E30 to be entered at Thunderhill 24 hours of lemons this DEC!!!

[thesalboy]

Hopefully we didn't screw up taking out the A/C... Oh well, it didn't work anyway.

[2wheelsoff]

We have a donor car; a friend donated her disabled 325i convertible....FREE! All we have to do is get it out of her driveway when we are finished stripping parts off it like it was stranded in harlem. It has a something gone in the waterpump area, hopefully nothing else. The interior is just trashed, and the top is barely on. Shocks are done too which is too bad as we could use a set.

Will pics of this car soon. My camera was out of battery so had to use a friends and still waiting on an email of the photos.


Update from a whole day on sunday (been travelling so finally got to posting this)

Linkage - The linkage was SO shot that the wheet metal plate was barely attached to the tranny and the chassis. It took a while to get the harmonic balancer off. We broke a socket for the output shaft nut. Over 300 ft/lbs of impact driver will do that....and the nut didn't come off. We had to cut it off to get to all the linkage.

Driveshaft - new guibo!!! This one was in awful shape. The previous mechanic changed the tranny mounts and engine mounts and didn't diagnose the dead guibo. You could move move teh driveshaft like crazy from under the car.

Took a bunch of parts off the donor car. Not sure if we need everything, but spare parts will be good for the race.

Any idea how to retrofit the 325i radiator in a 325e????

Still to do; Thermostat housing, fluids, brakes, pass emissions, strip out the sellable parts, safety equip, suspension setup.

[BrokenBimmer533]

you going to make a forsale thread of all the interior parts being sold? I need some stuff.

[2wheelsoff]

I will definately post details and prices once we rip it all out. Trying to do that within a week and a half. I wil PM when all the stuff is listed!

[thesalboy]

Pretty much everything interior is up for grabs. Anyone need E30 coupe windows (front and rear side and back glass)?

The thermostat housing is the same part number for both 89i and 86e. The radiator inlets and outlets are in different places, but that is compensated for by some creative plumbing (on the i, a cast flattened pipe runs just past the water pump behind the (now deleted) fan and connects the thermostat housing to the lower radiator inlet by small curved hoses) so the water flow direction appears to remain the same. One obvious change is the overflow tank: on the e, it is on the passenger side, and connected to the input side of the water pump; the i pump has no such connection, and the tank is on the driver's side, connected through a T to the heater hose. I don't see why we wouldn't be able to build a hybrid i/e cooling system, but anyone out there have any thoughts?

LeMons calls for visiting uncharted territory.

[aze30325softtop]

Who the heck makes you remove the fuel rail to get to the thermostat housing?????

My thought exactly. But now that it's out, injector cleaning only cost $90. And it needed it.

[AtlantaE30]

Just saw a feature on Lemons on Motor Week. Looks like a really fun race. Saw a few E30s in there, including one that lost and was subsequently destroyed.

[2wheelsoff]

Serious engine running issue

We need some serious help... I set this up as its own thread
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1087144

join in if you have any insite please!

[thesalboy]

Problem solved, thanks to the bimmerforums community. Be advised - the brown plug goes to the white socket, the white plug to the brown socket. Who knew mixing up two temp sender wires would cause the car to run like complete crap?!?

[2wheelsoff]

guategordon saved the day...his handle is going on the rear fender!

[2wheelsoff]

WOO hoo... car has passed smog yesterday...no issues whatsoever.

Next steps;
Remove interior completely - We have a buyer interested in the seats so he has Dibs .Another buyer has dibs on the whole restof interior,but waiting to hear back if he is still interested.

Springs - We think that BabyM and Uberpanzer rock!!! We were ready to buy the m3 springs they were selling, and once they saw our thread, they offered them to us for
FREE!!!! insane! definately 2 gold stars on the fenders near their handles! This left us a budget for shocks

Shocks - we bought some Bilsteins from Canada..I got overzelous and bought them without realizing we have 45mm inserts and these are 51mm inserts. So we need to take control arms, knuckles,struts out of the donor car to make these work. We are also using the larger front and rear swaybars from the 325iC too.

That is this weekend, then off to my wedding so the project goes on hold for a few weeks.

Then; Brakes, safety gear, test/tune, custom (aka sloppily welded) strut bars and more. the only new pics to post are from our day of trying to figure out what was wrong with the car and all we ended up with is fouled plugs!

[2wheelsoff]

After lots of cleaning up, we finished putting in the steering rack off the donor car (ours had dead tie rod ends on boths sides). The cars has WAY less steering play, though the steering wheel is now 90 degrees off. We have a 3 spoke off the donor car that we will swap in soon.

The interior is completely out of the car, and we fashioned a seat mount for an old corbeau GT I had sitting around. We put the passenger seat back in as well as the seat belts tillthe cage goes in.

We bought a turner chipped DME from SchnellerE34 and put it in. OMFG what a huge difference. Our A$$ dyno says it makes a huge difference. WWW (Wrong Way Werner aka; our team captain) and myself (nick named; Cross Thread Phoundoulakis) took out Sylvia (named after the sweet austrian girl that sold us the car) for our first serious test drive. We were chirping 3rd gear on the pacific coast highway. Tried some twisties on Sunset, and got into a little battle with a magnum r/t wagon. Off the launch we were pulling ahead, and by 3rd gear started to lose a little ground....once the turns came there was no way her could keep up. The futuras stuck like dry charcoal glue and I ignored the squeals of protest and came away several car lengths after only two 60mph sweeping turns. Hind site; knowing the condition of the balljoints, and the fact the car is not aligned (we deffinately have a toe issue) it wasn't wise, but the temptation was just too much to pass up an opportunity to tear into american muscle. Not sure how brave teh driver was or how hard he was pushing, but DANG we were SO happy with our first test drive.

