My Hoopte30 Project Attempt #6 - the painless way to earn cash back every day

[2mAn]

Keeping the hood the way it is will keep you humble and keep it hoopty.

My name is 2mAn and I approve of this decision

[Simple_Smith]

That'll be interesting seeing the faux patina blend. I had a cirrus sedan with a really cool patina; some cars just wear it well.

With hoopty only needing to be at 80% you're able to really refine things you like vs. being budget constrained buying new everything or 9.5/10 condition stuff and realizing you don't like it or want to modify something expensive and prestine so you just don't and choose to live with it. Not that this allows you to be careless with things but there's less pressure to be at 110% with everything.

I'm still collecting parts and the M20 rebuild is pretty low on the list right now with a kid coming in January I doubt the wifey would be stoked to see a shiny new engine show up in the garage. The e90 needs some maintenance caught up and the M20 in the e30 is relatively healthy right now. Or at least I refuse to do a compression test because I don't need anything making me want to move it up the to-do list.

[AWDBOB]

I'm excited to see Hoopty with some fresh paint! That smashed black quarter was looking pretty rough. Sticking with a factory color respray or keeping us in the dark?

The patina look I'm all for, but once it transitioned from that to a farm and implement painted smashed quarter it started to bug me a LOT.

I wish I had the budget for a full respray- he's doing the quarter in factory lachs, redoing the black chip guard around the car, shadowline trim, and painting the front bumper, which will hopefully bring it up to a more cohesive base that I can build on later! He's done a few patina blend jobs for Jake in the past that looked good so we'll see how it turns out.

it certainly seems like your "hoopty" build is a better standard to aspire to than a lot of stuff running around nowadays

I was just thinking about this the other day as I reflected on Linda. I've spent more time now dialing in this car than I got to do with Linda re: certain bushings, USMs, motor combos, exhaust, stereo, interior, etc. Initially, I never thought that would be the case but I'm here for it.

Do you think you'll have your freshie M20 done for vintage '26?

[Simple_Smith]

I'm excited to see Hoopty with some fresh paint! That smashed black quarter was looking pretty rough. Sticking with a factory color respray or keeping us in the dark?

it certainly seems like your "hoopty" build is a better standard to aspire to than a lot of stuff running around nowadays

[AWDBOB]

TLDR:

1) hoopty might be one color soon, m3 has shiny rollers that'll eventually end up on hoopty with 5 lug conversion

2) I need E30 M3 ackerman arms if you have a set you'd like to sell

---

Hoopty v3 is loosely in motion. Linda (my old red/tan '90 iS with a 3.1L m20) was my dream car. I spent the last few years dabbling in hoopties to figure out what I really wanted out of the car hobby and feel like I've learned a lifetime of valuable lessons, which I am thankful for.

With that said, another red late coupe has always been on my radar as my end goal. My hope originally was to sell the M3 while values were high. Now that the M3 market has tanked, selling it is no longer on the table. I do not have space/capacity for 3 hobby cars, so red coupe dreams are out.

OG hoopty is a sorted car, but when I sanded down the quarter to stop the rust it went from cool patina to full on shitbox. I've put off dealing with it, hoping that said red late coupe dreams would fix that problem, but with the reality of long term M3 ownership and the opening back of some hobby free time, I've decided to make OG hoopty a little nicer.

I'm bringing the car up to Jake's paint guy on Monday to do the quarter, paint a nicer front bumper, redo the chip guard on the rockers/valence, shadowline exterior trim, and a few other small things, which I am very excited about. Will still be a shitbox, but finished in mostly the same color.

M3 work is slowly starting, so I needed rollers for it while I send its stock wheels off for refinishing.

My favorite wheels for whatever reason (thankfully I have cheap taste in this instance) are E38 style 5s. I sold a mint set to a buddy and knew he never used them, so I took advantage of that and black friday tire sale.

I have everything to do z4/e46 rear 5 lug on hoopty, so once M3 wheels are refinished I'll begin the 5 lug process on hoopty which will be the final home for the e38 wheels. I need E30M front ackerman arms to complete the front 5 lug setup.

That's all for now, folks.

Untitled by bimmertown, on Flickr

[AWDBOB]

Picked up the last car from the cinci haul that I was storing in OH today.

It's rust free, but has no title. Paint is decent, but has no hood. So close to being savable. It'll get mostly parted out and sold as a racecar chassis.

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[AWDBOB]

First car processed and yoinked at the new spot! Gave the fresh concrete a proper fluid break in.

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[AWDBOB]

4dr hoopty is gone! My good buddy mr Vic bought it to keep miles off of his GR Corolla.

What a good hoopty.

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[AWDBOB]

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[AWDBOB]

I got OG hoopty reassembled but can't figure out my wiper issue for the life of me, which is the main thing keeping me from taking it on trips again. Last time I got caught in heavy rain I had to pull over for 2hrs until it quit. RainX/Ceramic Coat works in light rain, but not heavy rain.

The wiper motor randomly loses power at the wiper motor and will occasionally return if I remove/reinstall the wiper relay with the key on/wiper switch on. However, the last time they quit working they never came back until I replaced the wiper motor. However, after doing so, the intermittent issue is still present.

I continuity checked and ohmed out the chassis harness, wiper motor plug, wiper switch connector, and ground, and then compared that to readings from a car with a known working assembly. I've also replaced the wiper motor, switch, relay, and pump/pigtail with known working pieces.

Super frustrating, as this issue came with the car and nothing I've done has gotten me any closer to finding the solution.

New windshield/dash/etc all back together:

Untitled by bimmertown, on Flickr

[AWDBOB]

Yes!... K.I.S.S.

