318is college restoration project
I decided to start a build thread for my car, mostly to keep me honest on documenting the car. A swell as its a good way to get help from more experienced E30. A little back story on the car. I bought it early 2018 for 3800$ off a lady on craigslist in china town LA. They told me it had transmission bugs (poping out of 1st) and the suspension was totally shot, as well as a few minor body issues. I felt the price was fair because the interior was really good, crack free dash. And a clean title 318is for less then 4k was a deal in my mind. After working a job and on the car all summer between HS and Collage I towed it from Socal up to Prescott AZ where i'm going to school for mechanical engineering and so far a lot of the people I've meet are super into cars, so I should be able to get some help on the project while I'm here, the plan is to restore it fix it up this year on the side, and either sell it and buy another project for a swap, or keep it not sure yet.
Got the car home, drove it around on the blown suspension, (some time in the cars past KYB shocks, and some no name lowering springs where added) for a bit then I bought all new Bilstien b4's, HR OE sport springs, and new tie rods,control arms etc... about a month ago I got a great craigslist deal on a unused set of ST sway bars, these make a huge difference in the car.
Now for the issues with the car currently.
My getrag 240 pops out of first almost every time taking off from a stoplight etc. to remedy this I figured out that modulating the clutch a bit right when the car starts to move remedies this. However its not fun I bought another 240 off a old R3v member for 50$ I also brought it to collage with me.
the paint on the car was obviously repainted at some point (and poorly) the roof is very rough and there are a lot of flaws and door dings etc. So a full repaint is in order aswell as body work.
I've never had a M42 before so I don't really know if its overheating or having head problems. Hard driving will take the temp gauge to 50% and cruising around town is 25% or so. Also the motor make a rapid clicking sound at idle so a head rebuild is in order. I'm still researching this as I would like to upgrade it a bit to allow higher revs. If someone has experience with this please advise. Also the interior needs a bit of work, and the stereo needs to be fixed It works but if the
Upgrades planned
4:10 LSD, apparently not all 318is's came with em
possibly some atheistic mods, I really like the AC schinzter rear apron but even the repro's are over 700$
Better headlights
engine work, I can cheaply convert my 1.8L m42 to a 2.0L using a m44 crank, Honda B series rods, and s52 pistons. Between that, head rebuild, clutch fan removal, LTW fly wheel I might actually put 140hp to the wheels
new wheel's the basket weaves are beat to death
Sorry for the super long write up, I had a lot of catching up to do.
Got the car home, drove it around on the blown suspension, (some time in the cars past KYB shocks, and some no name lowering springs where added) for a bit then I bought all new Bilstien b4's, HR OE sport springs, and new tie rods,control arms etc... about a month ago I got a great craigslist deal on a unused set of ST sway bars, these make a huge difference in the car.
Now for the issues with the car currently.
My getrag 240 pops out of first almost every time taking off from a stoplight etc. to remedy this I figured out that modulating the clutch a bit right when the car starts to move remedies this. However its not fun I bought another 240 off a old R3v member for 50$ I also brought it to collage with me.
the paint on the car was obviously repainted at some point (and poorly) the roof is very rough and there are a lot of flaws and door dings etc. So a full repaint is in order aswell as body work.
I've never had a M42 before so I don't really know if its overheating or having head problems. Hard driving will take the temp gauge to 50% and cruising around town is 25% or so. Also the motor make a rapid clicking sound at idle so a head rebuild is in order. I'm still researching this as I would like to upgrade it a bit to allow higher revs. If someone has experience with this please advise. Also the interior needs a bit of work, and the stereo needs to be fixed It works but if the
Upgrades planned
4:10 LSD, apparently not all 318is's came with em
possibly some atheistic mods, I really like the AC schinzter rear apron but even the repro's are over 700$
Better headlights
engine work, I can cheaply convert my 1.8L m42 to a 2.0L using a m44 crank, Honda B series rods, and s52 pistons. Between that, head rebuild, clutch fan removal, LTW fly wheel I might actually put 140hp to the wheels
new wheel's the basket weaves are beat to death
Sorry for the super long write up, I had a lot of catching up to do.
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