Simple sedan build

[87e30]

too good

[GDA]

Time for a long overdue update... got bogged down with travel and work so lost close to a month with no movement on the E30. I got back into it this weekend and completed the following projects:

Removed and rebuilt the sunroof assembly. I installed new sunroof cables and sunroof lift arms. Tedious job and pulled all the parts off the car to clean and repaint everything to make it look fresh.

This was completely unexpected but while working on removing the headliner a couple months ago I heard a loud pop when I opened the sunroof. And upon opening/closing it right after that noticed one of the drive arms had stress cracked and also the rear of a lift arm where the sunroof bolts down had also cracked. I recall the day that happened and I was so ticked off I literally did not want to work on the E30 for at least a week. Anyway, its better this happened now while its gutted than a year down the road.

Broken arms and drive cables



All put back together... well, until I install the new headliner then a few pieces will have to come back out to get it installed over the yellow roof insulation piece. Headliner will be one of the last projects as to do it right you have to pull the rear window also.



Next up this afternoon I installed a new dash insulation pad before mounting the rebuilt the HVAC box and it really freshens up the interior. For those considering this you have to have full access to the firewall as it sits behind the wiring loom, pedal box, HVAC box, AC lines and tucks under the glove box mounting plate.



So after wrestling with the sunroof and interior today I wanted to do something enjoyable. I got started on the motor.

Pulled the old E36 pan and the motor is super clean.





E36 pan will be up for sale

[Kershaw]

very nice!

[CHIF8008]

can we get you to do this to every e30 so that they all stay preserved forever more?


soooo good

[Joey FTW]

im in love with this car.

[twism]

I think its about time to see an update in this thread :)

[Roysneon]

I think its about time to see an update in this thread :)

Yes x1000. It's like the grown up version of my build.

[GDA]

Well after months of 100 degree plus heat here in DFW it is finally a reasonable temp to work outdoors and in the garage. So with that three or so month hiatus from working on the E30, today the simple build project came back from the dead...

Started with something straightforward to get back in the groove wrenching again - driveshaft rebuild and center bearing replacement.

Disassembled..



Cleaned, painted and lined up to reinstall new parts...










All done and now getting excited to get this thing to a turnkey roller again.




And the late afternoon project - S50 E36 to E34 oil pan swap.

Remove S50 rear pickup oil pan and pickup tube




Remove windage tray to get access to rear oil pump pickup support braket that is bolted to one of the rear main bearing caps.




Drill out riveted E34 windage tray retaining pins to be able to remove windage tray






I did not get to reinstall today as somehow I missed ordering the small gasket for the oil pickup tube. Just pumped to be back making progress on my future little hot rod.

[dball4]

Amazing.

[kid325e]

Sweet dude! Suscribed because I can tell there is passion in this build. ;)

[Butler]

Seriously impressive! This is something I can aspire to.

[Eric]

Nice build man!

A few observations... Where are you going to put the air filter with the massive booster right behind he headlight?

I put a VAC oil pan baffle in my E34 oil pan and the oil pressure doesn't budge. Highly recommended!

A mistake we made on my S50B30 swap was the vacuum hose routing. We plumbed the air/oil separator back into the intake manifold instead of using the euro oil dipstick tube with the small Y at the base. Instead we used the E34 dipstick with the E34 oil pan. So now I get a healthy amount of oil pooling in the intake box... It's something I need to correct this winter.
Here is a better explanation of my problem http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1717220

again, good luck with the build, you'll love the euro powerplant!

[GDA]

Amazing.

Sweet dude! Suscribed because I can tell there is passion in this build. ;)

Seriously impressive! This is something I can aspire to.

^ Thanks all, it really is nice to hear the words of encouragement.

Nice build man!

A few observations... Where are you going to put the air filter with the massive booster right behind he headlight?

I put a VAC oil pan baffle in my E34 oil pan and the oil pressure doesn't budge. Highly recommended!

A mistake we made on my S50B30 swap was the vacuum hose routing. We plumbed the air/oil separator back into the intake manifold instead of using the euro oil dipstick tube with the small Y at the base. Instead we used the E34 dipstick with the E34 oil pan. So now I get a healthy amount of oil pooling in the intake box... It's something I need to correct this winter.
Here is a better explanation of my problem http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1717220

again, good luck with the build, you'll love the euro powerplant!

Hey, thanks for the info. I will be finishing up the pan work this week so this post was very timely.

As for the air intake, we are going to do a test fit of the motor and try several BMW airboxes to see what might work and how one could be made to fit with some unique mounting locations.



Well, on with today's update...

HVAC refresh complete - new foam, blower motor, resistor and heater core. Will pick up AC o-rings tomorrow and then will button those lines up.











Next up this afternoon was some leisure wrenching while a friend dropped by to check out the E30 and its progress... Rear headrest install.

Tools required/used -



Headrests, mounts and hardware and upper and lower grommet (can't see as they are pushed onto upper black grommets in this pic).



Test fit of mount to determine post hole locations... then used a center punch with these mounted to mark the center of the post with a sharpie pen.



Then after cutting holes with box cutter and trimming to a hole with snips I used a pair of needlenose to remove about an inch of foam so that the upper and lower grommet could be pushed together flush up against the black leather of the top of the seat. You need to make room to push up the lower plastic grommet so some foam does need to be removed.








I rigged up a quick monkey wrench press with a 21mm socket to be able to get the upper and lower grommets nice and snug. Pic below...








All done and looks good too! :-D





Then after grabbing a Potbelly sandwich and a cold beer to celebrate I installed my manual tranny mount with new hardware. Quick 5 minute job and actually mounting this up got me all excited about how close I am getting to be in a position to drop in the motor.







Got to go grab some dinner then with the entire week off from work, I should make some serious progress on the E30 as the wife gave me the full pass for the week to make some serious headway toward a turnkey.

[GDA]

And up and up it goes....




Uhhhh, hey moron you got the pass side motor mount on backwards....



And after that quick fix... down, down and down she goes.... BOOM!





WooHoo!!! It fits!!!









And for those interested in the booster set up, here is where I have the booster bracket tacked for now. Got room to spare to fit the maf and route a tube for a cold air intake. That said, I am going to work on getting it pushed over another 3/4 to full inch by massaging the fenderwell and mount a bit more.




Man does it feel good to install a motor in the bay. Words just don't do it justice.

[craiggroves91]

Awesome build!
What is that cracking in this picture?