E30 Zone

I've just picked up a spanking e30 318is with an e36 m44 motor running with the e30 m42 inlet and electronics. Needless to say she's a little beast and will hopefuly do me proud on the Nurburgring in April!

So after a long day at work and a long trip to the other side of the UK I drive her home in the freezing night with the heater blowing cold air... and the temp guage on zero. The radiators getting hot and the pipes to the heater matrix seem to be hot... any ideas anyone? Termostat? Bleeding?

After a nights kip and a lie in we commenced work on phase 1 - strip and clean. The interior's all out baring the dash and front door cards, the sunroof mechanism's all gone and the panel welded/siliconed in place.

Now looking for ideas for suspension, tyres, wheels, exhausts (has a stainless manifold and mid section) cage, etc etc so anyone with suggestions feel free!

First thing first though somebody have an idea about the coolant system issues? I can't deal with much more driving with six layers on!!

Cheers!

Phil

~NUBURGRING DEADLINE 9 WEEKS - 12th April 09~
~Cars going:~
~String Rx7 3rd Gen - 450bhp+ track monster~
~Matt Rx7 1st Gen - Lean mean white fighting machine~
~Phil BMW e30 318 - "Going to eat the 1st Gen"~
~Stu 350z - Mild man of metal~
~Rick/Andy Porche 944 - Will they keep up? Or will we!~
~John - Is he coming or is he not!~

Oh and I've now got a full mint (really mint!) interior for sale if anyone wants it. South west UK location.

Where in the southwest are you?

Sounds brill get some pics up Im hoping to take mine to the ring when its done.

Tyres I'd say the Toyo R888 but can't say how they'd be with potentialy dodgy April weather as they only come with 4mm tread new iirc (they're road legal slicks ;)).

Safety devices 6 point bold in roll cage would be about £600, I've got one fitted to mine (have a look at my project thread should be some pics up)

The thermostat is easy enough to check, whip the water in/out lets off of the front and its in there, not sure if you can but maybe run it with out the stat and see what happens?

Thought about the R888s but think the weather will be an iffy one! Thinking of going with Toyo Proxie T1Rs again, worked a treat on my old impreza.

Ever heard of custom cages? www.customcages.co.uk thinking of a CDS club cage to keep the price down.

Been reading up on the temp guage/heater issues... wondering if they're two issues. Issue one being the thermostat and/or something else causing the heater problem. Issue 2 being the guage, wondering if this is because the m44 motor doesn't have a port for the second sensor the e30 needs for the guage (m42s have two sensors, one for guage one for ecu I think!). Can anyone confirm or correct this?

I'm not far from Bath and will sure be getting pics up as work progresses.

Me too PM'd.

Blimey that multipoint cage for £600 is amazing may flog mine and get that in the future.

You need to get this thread up in the track day section mate. Ask if it can be moved over

Forgot to post my ongoing thread on M42Club

http://www.m42club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7825

This car was bought from BBB, if I am correct?:)

I'd go with a stuck open thermostat for the heating problem.


Friend of mine just got his Custom cage welded in yesterday an I couldn't believe how well it fitted together this eveing when I had a look at it (And I looked at every inch in detail as I'll be getting one for my car too )


For suspension, Gaz do good coil-overs but are pricey for the Gold. A mate is planning on getting the GHA ones for his iS soon which is a daily driver/fast road car so will be interesting to see what those are like

Arbs is another thing that an iS can feel left wanting for when using good tyres
Eibach/ H&R or Whiteline


Supersprint are about the best for exhausts but unfortunately don't make them anymore unless a group buy of 10-15 were made

A chip from Evolve would be a good idea too if they can do them for M44s (although not sure if M44s give as good gains as M42s)

A LSD will also be uselful but try find a high ratio like 4.1-4.45 (M42club and other US sites are a good place to look)

An E46 rack makes steering much better too


Other than those bits, make sure all your bushes are in good shape
Fit eccentric control arm bushes to improve castor(only about £20 from the dealer:))