Procrastination at its finest.

[JK_E30]

So I got back from BCT and AIT for the Army in May of last year. Around late July early August I decided to pull the M20 seeing that it was leaking from ever possible spot and reseal the whole thing. At the same time replace the 260 I had for another one in better condition.

Idk why I decided to start in the summer here in AZ... pretty crazy. Anywho here are some pics of gettin started. I do have some of pulling the m20 but unfortunately they are all on my other laptop (broken screen) so I haven't recovered them yet. We all know what an m20 being pulled looks like anyways no biggy.

Only ones I have that were on my camera still for some reason....

M20 partway into teardown.


So I order all the gasket kits, clutch kits, misc m20 parts I needed... stupid right because obviously I was going to switch my plans to...(crappy phone pic) M50B25TU


Engine bay shot.


exhaust and BB are now removed as well. Back to the story I guess.

So I bought a GMC sonoma 4cyl for a DD while I work on my e30 project.. ends up being the worst POS ever... all in all spent more money and time fixing the truck than working on my car!

So the car got delayed... and delayed and put off.. until my buddy with his s52 e30 rolls into town from the Marines to visit and gets my ass back into gear. So lets jump forward...

I believe it was May 14-16 he was in town and we started to tear down the m50 and clean here and there and replace some gaskets and hoses and what not. Swapped the oil pan for the e34 one as well.

The weekend of June 12-13 I drove out to Miramar to pull a tranny from a donor e36 he had.

So here are some pics of where I am at now and we will continue with updates from here.

July 1st.
Started putting the m50 back together. Changed out the spark plugs, thermostat and housing, cleaned the injectors, wiped down the motor a little. Not gonna have this thing super clean just want it running again.

Here are a couple pic of the m50 on the stand.



My abandoned e30.


Still have a lot to do so I will have daily updates along with pictures. Hopefully making this thread will keep me motivated to finish this soon..

[AbsorbantNut]

Damn! Over a year into this and you havent even mocked up the motor in the car? Why didnt you stick with the g260 transmission since you had one?

But hope to see lots of progress!

[xwill112x]

nice start. check out my build thread.

[JK_E30]

Damn! Over a year into this and you havent even mocked up the motor in the car? Why didnt you stick with the g260 transmission since you had one?

But hope to see lots of progress!

Not quite a year yet, but yes, it has been put off to much.

Less money to spend on custom cross member, shift linkage and all that. I do not have the equipment to do it myself so its easier plus the tranny was free.

nice start. check out my build thread.

Thanks, will do!

[JK_E30]

Still July 1.

Got some more stuff done before the AZ heat hit its high. I think its 112 today.

Anyways, cleaned the injectors and fuel rail, cleaned the intake manifold and put it back onto the motor, cleaned some gunk out of my brake master cylinder resivoir. Took off the water pump, did not want to chance it going out after I put the motor in might as well add to the "while I'm in there list".



So I plan on working on it more once the sunsets so its only 95 in instead of 112... FML.

Tonight I plan on installing some new rotors that I picked up from a local for free as well as installing new brake lines and putting the calipers back together. Then, if I am not too exhausted I will swap my old leaking steering rack for the used rack I picked up a long time ago and never got around to doing it, now is the time right?!

Then I think it will be time for some rest for an early start for tomorrow!

Will take pics to keep you guys entertained and keep myself motivated.

Thanks for reading.

[MR E30 325is]

Hell yeah JK_E30

Lots of good, proper work being done to this E30. This is going to be a very clean swap.

I cant wait to get out there again and help you wrap this up. You have to get my twin E30 back on the road, and we will go terrorize the town together, photoshoots, drag strip, stuff like that.

I like the thread man. Keep it up.

[JK_E30]

Hell yeah JK_E30

Lots of good, proper work being done to this E30. This is going to be a very clean swap.

I cant wait to get out there again and help you wrap this up. You have to get my twin E30 back on the road, and we will go terrorize the town together, photoshoots, drag strip, stuff like that.

I like the thread man. Keep it up.

Thanks man, you gotta disconnect the the SC and half throttle so I can keep up though ;).

[MR E30 325is]

Thanks man, you gotta disconnect the the SC and half throttle so I can keep up though ;).

Hahaha One day you will put me in my place, just like you used to.

[JK_E30]

Evening of July 1.

Tonight was pretty much an epic fail and a waste of time.

