A Tale of Two 30s: Now with 100% More Boost!!!

[the_eskimo_wonder]

It's funny, I've felt like I was pretty much done with the engine for a little while now but I continue to spend hours upon hours in the garage doing more to it.

Was waiting on a replacement rivet gun since I lost my old one somehow. Riveted the oil pan baffle in and got the bottom end finally sealed up. Note the oil pan addition I'm hoping to get to use as soon as possible...

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Finally got the right number of pedals in as well. These are from the old hoopty that I wrecked so part of her will live on with me. Painted them up with some POR15 because it's my new favorite paint and I keep looking for things to use it on. The complete rear subframe and trailing arm assembly out of the old car is next once I take a wire brush to it and clean it up real good-like.

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Yes, the carpet is abysmal, but not to worry because I ended buying a set of H&R Race springs off Julien on here and he offloaded a bunch of shit he didn't want anymore on me. So now my roommates can be mad at me instead of his shopmates.

Grabbed a black carpet that's not quite as holey, a completely shaved/debadged deck lid to replace my badly dented one, and his old dash that he literally pulled straight from the trash can. Mine has stickers melted onto it, a mutilated glovebox area from prying it open, and all kinds of cracks. I figure a few cracks is better than lots. Progress, not perfection, right?

Lastly, I have to shout out BimmerBaron on here for saving my ass. I used Mak's Injection to rebuild my fuel injectors and it's been a nightmare. I ordered and paid on their website and shipped them my injectors. UPS tried unsuccessfully to deliver 3 times but the business was closed every time. The injectors are now sitting in a UPS center in Florida and Mak's is unresponsive to my emails. BimmerBaron got me injectors out of his personal stock delivered in 2 days so I can get my car up and going while I send mine back. So, boom! Pretty injectors!

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[the_eskimo_wonder]

wait, wasn't this motor listed fs somewhere? Good luck with it and bring it out to the next san mateo meet!

If it's running, I'll be there.

Posted a complete eta to 2.7i conversion kit on the SFBay E30 FB page and this engine was in the picture. I never thought I'd say this but I have too many engines...

Yes, the San Mateo gtg needs to have at least 10 Schwarz E30s ... help them succeed

Just trying to contribute to the basic-ness

[2mAn]

Yes, the San Mateo gtg needs to have at least 10 Schwarz E30s ... help them succeed

[KIRIEIW]

Nice work dude, not sure about the motor being listed but I definitely saw that iS listed on Craigslist a month back or so.


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[Julien]

wait, wasn't this motor listed fs somewhere? Good luck with it and bring it out to the next san mateo meet!

[the_eskimo_wonder]

I think it's probably time to stop taking pictures of the engine and put it in the damn car already. Waiting on rebuilt injectors from Mak's Injection but that's it for the engine. Gotta get it off the stand, tack on the flywheel, clutch, and trans and drop the fucker in.

Fingers are crossed for making it happen this weekend. Anyways... engine porn!

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[the_eskimo_wonder]

The weather dried up and a box of goodies showed up so finally made a little more progress on this shell of metal I call a car.

Pulled the front subframe, welded up a crack and Garagistic's front subframe reinforcement kit, then gooped the whole thing up with Por-15. That stuff is serious business. I love it.

Broke about a billion Dremel bits grinding the firewall for the new rack but got that clearanced finally, hit it with some paint then sealed it all back up. Got the subframe in with everything snugged up. The Garagistic poly motor mounts give it a nice little pop of color.

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Out with the old and in with the new. Glad I opted for the Lemforder arms. These look extremely well made. Coupled them with Meyle tie rods and the Garagistic offset poly LCABs off my old car. Excited to have a brand new front end. One of the goals of this build is to experience what a brand new E30 would've been like. Should be miles ahead of the original rustbucket.

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The front subframe makes a good seat without the engine. To build BMW engine, you must become BMW engine.

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[the_eskimo_wonder]

Not a lot of car in the car right now... and a lot of car on the garage floor. Good thing my roommates aren't too vocal about their complaints.

Little brother came back from college and I stole his power washer for a bit. Used it on just about everything I could think of, and the engine bay is starting to look half decent. I'm thinking about painting it satin black while the engine is out. I'm planning on painting the car a different color later and I figure having the bay purposely done would be better than just looking like a half-assed paint job.

