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My First Project: an '86 Arktisblau Metallic 325e

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    #31
    Originally posted by 2mAn View Post
    Real or not, they look great. 15" is a good size though tire selection kinda sucks.

    Cars coming along really nicely now. Whats next ? Euro bumpers right? RIGHT!!??? lol
    Thanks man! Funny enough I was actually looking into euro bumpers and body kits yesterday. I don't think I can afford them any time soon, but if a cheap set of euros pop up I plan to jump on them. I really would like to go mtech1 eventually, but with the way kits are now I'd probably have to buy a replica set. Not sure what route I'll go, lots of great options!

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      #32
      I did the brakes yesterday, it was a school night though so I was in quite a rush and forgot to take photos besides one of the rear. I ended up going with Zimmerman rotors, Jurid pads, and Febi shoes.

      According to e30zone.net you can use 6cyl z3 shoes in an e30, as long as you also use the z3 hardware involved in the parking brake mechanism besides the expander. I don't know why 6cyl was specified though, since both the 4cyl models and 6cyl models have the same part number for brake shoes from what I can see.

      I ended up trying this. This was initially because it saved me about $20 over buying the e30 stuff (grabbed z3 hardware from a junkyard), but I found out that the z3 springs are SO much easier to install, which gives an even better reason to do the conversion. Cannot recommend switching enough now.

      My brakes feel great and the parking brake especially. It's holding the wheels at only 5 clicks as it should be now.



      The next thing I'd like to do is swap out the sealed beams. Smileys would be preferable, but the Hella H4/H1 conversion is much more within my price range. If anybody could chip in as to how this conversion performs for them I'd greatly appreciate it. I've seen photos, but would much rather hear from people.

      In addition to working on the e30, I've now been tearing down a 2007 2.3l Ford Ranger that my dad has had sitting in the backyard since 2019. He told me that if I can get it running again, I can keep it. This would be great since I'll be going to college in less than a year, which means I could take the ranger with me and keep the e30 as a true California car. Not sure if I should make a thread on this or not, I'm leaning towards the idea that I should since there's a bunch of truck threads on here already.
      Last edited by rudy; 11-05-2021, 11:22 AM.

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        #33
        H4/H1 is a good upgrade from the sealed beams as you can add better H4 bulbs, and also relay the system for full strength. Plus zero wiring changes

        We definitely need another Ranger truck thread as MrBurgundy could use a poke every now and then to update his
        Simon
        Current Cars:
        -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

        Make R3V Great Again -2020

        Comment


          #34
          Originally posted by 2mAn View Post
          H4/H1 is a good upgrade from the sealed beams as you can add better H4 bulbs, and also relay the system for full strength. Plus zero wiring changes

          We definitely need another Ranger truck thread as MrBurgundy could use a poke every now and then to update his
          Looks like I'll be doing the conversion soon then! Ranger thread soon as well!

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            #35
            Today marks my one year of ownership now! However, an opportunity in the form of a very cheap e36 presented itself to me a few weeks ago.

            Months ago, a friend from robotics had told me how his grandma had two manual e24s sitting. I would keep bugging him to send me pictures as a joke, but eventually he asked if I wanted to buy one for cheap because his dad wanted it off of their property. I said of course I would! A few days later he showed me a picture of an e30 and said that was the car his grandma actually had. Then on the day I was supposed to come see the car, he texted that it was a 1994 325is. I was bummed, but he confirmed that it was a manual and for the price I thought it'd still be a good deal.

            I got there and saw that rats had gotten to the car baddd. There was a nest in the area with the battery posts in the bay, plus residue all over the beauty covers. It seemed like nothing electrical was harmed though. The interior and the trunk were both full of rat droppings too.





            ​​​​​​​

            What's redeeming about the car though is the fact that it ran before it was parked for 6 years. It got parked because the selector rod disconnected from the transmission side. Since my buddy and his dad are stand up guys, I trust that this is true. It also apparently has a pretty new catalytic converter in it. I'm not sure if these things still go bad over time without use, but I guess I'll find out.

            Now for more background about the car. It was bought by my friend's grandma using the European Delivery Program. She drove it for a while, then her daughter drove it, and finally a friend of the family bought it for his daughter. She drove it for a few years as a college car, but the selector rod disconnected and it got parked. It was also having trouble passing smog at this time, hence the new cat. My friend's mom then bought the car back and it's been sitting on their property for the last 6 years.

            While learning about this e36, I found out that the second e24 my friend talked about is also actually an e36, a 1997 328is. She bought that one the same way but kept it in much better condition. It is currently garaged and only has 7x,xxx miles. Unfortunately though, his grandma passed away recently and they're looking to sell that one which was still in his grandma's name.

