Its time to share my latest project with you lot. (The images and info is from the last 6 months so excuse me if the tense and images don’t flow correctly).
Unfortunately due to this latest episode in my E30 habit the Saab touring has been put on the back burner, but don’t worry, as soon as this is on the road the work will once again continue.
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... light=saab
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Without the use of an e30 and the Saab Touring demanding a continuous cash injection I had the hankering for a new daily e30 that would tick all the boxes. I.e. a fun to drive hang wagon that I could leave anywhere and enjoy.
This desire for a new e30 was worsened by being a regular on the following websites.
http://fatlace.com/channels/slammed-society/hellaflush/
http://www.stanceworks.com/
http://www.edition38.com/
http://www.wheel-whores.com/forum/
and my colleagues blog
http://racer86.com/
Who incidentally opened my eyes with the above websites.
Now, I’ve been a member since 2005 and it’s pretty clear that the general consensus on the e30 zone is keep it relatively standard or oem+, so on the basis that my geometry will be way out I’m sure I’ll have some negative comments and hence the project name.
Project goal. ”“
1) - Have a lot of fun and enjoy driving a quick e30 after spending 3years building a wallet busting example that is yet to be finished. And ultimately build a fun road car that can be used on drift days, track days, taken to a show or driven to Tescos (speed bump dependant).
2) - Create a well ”˜Stanced’ e30 (something that is few and far between in the UK).
The Plan:-
Buy a well specced e30.
Buy some dishy wheels.
Fit some coilovers.
Get the ”˜stance’ finalised.
Fit a bucket seat.
Fit LSD
The story-
While scanning the e30 zone one night, I spotted a well priced M50 touring with a very good spec which had been built by the Zone M50 guru; Tony ”“ aka eko (built by not owned by).
This gave me a nice dose of confidence and after a short phone call with Benjy (owner) I was aboard a train down to sunny Devon to ”˜view’ the e30.
Now; I say ”˜view’ but in all honesty I despise public transport and had no intention of catching a train home; this was firmly cemented when I saw it drive into the station car park.
I was going to be adding my name to the V5 of yet another e30.
Here is the advert of the e30.
1990 G reg 325i Touring
Laser Blue
MOT 22 May 2010
TAX 30 April 2010
201K , Only done around 1K since last MOT
Genuine 16" staggered Alpinas, rears have new tyres, 150 miles old
Alpina steering wheel
KW 60/40 springs and shocks
Eibach anti roll bars
New drop links
E46 OEM M3 rear topmounts
E30 OEM M3 eccentric bushes on new wishbones
New OEM rear beam bushes
E36 rack
E30 M3 front crossmember
Recent ATE 'flower'discs/pads/shoes
M50B25 conversion
120k E36 Vanos engine
E34 Gearbox
E36 Compact 3.38 diff
Z3 gearshift
New prop donut and guibo
New intank fuel pump
E34 aircon fan.
M5 engine mounts
Bodywork is average but still solid.No rust in the scuttle etc but does have a fair few dents and scratches,mainly on the `bolt on`panels though.
Interior is usable but in a grubby state to be fair.
318is front seats fitted that are a bit wobbly and dirty.Would probably scrub up ok though.
Rear seat is tidy though.
Dashboard is cracked on the top and carpet is heavilly stained in the front footwell(paint?).
The car drives very well and always starts first time after leaving it stood for a month(even in the recent cold weather!)
It does still require work mainly to the interior and the bodywork issues stated above but I will be including the following parts with the sale which once fitted will start to transform the car in general.
New rooflining shell with enough black suede to recover it.
MINT tailgate which I had resprayed last month that is complete and ready to fit.
Rear electric window conversion complete
Set of 4 Black door panels to suit the above electric window fitment
Mint uncracked dashboard
Mint Grey carpet
Braided hoses.
Rear headrests.
