The Red Cabrio Barn Find Project

[jeffnhiscars]

I knew the old bushings weren't great but didn't realize how poorly the car tracked until I did the subframe refresh. Now the ass follows the rest of the car instead of waddling side to side. The car is way better planted in corners which increases confidence and of course speed...which is the goal after all :)

It's become SOP on a new car right after the timing belt. Night and day.

[jeffnhiscars]

The plan was to take the Bosal off the Cabrio to upgrade Alice with a dual exhaust when I do the 731/motronic swap. Happened to get this from an almost local forum member.

Nothing like jewelers rouge to make ones pipes shine

[bradnic]

Holy cr@p
Need to do that to mine!

[jeffnhiscars]

Holy cr@p
Need to do that to mine!

Yeah you do lol

There wasn't much that varied from a standard cat back installation. Since the stromung flanges were a bit thinner than what I had I grabbed some M8x45mmx 1.25 bolts to go with my copper self locking nuts.

Where the cat back hung from the figure 8 double donut there was no tab to keep the donut from sliding forward. I'm not thinking that will happen but I'm going to watch it.

On the muffler itself since it has tabs welded to it, i used the upper half of the stock bracket at the rear. The front was a different story as the tab angle don't match the factory hanger. Don't ask me why or where this came from but it's the perfect solution.



I do love how it sounds, which I actually wasn't expecting. Looks are a win of course

[ryan SF cabrio]

yo, jeff ... i read early in this thread that you were fitting your cabrio with an italvolanti steering wheel ... & then later you posted the pic below ... can you give any additional info about this great looking wheel ... like the size, model, & if it would easily fit in an air bagged cabrio ... plus any observations you may have had during the install ... thanks

[jeffnhiscars]

That's the wheel as installed in my Cabrio which is a non airbag car. It's a fairly common 6 bolt patterni so I purchased a Momo hub on eBay for I think $72. The hub bolts to the column using the stock hardware. There was no ground wire from the italvolante horn ring so I drilled a hole in the hub and made a pigtail. I thought I posted a pic of that. The 6 bolts that came with the wheel were too long so I went to HD and grabbed some SS replacements.

Yesterday was the first time I've removed the wheel in an airbag car (what a pain in the ass) and I don't see why it won't work other than confirming how to properly delete the airbag and I've read that the levers are in a differnt position due to the depth of the wheels.

The wheel itself is 350mm. I was initially concerned about the lack of mechanical advantage but power steering is power steering and it doesn't care what size crank you have. The fact is the smaller wheel requires less arm movement for the same arc, so in a subtle way, it does make the steering feel a bit sharper. Keep in mind I also run e36 racks.

The only downside is that it cuts the top off the gauges, so I have to duck to co firm my highway speed. Th good news is that 80 is at noon on the dial so I don't really need to see the numbers.

Bottom line is the wheel is stunning IMHO and takes the interior to anoth level. There are wheels out there that ar stock diameter that I am tote by, but not enough to want to touch this one. Plus I love the Italian name staring at me. Gives the car a certain flare - capiche ?

[jeffnhiscars]

RHD goodness just landed

[GoldMember]

Not a bad fit


I cant think of a better way to dissipate heat :)

Hi, really great thread! Can you provide a link to where you bought the fan? Looks like a fairly easy drop in install, no? Do you think you gained much with this fan vs. the original? Thanks!

[jeffnhiscars]

Without reading through my own thread again, I'm quite sure I got that fan from Amazon but you can buy it from lots of vendors. I did explain the mounting process is some detail so please review the thread. Basically, standard Spal hardware with a few twists and turns

[Chubtone]

Do it once and do it right



Right Frank :) ?

I have scoured this thread... which SPAL fan is that?

[jph]

Spal 30102056. I followed this write up for my AC upgrade and it went great.

[Chubtone]

Spal 30102056. I followed this write up for my AC upgrade and it went great.

Thanks so much. I ordered one of these and hope my install goes as smoothly as yours.

[RagtopE30]

Hey Jeff,
How is the 5 speed working out?

[jeffnhiscars]

Hey Jeff,
How is the 5 speed working out?

It far and away exceeds any expectations I had, to the point that I'm now looking at other upgrades...lol

I've posted in a few places about this but the story really belongs here.

When I decided to explore doing a swap I reached out to Matt formparts and he was in the process of dismantling an ETA w a factory 5spd. We made the deal via text just before the vintage and given that I do not have a proper place to do this we also worked a deal for Matt to do the swap in his shop. We settled up for the parts at the vintage, giving him time to strip his car and a couple of weeks later planned the day.

Keep in mind I'm 3 hours from Asheville and was hoping to avoid leaving the car, making multiple trips or staying in a hotel. I had all new wear parts...seals, gaskets, bushings, fluids, clutch kit etc and on Matt's recommendation we decided to include the RMS & pan gasket (both of which I also had)

I woke up VERY early that day and got to Matts shop just after 9. It was like triage. He had the car up on stands before I knew it and was tearing things apart. My job was really back up and honestly I did not go under the car at all.

Aside from a short lunch break we worked straight through and besides spending the best part of an hour bleeding the clutch, there weren't really any surprises. I think it was 10pm when we finally finished and I have to say...Matt never slowed down and did a fantastic job in one day on what would have taken me a week. I got home at 2am which made it a 22 hours day....but smiled ear to ear on the drive

His attention to detail extended to catching up to me at a nearby gas station to make sure he had properly tightened the oil drain plug. As someone who does virtually ALL of my own work as you all know, I would not hesitate to drop a project with Matt and leave it in his hands til it was done, knowing it would be done right and at a fair price.

I'm Jeffnhiscars and I approve this message.

Thanks Matt :)

[bradnic]

that's one hell of a recommendation Jeff!