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I'm falling victim to the "while I'm in there" pitfall too. Picked up a reman yellow tag (712) E46 rack. This is the rack that came on the ZHP 330Ci. I've heard a lot of debate on whether it or the purple tag rack is the hot ticket, with the final verdict being that they are the same in all ways except the torsion bar size. So this yellow tag rack has a heavier, more "sportier" feel. Either way, it's 3 turns lock to lock, totally refreshed, and going to be a huge improvement.

Since I have the subframe out and easy access I figured I'd complete the front end rebuild and have a pair of Lemforder control arms on order as well.

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[the_eskimo_wonder]

I’ve totally seen your car parked on that street behind the shopping mall, small world haha.


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It really is. What do you drive? I get a surprisingly high amount of E30 traffic flowing by my house.

Still yet to make it to a local E30 meet though. Once the new car is on the road I won’t feel like I brought the biggest pile of crap there.

[the_eskimo_wonder]

Well, a rod knock bolted to an automatic transmission obviously wasn't gonna cut it, so out that came. Did this engine pull with a buddy that was as green as me. It was a race against the clock and by the time we finally got it out it was dark but we did it. The aftermarket oil pan skid plate is a nice little bonus, though I also think it may be related to the rod knock because this car is pretty low.

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Kept stripping, cleaning, and prepping my way right along. I pulled all the AC lines, airbag sensors, and everything else I deemed not entirey necessary and busted out the pressure washer.

Pulled the steering rack, skid plate, and front subframe yesterday for good measure. Got the subframe cleaned up and went to town with Garagistic's subframe reinforcement tabs. Crazily enough The passenger side mount was already cracked in a pretty big way so we patched it up too. Waiting on a tub of Por-15 from Amazon so I can coat it up and toss it in. While I have everything so apart I think I'll take this chance to replace my control arms just to make sure my front end is as new as the engine compartment. It's also getting the Garagistic poly offset LCABs I pilfered from my old car.

During this process I discovered that the car is sitting on BavAuto lowering springs. I've heard some pretty negative things on these regarding them being soft and saggy. I still have my Vogtland springs from my old car. Should I swap those in instead?

[the_eskimo_wonder]

I found a shell that was perfect but it ended up falling through. I wasn't having much luck for a while until I finally found this 1990 325is. it was teenage owned, an automatic, and had a BAD rod knock. I overpaid a little for it but I was excited about owning another E30 and it had good guts. A couple dings here and there and needs a new hood and fender but it's rust free with great electronics and a pretty nice interior which was my main focus.

Anyways, here she is!

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Having a new shell to work on lit a fire under my ass and I got focused. Finally finished stripping out the old shell and set it off to Pick N Pull. It had no motor, trans, driveline of any sort, rear suframe, suspension, brakes, interior, doors, deck lid, manual swap parts, or just about anything else of value. A buddy in the area parts out E30s and did most of the pulling. It was the first time I've ever been a part of an engine pull. I mostly just watched but it was still a good learning experience.

The car was so barebones when I shipped it off that I could actually just pick it up off the jackstands by the bumpers

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Back to the garage! My Bimmerheads head showed up and I was ready to go. Smacked it on and we started looking a little like an engine!

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Picked up some new-but-secondhand Ireland Engineering shorty headers for a good deal. I know they won't really have much of a performance effect but boy do they look cool. Had some fun with VHT wrinkle paint on the valve cover and intake manifold too. New water pump, timing belt, etc. all on and covered up.

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[the_eskimo_wonder]

Got the subframe bushings in, shift linkage rebuilt, new guibo, a secondhand but rebuilt driveshaft, and got back on the street!

Just in time to get a little cocky and have a bad day. Coming back from lunch at Alice's restaurant with my brother and a buddy my car rapidly developed a giant vacuum leak and started idling at 3000 rpm. I was heading down a real fun, windy downhill road without my downshift braking ability. Was on the brakes too hard into a corner, got kicked up by a bump, lost traction in the front wheels and slid straight into a wall. I knew pretty instantly the shell was done. Dragged it back home to strip all my parts off it

That's my brother's 1972 Chevelle with a 600hp 509 big block and his buddy's 1972 MGB GT hanging out in the background.

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I knew I wasn't done with E30s, and I knew I was eventually going to swap to a nicer shell so I wasn't too torn up about it. I started shopping for a facelift shell since I always thought the plastic bumpers looked way better.

