3SGE BEAMS converted 89 E30///Stock as a rock 88 E30 325i Touring///

[kameleon]

The only pictures i have are in this thread im affraid.

[kameleon]

It's been a while....

Finished the flush wheel centre caps.



I purchased a 6 speed E36 M3 gearknob (same shift pattern as the Altezza) and lathed down the factory portion of the BMW shifter (so i could mount the gearknob correctly), i drilled out the centre of this and glued onto the Toyota shaft. I like that it looks factory.






Sits perfectly to hand for me so i am very happy it worked out in the end.

I also had the problem of cutting out in 3rd gear which i thought was more related to speed than anything else. Well.... had some time on the freeway and found out that it would not accelerate over 110KPH.

Factory Japanese cars are speed limited to 180KPH. So with the BMW putting out more speed pulses than the Toyota would suddenly 110KPH was the new 180KPH, FAIL!

So we fitted a speed cut defender box and gave the car a wheel alignment and spent the past saturday blasting through the Dandenongs (The hills of Melbourne)



Didn't get any pics in the hills as i was having too much fun.

Few things i have realised:-

* Although the factory BMW diff is 4.1 (the same as the Altezza), this makes the car way way too short in first gear. I am at 3,000rpm when i have only moved say 10 meters. At highway cruising i am at 3,200rpm @ 100KPH which is good. But the car will receive a 3.9 LSD as an upgrade. It needs the LSD BAD.

* It can be driven at the height it is, however the front control arms and rack ends are now facing above horizontal at this height and will need to have RCA correction to stop the bump steer.

* Stock E30 steering wheels are fine for trucks but....

* The car rides great on the BC racing coilovers but it requires a sway bar stat. there is no factory rear sway bar on my car either so that will be required as well.

* E30's have the best all round vision with no blind spots in any car i have driven.

* Everyone loves a hard revving N/A car.




So washer bottle and few bits and pieces to go and then the car will be rego'd, just need the money to do so.

[MazterDizazter]

Nice work! You are giving me bad ideas... I can make more power and better fuel economy if I put a 20v blacktop or a BEAMS engine in the E30... but I think one swapped car is probably enough. Besides, there's too little support for those engines in the U.S. I've got an idle/bogging issue that everyone seems to have but no one seems to know the solution to.

[DREWHALL]

What did you end up using for the center caps? I have the same wheels and I've been running no caps. I wouldn't mind a turbo 4 banger in my car, but the S50 isn't bad either.

[kameleon]

20V and Beams are really common here into old corollas etc.

I used BMW floor mat clips from a E90 or similar with the clip section removed and covered the face with some 3m vinyl (would have been just as happy plain black) and made a cap fir the inside with velcro to attach it to. Gives the wheel a much nicer look imho.

[Cal]

I also had the problem of cutting out in 3rd gear which i thought was more related to speed than anything else. Well.... had some time on the freeway and found out that it would not accelerate over 110KPH.

Factory Japanese cars are speed limited to 180KPH. So with the BMW putting out more speed pulses than the Toyota would suddenly 110KPH was the new 180KPH, FAIL!

So we fitted a speed cut defender box

Can you please provide me with some more info on this?

[Ant_e30]

Some interesting insights there on your driving experience. A lot of that sounds like it will apply to my car when i get it back on the road with the SR20 in terms of 4.1 BMW diff, BC coilovers / sway bars and the ride height with bump steer issues..

Must be good to get out and really stretch its legs now!

[kameleon]

Cal:- what do you require? We are using a Caldina "speed cut defebder" which telks the ecu it is doing less than 180KPH. It just intercepts the speed signal.

Ant:- You're not wrong! Felt great to just be out wasting petrol in the thing tbh. I like my cars to go, stop and brake and bump steer just feels crap to me. I have alot of suspension work done to all 3 of my cars to varying degrees. My MR2 is pretty much rose jointed throughout yet still feels great on the road.

Fixing the roll centres should make the car handle great at this height.

[Ant_e30]

Fair point on the overall balance. To be honest my suspension experience generally only includes coilovers and strut braces/bushes, but i agree that bump steer is quite a nasty feeling. From what i read it is quite a rigmerole to go through to try and adjust it on a Non M E30 though so i will be interested to see what you come up with in that regard.

[kameleon]

To be honest just lowering the castor rod and tie rod end is a easy way to bring those items back to a less bump steer prone angle. That alone will improve things alot.

[kameleon]

Well i found a set of black top 4AGE throttles for a steal! pick them up this Sunday.

Have been prepping my friends MR2 race car i drive, for a race at Wakefield early January so that has taken time away from the E30 lately.

[kameleon]

The guy had been away on holidays so i only got around to picking up the throttles today.

Here they are in all their stock as a rock glory.






Yesterday we went wreckers diving to find a good dash (they just brought a E30 into stock which in the pictures had a mint dash)

Get there and the car has been hacked..... pretty typical here sadly.

Got some good gear though from 2 different wreckers.

Picked up:-

- 4 outer door handles
- Battery relocation in the boot with all the trims
- full set of rear seat belts (as the previous owner of my car wrecked the buckles etc when she had baby seats in the back)
- Genuine Hayman Reece towbar setup
- Various washer bottles for trial in the E30
And some random brake hoses for a friend and a smog pump for my MR2

Oh and two slurpies haha

All that for $100 has got to be some type of record! sunburnt to shit now though.

Being that it will be 43 degrees celcius here tomorrow (around 110 farenheit) doing work on the car will be taking a back seat i think!

[kameleon]

Got a dash mat, Quite happy with the price and the fact it came with velcro pieces.

In other news i have nutted out the final suspension and steering setup incorporating bump steer correction for the lowered height.

The plan is:-

* Lowering of the front control arms and tie rod end (custom, already drawn up)
* Custom front sway bar to suit the Beams
* strengthened rear control arms
* Raised subframe
* Strengthened sway bar mounts (and a actual sway bar since my car never had one factory)
* Offset diff mount/custom diff mount for rhs

I also have tracked down a Z3 LSD coupe diff in 4.10 ratio with very low kays. After some thought this ratio will keep the N/A engine in the rev range it should be in and with the 6 speed is at 3,200RPM highway speed.

[bangn]

loving the blacktop throttles, i just sold my blacktop 20v, 40mm length trumpets and decent ignition system made the most amazing sound at 9k.

are tou putting those on a beams? dont they already have a 4 throttle setup bigger than the blacktop. Beams will be far better, the 20v lacks bottom end torque, you only really get to appreciate that engine on really twisty roads where you can make the most of the higher up powerband

[kameleon]

The silver tops are a restriction, the blacktops are fine. Ultimate outright power you would go true 48's or even 50's.

For the mild cams this engine will see and the other planned modifications they will not be a restriction.

The blacktop Beams has a reputation of being a more torquey and complete 20v.

I agree with that statement :)