New M52 "Restomod" E30 Project - SPANNER RASH

[spannerrash]

Hi guys, the day has finally come to start the ball rolling on my M52 project.

I'm not just doing the engine swap I am restoring / restomodding the whole car to be the E30 I always wanted.

To make life even more awkward for myself, I've decided to try and share the whole project on Youtube.

Check out the intro vid here:

And here's a link to the playlist that I will be adding to as I go: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... rFSAZZVaEd

Hopefully I will be able to crack on and make good progress. Feel free to subscribe to add some social pressure to actually get the job done.

Obviously the zone is #1 resource for this stuff, and its almost completely documented already, but any advice or things I should be aware of from those who have undertaken this work themselves?

Where should I even start?

Cheers!

[Vez010]

Hey mate, just watched the video... looks good and I’ll be looking out for your progress updates. I don’t have any particular pointers but wish you all the best with it!

[spannerrash]

Cheers Vez, appreciate that!

[spannerrash]

Here's the next vid in the series, basically me making a right pigs ear learning to weld on the rear arms. Seemed like a smart mod while its convenient to do.



No too pretty, but I think I got there in the end..

[JungleGus]

Welcome! I remember seeing someone on a thread somewhere (helpful, I know - maybe the x-works M3) - welding those reinforcements in and having issues exhaust or sway bar clearance - something to check.

Ton's of info on here, one thing that I would suggest is reviewing any decisions that you make and sharing your thoughts on how they perform - I've done something similar and while I wouldn't necessarily do anything differently, I could have made my life a lot easier for myself in hindsight and probably saved a lot. There's some stuff I may have done differently or found myself reversing later - or at least I would have considered if I would have known how much it would take to get it to where it feels "right".

Although I go down that path I may not own the fucking thing...

FWIW - get the rust right and then go from there. Everything else is relatively easy/cheap. Keep it simple, keep a log (nothing worse than trying to remember what custom part you're using when you can't access the area and need to order replacements) and try enjoy the car as much as you can. Time spent in the garage isn't quite as fun as time spend on the road.

For the engine - I wouldn't rule out a stroker M20 2.9 - one thing to keep in mind is that even the newest M52's are pretty old engines now, Everything is probably going to need a re-build at some point.

Enjoy the journey!

Cheers,
Gus

[spannerrash]

Sound advice indeed, thanks for that!

I’ll have a look for that thread as you’ve got me worried. I’m hoping to avoid taking the angle grinder to those arms again, but we will see..

I’m intending to log the whole build on the Youtube channel, including the stuff that goes wrong, and I’m sure there will be lots.

I’m learning as I go really, never taken on a big project like this before.

If the car had an M20 in it already that’s definitely the path I’d be taking, however the M52B28 looks like a really great balance if done right. Also, I’ve got an M52 on an engine stand already!

Cheers!

[JungleGus]

Here you go: viewtopic.php?f=112&t=108356&p=1802311& ... m#p1802311

Good luck! Yeah I just saw the video that you have the M52 already...spoke too soon. You'll like it!

[HenryM3]

I did this mod on the m3 many years ago, I had to move the r/h bar nearer the "v" of the arm because on suspension compression the strengthening bar was squashing the rubber fuel pipe. Don’t know if the non m3 is different but worth fitting the arm and raising it up and down to check before painting.

[spannerrash]

Thanks guys I'll check that out. Fingers crossed I've got the bars in the right place!


Had a spare front subframe that I welded on reinforcement plates too ready for the eventual engine swap:



Got my new (old and rusty) brake calipers fully rebuilt and refinished. I'll be swapping these larger calipers onto the car as part of my 5-stud conversion. E36 fronts, E46 6-pot rears.

[rix313]

How come you aren’t powder coating things? It’s dirt cheap and many many more times durable than painting?

[steve_k]

I did this mod on the m3 many years ago, I had to move the r/h bar nearer the "v" of the arm because on suspension compression the strengthening bar was squashing the rubber fuel pipe. Don’t know if the non m3 is different but worth fitting the arm and raising it up and down to check before painting.

the way i see it the bracing for the trailing arms seems to be aimed at either drift cars &/or tack cars using (a lot) firmer rear springs to cut down on the compression & therefore keep the bracing away from the filler neck.

the link that guss posted shows a brace that it fitted to a mates e30, but he does use a lot stiffer springs & has never had any issues of the brace catching the filler pipe,

there are some folk who that that bracing the trailing arms is over kill, but thats a whole different discussion.