            Since I don't have a truck (yet), I asked my buddy Roger to help me haul it out of there. I had already came with my e30 before we went to haul it out and the roads in that neighborhood are STEEP. The seller's house is on a private road that I literally had to drive in first gear to get up when I was in the e30. Roger was fine with this, so we went and picked up a tow dolly from U-Haul then headed over. Everything from that point on went fine. I disinfected and removed the rat droppings, then we took it to a drive in car wash to pressure wash the engine bay and exterior. It then ended up in my driveway!









            The plan is to use this car as a donor for an m50 swap. I'm going to keep everything I can use, then part out the rest to make back as much money back as I can. I was intending to sell the shell to LKQ after picking at it, but if anybody near San Diego wants the shell for a track build then feel free to contact me and you can have it for a decent price. I only say track build because I believe it never got put on non-op. I've still yet to confirm this, but it's likely it has a bunch of back fees and is only good for use as a track car.

            I want to rebuild the m50 completely since I want to have the experience of rebuilding an engine, plus I want to ensure its reliability. I sort of want to build an m50b30 using the m50b25nv intake cam, m54b30 intake cam, and m54b30 rotating assembly, but I'm undecided on this. From dyno graphs and other threads, it doesn't seem to be worth the effort. I still think it'd be fun though. If anybody on here has built an m50 with these internals then I'd love to hear about your experience with it.

            I do want to get this car BAR legal though. I don't think this is going to be much of a problem, especially if I decide to not go the stroker route. It should pass emissions fine since I'm going through the whole engine and I'm just going to use the entire e36 exhaust for the test like Kronus did in Lira's build thread.

            The swap itself will have to happen after I get the ranger running that I mentioned previously. Right now I just need to get everything I need from the e36 and get it out of my driveway, then fix the ranger, and finally begin the swap. Hopefully this all goes somewhat according to plan, thanks for reading!

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              #36
              After almost two months of time and literally only two days worth of work, the m50 is out of the e36! I had stripped everything necessary to pull engine in one day shortly after getting the car, but I barely pulled the engine yesterday since I finally got an engine hoist last week. It was a free one from somebody my Dad works with, so that's cool!

              I listed the shell this morning for $150 and got way more interest than I expected, some French guy from LA is actually coming to buy it tomorrow. I think I underpriced it, but I got the entire e36 for $500 so I'm pretty content with it. It's a much better fate than the scrapper. I look short as hell because of my oversized coveralls, but here's some photos from the engine pull:





              Finally, a photo of the now-heartless e36:



              Once this is gone, I'm actually planning on filling the space with a 1984 Prelude that I got offered for free from a guy who helps run Escondido Cars and Coffee. It starts on starting fluid, so I don't think it should be too hard to get running. I need something to drive while the e30 is getting swapped anyways, so this should be perfect since it's so fuel efficient as well. Now for the photos...









              The ranger is still in my plans to get worked on as well. I tore the engine down and found out that the crank didn't rotate because two of the cylinders are badly rusted, not because the engine lost timing like I originally thought. It now needs a full rebuild as well though now. Order of importance for me right now is the prelude, then the ranger, and finally the m50 rebuild plus the swap itself. I have a lot on my plate, but with all of my college applications submitted I have quite a bit of free time now. I'm excited for all of this and can't wait to tackle it all, thanks for reading!

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                #37
                Ahhh the good ol days when there was free time! haha
                Simon
                Current Cars:
                -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

                Make R3V Great Again -2020

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                  #38
                  Damn dude, you jumped right the fuck in! From "I dont know anything about working on cars" to, "I guess I'll do an engine swap!"
                  sigpic
                  1987 - 325i Convertible Delphin Auto [SOLD], 325i Convertible Delphin Manual [SOLD]
                  1989 - 325i Convertible Bronzit m30b35 swapped [SCRAPPED], 325i Sedan Alpine Auto[DD]
                  1991 - 325i Coupe Laguna Manual [Project], 535i Sedan Alpine [SCRAPPED]

                  Comment


                    #39
                    Originally posted by McGyver View Post
                    Damn dude, you jumped right the fuck in! From "I dont know anything about working on cars" to, "I guess I'll do an engine swap!"
                    LOL right? Reminds me of when I was 19 and bought my e30.

                    Rudy: I'm in SD. May be interested in some of those eta bits you're probably pulling off the car for the M50 swap. Always cool to be connected to another local, as well. I'll send you a PM.

                    Edit: Oh yeah - 100% love doing the Hella H4 swap on my car back in the day. Much more affordable than any of the euro/projector options.

                    Comment


                      #40
                      Nice work - you’ve sure taken on a lot of projects! The old Preludes are screwed together pretty well, so once you get it going it should get you around reliably while you get on with the other projects.
                      My e30: OEM+ with M30B35

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                        #41
                        Maybe some day I will see it in person. Keep with the projects.
                        Projects Hartge,Alpina & AC Schnitzer Builds.http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=280601
                        http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=227993
                        http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=289362

                        DSC04926 by Raul Salinas, on FlickrDSC03413 by Raul Salinas, on Flickr

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                          #42
                          Originally posted by 2mAn View Post
                          Ahhh the good ol days when there was free time! haha
                          Unfortunately I'm one of the few active high schoolers on here, if not the only one. May you all envy me and my lack of responsibilities lol.

