My dad said to just get a new car...

[McGyver]

Well i hit Leon's Auto Parts (crappiest junk yard evar!!!) and got a great e28 fuse box cover that will snap in place, auxiliary fuse box with working clips, side marker, 4 bulbs for behind the dash, and enough screws to replace all the lost ones all for 23 bucks!



Since i am putting in rear fogs and the power is being run out of the auxilary relay box, i had to trace two wires to figure out if they were important. It turned out that they were just some badly run power supply for the car phone. So i ripped the whole system out!



I slid in the new display strip that has the rear fog spot.



And here is the car as it waits for me to brave the cold and finish electrical crap.

[TDE30]

Looking good man, I like the direction you're taking this thing.

Euro bumpers don't have to be that far down the road, the whole swap will run you $4-500 for some decent euro bumpers and hardware, etc. It'd make a hell of a difference with what you've got done to it so far.

[accident]

wtf is that auxilliary box for anyway? My car has one, but only one spade receiver in two of the fuse spots. the other two are completely empty, and there's only two wires going to it.

[McGyver]

Looking good man, I like the direction you're taking this thing.

Euro bumpers don't have to be that far down the road, the whole swap will run you $4-500 for some decent euro bumpers and hardware, etc. It'd make a hell of a difference with what you've got done to it so far.

Well i really want to do an s52 swap, so i need to also save up for the rest of the drive train. As soon as i do last year's taxes i should be able to file for the first time home buyer's stuff and get an 8k check from the government. That will cover basically everything i want to do, but until i get money again im basically broke.

wtf is that auxilliary box for anyway? My car has one, but only one spade receiver in two of the fuse spots. the other two are completely empty, and there's only two wires going to it.

The red wire is constant +12v and the green is switched +12 volts. So if you want to draw power from the front of the car on its own circuit, then you can add a wire next to the power option you want and throw in a fuse. (or use a spade connector with an inline fuse like what they did with the car phone.)

[accident]

ahh cool. thanks for clearing that up! :)

[TDE30]

Well i really want to do an s52 swap, so i need to also save up for the rest of the drive train. As soon as i do last year's taxes i should be able to file for the first time home buyer's stuff and get an 8k check from the government. That will cover basically everything i want to do, but until i get money again im basically broke.

No use using the whole check $8k on the car alone, S5x E30's are fun but you'll never recoup that kind of money. I'd say set $4k aside for the swap and the remaining amount for other, more important stuff. You can probably find an S5x drivetrain for less than that amount, with the remaining amount of that $4k being used for the install (e.g. http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1360602) Either way, that car would be a riot with an S5x swap. Best of luck with it.

[McGyver]

No use using the whole check $8k on the car alone, S5x E30's are fun but you'll never recoup that kind of money. I'd say set $4k aside for the swap and the remaining amount for other, more important stuff. You can probably find an S5x drivetrain for less than that amount, with the remaining amount of that $4k being used for the install (e.g. http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1360602) Either way, that car would be a riot with an S5x swap. Best of luck with it.

Well i don't ever plan on ever selling the car, its just a fun toy that serves a practical purpose. Right now i have big plans like the drive train, color change, and a new top and interior etc... I plan on doing most of the work myself over the course of a few years. I just want to get the mechanics all done to make sure the car will last until i can do the cosmetics.

[TDE30]

Ah I see, I see. Color change?

[McGyver]

Yeah, the bronzit makes it look too old. Besides, the PO took it to the car wash alot so the clear coat has horizontal scratches all over the body that are too deep for me to buff out without worrying about cutting all the way through the clear coat. I was thinking mauritusblau like Julien's or ?boston green?. im not sure if that's the name, but you can google that and see an e30 with that color.

back to wiring now!!!!

[TexasTerp]

looking good! I just got a Boston Green e36, love the color!!

[constructor]

Fresh bronzit can look so good though. There are some pictures floating around of a Euro bumpered, S50 vert with a roll bar. It looks really good.

A color change is a lot of work to do right. You could put some of that extra money into Euros.

[TDE30]

Yeah, the bronzit makes it look too old. Besides, the PO took it to the car wash alot so the clear coat has horizontal scratches all over the body that are too deep for me to buff out without worrying about cutting all the way through the clear coat. I was thinking mauritusblau like Julien's or ?boston green?. im not sure if that's the name, but you can google that and see an e30 with that color.

back to wiring now!!!!

Mauritiusblau looks nice in E30's; also check out Macaoblau, it's a lot deeper.

Ju's Mauritiusblau cabbie:



E30 M3 Europameister in Macaoblau:





Granitsilber would also look nice on that car.

[McGyver]

Well i finally got a wire cleanly run from under the dash to the trunk and over to the antenna motor where i will draw power for the rear fogs!



When i was taking out the mismatched tails to put the new matching ones in, i MAY have broken the left one.



The A-hole who "fixed" the damage for the PO didnt fix the paint so now i have a bit of rust and used some sort of caulking all over the factory gasket so i had to break the light to get it out! Now i have to finish removing all the crap, take it down to good metal to get rid of the rust, prime it, and paint it all because someone did a half assed job!



I leave in a week for school, so everything has to be done by then. I will be working like crazy on this car for the next few days.

[McGyver]

I got up early today (10am :p) to get working on the car so i will be ready to drive it back to richmond at the end of the week. I used a wire brush on a power drill to clean off all the rust. Unfortunately the more rust i removed, the further the trail of rust went. So here it is sanded down and de-rusted!



All masked off and ready for paint!



Then i realized that i should mask off the large hole into my trunk...



More when i finish the primer!

[McGyver]

Well i haven't posted anything in forever, so its time to bump this to the top.

I think i have decided on Lagunengrun-metallic or cinnabrot red with polished euro bumpers. I know i'll need an apron and then something for the front but havent decided on what.

For the interior i'd like to keep the tan carpet and just change the door cards/trunk vinal to suit:
Green- green/blue mtech cloth, alpina cloth, or the m3 plaid with leather bolsters
Red-repo m-tech cloth, alpina cloth, or the m3 plaid with leather bolsters

I know i want a euro s50b32 engine, but havent decided on the tranny or diff. If anyone has input on what tranny/diff pairs well for dd and some track use i would really appreciate it!

Since i've posted i've:
-replaced timing belt
-water pump
-cam seals
-drop hats
-cluster
-clutch master/slave cylinders
-ps pump
-coolant flush

I also bought 3 weaves, 4 center caps, emiata zip in window, and full lock set. I'll post pics when it gets washed!