Long Time Dream Fulfillment: E30 Street and Track Car Combo

[amcp]

I run an S52 with all M20/G260 parts. The only thing you'll need is a trans brace that accounts for the 15 degree angle of the trans. Can find them anywhere on the web. G260 has been just fine with no issues on road or track.

[CubbyChowder]

Digitalwave Thanks man! I've been itching for another track day so bad, hoping I can get back out there later this year once I'm done with my M50 swap, maybe by August or September.



Speaking of M50 swap, the process has begun! I dropped the M20 out yesterday. It served me well for the past year:




Here's the M50B25 I bought from a friend of mine for $150. Supposedly has 99k miles on it according to the salvage yard he bought it from so I am definitely taking that with a grain of salt:



Started pulling things apart to replace some gaskets and seals and do the E34 pan swap:



For simplicity sake, everything from the flywheel back will stay the same. Running the M20 single mass flywheel (still need to figure out what exactly is needed to make it fit, if anyone has any insight), M20 starter and clutch kit, Getrag G260, E30 manual driveshaft and 3.73 LSD. I'd love to go ZF but that would require sourcing a lot of other different parts so I just want to use what I already have and get it back on the road. My end goal with this car is S50B30 so maybe I'll do the ZF then. Either way, stoked to go 24v!

[Digitalwave]

Love your car, keep up the good work. Still love seeing new enthusiasts tracking E30's.

Also a big fan of the your diving board bumper dress up... such a great idea.

[CubbyChowder]

Got a roll of film developed, I pretty much only take pictures of my E30 haha:

[CubbyChowder]

Thank you guys, stoked that people are liking it. Really excited to keep pursuing this

[Reichart12]

Been seeing all the posts on IG, but this really is a sweet product you put together.

[Mouse]

I've already said this one, but this is genius.

I love it.

And if I had a diving board car, I'd get this.

+1000 This is a true game changer. Can't believe this was never done before. Well done Sir!

[DEV0 E30]

I've already said this one, but this is genius.

I love it.

And if I had a diving board car, I'd get this.

[CubbyChowder]

This is an idea that has been floating around in my head for years and I am excited to finally offer a new product to the community, this one is for my fellow early model E30 owners out there!

It's a rear diving board bumper facelift kit and I call it "The High Dive". It utilizes custom brackets to relocate the factory diving board bumper as high and tight to the body as possible and is finished off with custom sheet metal trim panels to eliminate the original rubber trim entirely, resulting in a slim and refined bumper setup. Designed and produced in my shop in San Luis Obispo, CA. I built all the necessary tooling and fixtures to manufacture these kits in house, and I am ready for production. For now, kits will be built to order so please allow 1-2 weeks to produce and ship.

Installation is simple and straight forward. Reuses the original bumper mounting hardware and 3 self-tapping screws per side. Kits are shipped in a raw steel finish and will need to be painted or powder coated before use.

I've been an E30 enthusiast for a decade now, having owned several examples and spending countless hours working on them, I've gotten to know these cars pretty well. I've always had a soft spot for early model E30's, the slim tail lights and taller rear fender arches really do it for me. Like many others out there, I feel the diving board bumpers are a big downfall for the styling of the car, especially in the rear. Options to address this are limited, often being rare, expensive and/or labor intensive (Euro bumpers or plastic bumper conversion). I set out to create a simple alternative utilizing the parts that are already on the car, and The High Dive was born.

As of right now, fitment is confirmed for 1984-1987 coupe's and sedan's. Early model Convertibles and 1988 year models are not yet confirmed as there are some minor differences but I'm hopeful. Will confirm in time.

Kits are $249. As a promotion, I am offering Free Shipping in the US for orders placed in the next 24 hours!

To place an order, visit my site www.gaumannco.com

I also accept Venmo and Paypal if you prefer to purchase that way. Just message me and I'll get you squared away.
Instagram: @gaumann_co


























Plus a few Before and After's!

[CubbyChowder]

Kicked off 2022 with a bucket list item - track day at Laguna Seca raceway in the E30. Held on January 2nd, 2022 with Turn8 Racing. It was a perfect day. Great weather/conditions, tons of seat time and super affordable (got early bird pricing of $165 for the day, great value). Had my dad, my sister and my girlfriend out there with me and we had an awesome time. Got to take all three of them out for a few laps at the end of the day which was super fun too.

This track was really hard on the car. Having stock M20 power, I was struggling in the uphill straights and spent a lot of time in the top of 3rd gear screaming at over 6k rpms. More power would be nice, but I still thoroughly enjoyed my time out there and am yet again so proud of the car for holding up to the abuse.

Ran a 1:53.21 to set a baseline PB for this track and hope to revisit sometime this year. Here is a video of the day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy52pK5l1Ns

Hitting the iconic Corkscrew:



Me and my girlfriend Nicole about to head out for the open session. She loved it, as you can hear in the video above she couldn't stop giggling through the Corkscrew:

[CubbyChowder]

Absolutely love your build , it’s winter up here in Canada and have to wait to get started on my own build . What are you using to clean all your parts?

Thanks man! I usually just use a purple degreaser concentrate from Home Depot (I think it's called Zep?) and various brushes/scrubbers and a cheap Harbor Freight pressure washer.

[Mkcustoms88]

Absolutely love your build , it’s winter up here in Canada and have to wait to get started on my own build . What are you using to clean all your parts?

[CubbyChowder]

Track day Uncategorized Groups under my belt! Buttonwillow on December 18th, it was a fantastic day. Definitely a bit cold, around 40 in the early sessions and up to 48 towards the end of the day. Kind of a nice change of pace though as all my previous track days out there exceeded 100 degrees every time.

CW13 configuration, was hoping to break into 2:10's with a previous PB of 2:11.92 - managed a 2:09.31 which I was stoked about. Here are my two fast laps of the day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLccXXBZVJI

The main difference was a fresh set of 225/45R15 Hankook Ventus RS4's on some 15x8 TRM C1's:






Had a solid day out there, with about 2 hours of track time total. On the bonus session I got to bring my dad out as a passenger and we had a blast. That was my first time taking him out on track and he was thoroughly enjoying it.

I know I say this pretty much every time, but I am so happy with how this car has been performing and holding up.

I scored a $165 track day at Laguna Seca on January 2nd, so that will be a killer way to kick off the new year. I am really excited about that.

Also, I picked up a new project:

[QuiqueUy]

loved the whole thread and loved the wheels and where you going !

as far as the 24v swap , from what i have read everywhere i would go m54 or m52 with vanos and m50 manifold , s52 cams etc.

after i had some issues with a "fault" on my vanos and having noticed how the car feels with or without vanos , i highly recommend to have it .. but if you starting with that m50 block , maybe your best bet is to make an m50b30 with the m54 intake cam.
i Wouldn't stay with the m50b25 by any means.

keep the updates coming! big fan

[808ETA]

Love the new wheels!