They told me E30s were played out

[gnmzl]

Hello stanceworks,
Haven't updated this in quite a while, work on this project has been going really really slow. Every step of the engine building process is a big struggle, a lot of effort (read money) has gone into it so far.

The engine for this car has become a separate project, which was kind of expected to be honest.
First, I found out that the m54b30 pistons are not my best option to start work on. One of the main drawbacks is that if we would mill the top of them, there won't be enough meat left from top to the first compression ring - 2mm is too thin. Not being happy with that, further options were explored.
Me and an E30 friend, who is mostly into turbo cars, debated on the topic and decided we would use m54b25 pistons since they have K|H of 29,7 versus 30,2 for m54b30 pistons AND they have more distance to the first compression ring.
A quick adjustment to the calculation table I initially created for my engine showed that we need to take off just a bit to lower the compression to 11,5:1.

Here is our first attempt:




How it sits at TDC;



That small bump at the edge was removed, due to fear of premature detonation, which is almost as bad as premature ejaculation.

Final product:




Also, they turned out to be very light:



We then decided we should first test the design out and assembled a spare bottom end my buddy had laying around. TDC:




Decided to give it a go and torqued down a 325i he also had on a shelf from a previous project:




Next step was to rotate the engine and disassemble again. We left a piece of the latest technology NASA had to offer, which was supposed to measure the clearance between valves and pistons. Results were very promising:



Assemble again, this time put everything else on the engine. Pic is "almost done" state:



Time to fire it up! Same e30 buddy has a dolphin grey facelift sedan e30, which by coincidence was missing a motor. So naturally, we threw it in, wired a MS 2 unit to it and fired it up. It ran good and pulled strong, so we were very happy with the result. Keeping in mind I was going to use a ported head and a much more aggressive cam, estimations were for even better achievement with my engine.

To our greatest regret, for unknown reasons SAND was present in the oil sump, which caused the oil pump on that engine to slowly crap out and what's worse, distribute sand to all the lubricated surfaces.



Causing internal damage to the pistons, cylinder walls, rod bearings, crankshaft bearings, crankshaft itself, head camshaft lobes and camshaft... needless to say, the engine had to go out (already replaced with another stock m20b25 ). Unfortunate as this mishap was, it gave is the chance to check out how the combustion worked with those pistons:



Not perfect, but good enough for me and most importantly - expected.



That sums it up about the engine we built as a prototype of our idea/concept. Too bad it didn't last long, but the main point is it died not because of a fault in the parts combination and compatibility, but because of an error we obviously made along the way when assembling it. Our theory is sand from the blaster's/powdercoater's remained in the intake and made it's way through the cylinders into the sump and then up to the head....

Which meant I can go ahead and start assembling mine, but really really carefully and not use any sandblasted parts.
Easy enough right?

NO

I was really sad to find out the bearings for the driveshaft for the oil pump are not only worn out, but fell apart, when I removed the driveshaft. So I ordered a set from an official BMW dealer. The set of 2 bearings arrived and looked as if it was already used. Another one was ordered. I kept the old one just to make sure they don't ship the same crap. But as weird as it is, the new second order of bearings came in the same condition. I don't have a picture of it, but you get the idea, not something you would put in your fresh, clean and DAMN expensive engine! Anyway, mine being by any means reusable, I had to take them out, using an odd combination of tools and a clutch throwout bearing:



While thinking about what I should do with those two bearings, it was a good time to paint the block. Here's me, masking it with great attention:



Done, used an old water pump and a cracked front cover:



Commencing paint, ignore the penis my good friends drew on the masking tape:



Finished, paint still wet:



To be fair, it dried off relatively quickly, considering the weather was still cold:




And that how the block sits currently, patiently awaiting for my decision on the bearings for the oil pump driveshaft.


On a side note I continued acquiring important stuff to complete this car. Some stuff kept arriving in the mail, first a set of silicone hoses from IE arrived:



Very happy with the quality by the way, also the price is more than good. Would recommend, this is the second set we get, the other one is blue and applied on the turbo e30 of my buddy.

