Hi folks, first build thread ive ever done really so bare with me, not had this one all that long but ive fallen in love with the german knacker, so heres the story so far.. After selling my Leon Cupra R mid 2013 i was looking for something RWD and older as id itching to buy something 80's or 90's for a while, a friend of mine had recently gotten me into the world of old beemers by buying a wonky 318 E36 so i followed suit when i saw this E30 for sale locally at a good price Previously a 320 auto, it is now a 325 running a big cam, unsure of any details on the cam, on a manual 320 box. Front and rear strut brace on lowering springs, polybushed rear end. standard 320 exhaust with the silencer box cut out which didn't sound bad if im honest! Pretty much the first thing i decided to do was whip out the clarion stereo and fit an ebay OMP wheel. Decided to reuse the BT92 i had in my LCR which i actually dont think looks too out of place.. Next was the OMP.... Decided some euro plates and yellow lights were in order.. Now with little or no drifting experience, armed with my first RWD car on an open diff i attended a track day at curborough spring circuit with all the best intentions, i ended up putting it into a ditch but people did give me points for trying. All gotta learn right? well i found it pretty funny in the end but this was the damage when i got it home.. Although i am happy to note that i wasnt the only one leaving with a bit of a limp.. Destroyed the O/S wing, lower valance was twisted and bumper was pretty much scrap. Structurally the car seemed fine, took out a worn engine mount and killed a power steering pump but other than that i was pretty pleased considering the ditch i had gone into and the speed i was travelling, I purchased the parts in the correct colour from a lovely bloke the other side of uttoxeter who has a farm full of E30s, very interesting chap.After replacing all the panelling it appears i have slightly kinked the O/S chassis leg which hasn't effected the handling or anything noticeable other than the lines of the car looking a tad squiff. I decided next in order was to replace the broken engine mount with some OE bushes as a pair and decided to replace any other worn bushes i could find. I found the rear wishbone bushes were pretty much shot, two dead ball joints on both lower arms and both wheel bearings were pretty much on the way out, replaced the lot for good measure and had the car tracked, although much to my surprise it was bang on. Went with some eccentric M3 wishbone bushes as id seen awesome results on my mates E36 Self centring was massively improved and with the refreshed front end set-up i was really feeling the benefits, car was much mote accurate steering wise and the car left less floaty. Discovered that my clutch reservoir cap was split and had been put back together with electrical tape, replaced it with a second hand item but as a result of this my brakes are pretty much... well.. shit. After much talking about where i wanted to take the car from here and looking into what could be done in the way of engine conversions and performance enhancements i decided to go down the OE route with an M52B28 swap, found a nice chap who had binned his 36 selling pretty much the bulk of what i needed for a good price, took the drive down to see him and ended up helping him remove it from the car. Got it with the M50 manifold too! With the engine now home i have made a list of the following which i will be needing for my conversion.. E28 M5 Engine mounts New 325 clutch to use with my M20 fly wheel and starter 328i prop rear section as i have the front Spal pusher fan and brackets M3 wiring loom cover E34 throttle cable 318 IS ECU brackets 88 degree stat Metal impeller water pump front and rear main oil seal cam cover gasket inlet and exhaust manifold gaskets few sensors which were broken, gearbox speed sensor, one 02 sensor new slave some rad hoses, im told i need a mix of E30 and E36 Im intending to keep the OBD II when i do the conversion as i just fancy the challenge of it more than anything, will need the ECU mapping to suit and the EWS removing but this is all going to happen over the xmas shut down when i can pull into my garage and been left alone with it, hopefully wont take me all that long. Decided to spray the exhaust manifolds black whilst i had some down time, although now i may need to cut these if there is any issue with them fowling the steering knuckle. Next i had a friend of mine who also owns an E30 contact me to inform me his E30 had smashed a valve, as a result of this he was offering me some of his parts at a nice pirce, Conversion coilovers, a full milltek system, welder and a set of fake BBS splits, thoght it'd be rude to say no really... New lows are a touch interesting, have had some scrapes but then it is a tad low, and thats coming from somebody i know who drives around on his chasis rails.. In usual comedic fashion about 24 hours after fitting said welder, my slave cylinder decided to shit itself along with my clutch so for the time being shes living on my drive! im considering just doing the engine conversion rather than replacing the clutch although i have purchased this so i could go either way at the moment. Fitted some new rack ends as i noticed they were worn out doing the suspension change, will need tracking again anyway because of the suspension change over. Future plans Install M52B28 and box, map to suit M50 manifold Replace rear subframe bushings for polys as its the last ones that are still standard Replace god awful rear smoked lights with OE lights swap yellow tints for smoked tints, growing on me lately Fix kinked chassis leg to get the lines right Get some better wheels Fit some gagues, volt, oil pressure, oil temp, water temp thanks for taking the time to read this and ill hopefully keep going with some updates, ive gotta take at least the next 3 weeks off due to having some surgery on my nose which prevents me from going anywhere that isnt clinical clean, much to my dismay!