BTW can you get another one of those MarkD chips burned? I dont even know if he is still around haha

The difficulty is twofold..... achieving said simplicity and then practicing enough restraint to keep that slate clean.... I'm not so good at the second half

Mark is still around! He probably has an e/i 2.7 chip he could burn ya. The tune I have is for a higher compression i piston/885 2.7 with a cam so likely would not work well with your setup. Squiddy used to have an e/i 2.7 chip but he's been MIA as of late.

Mark's website:

https://dsylva-tech.ca/shop/

[2mAn]

All of this has been me working towards simplicity, so getting to focus on the OG hoopty again is a good marker of that progress.

Yes!... K.I.S.S.

BTW can you get another one of those MarkD chips burned? I dont even know if he is still around haha

[AWDBOB]

Momentum is building again on OG hooptie as I'd like to take the car on a trip to Hot Springs before winter and send it up to Jake's in MI to get the quarter fixed.

Recap:

I installed a fresh 2.7L M20 with shaved deck, e crank/rods and late model i pistons, IE 272 cam, BBTB. Got a custom 2.7L chip from MarkD. Had fancy header made. Redid stereo with a 4ch headunit amp, new premium sound speakers and my brother's tweeters. New A/C belt and a curved blade pusher fan wired on high. Really haven't driven the car after this outside of to/from the fab shop and one outing with some friends.

I then removed the windshield to install new glass, revealing bad cowl rust caused by a torn windshield seal.

Removed dash for welding access, along with wiper linkage and upper HVAC box. Broke upper HVAC box removing wiper linkage because I was in a rush and didn't pull the motor from the linkage first.

Current to do list:

-Wipers were always intermittent, test used linkage, diagnose wiring issue and install
-Repair upper HVAC box, reassemble
-Find good used windshield seal (done)
-Install dash, then windshield
-Install new Volvo 19lb injectors
-Add muffler behind catalyst
-Add second amp for E30Dreamin rear door card sub.
-Diagnose why I'm not getting 12v at the a/c compressor.
-Finalize hitch so I can remove roof racks.

That should bring the car up to a level where I can enjoy it for a while. With everything that happened with moving shops/life, it's been mostly dormant since Fall of '23. Crazy to think how much time has passed.

Since then I redid texas holdem (the sad white 89 325iS), gave a roundie Tii a second life, brought back an auto vert that should've been scrapped, saved a multi colored hoopty early 325e 4dr because it wasn't rusty, parted 10+ cars, built the pole barn, moved shops, and saved the most recent 87 325i 4dr.

All of this has been me working towards simplicity, so getting to focus on the OG hoopty again is a good marker of that progress.

Flickr is down, will add pics later.

[AWDBOB]

The cylinder in my decade old HF 3 ton developed a slow leak so I figured it was time for an upgrade.

I initially bought the low pro long reach Daytona HF jack that everyone seems to like only to find out that the body height is almost 7" (with the highest point being the zerk fitting) and it didn't fit under hoopty for a front subframe lift, despite the nose being low profile.

My old HF jack fits fine with a body height of 5 3/4".

I ended up with this Arcan A20016 2 ton, which was only 1/8" taller than the HF with a much longer reach.

Figured I'd share here in the event anyone else is jack shopping and wants to be able to lift a lowered E30 from the front sub.

Untitled by bimmertown, on Flickr

[AWDBOB]

Wow! This all sounds chaotic, but super exciting. It pays to have some good connections to get you these kinds of deals. My family is in the auction/clean-out business, so I'm always about finding a deal and jumping on it quickly. Also, you have to deal with disposing of some of the crap to get access to the good stuff. Looks like you did the same here.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with the two cars you saved. Another project thread coming soon with that clean car you're storing at your buddy's?!

I thought my fly and drive, was an adventure. But after seeing this, I need to get out there and get into some more stuff like this lol.

It was super stressful at first, but after offing two of the cars and getting approval to part two on site it turned out to be a very fun adventure! If you get it right you can really lock in and catch a flow state when you're working under a tight timeframe with other very capable people and it's one of my favorite parts about the chaos.

And yes you hit the nail on the head re: removing the junk to get the good stuff. Spending a 12hr day breaking 20 years of rust loose to remove the cars from the site only to then scrap half of them to get to the good stuff is the gritty side that is hard to portray until you're the one doing it.

A fly and drive is certainly an adventure because you're handing any control you have over to the car you asked 100 questions about to someone that knows it well but is also likely used to its quirks that you have to learn on the drive home.

In a perfect world, the 87 325i sedan that I fixed up most recently in this thread would get reshelled into the clean early sedan shell from the buy. But that is a pipe dream at best. I need to get my main whip back in action!

I'd say the chaos paid off! lol

I'm assuming you made a profit?!

It definitely did! Things like this are rarely immediately profitable- typically takes a few months (sometimes years depending on how many shitboxes you buy) to get into the green on a buyout.

Since I'm only one person the conversion from a gross parts car to pulled parts clean shiny tested listed shipped sold money in the bank parts is a lot longer/more work than I assume most people expect.

Doesn’t want anymore cars……buys 6 more

TO BE FAIR I have been looking to buy another parts car now that I'm all moved out of the old shop.....but had to get rid of 4 to get the two I wanted lol.



Edit: I forgot pics from today.

I was the last one there and was pulling parts off of the 318 and wrecked 325 until I couldn't fit anything else into the Xterra.

Titanic rust 318 ready for scrap. Actually had a lot of really nice stuff on it. The rust was caused by flood damage, so everything above the Lichen was solid.

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318 lookin like johnny bravo

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uber wrecked 325 mid part out. This car got rear ended at 70mph and the driver walked away. It had some really nice parts on it as it was wrecked before winter driving turned it into dust.

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Upper heater box was perfect so I did a cowl delete for easy access

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Forgot my drill.... sawzall saved the day. No man left behind

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Before I took off for the last time

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