Tweet
So I've been lurking around this site for years now and never really contributed anything. It's been a great source of both inspiration and information for me, so I figure it's about time I posted one of my cars. This post will probably disappoint since I'm terrible at keeping track of things and taking pictures, and also since this post is gonna be an attempt to recap the past six months from memory..
Lets start with some backstory:
I've had a lot of cars over the past decade. Like, a lot. But I've always loved E30's. I had a 325ix last year that I was in the process of putting together, but realized that I could never get the car looking the way I wanted to without putting that rare and expensive drivetrain at risk. I ended up trading that car away last fall for a very clean Porsche 944. This spring, I was dailying a Wrangler and waiting for the roads to clear up so I could start driving the 944 again, with plans to clean it up a little more, maybe lower it and put some wheels on it, nothing major.
However, as I'm sure many of you also do, I have a list of various keywords in my head that I search on craigslist on a somewhat regular basis. I wasn't looking to buy another car, but curiosity struck and I decided to check in and see what was around for E30's. I came across a listing for a late model Calypsorot 325i coupe about a mile and a half from my house. Calypsorot is the color I'd always dreamed of. I couldn't help but call the owner up and ask about it, and eventually went to take a look.
It was a California car with not a single spot of rust on it. The paint was pretty rough and had the typical clear coat peel, but the car was very clean otherwise. Took it for a test drive, and it drove well and was tight and quiet. The owner was a genuine BMW guy and part of the local community, so I knew it had been taken care of. I thanked him and left. I didn't need another car.
I went home, and an hour later called the guy back and told him I'd take it. I went back and gave him a deposit till I could get to the bank the next day and then listed my Wrangler for sale. The next day, I picked up the BMW and sold the jeep. I had a new daily.
As promised, I didn't really take any good pictures of the car when I bought it. But here it is the night I brought it home, already buried in my garage (under a pile of parts that were gonna be picked up with the jeep the following day)
And here's a picture of the car that my brother found from some local show, apparently the previous owner took it out.
So there it is, in all its' solid and ugly ass glory. I started right in on it, giving it a nice tune-up and fixing some caliper issues that arose shortly after I picked it up.
Pulled a roof rack out of my parts hoard from my previous e30, stuck it on so I could haul my bike around again.
Also bought some cheap eBay foglights since I couldn't find glass lenses anywhere and the ones that came with the car were shattered. The quality was shit as expected, so I just took them apart and put the lenses on the stock lights. Also bought and mounted an is lip to clean up the front end. Here's a terrible photo of that
Rolled the front fenders for poops and giggles. And foreshadowing.
Pulled the interior like 5 times to remove the horrible tint and aftermarket amp/wiring. Removing that tint was horrible and I wouldn't wish it on anyone
Then the real fun began
Bought this and put it in my basement waiting for some free time to install.
About a week later, started mocking up how things would go.
It escalated very quickly, and we decided to just go for it. The Porsche was now living 100 miles away at my parents' lake house so my only ride while the car is down is my Harley. So obviously rain came as soon as we started tearing it apart.
It then looked like this for what felt like forever. Oh, I put in some ellipsoids at some point too.
The point of no return was cutting up the rear control arms for the bags. Did this at about 5am on a Friday morning before leaving on a long weekend trip to MD to visit some friends. My neighbors probably didn't appreciate the air tools at that hour, whoops.
Somewhere in NY or CT later that day I saw a citroen and took a crappy photo
Got back the following week and got back to work. My OBC was pretty busted and I really don't see any huge need for it, so I decided to mount the control pad where it used to live.
Pretty rough, the hole for the OBC was a little too big in the corners, resulting in some gaps and making it difficult to size properly, but it'll do until I can make something that fits the controller
Went to a local e30 meet to make a purchase.
Came back out to this sweet 964 on LM's parked right in front of us.
And here's the emergency purchase I had to go to the meet for. Stock wheels wouldn't clear the new struts up front. I have way too many sets of wheels, but obviously my only 4x100 set is nowhere near being finished, so I bought these. Still ended up needing spacers. Oh well. At least it was finally back on the ground after like a week or two of chipping away at it after work every day and not having a car.
Wrapping everything up and airing down.
Also picked up a new taillight and decided to tint the pair.
And some photos of it all back together.
I finished rolling the rears, that sucked. E30 quarters are made out of what might as well be 1/4" plate. Ended up taking a hammer and dolly to em once I ground out all the seam sealer, since my roller wasn't cutting it. Perks of having shitty paint I guess.
Test fitted future wheels to measure for new lips.
Also stuck some 15x12's that were destined for the porsche under there as well for poops and giggles.
They probably won't fit.
So that pretty much brings us up to date.
As it stands, the plan is to continue driving and enjoying the car until the winter starts coming in, then she'll go back into the garage for the next phase. That mostly involves bodywork and paint, and ordering new lips and finally finishing the BBS' that I've been hoarding for an e30 for years now.
