(Post Crash Chassis Swap) Project Reincarnation / Project Beat Jason

[max.rodriguezzz]

Everyone active in the SoCal General chat has seen the start of this. As recommended and influenced by 2mAn I will start a thread regarding my chassis swap. Additionally, This swill be a race against JasonWilson48 out on the east coast who is also working on a chassis swap right now. We decided that the loser of who finished firs will suffer the fate of rocking the worst bumper sticker the forum can find. High stakes... lol

PART 1.) The Fateful day </3

About a little over a month ago, a very intelligent and skilled Tesla driver decided that a yellow traffic light means you ALWAYS stop... no matter what speed you're traveling. Consequently, I couldn't stop in time and rear ended them, AARRGGGGH.

That E30 has been my daily for the last 2 years, on top of being built and worked on constantly. After HEAVY consideration, I decied the best route to go would be to keep the crashed car, and chassis swap it.

All the work ive done to it that justifies why I want to keep it/chassis swap it:

First off, I converted it to an an iS, so 3.73 LSD, sport seats, Mtech 1 wheel, BBS basketweaves, iS front lip, iS rear wing, 13 button obc, rear parcel shelf, and the map light rear view mirror, also its got a damn clean interior.

Other than that, The things I've done to it-
- Rebuilt sunroof
- getrag 260 swapped
- stainless steel clutch fork pivot pin
- poly/delrin shifter bushings
- Garagistic dssr shift selector rod/joint
- bmw z3 short shifter
- bmw z3 steering rack conversion
- polyurethane steering coupler bushing
- front and rear strut bars
- bilstein b8 shocks and struts
-H&R race springs lowering springs
- e90 front strut top hats
- condor speed shop adjustable rear spring pads
- 3.73 Limited slip differential (as mentioned)
- differential mounting bolt to stud conversion
- polyurethane front sway bar bushings
- Turner Motorsport Jim Conforti ecu chip tune
- full sound system-( Bluetooth head unit, amplifier, 10” sub, new speakers, 10g speaker wire. I honestly forgot the exact specs for all that equipment, but it bumps decently nice)
- r12 to r134a AC conversion
- rebuilt and fully functioning sunroof
- Sparco Sprint bucket seat, with Garagistic mounting supplies (seat was swapped in/out for autoX days)

[max.rodriguezzz]

PART 2.) Donor Car Acquired

Spent a good month scowering everything and everywhere I could searching for a donor car and just trying to get the word out there. Eventually found something up in NorCal, it was a little rough but it was along the lines of what I was looking for - late model, hard top, coupe, AND BLACK (wasn't gunna settle for less). Car was a little rough but I could tell it was cared for at some point. It looked like it had potential, and at the end of the day I was buying it for the Chassis. Got in contact with the seller and arranged to go check it out that weekend. Road tripped up to NorCal with some friends in an e46 325iX wagon, we spent a few nights at my best friends friends place in Chico. Spent 2 days getting it road trip ready, then I drove the car 11 hours and like 500+ miles back home to SoCal. Two major fuel leaks from both o-rings on both sides of the gas tank (fuel pump and level sensor). Used some large o-rings from the plumbing section of home depot, and the issues were able to be fixed. M20 did great the whole way home... with a 4.10 open diff. oof.


The car
- is a supposedly rebuilt m20b25 (no paperwork though)
- (supposedly) ARP head studs (on an NA?? lol. not rod bolts though?)
- g260 swapped
- no rear interior
- CSF aluminum radiator
- god awful and ugly braum sport seats
- drivers mount is entirely wrong, only the front 2 bolts line up
- Passenger seat had no mount entirely
- PS pump made an awful noise when stressed/at full lock
- horrible tint
- on megan racing coil overs
- no door cards
- condor speed shop door car delete panels
- cracked dash w dash cover
- renown steering wheel
- botched headliner/check panel
- BOTCHED sun roof/ needs overhaul
- rust hole above rear tow hook/ battery box area
- e36 m3? pedal box
- small crack on front windshield
- and needs some paint work bad
- needs valve adjustment
- cracked ellipsoid
- 1 fog light out/ cracked
- run lights out
- fuse box mounting is cracked


considering everything and the fact that it was a (decently) running and driving car, I picked it up for an alrightttttttt price... I used everything in my brain/experience I had to try and negotiate price, but fuck, seller was firm. Anyways, I hope I can get some part out money out of it.

Regardless of buying the car, whole trip was amazing, such great friends and great memories. We laughed and joked THE ENTIRE time. Top 3 experiences fs <3

[max.rodriguezzz]

PART 3.) The Reincarnation - Chassis Swap Begins - This Thread is Born

The cars meet, lol


Started by swapping over my front suspension, and rear springs/struts. Rear subframe/trailing arms next, just waiting on those bushings. Started stripping down the interior as well, so thats next. Upgrading to stainless steel brake lines, and brass pedal bushings. Money is getting TIIIGGGHHHTT for me so thats a big challenge within this too.

My goal is to swap over EVERYTHING I can and thats worth it. I know this car wont be a replacement of what my last one was, but I want it to be the continuation, the better version. I plan to keep the csf radiator, do the r134a conversion again again, get an X brace... and yea so far thats it.

Budget is VERY much a factor, so I cant go crazy with the "comeback" but like I said, I want it to be better than my other e30. (which was pretty dialed).

so stay tuned I guess :)

[JasonWilson48]

Maybe since your budget is tight, it could be worth trying to part out stuff you don't need while completing the swap. You could pull stuff off on the weekend, bring it home with you, and try selling it during the week since you can't work on the car during the week. I am doing something similar with my swap. Selling stuff you know you won't need as spares, can get you a few dollars here and there. Like sell that 4.10 open diff for like $50 or something. This will also help reduce clutter if you don't want to turn your friend's house into a scrap yard with parts laying everywhere.

The race is on. I have updates, but I need to upload/compile my photos from my phone and get it written up. Will most likely come this weekend. Good luck and God speed. I will be following.

[2mAn]

Maybe since your budget is tight, it could be worth trying to part out stuff you don't need while completing the swap. You could pull stuff off on the weekend, bring it home with you, and try selling it during the week since you can't work on the car during the week. I am doing something similar with my swap. Selling stuff you know you won't need as spares, can get you a few dollars here and there. Like sell that 4.10 open diff for like $50 or something. This will also help reduce clutter if you don't want to turn your friend's house into a scrap yard with parts laying everywhere.

X2

Its a win-win to sell off the removed/ unused parts. Gain space, cash and build momentum towards V2