Powdercoated some stuff (checked for sand in the tube and cleaned it thoroughly anyway):



As far as engine management systems go, I am not really a guru. But I know what I want - sequential spark control, sequential fuel nozzle control, at least one knock sensor, MAP, MAF delete, wide band oxygen sensor and electrical fan control. First thing that pops into mind is MegaSquirt 3 - offers all of those and is somewhat affordable, if you do what I did.

The MS 3 is actually just an add-on to MS2, a socket needs to be changed on the MS 2 circuit plate thingy. Buying the MS3 as a whole can cost up to 1k US dollars, which if we have to be honest is a high price compared to MS2. So, a brilliant plan was hatched and accomplished:

Step 1: Create your own circuit design for the MS2.
Step 2: Produce a circuit plate on your balcony using your own design (warning: acids used may cause burns)
Step 3: Have a friend, who lives in Miami
Step 4: Order just the MS3 add-on and a wideband oxygen sensor and have them delivered to friend in Miami
Step 5: Go on vacation with said friend in Brazil
Step 6: Acquire MS3 and WB O2 sensor from friend

Now that seems simple enough right?
But wait! That vacation was planned for March, which is cool, but there are a few facts that I feel obliged to share.

Fact number one: Should you have not noticed: I have a huge beard and generally look like a hillbilly. Which I probably am.
fact number two: While on vacation in Brazil, the terrible bombings in Brussels on 22nd of March happened.
Fact number three: I was travelling with hand luggage only.

When you combine those facts, how easy do you think my trip back home was and keep in mind I was carrying stuff in my handheld bag that looks like this:




Anyway, I somehow managed back home and assembled this after a month or so:




Happy with the result, still waiting on the final casing I am going to use, those are just heat exchanging units. One side is for exits only, other side is for entries only. I'll try to keep it simple and tidy, but that is yet to be done.

Oh, here's a shot of Rio de Janeiro I took from a helicopter:




Aaaand I will finish this update with a shot of a very special piece, custom made by a guy in Germanyfatherland. I specifically wanted it looking stock, no red pointers and such, but he still put in the ///M logo on, which I will remove.



Until next time.

[JD_RFTR]

Subscribed!

[killiee46]

a truly enjoyable thread. i wish u well with the projects.

[gusgus714]

To say that you are an BMW addict would be an understatement.

My only problem is that you have so many cars yet not one is "finished" lol Either way, nice to read your stories and that last E30 is something I would be willing to buy. That is the only BMW I would ever own. Keep the updates coming!

[Zwingfilms]

Really coming along well!

[gnmzl]

Merry Christmas, Stance|Works!

And as it is Christmas, and miracles DO happen, one actually happened to me as well.
I few days back I got a call from a freind of mine (an e30 friend), that our exhaust headers are ready and I can collect mine in a few days, when he is back from holiday. Happy, jolly day!

Now, you may have noticed I wrote OUR headers. That's because we decided to use the same design and make two pairs at the same time. Since most of my car still consists of a pile-o-parts waiting to be fused together by magic, we had to use his 325i as a mockup for my headers as well. The only difference between both pairs is the inner diameter. I had previously visited the guy, who welded the headers together and let him take measurements of the exhaust ports on my head, so he can have a flange ready.
With that out of the way, my frined had dropped off his pride and joy, so it can serve as a live jig. A sacrifice in the name of progress on my car, which I highly appreciete, thank you so much, Kosio!

Once mine were finished, they were taken off his car and then his set was created as well and remained on said car. The exhaust system was previously made by the same guy, all stainless stell and sounds awesome!

So, onto pictures! This is the photo my friend sent me to tell me the headers are reality.



I was at the office and nearly fled at the site of those.
After some begging and various threats he then sent me pictures of his engine compartment with the installed headers:




Isn't that ponr!
My boss made me go change my pants and clean off all the manjuice I produced after seeing those.

Then I had to wait two miserable days for him to go back from holiday - he picked up his car and my headers from the welder and blasted off to some ski resort. I was fed only 2 more pictures taken while figuring out the design:




As evident, a cracked head was provided to the welder, so he can play around freely with it. The initial task was create a copy of Racing dynamics notorious exhaust headers. The plan changed slightly due to some facts I don't like about Racing dynamics headers:

1) Not all runners are equal lenght, the difference is too big among them, i.e. runner #6 in the original design is way longer than #5 and #4.
2) One must detach the 4-5-6 header in order to change a spark plug.