It also needs a clutch badly. I'll have to address that this winter so while it's out I'll probably freshen up the motor, clean the bay really well, and maybe do some shaving before the bodywork gets done. Or maybe just get ballsy and just swap it with something. But who knows.
Lets start with some backstory:
I've had a lot of cars over the past decade. Like, a lot. But I've always loved E30's. I had a 325ix last year that I was in the process of putting together, but realized that I could never get the car looking the way I wanted to without putting that rare and expensive drivetrain at risk. I ended up trading that car away last fall for a very clean Porsche 944. This spring, I was dailying a Wrangler and waiting for the roads to clear up so I could start driving the 944 again, with plans to clean it up a little more, maybe lower it and put some wheels on it, nothing major.
However, as I'm sure many of you also do, I have a list of various keywords in my head that I search on craigslist on a somewhat regular basis. I wasn't looking to buy another car, but curiosity struck and I decided to check in and see what was around for E30's. I came across a listing for a late model Calypsorot 325i coupe about a mile and a half from my house. Calypsorot is the color I'd always dreamed of. I couldn't help but call the owner up and ask about it, and eventually went to take a look.
It was a California car with not a single spot of rust on it. The paint was pretty rough and had the typical clear coat peel, but the car was very clean otherwise. Took it for a test drive, and it drove well and was tight and quiet. The owner was a genuine BMW guy and part of the local community, so I knew it had been taken care of. I thanked him and left. I didn't need another car.
I went home, and an hour later called the guy back and told him I'd take it. I went back and gave him a deposit till I could get to the bank the next day and then listed my Wrangler for sale. The next day, I picked up the BMW and sold the jeep. I had a new daily.
As promised, I didn't really take any good pictures of the car when I bought it. But here it is the night I brought it home, already buried in my garage (under a pile of parts that were gonna be picked up with the jeep the following day)
And here's a picture of the car that my brother found from some local show, apparently the previous owner took it out.
So there it is, in all its' solid and ugly ass glory. I started right in on it, giving it a nice tune-up and fixing some caliper issues that arose shortly after I picked it up.
Pulled a roof rack out of my parts hoard from my previous e30, stuck it on so I could haul my bike around again.
Also bought some cheap eBay foglights since I couldn't find glass lenses anywhere and the ones that came with the car were shattered. The quality was shit as expected, so I just took them apart and put the lenses on the stock lights. Also bought and mounted an is lip to clean up the front end. Here's a terrible photo of that
Rolled the front fenders for poops and giggles. And foreshadowing.
Pulled the interior like 5 times to remove the horrible tint and aftermarket amp/wiring. Removing that tint was horrible and I wouldn't wish it on anyone
Then the real fun began
Bought this and put it in my basement waiting for some free time to install.
About a week later, started mocking up how things would go.
It escalated very quickly, and we decided to just go for it. The Porsche was now living 100 miles away at my parents' lake house so my only ride while the car is down is my Harley. So obviously rain came as soon as we started tearing it apart.
It then looked like this for what felt like forever. Oh, I put in some ellipsoids at some point too.
The point of no return was cutting up the rear control arms for the bags. Did this at about 5am on a Friday morning before leaving on a long weekend trip to MD to visit some friends. My neighbors probably didn't appreciate the air tools at that hour, whoops.
Somewhere in NY or CT later that day I saw a citroen and took a crappy photo
Got back the following week and got back to work. My OBC was pretty busted and I really don't see any huge need for it, so I decided to mount the control pad where it used to live.
Pretty rough, the hole for the OBC was a little too big in the corners, resulting in some gaps and making it difficult to size properly, but it'll do until I can make something that fits the controller
Went to a local e30 meet to make a purchase.
Came back out to this sweet 964 on LM's parked right in front of us.
And here's the emergency purchase I had to go to the meet for. Stock wheels wouldn't clear the new struts up front. I have way too many sets of wheels, but obviously my only 4x100 set is nowhere near being finished, so I bought these. Still ended up needing spacers. Oh well. At least it was finally back on the ground after like a week or two of chipping away at it after work every day and not having a car.
Wrapping everything up and airing down.
Also picked up a new taillight and decided to tint the pair.
And some photos of it all back together.
I finished rolling the rears, that sucked. E30 quarters are made out of what might as well be 1/4" plate. Ended up taking a hammer and dolly to em once I ground out all the seam sealer, since my roller wasn't cutting it. Perks of having shitty paint I guess.
Test fitted future wheels to measure for new lips.
Also stuck some 15x12's that were destined for the porsche under there as well for poops and giggles.
They probably won't fit.
So that pretty much brings us up to date.
As it stands, the plan is to continue driving and enjoying the car until the winter starts coming in, then she'll go back into the garage for the next phase. That mostly involves bodywork and paint, and ordering new lips and finally finishing the BBS' that I've been hoarding for an e30 for years now.
It also needs a clutch badly. I'll have to address that this winter so while it's out I'll probably freshen up the motor, clean the bay really well, and maybe do some shaving before the bodywork gets done. Or maybe just get ballsy and just swap it with something. But who knows.
Comment