Zen and the Art of e30 Maintenance

[TimKninja]

Epic project, can't Imagine the feeling of success.SO Fucking clean.

Did you order your lines from the dealer? I REALLLY Need to do my lines, did you have to drop the tank or anything?

[tg318is]

Looks awesome! The bottlecaps look great Great on it as well!

[csermonet47]

<3

[dude8383]

Epic. That was quite a journey man. Really enjoyed all of the work you've done... it has finally paid off!!

[Simon S]

Did you order your lines from the dealer? I REALLLY Need to do my lines, did you have to drop the tank or anything?

Thanks!
You have to drop the tank for the one fuel vent line. The feed and return lines can be done w/out dropping anything. To do the brake line properly, I’m pretty sure the tank OR the subframe should be dropped.

At first – I ordered just the brake line from a dealer – thinking that’s the only line I’d replace. Once I determined the other lines should be replaced as well, I generated a nice Blunt Tech order along with other misc hardware and the is lip..

Looks awesome! The bottlecaps look great Great on it as well!

Thanks!
Yeah – once I determined I would have to run the caps – I went into ‘damage control’ mode by blacking them, spacing the rears, and fresh roundel emblems. Cosmetically – I’m pretty happy with results..

[pandaboo911]

Your attention to detail is great, top notch work.
How much did that new fuel tank set you back? :P

[Simon S]

Thanks man.
Got lucky on the tank.
It had been installed by a pior owner at some point..

[dude8383]

Your attention to detail is great, top notch work.
How much did that new fuel tank set you back? :P

Rockauto has aftermarket tanks for about 160-180. I bought mine from there... no problems, only catch is that it doesn't have a screw in the bottom of the tank if you ever want to completely drain it. Otherwise, you'll have to siphon it out.

[Donkeyshins]

Then I took a break and made a ground strap for the engine head. It's purpose was to prevent electrolysis from deteriorating mating surfaces.

First of all, fantastic work and write-up. You ought to submit this as a story to Bimmer or Roundel!

Second - can you provide more details on the ground strap and the grounding configuration (e.g. valve cover bolt to chassis?)

Thanks!

-D

[Simon S]

Table of Contents post updated.

First of all, fantastic work and write-up. You ought to submit this as a story to Bimmer or Roundel!

Second - can you provide more details on the ground strap and the grounding configuration (e.g. valve cover bolt to chassis?)

Thank you for the kind words D.

Regarding the ground strap – pretty straight-forward. I dug through my box of extra stereo wire and only found that red/power wire that was long enough. Off the top of my head – I want to say it was 8 gauge. Shrink wrap tubing was used on much of it just so there wasn’t a red wire that jumped out at you in the engine bay. I attached one end to the head using one of the bolts that fastens the engine hanger on (where you’d hook a chain on if one were to pull the motor) – ran it under the intake system – and attached it to the chassis on the driver’s side strut tower. Pretty sure it was on the bolt that holds the throttle cable in place.

[dnick]

wow such an in depth write up, i love it. read everything and enjoyed it all. congrats to you sir, well done

[igor2]

wow .... Simon, all my hats come off. No E30 yet, but yours is quite likely the pinnacle to hold in the highest esteem.

[acolella76]

Damn Simon, you're doing work. I love reading this when I should be in physics... lol.


Car looks so much better with the black trim. And thanks for reminding me to replace my fuel lines!

[Simon S]

YAY !!

50K hits !
Wow - thanks guys !!

[acolella76]

Simon, publish this as a book. Thank you.