The complete repair, rebuild, repaint, and v8 swap of my early model sedan

[MR 325]

Keep kicking ass Justin, nice progress.

[JGood]

Thanks guys!

I can't believe i've never seen this thread. You are crazy man. I would have just shipped a shell from cali. lol.

Well if I were looking for the cheapest/easiest way to get into a good condition e30, that's what I would have done as well. But I learned more then I ever thought I could while doing this project, met some great people, and feel like I'm pretty much prepared to tackle anything now. I never really looked at it as work, it's a hobby and I do it because I enjoy it. At times it's been stressful, but only because I set a deadline for myself.

Are you gonna keep those Taurus side skirts? I remember I had a set of those :)

Yep, I think they are clean and subtle. Honestly, if I had more time, I'd do a late model rear valance conversion and run a stock plastic rear bumper, and ditch the BMP rear bumper and not use any side skirts. I'm not a huge fan of non-oem body parts. I still may do that at some point in the future. As for now, I'll keep it as it was. I think with the Hartge spoiler, it all kinda fits together.

[OoPEZoO]

CR's is a great little spot for E30 stuff but his only downfall is he has so much stuff there and none of it is catalogued so if he says he has what you are looking for come with tools, you might have to do some wrenchin! I called him about fenders and he said plenty so I drove about 2 1/2 hours up there only to find out one was off the car in the shed, the other was on the car down the road still bolted in place! Since I wasn't prepared to do any work he lent me tools, gave me the key to the gate and sent me on my way. I'm thankful there are still people doing business like that.

Shit's gonna happen!!

+1 Chris is a damn cool guy. I rolled in one day looking for 8 straight bottle cap wheels and a diff from a 325e. He just tossed me the keys for "the yard" down the street and said "Don't kill yourself".

[freeride53]

Fackin awesome dude!

[JGood]

Lots and lots of body work lately. Doing a color change the proper way on an e30 is incredibly time consuming.

Taking breaks in between that boring work, I got the engine together:









For anyone still dragging themselves through this painful learning experience of a thread, allow me to share yet another painfully obvious tip with you: DO NOT leave your tools on or around the engine you are assembling. Or you may end up with this, a 3/8" ratchet stuck within your m60 coolant pipes, which are pinched between the water pump and OSV. Not a huge deal, but pretty funny, and fits right in with my luck lately. Looks like it would slide right out, but due to the knock sensor in the way, I had to remove the rear coolant manifold to get it lose.

[bmwmech1]

Lots and lots of body work lately. Doing a color change the proper way on an e30 is incredibly time consuming.

Tell me about it... you really have to plan out your steps, so you don't do something in the wrong order and have to re-do it...

Now that is some funny shit... unbelievable... My rule is that you're only allowed to laugh/make fun of somebody for doing something dumb, if you have, in fact, done that very same, dumb thing. That being said, technically, I am breaking my own rule here, but trust me, I've gotten tools into some pretty awkward spots, over the years, so I don't feel bad for poking a little fun...
Plus, you just have a knack for this kind of unlucky stuff... I've never seen someone able to do it with such consistency, lol!
Your progress is looking good, though and nice job on the seam sealer, too!
I see you had the larger nipple welded on the crossover manifold, too...

Garey

[JGood]

Oh I don't mind laughing about it, I had two buddies over while I was putting it together, and we all took turns trying to get it out and laughed about it. Imagine if you did that in the car, in an e39 or e53, and had to remove that coolant manifold again? That would be devastating, lol!

The funny part was, that was the second time I had to un-assemble that stuff. The first time was because I didn't have the knock sensors in place... those pipes need to come out before you can install them.

[JGood]

Did some more work on engine assembling the other day... just a few parts to go.




Nothing else cool to update with, just been sanding and prepping the car for paint over the past few days. I don't think I'll be doing much over the next week or so, my girlfriend was in a pretty bad car accident today, so I will likely be tending to her. Hopefully by the end of April I'll have some sort of progress/update.

[bmwmech1]

... my girlfriend was in a pretty bad car accident today, so I will likely be tending to her...

Shit man, hope she's okay. Give her our best wishes for a fast recovery...

Garey

[JGood]

Shit man, hope she's okay. Give her our best wishes for a fast recovery...

Garey

Yep she's alright, just some fractures and sprains. The UPS van she was driving didn't fare so well though. Luckily, none of the parts that I recently ordered were on board, lol.

[bmwmech1]

... Luckily, none of the parts that I recently ordered were on board, lol.

^^^Thank goodness for this^^^











































Oh, and glad she's okay too...

Just kidding... Glad to hear that she's just a little banged up and will be okay...

Garey

[JGood]

Well, I had an x20 connector spliced into my car for the previous m50 swap. I was all excited that I can just install this engine and run it plug and play, then I found out that the m60 engine harness has a male x20, while my m50 engine had a female x20. So, I had to go cut up an e36 engine harness to get a female x20 to splice into my car.

Anyway, first time around with my m50 swap, I just used the normal cheap butt crimp connecters on the splices. After 4 years, they started getting flaky, and I had some bad connections. Does anyone have any suggestions for splices that will last longer? I'm thinking of trying the heat-shrink crimp connectors, and then using heat shrink tubing on top of that?

[FredK]

Those heat shrink crimp connectors work great. I hope you're using a ratcheting crimper, as those seem to have the better quality crimps over the stamped sheetmetal crimpers, which vary wildly in quality.

Or, you could properly crimp pins directly to the x20. The pins are available from Mouser.

[JGood]

Those heat shrink crimp connectors work great. I hope you're using a ratcheting crimper, as those seem to have the better quality crimps over the stamped sheetmetal crimpers, which vary wildly in quality.

Or, you could properly crimp pins directly to the x20. The pins are available from Mouser.

I only have one of the crappy stamped crimpers. Harbor Freight has a $12 ratcheting crimp tool, any thoughts on that? I've never used one so I have no idea what to look for. I don't mind spending more, but I will rarely use it, so I'd prefer not to.

I'd love to just do the pins, but there is about 6" of wiring coming out of my fusebox, which will not reach the engine harness connector, since it's on the passenger side of the harness.

[bmwmech1]

Solder and heat shrink... just sayin'

Garey