My old E30 and my new one............now an S50 3.2 swap!

[barryj]

I have moved this from the runboard zone as I have now picked the car up and begun the project!)

I stumbled across some pictures of my old E30 project from about 15 years ago, I was 21 and thought I was the dogs bollocks in this thing!





Breyton body kit, Alpina reps, re-covered RS Turbo recaro's, and no carpets! It was only a 316 as well. I loved it at the time though.

Today I just got myself a project car, no idea what it will turn out to be like as I haven't collected it yet but should be a laugh. Right number of cylinders but the wrong number of valves ;)

Expect a little bit more subtlety in the mods but also expect a pretty nasty colour.......

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... TQ:GB:1123

I am hunting for a 24 valve lump and manual box for it, the rest is still forming in my mind. Probably be painted Urban Green non metallic I know another Zoner is doing this but I love the colour (if not it will remain black), then I am thinking Alacantara/Kevlar buckets, flocked dash, rear seat delete and the space trimmed in carpet, a matt black roll cage with cross bar, coilovers, black split rim schnitzers, council drop.

No body kit and no spoiler. I would also like to make some flat perforated leather door cards with a simple leather door pull 911 RS style

[Alex]

both look like nice cars

the 320i looks like a good base car

[Baz666]

i love it, love that breyton kit

[barryj]

I had a quick check of all the normal areas last night but it was getting dark, the front inner wings where they join the sills look solid, a small rust scab on the lower corner of the passenger side door shut, boot floor and pockets either side are solid, the scuttle has the starts of very minor surface rust on the drivers side I think I caught it just in time, its got a sunroof which wasn't ideal but all seems solid around it. There are a few dings that do not show up on the photo's but none have broken the paint so no rot and as I am stripping it for paint anyway it doesn't really matter.

I am going to get it down my mates paint shop one night this week, strip the seats and carpets out and have a proper look.

It was a very strange 40 mile drive back from collecting her, I drove up in my new 5 series and back in the E30 not having driven one for about 15 years. Although things have moved on a long way it actually drove very well when you got the revs up (down low it was awful due to a very badly blowing back box). There did seem like a lot of glass for such a small car, and the auto box (non sport) was bloody awful mated to the lack of bottom end power.

My Daughter (9 going on 19) said "its a hunk of junk Daddy" to which I replied that she was going to be learning to drive in it!

[barryj]

i love it, love that breyton kit i`ll be interested in the kit if you want rid of it.

I was a fibreglass replica (assuming there was an actual Breyton kit to copy?) but fitted very well indeed. Its also a 1986 chrome bumper car that I retro fitted the plastic bumpers to using the standard mounts at the front, and modified rear plastic bumper mounts spaced out by about 1/2".

I remember that the mounting holes where pressed into the chrome cars body and all I had to do to fit the later shock absorber type mounts was push them through. I remember thinking this was strange at the time. But maybe the M3's mounted that way and shared the rear slam panel?

[capri_rob]

The red car looks great ! - Those wheels look like the real deal rather than reps ! Only bit I'm not keen on is the white dials and no carpets but apart from that its

Look forward to seeing more pics of the new project

[oakey]

The scuttle rots from the inside I'm afraid so any bubbling will have penetrated.
The new one looks a good buy. Not bad for £277. It sounds like you've got some good plans for it too. Best of luck

[barryj]

The red car looks great ! - Those wheels look like the real deal rather than reps ! Only bit I'm not keen on is the white dials and no carpets but apart from that its

Look forward to seeing more pics of the new project

The white dials were ubber cool at the time but look shocking in retrospect, the carpets went back in (well donor ones in grey rather than the tan ones from the original). The wheels were deffo reps 16" and I had to make the caps myself as they came without any.

The scuttle rots from the inside I'm afraid so any bubbling will have penetrated.
The new one looks a good buy. Not bad for £277. It sounds like you've got some good plans for it too. Best of luck

The rust on the exterior of the scuttle is definetly outside in type rust caused by a build up of rotten leaves and muck, I will have to wait and see when I get it in bits to find the inside out type if any but I am not too worried as long as the rest of the shell is ok.

[oakey]

If it's just surface rust then great.
A scuttle repair panel from BMW is cheap and the repair isn't too challenging so it's hardly a major issue I think I may even have a repair panel for the near side.
If you remove the vent on the scuttle (slides to one side and pulls out) have a feel underneath to check.

[rebelcruiser]

looks a good project and some good plans to mate

[jonesye30]

looks a solid project very similar to my own!!

[barryj]

Of shit there goes the neighbourhood........................after getting bored looking for an M50 2.5 I have just bought an S50 3.2 and all the ancillaries. I still have quite a shopping list of stuff to get (anyone got an M50 sump or a 328i manual box for sale?) and a long road ahead but luckily as I do not have a lot of time a fellow zoner is doing the main engine swap.

[Jhonno]

Now watch the costs add up

[barryj]

Now watch the costs add up

I know what you mean, I am on a £6k budget for the mechanical build, with the engine and ancillaries coming in at £1.7k, by the time I buy a new clutch, Rad, engine mounts, sump etc that will be £2.5k and I still need a 328i or 3.0 M3 gearbox!

I am trying not to go mad but am already thinking of buying the running gear from the Z3M that the engine came from and fitting that.

I will start a new thread in the gallery on the build.

[Jhonno]

Don't forget the 1k for the manifold.. Then you need the rest of the exhaust system..

[barryj]

You don't need to spend £1k on manifolds, have a look on E3024v.

[Jhonno]

Erm.. Check my sig..

You don't need to spend 1k on manifolds?! Is there something you know I don't? S50's are sensitive to bad manifolds you could loose a lot of performance not getting something proper. BTB's offering is proven to not lose any power

[barryj]

I didn't say it would be perfect but you do not need to spend £1k on manifolds, not that I am phased by it. Anyway lets see how it unravels thats the beauty of a project eh? everyone goes a different route..........................and you never know maybe someone does know something that you don't