[HenryM3]

Your probably completely correct, I fitted and compressed without the spring fitted so it would only have contacted on absolute maximum compression. To be honest it and the strengthening of the front subframe was done because of fitting the s50 and the fact the car was stripped and all the bits were getting powder coated. That was 15 years ago when I could still bend my back and not need 2 days to stand up again..

[steve_k]

Your probably completely correct, I fitted and compressed without the spring fitted so it would only have contacted on absolute maximum compression. To be honest it and the strengthening of the front subframe was done because of fitting the s50 and the fact the car was stripped and all the bits were getting powder coated. That was 15 years ago when I could still bend my back and not need 2 days to stand up again..

I se your point, if you going down the S5x route then getting it down while everything is apart makes sense,

I've got a set of reinforced trailing arms to fit when I do the bushes on mine, only doing it as I was given the arms,

As for taking 2 days to recover after doing any work on the car? I can sympathize, 45yrs old with rheumatoid arthritis,

[spannerrash]

How come you aren’t powder coating things? It’s dirt cheap and many many more times durable than painting?

Good question, and i've not got a good answer

I think the 2k paints i'm using should be good and durable, i'm not gonna simply rattle can them. Other than that, I like the idea of doing the whole project myself, DIY style. We'll see if I can keep that up.

Looking forward to fitting that ARB kit by the way, but slower progress than expected so far, you know what it's like.

[rix313]

Ha sure do!

[martauto]

As for taking 2 days to recover after doing any work on the car? I can sympathize, 45yrs old with rheumatoid arthritis,

Make the best of it , it`s a bit slippery from here on but on the plus side the new joints nowadays are shit hot mate

Mart.

[steve_k]

As for taking 2 days to recover after doing any work on the car? I can sympathize, 45yrs old with rheumatoid arthritis,

Make the best of it , it`s a bit slippery from here on but on the plus side the new joints nowadays are shit hot mate

Mart.

I'll keep going as long as possible,
Mind you the doc is on about me having a knee replacement .

[martauto]

Jump for it if you can mate, (ooops) it will change everything !!!!


Mart.

[spannerrash]

Hi Guys, been a little while since I updated this thread, progress is rolling along and I've released a few videos on the channel about it.

These include reinforcing the front subframe (with slightly better welding than before), rebuilding the bigger brakes needed for the 5-lug swap i'm planning, and now dropping the rear subframe to give it the same restorative treatment.

As mentioned previously, you can check out the full playlist here and follow along with my progress: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... rFSAZZVaEd

And here's that latest vid:

I wasn't expecting dropping the rear beam to be such an ordeal to be honest. But those bloody bushings are a nightmare to deal with when they've got stuck to the chassis.. and lord knows how that's even a thing.

I think i'm going to be moving on to the fuel tank next, it looks pretty crusty, hopefully no holes though.

Cheers!

[spannerrash]

Well, I managed to get the fuel tank out. Pretty straight forward really, bloody horrible under the car, but no dramas, even with the exhaust still attached.


So far, its looking like I'm starting with a solid shell here. It looks better underneath than it does on top really. I can see a little rust in the rear battery tray area (although being a 4-pot the battery is up front), and the worst looking bit is on the drivers side rear arch. But nothing terminal what so ever!

I best get this fuel tank refurbed "Restore It" style so I can crack on.

[spannerrash]

A bit more progress on the E30 project.

Got the rear brake shields modified ready to accept larger rear discs and calipers from a 6-pot E46 (part of my planned 5-lug swap):


Also finally got that fuel tank restored ready to go back on the car. Had a bit of a mare with this, as I realised there was a pin hole in it just at the point I was ready to paint it again so it turned into a much bigger job than I initially anticipated.


Luckily, i'm confident that the leak is solved now with a scruffy but solid copper patch solder repair. Following that I got it painted up in silver and it's now added to the pile of parts ready to go back on the car:


I'll need to turn my attention to the underside next and get it cleaned up and treated for rust before I can even think about putting it back on.

[spannerrash]

Finally got those stuck rear subframe bushings removed from the car. What a pain.

Saw quite a few people saying you can remove, or at least turn the large bolt from under the rear seat. But I couldnt see any access to it with mine.

In the end, the angle grinder and a big hammer resolved it, as they always do.

[BenHar]

The bolts should just knock up into the car.

See https://www.e30zone.net/e30wiki/index.p ... ame_Bushes

Not sure what was wrong on yours.

Ben

[spannerrash]

Maybe I should have hit them harder with the hammer, but was worried about breaking something. The heads of the bolts arent visible from the top, seems they are hidden unless you knock them up.