So after a discussion with the welder, we agreed upon changing the design and making it more efficient. The end result:






Sorry for the blurry pictures, I was fapping with the other hand.

If any of you guys is insterested, the guy who did them is a very famous exhaust maker, I cannot praise him and recommend him enough. He has done the exhaust (headers and straight pipe) on my firend's track Alfa Romeo 75 among all the other stuff. If anyone wants to check out his website, PM me and I'll send it over, I don't want to advertise public.

So when the car is back from paint and somewhat assembled with an engine and other unimportant stuff, it;s going over there for the rest of the exhaust .












Anyhow, there must be a pattern here, because every now and then when I update this thread I tell you guys about some other car in my life.
This time is no different, *grandpa voice* let me tell you a story...


Remember the E21 I got from a buddy's brother to drive around and fix up during winter and how I was driving around the country in a desperate search of a "winter beater"? Well, the story for the E21 doesn't end well, because the guy backed out, when I called him and gave the numbers for the repair the engine needed. Fair enough, everyone decides for themselves. But that is not the point.

While I was searching for a winter beater, I drove to a village about 170 km away. I had made at least 5 phone calls with the owner of a dolphin grey e28 with an m20b27, which I wanted to buy, drive over winter and then use as a parts car for my e28. We made an arrangement me and my buddy would go over and buy the car on a certain day. We had taken days off work, the lot. So the owner knew there were two fools driving 170km to get the car. So we wake up early, hop onto my still secret other car I've been keeping a secret from you and take the trip to the remote village to buy an E28. Just as we arrived, literally before my eyes another guy bought it. I was so pissed I couldn't even curse!
So we sat in my secretmobil and asked ourselves what do now? My buddy used his overhyped Windows phone and read through the local car listings, but there was nothing that cought our eyes. Now, I am not going to lie, I had done my research and knew about a car I thought worth seeing. I show it to my buddy and we say "ok, let's at least go take a peek".

I drive using my mental map of the area (not totally unfamiliar) and after some time we arrive at the location. You guessed it, it was an E30. Some pictures from the listing:






It was a bit over my price range ( read more than twice above it), didn't start because of some stupid immobilizer crap someone installed in Italy, exterior in very rough shape, small accident upfront, some hailstone damage, dented driver's door and damage on the driver's seat.
But the chassis ... ohmygodohmygod!!! NO RUST. And I mean it... apart from some spots, no rust damage at all. I will share the pictures of all the rust I could find on the entire car, when it gets it's own build thread. And you know it will

So there I was, found the perfect preface E30 shell and I don't even have half of the asking price on me. Sadness. I spent about an hour looking around it, spent half an hour underneath it examining the common rust areas and not believing my eyes. I kind of wanted to find rust, so I can walk away. But there wasn't any. You can imagine how my heart felt when I was walking away without even starting a negotiation about the price.
Kind of like this guy:




Somehow I managed to keep a straight face and drive away. Then I got the E21 and had a toy for a while. But the dolphin was still there, remained listed, popping up everytime I browsed the classifieds, mocking me ... "buy me...buy me...buy me".

Ofcourse, one day I caved in. Called the guy and started with a lowball offer. he just hung up the phone. With a tear in my eye hit redial, swallowed my pride and started a reasonable negotiation. Finally the guy settles at something I can afford and also lets me know they managed to get rid of the italian contraption and the car starts and runs just fine. Needless to say, there we were again in my secretmobil, blasting on the highway, heading to my latest E30. There it was, sitting as we left it a month ago. Popped a battery in and she fires right up! Drove it around a bit, made sure everything works OK and went back to pay the seller. Loaded her onto a truck and hauled her back home. Got it registered on the same day, passed MOT too



Weekend came in two days, so the necessary maintenance stuff was acquired:



I have to say, that's my first M10 motor and it's a really easy one to work on. Slow in a car, maybe it was made for a gocart, who knows. But I don't mind it, since there is no radio in the car from factory I intend to keep it that way - it is REALLY quiet in the cabin, the M10 is almost unnoticable!

