E30 Zone

So, as some may & may not know, last week after 8 Months of searching for a good sport, my luck set in and my dream came true... Delivered to my door was a delphin metallic Tech II sport, restored last year, 100k on the clock.

The majority of the car is filler and rot free, a skim of filler on the rear arches but not replaced, a smear on the passengers side scuttle panel, and what appears to be a filled dent on the roof (one to keep an eye on!). No rot underneath just some light surface rust, compartment tray solid, battery tray has had a small plate welded in but not large or serious.

The car during its resto has had many engine parts replaced, a good re-spray, the jigging points replaced (not the best but acceptable and will be corrected at a later date) gearbox & diff rebuild, and a few other little things.

Basically, the car over the years HAS been looked after reasonably. And for a sport has survived most of the major rot and problem areas, but i would say at one point the car fell into the wrongs hands and was repaired ”˜quickly and basically’ or should i say.. BODGED! Causing some areas to need tidying and small attention.

Firstly i have removed the Horrid tacky ”˜Alpina’ bonnet and boot badge and replaced them with the something more original.



Today with the weather being not too bad i nipped to Darlington to have some cellulose paint matched ready to touch up a few areas, £26 for a LTR of Cellulose is not cheap! But has to be done. Once back i sanded the front & rear arches lightly to remove the ”˜re-spray lip’ and give them four coats of the matched paint before i have the day of wax-oiling, in theory this will slow the decaying process and stop moisture getting under the paintwork from where it was resprayed and lifted with time.



Next task was the boot, over time the simseal around the very edge of the inside boot lid gathers moisture underneath and lifts rusting rapidly and usually spreads through the paintwork, here is one good example!. During the re-spray the seal was not removed meaning further moisture was welcomed to ruin the new shiny coat!, this was removed carefully, wire brushed, rust treated, and just as i was about to give it a few new coats of paint... it rained!



Hopefully if the weather is back on track in the morning i will finish the boot, and concentrate on the heater blower fan (see technical help).

Still a whole list to do before she is on the road, full wax oil, service, bush replacement etc ec.
*watch this space*

Good efforts fella. Only a little bit jealous of you.

Looks a nice car,
Keep the updates coming,

Been hard at it again today, the heater blower fan was ceased as predicted so after removing had a good clean out with electrical cleaner and works a treat now.
So cracked on and finished the boot edge...


From their we began removing the rear interior and boot carpets etc to reveal the nooks & crannys ready for a blow out and wax oil, and as you can imagine, a small horror was discovered. The battery tray and opposite compartment were fine, however i was aware small plates had been welded on the inner arches towards the front. After taking the rear cards off and seeing this as you can imagine i thought for fu*k sake!

Solid!

Good solid inner arch!


Please.. oh god.. no!?!!

Yes, thats fibre glass!!! My first thought was they have just filled the holes with the stuff! However on further examination.. all is not as bad as it looks!
The plates have been welded in (reasonably) and treated, but for some reason afterwards have had a big layer of fibreglass wacked over them? Seems odd.
So using the injection tool we have managed to fill the inner arches almost completely with a medium mixture of wax oil, as well as the battery tray, lower compartment, sills (injected) and underneath the battery tray and compartment.







What has not been covered will run and seep through this summer giving the hard to get places further coverage.

So that is all for now, tomorrow will consist of wax oiling the outer arches and underneath, as well as sorting the sunroof position.

i cant get my applicator to spray the wax out,it just comes out in a solid line/jet and then i had to use a brush to spread it about.

i used black spray on trade underseal then clear wax oil on the arches and floor.

Double Jobbed

The applicater we have is probably atleast the same age as the car

Sure you havent got it too thick or need to clear the line out with spirit?

i just shook the 5ltr can up a few times and started spraying,i did sit it in a sink full of hot water first though for about 10 mins.the applicator i bought was the manual trigger pump job for around £12.99.

plastic shite

so when are you going to use it as your daily ?

be nice to have a look at it when the meetings start up again.

