My new e30 resurrection project

[325isman]

Great start on project...you are well on the way.

[shawmcbigdis]

OK, so I ordered some super cheap brakes from an ebay vendor. $90 for all 4 corners, rotors, pads, and sensors. Well I should have actually inspected the car before I just blindly bought parts (even though they were stupid cheap).

Got the front brakes apart, and realized that both sides on the front had a frozen slide pin, so the calipers weren't moving at all. Pads and rotors were almost new. No working front brakes, would explain they horrible brake performance. So I unstuck the pins, and just put the front back together. I am going to order some rebuilt calipers and just completely replace them. I thought about just getting the pin/boot replacement, but the piston looks horrible, and I don't trust myself to refinish it properly, and I can't find replacement pistons. So rebuilt it is.

The rears were functioning, but really worn, no surprise there. So I replaced those. Did find out that the pad wear sensor in the rear, the wire for it was snapped/cut off after the connector, so no way to hook up the new pad sensor. Need to see if I can find a replacement for that someplace, and solder it in, so I can hook up the sensor.

Got it all back together and did a quick bleed on the system. Stops a lot better now, but still not great. Once I get the rebuilt calipers I will probably put the new pads/rotors on the front, and do a complete flush/bleed of the brake fluid.

Next up suspension. As I've said before, everything needs replaced. I think I am just going to start piecing together parts a bit at a time, and then install everything when I've got all the parts. Right now I am heavily leaning towards Koni STR.T's and BAV Auto springs. There are some serious mixed reviews over them out there (the Koni's, not the springs), but I'm not dishing out Bilstien money on this car, not yet at least. Besides, it won't get tracked, it might see an occasional auto-x, but besides that, its a weekend car, in an area with no fun roads. It's Oklahoma, it's not like there are any cool mountain roads to have fun on.

[shawmcbigdis]

So I ordered some rebuilt calipers from BAV Auto. Unfortunately I guess the reman company only had 1 side in stock, so I have one rebuilt caliper, and 3 weeks later still waiting on the 2nd, lame.

But I did get this delivered today;



I couldn't resist BAV's black Friday sale, so I blew the next 6-9 months of this projects budget on all the suspension parts I needed. Again, I'm cheap, so shocks are Koni STRT's, BAV Auto springs, and ordered the Meyle HD control arm ball joints and Lemforder e36 M3 LCAB. I have a 20 ton press so it will be getting some work this weekend. I got the arms off and 1 ball joint pushed out last night. I still need to go rent a ball joint press because I don't have any sockets/cups big enough for the inner ball joint or the bushing.

Also got every mount and bushing to replace the entire suspension.

I ordered the rear trailing arm bushings, but I'm not going to swap them out yet. Going to wait until I have rear sub-frame and differential bushings and do the whole thing at once.

Hopefully I can get everything swapped this weekend. and finally see what it like to drive an e30 without completely blown out suspension.

Oh yeah, speaking of that, here's some pics of the old parts.

The blown out front strut;



And here is one of the outer ball joints, this one has so much play it almost feels like you can pull the ball out of the joint;



Also both sides LCAB's wear torn up, one side only had about half of one off the 3 sections still attached.

[shawmcbigdis]

OK, so the suspension install isn't going nearly as smoothly as I hoped. I got the control arms off, and new ball joints in no problem;



Waiting until I have the correct strut retention nut to force the bushings on the end of the arm and bolt them up. Those won't arrive until Friday. So front end is on hold until those come in.



I was not prepared for what a hassle the front sway bar bushings were going to be, wow. Although after I got the first one in, the other side wasn't nearly as hard.

Since the front end was on hold started on the rear. Again, more hassles than expected. I needed to use spring compressors to get the springs out, even after removing the shock and end link. And I had to really crank them down too, annoying. Based on what a hassle the front sway bar bushings were, I actually didn't change the rear. The front weren't in that bad a shape, and the rears look even better. So I'm not going to bother. New spring and shock installed no problem;



However, how the heck do you get the stinking end link onto the sway bar!? I've tried windex, white silicone, PB Blaster, nothing seems to lube it enough to get it to push onto the bar. I can't figure out a good way to clamp it because of the bend in the bar, everything just slides off, so it cant squeeze it on. I can't really think of a way to get it on there. Brute strength isn't working, and I can't leverage it in any way. So its after 9:30, so I just gave up for the night. I really wanted to get as much possible done tonight, because its supposed to be freezing all weekend. Luckily my garage is fully insulated, but it still gets cold in there when the high for the day is only 38.

