Adventures of goldE

[MB07]

Dang that looks amazing! What carpet cleaner did you use?

[zwill23]

Damn dude, interior cleaned up really nice. That has to be the best looking tan carpet I've ever seen in an E30.

Why you mention cut and polish and not show pics?!!?!? C'mon son.

[kid8]

Alright, time for an update. Just got back from a much needed vacation and decided to work on the car a bit. It's time to sell it so I needed to get to some of the things I haven't had a chance to do yet.

I gave it a good wash and a light cut/polish to try and make the paint a little smoother to the touch as it was littered with crap from sitting for so many years. The paint is rough on goldE with peeling clear coat and stone chips and the hood seems like it got hot at one point in it's life and bubbled the paint in some spots. My goal was to just clean it up and make it better than it was. I'm happy enough with the results, it was never going to be a show car, and overall it cleaned up nicely. It could use a nice repaint on the hood valence, but it is what it is. Nothing to worry about when driving this one, so there's that.

I forgot to take pictures when I did this, and it's already dirty so I'll have to give it another wash this weekend. I also need to replace the bumper trim and it will need a wash then anyways to get the dirt from behind the trim.

I next moved onto the interior. Having tan carpet, it's easy to get it gross and it looks like not having a cupholder struck a few times to the PO.

Passenger side



Driver side



At least I got paid to do this job!

I used some pretty good carpet cleaner, I wasn't expecting it to all come out as it had sat for so long, so I'm pretty happy with the results!

Again, not perfect. A second going over may help, but it probably just needs re-dyed at this point.

Passenger side



Driver side came out better



The good news is, it's really not noticeable when the seats are back in.




Finally, my new fuel pump started to whine on me. I got a replacement and so far it seems to have fixed the issue. I'll drive it to work a few days this week to make sure though. Went with a VDO this time instead of Delphi.




And that's where I'm at. We're in the middle of a kitchen remodel so most of my free time has been devoted to that. I'm hoping to finish up the rest of the to-do list soon and pass it along to the next owner. The money would help with the kitchen remodel as well lol!

What's left to do:

1. Clean interior door panels and windows.
2. Clean door jambs and engine bay.
3. Replace bumper trim.
4. Diagnose speaker issue/replace speakers.
5. Try and see if I can get the AC going. I found the power wire got pulled out of it's connector so it will need fixed and I'll pull a vacuum to see what I'm working with.
6. Give it another wash.


Not much left to do, just need to find the time now!

[kid8]

I think squirting some trim paint on the rockers should be added to the To Do list as well! Inexpensive and I think it would really bring the exterior together and compliment the other things you're doing.

Yeah, that's not a bad idea, sir! We shall see.

Quick update, not much has been done other than driving it. Installed some new odometer gears though!

Took out the cluster and opened her up. I have VDO gauges and a Motometer board. No big deal, I know they used a combination of parts when they put together the gauges.



There's the culprit! The gears were super soft and easy to break.




New gears in.





Put it all back together and went for a test drive. Everything works as it should now. It's the little things...

[zwill23]

I think squirting some trim paint on the rockers should be added to the To Do list as well! Inexpensive and I think it would really bring the exterior together and compliment the other things you're doing.

[kid8]

Well, nothing too exciting to post, I've just been daily driving it for the most part to work and around town. I'm pretty impressed with the car honestly. It rides very comfortably and the seats are like a comfy recliner.

I just got done breaking in the clutch a few days ago and I've started to give it the beans more. It definitely makes it more enjoyable to drive now though lol.

I got a few more things I want to do to the car, but for the most part I'm done and will just work on cleaning it up some more.

On the to do list:

-Replace odometer gears [They broke after one mile on it's maiden voyage lol!]
-Speakers, only one is currently working
-Replace bumper trim with good pieces I have in the attic
-Clay and polish to the exterior
-Carpet cleaning and deeper interior clean

Other than that to do list, last weekend I drained the coolant and refilled with new as well with a new expansion tank and cap. It was much needed as the cap looked like it would fail soon and with these triple digit temperatures we've been having I don't want to risk it.




The windshield washer reservoir sticks out like a sore thumb now

Finally, I put on the splash guard




Sorry it's not too exciting of an update, just driving and enjoying the ride!

[kid8]

Oh how things have changed, GoldE sure is a nice daily chariot! You better watch yourself, next thing you know you'll be fixing the AC ;)

I think an interior / exterior photoshoot is in order! We need to see GoldE in her full glory.

Nice progress!

A new windshield is nothing to scoff at

Thanks guys! Don't get me wrong, the new windshield makes a huge difference to the driving experience. It's just not very exciting compared to everyone else and their crazy turbo builds :devil:

[2mAn]

A new windshield is nothing to scoff at

[Julien]

Nice progress!

[zwill23]

Oh how things have changed, GoldE sure is a nice daily chariot! You better watch yourself, next thing you know you'll be fixing the AC ;)

I think an interior / exterior photoshoot is in order! We need to see GoldE in her full glory.

[kid8]

Man, I am so excited to see your 24v car with the head/cams. I've been patiently waiting!

Haha, sorry man...as you can see I've at least been busy! The head is all ready to go though, machine shop gave it's blessing, put in new valve seals and cleaned up a few things that they said should be done while they had it. It's patiently waiting for me to find the time to work on it. It'll happen soon-ish. I ordered new bolts for the slave and will start on it once they arrive.

As far as goldE goes, I've just been using it for my daily transportation and I'm very happy with it! I need to track down an oil leak and fix that, but otherwise I have no complaints. It rids well and has been running great!

