Daily Racecar Build M50 swapped E30 w/ Cool Stance Inspiration

[ShEck3lls0]

So I havent updated in awhile but I've done a lot in the past year to many different cars.

For this project, I bought and sold some things to fund the project and clear out space.
Bought this m52 and then sold it for profit to a friend who I am going to help install soon.


Then the beginning of the summer came and decided to take my interior apart to prevent some rust and paint it.










Went with some spray can primer and painted the it gloss white and the carpet black.





Since my old valance was kind of wrecked, I took an extra one I had off a front clip I had. I also picked up a hood from a friend since my original hood had a couple trouble spots and the body work would have been too much work imo.



Also threw on some straight fenders I had. However, they didnt seem to fit as well as the stock fenders, so I decided to stick with the stock fenders and just do some work to them.


Picture of how horrible the paint looked as it seemed to stain really easily without a clear.


Also decided I would shave the antenna hole while I am at painting the car. I'm going to be using this little punchout from an electrical control box I had. Fits perfectly.


There are a couple rust spots that concerned me so I pulled out the grinder and went to cutting out the battery tray. My good friend Pat who had a fabrication shop is going to be coming down from PA in a few weeks to do the welding for me of the new metal.




Started to clean the trunk up because im going to be rattlecanning it.


When cleaning it up I noticed(well I did before but this is the first I've looked into it) that there were some rust spots underneath some of the seam sealer. I wire wheeled it and noticed some funky welds. Does anyone know if this is normal? There wasnt seam sealer in some places including the outside, which makes me feel like something was replaced at some point in the e30's life.






Inside the wheel well.




Also discovered another rust sport that is on the driver's side in the trunk spacer where the widow maker goes. Not too big of a deal since I'm already doing other rust repair.



So now comes the fun parts. I picked up a mtech 2 replica front valance from DTM. I wasnt too let down about it as it is not perfect but doesnt seem horrible. I am sure once it is painted and on the car fitted, it wont look half bad. Though I would recommend to anyone else that OEM is probably 100% the best (and only) way to go.


Slight bend. Which I suspect is from how they package it with the wrap they put around the center.



Also picked up another set of wheels awhile ago. I missed my enkei 92s and wanted something another set of mesh wheels to run. They are 16x9.5 et38. I started to do some polishing on them.





I am actually very disappointed though because I didnt do my homework and I dont think these will clear the m3 brakes as the inside diameter of the barrel appears to be too small after doing a couple measurements.

Then bought skid plates for my rallycar and this car made from 11 gauge steel. So far they have held up great.

[ShEck3lls0]

Also did some front wheel bearings on an m50 vert I sold awhile ago to a buddy down the street.


Also was able to snatch up this KAMotors intake.

[ShEck3lls0]

Thanks guys. I need some encouragement lately since I'm losing my boost in building cars for some reason. Anyway... today(yesterday I guess) I got the new control arms in and on as well as the rear wheels just on the car.




Obviously still on stands in the front.

[BrandonMcKiernan]

this e30 is fuckin rad and that bay color is titties. keep it up man

[royalife]

this sir, i love it!

[Nystad]

got to love the e30 (have 2 myself). The e30 with an M50 engine is lovely to drive I was hoping you would stick with the alpinewhite color but this can be cool, what's the name of that new color? keep up the good work

[Nick475]

hahahahaha

[FunfGang]

You car is by far the best looking!

Also, which one of his?

[Rob&co]

legit! You guys are doing it!

[austindavidg]

You car is by far the best looking!

[ShEck3lls0]

So update. It's been awhile and not much has been happening with the car. But a minor mishap is provoking some changes. I went to summit point and did 100 drifter of december and the car was decent there. It was fun to actually push the car and spin some tires. The only trouble I had was the lack of power steering and getting wheel snap while drifting. I have been daily driving the car so I havent been able to put much attention towards it. But during finals week on my way to school I went into a curb and screwed up a control arm and my wheel.




Got it towed back home and started to think about what to do next. Knowing I had the wrong control arms and my camber was messed up anyway, I was wasnt too upset and was excited to get proper suspension so my car doesnt handle horribly. Started off by test fitting my compomotives and deciding tire sizes. Went with 215/45 on the 16x8 et10s.





Also took apart the front suspension and ordered e36m3 control arms, spindles, and hubs as well as picked up a set of adjustable cabs, a new windshield, and steel brake lines from a buddy. I also have a full set m3 brakes coming in.



It snowed 2 times since I've been working on it and its just been horribly cold and windy.


Also took the skid plate off. Time for a new one. (one on the right)


Got the new tires mounted. They ended up fitting quite well and I should only have to roll the fenders slightly. The picture is comparing the funfgangs 225/50/15s, mine are 0.6" bigger in overall diameter.


I did have trouble fitting the compomotives as the centre bore was a little less than 72mm and the e36 stuff is 72.5mm, so I busted out the drimmel and made them fit!

[ShEck3lls0]

This past weekend was AWESOME. Finally got the car on the road. Felt good to have it driving and back together. Haven't ran into any issue so far besides a funny idle and still no temp. Also still need to rewire my headlights. Right now they are routed to the side marker wires as I am still getting nothing to the headlight wiring. (no idea) Here are some pictures of this weekend as I went driving after C&C on Saturday with some friends (miller and his E30, my other friend in his e46, and 2 porsches, a boxster and a cayman s)

In the morning at C&C:



Trying to figure out that darn headlight wiring.



And my favorite pictures. More to come, I will post a thread in members rides later after some more editing.

[Sir_Townsend]

holy blue engine bay batman!

[MartinsElerts]

I have seen a lot of ugly strut bars, but this is not one of them
I would like to have one like it myself.

[ShEck3lls0]

Strut bar I got awhile back and just never ran on my old car because I was too lazy to put it on.


End of the day saturday. She runs now after I fixed a vacuum leak.