86' 325e: The Poor Student Build (New Wheels!)

[XW70]

Hey guys,

Heres the build thread for my second e30, the first one became a parts car after it became evident it was truly fubar'd (bent frame, zero previous maintenance ).

Anyway, Alpine four door 325e, autotragic, blue houndstooth comfort interior.

16" BBS came with the first e30... for $200

Pics!!





Anyway ive owned it for about 2 months now, and done a bit of work.

General maintainence.
Plugs, new intake boot, coolant sender and sensor and Subaru Upper engine cleaner (dad swears by this stuff so he bought some spare, whatever it was free)

PO taped the old intake boot together :-?

Dead plugs (was limping on 5 cylinders for abit)

Filthy TB

Clean!


and finally the DS parts car being taken away after being raped of all its goodness


So plans,

Well as the title states, im a uni student so that has condemd me to four years of poverty

But that also means time off right now over mid year break.. which means more E30 time..

I have a couple of projects to do on it:

• Smoked Smilies (From the parts car)
• Refinish BBS's (unsure what colour center, white on white looks amazing ((http://www.s14.net/forums/showthread...-RS-212-wheels)) but a pita to keep clean, so maybe grey?)
• Paint chrome bumpers body colour
• Claybar and polish
• Replace front screen (cracked, but parts car yielded a good one)
• Install maplight mirror (parts car)
• Perhaps a manual swap if the parts crop up
• remove tint (bubbling and looks like arse)

But right now the most important is make the bastard thing idle!! :hitler:
Its currently fine when cold, but hunting and idling at 1800 rpm when hot. Replaced the coolant sensor and swapped a TPS in, so i know they are good.
Crushing the pipe from the tb to the ics gently makes it stop hunting and idling high so its either ICV or ICM at fault. This link is really awesome and explains it all nicely so im gonna give that a go, and it specific to the eta.

http://www.verrill.com/car/e30_idlefaq.shtml

Hopefully this thread will stay up to date with all my E30 happenings, and this car will develop into something great:D cheers!

[sayed ali]

Good luck,

[Stackede30]

Good to see another Perth member!
Where about you situated?

[XW70]

Good to see another Perth member!
Where about you situated?

Indeed! In the Woodlands area, yourself?

[XW70]

So today was a productive day for the e30, got a few things crossed off that never ending list!!

First order of business was to swap the BBS's off the car so i can refurb them this week. I have the set of wheels that came on the car to keep me rolling in the mean time, but gawd they are ugly (you'll see later), i just cant wait to get them off the car! which i guess is good motivation to get the RS's done.

After i changed them, i inspected the BBS's pretty closely..

Wheel number one, the main offender. Pretty stained from brake dust

Huge bend in the lip, but ive been quoted 80 dollars to roll it out which im pretty happy about


Deep gash in the lips edge, probably wont fully sand out but while im on a budget i cant afford 300+ for a new lip


Wheel 2, just some usual rash and staining (1&2 where obviously front wheels on the previous car)


Wheel 3, light rash but not as stained


Wheel 4, the best of the lot


And a family shot


Over all these arnt in reeaaally bad condition, once I have the one lip rolled and I separate them, sand blast and paint the centres, then get busy with the sandpaper and polish on the lip they should come up alright.

Im still umming and arring about colours, thought white centres and polished lips is where im heading i think. Suggestions are welcome, and if you have a good link for BBS refurbs, especially the bolts, post them up!

The next order of business was replacing the windscreen. I bought it with a cracked screen that the PO said happened on a hot day when he used the window washers. The cooling of the water made it crack apparently. Anyway, luckily enough, the parts car yielded a loverly OEM screen to use - Free repairs!!:D

No pics of the old screen sorry, but heres the new one going in


Home and seated nicely in the rubber and the locking strip in. we simply slotted the bottom in first and lifted the rubber over the edge as we lay it into the frame. The locking strip was a pain but with lube (soapy water) and gently applied force (thin blade) it was fine. It took around an hour but it was all in fine and water tight.






Then my dad got a nice phone call from a friend saying hes bringing his new GTR past for a look and ride!

Fresh from a $2500 service


The power (nothing on the m20 really...)


Then he took me for a quick drive. MY GOD. i have never experienced anything like this, the acceleration, even on a turning on ramp is immense and unrelenting. if you ever have a chance, drop what you are doing and go for a ride in one. Mind blowing stuff.

But as i got out i noticed this little logo, pressed in the door. Strange;)


Anyway after he left in a pile of waste gate noise, we worked out the locking strip was a tad short where it joined?!

Sooo we got a section of the old faded locking strip and the old joiner to bridge the gap...


And a trip to the paint booth....


And done!


Obviously not perfect or ideal but after trying to make up the difference by moving the rest of the strip around we couldn't work it out. Plus its water tight so oh well!!

mmmm OEM goodness


And a final shot after a power wash. Looking very ghetto on the cheap and nasty wheels but im finally not looking through a crack all the time when i drive!


Ill be demounting the tires and getting the bent lip rolled so i can being the refinish this week!

[sayed ali]

Nice wheels restore

[XW70]

Time for an update. Its slow progress but its getting there. Found a pretty friend at uni...


Also, my friend (late model) and i purchased another eta (on the right) to turn into a v8 powered track car, so now i have had 3 e30's in less than a year:D we picked it up cheap, but it will be a slow build. We tore into it and stripped it right away tho.


I got completed the budget refurb of the RS's, centres painted metalic grey and lips/bolts polished. Preping for assembly.


Before and after (ignore the sun damaged logo, they will be replaced)


Black comfort leather from the other eta, which put my head against the roof due to being 6"5


So i got the spare sports seats i had recovered to match which sits me down low enough to have an inch of headroom:-)



And heres two exterior shots as it sits on the RS's. Still need new hex caps and some lowering but it looks alot nicer than before.




Hopfully more soon!

[325ix]

Don't paint the bumpers! It hides the awesomeness of the Euro bumpers. They look too much like plastics when painted.

[XW70]

Don't paint the bumpers! It hides the awesomeness of the Euro bumpers. They look too much like plastics when painted.

I now 100% agree. The euro look has grown on me

[grays]

Nice

[XW70]

Updates time.

Finally went back to my old job so im now getting paid enough to spend money on the car :) Ordered some JOMs which set me back 410aus shipped. Now i know some of you hate on JOMs but for that money i cant complain, plus its only a daily so i dont need stupid stiff. And seeing as everyone who ships H&R and Bilsteins wants nearly the price of the product to ship it here, idgaf

Turned up in 4 days from the UK, thanks partially to my two mates who work in the DHL sorting centre at the Perth airport, who left me a kind note...



Full package unboxed. Seems like decent enough quality



Started installing the rears and found out my rear sway wasnt even connected. I knew the OEM suspension was soft but this certainly explains alot


Starting the install.


How the car is sitting currently. Im off to get some new rear tires mounted and then hopefully put the front struts back in tonight.


More pics once the car is sitting on the new suspension. Im pretty excited to see it looking like a car and not a 4x4 any more:p

[MT325is]

Good work, I like it and keep it up!

[z6ne]

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[tytypetersen]

Looks awesome! My rs's look exactly the same as yours! Euro bumpers are the beez kneez

[dillon7]

looks good! My JOM's get here tomorrow, can't really beat the price for a DD.