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Thread: The shark bit me

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    The shark bit me

    Well I have been looking for a car for the winter and came across an amazing deal I could not pass up. I've always had a thing for classic BMW's and mostly the 2002 (my next project). The car I am picking up is an 1983 320i, it has new a interior besides the dash and headliner, but needs a fuel pump and some body work. The spare wheel is rusted out and the rear under the tail lights is bad also. I am trying to find new euro sheet metal and replace all the rusted areas and repaint the car. I must say it is fun trying to find my way threw German websites . But other than this I will be lowing the car and then trying to figure out if I want to make a track car or go the stance route.
    Here is the car as of now









    This is what the car will be replacing during the summer. My last project - I did 95% of all the work just did not assemble the motor, I had a local machine shop take on that task. The car is a 2003 Jetta GLI with the vr6 24v with a fully built motor and turboed. I also tubbed the engine bay and shaved the bay, Pulled the fenders and wrapped it car.





  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Sacramento, California
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    1980 BMW 320i E21 M10B18
    welcome to the forums


    Randy

  3. #3
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    Interior looks great! Rust doesn't look too bad. The rear tail panel and the center spare tire well is available through http://www.wallothnesch.com/ be aware that to use the euro tail panel you have to do some fabrication to the trunk floor. How are the shock towers?

  4. #4
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    isn't there supposed to be a hook on the bottom of the spare tire well ? someone probably used it as a tow hook and ripped it out ! haha.
    vw looks good, seeing as you already have a stance car, I would build this one for the track ... rwd is a lot more fun

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
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    Atlanta, GA
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    Quote Originally Posted by ButteDorFrank View Post
    isn't there supposed to be a hook on the bottom of the spare tire well ? someone probably used it as a tow hook and ripped it out ! haha.
    vw looks good, seeing as you already have a stance car, I would build this one for the track ... rwd is a lot more fun
    I had a tow guy attach a tension band to that hook on my E21 once and got into an argument with him about why that hook was not load-bearing and why he needed to attach the band somewhere else. He finally listened and I managed not to have my hook ripped out or partially torn off.

    That white E21 has a good-looking interior!
    1982 320i E21 Coupe, Manual, Cashmere Metallic, 162K+ miles (Daily Driver)
    1997 318i E36 Sedan, Manual, Black, 388K+ miles (RIP)

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by pofo View Post
    ....I will be lowing the car and then trying to figure out if I want to make a track car or go the stance route.
    you'll need to deciede your direction first before lowering it because the two are not related, E21 track cars don't like to be low.
    Tom D

    77 e21 - m42
    88 e30m3
    04 330 dinan3
    84 r1000rt
    02 r1150rs
    all of them gray
    14 f800gsa - red headed stepchild!

  7. #7
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    Nice find! The radio looks to be oem. If you decide to put in an ungrade unit, I would like to buy the old one from you. John

  8. #8
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    Thanks everyone

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidD123 View Post
    Interior looks great! Rust doesn't look too bad. The rear tail panel and the center spare tire well is available through http://www.wallothnesch.com/ be aware that to use the euro tail panel you have to do some fabrication to the trunk floor. How are the shock towers?
    Thanks for the site, looks to have everything i need but the spare tire well but i will send them an email maybe they can get me one. I think the shock tops front and rear are in good shape I will re-look at them when I get my hand on the car Friday.
    Quote Originally Posted by Tom D View Post
    you'll need to decide your direction first before lowering it because the two are not related, E21 track cars don't like to be low.
    Very true, I plan on getting some S13 coils but dont know what spring rate I should order. Does anyone have any recommendations?
    Quote Originally Posted by John Adkins View Post
    Nice find! The radio looks to be oem. If you decide to put in an ungrade unit, I would like to buy the old one from you. John
    If I do I will let you know but I like the OEM look. If I do anything it will be a FM transmitter for my Podcasts

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by pofo View Post

    Very true, I plan on getting some S13 coils but dont know what spring rate I should order. Does anyone have any recommendations?
    i don't know what S13's are, but on my car where the roads are fairly decent i run koni adjustables and eibach springs, 450# front and 350# rears.
    Tom D

    77 e21 - m42
    88 e30m3
    04 330 dinan3
    84 r1000rt
    02 r1150rs
    all of them gray
    14 f800gsa - red headed stepchild!

