*!Build of the year candidate!* Strange PNW Build: E30+Volvo

[adam.nonis]

Yeah, Robbie has been in the Volvo world a while. I actually messaged him early on and we chatted about some stuff.

[rzerob]

We had a build a while ago where a guy was putting a 5cyl out of a Volvo into his E30. It was good but the thread died a couple years ago. I will attach a link.

https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=220448

Most people on this forum just want to see something cool. It doesn't matter if it is not BMW as long as it is cool and done right.

Now if you were putting a 5cyl Volvo engine in a E30M3 well I am pretty sure that would be considered sacrilege and someone on R3v would order 100 pizza's in your name delivered to your door pay on delivery. At least that is the way R3v used to be.

Keep on doing what you do.

[adam.nonis]

Adam, just like anyone else who has been following this thread I am absolutely floored. There are a lot of car guys in the world with great cars and great builds but the really intricate builds tend to have the benefit of time & $$$$$. You really are a standalone treasure to any car community you decide to hang out in kudos.



I am incredibly excited to see the turbo five drop in there. Everyone here I'm sure would love to see an intricate m20 build out but because of the sweat equity you've put into this car you should get a free pass on whatever the fuck you want to power it with. [emoji122][emoji122][emoji122]

Well, I really appreciate it. I always have questions when I watch tv shows, or look at builds. I just want a repository of information that people (and myself) can look back into when someday down the road when they come across something that can relate.

I’m not gonna lie, part of the five cylinder swap is also just about being “different”. First, I love the weird sound five cylinder engines make, but also, that it hasn’t been done a lot has appeal to me. There’s 2.345 billion M20 builds out there. All flavors. I need to do something different.

[luckybk]

Adam, just like anyone else who has been following this thread I am absolutely floored. There are a lot of car guys in the world with great cars and great builds but the really intricate builds tend to have the benefit of time & $$$$$. You really are a standalone treasure to any car community you decide to hang out in kudos.

I am incredibly excited to see the turbo five drop in there. Everyone here I'm sure would love to see an intricate m20 build out but because of the sweat equity you've put into this car you should get a free pass on whatever the fuck you want to power it with. 👏👏👏

[Staszek]

Lance says he’d let me in again, I just wouldn’t be in the featured five, so I’d need to roll in with a crew to park with pals. He says there’s about 40% turnover in people at the picnic so there’d be new eyes to see it.

Im hoping to get my car there this year although the timing would be close. I just want to see yours in person!

[adam.nonis]

Ditto! This stuff is just amazing to watch. Will you bring it to the E30 picnic?

Lance says he’d let me in again, I just wouldn’t be in the featured five, so I’d need to roll in with a crew to park with pals. He says there’s about 40% turnover in people at the picnic so there’d be new eyes to see it.

[adam.nonis]

Ditto! This stuff is just amazing to watch. Will you bring it to the E30 picnic?

I don’t think I’ll be bringing it this year. I think last year was my one year shot. Not sure though. I might ping Lance and see what he says.

[Staszek]

If we ever meet Adam, I am buying you a beer just because of all of the enjoyment and inspiration I have gotten from your build.

Ditto! This stuff is just amazing to watch. Will you bring it to the E30 picnic?

[adam.nonis]

If we ever meet Adam, I am buying you a beer just because of all of the enjoyment and inspiration I have gotten from your build.

Deal.

[rzerob]

If we ever meet Adam, I am buying you a beer just because of all of the enjoyment and inspiration I have gotten from your build.

[rzerob]

I’d be happy to make patterns, but the way I’m making my kit isn’t how an E30 carpet works, plus there’s companies who make molded E30 carpet kits. My want A) for loop carpet, B) for Amazon style carpet and C) my twisted reasoning for always considering it “cheaper” to make stuff myself is the only reason I didn’t buy a kit.

The companies who make those molded carpets are pretty much not worth it. Obviously I haven't tried all of them but of the aftermarket ones I have tried none of them fit properly and they were thin and cheaply made.

The carpet kit you are making looks like a properly molded kit with thick carpet. Hence my statement. My plans now are to just to bite the bullet and buy a new carpet from BMW.

[adam.nonis]

If you made a template of the carpet I am sure you could sell them. Hell I would be in for a black one if you ever did it.

I’d be happy to make patterns, but the way I’m making my kit isn’t how an E30 carpet works, plus there’s companies who make molded E30 carpet kits. My want A) for loop carpet, B) for Amazon style carpet and C) my twisted reasoning for always considering it “cheaper” to make stuff myself is the only reason I didn’t buy a kit.

[rzerob]

If you made a template of the carpet I am sure you could sell them. Hell I would be in for a black one if you ever did it.

[adam.nonis]

*!Build of the year candidate!* Strange PNW Build: E30+Volvo

So, one unfortunate part of building a car over time instead of all at once is that even when things look good, you might need to take a step backwards to take a step forwards. In this case, it’s the carpet. I had to pull out all the freshly wrapped/painted parts.



The factory carpet has thick foam to “level” the floor glued to the back. To get it off in one piece I took an old blade for my vibe saw and ground the teeth off so it was basically a putty knife.



A) I want to use loop carpet



and B) I want to make the carpet kit similar to how the stock Amazon’s is. In separate pieces. Since my machine can’t bind carpet, I’ll be cutting/layout a few pieces at a time and taking them to my buddy to get the needed edges bound. The rear piece needs no binding so it’s the first to go in. Next is the trans tunnel which only gets bound around the back of the trans tunnel then basically two long floor mats that are bound around three sides (the fourth tucks under the sill plates).

I started with the rear and tunnel pieces first. I’ll get the tunnel darted and bound then trim the floor pieces.



Before anything goes in for the final time, I’ll do a bleach water wipe down of the floor, wire brush any surface rust and put on some converter, then bleach, steam and extract the foams to kill any germs.

[rzerob]

Has anyone done them on an E30? I know this’ll sound crazy to you guys, but pulling the needles off the gauges scares me a bit. Back in the day I did a fair amount of indiglo gauge faces and like 30% of the time when you pulled needles off they didn’t line up right again. I like this cluster and would like to keep it.

Bavarian restorations is on here and I think he is gregsM. He has been tearing these clusters apart to restore or customize for a while now. And I am sure he could give you some tips to ease your worries.

As for me I just use an interior pry tool with a bend in it and gently pry up after marking with tape where the bottom of the needle rested and a piece where the top of the needle rested.