Will your new purchase be gracing this event Sven?

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... 31&start=0

The cheap guns are worse than water pistols but youve realised that now haha,

Once all of the small things are sorted and it has its fluids changed this week and a bush, then the insurance is being swapped around and shes my new daily, the baby white will be on the market. However, most probably when i realise she is too good for next winter i may see about getting it garaged and buy a cheap run around.

Sadly i wont be able to attend im at a birthday event, some place where e30's are seen as old school drug dealers wheels.

Agreed, i want to see Alex's tech 1 OEM masterpiece

looks good sven, shame about the inner arch but new ones can be added later i guess.

it will be a big step up from a 316i, I'am board of 325i power now i find mine slow, not selling it though i plan on a miller maf and 6 branch next

I haven't even been out in it yet, end of the week will tell all. The fact it's sat on it's Pratt made my dad say 'it's like a bloody go cart', I can imagine I will need to carry spare boxers after my first outing!

Too slow?! I guess it's twin turbos and a radiculous project online for you in the distant future haha.

It's nice to think there are a few more loved sports in the area now though, surely the chicks are T your knees in your tech 1.

svenga wrote:I haven't even been out in it yet, end of the week will tell all. The fact it's sat on it's Pratt made my dad say 'it's like a bloody go cart', I can imagine I will need to carry spare boxers after my first outing!

Too slow?! I guess it's twin turbos and a radiculous project online for you in the distant future haha.

It's nice to think there are a few more loved sports in the area now though, surely the chicks are T your knees in your tech 1.

The torque is good, but when your giving it the beans its a bit crap i think. 170bhp isnt alot these days though. Modern standard diesels still give it a good run for its money

everyone says its much better than the IS, everyone said the IS was an old mans car, people say this looks cool even the other half like it

Good work on tidying it up, said it before but it looks a good'un.

I want to get a sport when i live closer to work, at the moment the petrol would ruin me.

Today consisted of waxoyling the outer arches, jigging & jacking points, the front arches under the splash gaurd, and under the scuttle panels. For now until summer that is the waxoyling over as these were the main areas of concern, the entire underside will be given a coat or two. I bled all the brakes so they are as hard as ever with new fluid (dot 4), and also discovered the bodging b*stards had used short wheel bolts (looking for the longer type see the wanted section if you can help), and various types cut down crudely. Meaning the wheels were hanging off, some had loose bolts, and one was over-tightened and had pulled the thread through. So looks like i will have to re-thread one of them and get my hands on these longer wheel bolts ASAP.

Only one scuttle had been repaired (the drivers side had survived due to a large amount of factory gloop stuck to the inside) But sadly it had been done roughly, a plate slapped on the inside (probably glued or some horrid thought) and filler skimmed over. This can be repaired neatly at a later date, for now though it was blasted senseless with good old w/oyl.

Hopefully this following week she will be off to have her rear trailing arm bush replaced and fluids changed.


The strange sensation of owning two e30’s...

looks good, was a lovely warm day today, i managed to frag the interior more or less, looking like a track car in there at the moment, removed 100ft of crap wiring that wasnt actually conected to anything. Now the cleaning will start. too much water under my carpets for my liking though

should be fast when i take it out tonight with nothing but a drivers seat

shame you cant make the meet at witby

Today all of my parts arrived thanks to Adi, so fitted a new footwell underside panel and spark plug cable tidy, quick jobs but the small things and attention to detail helps!

From there i ripped some old ”˜odd’ cabling from the boot and repaired the bootlid light, re-fitted the back side panels and seats, and had a clean around the window seals. The drivers side hub had a slightly worn wheel bolt thread which i was not over happy about, so i had a hunt around for the correct size die yesterday but had no luck. Last night my dad got in contact with his brother who is an engineer at a factory to see if he could borrow one from work, so that day he looked but they had nothing. So he told his manager they MUST get this die to repair a machine and he raced out to some engineer supplies to collect one, brought it back, and my uncle told him that it was really for his nephews BMW... His boss shrugged his shoulders and found it quite funny and appreciating older BMW’s said it was fine, hence today i re-threaded a wheel hub bolt hole.

