This thread is dedicated to my 3rd, and hopefully most completely built E30. It's a car that I originally bought when I lived in Arizona, and that was previously owned by two of my best friends. There's a lot of history in the car, and I've found that I can't bring myself to sell it, so over the last 8 months or so I've actually been putting some effort into getting it where I want.
The first few posts in this thread will bring us up to today, and we'll go from there. I imagine this will be a longer build thread, as I really don't even know how far I'm going to take this car yet...for now, the goal is to make a car that can do a weekend at the track reliably, yet be fun to drive on the street. My last E30 was a full-on track build, and as a result it wasn't much fun on a long drive on twisty roads...the goal for this car is to make something that can do both. This approach invites compromise, but will produce a fun car that can be enjoyed more than once a month...hopefully.
To start, here's a shot of the car as I purchased it:
My initial changes were pretty minor. I added a set of Ronal LS and a decent stereo. Then I moved to DC, and the car essentially sat for 8 months until a buddy of mine and I drove it straight through from Phoenix to VA. 36-ish hours with the only stops for fuel, energy drinks, and one hour-long layover in Memphis for ribs. The car was amazing - 100% reliable, albeit with a nasty vibration north of the posted speed limit.
At home in VA, the car got a fresh set of tires and went to its first autocross. This was my 2nd ever autocross, and suffice it to say I'm pretty terrible. The E30 did fine, though, and was relatively reliable. It came with a junk one-size-fits-all air filter that kept falling off, so I replaced it with a KN piece. Other than that, my only note was that the Eibach ProKit springs were a bit soft.
The first few posts in this thread will bring us up to today, and we'll go from there. I imagine this will be a longer build thread, as I really don't even know how far I'm going to take this car yet...for now, the goal is to make a car that can do a weekend at the track reliably, yet be fun to drive on the street. My last E30 was a full-on track build, and as a result it wasn't much fun on a long drive on twisty roads...the goal for this car is to make something that can do both. This approach invites compromise, but will produce a fun car that can be enjoyed more than once a month...hopefully.
To start, here's a shot of the car as I purchased it:
My initial changes were pretty minor. I added a set of Ronal LS and a decent stereo. Then I moved to DC, and the car essentially sat for 8 months until a buddy of mine and I drove it straight through from Phoenix to VA. 36-ish hours with the only stops for fuel, energy drinks, and one hour-long layover in Memphis for ribs. The car was amazing - 100% reliable, albeit with a nasty vibration north of the posted speed limit.
At home in VA, the car got a fresh set of tires and went to its first autocross. This was my 2nd ever autocross, and suffice it to say I'm pretty terrible. The E30 did fine, though, and was relatively reliable. It came with a junk one-size-fits-all air filter that kept falling off, so I replaced it with a KN piece. Other than that, my only note was that the Eibach ProKit springs were a bit soft.
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