Strict budget, slow restoration. *Now with moar budget*

[FredK]

A couple months ago, I asked Wh33lhop if he was going to the E30Picnic, and if he'd be interested in riding up with me, Sadie Hawkins-style. I'd been interested in going to the Picnic for a while now, because of all of the stories of the party James had, and also I'd be able to meet all of the PNW guys.

HE SAID YES!

:giggle:

Wh33lhop had to work on Thursday, so that left me to my own devices during the day. So, I borrowed the Wheee30 and drove it up on Skyline Boulevard on his recommendation. Here's the car at the vista:





The actual road trip was pretty fun, even with all that time spent in the parking lot repairing an oil pan. It really showed how unique the car community is. A random guy that likes E30s shows up to road trip in an E30 finds unexpected adventure and a common bond with a fellow enthusiast, forged by the desperation and uncertainty of being stranded 300 miles from your destination.

A true r3v fairytale.

[agent]

This made me LOL:

So we did the remaining 300 miles while keeping an eye on the oil pressure light and rear view mirror for any cars losing control behind us.

This did too:

Here the whee30 is pictured in its natural habitat: fucking up the groove of nice cars.

Good stuff.

[nouseforaname]

always great updates. that one's a gem.

[tinkerputzer]

Wow what an adventure!

[Wh33lhop]

Last weekend was eventful.

Fredk flew down to California and together we drove up to the Picnic in Washington. I swapped bottlecaps and a 3.23LSD in for the trip, to save tires and sanity (and gas). With the G260 and 3.23 the car turned over 3k at 80, which was nice. We left at about 9PM Thursday night to avoid the heat that I experienced last picnic I went to.


First stop for gas


Stop for a bladder void in the morning. Pretty wet.


Aaaaaaaand trouble. Hit some really low-grip pavement coming off an off ramp from I5, jumped a median and landed on the oil pan. Oops.



Luckily we broke down next to a Pilot's, so I bought them out of jbweld and oil. Fredk is apparently a surgeon with jbweld and I've barely used it so I watched him work in the pouring rain and took pictures of him to feel useful



Seriously this went on for hours, it was POURING and we were fucking soaked.



Then we took some weird trucker showers in Pilot's and changed clothes. The pan was still leaking after 3 tubes of jbweld. Only so much you can do in the pouring rain with jbweld and brake cleaner. So we did the remaining 300 miles while keeping an eye on the oil pressure light and rear view mirror for any cars losing control behind us. Despite leaking a drop every second or two we did not lose much oil.

Got to James Criv's place. Here the whee30 is pictured in its natural habitat: fucking up the groove of nice cars.



The party and picnic were a complete fucking blast as usual. I didn't take many pictures but here is Fredk passed out



After the picnic it was time to replace the pan. Without James Criv I would probably be stuck on the side of the highway somewhere offering sexual favors for more jbweld. This guy not only sourced a pan for me and offered shop space and tools while I was crashing in Washington but helped me put the damn thing in himself. While we are at it, big thanks to Austin for offering a free pan, John Parker (Jparkr) for the welder and allowing my shenanigans in his shop, Fredk for being awesome during the whole trip and the entire E30 community in general for the helpfulness that I saw this weekend.

Ok enough sappy stuff, time to replace the pan.


Here's the damage. Cracked around the drain bolt and all the way up to the block towards the front.


The underside was disgusting, it was so fucked up we had to build the patch in layers.


From the inside


Luckily we could make some lemonade. John had a MIG lying around so he tacked the oil pump nut. I had loctited it but that only does so much.


Aaand finished. The oil pan is probably the cleanest thing on the car now.


James's M5 touring for good measure; just because it's fucking sweet.


My shitbox behind more of James's cool cars before leaving


Final pic from James' place. WA is so damn pretty.


20 minutes after leaving I get a ticket. Cops in WA are sneaky motherfuckers.


Washington


Gas


Oregon


Fuck


California


365 miles to a tank, 29mpg, not bad for hilly driving filled with traffic and 3rd gear pulls (CEL is for evap stuff)


More gas. You may notice the license plate is bent from hitting a thousand pylons on the median.


