The Journey of Linda and Friends - the M20b31 Lives

[AWDBOB]

Got a bit more stuff done- got my ABS sensors hooked up and finished off the M42 rad process for the most part. Waiting on another small order from FCP for brake sensors, rad support cup, CSB.

I'm really not happy with the M42 rad "swap". It doesn't fit right. The bottom sits out too far and the coolant drain hits the power steering pulley. I don't really know what I'm going to do about it yet but it's another thing to add to the list. Still trying to find an upper rad hose to use as well since the one that works is NLA. Still have to extend the coolant level sensor down to the bottom of the attached resevoir.

Also, I got a manual driveshaft at the swap meet. I'm waiting on the CSB to come in before I install that.

IMG_2375 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2379 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr


I also ended up with pretty nice black M3 (no, they're not vert) front seats. I was originally going to swap the M3 over to black interior but I've already got so much tied up into tan with custom paint for the door handles/pockets, carpeting the rear tray, etc that I don't know what I'm going to do with them.

The big brake kit also seemed like a lofty goal.....if I had to guess I'd say that all of that stuff will be for sale soon.

Also, if you're reading this and need an iX manual swap w/3.91 diffs, or a set of good 4.10 diffs, let me know. Or a like new OEM iX strut housing. I've gotta move some stuff soon- I need a roof.

IMG_2378 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[AWDBOB]

Well, some progress has been made.

-Got a new CSB pressed on the manual driveshaft, and installed it.
-Finished all of my coolant routing and bled the system. Don't judge the 'spliced' upper rad hose. I'm waiting on the right one to arrive from over the pond.
-Got a new battery
-I temporarily raised the car up in the front so I don't have to worry about rubbing before I get the car aligned. I have to wait for an alignment until I get the E30M3 Housings back from ground control and find some stock E30M3 brakes. If anyone wants to work out a partial trade for the big brake kit I have shoot me a PM.



And she officially made her first round pass around the block! I forgot how loud open headers are.

A few notes:

-The steering/handling is incredible. The car is so precise and crisp, I cannot wait to throw this thing into a few turns.
-This is by far the snappiest and quickest E30 I've owned. On acceleration, however, I've got a bad miss around 5K rpms that I'll deal with after I get the exhaust made, in addition to a bit of a wandering idle. I still don't have an O2 sensor hooked up at all and the car hasn't learned the ECU at all yet, because I just put a battery in it, and the car has 2 year old gas in it.
-The e fan doesn't come on because the car isn't getting hot enough (I jumped the pins on the fan switch and it came right on). Rad is hot and coolant is flowing, heat working great, so I'm 99% it's all bled properly.

Anyway, for the TLDR crowd, here are a few pictures.

IMG_2417 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2420 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2429 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2421 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2403 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2387 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[mjweimer]

Congratulations!

Car looks fantastic - those wheels really look right.





MJ

[Reichart12]

I had the same problem with the radiator swap. My drain plug actually got worn down a bit but has held up well beyond that. I would say my radiator never felt too secure.

[wworm]

congrats on a maiden voyage! Cant wait to hear it. I replaced a bunch of vacuum leaks last weekend and my idle didnt really smooth all the way out until tuesday. I drive the car about 10 miles a day. Its also still a little wobbly until things heat up. Definitely more issues to smooth out (not gonna worry because m20 is coming out very soon anyways) but I wouldn't trip too hard about tuning yours until everythings more buttoned up with the exhaust, o2 sensors etc.

[Codym42]

Nice to see this thing out of the garage! It looks great in the sunlight.

[AWDBOB]

Congratulations!

Car looks fantastic - those wheels really look right.

MJ

I had the same problem with the radiator swap. My drain plug actually got worn down a bit but has held up well beyond that. I would say my radiator never felt too secure.

congrats on a maiden voyage! Cant wait to hear it. I replaced a bunch of vacuum leaks last weekend and my idle didnt really smooth all the way out until tuesday. I drive the car about 10 miles a day. Its also still a little wobbly until things heat up. Definitely more issues to smooth out (not gonna worry because m20 is coming out very soon anyways) but I wouldn't trip too hard about tuning yours until everythings more buttoned up with the exhaust, o2 sensors etc.

