'87 e30 - the American Conquest

[jalopi]

The control arms mount exactly the same as regular e30 arms, no change there

For the 5lug front conversion, look at this thread:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=306268

The caliper adapters are included for the 5lug swap in the front

The rears I had to make, I'll see if I can get a pic of em

[Brezzi]

Any specific pics you want? Don't have much more, but I'll take some if you've got requests, if I remember and happen to be around the front suspension

Just kind of interested in how they're mounted and what you used to go 5 lug. Loving the look of this thing flares will be dope.

Also interested in the bbk upgrade did you make the brackets?

[jalopi]

Any specific pics you want? Don't have much more, but I'll take some if you've got requests, if I remember and happen to be around the front suspension

[Brezzi]

more pics of the control arm and 5 lug set up?

sick build btw.

[jalopi]

I've only driven the car with the front brakes... it's glorious. I don't know how much your dual master setup is going to help, but my guess is that you're gonna want to plan for a BBK in some shape or form in the future. Manual brakes suck. (definition of glorious: for the first time in months, it feels like I've got my power brakes back [though I know it's just the massive 330i brakes])

Fought the subframe all day trying to get that bitch to come down. The metal sleeve for the bushing was suuuuuuuuupppppppeeeerrrr seized into the sleeve on the body. I tried everything - heat (not torch, too close to the gas take imo), 4ft pry bar, puller, 5lb hammer, ect....

What finally worked was this: I tapped the bushing sleeve with a 16x1.5 tap from the bottom. It's just the right size. Threaded a bolt in from the bottom, hit it from the top with my air hammer, though I guess a long ass punch and a hammer would work too. That did the trick. Fuck old cars.

[Jack89i]

So how are the new brakes?
Awesome build btw

[jalopi]

Did some stuff lately.

330i brakes. Working brakes? Check. (330i front rotor left, stock e30 front rotor right)



Modded my e46 arms to accept the non-m e30 sway bar endlinks




The new wheels / poke amount... I need flares / a widebody.

[89 5.0]

Im running a 180* t-stat and the temp problems were consistent with outside temps ranging from 65-100* outside air temps. It would run at 190 if I was driving around at any speed over 20 mph and rpm~ 1500-2000. If i would stop at a light or drive-through it would start to creep. Short lights were no issue but long drivethroughs it would get to 220*+. (This was with a good electric pusher fan wired to run all the time, that i still have) If you stayed stopped it would creep to 240+ if you didn't start to move or turn it off.

At track speeds (Road Atlanta) it would run fine for 2-3 laps before the high rpm pushed the water out and it would begin to run hot. Outside temp was ~70*

[jalopi]

I switched to stock pulleys and a aluminum generic summit racing radiator and the car has not gone above 200* since.

Interesting read.. I've been telling myself that I need a regular size pulley for a while now, but recently I haven't had an issue with the temps going over 160-170 (in 50-60* weather, not just in the weather we're having now). What temps were you having when the car was overheating? I'm assuming fucking hot since you're in Atlanta.

did you just have an empty track all to yourself to mess around on? since youre doing donuts in the middle of the track at some point? looks fun.

This is in Summit Point WV - they don't let you out on the track with other people unless you've got a full cage and a fire suit. Basically it's you do one lap then get back in line.

The donuts were moreso accidental though

[dirtbag30]

Anyway, here's a mediocre video of me doing a mediocre job of drifting at summit point this weekend:

did you just have an empty track all to yourself to mess around on? since youre doing donuts in the middle of the track at some point? looks fun.

[89 5.0]

So i fought cooling problems with my 5.0 89 for months before i finally figured it out. Long story short, I was running under drive pulleys and I had the radiator cap munted in the upper radiator hose like yours.
Apparently if the cap is in the upper hose and not on the water pump side of the radiator it looses most of its effectiveness and pumps the water out, which causing overheating.

http://www.xtrememotorworks.com/Cooling.htm

With the BMW radiator (i was running an aluminum e36 rad) the rad cap is remote mounted in a surge tank not on the water pump side of the rad, which you need with the SBF setup.

I switched to stock pulleys and a aluminum generic summit racing radiator and the car has not gone above 200* since.

This was my old setup that didn't work. It would creep to 220-240*+ if i would sit still fot to long and it would pump the water out at high RPM on track.

[Nick's e30]

Love this project.

[jalopi]

How to: God-level radiator fitment

So, when I was at the track my car was running a little hot... and I'm not having any of that shit, not with those aluminum heads. So a few people suggested buying a z3 radiator, assuring me it would fit - and yes, they were referring to the thick-ass Mishi rad. I was skeptical (I took measurements) but I thought to myself "If you could get that 302 in there, you can get a radiator in"

Here's the fitment so far:



Guess I'll be notching the core support a little bit... as-is, I'd be afraid to think what would happen if the trans mount broke.

[jalopi]

Video update

So yeah... I got real lazy and stopped taking pictures of my progress... sorry bros.

Anyway, here's a mediocre video of me doing a mediocre job of drifting at summit point this weekend:

[jalopi]

So, picture updates as promised.

Here's a shot of the engine bay as it stands now... nowhere near as clean as it used to be, which kind of upsets me. Oh well. Most of the 'messy look' can be attributed to the heater core hoses... all I had was generic 5/8" hose and without some pre-bent stuff and some mustang heater pipes, it's gonna stay ugly. Something to do in the future... but I'm more focused on getting the car running than aesthetics right now. Hopefully it'll look better once I tuck all the wires.



Next we've got hoses. Turns out that yes, hacking up the factory upper rad hose works quite well. Had to shorten the middle by 2-3".



As for the lower - I was in Salvos the other day and noticed a hose that just might work. Today I brought in an old water pump and an old hose and bam - it'll work. Granted, it's going to have to be shortened and have a coupler pipe installed, but it does work. It's a Goodyear hose, part ## 62043. I'll take a shot of it once it's properly fitted.



It was kind of tough to take this shot, but here's a pic of what I'm working with on the heater core. It was... not easy to get those hoses in there, let alone tighten the clamps up. I've got a set of 'hose pliers' - they're like long needlenose pliers, except the tip is shaped in a circle to clamp onto hoses. Even with those that's as far as I could get them. They did fit on there pretty tight, so I doubt they'll pop off... at least I hope they don't pop off. I reallllly want heat for the occasional cold day drive :) ... also, scalding coolant on the feet/legs? Not cool.



Here's what I've got going on for my gauges and toggle switches. 6 fuse junction blocks, each circuit good for 30 amps. Not sure if any locals are familiar with Baynesville electronics... they usually have stuff noone else has. Went there to buy these originally. $37 a pop... went to the local Salvos later to buy some other stuff and saw the same item (in a slightly different box)... for $15. I do like to support small businesses... but that's almost a $25 difference!! Not even competitive! Needless to say, I bought two of them from Salvos and returned the other two.



So when I was tearing out my old engine, it seems that I accidentally removed the main relay and fuel pump relay. Doh. Anyway, here are two wires identified:



The black wire with the yellow stripe is the factory starter solenoid wire.
The purple wire with the red stripe is the wire that comes from the fuel pump relay (at least after the C-101 connector. Before that, it's a brown wire with a green stripe)

Last update for the night - too much stuff has been done right in this build, so I felt the need to remedy that.



Yes, that is a mother fuckin bungie cord throttle return "spring" :D