1991 316i Renovation

[G00GIEE]

A clear day on Saturday for the start of my E30 journey!

Back in the day, the car used to belong to my Nana. She bought it from a friend who used it sparingly as a company car and sold it to her when it was only about 6 months old. After my Grandmother passed away, the car passed to my Uncle, who drove it occasionally as a little run around until the oil pump failed in 2015 and he couldn't afford to fix it.

Since then, it has been sat on a back driveway in South Bristol, unused and unloved. After a chat at a BBQ last summer (admittedly after a few drinks) my Uncle said it would be great to see the car running again. I gratefully accepted his offer of taking the car, as long as I bought him a crate of cider and came to him first if I ever wanted to sell it. Given the family history with the car, my wife was more than happy to lose garage space for something with sentimental value (not sure I would have been allowed a different E30!)

After a few months of waiting, pricing things up, garage clearing and diary organising, the day finally came and the car was picked up and moved on a bright Saturday morning from Bristol back to Hampshire. Shout-out to James from ARMovements on Shiply, really professional service at a competitive price too. The car is now at her new home in Hampshire, and after a bit of a clean is ready for work to start. Seven odd years of moss and muck and other detritus was making her look a little less than optimal!

I also took a quick "half and half shot to illustrate quite how bad it was at the back of the car too...

I can remember my Nana driving me around Bristol in this car when I was knee high to a grasshopper and so it means a great deal to me that I take my time with this rebuild and do everything properly. I will continue this thread with updates as I work on her and we'll see where we end up but hopefully, with a fully functioning little beauty. Next step is to start dismantling the boot and surround to assess how bad the rust damage is back there, I'm worried it could be pretty horrendous...

On a final note, my wife suggested that we christen her DB, my Nana's initials, in memory of the lady who took me for my first journey in an E30!

[rix313]

What a fantastic back story and how great to keep the car in the family Look forward to seeing the progress!

[G00GIEE]

It has been a little while, but recently a clear weekend, my wife being away and some mates being free all lined up... it was time to remove the engine. After removing the bonnet and most of the front end trim, the car was ready to go up on axle stands and my mates and I could start taking everything off that needed to come off in order to lift the engine out.

The exhaust was easy enough but a bit fiddly to reach at the front end. Same again with the gear linkage, slave cylinder etc. Where we really encountered difficulties was in getting the driveshaft off, as the bolt heads were surrounding by a large collar making access very tricky. In the end we removed the engine with the front section of drive shaft attached and then managed to detach it from the gearbox more easily as we had a bit more room to access things. Still a fiddly job though!

After everything was disconnected it was time to start lifting the engine clear. We dropped the front down to give us more of an "angle of attack" and it came out really easily in the end.

The engine is now safely on a stand ready for the next stage of the job - break down, clean and fix the engine, as well as clean up the engine bay and steering rack. Its evident the car suffered a monumental oil leak at some stage in its life because the steering rack and front subframe is absolutely covered in the stuff.

I really like this last image of the car, whilst its up on stands because its alongside my friends more modern 3 series - definitely prefer the old style!!!

[martauto]

Nice work done there
What are "mates"

Mart.

[G00GIEE]

What are "mates"

Three work colleagues with more free time than sense!
Although they seem to like the idea of working on a car without having to incur any costs...

[martauto]

What are "mates"

Three work colleagues with more free time than sense!
Although they seem to like the idea of working on a car without having to incur any costs...

Mart.

[G00GIEE]

It has been a little while since I last posted, but in my spare time I've been dismantling the engine and its fairly clear that it has pretty much had it. There are too many parts that would need to be replaced, including the block, as one of the cylinders is completely gouged to hell so my only option would be a new block. To that effect I have now ordered a replacement M40 engine, with a similar mileage that should be delivered by the end of next week.

It's not something I initially wanted to do, as this car holds massive sentimental value and would also have been a fantastic learning opportunity for me. I would have loved to have my Grandmother's car as complete as possible but needs must, I'm not made of money!

I am still looking to get the most out of the little M40 engine though, and I'm now looking ahead to the future, possibly looking at installing a turbo... watch this space anyway, hopefully there won't be another ruined engine!