Oops. 70 miles from home I hit some piece of plastic bullshit that popped out from under a car. No time to dodge it. Oil pan is luckily fine but the lip which was already damaged was completely shredded.


Oh well


Overall a complete fucking blast, as usual. I owe Fred and James big time and couldn't have done it without them. Unfortunately now the car is missing a chin and I'm not sure what I want to do about it at the moment. Standard i lip? Euros? Eh who knows.

[BeefSupreme]

Thanks for the comments and the interest! I've still got plenty more plans.

Today was a bit of a letdown.



I had planned to install all of this shit:



I separated the spindle ball joint (tore the fuck out of the boot) but couldn't get to the BITCH nuts (subframe) even with a swiveling socket wrench. I'm not sure how you get to them without raising the motor, which didn't work for me.

So I just wound up replacing the seized caliper with a Kragen rebuilt one. Didn't get a pic since I was pissed that I didn't get shit done besides rip a ball joint boot, figure out one of my tie rods is bent (from PO) and replace the brake. Still got a lot of shit on the to do list.

Then later I unloaded all my tools and shit from the car and cleaned it out, then for fun played with my friend's E46 325i auto. He's stock except for a dinan intake and chip, I've got a mark d clone and 19lb injectors, plus a blown head gasket. I left him once (in a bunch of white smoke :p), but the E30 is such a brick that it doesn't really stand a chance after you reach any real speed. I think I'd still pull out ahead for awhile if we went from a stop.

i had the same problem with my balljoint nut, i endedup using a nut splitter on it. Worked like a charm, its just hard go find a large sized nut splitter. Lifting the engine didnt work for me either

[Wh33lhop]

It felt like they had thread lock on them. They snapped free instead of the gradual "give" you normally get when loosening.

Autox time! I slammed the camber plates all the way in for I'm guessing around -4.5 degrees of camber up front, still probably around -2ish in the rear so the car was super loose. Bumpy venue up in oakland.

Something something stance




Right side view

[FredK]

Did they put threadlocker on at the factory? I don't remember if they do or not.

[Liquidity]

http://www.henkelna.com/industrial/red-threadlockers-permanent-high-strength-12892.htm

[Liquidity]

These allen screws are on damn tight. I used a breaker bar with a 19 on one of the ring gear bolts to keep the assembly steady while I cranked off the cap screws. I used a star pattern just in case.

They're not tight. They're thread locked with high strength thread locker. It's basically super glue and you're not supposed to try removing those without first heating them up to at least 500F. You're lucky you didn't strip those out.

[kevvve]

great thread dude a lot of useful pics here keep it up brehhhh

[Wh33lhop]

Oops. Fuck it, I just paid photobucket for this month.

In for video of sparking brakes!

Dude I got a huge kick out of that. Every once in awhile I'd pass a biker or something and hit the brakes a little and the guy would flip out.

[325ix]

In for video of sparking brakes!

[phenryiv1]

Photobucket fail.

[Wh33lhop]

Front wheel bearings.. easy, I know

Old hub/bearing


Pry it off


New dust seal, zomg so ballin


Torque on the front nuts is 210lbft. Side note, if you have a click type, store your torque wrench at the bottom 10% of its range to better preserve its accuracy. If you store it with the internal spring tensed up it will fatigue it over time. (more info)


50-250lbft Cobalt torque wrench, accurate and $100. The Pelican writeup that I checked for the torque spec said you need to step on the brakes to tighten the nut. You don't and that is fucking stupid.


Bend that shit in so it doesn't slip


All buttoned up. Use a little anti-seize on the mating surface of the rotor and the hub, and some on the rotor set screw. Do NOT torque the set screw down at all, just finger tight. It won't back out on you, there's a wheel in the way. And you do NOT want to strip it out trying to remove it because your dumb ass cranked down on it for no reason.


Bedded the PFCs in with the new rotors afterwards with the pads throwing sparks everywhere. I need to get a video of this.