Project Daily Driver Eta: Slow and Meticulous

[325ix]

What happened to the houndstooth interior? It was badass.

[Schnitzer318is]

What happened to the houndstooth interior? It was badass.

Agreed... but the seats were not salvageable unfortunately.

Thanks Simon... I've enjoyed your threads and try to live up to that kind of attention to detail when possible.

[Court M3]

Nice transformation, good to see a slow real world budget rebuild.

[Schnitzer318is]

Nov 22, 2011

Got a few updates. For some reason worn roundels really bother me. Soooooo...

Before



After



Also... what's going on here?









Yep... dash swap. Cracked dashes are just soooooooo not cool.



This is going in at the same time. Already did the LED light bar conversion.

[OnMy2ndE30]

I wish I had bought that dash before you swapped it...lol. Oh well. Thanks a TON for the help on the decklid swap bro. I swear that slick top lid and the "is" lip spoiler added like 100 hp to the rear wheels on the way home. Eh, maybe it is because that annoying as hell check light for the brake lights is no longer on 8-)

[Schnitzer318is]

^LOL... no problem. Glad I could help. Well, I'm sure I will come across another dash in the future that I would be willing to part with.

Jan 2012

Got a few more things done on the car this month.

Not pictured... I degreased the engine bay, just like to keep the engine compartment clean to placate my OCD. I also picked up some thin black license plate frames because I do not like the look of unframed plates at all. Looks unfinished to me.



Got the 13 button OBC in and working great. I love having this in the car along with the OBC signal stalk. It just makes the car feel more special for some reason. The LED light bar conversion is waaaaaayyyyy better than factory back lighting. The last time I did the conversion I used "spider" or flux LEDs. This time I used simple 5mm LEDs and the effect was much nicer because you can utilize the whole reflector to spread out the light evenly.

Also helping to "upscale" the car is the relatively crack free dash which always makes an e30 feel more loved and well taken care of.



I had been waiting for garagistic to finish the Motometer gears for the odo for a long time but was at PnP and saw a couple of relatively fresh VDO clusters. Decided to pull one and rehab it for use in the eta. I had ordered an extra VDO cluter gear set a long time ago as a spare so I already had that. Everything came out great. I switched the fuel gauge, tach, and SI board from the motometer cluster and everything works and looks great. Looking forward to tracking fuel consumption on the car accurately (I'm geeky).



Also scored a new ashtray spring and shifter surround at PnP. Now the ashtray isn't loose like a DvDa porn actress. My old shifter surround had broken mounting tabs so it would move around slightly no matter how I tried to zip tie it in place. Now it's not a problem. Sorry I snapped the pic before I wiped everything down... but rest assured, it's clean now.





Scored this at PnP off the car I pulled the VDO cluster out of. Was extremely happy about it. It was a little beat up but with some elbow grease it turned out pretty nice. Bav Auto still sells these for near $300 I think. I paid $8.30 at PnP. I love e30 ownership.

That's it so far... have BIG things coming for it though. Taking it in for a complete Alpine II respray in a couple of weeks. One of the body shops I frequent said they are extremely slow and could use the work and gave me a killer deal on it.

The shop did my bud's convertible shown below with the turbo car. I'm really excited about it.

[Holland]

I like DSIIs on a late model A LOT. I also really do like that eta, for a stock looking car. They appeal a lot to me for some reason.

[Mouse]

Dammit Joe, now I want a crack free dash.

[Schnitzer318is]

^Buy one... they are less than $100 and I'll help you swap it in. ;)

BTW... make a thread about your car damnit! Then PM me a link.

[coop]

any tips on getting that rear roundel off?

[2mAn]

its definitely looking a lot better! might i suggest an ebay chip. why an ebay chip? because they are cheap and its an eta! mine really woke up my car and for $40 it was worth the risk of it being junk (which it wasnt)

[Habla]

$30 shipped for the ansa? Double your money!

[eur04lif3]

love the progresion, nice save

[Schnitzer318is]

^Thanks... it's coming along for sure.

any tips on getting that rear roundel off?

Grab a couple of thicker cloths... like microfiber or something and the factory flathead screwdriver in the trunk. Push the microfiber cloth under the roundel with the tip of the screwdriver... then slowly pry. Be gentle but deliberate. The two pins are on the left and right side so you could also try going from one side to the other. Works every time.

its definitely looking a lot better! might i suggest an ebay chip. why an ebay chip? because they are cheap and its an eta! mine really woke up my car and for $40 it was worth the risk of it being junk (which it wasnt)

I have run ebay chips before and they are all copies of legit chips. I might buy one in the future but for now I am enjoying being able to use regular fuel (87) and getting 30+ mpg.

$30 shipped for the ansa? Double your money!

Ummmmm...

February 09, 2012





Added some flair for the quarter panel windows... unfortunately these are the v1 stickers so they will flake and peel after a couple of months. Oh well.





Had my exhaust guy weld the Ansa muffler onto the car. Started it up after he was done and it was too quiet so I had him cut out the factory resonator as well. Now it is the perfect blend of sport and volume for a daily car.

Below is a video... don't mind the horrendous drivetrain noise. I am going to rebuild the head this year sometime to alleviate that... assuming the problem isn't piston slap which will be eliminated as a possibility before doing the head of course.



She goes in for paint next week! Stay tuned ladies and gentlemen.

[TopOfTheLine89]

Great job. Love the gearing of the etas for daily and highway driving. 90 at 3 grand, can't beat it.