[Entropy] - E30 Hiatus cont - More seeing, less wrenching.

[moatilliatta]

May 2023

Rabbit hole express...

Hey is that a rabbit hole? NO!

I had sent a set of mufflers out to Cantrell motorsports where the did the Carnewal GT mod. I got them back and polished them up. Toilet bowl cleaner & AutoSol metal polish was and amazing one two combo.

I had watched THIS video 100 times before I hand, more aggressive than the sport exhaust, perfect for OE+




Factory fit! Just what I was needing.






Hey is that a rabbit hole? NO! Its A Y pipe I found made by Rstrada, Took a while to get here but it was a bolt on piece. They say its worth 5hp vs the factory T.


This is the most important part of the build so far. Breathe.


Sound check, Test cruise. yeah... Spoiler is still in car wash mode..


is that a... Learning as I go, you run out of camber adj because the toe eccentric max's out. To pull more camber on a lowered car toe arms are a must. Did some digging but ended up on SPC toe arms. They keep a rubber bushings on the inner joint, OE+!
They do make lockouts for the eccentric, higiher priority for a track car.


Hey is that a rabbit hole? NO! Just GT3/2 TRW control arms with tarret rubber inners. I did go solid caster pucks... OE- (Minus) , Were still up.




Hey is that a rabbit hole? NO, its just upgraded cable ends from function first. MUCH BETTER! The biggest thing I did NOT like in this car was the shifter.




Finish up the Goodridge brake hoses. The pedal is OK, I hear the GT3 master cylinder is a good upgrade, I just don't wanna end up going down any rabbit holes.. Checkin out that crosshair action on the pipes!




Dat Alignment. Camber: -1.65F -1.9R Toe: .04F .37R Caster: 8.15. And here is why I am where I am 1/2 tank without driver 3087... The vehicle had perfect 50/50 cross weight with or without me. Amazing. Couldn't belive it. BMW's keep that american diet...


The Winning Formula - This shop is great! Professional all around.


Hey is that a rabbit hole? NO! These mods you think will do something. I DEsnorkel'd the intake, Just a lil more noise to sing with the exhaust.


Hey is that a rabbit hole? NO! Its just paint corrections and PPF that I had to redo later due to poor craftsmanship...












I could look at her all day..


Coffee.


Heading down to the DYNO. PT 2 Racking em up!




Hey is that a rabbit hole? NO!.... SSSSssssh Throttle responce and heal toe down shifting is much better!


Next up but forgot to take a photo, 997 short shift kit with function first ball bearing shifter. This was on of the best things I've done to the car as the factory shifter was pretty bad...
EXAPMPLE PHOTOS


Vintage PRP. SSSHhh
















Night Night, At The Vintage 2023 trip begins in the morning.



TBC

[2mAn]

Cobalt 987. Lovely. Add aluminum doors and the silly R door pulls and you basically have the R now ... did you buy taillights or just paint? The color combo looks great.

Im 10000% with you on a non-black or silver Porsche being the way to go. Finding the Glacier White was the main catalyst to get me to finally buy one. If I wasnt adamant about taking my kiddo with me I would've had a Cayman or Elise... for now, the 996 does it.

[moatilliatta]

The P-car looks good. The price point on the Caymans make them super intriguing now. I think you're point out all the reasons I'm happy with beat up paint and rust spots on my e30. Not sure how well I'd handle getting that first big scratch or dent on a much nicer car.

Thanks, Its been nice to have something nice that just WORKS. But as seen, I still need to do stuff to it to be satisfied... The stock suspension wasn't that impressive. Felt like significant lack of rebound.

Also back to the simple life of modding without the car needing a full mechanical and cosmetic restoration... Very refreshing, Breathe...

But the R suspension is perfect for aggressive commuter / spirited back roads.

In hindsight it did take a year away of time and money from the E30, which I can't tell was good or not.

I kinda had the idea about going s54 itb/rrd kit also but would probably still be using the 803 maf which makes it less cool. I think the issue was I did the euro 5 series fuel rail and -an lines for current setup and I'd pretty much have to change all that again. Kinda sucks because I actually have an old active autowerks s54 intake manifold from their supercharger kit that I thought would pair nicely and I'm guessing it would clear the booster, but the dollar to hp doesnt make sense to me.
super sad to see the p-car scratched like that, sorry man that sucks! Great looking car though, and congrats!

I would say a properly tuned higher tier standalone is more beneficial then having ITB... Then when you add ITB to the stock ECU it becomes more of a burden.

