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S52 Calypso Coupe

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    S52 Calypso Coupe

    After a 4 year break, it feels good to be back in an E30. I had an 87 sedan from late 09 to 2014. It was my first car and a complete pile of shit. Head gasket blew twice, it was on its 9th owner and third paint job, etc etc. I had a lot of fun with it and it taught me a lot.

    Since then I've owned a plethora of other cars including a stupid clean 98 Techno M3 vert, an 05 Porsche 997 and a Mazdaspeed Miata. I bought an FJ62 Land Cruiser last year that is my baby and will keeping that in addition to my latest acquisition:







    It's a 91 Calypsorot Coupe with an S52/ZF swap out of a 97. GC/Konis, all rubber replaced, the works. It even has working AC! The PO was super meticulous and documented the whole build here: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...achine-project

    The only mechanical issue I've found is that the car runs a bit hot with the AC on full blast sitting in Atlanta traffic in summer heat. I already have a larger pusher fan on order that will hopefully fix this.

    As far as other short term plans, I want to do:
    IS lip
    Mtech 1 wing
    Plate filler
    Euro ellips
    Euro grills
    Crack free dash
    Maybe Ronal LS or similar

    Longer term, I honestly can't think of many mods I'd want to do this car doesn't already have. It drives absolutely incredible and is way quicker than any 26 year old car has any right being. I'd like to think that if I got an itch for more power I'd look into an AA supercharger kit, but that'd be way down the road.
    Last edited by Strelok; 06-18-2018, 09:34 AM.

    #2
    On to the first "mod" - debadging. As you can probably see in the photos, the car was repainted at some point and the 325i badge was mounted wrong. This drove me absolutely crazy, so I decided to tackle this pretty much as soon as I got it home.



    I tried my best to get the residue off but it left a lot and I felt like I was about to start lifting paint off if I scrubbed any harder. I'm going to need to wait until I clay/polish to get this perfect. From 10 feet though, it is an improvement:

    Last edited by Strelok; 06-22-2018, 06:47 AM.

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      #3
      I like it!

      Comment


        #4
        That was a great pickup.

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          #5
          Super jealous you got this! I would love to see it in person, lemme know if you plan on attending any car meets.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by ATL_E30 View Post
            Super jealous you got this! I would love to see it in person, lemme know if you plan on attending any car meets.
            I'm sure I will make it out to C&O soon

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              #7
              Usually not a fan of Calypso, but when it is fresh paint like yours, it truly looks great! Must be nice to buy one and not have to immediately spends thousands of $$$, and hundreds of hours making it decent.

              Ronal LS wheels are my personal favorite for an E30. You can still buy them new from a company in North Ireland. Not affiliated with them, but I did buy a set from them last year and they arrived within 2 weeks of placing the order. I think the total price with shipping for a set of 4 to the US is only around $850 at the moment.

              https://www.performancealloys.com/ro...ilver-polished

              I was told that Ronal makes a production run about once a year on these, so if they are not in stock you can wait until next spring...that is when this year's production run became available.
              Eric Giles
              '20 M2 CS
              '04 M3
              '11 X5 35D
              '87 325is
              '91 325i Sport

              There are few things more expensive than a cheap BMW...

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Eric Giles View Post
                Usually not a fan of Calypso, but when it is fresh paint like yours, it truly looks great! Must be nice to buy one and not have to immediately spends thousands of $$$, and hundreds of hours making it decent.

                Ronal LS wheels are my personal favorite for an E30. You can still buy them new from a company in North Ireland. Not affiliated with them, but I did buy a set from them last year and they arrived within 2 weeks of placing the order. I think the total price with shipping for a set of 4 to the US is only around $850 at the moment.

                https://www.performancealloys.com/ro...ilver-polished

                I was told that Ronal makes a production run about once a year on these, so if they are not in stock you can wait until next spring...that is when this year's production run became available.
                If it doesn't let you add these to your "bag" does that mean they aren't available?

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by jeenyus View Post
                  If it doesn't let you add these to your "bag" does that mean they aren't available?
                  I was just able to add them without a problem. On that page, make sure you click 15", then 7.5" for width. It will then let you choose quantity and add them to the cart.

                  Best thing to do is use their online chat feature, or e-mail them to see if they are currently available. They also have a Facebook page, and will answer questions thru Messenger.
                  Eric Giles
                  '20 M2 CS
                  '04 M3
                  '11 X5 35D
                  '87 325is
                  '91 325i Sport

                  There are few things more expensive than a cheap BMW...

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Congrats on getting that car.

                    I've watched the previous owners builds, and his build on that car.

                    He is meticulous.
                    1991 318iC
                    1989 325i Field Rescue

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Its always interesting to see how this next phase goes. In many cases, when you buy someones completed project the new owner gets bored after a year or so... I have a feeling this time it will be different.
                      Simon
                      Current Cars:
                      -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

                      Make R3V Great Again -2020

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                        #12
                        Second fav color, hoping one day to snatch one up. Perfect combo paired with the s52!


                        BLUE NOSE - M62 SWAP

                        THE E30 + 1 BUILD

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                          #13
                          Small update. I put on one of my favorite E30 cosmetic mods, a plate filler!



                          Like I said, this car was repainted. The paint is decent with no fade and almost no rock chips, but it has heavy orange peel and lots of junk in it. It seems like it was a half decent paint job that just had not been wetsanded. So, I decided to do it myself




                          And the results:




                          Overall super happy with this. There are still some very shallow scratches from wetsanding but the orange peel is pretty much gone. About to order a bunch of equipment tonight so I can do this to the entire car! Since I know someone will ask, here's what I used to accomplish this:

                          1. Wash panel
                          2. Clay panel
                          3. Wetsand with 2000 grit 3M wetordry on a sanding block
                          4. Wetsand with 3000 grit 3M Trizact performance on a sanding block
                          5. Compound with a Chemical Guys orange pad on a 6" Griot's Garage DA polisher using Meguiars 105 cutting compound
                          6. Polish with the same DA using Chemical Guys white pad and Meguiars 205 polishing compound
                          7. Seal with OptiSeal

                          Note that you probably should not use this method on factory paint. My paint is relatively new, thick and quite soft, so it took well to sanding. A 30 year old factory paint job is likely to be thin and brittle, and you risk burning through it if you take sandpaper to it.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Small update. Got a few more cosmetic items:

                            Euro grills:


                            And my favorite, an Mtech 1 wing! It's an ebay replica that's decent quality:


                            Now onto the not so great stuff:


                            I've been having cooling issues with this car since I got it, especially while running AC. So, I replaced the pusher fan:


                            (excuse the zip tie mounting, it's temporary)

                            To my surprise this bigger fan made almost no difference. I'm a bit stumped here. I know for a fact that every cooling component is new. My next step is to attempt a bleed and if that doesn't sort it, it's going to my mechanic.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Now THATS A FANNNNN!

                              CAPP :-)

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