Project Money Pit - A 24v Story

[GuercII]

Farewell....

Well, the car is sold. It's been a hell of a lot of fun. I enjoyed revisiting the '80's, but still not sure I want to live there for good. The car went to a good buyer, I feel good that it's in excellent hands. I can sense that it will be on the track before you know it. Here's one last pic of Money Pit, with her replacement sitting behind her.

As a post-mortem assessment, I revisited my initial objectives: Keep expenditures modest, and do most or all the work myself. Don't go overboard, and keep the car within the limits of the SpecE30 series. I recognized that I had moderate mechanical skills and limited tools, so I set a hard budget at $5k, including the cost of the car.

By now, I've spent many multiples of my hard $5k budget. I learned to do the vast majority of work myself, but had to go to a pro for an engine swap that was way beyond my competence. I went completely overboard, and blew right through the limits of the SpecE30 series. I ended up with a garage full of specialized tools that I'll never use again.

So, in other words, the project was a complete success. I can't wait to do it again.

[GuercII]

Front End Shot. It is tough to photograph Alpine White, and get good reflections!

[GuercII]

Another shot

Another shot... evening sunset.

[GuercII]

Polished... And Polished... and Polished

Over the last few weeks, I have been polishing up Money Pit. Clay, rubbing compound, polish, then wax. After wearing out my arm, I bought one of those buffing globes that mount on a hand drill. Boy, did that make my life easier at least for the final wax. It's not a Porter Cable, but it's a start.

The front and rear valance, as well as the lower rockers need attention. Needs to be clay-bar'ed first of all, the lower valance is visibly grimy from 22 years of close-up road detruitus. The black accent paint on lower rockers also needs to be repainted once I clean it off. Any suggestions for paint formulation? Obviously black, but gloss or semigloss? The white 'is' front lip needs to be reshot also. I might paint that in black, just to do something different.

[GuercII]

This week, I had the Turner swaybar reinforcement mounts welded on the rear. One of the factory mounts was tweaked, and it was a matter of time before the 20mm rear sway bar bent the other one. The reinforced mounts should keep things working.

The sway mount was noted during a chassis inspection at Edge, a local race shop. Some of their other findings were:
>> Tie rods and control arms appear to be original.
When I asked about tie rods/control arms, they said, "oh, these degrade over time, after 20+ years you should replace." ORLY? Anyone have thoughts on this? Dunno.

This Street car, I intend to do autocross/track but haven't gotten to any BMWCCA events yet. With the engine swap, I've managed to categorize the car far beyond the limits of my driving skills, so I'm not sure if I will make autocross a serious goal.

you should lower it more, and toss on a front splitter

Yeah, but I have a hard enough time keeping the "is" lip attached without a splitter. And it is lowered a little with M3 springs, enough to remove the 4x4 look, but not so low that I"m dodging potholes. Especially on my way to Oakland or Richmond PnP.

I'd like to find an Alpina front spoiler. Anyone know where to find one, short of $800 for a new one?

[Matt-B]

you should lower it more, and toss on a front splitter

[GuercII]

Because I bet it makes you smile every time you get under your car to work on it. :p
Glad to see its doing its job..

Every time I climb under, I give it a rub and a tug. Yeah I get a smile too.

[White325is]

and a pink Getrag260 adapter (made & painted by a guy on this forum). Why pink? Don't know, didn't have the time to repaint black before installing it.

Because I bet it makes you smile every time you get under your car to work on it. :p
Glad to see its doing its job..

[BeLzEbUb58]

Same car. I posted a feeler/FS ad on Bimmerforums, etc. I couldn't post it here because my original account ("Guerc") was locked up.

Yeah, I'm still not sure where I'm going with this project. I have a list of "to do" projects but once that's done, I'm not sure. I bought a new DD (E90 330i) and the novelty of driving a 22-yr old car daily is wearing off. . Anyone want to wave a stack of $100's at me? I have a prepurchase inspection available for serious buyers

I got very tired of fielding Craigslist requests who had no appreciation for the E30. I flat out told one guy "dude, this isn't the car for you, go buy an Integra." Then there was the 16 year old kid who was all over the car, could barely drive a stick, but ultimately didn't want it because it wasn't as fast as his brother's S50. Good luck kid, you're exactly right: More power is EXACTLY what you need, let me suggest a Mustang. I'll be sure to attend the funeral.