A local had BRAND NEW IN BOX standalone (Future Post) that will be going in hopefully 2024.

Id say the AA S54 intake was designed around boost, Pushing the brake booster over IMO is the best option for keeping a vac controlled assisted / powered brake setup with S54 intake. The RRD kit takes away even more space for packaging, around .5" - .75"..

Its more of in imprint in the bumper and no scratch! The light I used really captured the damage for the worse. Its not that bad, more of the mental headache.

Thanks!

[s14brent]

I kinda had the idea about going s54 itb/rrd kit also but would probably still be using the 803 maf which makes it less cool. I think the issue was I did the euro 5 series fuel rail and -an lines for current setup and I'd pretty much have to change all that again. Kinda sucks because I actually have an old active autowerks s54 intake manifold from their supercharger kit that I thought would pair nicely and I'm guessing it would clear the booster, but the dollar to hp doesnt make sense to me.
super sad to see the p-car scratched like that, sorry man that sucks! Great looking car though, and congrats!

[Reichart12]

The P-car looks good. The price point on the Caymans make them super intriguing now. I think you're point out all the reasons I'm happy with beat up paint and rust spots on my e30. Not sure how well I'd handle getting that first big scratch or dent on a much nicer car.

[moatilliatta]

April 2023

So? You want a review of the Cayman?? Its not how well YOU do, but how well people perceive that you do. And that is what reality is based on, perception...

Welp, that's Cayman R suspension getting ready for assembly. A deferent vintage prep for a deferent year..
Doing fresh rotors, and mainly Akebono pads, braided hoses... I don't wanna clean wheels. Compound feels good, not tracking..


They seem to get along fine.


But what if I told you 3/4 of these Michelins had to be warrantied out because they're out of ROUND.
I'm slowly being reminded on what burned me out on cars to begin with. Having to have something done AGAIN


Errands




Rear first because it was the hardest - Pretty much disassemble rear half of interior.. ugh.. Not Terrible once you figure the death grip clip locations. My biggest gripe is the soft touch painted plastic. sigh..




Some lol clown spray on the hubs... Maybe just anti seize?


Coming along, A joy to work on something different, something more of a sports car.


Front.




So I was in love with these massive uprights, I almost wanted to order E30 M3 motorsports knuckles for my car after cleaning these up. Afterwards sprayed down with Boeshield








Once things came together it was quite joyful working on the car. Took a lot more time being careful with the rear interior than expected, better have a good back! Disassemble and reassemble went together logically.
One thing new and was a bit painful and expensive were these dampening plugs with adhesive. One was a bugger to get out.




Nemesis!


While here I did the CCV valve which is common failure leading to oil consumption and smoking


I forgot to take a photo, But the calipers also got cleaned up and ceramic coated.


The suspension rides great! More aggressive than an M car. But spot on. Wouldn't want any more for a daily, Great for a weekend "GT" style car. Back roads!


Oh? Look what showed up freshly refinished.


I'm slowly being reminded on what burned me out on cars to begin with. Having to have something done AGAIN. IDK maybe a hair? FF






I suppose this could have been smoothed before powder? Nobody said anything about this...!


Show goes ON. Wheels get ceramic coated. Man these tires had a lot of run out. Michelin PS2, I feel like the fool.
I'm slowly being reminded on what burned me out on cars to begin with. Having to have something done AGAIN


Shoes go ON




Went Plus 1 on the width front and rear 245/40R19 Front 275/35R19 R. I wish the fronts were wider... But OE+, I'll Stop there.


BAM!


Suspension needs to settle a little before alignment - BOOM, all red tails.


Shake that


Party is Poppin, YES.


Every day I'm shufflin'


One more shot for us, another round


What are you doing? Baseline. IDK how to make video work

TBC

[moatilliatta]

March 2023


After discovering that this was the best example I came across and the price was reasonable I decided to make the move. The seller also described it to me politely "Shit or get off the pot"

Off to Madison Wisconsin to Kelly Moss to pick up the Cayman


It was pretty cool to be in the facility supporting the cars that you watch during the IMSA races and walked by their trailers and garages which crewing and spectating. Here is a quick tour. PS 992 cup cars are body in SILVER. I though that was pretty cool.








After spending months holding and looking for the right example there was no way this was going to see salt, Luckily the salt lick washed away before the commute back home to KY. The blue was way better in person than ever expected. The interior was a great match for the color!


Shoes match, we match. Beep Beep Beep, were off.


Lunching and lookin






And now you start noticing the others.