                          I also have that welding course you showed here on Saturday. Perhaps I can use what I learn to weld in the reinforcements I'm adding during the swap. Maybe even a removable core support!

                          Originally posted by McGyver View Post
                          Damn dude, you jumped right the fuck in! From "I dont know anything about working on cars" to, "I guess I'll do an engine swap!"
                          Yeahhh, I get rather obsessive with things I get interested in. Honestly I was going to hold off on the swap until I got offered the e36 for $500. Just couldn't pass it up and now I'm in for work. It's crazy though because most of my free time is spent on cars now, a lot has changed since I've started this thread.

                          Originally posted by atmh View Post

                          LOL right? Reminds me of when I was 19 and bought my e30.

                          Rudy: I'm in SD. May be interested in some of those eta bits you're probably pulling off the car for the M50 swap. Always cool to be connected to another local, as well. I'll send you a PM.

                          Edit: Oh yeah - 100% love doing the Hella H4 swap on my car back in the day. Much more affordable than any of the euro/projector options.
                          Thanks man! I ended up sourcing US ellipsoids off some guy in Iowa for $200, same price as the H4s. Not sure if I messed up with this decision, but I like the look of the ellipsoids and I think I'll still get much better lighting.

                          Originally posted by lukeADE335i View Post
                          Nice work - you’ve sure taken on a lot of projects! The old Preludes are screwed together pretty well, so once you get it going it should get you around reliably while you get on with the other projects.
                          I sure have, thank you!

                          Originally posted by e30m3s54turbo View Post
                          Maybe some day I will see it in person. Keep with the projects.
                          I hope you will too and thank you for the encouragement! The prelude I'm picking up on Thursday is actually in Fallbrook, so maybe you'll see it on the flatbed LOL.

                          Comment


                            #43
                            Originally posted by rudy View Post

                            Unfortunately I'm one of the few active high schoolers on here, if not the only one. May you all envy me and my lack of responsibilities lol.

                            I also have that welding course you showed here on Saturday. Perhaps I can use what I learn to weld in the reinforcements I'm adding during the swap. Maybe even a removable core support!

                            Haha definitely jealous of that!

                            Tell Jake I said hi and let him know I’ve started cutting the rust out of my Alfa Giulia that was there a month ago. That’s a great class, just have to use the skills sooner than later otherwise you’ll forget some of it
                            Simon
                            Current Cars:
                            -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

                            Make R3V Great Again -2020

                            Comment


                              #44
                              The e36 is now gone after being listed for only a day. I had over thirty people message me trying to buy the shell; I think I really underpriced it lol. I'm still happy with the engine, tranny, driveshaft, exhaust, and harness for $350 though. It's going to a French guy in LA who owns a shop called BloodMotorsport. He strips shells down and converts them into drift chassis. Very happy with the fate of this car. Here's a link to an e30 he did:

                              https://www.instagram.com/p/B9oGMfFoXuE/


                              Saying Goodbye to the e36



                              I also forgot to mention that I got a cluster from a new e30 buddy I met named Henry. I just went over to his place to go check out his e30s and ended up asking if I could buy the cluster, but he just gave it to me. He has three e30s, an e28, and his dad has an e30 as well. A bunch of rare parts too, his s52 swapped e30 has a bunch of cool Hartge bits.

                              This fixed my lack of a speedometer, but it also showed me some differences between the early early and late early clusters though, as in only clusters with the coding plug on the back. Going to just say early and late now for clarity.

                              -Blinkers: yellow and smaller arrows on early, green and larger arrows on late
                              -Fog Light: fog light in yellow and rest in green on early, all green on late
                              -Oil Service and Inspection Text: White on early, just a cutout on late
                              -Speedometer: Small board on early, not present on late
                              -Check Light: Hazard triangle on early, "CHECK" on late

                              Surgery Time


                              Blown Resistor on Speedometer




                              New Odometer Gears and Differences in Speedometers (Late on left, early on right)


                              Fully Working Cluster!


                              Henry's s52 Swapped e30 and my 325e


                              Immediately after the e36 got picked up, I began calling towing companies about the prelude. It's in a pretty hard spot so I just decided to have somebody else tow it instead of Roger. I ended up finding a place offering a decent price, so it's set to be picked up on Thursday. Gonna be able to start working on that by this weekend! Hopefully I can get through the prelude fast so I can get to the ranger and finally focus on the m50 rebuild. Very excited for everything.
                              Last edited by rudy; 01-18-2022, 10:31 PM.

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                                #45
                                Hell yeah i really enjoyed reading this.

                                looks like you jumped right in and making great contributions to the forum!

                                good luck

                                I drove my e30 from California to London!

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