If anyone has any ideas for getting those links on the bar I'd really appreciate it.

[MyE30]

However, how the heck do you get the stinking end link onto the sway bar!? I've tried windex, white silicone, PB Blaster, nothing seems to lube it enough to get it to push onto the bar. I can't figure out a good way to clamp it because of the bend in the bar, everything just slides off, so it cant squeeze it on. I can't really think of a way to get it on there. Brute strength isn't working, and I can't leverage it in any way. So its after 9:30, so I just gave up for the night. I really wanted to get as much possible done tonight, because its supposed to be freezing all weekend. Luckily my garage is fully insulated, but it still gets cold in there when the high for the day is only 38.

If anyone has any ideas for getting those links on the bar I'd really appreciate it.

The way that works for me is take the swaybar off the car, stand it up vertically, and twist the dog bone on with downward pressure and plenty of lubrication. You can shimmy the swaybar off/on the car without having to drop the subframe.

[shawmcbigdis]

The way that works for me is take the swaybar off the car, stand it up vertically, and twist the dog bone on with downward pressure and plenty of lubrication. You can shimmy the swaybar off/on the car without having to drop the subframe.

Wow, that seems like a lot to get the end link on, but makes sense, nothing I tried was working.

If I'm doing that I guess I'll swap the bushings also. Are the rear brackets as hard to get on with new bushings as the fronts? If so I don't see how you can even do it since there isn't as much room to clamp them down.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[shawmcbigdis]

Well, that's what I did, removed the bar from the car. Tried pushing the endlink on, but still couldn't, ended up putting end link on the ground and standing on bar to get it into the end link. Then I put the end link on a socket and stood on it again to get it all the way on.

Way freaking harder then it should have been.

Worst part is I ordered the wrong sway bar bushings, I got 14mm, which now I realize is only for M sport suspension, not the normal sport suspension that the es came with. So old bushings back on, at least it was easy to bolt back up. And really the bushings we're in good shape, I'm not even going to replace them.

So the whole rear is done and back together. New strut retaining nuts should be here today, so just need to assemble to struts, get them in the car then put on the lollipops and done. Can't wait to drive it.

Thank goodness the snow and ice that was scheduled for this weekend doesn't look like it's going to happen. Still going to be freezing, but at least I can drive without fear of spinning off the road.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[shawmcbigdis]

Well of course USPS screwed me. Strut retaining nuts still haven't shown up. Tracking shows they arrived here in OKC on Wednesday, then for some reason went to Mobile AL, then just limbo until 6PM last night it shows they arrived back in OKC. We'll see if they actually deliver them tomorrow. I really hope so, I'm excited to drive it with new suspension.

[shawmcbigdis]

Finally got it all finished up tonight. Holy cow are those lollipops hard to get on. At least when the control arms are in the car. Took the arms back out and was able to just put the bushing on the ground and push the arm into it, then used a socket to hammer it on the rest of the way, super easy. Wish I knew that before i installed the arms the first time.

Anyway, got it all buttoned up and took it out for a test drive. OMG it is so awesome now. The new suspension with the e46 steering rack is awesome. The only car I've driven that is even close to as nimble and tossable is an NA Miata. It is so much fun now.

The exhaust leak is really annoying now, since the suspension ins't making all kind of noise, all you hear is exhaust now. Got to get that fixed, or better yet, just get a real exhaust installed. But alas, I promised the wife no more major projects on it for at least 6 months.

So next up is to pull the cluster back out and see if I can fix it. I've replaced the odo gears, the SI board batteries, and the speed sensor in the rear diff. But the only gauge that always works is the fuel gauge. The temp gauge works after I smack the dash, and the speedometer works sporadically. The tach and OBC worked right after I swapped the batteries, and then were sporadic for a while, but lately they just never work. Not sure what it is, or where to start, but I guess I will just pull it out and inspect and see if I can see any obvious problems. I didn't see any issues at the sensor in the diff when I had it up for the suspension, the connector and cables looked good back there.

[shawmcbigdis]

I ordered a refurbished gauge cluster PCB off ebay, coming from Europe, so not sure when it will arrive. Found a few parts local I am trying to snatch up. Should finally get my hands on a glove box, hooray! Also got a line on a complete b25 motor for only $50. Motor is locked up, so not sure what state it is in, but I just want to build a cheap stroker, so I just need the head, intake and some of the pulleys. Even if the head is shot, the intake, throttle body, wiring harness and ECU are worth the $50. I just need to find a way to get it to my house and store it, since I have neither a cherry picker or an engine stand.

