The Journey of Linda and Friends - the M20b31 Lives

[AWDBOB]

She's looking good after her detail!



Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr





Finished rebuilding the shifter and it feels like a new car because of it!

Some fresh bushings, a nice carrier, and a short shifter now allow her to go through gears swiftly with ease. Oh, and now that the linkage is correct the shifter trim works like it should!

I also threw on a weighted knob I had on the shelf, and put on the very nice wheel the PO included with the car.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[gnmzl]

Looking a thousand times better already.
What shifter is that, would you share?

[AWDBOB]

Looking a thousand times better already.
What shifter is that, would you share?

Thanks! I honestly don't know. I got the setup from an OG on Bimmerforums who said he spent $$ on it when he bought it but didn't remember where from. The piece is very nice quality and feels great in the car so I'd chalk it up as a win.

[jpod999]

I'm surprised that hacked version even worked reliably, to be honest.

My dad had a '94 530iT a while back, it would have been so much more fun with an opened exhaust an three pedals. Enjoy it!

[AWDBOB]

:o

I'm surprised that hacked version even worked reliably, to be honest.

My dad had a '94 530iT a while back, it would have been so much more fun with an opened exhaust an three pedals. Enjoy it!

I am equally as surprised! They had the shifter arm mounted to the trans originally, as well as to the body, but none of those bolts where there so it was but the shift linkage and the shift arm stuck in the carrier that held it in the car. All fixed now! :)

The third pedal is a game changer with these things. An M60b40 or b44 in this car would complete the experience, but knowing myself there’s no way I can make that happen with everything else I have going on.

Midwest R3V work weekend?

[e30austin]

That is an autosolutions shift lever and selector rod. Nice score!

[jpod999]

What’s special about the lever and rod?

[AWDBOB]

That is an autosolutions shift lever and selector rod. Nice score!

Good eye! I would have never figured that out.

What’s special about the lever and rod?

Someone asked about it above and Austin was able to identify it. I'm actually not sure of the history of Autosolutions, but the piece itself is very nice and feels great in the car.

[gnmzl]

Thanks for the info!
jpod999, the lever is a "very short shift" action ratio and yet again it is not as bent as the normal OEM levers. Right now I use the z3M one, which is again very short shifting travel action, but is straight, which puts the gear knob way more forward than I would like. Hence my asking.
The rod is bent in a way that would clear the "large guibo" and looks heavier, which reduces slightly the applied force to shift gears when using a shorter shift travel.
At least I think so.

Sorry for the OT, appreciate the input. Please share more pics of it in the sun, it looks really well

[AWDBOB]

Thanks for the info!
jpod999, the lever is a "very short shift" action ratio and yet again it is not as bent as the normal OEM levers. Right now I use the z3M one, which is again very short shifting travel action, but is straight, which puts the gear knob way more forward than I would like. Hence my asking.
The rod is bent in a way that would clear the "large guibo" and looks heavier, which reduces slightly the applied force to shift gears when using a shorter shift travel.
At least I think so.

Sorry for the OT, appreciate the input. Please share more pics of it in the sun, it looks really well

I certainly will once I get the some tires on the Style 37s!

[AWDBOB]

Ole Linda is coming together!

IMG_2902 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2908 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[CoreyZ]

Excited to check out the cars in person when I come snag the wag :D

Always good to meet another local e30 enthusiast. There are a few of us down south

[paynemw]

I love this thread, not because of your gorgeous coupe, but because of all of the flipping you do. I love flipping cars.

[AWDBOB]

Excited to check out the cars in person when I come snag the wag :D

Always good to meet another local e30 enthusiast. There are a few of us down south

Absolutely- I’m always down in Brown County on the MTB, a proper cruise is in order!

I love this thread, not because of your gorgeous coupe, but because of all of the flipping you do. I love flipping cars.

Thanks! Be careful using that “f” word in here- the internet falls off their chair if they find out you made 32 cents on a car.

In all seriousness, though, many of the cars in this thread I’ve had aspirations to keep and I just sincerely enjoy fixing them up. Those (like the touring), I don’t make a penny on.

[AWDBOB]

Some pretty fun developments regarding Linda and another new vehicle took place this evening.

I brought home my good buddy Vic's 3L Stroker '87 325i that was built by Zionsville Autosport here in Indy. He is moving on from E30s, and wanted to see the car's legacy be fulfilled, to some capacity. With the car came a 731 head fully worked by the voodoo M20 man himself, Rama.

The 3L will be coming out of black betty, getting the 731 cylinder head with a phat cam and then going in Linda. Linda's fresh M20 powerplant will be going in black betty.

My first focus is to get black betty up and going and sold to fund the rest of the fun.

It'll be hard work, but ultimately this will bring the iS to exactly where I've always wanted it to be.

The stroker is Dwights configuration of an M54b30 rotating assembly with shaved pistons, using a special detonation resistant coating. The car runs extremely strong right now, I was shocked. This configuration unfortunately means that the pistons have no valve reliefs. Thus, the hardest part of this whole thing will be figuring out what to do to make room for the larger valve clearances required for running a bigger cam. I have a spare 200 head I can use to chuck a drill onto a valve with sandpaper through the 200 head to get the correct angle and cut reliefs after measuring, but that doesn't sound too appealing, so I am leaning towards just getting some 85mm flat top pistons with reliefs, opening up the bore to 85mm and going that route instead.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr