My '88 restore/upgrade

[ky0u]

Welp, this started a lot earlier than I expected it to, but situations arose that pushed my plans ahead of schedule.

I bought a 1988 schwarz/kardinalrot 325is a few months ago with the intention to restore and then slightly mod it. My goal was to keep it as factory as possible except for where the aftermarket would provide an improvement.

Note: I have a very tight budget so this will be a very slow thread


Here she is the day I got her:


Current set up:

Engine/Drivetrain:
~Stock M20 with PSIK+WAR chip
~SSK (e60 lever)

Suspension/Handling:
~bilstein sports
~H&R race springs
~Racing Dynamics strut bar
~Racing Dynamics front and rear sway bars
~e46 m3 steering rack

Brakes and Tires
~16x8 square set up (ESM BBS reps from PO)

Exterior
~Black Kidneys (from a PO)
~Euro Grills
~Euro Trim
~Cherry Tail lights
~Hella Smileys; HID and LED City light upgrade
~White Smoked turn signals


Interior (Gonna keep this as stock as possible)
~Alcantara shift and brake boots
~Black Headliner


Engine was rebuilt about 1k miles ago so it's running fresh. The car looks pretty clean at first, but there are issues here and there that are either really pressing or just annoy me.


My mod/restore list in no particular order:
~Replace Cracked dash (1 solid crack at right of gauge cluster)
~Repaint at some point (various dings around the body and clearcoat is messed up on driver's side)
~Replace weather worn rubber parts on car
~Replace/Upgrade brakes and rotors (nothing wrong with currents but something I want to do)
~Spray valve cover and manifold black
~relocate window breaker and sunroof switches to handbrake center console
~Replace driver's side window which was scratched up by the hardened rubber strip on the bottom
~Replace driver's side door card (looks like a PO tried to take it off and broke it. Can be seen in picture)
~Camber plates, my current tires are worn on the inside :p
~Fix seat springs
~refresh any wear type components of the car (Bushings, mounts, etc)

I'll probably end up doing more as I find more things out about the car along the way.

If anyone has any of these parts I'm looking for, please let me know. I'm on a tight budget but if I can afford it, I'd rather buy it from a r3v member

[Cronopoulos]

My favorite color of interior.... Sub'd

[ky0u]

To clarify what exactly pushed my restore ahead of schedule is this. I bought this car about 2 months ago. About 2 weeks ago, the clutch was gone. Slipping pretty bad. I knew prior to buying the car that I'd need to do the clutch pretty soon so it came as no surprise to me.

What did however, was while I was under the car working on getting the trans out and saw this:


There are chunks of rubber missing from the side too. I can see half the side of one of the bolts from the driveshaft.

I finally did get the transmission off, (after finding that my tranny mounts were cracking) and went to get started on removing the pressure plate bolts, and the last one just stripped. Great, the first 5 came off no problem, the last one is now a circle. Also find out that all 3 seals on the tranny are shot so they'll have to be replaced. That one's not really a big deal.

By now it's late, I've been working on the car all day (this is my first clutch change and it's kicking my ass). I decided to call it quits and resume working on it in a few days when my parts come in the mail.
How she stands currently:

(front bumper is off due to the PO not converting the turn signal connectors when he did the DB>plastic swap. I was also taking care of that today)

Parts ordered today:
~driveshaft flex disc-guibo coupling
~output shaft seal
~input shaft seal
~gear selector rod seal
~tranny mounts
~throwout bearing
~reverse light switch

I was just expecting to do 1 thing today and my car surprises me with all this. E-Dirty.

[XW70]

plastic bumper, black e30 coupe with a cardinal interior on BBS's.... this is perfection 8)

please go on sir

[Pootis]

Just grind the head off of the pressure plate bolt I stripped out most of mine and got that tip from a friend he said simply grind them off and you will be able to remove the remaining part easily. I ground them off and was able to remove the rest of the bolt by hand sounds crazy but its true.

[matthugie]

Looks like a great base to start from! Great color combo too.

[ky0u]

These are from an intro thread i made a couple weeks ago, figured they'd fit in this one:

Got a set of OEM floor mats from Jeff (Redsubdivisions) so my carpet stays clean :)
Also covered the faded M band on the bottom with some vinyl I had laying around. Yes I know its not the same angle as the original paint but I like it a bit more upright



Changed my shift boot with an alcantra one as the original one had a rip in it. Changed brake boot to match

[ky0u]

I decided to continue working and get as much done as I can before the parts come tomorrow. Took Pootis' advice and ground off the bolt. Here's my clutch:




So smooth that its ready for paint :P

Now that that's out of the way, I'm going to clean the transmission of all the oil that leaked out


There's not one inch of this thing that isn't covered in sludge

[N2MYE30]

Man, I want that interior! Nice car.

[Nick_S]

Great looking car to start with!

[ky0u]

Thanks guys!

Here's another shot of that messed up guibo off the tranny this time





Extra shot of my nearly complete toolkit thanks to Blackout here on the boards

[ky0u]

Got it a lot cleaner now






Also for some reason, PO put two gear selector rod seals in and I stabbed myself trying to get the second one out

[Pootis]

Glad to hear it worked out man I freaked when I stripped three of mine so I know the feeling

[F34R]

Those pressure plate bolts strip so damn easy. I seem to always have one strip out. I replace with new every time.

Nice interior, my first e30 had the same.

[ky0u]

Parts came in yesterday


Hey this flex disc actually flexes!


Finally running again