Oh, and here is a pick of the car after the suspension. Much better now without the 4x4 looking ride height it had;



If only I had some nice basket weaves for it. Someday, just like everything else.

[shawmcbigdis]

So Santa came a little early here;



Got a complete rear bumper with shocks, front bumper trim (that is tore up on my car, rear driver side tail light, glove box, super 80's side skirts, and a complete i exhaust down pipe cats and all.

Glad I've got this whole week off to work on it. After all this the e30 will probably take a break as far as new parts goes. My e39 which is my daily needs some work. It's been about 80k since I did the cooling system on it, so it's going to need some work, the clutch has just started slipping (I think it's original at 250+K miles) and its got a weird shimmy on the highway that I think is the driver side control arm bushing.

So the e30 my turn into my daily, while I work on the e39. I really wish the ehater worked better in it. That may be the last thing I need to do before I start shifting money to the other one.

[shawmcbigdis]

Merry Christmas everyone!

So the wife got me a DashMat and a keyless entry for Christmas, hooray, more parts to install this week.

So after doing morning festivities with the fam, I got the new rear taillight installed, and put three coats of plastidip on the rear bumper trim, collapsed the bumper shocks, and cleaned up the bumper a bit. One of the mounting tabs on the driver side trim piece broke, so I had to epoxy it back on, and I'm waiting for it to dry overnight since all I had was original JB Weld, so it needs like 4+ hours to cure. Besides, I should spend some more time with the family.

So tomorrow I will finish up the rear bumper install, put the keyless entry in, then start on the exhaust. I sprays the downpipe to manifold bolts tonight with PB blaster, so hopefully they won't be too difficult to get off tomorrow. I helped pull the exhaust off the car of the one I just bought and it wasn't to bad, the 2 of us got it all off in less than 30 min's. So I'm hoping that by myself I can get it all done in a couple hours tomorrow.

[shawmcbigdis]

So I ended up getting sick this week, which severely slowed down my progress. I got the rear bumper and trim all installed, no pics of it yet because its still in the garage on jack stands. I got the "i" exhaust installed. Sounds like it is leaking a bit at the manifold to down pipe connection. I need to tighten that up a bit.

Got the glove box installed. Now the only interior piece I still need is the driver side dash bottom, or knee bolster, or whatever that part is called. I actually have one, its just in my parts pile in CA that I will pick up this summer.



I tried to install the keyless entry but it doesn't work, not sure what the problem is. Just using vampire taps, so maybe I don't have a good connection somewhere. Guess its time to get out the multi-meter and see if I can figure it out.

OH, I finally got both rebuilt calipers. I painted them with some NHT Red caliper paint;



Mainly just to protect them, since they appeared to be just bare metal. Not like you will be able to see them behind the bottle caps anyway. But I need to get those installed. I was hoping to do that today, but I'm still not feeling great so might not get around to it.

After I've got the brakes and exhaust all buttoned up I can pull the car out and work on painting those side skirts. And the gauge cluster PCB should show up this week.

[shawmcbigdis]

So I received the PCB yesterday, got it installed, but I broke one of the tabs on the cluster taking it out. Guess that's what happens to 30 year old plastic when its sitting outside in sub freezing temps. I plugged it in, and the tach and OBC came right up, so I'm hoping that fixed all my gauge issues. Waiting for the epoxy to cure on the tab now so I can put it back in, and go for a test drive.

Here's a shot of the rear bumper installed;



And one of the "i" exhaust;



I got the bolts tight at the manifold, but it still sounds like there is a slight leak at the joint where the pipes connect after the cat. I cant see or feel anything there though, strangely enough. The muffler is in pretty bad shape actually. It had a few rust holes and there is batting or something rattling around inside it. I just put some muffler patch on it, and it actually sounds OK. I'll probably replace it with one of those cheap ebay axle back exhausts at some point in the future.

Still haven't looked into the keyless entry, to cold, and still not feeling well, so it will have to wait. Maybe this weekend

[shawmcbigdis]

So when I hooked the cluster up temporarily after replacing the boarded, all the gauges and OBC worked fine. After I epoxied the tab back onto the cluster and reinstalled it, all the gauges work, but the display on the OBC doesn't come on. It seems to be working because the the light on the timer button comes on if I press it.

Did the bulbs just happen to die right then, or is there something I could have screwed up, missed a plug or something?