Pics of the car coming soon, I had to pack for my morning flight and I am know in Greece.

We have a used # 027 DME for a 325e for sale. Works well, and car was running strong before we swapped to the turner chipped one.

[Cobra Jet]

you're depriving us of PICS! Post up more progress pics when you get a chance!

[thesalboy]

My bad!!!!!

You can see why the donor car was free… The donor is a contractor. We did not put the concrete there as a prop - it was there already. Note the cardboard – the driver’s window doesn’t go up. It’s been exposed to the elements for a year! Donor now drives an Audi S4 coupe ‘vert.


Steering rack out.


Radiator that was taken out the next weekend. It wound up working in Sylvia perfectly!


We left the donor car like this for three weeks. The donor got a little sore about that, so we took her back down.


Which diff do you think went into Sylvia?



What a mess. Note the coolant on the oil pan bolt head at top middle.


Original guibo was indeed shredded.


New bushings, ya think?



The transofrmation from econobox to race winner begins! Original drivers’ seat is in where the sunroof used to be for storage.




Back on the ground, just after her first test drive - put away wet (but no leaks!!!) while we're in Greece for Manos' wedding!


A choice find - Star Wars memorabilia (and a worry stone, not pictured) found under the seats goes for top dollar!



Man is this fun!!!

[rjcaptsean]

Very cool thread! Great to watch somebody convert a beater to a racer. Sounds like lots of fun, although a quick drive to the CoinWash to hose down that underside would have saved you about a gallon of handcleaner.

That steering wheel would drive me nuts. It's pretty easy to change, just remove the rack bolts and loosen the universal and turn the wheel. A little labor intensive, but imagine driving with that wheel for hours at a time. Ick.

Keep the pics and postings coming! I'm going to have to look into the specifics of the race (where and when) as I'm in Sacramento and it might be worth the drive to cheer you on.

[lazz]

Just picked up a car for LeMons myself, so I'll see you there

[TiAg]

2wheelsOff & thesalboy and the team,

Best of luck with your project build! I like the color of the car - you'll see why when we meet at T-hill :-)))
Check out Porcubimmer Team out of San Diego as well - they've campaigned an E30 at Altamont, and are coming back again this year to Thunderhill.


Lazz,

Looks like Mountain View is going to be E30 "Lemons" and SpecE30 mecca :-)

To ALL:

While I am not affiliated with them in any way, shape, or form, other than being a happy customer, I highly recommend HarrisonMotorsports dot com as a source for your performance parts and accessories - they have an EXCEPTIONAL customer service, and FREE shipping on orders over $79! They also have a dedicated SpecE30 section.

Another useful resource for Part Numbers and schematics is BMWfans dot info. - thought I'd throw it out there.

FYI:

BellHelmets is having a huge sale on SA05 helmets

BellSports is having a HUGE CLOSE OUT sale on their Driving Suits

[2wheelsoff]

Tiag - I am guessing we will be in the same colored e30 boat around thunderhill!

Lazz - good job, looks like it is a minor ding in the front....just like ours had.

I couldn't help but check out the board ( I am on my honeymoon in Cyprus)

Oh no...the wife is looking at me funny...she has a bottle of lube in one hand and a very naughty look in her eye....gotta GO!

[2wheelsoff]

ps- if you ask for pics of that you are NOT going to get em!

[TiAg]

2wheelsoff,

That was half of the plan, and hopefully will be the case - so far we haven't made it into the race, though we have made it to the Waitlist. What about you?


Lazz,

Any luck with your entry?

[lazz]

2wheelsoff,
That was half of the plan, and hopefully will be the case - so far we haven't made it into the race, though we have made it to the Waitlist. What about you?

Lazz,
Any luck with your entry?

Wow, tough luck on the wait listed entry Kinda makes me guilty to report that my team got in. Gotta get to work on the car, then deliver on the Pandamonium concept.

[TiAg]

Lazz,

Glad to hear that your team got in - the more E30 are there, the better! (and more chances to have an E30 on the podium). Hopefully I'll see you there. If not - best of luck!

[thesalboy]

2wheelsoff,

That was half of the plan, and hopefully will be the case - so far we haven't made it into the race, though we have made it to the Waitlist. What about you?

Our application was accepted this morning. Hopefully you'll get in when other entrants come to their senses. We're committed to not doing so.

[TiAg]

Tom,

Glad to hear you guys got in! I'm waiting to hear if Crash Test Dummies got in also... Hopefully we'll get lucky - we put a lot of effort in this project.

Update: Looks like PorcuBimmer team was accepted, but Crash Test Dummies were also "waitlisted"...

Update #2 (10/29): Just got an email that we are IN! See you all in December!

[2wheelsoff]

back in the US and ready to get the suspension on our lemon going! On the docket is putting in the M3 springs uberpanzer donated and also some new lower control arm bushings....they are cracked to all hell. After that an alignment would be a good idea, though I think an eyeball alignment is cheaper.