NOR-CAL General Chat.

[Julien]

Hey y'all,

I've got 2 yards of cardinal red vinyl. Anyone want it before I toss it? Pickup only in redwood city.


Julien

[2mAn]

Hey y'all,

I've got 2 yards of cardinal red vinyl. Anyone want it before I toss it? Pickup only in redwood city.


Julien

send it to wworm, or have him come get it. he can make some boots with it

[wworm]

Hey y'all,

I've got 2 yards of cardinal red vinyl. Anyone want it before I toss it? Pickup only in redwood city.


Julien

PMed ya ass

[Cabriolet]

I'm going to San Diego tomorrow. Anyone need anything picked up?

[danix]

I'm trying to wrap up my cabriolet front end/subframe rebuild and I made good progress but I'm stumped on a few pieces.

a) where do these go?
b) I can't get the steering knuckle back onto the rack stem. Is there a trick? Bolt is out, I loosened the rack to create space.
c) I need to figure out getting the lollipops onto the control arms. Done it before, just don't remember how.

Really need to get this thing mobile as my 524td is not cooperating...

[Julien]

I'm trying to wrap up my cabriolet front end/subframe rebuild and I made good progress but I'm stumped on a few pieces.

a) where do these go?
1: covers the motor mount
2: attaches to the transmission and touches the subframe

Really need to get this thing mobile as my 524td is not cooperating...

[grid]

Does anyone know the story with this car? https://monterey.craigslist.org/cto/...698958465.html


Looking for my first e30 and live in southern california. Any insight is appreciated.

[freeride53]

Does anyone know the story with this car? https://monterey.craigslist.org/cto/...698958465.html


Looking for my first e30 and live in southern california. Any insight is appreciated.

It looks nice, paint is definitely not original and may not be a BMW color.

[McGyver]

I've got an m30b35 out of my wrecked convertible, disassembled it, and took it to my machinist to evaluate. The pistons are worn about .003" on the skirts, so they need to be replaced with at least the first oversize (.020"). Now that I need to replace the pistons, I'm completely torn on what do do.

My goal is a reliable, quick, and fun e30. I don't need it to be fast, I don't need turbo, and I don't want to have to constantly fiddle with it to make it work. I'd like to run the stock engine management and use it as a fun weekend car.

From what I've read, building an NA m30 takes $$$ and doesn't result in much power gains. What I thought would be ~$1600 for machine work to freshen up my stock m30 is going to be $4-5k once it's in the car:
-Pistons: I'd want +.020 pistons (92.5mm) so that I can get the cylinders round again. I'd rather get cast aluminum to avoid the cold rattle from forged pistons, but who makes them anymore? If I have to get forged (~$1,000), should I keep the stock 9.0:1, or bump it a bit for some slight power?
-Cam: While I'm in there, I could get a CatCams/Shrick/IE mild cam (270* or 284*) to move the power band up a bit ($400-$600), but costs are adding up.
-Exhaust: If I add a cam, I'll need something better than my cobbled together e34-->e30 exhaust

I'm just having a hard time justifying the costs for m30 performance and how hard it's getting to find parts (pistons/transmissions/etc.). Also, working on an m30 in an e30 is a PITA because there's no room in front.

Since I'm not really starting with a complete m30 engine, should I continue with the m30 or explore other options like an s5x or turbo m20? My m30 engine is out of a Euro 1986 735i, so it couldn't be smogged in my 1991 coupe. An s5x will get solid 20s mpg, can be bar'd, and will out perform an m30. I have a decent m20 sitting around that can be tossed into the car. Using my m20 gets a running car quickly that will pass smog this coming feb, then it's good for 2 years and i can turbo it (probably moving out of CA within 2 years).

*****Edit*****
Shit. Now I'm thinking that tossing my m20 in is the best idea. Either turbo the good m20 later, or rebuild the busted m20 for 5-10 psi of boost. Any build right now is going to stretch me financially. At least buying turbo parts can be spread out over months.

[mtech325]

I don't think you can go wrong with a 24v swap or a built m20. Reasonably it's going to be 5k by the time you do a 24v swap and refresh everything, but you're still left with a used engine and you have to BAR it (not the end of the world). The 24v swap does have its merits of better mpg, no valve adjustments, serpentine belt, and no timing belt.

I don't know enough about turbocharging an m20, but what about a stroker setup? I think if I were to get an m20 car again, a stroker with customs pistons that change the engine to a non-interference design seems pretty tempting. It probably won't be as powerful and will cost similar to a 24v, but plenty fun. Since the m20 was meant to be in the car, everything bolts right up. Most importantly the engine won't have 100-200k, and keep the sweet exhaust note.

[wworm]

booooooost the m20

[decay]

we're out driving our cars ;)

you spelled motorcycles wrong

[wworm]

you spelled motorcycles wrong

what do you have? Been thinking about a k75 or sv650 for a while....but then it rained yesterday and reminded me why it sucks to only have a two wheeled vehicle

[jpod999]

M6x swap!

[freeride53]

I say why not look for a nice early E30 to toss your M30 into. Maybe something unique like a henna 325. :D