E30 24V

[1rotty 40]

Looking good John.

[E30BMA 0]

Yeah looking good... Im liking the Royalblue much more than the last blue you had.

Just seems to suit the car so much better.

[e30ftw 394]

Cheers guys. Yeah so far everything is going good

[e30ftw 394]

Aight so I have done as much as I wanna do for the interior side of things for now (leaving the glovebox etc out incase I need to go back and look at wiring). Seats etc can go back in later too.

Decided I'm gonna do all the suspension now, So I've pulled the front struts and control arms out. Got my BFH out because the control arms were stuck in the struts... Had to pull the struts with the control arms then go nuts with BFH til they seperated. Chopped king spring superlows on the side lol.

The ground controls, Gonna take them somewhere have the housings shortened then I can fit them in.

Only problem is the rear shocks are waaay to long. And they aren't exactly shortenable either, having adjusters in the center of them and the mount sits on a welded perch like so:

So I have had a chat with some people and been suggested to get 50lb 'helper' springs in the rear, so it keeps everything captive.. Not sure what to do, but these seem like a proper way to go.

http://www.truechoice.com/prodinfo.asp?number=EIB%20HELP

http://www.truechoice.com/prodinfo.asp?number=EIB%20SPACER

[c.robertson00 11]

Coming along nicely dude! If you put those soft spings in to keep everything captive the shocks will be realy close to riding in the bumpstops wont they? Im sure I read that it f**ks all the seals in the shocks. I would have thought that a decent engineering shop would be able to weld another one of those perches on once it was shortened.

If you need someone to take the car for a test drive once the engines in im free lol

[e30ftw 394]

Haha, I'm going to see what I can do anyways.

I don't get what you mean about the bumpstop thing though lol. But I'm gonna try Quality auto machinists to see if they are able to shorten. Prob one of the best workshops around here so I'll see what they say..

Give me your engine hoist lol

[c.robertson00 11]

If you dont get the shocks shortened then the shock will always be moving at the bottom end of its travel once the spring is compressed with the weight of the car on it.

text me when ever you need to use it. It goes high enough to drop an m20 in with g/box attached and heaps of room to clear the front bonnet hinge thinggy

[CamB 48]

Lower it less, LOL.

I had this argument extensively with JiB - his car is as low as it can go and still be captive, and is certed at this height. He wanted it lower, I reckon its not worth it for looks when you get too much negative camber and too little ground clearance (his car is for tarmac rally / track). Its not low:

What you really need is some longer, softer springs which would be captive but also give the lower ride height. The obvious negative is that they'll be soft...

I personally don't think helper springs would work with the way the E30's rear springs work.

[Greg111 13]

The only way is to shorten the shocks, very easy to do, just unfortunate Quality's is the only engineering shop round here, definitely not my port of call.

[e30ftw 394]

Well hey could always sell the koni adjustables and get some billy sports or something which are easier to shorten.

I'll take them down see what they say anyways, Just reckon it might be difficult due to having an adjuster in the center..

Anyways can't be bothered doing anything for now, Got bit by a white tail spider. Ouch..

Oh and the cars not gonna be super damn low, But FYI the Koni's they come with are only 20mm shorter than stock. Wouldn't even keep king spring superlows captive.

Edited January 26, 2010 by e30ftw

[Greg111 13]

Oh and the cars not gonna be super damn low, But FYI the Koni's they come with are only 20mm shorter than stock. Wouldn't even keep king spring superlows captive.

I was weighing up doing an m52b28 swap too with an OBD1 conversion from kerry, But the cams and ecu etc all started adding up. And I chose to go with an e36 box too so it was getting abit up there so I was just like meh m50 will do, rather get some coilovers and sack the **** out of my car.

[e30ftw 394]

I'm aiming for the height I used to be at anyways, maybe a tad lower, Which with normal springs was not certable as the spring travel was too short..

With shortening the front strut housings and using the shorter koni shocks you can pretty much have the shock and spring in full travel, while having it low and being able to adjust it etc.

Something like this, with 16x8's.

[e30ftw 394]

My mate took his camera back so I went and bought a cheap as one, takes the 'makes it look worse than it is' kinda pics.. So bare with my horrible photo taking..

Anyways, Have shadowlined window trim.

Rear seat and rear parcel are back in. Got some Wax and grease remover and spent AGES scrubbing the adhesive off my windows as my tints were slightly too dark for VTNZ

Had to remove the clutch and re-align it to get the gearbox to fit on, But now have the gearbox joined up to the m50 and put in the m20 starter too.