Here are some photos I took yesterday, sorry I am not much of a photographer:






So that's pretty much where we are today. I am so happy about this E30 and have so much more to say/tell about it, but that will be in another thread, when it gets it's own.

In terms of engine for the white E30, me and another E30 friend are debating on how the pistons should be modified in order to keep compression ratio high and avoid detonations in the chamber. When we get it right, the thread will be updated soon. Until then, feast your eyes on some gaskets and bearings I bought for the m20b30:




Man, I suck at taking pictures...

Thanks for reading!

[gnmzl]

Awesome car, and good job doing things the correct way.

Thanks man, coming from someone who knows what is behind a simple build like mine, i't a lot.

Man! what an amazing build thread! narrated and illustrated excellently..
Your attention to detail on this car is top notch, and I have no doubt the end result will be awesome.

I echo your opening verses about e30s being so intoxicating to drive, they really are one of the all time great cars.

It is annoying to hear about the retarded new rules in your country, fuck governments!
You would think there are more important things to sort out in the world by some government office faggot, like famine and refugees, instead of 'lets make a whole massive system that makes normal people messing with 25 year old cars have the exact same engine number if they ever want or have to change the engine on they're own property'.
On the other hand it has led you to building this awesome engine so you can still 'rebel against the machine'

I am suprised though that you did not paint under the car and inside the arches after all the fabbing was done before you started assembly..

Looking forward to following this build to the finish

Government sucks right? Those are actually old rules from some years back, nobody wants to change them. And I can see why, there is a lot of auto theft going on here, and if they overthrow that rule, it wil lbe like GTA paradise up in our country.
Anyway, to your question: there is a very good reason I didn't paint the underside of the car or the wheel wells. Someone had applied some time ago a layer of thick waxy-like thing everywhere, even in the inside of the car. It has preserved sheet metal extremely well, so I decided not to remove it, just scrubbed it down where it was pitted and replaced it with white polyurethane, which is visible on some of my photos.Some areas with edges wre affected, but where straight sheet metal exists, there was no issue at all. So using the old german style - don't ruin a working thing.
Cheers!

[alantw-15]

Man! what an amazing build thread! narrated and illustrated excellently..
Your attention to detail on this car is top notch, and I have no doubt the end result will be awesome.

I echo your opening verses about e30s being so intoxicating to drive, they really are one of the all time great cars.

It is annoying to hear about the retarded new rules in your country, fuck governments!
You would think there are more important things to sort out in the world by some government office faggot, like famine and refugees, instead of 'lets make a whole massive system that makes normal people messing with 25 year old cars have the exact same engine number if they ever want or have to change the engine on they're own property'.
On the other hand it has led you to building this awesome engine so you can still 'rebel against the machine'

I am suprised though that you did not paint under the car and inside the arches after all the fabbing was done before you started assembly..

Looking forward to following this build to the finish

[Byron]

Awesome car, and good job doing things the correct way.

[Kalin]

Евала , продължавай брат! Ако решиш да продаваш окачването свиркай

[gnmzl]

OK, today I am off work, so no more postponing. Engine time!

Most of the people reading this would probably think I am doing an engine swap, S50, S38 or a V8 from the BMW range. Or that I would go back to the original idea of turboing the m20b27. And they wouldn't be off completely.
However, several events lead to my final decision. There had been far too many issues with the law lately. It is illegal to have a different engine in your car in our country. When a car is registered for the first time in Bulgaria, the engine serial number is written on the slip. If you get caught with a different engine, you can face a fine ranging from ~1200 to ~4000 USD. In case your engine brakes, you need to find the exact same motor, buy it with documentation stating that you bought it, not stole it, and then reregister the car. If you put a different type of motor in (i.e. you have a 1.8 car, put a 2.0 engine in it), you HAVE to go to technical inspection, they decide if you did it properly and issue a piece of paper. That of course costs money and there is a big chance that you don't pass.
Turbocharged cars do not pass, so it's completely illegal to have turbocharged car, that was not produced with a turbocharger from factory.
So a V8 conversion, and a legal one, would be possible, but really pricey.

