the Aluminum Monster. a 318 with a special 24v

[2mAn]

Ok, small update today. It bothered me that the rear valence was totally painted, and wasnt black on the lower edge, like the OEM cars are. So today I did something about it. Just had enough black plastidip to finish the job...



while waiting for that to dry, I decided it was finally time to install the other beauty cover that goes over the fuel rail and injectors. gotta cover those pink tops if they are to believe its a M50! I wouldve installed these earlier but the covers are for an OBD2 car which meant I needed to modify both of them The valve cover ... cover... needed to be trimmed since the wiring for the coils is routed different. Then I needed to modify the fuel rail cover because its slotted for the intake manifold ports. Rather than try and match the larger cover, I just cut all the slots out and you cant even tell the difference



To celebrate I decided to take a drive and ended up at Balboa Pier in Newport Beach. Found a decent spot to snap a few pics






totally forgot to take the money shot though!!...

[MPLFoster]

Looks good.

Love this build.

[2mAn]

Looks good.

Love this build.

Thanks!

So update time...

Ive been slowly plotting my story that I will have to tell the BAR when it comes time to make this thing street legal for California.

Recently I picked up a stock OBD1 intake elbow as the BAR will immediately fail me for the VAC intake boot. I did some research and I couldnt find any real proof that the bigger MAF actually did anything for me. It is a pain in the ass right now though, so I just decided Im going to take a step back and get a 3" MAF. Under the hood it will look more factory as I plan on using the factory intake elbow, correct 3" MAF and then a E34 airbox instead of the hot air intake currently on it.

I should have all of that and new TMS software tuned for my setup. Fingers crossed that this will all be worth it. I also ordered the new pins so that I can finish one of my mini projects: the C101 re-pinning

[Mlarsen]

Looks good man! It was sooo long ago when we cut that valance off!

[2mAn]

Seriously! and with how long I kept it you'd think it was a perfect one... far from it, but it works. It will just be a pain if/when I get the car sprayed (though that might not ever happen)

[thatphysicsguy]

Looking good man, glad to see that sketchy muffler gone

[2mAn]

The car is way too quiet now. Im deleting the resonators once I have some money burning a hole in my pocket haha

[2mAn]

Got my rear spacer situation fixed this weekend with the help of Nigel (einstein57). Now I can happily travel into the triple digits... on a closed course.... ;)

Also, I finally ordered the PINs from TMS, but not sure that I will have all the ones I needed. I cleaned them out of one group and hopefully its enough to do the job. That will be a nail biter when I finally do it

[kid325e]

Dudeee car is coming along nicely! Rear valence looks awesome!!

[2mAn]

Dudeee car is coming along nicely! Rear valence looks awesome!!

Thanks Paolo! I feel like these last few mods made the car more mature. Its quieter now, and with the rear valence it looks a lot more mature compared with no rear apron, she basically had her ass sticking out and now shes a mature lady with a knee length skirt ;D

[2mAn]

Ok kids, in todays installment of "I'll get around to it someday" is an update of something I changed this weekend. My trans mounts. I bought these for my ETA. The car I sold 2+ years ago. These been collecting dust while Ive done more important things, like binge watching "The Office" on Netflix.

As is most things you read on the internet, its not all it seems. The "simple" filing was a big pain in the ass and combine that with the beefy G260 + 24v swap bracket thing that GunMetalGrey sells it really ruined my sunday and made me wish I had just stayed on the couch and watched more Office. That Michael Scott is quite the character....

What I started with...



Yes thats after 12k hard miles and what I believe to be a leaking G260

and here is a brand new 3 year old set of E21 trans mounts with Aluminum cups from AKG



and several hours later...

overall impression? I shouldve just watched more Netflix. I think I will do that now...

[kid325e]

Nice update.

What is required FILING wise? Doesn't look much different than what you started with?

Also, Michael Scott is a modern day renaissance man. He's said the same about himself.

[2mAn]

The E30 mounts use a stud thats a M8 thread size and the E21 is a M10 (not 100% sure on the numbers, but I think they are right), so the holes need to be enlarged ~2mm, which is actually pretty easy on the trans itself, but the GunMetalGrey swap bracket is a beefy piece of metal with precise sized holes and it took forever. Once I got my hands on a dremel I finished pretty quickly.

[2mAn]

friend wanted to take some pics and I offered up my car :)
























Other mini changes are Ive added a houndstooth rear seat, switched back to a 3" MAF. Moving to LA soon, so updates will be pretty minimal. I did find a mint set of Alpine 1 front fenders and will be getting those soon. Small things to help clean up the car :)

[2mAn]

After 13k+ trouble free miles, I encountered my first problem....





already replaced the coil and once I have a new ECU I will be back in business... for now Im rocking an aluminum 20v 5 banger...