Slowly but Surely- 325iX, 325iS, and E30M3 resurrection

[blue91lx]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

Damn, that's pretty port work!

Yep, was quite happy with it when mr Kevin got it all cleaned up! Excited to get this motor build under way for the hoopty.

I've always wanted a big 6, so I am happy to have this gal stay for a bit and then move on to the next owner. I got the car from a buddy, and am pulling the drivetrain and sold the roller to another guy using it as a parts car for his big 6 project.

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[blue91lx]

Trying to expand into the 5/6er world for the parts bizz..... ended up with a manual 533 partsie as well!

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But the real man of the hour is hoopty. I love this car. Its the best car..... ever. If you haven't ever had a hoopty, my oh my would I recommend it.

Finally got my rockymount setup on the car so it now covers biking duty!! Still going strong with leaky HG

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[blue91lx]

The end of an era!

https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/sho....php?t=2946430

[blue91lx]

It has been a long couple weeks!

I sent my nice, red '90 325iS (Linda) with the 3.1L M20 that I built up to my buddy Jake's shop in Michigan (ClassicDaily) to do paint, dyno, cruise control, and a legit Sanden compressor r134 A/C conversion with custom lines. A friend/customer of mine has had interest in the car for a long time, and also lives up by Jakes shop. We struck a deal for his two e30 projects plus a pile of cash for Linda. I went up last weekend to Jakes to finish up the car. It was a mad dash to finish all of the small things you don't think about when selling a car away from home in someone else's shop. After a stressful weekend, we shook hands, and Tyler drove Linda back to his home in Grand Rapids.

I was realllllyy hoping for 225whp out of the 3.1L that I built, but ultimately found out that the stock intake manifold was WAY more of a restriction than I had originally perceived. Sad to not see the numbers, but will be fun for Tyler to convert to ITBs and see all of the gains, giving the motor what it's asking for by getting rid of the intake restriction.

As part of the deal, we worked out an agreement to where I can keep the sentimental parts of the car (Steering wheel and Wheels), which really made me happy, as I can put these parts in hoopty and the memories can live on.

After a long fight with my Forester in getting the engine done, I finally squeezed in the time to detail the car and get it listed. It wasn't but two days after selling Linda that an awesome local enthusiast came to buy the Forester, and affectionately ordered the custom plate "1 of 590" due to the rarity of the Factory Sports, Factory XT, Factory Manual Trans combo of the Forester.

Seeing both of these cars to completion and having them sell was a big coming of age moment as I invest more into the parts business. I officially put in my 2wks at the day job, and it's all becoming very real!


Photo dump of Linda:

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
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After Tyler put his wheels on:

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Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

Picking up one of his hooptys as part of the deal:

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Italvolanti back in hoopty

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Fozzy all shined up before sale:

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[DocWalt]

Bye Linda! That torque curve looks awesome at least!

[blue91lx]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

Bye Linda! That torque curve looks awesome at least!

Torque curve really set the car off. It's funny, because I was disappointed in the numbers, but upon further inspection, have found several hot/built M30 3.5L setups make the same or less power. Crazy what the M20 can do in comparison.

We have lift off!

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[blue91lx]

6mo update. I am working diligently towards a clear palate after a couple years of ridiculousness.

Went to buy a cylinder head and ended up buying out two attics of parts and a car

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Got a '91 318 slicktop running that I bought ages ago and forgot about. The guy called me and said "hey man do you still want this car". I was like oh crap, totally forgot I paid you for this thing, rented a trailer and drove to WV to pick it up the next day.
He installed a refreshed M42 engine but it was his first big mechanical endeavor and he couldn't get it to run. Said it would start and die.

After some fun electrical diagnosis we found that the fuel pump wiring was shorted inside the fuel tank causing fuse to blow. Fuel pump return line wasn't hooked up at all, dumping fuel on top of the tank, plug wires in the totally wrong order... it was an ounce of bad luck away from burning down.

Need to sell it once I button it up.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr



Bought an '89 325i 4dr for parts and realized it wasn't that rusty, so I got it running, ripped it around the parking lot, and then realized I'm an idiot and parted it out.