Finally, some time ago on the forum i noticed a U.S e30 with a rather cheeky sticker on the dash, which i fell in love with and HAD to get.. Anyway luck being on my side i sourced it through a friend..



The car is going in for a rear arm bush replacement on Monday, as well as having its engine, gearbox, and diff oil flushed changed.

magpie wrote:i just shook the 5ltr can up a few times and started spraying,i did sit it in a sink full of hot water first though for about 10 mins.the applicator i bought was the manual trigger pump job for around £12.99.

plastic shite

so when are you going to use it as your daily ?

be nice to have a look at it when the meetings start up again.

my mate used one of these, but put the can in front of a heater for 10-20 mins or something to let warm right up, and also left it there while he used it, keep turning the can round every few mins, worked a treat

keep mup the good work svenga

nice

Really nice

Thankyou for the kind comments guys (enthusiasm boost!), I'm so excited for Monday night if all goes well. My first outing in a real mans toy, many around here have been waiting to see this!

I'm still in two minds wether to keep the current alloys, buy a set of borbets, or original bbs rims (possibly split rims)

Wish you all best with your car pal.

My only advice, before you spend all your time and effort on making it nice and shiny, please make sure you get it fully secured.

good alarm immobiliser stering lock anything just get it secured first.

I got my sport in october last year and like you spent all my time and efforts on getting it looking nice agaoin but failed to get a proper alarm and secure it.

Few weeks ago some little scroats nicked it, got it back and luckily not much damage and now pretty much sorted apart from dent around door lock, but It just dont feel same no more and all the work energy time and money gone in to it just seems a bit of a waste, but im slowly coming round to enjoying it again.

So what ever you do if its not already got it, get it secure !

Good luck and hope Monday goes well for you

Thanks for the suggestion, i do have a crooklock but will invest in a higher quality one. As for the alarm this is a must asap.

Crime level (car wise) is low where i am as the area is small, everybody knows each other, and people are wary because of the car i drive im some kind of old school gnagster. However none the less it only takes a 'stolen to order' request or some fiesty stranger not from around the are to eye the car up and snap her away.

You will get the feel for the car back in no time, atleast the damage was not too extent.

svenga wrote:Thankyou for the kind comments guys (enthusiasm boost!), I'm so excited for Monday night if all goes well. My first outing in a real mans toy, many around here have been waiting to see this!

I'm still in two minds wether to keep the current alloys, buy a set of borbets, or original bbs rims (possibly split rims)

An E30 with bbs split rims is the business

bbs classic looks and you will never loose money on a good set of split rims

Best rim for the e30 without a doubt

Had the car on the road about a week now, so far so good. Came across a few teething problems but nothing that can not be solved

The following is on its way or happening very soon...

The clutch is being replaced next month along with the gear links
New throttle cable on the way (current one is rubbing and fitted incorrectly meaning the throttle pedal is very hard and 'stagey')
New bmw folder
Rear mat to go in the boot between the lights
Tow eye
10mm Hubcentric spacers for the rear, the car is on shims all round not good!
New bonnet foam

Finally, i seen these floating around the net but could not find any (or if i did they were pricey) So made my own, not to bad i think

The weathers been lovely today, couldnt resist a good clean and finally get some pictures in the sun...

lovely car man

Well been tinkering again, today consisted of fitting a new throttle cable from our good friend Adi as well as some other goodies. The cable i had fitted was twisted and threadbare, to add to this the return spring on the throttle body was very tight making the pedal 'stagey' and a b*tch to drive smoothly, so a good half hour of riving and shes smooth and stage free placed the missing tow eye in the holder in the boot as well . Next i decided after seeing Alex's thread to delve under the carpets