Then one day I got wind from a friend, that there is this guy, who had bought a rotten e28 with an e30 323 engine in it. The interesting part is the gearbox, coupled to that engine. Yes, it was a Getrag 245 Dogleg gearbox.
We negotiated for months, he wanted to put it up on ebay and make serious cash, I wanted to have it for cheap, or at least cheap for a dogleg. Eventually he agreed to sell it to me for a really good price.

So that decided it for me, I will stick with the mechanical marvel, called a BMW m20 engine (fun fact: used to be called m60, that's why some early gearboxes have m60 stamped on them), because I now have a dogleg gearbox to couple to it

OK, doglegs are seriously awesome, but no good in a weak ass stock m20b27. So I need to do something, and not just your average 2.8 stroke. No sir.


Bottom end

When I was earlier deciding what type of engine I want in the car I am buying, I had made a very good choice, not knowing I was going to make things easier for myself in the future.
So thanks, past me!
m20b27 engines are notoriuos for running forever, when taken good care of. I feared mine was not really taken care of, so only one way to make sure. Disassemble everything!

First head off, pistons have a good amount of gunk on them:



Then I realize it's way easier for a single person to use the engine hoist and be able to position the shortblock on the stand.



A good few hours later, all is off:



Now we get to the good part, is a complete m54b30 rotating assembly going to fit in an ETA block?

We can clearly see, the crank fits and rotates freely:



Time to put the rods and pistons in. They stick about 2mm above ...



Nothing that cannot be handled by any respectable machine shop.
There was a small issue with the block casting though. When the crank is rotated, there is one spot, where the connecting rod meets the lowest part of the cylinder wall.
I took the naked block to a trusted guy, who solely does engine blocks and dropped it off for measuring along with the rotating assembly and massaging of the lower cylinder walls, so that the conrods can move freely.
The guy did that really well and congratulated me on parts in perfect condition. He really thought I was bullshiting him about the block being 30 years old.

So, now I am at a point figuring out what exactly needs to be done to the pistons to achieve a compression ratio of 12:1
As soon as I figure it out, I am sending them to the machine shop.

The conrods will be weighed and trimmed down to match, there is also a lightweight flywheel from an early m20 e21 ready to go in and make the rotating assembly even lighter.

On to more good stuff!

The Head

As we all know, the head of the engine is where the horsepower is summoned from another dimension.
Needless to say, a 885 unit is going to be used on my engine. I had been wanting to drive with a 292 camshaft, which Shrick did not produce at the time I was looking for parts. Also, the DBilas one had better charachteristics in my opinion, but they had also stopped producing it. I was going on ebay day after day, week after week, month after month... and still no 292 camshaft. Then one day a tuning shop announced they are selling the 292 DBilas camshaft (DBilas decided to produce it again for some reason). There were also shrick vavle springs available at a discount if you buy a camshaft from them. No brainer - the order was placed within minutes and in a week a camshaft and valve springs popped up:




Happy as I was, the IE rocker arms were still too expensive for me, since there is tax on imported goods and also tax on shipping of imported goods, so I would have to pay double to get them.
Then the endless browsing of adds pays off again - a guy in the UK had some m20 stroker parts he was no longer willing to use due to S50 swap, IE rocker arms among them. I emailed the guy and asked him if he wants to ship. the answer was YES and a deal was struck once again. The rocker arms arrived in their original pack, never opened.

That got me thinking, more new stuff is required, so this happened:



All new parts, everything needed for the head to be assembled. The valve spring retaining collars are VAC motorsport. Also, although no turbo will be slapped on this engine, ARP head studs were acquired:



So far so good, but such a big increase in the displacement would require some better air flow. The last thing I am is a head porting guy, I have absolutely no idea how it should be done, so I hired someone to fiddle with the head. There were some things we disagreed about, but the final result is satisfactory to me:






The intake ports were very mildly increased, the exhaust ports were made to match the seal and the exhaust manifolds, which are being manifactured as we speak.