I see you are in the midlands. I think i have a water pump and 328 prop you can have for beer money if you want them? I am based in Droitwich, not far from Worcs. PM me if you want them.
Thanks! I hadnt realised the extent of work id actually dont until i wrote this to be honest, felt like id done utterly nothing to it. Just pisses me off im out of action for the next few weeks! Guess i could start the M52 loom..
Cool car man, properly love it. Do wonder why we bothered with that fucking Leon now I pmsl The Miltek and 1 piece splits were the game changer, proper fell in love with it last time we went out. People will wonder how the fuck you sit down with balls so big when the 52 goes in
Haha mate I just hope I get the M52 in with a minimum amount of swearing and threats of the scrap yard. After rummaging through my spares I've come across some rear lights which I'd greatly prefer over the current lexus looking clear lights I've got, although it appears somebody has attempted to badly spray paint them all red... Ehh Has anyone any ideas how to remove the offending material whilst not melting or destroying the lenses in the process?
Yeah i cant wait! Ive got lots of things i want to acomplish before i attempt to put the M52 in, fancy painting the block and cleaning up the head, powder coating as many of the bolt ons as i can in black to give it a really clean look.
So today I decided I was going to fit my clutch, had some spare time and I was missing the shit heap. Box off, greeted with a very leaky rear main oil seal and one very smashed clutch... I'm not even sure what to make of it being in three pieces? No sign of any of the rivets.. New oil seal fitted, clutch in, car much happier! Now to raise my suspension a touch as it appears I've been grinding my steering rack up a fine dust..
Today I've had another productive day, decided I would fit these premium sound tweeters I got for a steel off the bay, was quite surprised to find that there's OE wiring there already which makes me think my car may have had these previously and removed at some point, although I can't for the life of me think why. They sound suprisingly good for the standard speakers, going to replace them with some vibe black air tweeters, possibly black editions.. Took the 30 down to the garage today, raised my front end up by about 8/10mm as my steering rack was smashing off the floor just diving down a seemingly perfectly flat road, changed my brake fluid whilst I was at it as having no brakes isn't as much fun as you'd think, the fluid was essentially water with a little dot 4 in it, replaced with dot 5 and now have a much better feel and I can actually stop! Gave her a clean for good measure as it's been looking rather sorry for its self the past month or so..
cool car, wish the idiot that owned mine prior had left it this colour rather bloody primer! that prop ok? as for cleaning your block any of the ally bits you need cleaning give us a shout, the vapour blaster is installed and working a treat now.
Prop was exactly what I needed funnily enough, four bolt rear! Your old man said I missed you by about 10 seconds, must have driven past you on my way in! Thanks for that though, I owe you one, or several. Yeah I've got a bunch of bits and bobs I want doing, I quite fancy the idea of painting the block, having a polished head and powder coating pretty much every bracket or paintable thing that bolts to the engine, 100% need the oil filter housing doing and such, really ain't into the corroded metal look. When I get chance I'll swing by and sort something out with you, gonna have to get my arse in gear with this engine next year!
I'm thinking of moving onto smoked lamps next, quite fancy quite dark Inners and half as dark outers. That or some sort of crosshair.