While I was searching for my next car I focused on the new motor build. Ordered a Bimmerheads head with a 274 regrind cam. My OCD kicked in and I decided I couldn't put that on my unknown mileage bottom end so apart it came. With the exception of a few bearings, everytthing looked great. Glad I have my peace of mind though. Cleaned it up, honed the cylinders, decked the block surface, and painted it. Started looking pretty.

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And finally bottom end assembly day came! My clearances checked out great all over so together it went!

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Yes, I know the eta flat top pistons with the 885 head don't really make the best combination. If I had done a little more research before I started putting it all together, I would've attempted to source some Super eta pistons. But oh well, I'm planning to turbo this engine within the year so that should offset the less than perfect horsepower figure I can expect.

[the_eskimo_wonder]

I decided the eta just wasn't cutting it power-wise, so I started brewing a 2.7 stroker idea. I picked up a complete 2.7 engine from a local shop for $100. I threw it on a stand and stripped it down to the short block. The cylinder walls looked great, with very visible crosshatching and the engine spun smoothly with clean oil so I decided I would leave the bottom end as-is and just toss an 885 head on top. Started slowly collecting all the 2.7i stroker parts I needed, mostly off a few cars during a Pick n Pull half off weekend.

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I picked up some cheapo rep wheels off Craigslist, Vogtland springs, and KYB shocks. The tires were an inch too small in diameter and stretched which is NOT a look I like. I'm from an American muscle car family and I like my tires beefy. The wheels were staggered 15x8 and 15x9. I was pleasantly surprised with the fit when I got them on considering they were originally on a Scion I think. I started really loving the car here. It was finally something that wasn't comically ugly to see driving down the street.

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I picked up a 3.73 LSD for the super low price. Got it installed but took it for a drive and felt the driveshaft getting smashed up against the floorboards and rubbing like crazy under acceleration. Decided my subframe bushings were shot and decided it was the right time to install the box of Ireland poly bushings I'd found on Craigslist the month before.

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I kinda got stalled with the car in pieces here. I ran the Oregon Gambler 500 this year with some buddies and that took up most of my time. Had a blast and would highly recommend grabbing some buddies and getting rowdy in a Gambler if you can. One of the most fun times I've had in a car. I'll have to post some pictures of this later.

I ended up in Monterey for car week and stopped by the Legends of the Autobahn show. Snapped some of my favorites from the show.

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[KIRIEIW]

I’ve totally seen your car parked on that street behind the shopping mall, small world haha.


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[the_eskimo_wonder]

It's been over a year since I entered the E30 world and I think it's probably time I start a thread.

It all started September of 2017 when my buddy and I picked up this 1985 325e for the right price of a 6 pack of beer. The previous owner affectionately named her Belinda Carlisle, though we ended up calling her Hoopty. The plan was to strip as much weight as possible and have it be a shitty autocross car.

She was beat to shit, full of rust, barely running, and just garbage in general, but we loved it. Got it running with some trial and error and plenty of junkyard parts. Was a great primer in learning how these M20s work.

Anyways, pictures! Bringing it home.

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Looking beat but up and running. We started driving it around and fell in love with it. Coming from lifted Jeeps and trucks my whole life, this was the first manual, RWD car I'd ever driven. I was hooked pretty quickly.

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I became a regular on here and my aspirations got too large. I bought my buddy out of his half of the car so I could take the reigns. Did the brakes on all 4 corners and started driving it around a lot, even taking it to work here and there. Got a new hood and some grille pieces on it and spent some time polishing the paint up. Started to actually look decent if you squinted hard enough that you couldn't see the rust spots.

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Picked up another E30 for the low price of $0, an 84 318 this time. It was left at a shop with a blown head gasket in 1997. It sat in the same spot untouched until I showed up and dragged it home. I sweat all the way home at 40 mph with those dry rotted tires.

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Swapped a fender and all 4 doors over from the donor car, upping me from 1 working power window to 3. Also stole the black door cards and rear seat (which is in absolutely incredible shape, like it's been in a time capsule). Swapped in some cheap bucket seats off Craigslist to replace the trashed tan comfort seats and a secondhand Grip Royal steering wheel. It was a night and day difference and I loved having an interior that was decent.

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