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Got the Lady's outback engine done and immediately drove it to Colorado

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Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr



Bought a turbo'd '91 318iS that is suuuuper rust free, that now has a deposit on it, to be picked up soon.

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Bought an '86 325e 4dr with an s50 swap that I've been making nice again, need to sell once I button it up. Removed race car parts, converted suspension to street used (H&R/Billys), added power steering, etc. This thing is oozing in early 2000s style.

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Made my annual visit home over the holidays to see the garage queen in the flesh

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Converted the hoopty rear suframe from poly to rubber since she's a cruiser. Also discovered a ton of rust and body damage that I ground down and painted over because-hoopty. This car needs some chassis stiffening stuff, so I am figuring that out. Need to swap the motor in it before "The Vintage" even in NC this May.

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Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr



This black '91 318 has been a thorn in my side. This car was supposed to be done in a weekend and it took years due to it needing a chassis harness, engine, suspension refresh, etc. I finally got it on the road, and it had a terrible clutch noise that required the trans to be pulled, engine leaked etc. So I worked out with a buddy to accept his 318Ti in a trade plus some cash from him to finally get the car gone once and for all. 318Ti is for sale and will hopefully be gone soon.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[DocWalt]

What a fun six months you've had, haha.

M3 still looking pretty!

[blue91lx]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

What a fun six months you've had, haha.

M3 still looking pretty!

Bahaha I left out plenty of other "fun" stuff. This is what my liquidating looks like.... buying more cars.

Sure is! After 6yrs I'm almost ready to bring it home. If all of the cars I have deposits on sell, I will just have my one personal e30 and the m3. That's been the goal for ages, but we're finally here!

The slicktop goes to a new home tomorrow, too, after many years of it chillin' in the warehouse.

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Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr



The turbo 318iS and slicktop 318

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[Big_Jim]

im so happy you are still here updating your build

[blue91lx]

Originally Posted by Big_Jim

im so happy you are still here updating your build

i'm tryin! Slipped up for half a year.

I like this lil' member journal, as it represents something a bit more than just a car build thread. As I read back, I remember so many things that would've otherwise slipped through the cracks of my memory. Shows the ups and downs, refinement, stages of life, etc etc.

[blue91lx]

been busy in hoopty land!

In an effort to button up the S50 car, I installed rubber trailing arm bushings to replace the sad poly that was in there. Subframe bushings were quality and showed no wear, so they stayed.

The 3.25 diff that was in the car leaked from every orifice, and I had a nice n' tight '93K mile 3.25 on das shelf that I threw in with an AKG bushing that matched the subframe bushing hardness with some fresh 75/140. Been using 75/140 on the last few diffs, after a chat with dr. Zakspeed about how it seems to work better on 30 year old used diffs. I concur and have had better luck with it over the traditional 75/90.

She'll be up for sale in Indy soon to cap off my "year of the sell"

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr



Turbo 318iS went to a new home- a buddy had been looking for a rust free chassis for ages, and I just passed along the deal that I got on this thing to him, to move stuff along in the year of the sell.

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Which brings me to the steamy pile of garbage he blessed me with in return.... a rusty '90 auto coupe that has been more or less fully refreshed in the drivetrain/suspension sector.

LCA, steering rack, IE springs, konis, head rebuilt by the famed Turn In Concepts in Cincinnati, long tubes with a full custom exhaust. He tore the car down for paint after doing the work and found a bunch of rust. So now it's my responsibility to make it go away. The goal is for this to leave in one piece, as it runs/drives/stops/steers super well. Would be a killer drift car with a manual, but that's an avenue for someone else to explore.

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Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr




And then a cool local guy from Indy who used to make M42 coil on plug plates waaaay back in the day wanted me to come free up the driveway spot that had been taken up by his uber rusty 318iS for a while. He sent me this shot of the Cavallino in the car and I couldn't say no.

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Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr



Meanwhile, I had been trying to sell the slicktop 318 4dr without much/any luck for $3500, which I thought was cheap. The car needed suspension/brake work but it wasn't bad. I needed the space, so I posted a "someone please save this car before I part it" ad on R3V FB and a cool dude from FL promptly picked it up, so I didn't have to cut the roof off on live stream after all.