Still need to swap this e34 pan and pick up onto it though, Will probably do it when I get a hoist and am ready to drop it in. Found that the front bolt holding the pulley on the oil pump was loose too, so cleaned it and thread locked it back on..

My full 2.5" exhaust to play around with later.. (running out of things to take pics off lol)

Oh and my new instrument cluster and most of the interior now back in place.. Ju7st need a new ignition barrel loom as the plug pops off every now and then. Then the steering shroud and steering wheel can pop back on.

Can't do much engine wise as I have been trying to find someone who can shorten my front strut housings. Have to wait for tomorrow and go to Quality Autos as the engineer there seems to be the only guy round here who can hah.. So yeah it's been sitting up on jacks and can't move it anywhere (motor is sitting right infront of it). Once the strut housings are shortened and perches welded on I'll be able to put them back in and then it'll be m50 drop in time

[c.robertson00 11]

I want your dash! Its mint! Good thing you found that oil pump nut now rater than when it worked loose. Are you going to wire it aswell or just use loctite?

[Guest Ari Gold]

Loving your work John!

[oscar90 0]

everytime I look at your last project thread and this one i'm jelous man! wish I had half the skills / patience as you! the paint looks nice, bit quieter than the last blue aye........turbo down the track? haha

Does that wiring diagram on page 3 work for E34 M50 to PRE-facelift E30? if not does someone have a key/diagram that would? sorry for the hijack man:ph34r:!

Edited February 2, 2010 by HT.

[kerry 10]

better see you at the hamilton meet, pics dont do justice by any means. looking tidy thought man. 1 thing move that amp haha

Edited February 2, 2010 by kerry

[e30ftw 394]

I want your dash! Its mint! Good thing you found that oil pump nut now rater than when it worked loose. Are you going to wire it aswell or just use loctite?

It WAS mint but cos I used to park my car outside it started a very very small crack in the usual place they do crack, Can' see it unless your closed up. Was friggin gutted when I was cleaning the car one day noticed the crack appearing.

What were you referring to wiring? Yeah I just loctited that bolt and tightened the Sh*t out of it hah.

everytime I look at your last project thread and this one i'm jelous man! wish I had half the skills / patience as you! the paint looks nice, bit quieter than the last blue aye........turbo down the track? haha

Does that wiring diagram on page 3 work for E34 M50 to PRE-facelift E30? if not does someone have a key/diagram that would? sorry for the hijack man:ph34r:!

Pre-FL have a few missing wires, But everything to get it running should be there, I remember Troy saying there were '8' wires needed to connect for it to run. The other 6 or w/e aren't too important (tach etc).

better see you at the hamilton meet, pics dont do justice by any means. looking tidy thought man. 1 thing move that amp haha

haha I have always had the amp there PO had put it there in a 325i coupe I had.. Just moved it over. Can't really notice it when the back windows tinted, but it's blatantly obvious sticking there anyways lol but has never given me trouble or anything.. Riiicer

Edited February 2, 2010 by e30ftw

[grantdavis28 8]

spray the amp black... red looks no good in this car. :-)

[e30ftw 394]

Not a bad idea heh.

Would move it but can't be bothered finsding a new home for it and also the parcel tray will be left with some holes.

I'll paint it black and you prob won't see it with a tinted rear window.

[bravo 34]

Surprised and impressed. Nice flip flop in the direction your going with this car.

Kudos.

[westy 614]

^^Agreed.

Just take your time with the engine and you should end up with a great wee car.

[e30ftw 394]

Cheers guys, yeah definitley taking my time and triple checking things as I go.

Currently having the front struts shortened about 2" and spacers made, then the perches welded on for the ground controls in front. Shops abit full on at the moment so could be expecting them about early next week if not by the weekend.

Also they can't shorten my rear koni adjustables. So will have to sell these and maybe get some billy sports that I can shorten. Any ideas on the value of mine? 20mm shorter koni adjustable shocks. Anyone interested?

[e30ftw 394]

After abit of 'evaluation' there is no way I would be able to lift the engine and gearbox in through the top with the car in the garage. Roof isn't all too high and yeah I can't push it out the garage either as our driveway is on a downwards angle.

So I'm going to go with the idea suggested of going in from underneath. I've figured i'll def be able to get the car high enough the slide the m50 underneath. Also this way I will avoid messing up the paint this way (which I guarantee would have happened lol).

So pulled the subframe now, while I wait for the front struts to be shortened.

Oh and I learnt the hardway about fitting the steering covers while the dash is in. Top one wasn't too keen to fit with the dash in the way. Had to go back a few steps

Edited February 3, 2010 by e30ftw

[Forrest 35]

^ Looks good, those covers are a pita. A large group of swear words was used to get mine in while the dash was in.