I have had this car for quite some time now but neglected to put up a thread about it because I had always thought we would sell it. Well, we have put so much money into it now that it wouldn't make sense to sell it. As a result I am pushing her into daily duty to give my turbo car a rest and to allow me to do some things to it that would require it to be down for a month or so.
This thread is a timeline for my own records and something that might help someone looking to literally rescue one of these cars from the crusher. This car had been neglected severely. Emphasis on the severely.
We bought this car for $800 in the middle of January 2010. We overpaid... it had issues. Everything from a popped freeze plug to a broken head bolt. So we've had it for almost 2 years now and it has come a long way.
January 21, 2010 (The day after we bought the car)
As with any e30 purchase... first step is a thorough cleaning/degreasing to see what you are actually working with. My wife does interiors like no other on the planet... I'm glad she enjoys it, because I hate cleaning interiors.
MONEY!!! Sweet.
After cleaning shots.
We also swapped out parts of the interior from my project car... seats and carpet included.
January 23-26, 2010
Repainted the plastic diving board bumper surrounds and some other trim pieces. Also tackled the rust hole behind the right tail light. Just patched it with some fiberglass and spraypaint, but it has held up for 2 years and still looks like it did when I finished it. The car is getting resprayed early next year though so this will be re-fixed with new metal at that time.
February 1-12, 2010
This is where the ol' girl really got her new lease on life. The cooling system was so full of shit from sitting open to the elements for so long it took me about 5 hours to clean out as much of it as possible. I couldn't clean it all of course... but I cleaned and cleaned until I could run water through it and have the water still come out nice and clean from the block drain and radiator drain.
That's not good!!!
New parts!
Timing belt kit, water pump, cam seal, crank seal, intermediate seal, gaskets, etc.
While I was doing all of the above I rehab'd the appearance of the intake manifold and the valve cover. Couldn't just put them back on in the gross condition they came off in.
February 12, 2010
Here she is running again after all the work mentioned above. She is still LOUD as hell. I think it needs a head rebuild. Hell I know it has something like 300,000+ miles on it so I am not too surprised.
This thread is a timeline for my own records and something that might help someone looking to literally rescue one of these cars from the crusher. This car had been neglected severely. Emphasis on the severely.
We bought this car for $800 in the middle of January 2010. We overpaid... it had issues. Everything from a popped freeze plug to a broken head bolt. So we've had it for almost 2 years now and it has come a long way.
January 21, 2010 (The day after we bought the car)
As with any e30 purchase... first step is a thorough cleaning/degreasing to see what you are actually working with. My wife does interiors like no other on the planet... I'm glad she enjoys it, because I hate cleaning interiors.
MONEY!!! Sweet.
After cleaning shots.
We also swapped out parts of the interior from my project car... seats and carpet included.
January 23-26, 2010
Repainted the plastic diving board bumper surrounds and some other trim pieces. Also tackled the rust hole behind the right tail light. Just patched it with some fiberglass and spraypaint, but it has held up for 2 years and still looks like it did when I finished it. The car is getting resprayed early next year though so this will be re-fixed with new metal at that time.
February 1-12, 2010
This is where the ol' girl really got her new lease on life. The cooling system was so full of shit from sitting open to the elements for so long it took me about 5 hours to clean out as much of it as possible. I couldn't clean it all of course... but I cleaned and cleaned until I could run water through it and have the water still come out nice and clean from the block drain and radiator drain.
That's not good!!!
New parts!
Timing belt kit, water pump, cam seal, crank seal, intermediate seal, gaskets, etc.
While I was doing all of the above I rehab'd the appearance of the intake manifold and the valve cover. Couldn't just put them back on in the gross condition they came off in.
February 12, 2010
Here she is running again after all the work mentioned above. She is still LOUD as hell. I think it needs a head rebuild. Hell I know it has something like 300,000+ miles on it so I am not too surprised.
Comment