NOR-CAL General Chat.

[Pantless Spency]

Gave the e30 a wash today, then I drove the piss out of it. Leaking but not terribly. Still fun to drive haha.

[Pantless Spency]

[Steven]

Got my lukebox!!!!

[salvuhdor]

I want to go to a car meet before school starts up!

[kronus]

pick n pull has them for like 60 bucks dude

pick n pull has dented, rusty, scratched-up hoods. I need something that it's worthwhile to put paint on.

[mbonanni]

All this suspension talk, I don't understand.

I <3 my shortened and revalved bilsteins and gc though. Only thing I could use is camber plates at this point. I'm at 550/700 and its not too stiff as everyone said it would be. Actually any softer snd I would be extremely sad.

[MR 325]

anyone have experience with the new non-OEM e30 hoods on ebay? $200 shipped sounds pretty good for a brand spankin' new piece.

Don't get a China hood! Look for a clean OEM used hood. I paid $100 for the one I put on my car when it got painted but it was totally worth it.

Except for the fact I need an alignment BAD, I have a decent-to-huge amount of bump-steer, and my auto-return on my steering isn't returning my steering wheel to center after a turn (If I turn to full lock going 2mph, it stays stuck in full lock). My steering also has a flat spot taking any kind of tighter turn.

Yeah, you shouldn't be driving the car after doing a steering rack without an alignment.

[Cletonius]

All this suspension talk, I don't understand.

I <3 my shortened and revalved bilsteins and gc though. Only thing I could use is camber plates at this point. I'm at 550/700 and its not too stiff as everyone said it would be. Actually any softer snd I would be extremely sad.

What bushings are you on? I have 440/650 with konis and I don't think I could go any firmer and still daily.

[Pantless Spency]

Spency is ti ti

[Pantless Spency]

Spency is getting coffee :) today got better.

[Wh33lhop]

I honestly don't see how the GC "coilovers" are any better than a set of H&R race springs and good dampers. The only thing it has going for it is the ability to easily change spring rates. From what I can tell, its still too short of a setup to get the roll center correct. The springs can be preloaded to the moon, but its not going to lift the car at all. The only difference between those and a set of normal struts is the size of the spring and that fact that they have adjustable spring preload. Heck, the dampers themselves are the same. I can't see wasting the $ for a set of coilovers unless I was going big with a set of Ohlins or Penske's that are double adjustable, with slow and high speed damping adjustments, and the ability to raise and lower the car to the correct suspension geometry height along with remote reservoirs. Yeah, a good way to blow $10k.

...what... what are you even saying here

The only real theoretical advantage of coilovers over a shock/spring setup is the conversion to linear universal race springs and adjustable ride height. That sounds exactly like what you want:

1. customizable spring rate since h&r race is too soft (and they ARE too soft)
2. Manually set ride height independent of spring rate

Coilover kits also tend to come with camber plates and custom application dampers, which is where the bulk of the cost (and a lot of the benefit) is. If you want to forgo these you can get a simple coilover conversion kit which will provide some decent linear race springs, threaded sleeves/collars and spring hats for ~$400.

You seem to be under the impression that adjusting preload will not let you raise the car up from ludicrous height. It absolutely will; it is the short-stroke dampers that come with most of these kits that put constraints on ride height. Get a coilover conversion kit with higher rates and long-stroke dampers and you will be fine.

Also, GC Konis are not off-the-shelf E30 Konis. They are custom valved and shortened, and the strut tubes they provide are shortened to match.

[Cabriolet]

anyways finally met luke last night.
he's about exactly as i expected.
we like different head units and i hate 5ch amps and he skooled me on e36 m3 rear suspension.
other than that, good times were had.

[Wh33lhop]

anyways finally met luke last night.
he's about exactly as i expected.
we like different head units and i hate 5ch amps and he skooled me on e36 m3 rear suspension.
other than that, good times were had.

Luke is good people

Good opinionated people but still good people

[mbonanni]

What bushings are you on? I have 440/650 with konis and I don't think I could go any firmer and still daily.

Im on OE rubber minus m3 cabs. The front is prettymuch all redone new CA, tie rods, sway bar bushings, etc. I didn't do the rear though, which I would love to do. I often ride me plus one or two passengers which gives the car a completely different feel then jusy muself. I actuslly think the front could be a bit stiffer personally.

[Steven]

anyways finally met luke last night.
he's about exactly as i expected.
we like different head units and i hate 5ch amps and he skooled me on e36 m3 rear suspension.
other than that, good times were had.

LOL he said you're very opinionated and he wouldn't want to fight with you.