Stock m20b25 exhaust port:



Mine:



This leads us to valves. The stock ones are obviously not going to cut it. And not dimensionwise, diameters are OK in my honest opinion. They are heavy and break easily when you rev up to 8k. So, custom ones were milled down and adonized. They are lighter and stronger.

Stock m20b25 intake, custom intake, custom exhaust, stock m20b25 exhaust:



That's where I am at right now. Started assembling the head yesterday evening and am proceeding very slowly, so I don't f*c* anything up.

Cheers, till next time!

[gnmzl]

hey, stanceworkers, it's me again.
I've been slacking around not updating this thread, I admit. But hey, there is not much to tell, so this should be a quick read.

So, after the fron suspension was nearly done, I moved to the back and assembled the rear. Put in the springs and shocks and slapped in the fuel tube, which was powdercoated for extra bling.





Since I redid the front 5x120 setup, the adapt-o-plates for the front calipers would no longer work, new ones were required. Had those babies machined and zinc-coated in 2 days total!



Once that was done, we were ready to bleed the brakes and clutch slave pump. If you need to bleed the pump when there is no trans/motor, here is my Top Gear Top Tip: use a connecting rod foot with long bolts+nuts. Woks like a charm.
Also, an enthusiastic friend is required to help you out bleed the brakes:



That could only lead to one thing - settling on her own wheels for the first time in about 6 months!




Time to stop jerking around and sort out the wire loom

Left side, slowly progressing and getting there:



And done:



Right side was eaisier:



After that I put in the battery cable going to the trunk, but forgot to take pictures for some reason.

A few days ago, I called up the same buddy, who took her to the bodywork dude and we made a plan to take her to her garage to stay over the winter, because we need to use the workshop now, since it's cold outside and we need to work on other cars as well.
There she is, rolling out on her own for the first time after the assembly had started:



I don't have a picture of her on the trailer, it was too dark. When we arrived, we uploaded her and I stepped inside. The guys pushed me to the slope, where the entrance to the inderground garage is and I used the inertia to make the U turn at the entrance. It was awesome, I almost drifted

Here she is, all cramped up in the small garage:



So that's where she is at now, checked an hour ago. She will stay there over winter, while I work on other stuff like the heater core, sliding roof and engine.

Ooooh right riiiight, I was going to tell you about the engine.... well, I will, but in the next post

Let me tell you about the other cars in my life first.
I was not planning on doind anything major to the e28. So I kept myself busy with simple suff. Like finding a replacement taillight, mine was broken badly. The steering wheel was seriously pissing me off, so I remembered there was this steering wheel from my old Lada. Found it in a box at my parent's summer house and was surprised to find out it was a genuine Astrali wheel with PCD 6x100. Not gonna bother explaining what an Astrali is, found a genuine hub on the UK ebay for 20 pounds and snagged it:



I love how it feels. Some say it's ugly and inappropriate, I say f*** em.
Gaining confidence with the e28 I went to he annual e30 meet with it like a boss



Unfortunately, winter is coming, so I braced myself and drove to my parent's summer house (420 km away) for the second time. Swapped the stock wheels back on not to mess up the new tires, while the e28 sits in hybernation over the winter in the warm garage:




She looks so sad
Anyway, once I made sure she will be safe during winter (3 mouse traps around her plus a device, which uses magic to repel mice) I locked both garage doors and hopped into my top secret car, which I had done some maintenance in total secrecy over my summer paid leave. Seriously, it's top secret, some of my friends didn't even know I own a ****.
But it has proven itself reliable and cheap to maintain/travel, so I've kept it over the years, although it was not used for many years.
Wanna know what it is? Naaah, maybe in the next post.

