Mostly-calypso: A $600 learning experience [Now S52 swapped]

[NJBiddle]

great work! I've also had to deal with that hose being cut, but twice... probably was a motor mounts thing tbh, but looks like you took care of that!

No quicker way to fix a leaky radiator hose than with an engine swap!

Nice update! S52 looks like a blast. It was good meeting you at The Vintage! I was the guy in the white e30 who was drooling over your calypso right when we rolled in on Saturday haha. Just threw you a follow on Instagram. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good meeting you too dude!

[ATL_E30]

Nice update! S52 looks like a blast. It was good meeting you at The Vintage! I was the guy in the white e30 who was drooling over your calypso right when we rolled in on Saturday haha. Just threw you a follow on Instagram. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jeenyus]

great work! I've also had to deal with that hose being cut, but twice... probably was a motor mounts thing tbh, but looks like you took care of that!

[NJBiddle]

Finally getting around to my yearly update of this thing. Work + life has been crazy and a bunch of stuff happened. Here's where we're at:

1. Installed this little baby subwoofer in the door pocket cavity. Built the enclosure out of MDF and mounted the amp in the trunk





2. Bought a truck and sold my X5 a few weeks later. It's a 2006 Tacoma TRD Off-Road Doublecab with a 6 speed manual. This thing was extremely hard to find and the Tacoma market is bonkers.





Oh and I installed a wireless carplay receiver



3. Went to the vintage for the second year in a row. Other than the radiator fan cutting into top hose and springing a leak, the car ran well and we had a great time.





4. Came home from the vintage and almost immediately bought this



This truckload of parts is a S52 pulled from a running E30 up in Louisville. I bought basically everything the guy had, as he was pulling it all out for an LS project. The engine had been sitting for a year or so, and was originally out of a '98 M3 auto sedan



Waited around a few weeks and then got to work. Since I bought a full running swap, it was relatively straightforward to pull the M20 out, and plug the S52 back in.







After sorting a couple tiny no-start issues, it fired right up (much to my surprise).

Buttoned everything back up and took it for a spin.



Tweaking a bunch of little things right now. I swapped to M5 mounts and fixed a shifter issue, and am currently installing all my AC components. Overall the swap took 3-4 weeks working mostly weekends. The car is a riot and I can't believe I haven't done this sooner - whole different animal.

Sidenote: May or may not keep updating this thread - it's really tedious and I'm rarely on here. Follow my instagram for quicker updates or browse #mostlycalypso if you don't want to see pictures of my cute dog.

[NJBiddle]

...and definitely saved some money when it was time for the rear quarter repair I bet. Now work on getting the A/C going so that you can really enjoy it this summer.

Definitely saved some cash there, and AC is semi-functioning again (recharged the day after we got back). Had an o-ring blow out at the expansion valve before we left. It's still not *cold* but it'll do until I install new components along with the engine swap.

I'm curious of your impression of the Koni struts vs the Bilstein struts.

Really loving the adjustability of the Konis vs the Bilsteins. Bilsteins always felt just a little too firm for me with the H&R Race springs for every day driving.

[jeenyus]

I'm curious of your impression of the Koni struts vs the Bilstein struts.

[sgtskid]

Your car looks awesome! Glad to see one saved and receiving a loving home.

I opted to go for a wrap on mine as well. The biggest learning curve was the paint prep. I had the hood completely done and noticed all these little spots underneath the wrap. I pulled it off and discovered my clear coat was completely trashed and every time i lifted the wrap to straighten out bubbles it was pulling off chunks of paint and clear. I ended up sanding the whole car. As I was sanding, some sections were so bad I had to prime them afterwards because the sander went straight to bare metal.

[Eric Giles]

You've done a great job saving this car, and making it look awesome! The wrap looks better than I expected also...and definitely saved some money when it was time for the rear quarter repair I bet. Now work on getting the A/C going so that you can really enjoy it this summer.

[Stanley Rockafella]

great progress dude ! The wrap looks great! Proper build thread.

+1

[TimKninja]

Great progress dude ! the wrap looks great! proper build thread.

[NJBiddle]

Dang been a while since I updated this thread. A whooooole bunch has happened so lemme give you the tl:dr

1. Got all moved into our new house. The garage is... smaller than I'm used to



2. Went and got married. Arrived/left the ceremony in style, of course


by Ryan Green Photography


by Ryan Green Photography

3. Traveled to Italy for a couple weeks



4. Adopted a real cute puppy named Pickle



Basically just spent the next six months recovering.

Unfortunately after that, had a few things go south with the car. Had a little driveway fender bender between my X5 (unscathed) and the coupe



Had a local body shop pull out the damage and bang it out the best they could. Also had them repair the lower skirt hole that's been bothering me for the last few years. Results are not 100% perfect, but they did a damn good job (Calpley's Collision in Nashville, TN if anyone's interested).



No paintwork necessary, so re-wrapped the panel and called it a day



Figured while I had the car down for body work, I should also go ahead and finish up the remaining bushings and suspension work I had planned.

- Swapped the Bilstein sports out for Koni adjustables
- Installed a fully adjustable Garagistic rear subframe
- Ground Control camber plates
- Had all four of my RSs repaired/unbent and balanced at Rod's Wheel Repair in Nashville





First time on the ground in months. After an alignment, it feels like a new car.



Then we realized we only had a couple weeks to prep for The Vintage.

- Repainted/replaced a bunch of trim and installed a new stock front lip
- Had two of my RSs re-sealed after failures
- Painted rockers/rear skirt
- Wrapped some remaining trim I hadn't done the first round
- Valve adjustment and oil chage

Done!





Gave it a shakedown day, and packed about every tool/spare part I own up for The Vintage.



Turns out almost none of that was necessary - made it to Asheville with zero issues aside from being pretty sweaty without working AC.





Went to the CCA Museum's ICON event the day before the show. Saw some incredible cars, and reaffirmed that we'll have to own a 2002 sooner rather than later











At the hotel for checkin



And finally made it to the show. Saw some amazing cars and had a wonderful time.













That's about it for now! Have some more things in the works (potential M54 swap...), but am planning on just driving it and enjoying it this summer.

[NJBiddle]

Any chance you can explain what you did to get your e46 center console?

It's really tough to explain. The console basically comes apart in three pieces - the console itself, cupholder/ash tray inserts, and the arm rest. I pretty much just hacked off the bottom of the arm rest base until it sat level with the rest of the console on the trans tunnel. I also trimmed the back of the console to match the tunnel curve. Here's an old pic during the cutting:



From there it was just 'guess and checking' until it fit well enough. It's secured with zip ties and a small metal plate with some holes drilled in it It's... secure enough.



Eventually I'll re-do it and mold it into the existing e30 console.

Wow that looks amazing. I love seeing cars like this brought back to life.
Aside from the dings here and there, what condition is the body in? Rust free?

Rust-free aside from a small spot in the passenger floor board. I'll get to it at some point.

[Sirotto]

I was mostly implying the term is essentially dead. Anyone who has a niche interest, is passionate about anything straying from the norm, or wears plaid is considered as such now.

Just bustin your balls, car look good man.

[MrBurgundy]

Yeah, yeah... everybody's a hipster now :roll:

Oh no! Hide all the PBR and IPAs!!!!


Car looks good! love the house too.

[Yeltsew7]

Wow that looks amazing. I love seeing cars like this brought back to life.
Aside from the dings here and there, what condition is the body in? Rust free?