Kobra's Project E30 Touring

[Kobra 180]

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.

Edited July 1, 2020 by Kobra
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[Kobra 180]

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.

[Kobra 180]

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.

[Kobra 180]

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!

Edited July 1, 2020 by Kobra

[Olaf 3317]

outstanding!  and on-track for e30 Mega Meet this year!

[tire 10]

Thanks for keeping this updated. Motivating.

[Kobra 180]

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.

Edited July 3, 2020 by Kobra

[Olaf 3317]

by the way, I meant to say:  loved your earier post. "need an exhaust.  bought a tig welder.  taught myself to weld.  made this."  looks rather bloody excellent.  well done!

[Kobra 180]

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.

[Olaf 3317]

you have a skill for life!  next thing you fab up, you're ahead!

which muffler did you use, and is the pipe easy to source?

[Kobra 180]

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, 

[Kobra 180]

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. 

Edited July 4, 2020 by Kobra

[Kobra 180]

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.

Edited July 24, 2020 by Kobra

[Kobra 180]

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.

Edited April 21, 2021 by Kobra

[Kobra 180]

I finally got the headlining recovered (after sitting under my bed for 3 years), so now the interior could be reassembled.

All back together again.

I also had to find a set of black sunvisors to match the black headlining.

Very happy with the result.

Edited April 21, 2021 by Kobra

[Kobra 180]

Originally, I wasn't sure how I wanted to finish the backs of the front seats. I was thinking about covering them in a black material, but ended up just using the leather pieces that came with the seat kit that I got earlier.

Not perfect, but I'm happy enough with the result.
The interior work is almost complete.

Edited April 21, 2021 by Kobra

[Kobra 180]

I converted the gauge cluster to use LEDs.

The alternator wouldn't immediately start charging on engine start, it would seem it needs a bit more current draw from the alternator charging light to self-excite at idle. I bridged in an extra resistor on the alternator light "bulb" which sorted the issue.

For now, what I can say is that I'm very impressed with how well the LED conversion worked out. Even the dimmer control works, which I didn't expect. It can be pretty tricky to get a good photo of the LEDs in action, but I'll try update this post with one when I get a chance.

[Kobra 180]

During my test drive, I noticed some coolant had found it's way into the passenger footwell. I culprit was leaky heater control valve, apparently an extremely common issue. Here you can see the dried coolant, and green staining to the carpet.

I had to bite the bullet, and order a replacement in from Germany. Not a cheap part... but the new design is a great improvement.

A got a few other replacement parts as well, including a new coolant reservoir.

With it all back together, and confirmed the leak was resolved.
And the engine bay looks much cleaner without that dirty old coolant tank.

Edited April 21, 2021 by Kobra

[Kobra 180]

The exterior got some love, with the front end getting a much needed refresh with a combination of new and used parts.

The foglight blanking covers (one new, one old) got a fresh coat of Alpinweiss II paint.

The vent/trim pieces by the base of the windshield were heavily oxidised. I wanted to restore them, so I experimented with a mix of boiled linseed oil and white spirits. It worked fairly well. Here you see the effect, top one is untouched, bottom one has 2 coats of this mix "painted" on. It dries to semi-glossy finish.

New front grill pieces.

All installed on the car along with a new lip.

Much tidier, I'm stoked!

Edited April 21, 2021 by Kobra

[Kobra 180]

While all that was going on, I was slowly getting the car ready for getting a LVVTA certification. Eventually, it was ready, so I booked the date.

The battery was fairly old and decided to give up a few days before my cert appointment, so I had to get a replacement. I went with a slightly smaller DIN44 battery to save some weight. 

The certification check went well, but not perfect. The only thing I had to do was get some lock nuts for the engine mounts - a rule I had no idea about. A few days later,  the recheck was done, and the modifications were certified. The car ended up receiving one of the new donut style LVVTA electronic data plates, riveted to the passenger B-pillar.

The only thing left to do was get a fresh WoF and some registration, then it was finally road legal for the first time in 4 years.

Last weekend, I finally got the chance to take it for decent drive. I am absolutely stoked with how nicely she handles.
The poly bushes, coilovers, and purple tag rack produce a very direct and responsive steering feel. The ride is not too firm, but still stays flat in the corners.
The brakes are quite effective, certainly lighter to engage than a stock E30, but the larger Audi master cylinder firms up with good feel. Though, I'm yet to push them too hard as the pads are still breaking (braking?) in. 
The LSD amazing - This is the first RWD car equipped with an LSD that I've owned, and...I don't think I could go back.

Although, not everything is working how I want. The exhaust is the lowest point by far, and I have already managed to scrap it a few times on speed bumps. The main V-band clamp has taken a few hits, and is already damaged. 
So... I'm already planning to make some more changes to the exhaust to gain some much needed ground clearance.

I've also got a new clutch and flywheel, as well as some shifter and gearbox bits ready to be installed at some point. 
And the body is going to need a bit of rust repair, and a respray before too long.

The project continues...

Edited April 23, 2021 by Kobra

[adro 1083]

Wow, epic work! 

[Kobra 180]

Another quick update.

After driving the car around a bit more, it's clear that exhaust is a problem. It's taken half a dozen hits now, the clamp is not looking great, and the flexy is not going to last long. The exhaust has also been pushed up into the floor of the body to leave some small dents.

This photo is an attempt to show how low this front section sits.

The clamp:

So, I've come up with plan to modify the front section of the system to tuck it further up into the car:
I'll cut off the main V band clamp and flexy. 
Add a second small flexy to the "Y" merge section.
Add regular 2 bolt flange further back, just before the resonator.
Then connect the ends back together with a slightly ovalized length of pipe,

I already made a start on merge section.

Hoping to make some more progress this weekend.

[Rob HB1 90]

On 4/21/2021 at 9:11 PM, Kobra said:

Originally, I wasn't sure how I wanted to finish the backs of the front seats. I was thinking about covering them in a black material, but ended up just using the leather pieces that came with the seat kit that I got earlier.

Not perfect, but I'm happy enough with the result.
The interior work is almost complete.

Those seats are COOL

[Sammo 2544]

Car is looking amazing, perfect OEM+ build so far.

Good to see the L Seat covers work well - looks like a fair bit of work though?

[Kobra 180]

The seats did take a few days of effort, but part of that was me learning, and just going slowly to get everything to fit how I wanted. Well worth it in the end. 

Edited May 31, 2021 by Kobra