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I have been saving a superETA motor for my keeper hoopty, and finally yanked it out of the car that it was in and popped the valve cover off to find everything one hopes and dreams of. New HD rockers, new cam, ARP studs, etc. It had been sitting, so I pulled the head off to inspect the bores and it was all perfect.

So in the coming weeks I will be throwing this back together with an OE dealer head gasket and hoopty will be back on the road! I'm going to leave the mess that is the current quarter panel situation for now, but hopefully next winter I'll have Tim @ClassicDaily stitch a quarter on it for me.

I bought a garagistic X brace for the car, and had F&R strut bars on the shelf I've been saving for hoopty to stiffen up all of the salvage flexing it likes to do. I also talked to my buddy who is a great fabricator, and we discussed adding a bar on the floor in front of the rear seat, tying the b pillars and floor together to help the chassis out. Once he gets time, that will get done.

Last piece of the hoopty suspension puzzle needed are camber plates to replace these GC race plates. I need some street camber plates, ordered them from IE and they said they're having issues making them so they couldn't fulfill the order. I'm not spending $500 on ground control units, so if you're reading this and have some used touring/street camber plates, hit me up.

Also, once S50 car sells, after a long long way, it's finally M3 time! That's all for now, folks.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[blue91lx]

Progress

Now that the three 318s are gone I could bring hoopty in for vintage prep.

If you remember from before, hoopty has had a blown head gasket since I got the car, but I put over 5k miles on this thing and it ran better than any other m20 i've had, with a HG leak. long live the m20.

I yanked the engine/trans, as I built a 9.4:1 compression 2.7L stroker M20 for the car that I'm going to swap in before the vintage. I'll be running a 272 cam with this setup, along with ClassicDaily's new standalone, which will be announced tomorrow!!

The engine consists of:

-virgin late model m20b25 block/pistons, new Goetze rings
-block shaved down 2mm
-81mm 2.7 325e crank
-130mm 2.7 325e rods
-new rod bearings/bolts
-rebuilt oil pump, etc etc
-rebuilt 885 head w 272 cam

I'm going to go up to jakes and throw it on his dyno with stock ecu, and then convert it to standalone and dyno again. I'm just running a stock exhaust, as I spent a ton of exhaust work on Linda and I'm not convinced it made a difference to justify the cost.

This car is seriously a piece of ****. I am likely going to have a quarter put on it over winter, but will enjoy it until then.

Oh, and I bought everything to go sanden r134 from LC Wylie, so I'll be doing that while the motor is out.

Hoopty did 5k miles with a broken head bolt, and another head bolt that was finger tight!!!! Still can't believe it

​​​​​​​Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[DocWalt]

Loving the updates!

Old German engines are freaking tanks, man. They're so massively overbuilt and robust.

Too bad everything around them wasn't... haha

[blue91lx]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

Loving the updates!

Old German engines are freaking tanks, man. They're so massively overbuilt and robust.

Too bad everything around them wasn't... haha

They really are- reminds me of the Dodge Cummins argument of old.... the engines last but everything surrounding them didn't

---------------

What a wild couple months. Turbo 318iS is gone, both 318 sedans gone, and S50 sedan is gone! And i sold my 02 that I never even took possession of lol

Which finally means that it's time for vintage prep on hoopty.

I have a really long list to do in a couple weeks.

I'm doing a full Sanden R134 conversion on this car, and got a valence painted by a local blind painter who still charges too much, so figured it was time to put in a good aux fan, parallel flow condenser, r134 drier, single pressure switch, custom line for compressor, and new green orings on the line from the drier to the condenser.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr





2.7L in question:
-325e 81mm crank
-325e 130mm rods
-late model 325i pistons
-deck shaved 2mm
-makes a 9.4:1 comp 2.7L M20 with the right pistons to match up with the 885 head

Head in question:
-pulled off a car at the warehouse which got parted midway through being built
-New HD rockers
-New unknown cam
-ARP studs
-machine work looks good, and the valve job looks good, so we're gonna clean up and install with a Genuine dealer head gasket, hoping the cam isn't a 304

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Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
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Aaaannnd where you see the ARP lube on the valve cover is where the studs are hitting the valve cover. Studs are the older versions that are too long. Don't really know what to do about it at this point. I may have to drill out the baffle and make room for them.

