AlpineAde's 325i (Update NOV '11)

[AlpineAde]

Yeah...I need some E30 driving friends.

Or just some friends.

Be a good view for track days, though. I want to have about 2 or 3 really good position to film from and then alternate between sessions. Hopefully, I will get some good footage and also get an idea of where/how I stuff up with my driving.

[mrgtsx]

hey champ just noticed your topic. i live just next to sandown where you from? good to see another e30 enthusiest in melb apart from me and my family friend. your doing a great job with your car. regarding the bonet is the one you posted up carbon or fibreglass? o after one atm trying to get as much weight off mine as possible. cant wait to get mine on the road again after 2 years of stuffing around

[AlpineAde]

Thanks, mrgtsx!

I'm just over the Highway and just off Wanda Street. Very close to Sandown. I'm also a member of PIARC and I'm hoping to get a day in at Phillip Island at some stage this year.

The MA Shaw bonnets wouldn't be carbon fibre ~ not at that price. But at 12 pounds...man, they're tempting. And I've only heard good things about their fit and finish. Their products have an excellent reputation. Funnily enough, I've got the car in tomorrow for a little work and I was going to ask the guy about the legalities of such bonnets. I'll post back what he says if you're interested.

Cheers!

[AlpineAde]

Oh, I forgot to add....



Ordered a set of these.

Thanks Louise!

Should be here very soon indeed.

[oze30]

Very sexy manifold!!!

Not sure, but that camera seems to have a bit of wind noise... might be worthwhile sticking some fury fluffy stuff over the mke hole to dampen it down abit?

[Levie]

OOOoo i want one of these cam's now for when i take mine to the track...
thank mate should be great! glad u found it

[AlpineAde]

Two clips....

The camera was mounted on the rear window, looking "through" the front seats.

First clip (long version). This was a 200 odd megabyte clip (.avi) rendered down in Windows Movie Maker as a .wmv file and uploaded in .flv format. The new size is around 14 megabytes.



Second Clip (quick grab). Comes in at around 4.5 megabytes as a .flv file.



I'm still having issues with audio.

If I could get it sounding like this (from the Go Pro website) I would be 100% happy with the camera.





I might try and use a filter on the microphone and keep plugging away on placing the camera in various positions on/in the car. We'll see how we go.

[AlpineAde]

Very sexy manifold!!!

Not sure, but that camera seems to have a bit of wind noise... might be worthwhile sticking some fury fluffy stuff over the mke hole to dampen it down abit?

I've been thinking about a filter of sorts....

And I can't wait to get my hands on the manifold.

OOOoo i want one of these cam's now for when i take mine to the track...
thank mate should be great! glad u found it

They're very cheap and cheerful. Stability is excellent and the quality of the image is very good.

If only I could get some decent audio! It's driving me

[Jhonno]

WTF was that in the road begining of the 5min clip?!

[AlpineAde]

WTF was that in the road begining of the 5min clip?!

The roundabout I turn left at?

Or the divider leaving the carpark?

[mrgtsx]

im not fussed about legalitys your so close! i used to o track days with my r31 skyline at phillip island but i have a convertible e30 now, not the best for a track day haha. as you can see parts are har to find for us aye! im having a terrible time getting little fiddly bits. mines pretty much a ground up resto

[AlpineAde]

im not fussed about legalitys your so close! i used to o track days with my r31 skyline at phillip island but i have a convertible e30 now, not the best for a track day haha. as you can see parts are har to find for us aye! im having a terrible time getting little fiddly bits. mines pretty much a ground up resto

Phillip Island. I can't wait to get a crack at that track. I joined PIARC, too (CAMS requirement for a lot of trackdays). The Skyline would have been a blast!

Have you tried Peninsula BM and BM Spares for parts? BMW OEM is still a surprising source for little bits and pieces but I'm finding that sourcing overseas appears to be becoming more and more the thing to do.

How close are you to getting the car finished? Have you got a good mechanic or are you going the DIY route? I'd be interested in knowing more about the restoration. If you're interested in the MA Shaw bonnets it sounds as though there might be a bit of modding in the offing. Nice!

[DrBen]

Hey Ade, where did you get the extractors from, and how much were they? I'd love some of them for my car!

[AlpineAde]

Hey Ade, where did you get the extractors from, and how much were they? I'd love some of them for my car!

Three of us from ECCA (European Car Club of Australia) went in together after I posted up details on the forum.

They are the Hottuning manifold and, given the complete lack of "off the shelf" manifolds in Australia (excepting GAH and Peak), represent excellent buying.

Louise (from Hottuning) has proven wonderful to deal with and is incredibly helpful. Here's the email contact:

hottuning AT hottuning.eu

Web:

http://www.hottuning.eu/
http://www.hottuning.co.uk/

ECCA thread:

http://forums.eurocca.net/showthread.php?t=27490

[Chase007]

Very good work mate i luv that manifold very sexy

[mrgtsx]

im doing majority myself bar the intercooler piping/exhaust and retrim of interior. its time taking but ive been doing it very slow i dont care how long it takes i got other things on my mind atm but i will never sell it no matter what i love my e30 yeh im getting more parts from overseas as some parts are just too hard to get here and bm spares charge through the roof for some things

[Speedtouch]

AlpineAde, I'm pleasantly surprised that my photos of the Hottuning six-branch ended up on a forum on the other side of the world!

