Zen and the Art of e30 Maintenance

[BamaE30]

Simon,

Try Costco Wholesale its a great company and we have some growth in your area now plus ramping up for the holidays soon. Applications are online and make one for each job category. Would not be a bad idea to drop by the warehouse's near you and introduce yourself to the warehouse General Manager and the Assistant Store Managers. If you have some questions you can PM me.

[Komzorz]

Eh, I know that feel. I build my cars like you. I've also read this whole thing start to finish and loved it.

Smart guys always have it the worst because they're capable of comprehending the true shittiness of their situation and the world around them. All you really need is a job and things will start to be alright again. Money causes the worst kinds of fuckin stupid problems. Don't worry about it too much, eventually you'll roll into some dough. Leaving that job was a good move. Well, having another lined up before you left might have been better. But, you could still be there, which would be worse.

Maybe you're a burden on somebody, most likely though it's in your head because you're experiencing the gap between what you expect to happen and what's actually happening.

Ignore the economy, it hardly affects you as an individual. Same goes for politics and whatever else. They're simply stressors for people with nothing better to stress about and although somebody really should straighten that shit out, there's no reason why it has to be you. So fuckin forget it.

It's true, you'll almost always get what you want if you want it bad enough. Take a mental break to relax yourself and pick your problems up again a little later. I recommend a joint and some good beer for starters.

And never sell the car. Never, ever sell the car.

[Gerta]

Dude ygpm... I hope you are doing okay bro...

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[Simon S]

Just returned from two-mile hike from storage unit..
I put the car up. 4+” thick pile of receipts, manuals, and personal notes on passenger seat. All sorts of spare parts and shit in trunk. 6 beat-up/used eruroweaves piled up in corner. Fresh/recent oil/filter change. Mostly full tank of gas. Last week – I discovered beginning of dry rot on the 8+ year-old tires – which I never could really afford to replace.

I feel fuckin done. I fuckin hate the idea of posting suicidal shit online – but here I go..

For a lot of my life, most all of my friends were female, and telling me about how shitty men were. Many of them would tell me about how some shit-ass [unemployed] boyfriend wouldn’t even have the spirit to work a “McDonalds job”. Well – I worked a shit-ass “McDonalds job” for the last 8 months.. and rocked it – rocked it hard. “Management” continually lied to me/exploited me/short-changed me. There was shit I pulled off there that hadn’t been pulled off in the last 10 fuckin years. No 90 day review. No 6 month review. No raises. Nothing. For shit-ass hours making $8.25/hour – it was making me suicidal – so I fucking tipped out the door one day. That day was about a month ago as I post this.

For approximately the last 8-15 years of my life, I feel like I’ve been a burden on those I love (my mother, my friends, and [multiple] girlfriends). They’ve shown compassion and support for me. They’ve shown belief in my abilities and potential. I am at a point where I NO LONGER want to be a burden on anyone. I am ashamed of myself. I am weak. I am stupid (the older I get – the more I know – the more I know that I don’t know.. I’m almost 40 now – and I currently feel completely. mentally. fucking retarded). I am out of motivation to fight. I am losing hope in a hopeful future.

I am sick of hearing about the economy, and the politics, and the ugliness of the world. I always fought to stay above all that shit..

Where am I now? Near $70K in educational debt. No money to my name – no fucking job – and a fucking fabulous car that I dreamed about building since I was a teenager. Like I could sell the car – but it wouldn’t solve any problems since I’d still need a fucking car to commute to whatever fucking potential job I may or may not get..

Guys – I am sorry. I know this is a sort of geek-ass car forum – and I am totally venting. This isn’t the kind of shit I’d do on facebook. Wherever happens to the e30 I worked on – at least I’d like for it to end up in the hands of an enthusiast – someone who would appreciate the efforts I put into it.

On a ray-of-light endnote: as I was pulling the cover over the car earlier this afternoon, I did get a phone call for an interview at an independently-owned place I’d like to work.. which was a total surprise to me..

A dear friend once told me: “Life is a funny thing – if you don’t settle for anything but what you want – you will very often get it.” Hopefully, that will be the case for me..

[grt]

euroweaves are always 15

Sorry getting confused with basketweavers.

ETA on the wheels??

[Mr. Tasty]

euroweaves are always 15

[grt]

This is without a doubt the best E30 thread. Period!

I can't wait to see it with the euroweaves on. Just a quick question though, are they 14 or 15 inch?

[absolutdog]

Great fraking thread!!!!

I am just getting started on about half of what you have done and I already feel overwhelmed

Other than the 32mm wrench for fan, and huge hex bolts for the diff and tranny, is there any other large/odd sockets I need to buy? Am running to harbor freight tommorow for a t55 torx to finish pulling the bumper

[acolella76]

Simon, publish this as a book. Thank you.

[Simon S]

YAY !!

50K hits !
Wow - thanks guys !!

[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!

[igor2]

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

[dnick]

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

[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.

[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