to the venue.



Besides the car, the rest of the wedding went great. Here is a photo at the end of the night with the signatures. I'll have to get a better photo eventually when we get all the photos from the photographer.



After the wedding weekend, I got right into it. Started stripping down the car, and could not get the engine to turn over at all. Knew we were fucked, so obviously... I buy a donor car a week after lol. 1998 528i 5speed for $1200. Runs and drives, 140k miles. Going to sell the zf and scrap the shell to recoupe some costs hopefully once I'm done.









Left it like this, and went on honeymoon a week later.

Here ere are more fun photos from the honeymoon. There was a rally going on the weekend after I left, Rali da Madeira. Got some merch and photos of some of the cars though.





Got a cheap little Fiat 500 hybrid to whip around Madeira. Going up the mountains was an adventure in 1st and 2nd gear.



Saw some E30s while there. Got a photo of an oddly stanced Baur.









Great two weeks in Portugal. The weekend I got back before going back to work... engine came out.







And that is where it sits. Still going back and forth on parting put everything or actually doing another swap. Kind of down in the dumps about all of it. We will see what I can do when I have time the rest of the summer. Oh well. I have a video of me draining the oil pan, but YouTube is hitting me copy right BS. I'll see if I can post that here later. It's a funny one.

[2mAn]

Honestly, 2-4 hours a week sounds great. I'm not sure I'm even getting 2-4 hours a MONTH! Then again, my kid is only 7 months old, maybe I get more time when he's older? Maybe?

It varies. I haven't had more than 1 hour total in the last 6 weeks because we have been gone every weekend...

Gotta time it right and you might be able to sneak in a few hours here and there... just have to give up sleeping LOL

[McGyver]

Pets are easy to neglect, kids not so much and wifey is touch and go (literally ) ... I get a solid 2-4 hours a WEEK... usually a Fri/Sat Night when I escape into the garage.

Honestly, 2-4 hours a week sounds great. I'm not sure I'm even getting 2-4 hours a MONTH! Then again, my kid is only 7 months old, maybe I get more time when he's older? Maybe?

[2mAn]

Bump

[BadDays]

If replacing the sunroof, It'll be up to you if you want a slicktop or keeping the sunroof but either way, Congrats on getting married!

I'm excited to see how this continues!

[max.rodriguezzz]

Nice dude !!!

its definitely the little stuff that takes the longest, but also that little stuff is what makes the care feel really nice, complete, and satisfying. In the end it'll make the car feel even more rewarding.

I'm excited to see all the little details come together!

also congrats on getting married, have fun in Portugal

[Panici]

Nice to be driving it around.
Like David Freibeger says don't get it right, just get it running.

The rest will come with time.

[JasonWilson48]

Madeira, Portugal

[2mAn]

Step (0) is important! Where are yall going to 'consumate the marriage'

[JasonWilson48]

Update #10

Things have been slow moving since I got the car running and driving. It is true what they say, that the last 10% of a build takes 90% of the time... or something like that lol. I hate all the small detail work.

Anyway let's run through it... with pics!

Covered the seats in leatherique and let them bake for a few days. Cleaned them off and threw them in the car. Also, used the rear bottom seat carpet from the parts car for now, since the other grey carpet for that spot is still covered in mouse piss/poop. Needs to be deep cleaned more.





Washed the car for the first time. Found out the sunroof drains are clogged. What a surprise /s... Anyway, tried polishing some of the hood and roof to see how it looked. Honestly, not terrible. Didn't have time to clay bar. Going to clay bar and polish some more the next time i wash it. I know there is like barely any clear coat left, but fuck it. I'll polish the base coat lol.





Replaced the windshield wiper stalk and passenger side window motors, with parts car stuff. Now both wipers and window work. Great success!

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2sgpBnL]

Got some used fog lights. And at the same time, replaced power steering reservoir, and the pump supply line from reservoir, and the clamps. Also, found out my lower radiator hose was leaking slightly. Replaced the clamp and it seems like that did the trick. Been a few weeks and I can say my car officially has zero leaks.



The trunk still smelled of mouse piss after I deep cleaned it... so I went a step further and just removed the sound deadening. Sprayed down one more time, scrubbed a bit more, and viola! The next day, came back, and no more smell. My whole car officially smells NORMAL.

Also the in the rear strut bar I forgot I had from the parts car. And got a front strut bar while I was at it.











Finally got rear bumper fixed. Used epoxy and plastic welder to fix the broken off bumper hanger tabs on the sides. Then I fitted it up and also mocked up the rep MTECH 1 wing from the parts car. Looking sweet. I'll paint match the bumper one day, but for now I don't care. I didn't get many pictures of this either, but I hobbled together the trim pieces from this car and the parts car to make on full non-broken set of side trim. I'll get better pics of that in my next post.











Also, got ahead of myself and got a Italvolanti wheel and hub for a good price on Facebook. Shouldn't be doing cosmetic upgrades yet, but it was smaller diameter wheel and feels better that the old crumbing rubber one. So I think it justified me buying it now lol.



Been commuting to work in it more. My other coworker brought in his G8 the other day. Super clean.



Also, replaced all of the lights in the dash and HVAC panel, replaced ODO gears, and cleaned the fuel and temp gauges grounds. The temp gauge is working better, but not perfect. And the fuel gauge is still wonky. I think I need to replace one of the fuel sending units. Forgot to get photos of all of this.

Also, took off the roof rack since I am not constantly stacking parts on top of the car anymore, and am driving it often. The rack was supe helpful for stacking a bunch of shit up there while my garage was packed full of stuff.



Next steps:

0) Disconnect battery and put on tender. Get married and go on honey moon.
1) Final interior cleaning, and put back the center console.
2) Replace sunroof panel/tracks from parts car. Current sunroof still won't open and has obvious rust I can see. Same time I clean out the sunroof drains.
3) Swap a/c interior lines, and join the e36 a/c lines to E30 lines. Got new o-rings, drier filter, and expansion valve. So maybe I will have working a/c by end of summer lol.
4) swap over radio, and speakers from parts car. Only the passenger front speaker works right now. Haven't had any tunes while driving. Might move this further up the list.
5) Work on getting interior more put back together

Future next big projects come winter:
1) rear subframe bushings
2) LSD from parts car
3) all brake lines
4) calipers, rotors, and pads (I keep putting this off lol. Might also move up the list, so I can have more confidence while driving fast)