[doctorspike]

crikey,another zoner,fairdinkum mate,nice

[AlpineAde]

AlpineAde, I'm pleasantly surprised that my photos of the Hottuning six-branch ended up on a forum on the other side of the world!

They were the best ones I could find to illustrate the manifold.

Let me know if you want me to take them down and I'll attend to it pronto.

Good photos, BTW.

Hang on...

I've got a great idea!

(Potters off to ECCA thread....)

EDIT: idea implemented.

[AlpineAde]

and bm spares charge through the roof for some things

LOL!

So much so that on the odd occasion it's worth buying the part new.

It is quite odd. Some big ticket items are cheap as chips and some parts that you would think are pretty cheap second hand are worth a fortune.

Who is doing you interior?

I can recommend Blackman and Sons. They do absolutely stellar work. I'm getting some carpet done there eventually.

Very good work mate i luv that manifold very sexy

Cheers, Chase!

crikey,another zoner,fairdinkum mate,nice

LOL!

[Speedtouch]

AlpineAde, I'm pleasantly surprised that my photos of the Hottuning six-branch ended up on a forum on the other side of the world!

They were the best ones I could find to illustrate the manifold.

Let me know if you want me to take them down and I'll attend to it pronto.

Good photos, BTW.

Hang on...

I've got a great idea!

(Potters off to ECCA thread....)

EDIT: idea implemented.

No worries Ade, and thanks for the mention. I would have cleaned the bird sh*t off that table and chairs if I'd known they were going to appear to a wider audience!

[akekasak]

wow look nice dude

[AlpineAde]

wow look nice dude

Thanks, man! Cheers.

New bits purchased:

UUC short shifter and DSSR:

http://www.uucmotorwerks.com/html_produ ... er_nav.htm



Should be in the car in a week or two. I'm looking forward to it. I've only ever heard good things about UUC and their products so it should be a blast to use.

[Lloydie38]

Looking really sweet - loving the whiteness

[mrgtsx]

pro stitch interior are going to redo it. only needs the front and rear seats redone in leather as its all cracked etc. i did my whole rear end yesterday, new poly bushes waiting on whiteline swaybars front and rear so i can put that on then ill hit some coilovers in it as well just having troble finding a bonet

[Levie]

mm i wish i had some of the goodies you have... nice work on the old girl..

where boughts in aus you from? toowoomba queensland here

[AlpineAde]

Looking really sweet - loving the whiteness

Thanks, mate. Cheers!

pro stitch interior are going to redo it. only needs the front and rear seats redone in leather as its all cracked etc. i did my whole rear end yesterday, new poly bushes waiting on whiteline swaybars front and rear so i can put that on then ill hit some coilovers in it as well just having troble finding a bonet

Pro Stitch Interior? Where are they? I've got front seats that could use some attention eventually. It'd be a good idea to get a quote. Congrats on the progress.

As for bonnets, nothing I've found and liked is road legal. I met a guy today at my mechanic's who has a mate that does a lot of carbon fibre work. He is starting to do bonnets now. Imagine a nice quality carbon fibre bonnet. So light!

mm i wish i had some of the goodies you have... nice work on the old girl..

where boughts in aus you from? toowoomba queensland here

Thanks, man. Me? I'm in Melbourne.

[AlpineAde]

Update:

The UUC short shifter is, in a word, awesome!

Got the knuckle replaced as well during the installation and the beastie shifts beautifully! Very pleased. The quality of the materials, the fit and finish...UUC are indeed top rate. Highly recommended.

Further note: I can no longer stand that bloody AFM.

It has to go.

Aftermarket engine management and ITBs here I come, ready or not!

[Speedtouch]

Sounds great. There's a guy on here doing carbon fibre bonnets
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... 90&start=0

(Though I imagine shipping to Aus would be a bit steep...)

[AlpineAde]

Those bonnets are gorgeous!

If only they were legal here in Victoria. Damn those laws!

From all the reading I've done there is no way around the "bonnet thing" unfortunately. Pity.

[AlpineAde]

All ready to go:

[AlpineAde]

UPDATE ON MADNESS:

Ye Gods!

I bought my car on January 5th, 2007. It is now June 20th, 2008.

It was bought as "a project", something that I have always wanted to do and get real pleasure from.

I keep all records and receipts. I photograph all that I can in terms of parts and installation, etc.

It's been 18 months.

I have reached a conclusion....

Projects are expensive.

My records indicate that I have spent $11610.58 on my car in the period that I have owned it. That includes everything....parts, mods, labour, servicing. That's over 5600 of your English pounds.

I must be bonkers.

And there is still more to come. Double

I think I'll go lie down.

[Speedtouch]

Take some deep breaths through your Hottuning six-branch!

[AlpineAde]

I think I better.

I'm still eeking.

And now I've started the engine work.

Bloody hell!

[AlpineAde]

UPDATE:

Parts for top end rebuild are being ordered (rocker arms, shafts, eccentrics, VRS kit, Head Bolt kit, timing belt, tensioner, water pump....usual suspects). Exhaust is nearly ready to go. Things are moving.....

I have also decided to replace all the bumper inserts on the car, as the original ones are quite nasty (scratched, dinged and scraped). New OEM leather gear shift knob has replaced the naff and ricey Momo "air" one that was one the car when I bought it. I also sourced one of these to replace the original "Sport" steering wheel that came with the car.

I've gone from this:



to this:



Good price, though a little bit of a clean up was needed.

Nice wheel, though.