My Garage Queen - sadly sold
After a year or so I added a Grp A specced head from Mosang, CF air box and Maxx Alpha N system, Bilstien Grp N coilovers, straight through exhaust with no centre box, 4 pot Alcon Prodrive front calipers with 325mm discs, Sparco seats and harness.
The car produced 236 BHP and the flattest power line I have seen. The power to weight was equal to an E46 M3 and she did pick up very quickly too!
After I had fitted the suspension I took the car to a renowned M3 specialist in setting up Grp A E30 M3’s from the past. He spotted the huge rust hole and advised I get this sorted, obviously, advising it was pointless spending money on changing the suspension settings until this was repaired.
One final track day loomed so once this was over I looked into who I should get to fit the cage. Wayne, who built the orange V8 M3 recommended a chap in Stafford.
So once the deal had been done I drove the car down to a place in Stafford to have a full FIA Approved 8 point cage fitted. However once I had left the car there they asked if I could have the engine removed, so I had to bring the car all the way back to Scotland to remove the engine and ancillaries. Also to fix the rot and replace the back panel (which I had a couple in stock). This was carried out by a company in Dunfermline, so not too far away.
Eventually the shell went back down and the car was caged. I chose a company that build ”˜one off’ Paris Dakar cars and they had just employed the head cage designer from Custom Cages too.
So once the car was caged I needed to get here blasted. Funds ran dry as I started a new business up and she took a back seat for a while. After scouring the web for blasters, who weren’t expensive I managed to find one with 10 miles of where I lived. However he had moved but know one knew where too. Another year passed and I heard of another chap who blasted and again he was with 10 miles. It was the same chap but he had moved to larger premises.
He agreed to blast the car and advise of a timescale of 4 months. 6 months later the car was still in my garage. Time was running out as I was relocating my business 400 miles south and eventually he advised he could blast the car, so I dropped the car off. A few weeks later I had a phone call advising the car was ready and with excitement I asked how she looked? The answer I got made me a little depressed, ”˜she has quite a few holes in her’. My heart sank a little.
So trailer in tow I collected the car and to my joy she only had 2 holes of 1”a in diameter and half a dozen other much smaller holes, but nothing that would need panels replacing. He also painted her with a black anti rust coat too and all for the princely sum of £230. Not bad for a car which is 23 years old. A result!!!
So after the move down south I moved into a block of units that have a paint shop a few units down, so I approached him for painting the car. He agreed and they got started on repairing the holes etc and once that was done she needed to wait for her slot.
This gave me time to fit panels and the bonnet pins in location. The wings require some work to get them to fit snug and lined up.
Fit the Grp A lever from Markus
I then got to work on the pedal box and weld in the strengthening plate on the engine side and additional support from the roll cage. I approached my good friend Uwe for welding help and after advice, I purchased a welder and headed down to his for a lesson.
Pedal box support welded in etc and a few additional holes for the washer jet and bonnet supports.
As the car is primarily going to be a race car I painted the underside, arches and rear panel under the bumper in an industrial white paint. It didn't need to be perfect as it won't be seen. Most of the underseal of the car was still intact from the sand blasting so just painted over the whole of the underside for additional rust prevention.
After being let down a few times by the painters the car finally went for paint and she has just arrived back and a extremely pleased with the results.
The next part of the project may take some time to complete, but most of the parts are on the shelf ready to assemble. First things first though is to sort out the old loom and see what to discard. I am moving the fuse box to the where the head unit and heater are normally as I am removing the heater matrix and will fit a heated screen.
Most of the parts have been blasted, cleaned and painted red in contrast to the white. The suspension went off to Bilstien to lower the bump stop from advise from the chap that was going to corner weight the car until he spotted the rust.
The engine has been rebuilt and balanced with a lightened flywheel. They advised against lightening the crank as this makes idling more rough and unstable. Dave Gamble completed the top end rebuild as he had done before with the head from Mosang.
Here are a few pictures of what else is here to go on the car when required
In addition i have CF mirrors, Z3M diff cooler finns and also a diff cooler kit. The exhaust will be a side exit version and will locate the rear muffler in the space where the old tank was as i am having a fuel cell in the boot/trunk. As well as fitting ploycarbonate side and rear windows, a DTM oil pan and Garret Gt3076R turbo and Tial wastegate.
