Project Daily Driver Eta: Slow and Meticulous

[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.

[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.

[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]

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.

[Court M3]

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

[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.

[325ix]

What happened to the houndstooth interior? It was badass.

[Simon S]

full approval from this boat !

[Schnitzer318is]

wow, nice work dude. quite a turnaround.

I like your attention to detail

Major props man, I saw that first pic and was sure it couldn't possibly be saved or even come out looking presentable.

What a great transformation! Subscribed.

Thank you gentleman... I'm just the type of person who wants everything to work as good or better than factory when I am in a car. For better or worse really, just means I spend a lot of time in the garage. I am glad I have a really understanding and helpful wife.

lot of man crush action going on right now, great work, done well and done right!. Keep it up.

;) Little bromance never hurt anyone. Thanks for the compliment. I know i am on the right track hearing from you in a thread.

Holy crap! I never remembered her being that bad. She's in awesome "daily duty" condition. She has pulled many out of a bind.(Including me)

Great work Joe.

You helped all day with it that first day... guess you blocked it from your memory banks. She's coming along. One day and one mod/repair at a time. I can't wait for the paint job honestly.

[Cronopoulos]

What a great transformation! Subscribed.

[Jafxod]

Holy fuck

[pureaudio]

Major props man, I saw that first pic and was sure it couldn't possibly be saved or even come out looking presentable.

[ZM Blue Devil]

lot of man crush action going on right now, great work, done well and done right!. Keep it up.

[kalib0y]

I like your attention to detail

[Mouse]

Holy crap! I never remembered her being that bad. She's in awesome "daily duty" condition. She has pulled many out of a bind.(Including me)

Great work Joe.