So as I said earlier I was going to put the rotors/calipers/brake hoses all back and put the wheels back on to do the rack.

Fail #1, convenient leak in my shed that got some rust on the calipers, no big deal just needed some sand paper fixin'


Got one rotor on the front driver side and tightened down the mounting screw.


Fail #2, get over to the pass. side and DOH forgot I never drilled out the old mounting screw that had the head broken off... Cant run the drill or anything at night and I couldnt get enough of it to get with pliers or vice grips so it will have to wait. (btw yes I know thats a rear brake hose I was just making sure I didnt orther the wrong size... since I was effing everything else up)


So moving on I am thinking "I will just install the calipers and drill the thing out tomorrow and put the new one in". Wrong!

Fail #3, now I usually have everything organized. Every bolt/washer/clip/cable etc labeled... can't a set of mounting screws for the damn caliper to the strut housing! Looked for about an hour and fifteen minutes and said screw it, I will just have to wait til the morning to hit the hardware store and buy two similar bolts. Which means I cannot even install one side because I need to take a bolt in for reference to make sure I have one exactly alike. FML!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then fail #4 is just obviously I cannot put the rack on without the tires on because A)Fed up for the night B)To fed up to put the tires on to make sure the wheels are straight then have to take them back off to finish the brakes tomorrow.

Still in high spirits despite my FAIL filled evening.

We don't need m50 when we have one hooman power! My buddy Seth came over to help me and realized it was fail so decided we better push it around..



Good night fellow enthusiasts, hopefully I won't be such a ruh-tard tomorrow and I can make some headway.

[JK_E30]

Okay so it has been a few days since I worked on the car. Just got busy this weekend with the 4th of July stuff.

So back to work.

July 5th.

Picked up a couple bolts to replace the caliper mounting bolts I misplaced.
New and old.


Also picked up some new brake pads and guide pin rubber boots to replace the old and ripped ones I had.


Then started installing the calipers. Couple pics.






Noticed the rubber cover to my caliper bleeder valve has a hole in it.



Also put on a brake sensor I had purchased back when I first decided to pull the m20. sweet.


So, just taking a break then I am going to put the wheels back on, lower the car back to the ground and then check out the rear. See what I need for that. Also need to change the gasket on my diff, it has a small leak.

Will post up some more pics in a few hours.

[MR E30 325is]

I am staying posted man.

There will be plenty of good times to be had when I come back into town after we get this E30 running.

[JK_E30]

I am staying posted man.

There will be plenty of good times to be had when I come back into town after we get this E30 running.

Oh yes there will be.

Okay so another update... lots of time spent, little accomplished.

Heres the deal. Moved to the rear, jacked it up, secured it, pulled the tires off and started undoing everything so I can swap out these rusted ol' rotors. Mounting screw comes out with ease, as does the bottom caliper mounting bolt. However, the top mounting bolt has other thoughts and decides it wants to delay me a couple hours...





Tried hittin it with a box wrench, tried adding a pipe to it but the angle just wont keep the wrench on. Sockets are fitting because the hose is in the way and the hose just spring loads when I try to disconnect it. Im goin at this thing forever coming up with new ideas to try to get it off... One of which was hit the wrench with a mallet.


Mallet was old and just broke in half...
Also used a load of


finally I raised the rotor disconnected the strut and managed to get a 3/8 drive socket with extension and breaker bar on there.

So I lay down on my back and pull pull pull with everything I have, still nothing. So I slip a pipe on there and pull again and here that great "crack" sound of a bolt breaking loose..... wrong


It broke the damn breaker bar. So I took the chance and used another and heard the exact same crack only this time it was the bolt. Finally I can give up for the night and go to bed. The car almost beat me....

[SHE30]

Way to go, I knew you could do it. Tomorrow we'll work on this beast and get this swap going.

[AbsorbantNut]

Oh yes there will be.

Love those gloves! I get the same ones, so much better than the latex ones that always rip.

Snap-on breaker bar FTW (Yes, hate me now for having a father that was a snap-on dealer)

[JK_E30]

Love those gloves! I get the same ones, so much better than the latex ones that always rip.

Snap-on breaker bar FTW (Yes, hate me now for having a father that was a snap-on dealer)

Yeah it takes a little bit to rip these things. I really do need to get either a craftsman or snap-on breaker bar.. The ones I have are just cheap hand-me-down off brand ones.