Long Time Dream Fulfillment: E30 Street and Track Car Combo

[nando]

Nice build. I've wanted to repair my sport seats for ages - they're not that bad, but the bolster is still a little sad and the leather has been shit as long as I've owned the car.

[CubbyChowder]

Northern - yeah with them being made from insanely thin sheet metal, stuff just tears easily over time. My last set of sport seats also had the bolster section torn. I think people naturally just sit straight on the bolster as they enter/exit the car which would make sense why it eventually tears.

nando - if your knee bolster is sagging I would guess that your frame is ripped in the same way mine was. It's actually a pretty easy repair once you have it all apart, it's the disassembly that is time consuming. Sounds like you have a reupholstery and frame repair project in your future

[nando]

yeah, I'm pretty sure that bar is cracked in the same position. it's been like that for years, lol.

[jeenyus]

i like how you simplified the brake booster vacuum hose. that area is unsightly with how complicated it is. The funny thing is that my RPM will rise if i pump the brakes and it's so annoying. I have standalone so i can check to see if my MAP is changing with the pumping of the brakes, but nope, it's not. just the RPM.

That being said, i don't completely understand the purpose of the massive amount of hoses and check valves and I have no idea why there is even one leading off the intake elbow. Do you have more information on this? Why are is this setup the way it is? more pictures of your setup so i can possibly emulate it?

[nando]

It's to keep the vacuum inside the booster. Presumably in 1987 or whenever this was designed, they couldn't integrate the check valve in that elbow fitting, or they hadn't thought of it yet.

[jeenyus]

It's to keep the vacuum inside the booster. Presumably in 1987 or whenever this was designed, they couldn't integrate the check valve in that elbow fitting, or they hadn't thought of it yet.

to keep the vacuum in the booster? That is an extremely elaborate way to accomplish this, especially on the IX setup. I have an elbow, to a two way double check valve, to an "air pump" (described on realoem) Y lookin' thing that also connects to the intake boot, to two hoses that go individually into the throttle body. All of that to hold vacuum in the booster, dafuq?

I can basically eliminate all that fluff with a single elbow check valve for $12? Did you simplify this area on your IX Nando?

[CubbyChowder]

haha wow that sounds like a nightmare. Yeah honestly I couldn't tell you the reasoning behind why they designed things the way that they did, I just know that it is possible to simplify it so that's what I did. Here's what that setup looks like currently, I dig it:



Today I had the sudden motivation to address my pop out window situation. They had some horrible dark purple tint on them:



Also the seals were absolutely obliterated. I think this car sat for years in the hot sun with the pop outs open or something because this is what the seals looked like:






It seems someone even squirted some white exterior window caulking in there as well as some other sealants/adhesives. It was a mess. So I got some new seals on order a few weeks ago and they showed up recently:



A little before and after of the tint removal:




Then I pressed in the new seals which was definitely a pain in the ass. Initially they seemed like they were too long but I learned that they need some serious finessing to set in. I understand that it is to account for future shrinkage factor (zing) but I'm not totally jazzed on the fitment as there is some subtle waviness to them now (which might not show in pictures) because of the overcompensated length of the seal so it looks slightly shitty in my opinion, but I digress. They are done:




And with that I have two beautiful, freshly resealed un-tinted pop outs. These windows are rad, can't wait to pop them open when I'm cruising around town:





Then my coilovers showed up! It was exciting. I've had about 7 or 8 anticipated coilover delivery moments in my life thus far and the sensation doesn't fade, there's just something about it. But that actually goes for most car related package deliveries really:




So next week should provide some massive progress on this car with the majority of parts being in my possession now. That's it for tonight.

[nando]

to keep the vacuum in the booster? That is an extremely elaborate way to accomplish this, especially on the IX setup. I have an elbow, to a two way double check valve, to an "air pump" (described on realoem) Y lookin' thing that also connects to the intake boot, to two hoses that go individually into the throttle body. All of that to hold vacuum in the booster, dafuq?

I can basically eliminate all that fluff with a single elbow check valve for $12? Did you simplify this area on your IX Nando?

The stock configuration works fine, I don't have any reason to mess with it. I guess if you were missing parts or building from scratch (as in this case), it could be worth the effort, but otherwise - meh.

[AWDBOB]

This build is motivation as I finish up my hoopty! Coilover delivery day is a great day. I've always ran the race plates because that is what I had on hand- I've always wanted to try the Sports that you have there.

[moatilliatta]

Hmm, wonder why the Koni's are Red. Did they switch from Yellow?

[CubbyChowder]

AWDBOB - Since the car will see plenty of normal street driving I opted for the street plates. I'll have nothing to compare them too but I'll let you know how they feel!

moatilliatta - the guy at GC said the red Konis are shorter and specially valved by GC for the E30. They provide a spacer so that you can run them in the stock strut housing length but they are meant to be run with a 1" shortened strut housing, which I will be doing. They are single adjustable and apparently better suited to the E30 than the yellows. That's my understanding at least. You can still get Koni Yellows through GC with their standard coilover conversion set.

[jeenyus]

I have yellows on my GC kit and it's been completely fine, but I have no reference to know the difference. They are smoother than my old Bilstein.

[jeenyus]

The stock configuration works fine, I don't have any reason to mess with it. I guess if you were missing parts or building from scratch (as in this case), it could be worth the effort, but otherwise - meh.

Simplicity is best. I'm surprised you haven't had to even mess with it.

[CubbyChowder]

Tires arrived today! I wanted to try out the new Falken Azenis RT660 in a 195/60r14 on the stock 14" basketweaves (which I pulled from the vert parts car). I've heard great things about these tires, and they are only $110/ea




I'll clean the wheels up better at a later time but I'm really excited to try them out. Had to do a quick mockup with the car too. I've really grown to love the stock 14" weaves, but 15" Euroweaves are the eventual end goal for this car:

[CubbyChowder]

New expansion tank showed up and really highlights just how heinous the original one is:



Started cutting up my front strut housings to shorten them 1":



Got them all welded up and then prepped/painted them:



Assembled and ready to go in the car. Beautiful specimens, indeed:



Got the offset CAB's pressed into the lollipops and drilled/tapped threads into the ends to install a bolt, to prevent the bushings from spinning in the lollipop:



Installed the strut housings, control arms, tie rods, brake rotors, calipers and brake lines. Nice to see it all together!



Washed the wheels finally, they actually cleaned up pretty damn nice:



With the front suspension all back together, I wanted to test fit the wheels and just see how it looks. I love it:



I'm really happy with how all the front end components came together and it's feeling more and more like a complete car every day. I can't wait to drive this thing