Kobra

It's been a while since I last updated this thread, but I haven't stopped making progress. I spent many weekends sorting out various bits and pieces on the car. First up, I noticed a slight rubbing sound when test driving, and found that a balance weight on the driveshaft was slightly contacting fuel tank. This is must've been due to the poly subframe bushes which raise the subframe slightly. I got some washers, and longer bolts to space the Differential down from the subframe Another issue was the wipers. They started sticking as they moved. I pulled the wiper motor, cleaned it up, and put it back together with some new grease. The insulation on the underside of the bonnet had completely crumbled away over almost 30 years of life. Only the adhesive remained. It looked pretty ugly, so I cleaned it off. Much better.

Oh, it turned out my power steering pump was going bad. A replacement sorted out all issues.

Bump

For sale: Set of 4 BMW Style 61 Wheels Size: 16x7.5 Offset: ET 20 Originally from and E38 7 Series. They're in fairly good condition, with some light curb rash in places. Asking $100, or near offer. Located in Christchurch.

I have a factory exhaust system from and E36 328i which I don't need. So it's free to anyone that wants it. Pick up in Christchurch.

Still looking for some visors.

Perfect. Will PM.

bump, may still be looking...

Wanting to buy an E30/E36 Type 188 "medium case" differential, or even just a known good gearset (matched crown wheel + pinion) with a ratio around 2.93 to 3.07 ish, maybe even 3.15. Unit is going into an E30, but this ratio is far more common in E36s. Located in Christchurch, but could be happy to ship.

Finally got the differential back from the shop. They had a look, checked a few things, and said everything looked good mechanically. The new theory is that the dust shield on the pinion shaft may have been slightly rubbing on the casing when the thrust from decel pulls the pinion inward slightly. The shield has been pushed back, and I managed to get the unit reinstalled today just before I ran out of daylight. I'm also currently doing a little maintenance on my front wiper motor (it didn't want to move smoothly on low speed). Once that is all back together, I can go for another drive. Hopefully that'll be tomorrow.

@leichtbau I'm keen. I'll pm.

I'm after a pair of E30 sun visors including the brackets they clip into. Must be black, and in reasonable condition. Not too worried if the vinyl is cracking around the pivot. Christchurch would be ideal.

Resolved another issue. The car has always had rough idle, and I've been hunting for vacuum leaks, but still hadn't managed to get a smooth idle. I just worked out that my catch can plumbing didn't include a PCV valve, and the engine was drawing too much air from the crankcase. Found an inline style PCV valve for a Corolla. Finally, the idle is buttery smooth.

Yep! The TIG has already come in handy many times. It's such a useful tool. I used a Vibrant StreetPower muffler, and a Vibrant Ultra Quiet Resonator. I got them from Street Science. All the stainless pipe sections are from Autobend here in Christchurch. They have a pretty excellent selection of exhaust components,

Haha, thanks mate. I'm quite stoked with the result. In the end, it worked out that buying the welding gear + materials cost about the same as the rough estimates I got for getting it built professionally.

Made a bit more progress today. Got the car partially airborne, and extracted the differential once again. Then got it booked in at the diff shop. So now I've just got to wait until they get a chance to look at it. I've also ordered a few new trim pieces to refresh the front-end, as well some more LED bulbs to complete the exterior LED conversion. I'm also going to attempt to convert the interior lights to led, but I still need to figure out how to modify the dimmer switch to use PWM for dimming.

FInally, after sitting on stands for many months, I can put the wheels back on, and drop the car on the ground. Not the best weather in the middle of winter, but I got 'er done. I'm pretty happy how she sits. Although, I might be tempted to drop the front a bit more once I get a sump guard sorted. I even managed to get out for a cheeky test drive. It feels soo good to finally drive it. 11s with ease . But...there is one issue - the differential makes a bad noise on decel. Otherwise, its perfectly quite. I knew this was an issue the last time I drove it, but haven't had a chance to sort it. I believe this means the pinion nut isn't tight enough. I'll have to drop the diff out again. Hopefully this weekend. That's all for now, folks!

The E30 went on the back burner while I kept putting my weekends into the MX5. It had many other issues, not uncommon for a neglected 30 year old car. The next step for the E30 was to get the welds on the front struts inspected for the LVV certification. I finally got around to taking the front struts to the certifier for an initial inspection, and then got the crack testing done. I received a passing report. No issues, fantastic. Now i can finally paint the whole strut, and get them back into the car. All back together again.

At this point, I was negotiating to sell my E36 daily driver back to the fella I bought it from. So I was going to need another daily, and ended up making a deal with my flatmate for this little beauty. It needed a few things fixed before it could be road legal again, so I moved my focus to fixing it up. The TRM C1 wheels (that I originally had for this E30 project) ended up on the MX5, along with new shocks, some king springs, some minor body work to rear, and a new soft-top roof. This was the last photo to took of the 328i before I sold it. I'll miss that car.

It's about time for another update. I got a new blower fan resistor, and that fixed all the fan speeds. The old resistor was surprisingly rusty. I also got a brand new kidney grill. The old intake rubbers were old and cracked. I picked up a new air filter, rubber intake elbow, and ICV hose. The car seems to have a more stable idle now. I put some heat wrap the exhaust manifolds and merge section. This should help keep heat away from the steering linkage.

@curryinahurry I may be able to help you out. Although I fear the wheel offsets may be different if you've got some 7.5" width rims. My 17x8s have an ET20 offset (5/7 series), which is a decent bit lower than the E36/E46 Style 32 fitment.

I've read that they work with a fairly open 15" rim. I know they can fit under TRM C1 15x8 ET20 wheels with a small amount of metal removed from the bump on the outside face of the caliper.

pm'd

Thanks guys. This is the kit I got. I chose dark red for both colour options. https://www.lseat.com/products/1984-1991-bmw-e30-sport-325-318-custom-real-leather-seat-covers-front.html For the foam repair, I got a piece of "firmish" density foam (similar to OEM), as well as a thin soft foam. Both from Para Rubber. I removed the worst of the crumbling original foam, and then cut a few pieces to fill in the missing parts/holes. Using some spray on contact adhesive, I glued the replacement pieces in. For the lower side bolster, I added some extra bits to help deal with some extra abuse. The upper side bolster was shaped with bastard file (aggressive enough to wear away at the foam), but I've seen cheese graters used as well. Once the main pieces are shaped nicely, I covered them with a layer of the thin foam to smooth out the top surface. With the leather pulled over the bolsters, I could not notice any evidence of foam repair. I should also mention that I used a clothing steamer to rejuvenate the original foam. The steam caused the foam to expand a surprising amount. I would highly recommend doing this.

I'm almost ready to put my car through the cert process, and I'm not sure if I should wrap my manifolds. Keen to know how your recheck went.