Snow and storms were moving in so we had to veer west and ended up in Champaign, IL. I thought I had to scout for a good parking spot before with the E30... Entropy doesn't sleep. Not to mention I learned a new crazy thing about these cars. When we arrived at the hotel I smelled a wet rubber smell, It was raining.. But the rubber smell! Smelled like inside of tire ran flat. When I got out of the car I checked all the tires, checked if cords were showing. I did noticed the steering was a little skippy in parallel paring environment. I spent all the night thinking about it and researching how to replace the belt! And what I've came up with days later, it appears, the high caster angle can cause skipping feeling at low speeds, especially if you have some brake on. Seems quite common, and people live with it... I guess so...


The next day I noticed a lil zig in the bumper... I don't remember seeing that before. Entropy doesn't sleep.. I doubt it was there, I doubt it didn't happen in the hotel lot. My insides sank for a while.. Did I miss this, on everything I checked out before, Already! A non respray car, and now this! FF


Getting past half way, heads up, enjoy the car, enjoy the trip... INDY!

















Go directly to the shop, do not pass go. Washed and relaxed for a min


Home for a victory toast with the GF.


PS.. Even before owning the car, I acquired these. A wheel I always enjoyed looking at.


The E30 will still get loved.


Actually this is its first was since those track days last year. Getting off some grit before it goes into storage. It'll come back stronger.

[moatilliatta]

March 2023

Progress?

A bit down I was ready for something that would take less wrenching and more driving. The E30 was pushing coolant, I knew It was ready for engine phase V2.3... But I wasn't. Something different has been in back of my mind and I noticed 987.1 Caymans were reasonable but risky. I had already had a PPI done on 2 cars and they were OK. But I did not feel like they reflected the asking price. Moseying around the Cayman groups / Forums I put a feeler and someone message me with this car.

A non peasant spec 987.1 (NO BLACK on BLACK) UGH. But it was Black / Grey interior.. acceptable. but not Mocha, Sea Blue... Ect..., you could wait for years for perfectly spec car. MMM rear wiper.. I suppose I trade that for sport seats, which I was really wanting. Sport chrono, Don't Care. PSAM Don't Care. 987.2 would be another 10K for similar example and EVEN harder not to find a peasant spec. Black on Black sells, It terrible! 09 crash left not many options for a few years of Porsches that I found. But I did find this one. Never perfect, but close enough. Well start off from the first images I seen of the car.

Last photo of the car washed last Fall and put away for the Winter. I was quite hesitant buying a car from up north as anyone should. But It appears it didn't get out much @ 35.5K Miles


Photos from "Storage" I think more things fall on the car in the garage than in parking lots! But It checked out quite nice












Bolsters NOT ass fucked, Good sign!




Pretty Excited on the options, but the photos were kinda lacking. As in hiding something, unmotivated seller, or just not in the zone...

https://vinanalytics.com/car/WP0AB29876U782429/

Prod Month:	2006-01-01
VIN:	WP0AB29876U782429
Price:	$72,245.00
Exterior:	Cobalt Blue Metallic
Interior:	Black/Stone Grey Interior
Warranty Start:	February 11, 2006

BASE	Porsche Base Model
342	Heated Front Seats
425	Rear Window Wiper
446	Wheel Caps with Colored Crest
459	Leather Steering Wheel
498	Delete Model Designation
56	Cobalt Blue Metallic
573	Automatic Climate Control
680	Bose Surround Sound System
970	Bicolor Interior Instructions
982	Supple Leather Front and Rear
BG	Black/Stone Grey Interior
CUC	Painted Model Desig Rear Lid
M6G	Stone Grey Floor Mats
P12	Self-Dim Mirrors & Rain Sensor
P15	Power Seat Package
P74	Bi-Xenon Headlamp Package
Z0997	Custom Tailoring

Over the course of the month I become a 987.1 Expert. Bore Score > Hyped IMS.
Some good info below for any M97 / M96 user

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FP8OhEjSSg&t=3s&ab_channel=LNEngineering

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhNZHFG3kho&t=30s&ab_channel=LNEngineering

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYjcNos6MP4&t=922s&ab_channel=LNEngineerin g
M97 M96 cheat sheet and notes for Dummys - Lower temp Tstat, 3rd radiator if you push it, Fuel additive or new injectors, and most important is oil quality (Driven) No warm ups or short trips. Taking the car to redline helps lube the IMS.

Conveniently the car being in Madison, Wisconsin was only 10 min away from Kelly Moss.

I wont kill you with a bunch of PPI Photos, But any one who needs some info click here. As standard, here are my my top 10.




















