You know what's worse than cooking sites with a life story before the recipe? Car threads with a life story before the build.
Here's the tl;dr. I got my license on my 14th birthday and didn't give two shits what I drove. My Dad tried to hook me up with a black '85 318i, but I wanted a hatchback so I bought a 2010 Kia Rio. Realizing my mistake after high school, I bought a 1990 E34 525i:
Rebuilt M20, zero rust, flawless paint. Started first crank even in -30°C. Of course, I was dumb and sold it to buy a base model NA Miata that barely ran. Sold that after a year for $500 more than I bought it for, and bought this E30 in June 2017. Immediately did a timing/water pump job and an oil change. I was amazed at how much of a difference shedding 1000lbs (vs the E34) did for handling and acceleration.
Engine bay is less than clean but hey, half the fun is resurrecting the thing, right?
Did a wrinkle job on the rocker cover and intake manifold. Do NOT bake the finish in your home oven.
Sadly, in August it started shitting the bed pretty bad. Leaking, running extremely rich, and occasionally bucking madly under load. Had a classic Euro shop look at it, who threw parts at it until they decided it was beyond their help and/or my budget. New FPR, vac hoses, plugs, relays, ICV. Buddy only charged me like $500 for dozens of hours of work, phoning me frequently to catch me up. He said he couldn't bill me for all the time he spent on the toilet or staring at the ceiling at night searching for a solution, so I was given the keys and wished good luck. The shop was full of shiny garage queens every time I visited and he told me that although he'd love to return a perfectly running car, he can't justify the yard space any longer. Well, at least it starts (with difficulty) and drives again. It dies very easy until there's some heat in the engine, but otherwise hasn't stranded me.
It sat in the snow all winter, lacking a block heater and winter tires. I bought a 2007 WRX to DD in the meantime.
I was itching to tear into the car when summer started. I had just gotten back from a trip to Germany where I visited the BMW Museum, seeing so many factory condition old bimmers made me want to empty my savings into this E30. So I tear the carpet out for a deep cleaning and dye, to find seeds and mouse droppings everywhere..
...And also...
:rippedoff:
Major jack point rust, both sides. I immediately regret buying the first 6cyl coupe that popped up for sale in Alberta. (E30s in passable condition are very rare up here) Should have invested in a BaT or Cali car, I paid extra for one with no rust! Oh well, there's a guy with a BMW boneyard a short drive from my place. Paid him $20 to cut some donor sections off a 1990 Bronzit sedan. Unfortunately the bumpers were destroyed, otherwise I'd have grabbed them for a conversion.
While I was waiting on welding buddy to come give me a hand, I dyed the carpets black.
Some light reading..
Turns out the welder I bought to do the job doesn't plug into my garage. Rather, the contractor wired in an oven receptacle instead of a welding one. Well, necessity is the mother of invention, so we harvested an old oven plug and cracked the welder open.
Also turns out that using donor sections is nearly impossible, given the number of angles you have to match. This revelation came to us after how poorly the passenger side came out. I'm not going to show you it, but it's watertight and hidden behind the fender/under the carpet so I'm not too ashamed.
We squared off the holes the best we could and fabbed a new section. Tacked every inch or so, seams sealed with JB weld, and finished with bondo and bedliner. Dyed the rear deck, as well. It was hilariously faded, as you can see from where the 3rd brake light sat:
Looks nice!
Carpet back in. Unfortunately that vacuum pattern is permanent, I was brushing the fibers after spraying to work it in deep, and tried to do it uniformly. It looks like alternating back and forth and drying in the sun baked it differently. Oh well!
Stopped for a full tank of gas and went out for a rip until the stars came out. Also removed the cow catcher because frankly they're ugly and ruin the body lines of the car. Holding out for a set of euros.
Here's the tl;dr. I got my license on my 14th birthday and didn't give two shits what I drove. My Dad tried to hook me up with a black '85 318i, but I wanted a hatchback so I bought a 2010 Kia Rio. Realizing my mistake after high school, I bought a 1990 E34 525i:
Rebuilt M20, zero rust, flawless paint. Started first crank even in -30°C. Of course, I was dumb and sold it to buy a base model NA Miata that barely ran. Sold that after a year for $500 more than I bought it for, and bought this E30 in June 2017. Immediately did a timing/water pump job and an oil change. I was amazed at how much of a difference shedding 1000lbs (vs the E34) did for handling and acceleration.
Engine bay is less than clean but hey, half the fun is resurrecting the thing, right?
Did a wrinkle job on the rocker cover and intake manifold. Do NOT bake the finish in your home oven.
Sadly, in August it started shitting the bed pretty bad. Leaking, running extremely rich, and occasionally bucking madly under load. Had a classic Euro shop look at it, who threw parts at it until they decided it was beyond their help and/or my budget. New FPR, vac hoses, plugs, relays, ICV. Buddy only charged me like $500 for dozens of hours of work, phoning me frequently to catch me up. He said he couldn't bill me for all the time he spent on the toilet or staring at the ceiling at night searching for a solution, so I was given the keys and wished good luck. The shop was full of shiny garage queens every time I visited and he told me that although he'd love to return a perfectly running car, he can't justify the yard space any longer. Well, at least it starts (with difficulty) and drives again. It dies very easy until there's some heat in the engine, but otherwise hasn't stranded me.
It sat in the snow all winter, lacking a block heater and winter tires. I bought a 2007 WRX to DD in the meantime.
I was itching to tear into the car when summer started. I had just gotten back from a trip to Germany where I visited the BMW Museum, seeing so many factory condition old bimmers made me want to empty my savings into this E30. So I tear the carpet out for a deep cleaning and dye, to find seeds and mouse droppings everywhere..
...And also...
:rippedoff:
Major jack point rust, both sides. I immediately regret buying the first 6cyl coupe that popped up for sale in Alberta. (E30s in passable condition are very rare up here) Should have invested in a BaT or Cali car, I paid extra for one with no rust! Oh well, there's a guy with a BMW boneyard a short drive from my place. Paid him $20 to cut some donor sections off a 1990 Bronzit sedan. Unfortunately the bumpers were destroyed, otherwise I'd have grabbed them for a conversion.
While I was waiting on welding buddy to come give me a hand, I dyed the carpets black.
Some light reading..
Turns out the welder I bought to do the job doesn't plug into my garage. Rather, the contractor wired in an oven receptacle instead of a welding one. Well, necessity is the mother of invention, so we harvested an old oven plug and cracked the welder open.
Also turns out that using donor sections is nearly impossible, given the number of angles you have to match. This revelation came to us after how poorly the passenger side came out. I'm not going to show you it, but it's watertight and hidden behind the fender/under the carpet so I'm not too ashamed.
We squared off the holes the best we could and fabbed a new section. Tacked every inch or so, seams sealed with JB weld, and finished with bondo and bedliner. Dyed the rear deck, as well. It was hilariously faded, as you can see from where the 3rd brake light sat:
Looks nice!
Carpet back in. Unfortunately that vacuum pattern is permanent, I was brushing the fibers after spraying to work it in deep, and tried to do it uniformly. It looks like alternating back and forth and drying in the sun baked it differently. Oh well!
Stopped for a full tank of gas and went out for a rip until the stars came out. Also removed the cow catcher because frankly they're ugly and ruin the body lines of the car. Holding out for a set of euros.
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