Needs moar pics.

Great e30! Loved that initial video from VM Works. It sounded like a rip roaring monster. My stack is definitely short of hundreds. I had about 35 of them hoping to buy M5wanaB's vert on NorCale30. Instead, I bought a '99 e36 vert with sport/premium pkgs for $3000 pretty much sight unseen. Need seat work on both front seats, vert top strap adjustment, front strut and LCAB and some work from Diablo Dents unless you have a better, read cheaper, source for dent removal. I still think it was worth 30 hundreds.
Going to PnP in San Jose to shop for a couple of seats for 50% off this weekend.

[GuercII]

Side shot

Damn, this hand polishing is hard work. Polished up the driver rear quarter panel and trunk lid today, but it is smooth as glass and has a mirror reflection. It's tough to get a good reflection shot with a white car though. Those flaws behind the fender arch are reflections of the road, not flaws on the car.

Next up is to claybar the lower body, mask, and respray the black trim. Maybe tomorrow or next weekend... my arm hurts.

[GuercII]

Same car. I posted a feeler/FS ad on Bimmerforums, etc. I couldn't post it here because my original account ("Guerc") was locked up.

Yeah, I'm still not sure where I'm going with this project. I have a list of "to do" projects but once that's done, I'm not sure. I bought a new DD (E90 330i) and the novelty of driving a 22-yr old car daily is wearing off. . Anyone want to wave a stack of $100's at me? I have a prepurchase inspection available for serious buyers

I got very tired of fielding Craigslist requests who had no appreciation for the E30. I flat out told one guy "dude, this isn't the car for you, go buy an Integra." Then there was the 16 year old kid who was all over the car, could barely drive a stick, but ultimately didn't want it because it wasn't as fast as his brother's S50. Good luck kid, you're exactly right: More power is EXACTLY what you need, let me suggest a Mustang. I'll be sure to attend the funeral.

Needs moar pics.

[BeLzEbUb58]

Is this the same car that you had for sale?

[GuercII]

Needs Moar E30 Content!

Another E30 glamour shot. Pulled the grilles and resprayed them with semi-flat black. New Roundel on the front.

I passed smog for my biennial registration! Woot! It failed once (high hydrocarbons), so the next day I took it back. I changed the plugs (unnecessary, the originals were nearly new), swapped the original OEM chip back in, and got the car nice and hot. Drove around for 30mins at 4000 rpm, one or two gears lower than normal. Pulled right into the smog inspection bay with the catalytic converters practically ready to self-combust... and passed with flying colors.

If I didn't proudly point out the engine swap and my spanking new Smog BAR sticker, the smog tech probably wouldn't have noticed that it wasn't the original engine. I should have kept my mouth shut, since the original E30/M20 smog requirements are much, much more lenient than those on E36/M50. Now I'm good for another 2 years.

[GuercII]

Another ALMS Shot....

No E30 or BMW content in this one... but couldn't resist a classic LeMans style photo. Into the darkness, with Ferrari brake discs glowing cherry red.

The BMW's & Porsches were pretty silent, almost like street cars. The V8 Corvettes made the ground shake, while the Ferraris had a unique sound. As they lifted the throttle into the corners, the 12 cylinders would backfire the unspent fuel. P-P-P-POP! POP! I was hoping to get a shot of flames once the sun went down, but never got anything.

I went to LeMans when I was a kid. My dad took me to see the qualifying practice for the 1977 race, when we lived in Europe. To this day, I can still close my eyes and see those fat-bodied cars screaming across the track.

[GuercII]

No E30 Content!

No E30 content but went to the ALMS race at Laguna Seca. The BMWCCA had a hospitality tent at turn 5... outstanding race. I've never been so cold in my life though. Gale force wind picked up the 40degree air over the Monterey Bay, and whipped it over the race track. Like a bunch of dumb-assed Californians, most of us were there in shorts and completely unprepared. I did have some spare clothes, since the race went into the evening.

The race went into the twilight hours. It was tough to get a shot in the low light, but some of my pictures clearly show the cherry-red brake discs going into the corner.

Full photo album here. http://guerc.shutterfly.com/pictures/58


**EDIT** E30 in Delphin gray, top right corner. I think it's a DB model.