Let me tell you another story.
When I realized I will not drive a BMW (decided the e28 is worth saving and not being driven during the horrible winters here), a hunt after a cheap BMW on it's last legs begun. I was looking and looking, drove several times to remote locations only to be staring at a pile of junk, that wouldn't even make the trip home. So, like usual, life happened.
A friend of mine from my home town had to go into surgery and stay in the city I currently live in for about 5 days. I was happy to have him and we had a good time considering he was just out of surgery. So on the 5th day he left and I was still at work, when he texted once he got home, saying that his brother has an offer I can't refuse.
We exchanged a million texts, but you will be bored, so the short version:
My buddy's brother will let me have his car for the winter, because he is not driving it anyway and will not have the time for it in the next 6 months. Because he is building some new BMW, which I hardly find interesting. Who cares about a convertible e46 m3 with a turbo. Pfffshhhh
The catch is I have to drive BACK to my home town to get it, also perform minor stuff on it while in my possession. Like change front control arms, swap the LSD unit into a non-screaming and screeching dif and complete overhaul of the engine.
Needless to say I was excited. I drove back in my secret **** car with my parents, who would stay over the weekend anyway and left it with them. I drove back on the next day in the early morning in this:




It's a 318i with a K-jetronic fuel injection, 323i front end swap, e34 525i front brakes, LSD dif and coilovers
Motor runs like crap, spits, shakes and whatnot. But I made it home and surprised people on the highway


I promise, I'll tell you about the engine stuff in my next post. I promise.

[gnmzl]

I'm back with a small update from the past few days.
Got some motivation while looking at some friends' rides and decided to actually put some work into my car.
Had to massage the dust caps before putting in the hubs, they were protruding slightly and prevented the hub bearing from sitting properly:



Put the hubs on:



Screwed down the nuts:



Shiny and ready to be assembled!



Put the front crossmember in, as well as the sway bar:



Prepped the lollipops with some powerflex goodness and unpacked the control arms:



After those were installed, cleaned the steering rack really good (about 4 hours total) and slapped it on:



Then the struts were installed, pretty happy with them actually:




Plan is to leave it high, until paint and exhaust are sorted.
Then there was some spare time to put in the wiring loom:




Unfortunately dumbass me never thought I'd make it this far during this weekend and didn't bring the laptop with the photos from the disassembly. So I had no idea which goes where and just left it like that. I'll try and make sense of that cable mess in the next few days.
I am still waiting on my adaptor plates for the front brakes, as well on brake fluid.Once those arrive, I can bleed the brakes and put the e30 on the ground.

Until next time.

[gnmzl]

Страшно е bmw-то ! Браво на теб ! Абе българите тука показвайте си колите. :d :d :d

Благодаря!

So, I promised somewhere in the posts, that I will tell you about the new plan for the 5x120 swap in the front. Since I had the previous struts assembled and ready to be used and abused, it didn't make sense to me to disassemble them just to get the hubs. So I sold them on to an e30 buddy, who wants to go down the same route in the future and bought another set of hubs. I then realized I actually had to fulfill my plan .

The idea is to keep the original offset as close to original as possible, so I had a sleeve with threads both inside and outside, so it can be screwed onto the spindle, receive the hub and have the stock e36/e46 nut screwed onto it. This is the part that got machined:





And this is how it screws down onto the stock e30 spindle. Notice there is an additional colar made around the surface where the e30 dust cap sits. It is not there only for the e36 dust cap, but so that the bearing race can have the intended surface to rest on. The e36 dust cap however is a bit taller than the e30 one, so once in place, it needs a bit of trimming with the dremmel, nothing frustrating.



Then line all the gear up and measure what's what before welding.



A buddy who actually knows how to weld and owns a TIG welder was kind enough to do the job:



We noticed the coilover sleeve had a little play when snug onto the chopped spindle, so we borrowed an idea from the drifters' forum. We made some holes and plug welded them.






After that the struts were off for powdercoating, I've trimmed the dust caps, put the hubs on, beat the crap out of the protective shields to make them fit after the brake disc has been installed, because the new adaptor sleeve brings the disc 5mm closer to the strut and kind of is in the same place the dust shield wants to be.
The struts are assembled and actually ready to go, but somehow both my camera and phone decided to have an empty battery at the same time. So I'll have to snap some picture for you guys later.
I hope to have the car on wheels by the end of the weekend. Cheers!

[G&G]

Страшно е bmw-то ! Браво на теб ! Абе българите тука показвайте си колите. :d :d :d