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom D View Post
    i don't know what S13's are, but on my car where the roads are fairly decent i run koni adjustables and eibach springs, 450# front and 350# rears.
    S13 is the 88-93 Nissan 240sx, I see that a lot of people used these and mod the fronts to work
    Attached Images Attached Images

  11. #11
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    you can just cut off the spring perches and use treaded collars, no welding required. i did that with ground control.

    Tom D

    77 e21 - m42
    88 e30m3
    04 330 dinan3
    84 r1000rt
    02 r1150rs
    all of them gray
    14 f800gsa - red headed stepchild!

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
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    81 BMW e21, 98 VW gti vr
    welcome. I am also a VW and e21 owner









    I am excited to see what you do with the suspension. I have never seen those sleeves made by stance. Very nice to know. Is the s13 front coilover a good size to install? I assume once that sleeve is on all you have to do is drill out the strut.

    Welcome again

    Kevin
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by benjaminfrankln; 11-11-2015 at 01:26 AM.

  13. #13
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    Dude Kevin !!!! ... so easy to build your own coilovers ... here get these : http://www.ebay.ca/itm/GREEN-0-4-HON...item58b9daccfe

    and some decent shock and you are golden ... plenty of do it yourself bmw coilovers out there, they are basically all the same no matter what year model you look at

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by ButteDorFrank View Post
    isn't there supposed to be a hook on the bottom of the spare tire well ? someone probably used it as a tow hook and ripped it out ! haha.
    Exactly what happened to my car a few years ago. A tow truck driver used it to secure the rear end to the back of the flat bed. Ripped it off and took a big chuck out of spare wheel well with it.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by ButteDorFrank View Post
    Dude Kevin !!!! ... so easy to build your own coilovers ... here get these : http://www.ebay.ca/itm/GREEN-0-4-HON...item58b9daccfe

    and some decent shock and you are golden ... plenty of do it yourself bmw coilovers out there, they are basically all the same no matter what year model you look at
    I am just not a fan of this style of coilovers but it is an option and maybe a good start just for the winter, but with a lot of the s13 set ups I can get more control with 3 way adjustments for half the price of any kit for the e21. I just need to swap the top hats on the rear to the OEM BMW and for the front I will fill and re drill the holes for the S13 bolt pattern on the shock top and then cut and weld to the strut.

    This is for a datsun but gives you the idea of what I am thinking
    large_1422659472828346937.jpg

  16. #16
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    I don't see what is the advantage of having it 3 way adjustable except to preload your spring to make it stiffer and travel less ... do people actually play with that ? I've always just seen it with the one threaded sleeve ... but I saw on my buddy's nissan not long ago he had this setup you are talking about...

  17. #17
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    give a man a three way adjustable dampener and he'll screw up the suspension for sure.
    Tom D

    77 e21 - m42
    88 e30m3
    04 330 dinan3
    84 r1000rt
    02 r1150rs
    all of them gray
    14 f800gsa - red headed stepchild!

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by ButteDorFrank View Post
    Dude Kevin !!!! ... so easy to build your own coilovers ... here get these : http://www.ebay.ca/itm/GREEN-0-4-HON...item58b9daccfe