After a very quick viewing it was clear that she really did need a serious bit of TLC , and also pretty obvious Benjy had been using it as his works van for quite some time. This however, didn’t really bother me as the under pinnings of on her were full of very good quality newish components with all the bits required for a well set up e30.
After quick a cup of tea at Tony’s I was on my way home; as expected (assumed) she drove very well and with the car FULL of spares I was very happy with the deal I had done.
My first job was to start giving her some TLC. The first task was to tidy up the interior with all the spares I had.
New door cards
Replace ruined carpet
Wrap and install new roof lining
Replace cracked dash
Here is a pic of the day I picked the e30 up.
Removed mangy the door cards and roof lining
New door cards fitted - Much nicer.
The plan was to wrap the head lining shell with the provided suede, however this didn’t quite go according to plan; as I was performing the final cut around the sunroof panel, I fucked it. This is now on the jobs to do list; so I’ll be smoking around without a headliner until this is done.
I’m a firm believer that an e30 without a LSD is like having a flat chested page 3 model.
Now where am I going to find a free LSD??????
......................................................................................................................................
The Saab Touring of course!!
With a freshly rebuilt 3.46 ratio LSD with tightened plates and 50% lock up, this was just the ticket.
Before anybody asks this will only be borrowed.
I also changed the back plate from the e36 one from the Saab touring to an e30 one I had lying around with an unused M-\Coupe bush in it.
Fitted and ready for some fun.
With the diff in , I decided it was time to pull the old cracked dash out and progress in making the interior a place you don't mind spending some time.
Whilst the dashboard was out I decided it would be a good opportunity to change the carpet with the mint one that came with the car. However, first I decided to dye it black.
and after a lot of mess, this was the final result. I must be honest I'm pretty happy with how it came out.
With the replacement carpet ready to be installed, it was time to pull the old stained fagged burned example out.
This is when my new daily driver turned into a 6 month project.
This is what I found. (Note to self - spend more than 5 minutes looking at a car and when buying an e30, buy it with your head, not your heart)
Passenger Bulkhead:-
Drivers Side Jacking Point
Passengers Side Jacking Point
With these holes found, I was seriously considering breaking this turd as I could have easily got my money back in parts; I even considered dropping the M50 into the Saab touring and just finish that. This however was decided not to be a good idea when my Retro Cars magazine friend said
' The Touring with a Saab lump is a magazine cover car , with an M50 its just a nice car'
The only way forward was to fix it.
Before the work started here, I decided to pull the exhaust system and prop off (bearing needed changing any way) and have a proper search for more rust.
This is what I found -
Inner sill had started due to incorrect jacking.
Rear Panel
Both rear spring perches.
These rust points really were totally covered up by under seal; I’m 110% sure that a lot of our beloved e30s are rotting without the owners even realising.
Surprisingly the outer sills arches and scuttle are immaculate
Time to fire up the grinder and light the welder.
Passenger Floor.
Drivers Floor
Bulkhead
To remove all the rot, I had to cut a good sized section out and a bit of the inner wing.
Inner sill.
Spring Perches.
Rear Panel .
With all the rot cut out and replaced with solid steal it was time to protect the underbody against the weather. As the wings were off it made sense to underseal there also. The old girl was steam cleaned underneath ready for a good dose of waxoil.
Now with the touring 100% rot free I could continue with the project that i originally set out to create 6 months ago -
Finally the freshly dyed carpet and shiny non cracked dash could be fitted.
As the aim is to have a lot of fun in the car and the current drivers seat being a wobbly Rottweiler spec IS seat, I decided to purchase I nice bucket seat. Toadd to the 'feel' I also got myself a dished suede wheel and new gear nob. My plan is still retain the full interior but create a nice drivers environment.
The drivers position is now super comfy for me. All I can say though is no fat dudes aloud - the magnum seat is pretty snug for my 10.5 stone frame.
