The sleeping E30. Bringing it back to life after almost 10 years!

[PerryJ]

nice

Nice starter for a build! I love the color combo. This will be one to watch!

[e30austin]

Schwarz on Cardinal! Bitchin! Subscribed...

[Ay Ron]

Been a while since I posted an update. Got a bit busy with work, got lazy with the car during the holiday season, and did a little work that I did to my wrx. Started up on the e30 again this past weekend.

Engine and trans are back in the car after replacing the flywheel, clutch and pressure plate. Changed the timing belt and water pump as well.



Nothing is hooked up yet in the engine bay. Lots of progress has been made for the back half of the car. Currently working on putting the rear end back together after removing almost everything.

Dropped the gas tank just to check on the condition. My suspicions of it being no good were right - lots of rust in the tank and you could hear the sediment rolling around in the bottom of the tank. Bought a new tank and installed it.



Pulled the fuel pump assembly out and was greeted by more rust!



Also got the subframe back into the car after sanding off some surface rust. Gave it a bit of paint and installed some Garagistic bushings.



The rear diff got some love too with the sand, paint and bushing action. Bushing not pictured.



Same for the trailing arms, but I haven't put those back on yet. Hopefully this weekend coming up.



Oh, and the WRX gained an extra gear. Almost full drivetrain swap consisting of JDM 6 speed from bugeye sti, 3.9 R180 and sti driveshaft. This swap was so worth it. Really woke the car up and now you can drive it without worrying about breaking gears!



Next on the list is to continue piecing together the rear end and to order more parts. Need to replace the fuel pump assembly and I'm thinking about replacing the high pressure pump as well. The filler neck from the gas cap to the tank is very rusty. Hopefully I can find a solution for that without having to buy a new one at $250... considering options for this now. Few other odds and ends are on the way as well.

[MR E30 325is]

Man, 10 yrs of sitting in a wet environment. What a treat!

Excited to see where this goes.

Excellent stuff so far.

[Ay Ron]

Man, 10 yrs of sitting in a wet environment. What a treat!

Yeah, as soon as I opened up the door I knew I was in for it. The black mold behind the door panels worries me.

Even with a deep cleaning, I'm concerned about any mold spores that might be hiding in the vents of the dash. Not sure how to approach that.

[nrubenstein]

Yeah, as soon as I opened up the door I knew I was in for it. The black mold behind the door panels worries me.

Even with a deep cleaning, I'm concerned about any mold spores that might be hiding in the vents of the dash. Not sure how to approach that.

Ozone generator.

[rfordo]

Any updates on this car? Have almost the same car beginning almost the same bringing back of life...

[Poorhouse]

Timely bump, I'm bringing one back to life after sitting 9 years in a field.

My fuel pump looked about identical to yours.

[zwill23]

Triple bump for a similar car with similar history, where dem updates?

[ArtFoodBMW]

The answer is in the title.. The Sleeping E30

Also OP hasn't logged on for 1.166 years

[Ay Ron]

OP here! Still working on it slowly, I've been really lazy about getting it back together, so its been sitting for the most part. I'll try to get some more pics posted here soon.

[Broken88]

Where in Maryland are you?

[eternal24k]

love that interior, looks like a great base for a project

[E30SPDFRK]

Nice project, glad that it's being cleaned up right.

[Ay Ron]

Where in Maryland are you?

I'm located in the southern Maryland area, in Charles county.