The wife and I went on a nice driver Saturday out into hill country and down the windy backroads to get some lunch. It was great weather and just a nice day overall finished by some awesome pizza!

The one annoying thing though since I've been driving it has been the awful windshield. It's like someone threw a giant rock at it and it just spidered out from there. It took up basically the entire passenger side of the windshield.

This is what I'm talking about.


So I called some local shops that were open Saturday before we headed out on our drive and found a guy who sold me the glass for a decent enough price. So I picked it up and brought it back to the house.

Today, the wife and I knocked it out and got it installed. I had ordered a lockstrip tool, but for the life of me couldn't get it to work. After wasting about 15 minutes fooling with it, I just did it by hand/plastic pry tool. It only took about 20 or so minutes to get it done. Live and learn, I guess I picked up some tricks from when zWill and I did his. I remember us struggling for a bit with it and us saying how we wished we had the tool.

Old windshield out


New windshield in


I've been waiting to put on my registration sticker for this very reason.


Not a super exciting update, but it just makes the driving experience that much better and was totally worth it.

[AWDBOB]

Man, I am so excited to see your 24v car with the head/cams. I've been patiently waiting!

[kid8]

So, I have good and bad news. First the good.

1. I got married last Saturday! We took the wagon out and everything was fine. The next day we met up with some friends and as I was pulling in, it seems the timing chain guides went out. Not the ideal situation to have happen, especially since we were leaving Monday for vacation. I made the decision to post it for sale and see if anyone would be interested in it the way it sat. I had 2 people look at it the next day; the second guy bought it and had it towed out so he can restore it. I'm glad it went to him, he seems like he was the right buyer for it. I told him to assume the engine was a paperweight as I don't know if it jumped time or not. I hope that's not the case, but at least he knows to assume the worst. I don't have the time to fix the wagon at this point and I got a fair amount for it. It seemed like the right move to make, although I do regret it and I'm sure I really will in a few months. Oh well, life moves on, there will be other cars!

2. I got goldE up and running! It passed inspection without issues and it's running really well. I'm taking it easy to break in the clutch, but overall it seems very nice. I got an alignment today and it drivers very well! My plan is to drive this while I get my other ride sorted and then I'll the bronzit.

3. With the help of zwill and my neighbor, we pushed the grey 24v up into the garage. The clutch slave blew on me one day leaving me stranded. I haven't had any time to look at it until now. I figured it'd be a quick fix and I'd be on my merry way. I was wrong....the mounting bolt sheared off and now I need to figure out how to address this. There's a chance the slave rod is in the bell housing and I need to figure out how to press out the old mount and press in new, if I can find one. The best I can figure, somehow the bottom nut backed off and the force of me changing gears caused the top mount to shear off. Looks like I'll be dropping the transmission....

Both cars in the garage!



Carnage to the 24v slave mounts



So, this may force me to move quicker on the grey car than anticipated. I have a new head with large valves and bigger cams to put on. It's already been worked on by a local machinist and good to go. I'm going to convert from OBD1 to OBD2 and I have a set of ITBs to slap on too. Should be fun once it's all done. I was just hoping to take a break from wrenching for awhile. Oh well, on to the next adventure!

[kid8]

Well, I made some progress again. It was slow, but good none the less.

When I went to take off the e30 tie rods, I was greeted with a river of ATF. Great, the rack was bad, not what I was expecting. Oh well, not the end of the world. I went to the local yard and scored a low mileage e36 rack that looked to be in great shape. I cleaned it up and got it installed. Ordered the Garagistic spacer kit and got to modifying the knuckle.

action shot from the wifey





Crap pic, sorry. Rack installed.



Then I cleaned up the throttle body and started putting back together the engine bay.



New drive belts and brake master grommets that I'll need to replace in the near future.



Exhaust hardware.



New radiator and all new hoses.






I didn't take a lot of pictures as zwill and I were in a groove after work Monday. Thanks to his help, we got everything buttoned up and attempted to start her for the first time since I've owned her!

Nothing happened....not even a crank from the starter....

FML!

After taking a minute to think, I realized I never got around to disconnecting the auto harness and switching the plugs around for the manual. I'm an idiot.

After following this guide, we were ready to try again.

https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=120917

It took a bit of cranking to get fuel to the engine, but she fired up and turned over!! It was pretty awesome. I think zwill was more excited than me though lol.

Don't mind the one wrong hose, I didn't order a replacement and we had to get creative to start it.

Video below:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/oc2sssloQ3WtMcBl2

So that's awesome! Everything seems to be working alright with it. I need to fix a few things on it, but it's close. The water pump was leaking some, so I'll have to address that. The ecu needs me to drive it some so it can learn everything again too.

Speaking of driving, I went to drive it today, but I messed up when I measured the old rack and set the tie rods for the e36 rack. It's too short and the tires are toed in too much on both sides that it doesn't want to roll. I'll have to mess with it later and get it out for a drive. The good news is though that it starts right up, idles OK for now and should only get better. It needs a valve adjustment also, but in the home stretch. The transmission and clutch seems to be working fine too! Overall I'm a happy camper.

Who's ready to buy this thing before I get attached to it?!?

[kid8]

Fantastic work!

The license plates of that Audi you saw on the West Coast look a lot like my Iowa Hawkeye plates.

Highly doubt they are because who in the right mind would drive from Iowa to the West coast. Makes my butt hurt just thinking about it.

It may be from Iowa! I tried zooming in on my original but the quality wasn't good enough to read it. That would def be a long drive.....I want to make the trip to the picnic one day, so I shouldn't talk lol.