Not too bad really, slightly damp under the drivers one and a small amount of surface rust around the throttle hinge but no real horrors. In summer i will remove the carpets and dry them along with the footwell, clean up the surface rust and treat the area to try and slow any further decay. However i did find one bad sign.. the pedal plate has the run of dirty rust meaning something nasty is lurking behind, for now im playing ignorant but will remove at a later date to see the extent of the rust

Seeing as im tight i wacked these decals on the sill kick plates for now, i like them at the moment even though they are cheesey and tacky but hey keeos me happy

that looks like it could be soft that bit of grot, get a large hammer and see. its not worth covering it back up now till you know

A normal run to work cost me £60 today

Got half way there and noticed the car wandering everywhere and playing up, pulled over thinking the wheel was coming off (again ) due to the naffy spacers, and had a nice lovely flat tyre. Had no choice but to drive on it the rest of the way as the standard BMW jack will not go underneath only a scissor jack

Jacked the old girl up and sat her on storage heater bricks and took the wheel around the corner for repair but the inside was chewed up... meaning a £60 medium quality tyre was fitted.... This car is killing my bank balance

Hubcentrics are on backorder as the company is out of them however on a good note, she is off in the garage in a fortnight for a lovely clutch replacement and yet more cash thrown at her, contemplating fitting a new gearbox too (low milage 325i or 316i) as i have a feeling the gearbox has been swapped in its life from the sport one anyway at some point. The 316i box seems a very similar ratio to the sport box i got told and breifly calculated

Anyway, gotta lovem guys.. e30s

The Getrag 240 box (316i box) is smaller and weaker. The prop length will also need adjusting to fit and im pretty sure the bell housing bolt pattern is slightly different so the box will sit at a different angle. Gear linkage will also need to be changed and tweaked.

In short, fit a 325i box or if you cant find one, fit a 320i box. Again its a getrag 240 so smaller and weaker but at least it will bolt up the the engine at the correct angle as its a box used on with
an M20 engine.

Why do you want another box anyway? Whats wrong with yours?

I see, i had a feeling the 1.6 box would be weaker and have a differant bolt pattern. For now i will probably just leave it and get the linkages done whilst the clutch and bearings get changed, the change was for peace of mind to reflect on its past

Its going to be great fun seeing what a mess the clutch assembly is like judging by other repairs etc, silly w*nkers. Anybody restoring a car or even performing repairs should need a licence that is one thing i do think, and im no beleiver in rules & regs.

But anyway, Thanks for the info bss.

I think the rims are going eventually, split rims seem the way forward

If the box is changes ok and doesn't make any nasty noises then when doing the clutch just change the oil and replace some of the gear linkage parts,

2,6,7 and 14 are the parts that wear and cause a sloppy gear change and i would also order 4 number 12's and a couple of 13's as they are pence.



If you want a shorted gear throw then a number 6 from a Z3 1.9 is a good upgrade.

As you are changing the clutch, a lightened flywheel is also a must! A standard M20 flywheel machined down to about 6.5kg is just the ticket and makes a nice improvement with zero side effects.

How much would a m20 lightened flywheel be approx? and will it just bolt straight on?

Dumb question (never been a fan of gearbox's) can the linkages be replaced without the box removed?

Cheers.

Yes, all the linkage parts i have listed can be replaced without taking the gearbox out.

You need to find an M20 flywheel then get it machined, some people on here can get this done for about £60.

svenga wrote:

That Bulkhead is rotten under there mate from the hole behind for the cables etc, I defo needs welding that does.

You will probably find the start of a scabby footwell aswell, especially behind the accelerator pedal.

But your not alone, I bet 3/4 of e30's left have rot at the bulkhead, out of sight out of mind and all that...

Nice car though looks