I pulled the s2.93 tonight, as turbo plans are on hold as i get the car sorted and enjoy it for a while.

I prepped an s3.46 clutch type I had from an e28 and will throw that in tomorrow.

Loooootttssss of work ahead, but will be doing my best to get it done, now that all of the other projects are gone.

[blue91lx]

Vintage prep continues..... the 2.7L lives! This thing feels great so far. Mystery cam, 9.4:1 2.7L stroker with i pistons and e crank/rods with the block shaved 2mm. Dealer HG with ARP studs. I am headed up to Jake's on Friday to convert the car to his new Standalone kit (https://www.classicdaily.net/collect...g-and-play-ecu) and throw the caaaar on the dyno for some before and after data! Will probably charge the A/C while i'm up there.

In full vintage fashion, I had to install my last good heater valve, so I pulled the dash to swap in a freshie I got from a buddy on the cheap "while yer in there". I fixed my DIY dash vent HVAC box seal with a proper factory piece this time around. Been saving a heater valve and core from a parts car that were just replaced before the car was condemned. Hooptie getting all the goods!

I also found/repaired some unnecessary BMW turn signal wiring. Hoping to be nearing the end of my wiring adventures.

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Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
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New engine startup video- click the image to view

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[blue91lx]

warning: tst resizing function is no longer, so photos are grande

Unfortunately, I missed the dyno session at Jake's on Friday. I got the car road worthy just before midnight the night before, and on the midnight test drive with no interior I had some crazy suspension noises, on top of other "new engine problems", so I called it there and committed to finishing the car as intended before vintage.

I pulled some 90+ HVAC hoses from a parts car for under the dash while the dash was out so that I could count on the hoses being r134 rated and got them installed, as well as the new to me heater valve and heater core (expansion valve and orings were already r134 pieces).

I was no longer rushing to get to the dyno, so I decided to pull the trigger and install the sound deadening I had for the car and install the interior to a higher level than I previously thought I'd have time for. Granted, I did this quick because the car is a ****box so I didn't take the time to cut everything neatly. Just got it done.

I heard on the internet that rust doesn't exist if it's covered in kilmat.

Not to get sentimental (but to get sentimental), I've learned something very important through this hoopty journey that I've been on. Everything is dying as soon as its born. I have to be okay with things being okay, not perfect. That is the lesson of the hoopty journey. To be able to call it where it is, at a point where the car wont fold in an accident, and enjoy/maintain these mechanical things as they are. Everything I've ever made great I sell, and don't enjoy the process. It kills me to have a quarter panel that's smashed in, and a carfax with more accidents than someone with 12 kids, but I have enjoyed this car more than any fancy car I've ever owned...... because I'm not scared to use it.

I chose this car because it forces my hand to keep things reasonable and ultimately, to enjoy the car and experience above all else, vs spending all of my energy trying to chase the destination of perfection, which really doesn't bring me fulfillment.

The outside of the car looks terrible, but I've realized that I really like a nice cockpit, so getting the sound system and sound deadening on point I think will add quite a bit to the driving experience.

I kicked the quarter panel hard enough to pop the dent out enough to get the quarter trim installed lol. I bought 3 sets of premium sound speakers before getting a set that was fully good. Installed them in the parcel shelf with a seat belt clip that wasn't broken.

Also got some good factory tweeters and premium woofers in nice shape for the footwell. It's so hard to beat factory premium sound that ultimately I decided to run quality premium sound units instead of trying to make stuff that wasn't intended to be there sound better than stuff that was.

I also spent a lot of time on the doors and quarters with the sound deadening trying to get everything as quiet as possible in the noise prone areas.

Found a JVC head unit in a box that is ugly but will work for now. I thought the quality of the blaupunkt was crap so I returned it. Felt so cheap and chinsey for $450. Buttons were made poorly, etc. Was really let down by the quality.

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Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

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[DocWalt]

Yeah the image resizer broke a few months ago I think. Annoying but oh well.

Good lessons learned, my old GTI was so freeing just not really caring too much about cosmetics or being perfect