Whats up guys, I've been meaning to start this for a while now so here goes:
I was looking for my first car and knew I wanted something european, old and tuneable. Thanks to r3v I decided on an e30 since there's so much info here. At the time my budget was super small but I needed to get a car asap as I was wasting a lot of time and energy biking to and from my jobs. I ended up checking out this car and it was in pretty solid shape considering I managed to talk the guy well below $2K for a running fully functional e30 325.
(except for a blown indicator bulb)
It is in desperate need of paint, and I'm open to color suggestions too, but for now I'm primarily focusing on performance before I dive into aesthetics. Id like to do a euro bumper swap but I think I'll settle for plastic bumpers due to the fact that they exist in the states.
Here's the car a few days after I bought it.
IMG_1398 by el_wormo, on Flickr
It had a pretty used drivers seat so I ended up getting a corbeau gt seat that matched the age of the car pretty well and spent way too much time trying to weld a bracket for it before throwing that away and using angle brackets that the seller provided.
IMG_1399 by el_wormo, on Flickr
51166108071__D798FFAE-99F7-45D5-A0C3-524E7EB607BE by el_wormo, on Flickr
Then I wanted to make a shift boot to replace the nasty old one. I've made a lot of backpacks in the past so I'm pretty handy with a sewing machine.
51215993928__67E1455D-A1C0-423C-9202-D7CB5AF0C18D-2 by el_wormo, on Flickr
I settled on the top right corner fabric. Unfortunately I didnt take enough photos of the process but it was a fun little afternoon project.
I also made a goofy set of boots for my friends e36 m3.
Image-1 by el_wormo, on Flickr
some point along the way I refreshed the brakes with stainless lines, new rotors and pads but don't currently have any pictures of the new setup.
Then I wanted to get into suspension. I rebuilt the rear end with 80A poly bushings, ST swaybar and welded diff and sway bar mounting reinforcements in, or rather, my old college roommate did that on a different subframe I purchased the day before while I was pulling the whole assembly out. I installed raised subframe bushings to counter the camber created when I put in H&R sports a month prior. I didn't realize that I needed to space the differential down until I was thinking about reinstalling it the morning of, so I had to run to the hardware store and find some spacers and extended diff mount bolts.
IMG_1835 by el_wormo, on Flickr
I didnt want to have to wait to burn out the bushings so I managed to hodge podge some things together in a big bench vice to press out the old OEM bushings. Heating the whole thing up with a torch definitely helped but I didn't have to melt or burn out the actual rubber
IMG_1830 by el_wormo, on Flickr
The rear trailing arm bushings just pressed out with a big C clamp.
I wanted to buy separate front and rear subframes just so that I could weld the reinforcements in while still being able to drive the car to and from work. I'm currently working on the front subframe and its getting assembled with offset CABs, new control arms and motor mount/swaybar mount reinforcements. Also getting a steering rack from the e36 m3, as my buddy is putting a z3 rack in his car. Hopefully the front end will match the rear after this coming weekend. Right now the car drives pretty weirdly because the rear is so crisp and the front is all mushy. Very uhh...oversteerable
Also did a late model ellipsoid swap about a week ago for better nighttime visibility
IMG_1850 by el_wormo, on Flickr
I installed dynamat under the rear seats to help reduce the increased road nose from the poly bushings. I want this car to be road trippable so that I can drive it down to bimmerfest next year
IMG_1888 by el_wormo, on Flickr
here's a really crappy picture of how the cockpit currently sits. I installed a euro clock at some point along the line.
IMG_1884 by el_wormo, on Flickr
I'll also note that I've got a slow pile of 24v swap parts accumulating under my bed/in my basement ;)
and I'll end the first post with a picture of a beautiful example of what one of these cars can be that I saw in freeway traffic one day on my way home from work
IMG_1529 by el_wormo, on Flickr
I was looking for my first car and knew I wanted something european, old and tuneable. Thanks to r3v I decided on an e30 since there's so much info here. At the time my budget was super small but I needed to get a car asap as I was wasting a lot of time and energy biking to and from my jobs. I ended up checking out this car and it was in pretty solid shape considering I managed to talk the guy well below $2K for a running fully functional e30 325.
(except for a blown indicator bulb)
It is in desperate need of paint, and I'm open to color suggestions too, but for now I'm primarily focusing on performance before I dive into aesthetics. Id like to do a euro bumper swap but I think I'll settle for plastic bumpers due to the fact that they exist in the states.
Here's the car a few days after I bought it.
IMG_1398 by el_wormo, on FlickrIt had a pretty used drivers seat so I ended up getting a corbeau gt seat that matched the age of the car pretty well and spent way too much time trying to weld a bracket for it before throwing that away and using angle brackets that the seller provided.
IMG_1399 by el_wormo, on Flickr51166108071__D798FFAE-99F7-45D5-A0C3-524E7EB607BE by el_wormo, on FlickrThen I wanted to make a shift boot to replace the nasty old one. I've made a lot of backpacks in the past so I'm pretty handy with a sewing machine.
51215993928__67E1455D-A1C0-423C-9202-D7CB5AF0C18D-2 by el_wormo, on FlickrI settled on the top right corner fabric. Unfortunately I didnt take enough photos of the process but it was a fun little afternoon project.
I also made a goofy set of boots for my friends e36 m3.
Image-1 by el_wormo, on Flickrsome point along the way I refreshed the brakes with stainless lines, new rotors and pads but don't currently have any pictures of the new setup.
Then I wanted to get into suspension. I rebuilt the rear end with 80A poly bushings, ST swaybar and welded diff and sway bar mounting reinforcements in, or rather, my old college roommate did that on a different subframe I purchased the day before while I was pulling the whole assembly out. I installed raised subframe bushings to counter the camber created when I put in H&R sports a month prior. I didn't realize that I needed to space the differential down until I was thinking about reinstalling it the morning of, so I had to run to the hardware store and find some spacers and extended diff mount bolts.
IMG_1835 by el_wormo, on FlickrI didnt want to have to wait to burn out the bushings so I managed to hodge podge some things together in a big bench vice to press out the old OEM bushings. Heating the whole thing up with a torch definitely helped but I didn't have to melt or burn out the actual rubber
IMG_1830 by el_wormo, on FlickrThe rear trailing arm bushings just pressed out with a big C clamp.
I wanted to buy separate front and rear subframes just so that I could weld the reinforcements in while still being able to drive the car to and from work. I'm currently working on the front subframe and its getting assembled with offset CABs, new control arms and motor mount/swaybar mount reinforcements. Also getting a steering rack from the e36 m3, as my buddy is putting a z3 rack in his car. Hopefully the front end will match the rear after this coming weekend. Right now the car drives pretty weirdly because the rear is so crisp and the front is all mushy. Very uhh...oversteerable
Also did a late model ellipsoid swap about a week ago for better nighttime visibility
IMG_1850 by el_wormo, on Flickr I installed dynamat under the rear seats to help reduce the increased road nose from the poly bushings. I want this car to be road trippable so that I can drive it down to bimmerfest next year
IMG_1888 by el_wormo, on Flickrhere's a really crappy picture of how the cockpit currently sits. I installed a euro clock at some point along the line.
IMG_1884 by el_wormo, on FlickrI'll also note that I've got a slow pile of 24v swap parts accumulating under my bed/in my basement ;)
and I'll end the first post with a picture of a beautiful example of what one of these cars can be that I saw in freeway traffic one day on my way home from work
IMG_1529 by el_wormo, on Flickr
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