With the interior at a bearable standard (for now), I decided to get on with the stance
First stop wheels ”“ My colleague had some 15x8 and 15x9 banded steels, so the boring old alpine rims were sold on and the banded steels were purchased.
Here is there former home - Concourse Mk1 Cav.
Here are the first images of the install.
The current drop was 60mm at the front ”“ as you can see the arch gap was sickening. This was going to require some drastic work, especially considering the M50 is already very close to terrafirma.
Time to install some 13mm spacers on the engine mounts providing some much needed ground clearance, before the needed slamming could begin.
No doubt this will wear the prop bearing a little faster , but its a brand new one, so what the hell.
With addition to this, the e36 rack was also raised by putting the spacers on the under side rather than the top side ”“ This helps with my sump guard design as the cross member was now the lowest point. God only knows what this will do to my bump steer and roll centre.
Next stop Rally Design for my coilover conversion kit and Faulkners for the springs. I opted for 375Ibs/In (6 inch long) front springs and 550 Ibs/In (5inch long) rear springs. This may be adjusted at a latter date but after a bit of research concluded that it would be a good starting point for a fast road and occasional track driving.
While I waited for delivery, I decided to do something with the front splitter. I was never keen on the oversized Volvo splitter and realised that a rather expensive IS splitter will get destroyed very quickly; I opted for a GM splitter that was on Charle30’s touring. This was ideal due to the how flexible it was. A deal was done and I got on to the job of fitting it.
With the coilover conversion parts here it was time to get on with the conversion.
Here are the goodies.
To create the rear perches I just bought a coilover tube and cut it to the required length + the necessary spring seats and locking rings.
Bumpstops for the 2.25 spring
Coilover conversion -
Struts off and parts ready for the conversion.
Spring perches removed.
Treaded tubes welded on and struts painted.
Unfortunately, some modifications were required on the generic Rally Design parts to fit. I had the top caps machined to suit the e30 application. The pilot hole needed boring to 14mm and a 7mm counter bore cut into the underside allowing sufficient room on top of the strut to install the to mount.
Also to gain additional travel and adjustability I also purchased some E36 adjustable top mounts. These are being campaigned in the PBMW championship which has proven there quality. Obviously I needed to re-drill them for the E30 bolt pattern and PCD.
Here is the finished article ”“ with the strut installed (with the struts removed I could also finish the undersealing of the turret).
I'm very happy with the results and when matched with the KW dampers and sure the ride will be superb (LOL).
Meanwhile I decided to make a much needed sump guard for the touring.
3mm sheet steel.
Cut to shape.
Bent using my home bodged sheet steel bender.
The secondary protection was for the steering gear.
Installed with the Rivnuts in the front cross member and panel.
It’s not yet 100% finished my plan in the coming week is to paint it, avoiding corrosion and fit a piece of rubber/foam between the guard and sump to prevent a metal on metal clash if a heavy impact occurs.
In keeping with the ”˜stanced’ euro look I’ve also fitted some Dubmeister legal pressed plates and smoked the headlights
This is how she currently sits;
I’m pretty pleased with it but to further close the arch gap (and increase the sump to ground clearance) I’m gong to fit 205/50/15 profile tyres on the front and rear instead of the stretched rubber currently on there.
Future jobs include.
Get the touring MOTed and Taxed ”“ so I can use it for my daily.
Finish the interior ”“
Change the Heater valve
Suede headliner
Dye all the rear carpets black.
Exterior ”“
Fit the SE skirts.
Fit some all Red tail lights
Replace the front wings
Replace the OS front door.
Finish sump guard
Perform machine polish.
Replace driver side mirror (or fit my group A touring car mirrors from the Saab touring).
Engine ”“
Full service
Coolant drain
Vanos rebuild.
Tidy up air filter heat shield.
Chassis ”“
Fit the braided hoses and change the fluid to AP racing stuff I have on my shelf.
Maybe hydraulic handbrake??
Prefect the stance, may be with the addition of some spacers to widen the track.
That is all for now.