    and some decent shock and you are golden ... plenty of do it yourself bmw coilovers out there, they are basically all the same no matter what year model you look at
    the thing I am curious about is how to get the correct spring rate for the car and how to match the spring setup with the strut. I would want to chop the strut housing and run a mkI golf insert as well. Oh and do most honda coil over sleeves inner diameter work with 320 strut housings outer diameter? I actually have 323 larger strut housings up front
    Last edited by benjaminfrankln; 11-11-2015 at 02:09 AM.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom D View Post
    give a man a three way adjustable dampener and he'll screw up the suspension for sure.
    Yes if they dont userstand ow to use them, I agree. Luckly I know some people that are very experienced in tuning coilovers.
    Quote Originally Posted by benjaminfrankln View Post
    the thing I am curious about is how to get the correct spring rate for the car and how to match the spring setup with the strut. I would want to chop the strut housing and run a mkI golf insert as well. Oh and do most honda coil over sleeves inner diameter work with 320 strut housings outer diameter? I actually have 323 larger strut housings up front
    I know some company's will allow you to choose your own spring rate but spring rate is only a small part of the coilover. You can over come a harder spring by adjusting the rebound and spring compression. I know the s13 is a light car also so the spring rate cant be to far off I am thinking.
    This may help :http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7082

  20. #20
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    There are several companies that make coilovers for the E21, why not go with one of them? CA Tuned and BC Racing make very quality coilovers at a great price. Another popular alternative is Ground Control.

  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by DavidD123 View Post
    There are several companies that make coilovers for the E21, why not go with one of them? CA Tuned and BC Racing make very quality coilovers at a great price. Another popular alternative is Ground Control.
    I will have to do some more research but I know CAtuned's are not the best, BC's are ok for the price and I truly dont like the ground control option to be honest. But at that price range there's a lot of high performing options for the s13 platform with out the BMW tax

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by ButteDorFrank View Post
    I don't see what is the advantage of having it 3 way adjustable except to preload your spring to make it stiffer and travel less ... do people actually play with that ? I've always just seen it with the one threaded sleeve ... but I saw on my buddy's nissan not long ago he had this setup you are talking about...
    The looser you go on the pre-load spring the less effective the suspension will become. I like the idea of having a fixed pre-load and then having the option of adjusting high with out effecting the ride quality.
    Last edited by pofo; 11-11-2015 at 05:22 PM.

  22. #22
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    What bad have you heard about CA Tuned coilovers?

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by pofo View Post
    .....You can over come a harder spring by adjusting the rebound and spring compression......
    Quote Originally Posted by ButteDorFrank View Post
    ....I don't see what is the advantage of having it 3 way adjustable except to preload your spring to make it stiffer and travel less ...
    Quote Originally Posted by pofo View Post
    .....The looser you go on the pre-load spring the less effective the suspension will become......
    i'm beginning to think that neither one of you guys know what you're talking about.....

    you can not overcome a stiff spring by adjusting rebound and compression, furthermore you can not adjust spring compression with a dampener!

    you can not adjust preload with a dampener, that can only be done by adjusting the spring!

    preload has little to do with suspension effectiveness, it's used to adjust static sag. however, too much or not enough static sag does effect the suspension's workable travel.

    a 3 way adjustable shock allows you to change low speed compression, high speed compression and rebound and that is all!
    Tom D

    77 e21 - m42
    88 e30m3
    04 330 dinan3
    84 r1000rt
    02 r1150rs
    all of them gray
    14 f800gsa - red headed stepchild!

  24. #24
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    Yes I understand the concept of the fast and slow rebound has nothing to do with recoil, and I will be taking my friends advice who knows how to make it very effective. As I said I like the fixed pre-load up top, then I can adjust ride height and not effect the shock. This way I can keep the car low for everyday driving, and then when and I go to the track once or twice a year I can raise it up so it can handle a little better.


    But on an other note I picked the car up last night and went threw most of the car. The car is sold. The strut stops are perfect front and back. The motor does not look to be leaking oil. I need to pick up a new battery for it tomorrow and a fuel filter so I can test the fuel pumps. The owner said the pump was bad but not sure what one.




    Last edited by pofo; 11-12-2015 at 12:03 AM.

  25. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by DavidD123 View Post
    What bad have you heard about CA Tuned coilovers?
    My buddy had a set in his e36 and he was not a big fan of how they drove, and almost every thread I pull up more then half are recommending other brands. But then again this is the internet and cant believe what you read. They are not that much more money than my route, but you still need to weld one way or the other. I wounder what shocks they use or do they manufacture there own? Can anyone with an e21 tell me how they like there CAtuned?

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