[spannerrash]

Got the rear underside of the E30 cleaned up and inspected. It was a right old mess, a bloody awful job!

But happy to report the underside of this car is much more solid than I'd anticipated, so I'm very pleased with that. Theres still plenty of work to do, but hopefully not more than I can chew.

Gonna need to practise my welding now though...

[billyfrost]

Braver man than me poking around an old E30 with a big screwdriver! Like the video though

[Blanca]

Your probably completely correct, I fitted and compressed without the spring fitted so it would only have contacted on absolute maximum compression. To be honest it and the strengthening of the front subframe was done because of fitting the s50 and the fact the car was stripped and all the bits were getting powder coated. That was 15 years ago when I could still bend my back and not need 2 days to stand up again..

I se your point, if you going down the S5x route then getting it down while everything is apart makes sense,

I've got a set of reinforced trailing arms to fit when I do the bushes on mine, only doing it as I was given the arms,

As for taking 2 days to recover after doing any work on the car? I can sympathize, 45yrs old with rheumatoid arthritis,

45? Spring chicken. 75, two new knees, and takes two days to get over half a days work. so you can keep going, just a case of 'mind over matter', if you don't mind, it doesn't matter. grin and bare it

[steve_k]

Your probably completely correct, I fitted and compressed without the spring fitted so it would only have contacted on absolute maximum compression. To be honest it and the strengthening of the front subframe was done because of fitting the s50 and the fact the car was stripped and all the bits were getting powder coated. That was 15 years ago when I could still bend my back and not need 2 days to stand up again..

I se your point, if you going down the S5x route then getting it down while everything is apart makes sense,

I've got a set of reinforced trailing arms to fit when I do the bushes on mine, only doing it as I was given the arms,

As for taking 2 days to recover after doing any work on the car? I can sympathize, 45yrs old with rheumatoid arthritis,

45? Spring chicken. 75, two new knees, and takes two days to get over half a days work. so you can keep going, just a case of 'mind over matter', if you don't mind, it doesn't matter. grin and bare it

i always manage to get over it but it does take time nowadays

[spannerrash]

Braver man than me poking around an old E30 with a big screwdriver! Like the video though

Haha was I better off turning a blind eye? Cheers!

[billyfrost]

Braver man than me poking around an old E30 with a big screwdriver! Like the video though

Haha was I better off turning a blind eye? Cheers!

No you'll be fine I'm sure... whenever I've taken that approach I've sometimes regretted it later, giving you fewer options down the line. But looks like you're going to do it properly.

[spannerrash]

There is the temptation to take it all back to bare metal with a wire wheel, but I think that's one of those jobs which would be overwhelming to complete and derail the already slow-moving project. So my current plan is to just fix all rust I can see to the best of my ability, and crack on with the build.

If the car lives up to my expectations and I decide its a keeper (it should be), I can always come back and do the full underside restoration at a later date. That will probably be much easier as I'll know where everything goes by then, and all the fasteners would have been apart before too.

[spannerrash]

Another update to the E30 project. I removed the fuel filler neck and refurbished it, pleased with how that came up. Wasn't too rusty luckily as I know these can end up knackered if left.

I also cleaned up that fuel vapor expansion tank which lives up in the wheel arch too. Its a strange setup that, still unsure how it works or what it really does. Seems to have some kind of valve inside it.

[spannerrash]

Here's a long awaited update on the E30 project. I've had some set backs including my old welder being faulty.



With my new (to me) welder, I've actually stated to get the thinner metal to weld without blowing through. So now I only have my self to blame for it being like pidgeon s#it.

I'm enjoying learning how to do this stuff, and eventually I'd like to weld something and it look like a good job, but in the meantime at least my crude repairs seem solid, probably more so than necessary..

Regarding the condition under my E30, I spent time with the wire wheel chasing back all signs of rust to clean, bare metal, then treating it and getting a coat of primer on. I'm still feeling lucky with this car and not finding half as much as I'd have expected to.

Does anyone have any thoughts on my decision to leave the underseal (and e-coat below that) in place wherever there's no rust? I'm worried about actually making the car rot quicker if I strip all those factory coatings away unecessarily. Although it is a bit tempting (but only a bit as its horrible to do).

[billyfrost]

If it's solid underneath I'd leave the original coating on and patch in, it's what the other guys on here do with the M3 resto projects.

[spannerrash]

Yeah, it makes sense to me too, probably do more harm than good in the long run.