Nice to see this thing out of the garage! It looks great in the sunlight.

Thanks gentlemen!


Matt- I think so too. I was going through a few photos the other day and I had saved a photo of what my dream e30 would look like (excluding M3) and it was quite literally this exact car, just with an Mtech spoiler and shadowline. It's really starting to feel like the vision is coming together.

I've made some exciting progress with the E30M3 suspension too and think I'm going to throw that on before I align it to save some coin, so all of the hard work with fill/drill and spacers is going to be exchanged for a fresh pair of the same wheels in their original bolt pattern. Same look, new great taste.



Reichart- I wasn't too happy to see that when I got it all bolted up. The years of belt tension on most E30 power steering brackets pulls them a bit more towards the rad, too, which doesn't help our case. I threw a zip tie from the rad to the core support and pulled apart the power steering to straighten out the brackets as much as I could. I've got it now to where there is clearance, but I'm sure under load it'll give a bit (hopefully not enough to damage the rad).



WWorm- I know, I'm dying to hear the exhaust all finished up! I've used this catback in the past with great success. I am, however, worried about the lack of resonator/cat. If it's too loud I'll likely add a couple bullet resonators after the headers. And yeah, I'm going to try to not worry about the small stuff until everything is together. I've only driven it a mile and had 20 minutes of idle to break in the cam, all with a dead battery so it hasn't even had a chance to learn.



Cody- Thanks man! It really shines up nice in the sun. The paint up close is not very nice, but I honestly couldn't care less. I think the car serves the exact purpose I was hoping for, which is 10ft paint job and a worry-free joy to drive.

It's hard not to love a red E30 coupe.

[AWDBOB]

Here is my complete front and rear E30M3 suspension all sorted out. Housings, tie rod levers, dust shields, new OEM f/r bearings and hubs. This should be a fun/satisfying upgrade. Best part is that I'm using most of my current GC setup and just transferring it to the M3 housings.

The housings are going out to ground control this week to get new sectioned/reinforced/powdercoated strut tubes and some shortened custom valved Konis.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[2mAn]

Looking good!

[ATL_E30]

Looking good man! Really coming together! I might of missed this, but is the plan to 5 lug swap? **EDIT** I see where you said in your post that you are planning on this.**EDIT** How'd the fill and drill wheels ride when you took her around the block?

[AWDBOB]

Looking good!

Thanks Simon!

Looking good man! Really coming together! I might of missed this, but is the plan to 5 lug swap? **EDIT** I see where you said in your post that you are planning on this.**EDIT** How'd the fill and drill wheels ride when you took her around the block?

Thanks man! In regards to the 5 lug swap, I didn't plan on it initially because I never thought I'd find an E30M3 setup I could afford. However, after I got all of my suspension sorted in 4 lug form, I stumbled upon the M3 suspension.

Thankfully with the M3 stuff, all I have to do is send the housings to GC for them to work their magic on, and all of my existing suspension components will bolt right up. Thus, I'm not really out any money which is nice, and will make some back once I sell my front housings and new Koni struts.

I'm working on finding stock E30M3 brakes for the setup but that's proving to be quite difficult, so I may end up running these giant brakes after all.

Fill and drill feels good so far! I'm waiting on insurance to come through before I drive the car any further- I'll update if I notice anything funky with them, but so far so good.

[Staszek]

I have a 4.10S Diff.

[AWDBOB]

I have a 4.10S Diff.

What chu talkin' about willis?

[Staszek]

What chu talkin' about willis?

Came off the 325is Auto. Its the original Diff from the car, 4.10 LSD if you are interested.

[potatomash]

Do you have A/C? If not you can move the power steering to the other side of its mounts and bolt in reverse basically, and then use the belt on the ac side of the crank pulley rather than the normal. That's what I've done - gives you heaps of room for radiator