If you don't have a lil sumthin, its not a Lokasil block. Cayennes have the same issues to.


TBC

Cayman will stay here in this thread. For Better or Worse it has an impact on the E30 environment.

[moatilliatta]

FEBRUARY 2023

Oh I, oh, I'm still alive

A bit late, but we move forward
PDR was performed on the dear damage, still along ways to go, but hopefully the body guy has a better pallet now. And it will do for now..


Enjoying a few last nights out with the boys






TBC

[moatilliatta]

Ah.. I'm just running low on bandwidth. I need to make a list of 2 or 3 things to do. Turn the phone off, lock the shop doors, turn the music to 11 and focus. JUST ON MY CAR!.

But yeah, My E30 is ridicules. and its not done..

But more shop stuff has been getting done which makes a bit of an ease on the mind.

Its really I want the easy way to go alpha-N reliable, then comeback with badass standalone in a year..

Everly once in a while I think about smoothing out the bottom side of the E30...

I've seen that video and then I go nope! its a rabbit hole!

No progress this weekend other than finding out what I want to do requires more work!

The Fiat wiper motor does NOT fit with the stock HVAC setup. Custom expansion tank in the werks.

[DEV0 E30]

[B][SIZE=16px]A lot of stuff, a lot of ideas, a lot of dreaming, just need more doing. Focus..

As being my own worst enemy on so many things in life, including not getting X, Y, Z done at said point.

Let me just again be a cheerleader and say... YOU'RE DOING THE DAMN THINGS. You're putting plenty of us to shame with your DOING.

So while we all need that kick in the ass to get things moving, you're doing awesome stuff.

Love all of the progress and determination on all of the different projects on this car.

---

You probably don't need more inspiration for your undertray, but I remember seeing a video a few months back of undertrays on an M3.

I think this is it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLZ9TGYDbH0

Really shows up close details which is neat, and being video format I think it helps more than pictures for inspiration.

[moatilliatta]

January 2023

What do we have now?

Whew, Its the beginning of a new year. I'm a bit worn and looking for a fix of a long back road drive. Its cold N salty, and the car need work. I have got the check for the revised deer damage repair amount so I can start on that. The car isn't ready for paint.. so well see how some PDR experts can do.. THE CAR ISNT READY FOR PAINT. Problem, the car Isn't lachs, its almost lach, I can't paint it the wrong color just in a few spots or more. The dents are depressing so hopefully It can get sorted soon. Hope to have a PDR update for February. And there is rust that needs tidied up before real paint..







I think I'm going to draw back the load of work I am going to do for the standalone. The tuner is a bit back up too.. So I will do the Life Racing Ecu at a later time and acquire parts to do as a bigger package when more things a ready. I like to keep the car drivable as long as possible, and I have to many directions tugging to focus on the complete chapter of standalone.

In the mean time ill do a Boomslang harness with Haltech 750.

Reasons - Mpower. Bimmerworkd / S14power.net / motorsportsconcepts S54 carbon airbox has arrived.. But not quiet landed.


You can see the current EXP tank wont be happy there.


Remember how I ground down all the extra tabs and boss's off the engine, Guess what they hold? Throttle actuator bracket. FFFffff


Photobucket wont export rotated photo, If you rotate it in the Iphone, uploads rotated. FFFF

Ill need to relocate my expansion tank. I think I may end up just building my own tank. Not to happy on fitment. I need to keep the right side of the tank open. I will eventually run a tube unto the strut tower.


The euro tube takes some work on E36 M50 based motor, looks like more work on the E30.. Needs probably squished on the fire wall side for clearance.


Initial splitter design,




Then tried to see how an under tray set up would work out..




Id love a 2 piece undertray / splitter setup but probably will just end up with a splitter with a filler up front..

To get better rear splitter mounting I changed up the power steering cooler.
FFFF












Mono wipe, Fiat all in one UNO.. I didn't want keep the nub on the driver side from mounting of the wiper assembly. Well see how it goes.


Got to figure that out
FFF



A lot of stuff, a lot of ideas, a lot of dreaming, just need more doing. Focus..

[DEV0 E30]

Now with clickbate, I finally added to my Title.
Addictive algorithms < Forums will loose.

Hahaha I noticed this today. I dig it.

I think once I actually have my car running again, attention is going to shift to the interior.

Got some ideas but still love the idea of cooling seats in an E30.

[amcp]

Interior still looks on point. Nice work.

[moatilliatta]

Now with clickbate, I finally added to my Title.
Addictive algorithms < Forums will loose.