Zen and the Art of e30 Maintenance

[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.

[Simon S]

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

[pandaboo911]

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

[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..

[dude8383]

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

[csermonet47]

<3

[tg318is]

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

[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?

[Simon S]

Epic thread but is an e30 project ever really done?

Thanks - and yeah, I agree that there will be things I'll keep tinkering with.. but for the most part, all the maintenance should be covered. I think the only things I haven't addressed were replacing the blower motor and heater core/valve. Hoping those hang in there for another year or two.

Planning to get the euroweaves I have recondidtioned by next spring - and really looking forward to see how it handles on some 50 series tires.

In many respects, the game is now on to see how reliable of a car I've reconditioned.

In the mean time - the car is f'ing fantastic and drives like it came off the showroom floor..

[N2MYE30]

Epic thread but is an e30 project ever really done?

[everlast]

Congratulations on a journey well travelled. I've enjoyed this thread very much indeed.

[Ian Bowers]

Looks awesome, man! I really like the contrast with the red/black over the all red. Even with the black wheels, it still looks amazing.

[Simon S]

When we last saw our hero – times were tough in Chicagoland..

In the early summer of 2011, I thought I had the project spanked – only to have the main rear hard brake line fail. A crushing defeat at the time. While lying on the creeper looking up at the rusted/failed brake line, my eyes fell on the three heavily corroded fuel lines routed nearby. To not replace them while doing the brake line would be folly.

So in the usual “while-I’m-at-it” mentality, I generated yet another parts list/order.. and addressed other areas of the car I wasn’t satisfied with.

As I write this – the car is actually ‘done’. It’s been running strong for about 800 miles while I sorted out various bugs. Much of this post will consist of summaries. As far as pictures – there won’t be many as the last jobs were somewhat boring – and I just wanted to complete the damn car.


Fiddled with exhaust fitment



Prep work began on bottlecap dust caps.



After seeing the car in sunlight - I determined that I really wanted to rock a strong red/black contrast look with the car. So the remainder of 'dipped in red paint' parts were removed and scuffed down with scotch brites.



Duplicolor Trim used on painted bumper trim. Plastidip used on kidneys and wheel caps (basically anything 'chrome-ish').



In a dream world - I would have had the funds available for finishing off the A/C - but I didn't - so I opted to remove the compessor. All hose ends were neatly capped off.



The power steering belt needed to come off in order to get the A/C belt off - so I was like "F-it" and removed the power steering system as well. Delete plate from silence pictured.



Look ma - one belt !



I'm embarrassed to post this - but here's me bombing the caps black.



After some 'fun' progress on cosmetics - I dove into the line replacement. One trick I did was with a chuck of 4x4 between the subframe and differential. With just the one support stand in the rear - more area was open to get around on my creeper to access the hard lines.



Best shot I could get of all the lines while on the car.
From left to right: fuel vent, brake, fuel return, and fuel feed.



Here's a good shot of corrosion on the fuel lines. Also - old fuel hoses I opted to replace.



Here we can see where one might as well replace fuel lines when doing the brake line since the fuel lines route 'over' the brake line.



I was simply unable to loosen the front end of the brake line fitting while fuel lines were in place. The space wasn't available to get tools at it - so the fuel lines came off first.



Dropped exhaust, DS, and tank.





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.



Lower mount bushing for fuel filter removed in order to pull brake line. It was important for me to get it out as unmolested as possible so I could match bends to the replacement line.



Shots of the front end of brake line with fuel lines out of the way. Even still, I ended up cutting the line at its rear end and sliding a 6-point box end wrench all the way up to the front fitting to remove it. Believe me - I tried everything else I could think of before resorting to that. The 6-point was the only tool that worked on that front fitting. Line wrenches and vice-grips just slipped off it like it was butter.



Brake line removed.



Shot of the rear junction where I cut the line with tin snips.



That rear fitting received a LOT of swear words.. like 4-6 hours worth. In the end - I got the torch out on it..





All the new line hardware. I was thanking the stars above that the fuel lines came pre-bent - they still took some tweaking - but them being pre-bent saved A LOT of time.



Took another break and painted 'is' lip.



I opted to run fog deletes..
1) Fog lights are somewhat expensive - and I'd rather have my pristine set in storage.
2) More 'black' could be incorporated into front end. I'd seen pictures of color-matched ones - but they never looked quite 'right' to me.
3) Because race car.

I bombed them in a charcoal-ish primer. I wasn't going for a glossy black..



Vent line tweaked up to match old line. Popped right in.



Began tedious bend-match process on brake line. Was glad that I started at the front - because when I got to the rear - there was about 1-2 inches of 'extra' line which was easier to take care of.



Yay !! Fresh lines in place..





Picture of old lines and hoses.



All the stickers this project car will ever need.



On the road again. 10mm spacers installed on rear for bottlecap damage-control.





Suspension settled another 1/8 to a 1/4 inch over next week or two.



I am deeply in love with what I have created..



Mpg averages 30 with mix of city and highway. It's a damn shame it's on bottlecaps - you can really feel the tire roll when it's thrown into a corner - but shit - I'm just so happy to be driving it again. It's nirvana to me. Zen achieved. Wow - almost seven years of on/off work. What a journey.

Thank you for reading my thread. I'm going to generate a much-summarized 'Members Ride' post here in a week or two. Future updates to this thread will hopefully involve different wheels..

Cheers !

[Simon S]

Ha! First official r3v member to see the beast in person !!

Thanks again for coming over !

[mondonitro]

let me say wow!! I saw this car in person, its more than a car much more. Many props to a super fine resto project and super nice guy to boot. Can't wait to see it on the road, oh so close. Keep up the good work.
Peace out, let it rock!