1990 325i Calypsorot Restoration

[heroeant]

Hello, this is my first E30, I was looking for daily driver, but i saw this car and something in me made me buy it, it has everything I wanted on a car. but the actual state of the car made it to unreliable for a dd, so I bought newer car and made the e30 my project. I want to have it close to original with some things improved (I don't know yet, but looking around the forums it has given me some great ideas).

You can see the crappy paint, in the future I want to paint it same color.





the interior is not so bad, I fixed the odometer gears, the window switches and I got a new obc, need to clean the carpet because it has oil stains ( btw I already changed that horrible shifter knob, i will post more newer pictures later)







the previous pictures are from last year, I stopped working on my car because i have been too busy from work. but i just started working on the car again, i changed the rear shock and mounts because they were shot



I tried to change the front ones but i broke the 2 wheel bolts, so i'm planing on changing them to studs, also rebuilding the brake calipers and getting steel braided lines, so i'm holding on until i get all the parts.

while i'm waiting for parts i changed the valve cover gasket and cleaned and painted the cover.




That's all for now, hopefully I can get everything to do the brakes and front struts at the beginning of December, or ill use some vacation days around Christmas to finish that,
later I want to get new tires, new battery, oil change, timing belt and start working on exterior, getting a new valance and remove all the peeling clear coat.

[Cabriolet]

DO the timing belt as so as you can. they tend to go out on new guys, killing the engine.
get the contitech timing belt kit, a graf or gates water pump, 2 gl distilled water, bmw coolant and the bmw timing belt tension spring. 11311267746


you really should get new exhaust gasket/ heat shields. they protect the wires.

[ST1G]

You can see the crappy paint, in the future I want to paint it same color.

Welcome to the Calypso club. It's exclusive. I can't wait to see what you do with it. Here is my Calypso build thread if you haven't seen it already. Mine was in about the same shape as yours is from the looks of it.

[heroeant]

DO the timing belt as so as you can. they tend to go out on new guys, killing the engine.
get the contitech timing belt kit, a graf or gates water pump, 2 gl distilled water, bmw coolant and the bmw timing belt tension spring.

yeah, I was thinking on getting a complete timing belt kit with the gates racing belt and don't worry I will do that before I take it for a ride.

you really should get new exhaust gasket/ heat shields. they protect the wires.

Im dreading to do that, it will be a pain. but i will do it, eventually

[heroeant]

Welcome to the Calypso club. It's exclusive. I can't wait to see what you do with it. Here is my Calypso build thread if you haven't seen it already. Mine was in about the same shape as yours is from the looks of it.

Thanks, I looked at your thread, great car, I will be stealing some of your ideas for my build.

[Cabriolet]

The gates racing belt is about the biggest waste of money you can spend on the car. The contitech belt is the one I've run for 11 years. 0 failures on the 50+ cars I've done the timing belt job on.

[Kershaw]

You've run a timing belt for 11 years straight? :-P

[ST1G]

You've run a timing belt for 11 years straight? :-P

[Cabriolet]

You've run a timing belt for 11 years straight? :-P

no, bc im not a moron. 5 year or 50k miles. it's $40 to replace, if you bitch about replacement cost, you should own a car. my oil costs more.

[TimKninja]

no, bc im not a moron. 5 year or 50k miles. it's $40 to replace, if you bitch about replacement cost, you should own a car. my oil costs more.

Someone missed the joke

[Cabriolet]

Someone missed the joke

apparently i did. but you wouldn't believe the cars people bring to me. i bet some of these belts are close to 10 years old.

[SickFinga]

Welcome to the Calypso club. It's exclusive.

Not that exclusive. Calypso 325is, now that is exclusive. Only 2 cars built.

[Zreberlcoe]

Calypso club member checking in! I like where you're headed already!

Sent from my SM-G928P using Tapatalk

[heroeant]

I started working on the front suspension and brakes, I tried removing the broken bolts
but i ended defeated, i don't have a torch or impact wrench





so I though it would be easier to change the wheel bearings than try and fight with the broken bolts. and my journey began removing the strut assemblies



but again i got defeated, I tried to remove the top nut of the shock absorbers
but the the vice grips keep on slipping. so next weekend i will try with a impact wrench hopefully that will work

so here is how it sits for now, I know its not too safe having the car like that, but its sitting on plywood with 2X10 lumber underneath, and its better than having it on the grass.



next week i will replace the front shocks, wheel bearings, rotors and i will install the wheel studs.

[heroeant]

I got more work done, I cleaned and sanded the dust shields, caliper bracket and strut housing before I painting, I used black for the dust shields and strut housings and cast iron for the brake caliper and brackets.



Then assembled the struts and installed them on the car, the struts are okay in the future I want to lower the car, but for now it will do.