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

[blue91lx]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

just a bit out of hand

I decided to extend my build timeline a bit, so this should allow me to continue to sell all my spare parts to fund the rest of what I need!

[PAdutch]

Sounds normal to me...

[blue91lx]

Originally Posted by PAdutch

Sounds normal to me...

Par for the course, I think you're right.

A normal M52b28 with S52 cams makes around 225whp. I'm hoping to make 240-250 to the wheels with this setup. Which means I can go 3.2L in the future and make 275+ on a naturally aspirated i6. Should be plenty for fun times around Mid Ohio.

[blue91lx]

So, in recent news, Jaker has given me the hookup, and I purchased his ported, polished S52 cylinder head with 1mm oversized intake and exhaust valves, along with supertech dual valve springs. I'll be running that with my Metric Mechanic rally cams! This setup on his 3L bottom end made 270whp.

I've missed out on two s52 shortblocks locally. If I can find a decent one for $500 (what both of the others were priced at) I'll pick it up, but if it's time to put the motor in and I don't have one, I'll just run the M52.


I picked up this really nice "axle back" exhaust section to use, saving me quite a bit of money. I believe arc asylum built it for him. I'll likely cut the resonator off, angle it down under the subframe/axles and then throw the resonator in the mid section. I'll be combining the long tube collectors with a stainless vibrant dual 2" to single 2.5" y pipe, then running a single 2.5" through the resonator and back out to the magnaflow 2.5" in/out muffler. It'll be loud, but I think it'll be nice. The long tubes are also out for ceramic coating to hopefully avoid some rasp.





Took some time to finish my coilovers and check that project off the list. This included installing my brake ducts from Charlie. Had to cut the old dust shields off, as I had already pressed new bearings into the hubs and didn't want to pull them back off.






Wanted to get the 2.7 turn z3 rack ready, so I fought it with my grinder and cold chisel for a victory in the final round.





I spent some time working in the bay as well, cleaning it up and trying to prep the surfaces that need to be addressed for sealing/paint. Still trying to figure out how I'm going to tackle the paint. I don't need it to be perfect, just functional. Thinking about just getting a couple cans of brilliantrot from paintscratch and blending it with the existing engine bay paint. For now I sprayed all of the problem areas with a rust converter.

I also removed the ac condenser/evaporator/associated lines, as I won't be running AC at first (will be running after a little while with full r134 conversion).






I also took it upon myself to roll the rear fenders. I knew the paint was bubbling under the fender lips, but I ended up having to wire wheel everything off underneath to clean up the rust, and then spray an undercoater/rust converter to seal it all up. I'm going to have to address this more formally some day, but for now this will do. Passenger side is bubbling so I ground that down and sprayed it to seal it up for now.






That's all for now. My front subframe has been at the powdercoater for 3wks, and I'm waiting on that to assemble the front suspension to get the car rolling again.

I also bought a 318 rad w/integrated res, all I need is a 16" spal to put in front of the radiator to keep things cool. Still need a 944 booster, need to send the throttle body out to riot racing, and need to find a 3.5" porsche maf, among other things. Picked up a pigtail for my diff sensor and 24# injectors, too.

[blue91lx]

May or may not have just purchased three 325iXs. This makes seven e30s.

Stay tuned.

[Shipman]

Bruh.

[blue91lx]

Originally Posted by Shipman

Bruh.

#1 is a complete '88 car with a salvage title. Runs/drives needs TLC. It's got manual drivetrain, fully optioned, MTech steering wheel, 15" basketweaves, sport seats, etc. It's got a two tone paint job likely done at the time of the accident that gave the car a salvage title. I'm going to lightly fix it up and sell it to get my investment back.

#2 is a decent '89 Alpine White iX that's had $10K of work dumped into it. Auto trans went bad so the owner took the car apart, repaired all of the rust, etc. Has a mint vinyl comfort interior. Needs to be reassembled and cleaned up with the drivetrain from the '90 parts car.

#3 is the '90 manual parts donor car to fix/complete the '89 alpine car.

I got all three for the price that the complete '88 is worth, so I'm going to sell that ('88) to regain my investment, reassemble the '89 to sell, and part the rest of the parts car.

I also have this '86 parts car with a complete RWD manual swap that I bought for the 3.73LSD. I have to set up the 5sp swap as a kit to sell, pull the motor and sell the valuable stuff off it, and more or less scrap the rest.

I also still have my really nice iX back east, which after I finish these iX's I'm going to button that car up to sell as well (shifter bushings, central locking system, seat repair, sunroof repair). Hopefully this should be enough coin to finish the iS up and start getting into the M3 engine/suspension.

I'm ready for stage 2 of all this which is burnouts and track days, and only having two bimmers to worry about.

[DocWalt]

wut

lol

[blue91lx]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

wut

lol

My OT/gigs go away in the winter, I need to keep busy somehow

[empera]

Sell me a 4 door later model e30 for cheap so that i can JZ swap it ;)

[blue91lx]

Originally Posted by empera

Sell me a 4 door later model e30 for cheap so that i can JZ swap it ;)

I will keep an eye out back east man!

I will say this: if you find a clean, cheap early model always remember that euro bumpers exist, and to me, look just as good as or better than late models. Early models also have high rear arches so it makes fitting a phat tire much easier! I just so happened to have an early sedan shell in my garage I'm going to send to the yard in a few weeks. Too bad it's in Indiana. It's a California car, too.

Early model w/euro bumper example:

[empera]

Shell? is it bare?

god that looks good...

[Big_Jim]

that does look really good.

[DocWalt]

Lowered the perfect amount... great wheel fitment... hngggg

[blue91lx]

Originally Posted by empera

Shell? is it bare?

god that looks good...

It's the bronzit car I bought for the diff- you don't want it, though. It's a roller, with some interior and chassis bits gone. It's rust free but the body isn't in the best shape.

But you're welcome to it if you want it! Once I pull the motor/trans I'm just about done with it and normally just have the scrapper come pick it up haha.

Originally Posted by Big_Jim

that does look really good.

Originally Posted by DocWalt

Lowered the perfect amount... great wheel fitment... hngggg

Best part about that car is that it's a stock Euro early model coupe, lowered. That's it. Those bumpers, wheels, valance etc is all stock.

They get the good stuff across the pond while our DOT forces us into bumper-car styling.

[empera]

lol yea i wouldnt want the motor/trans anyway. Send me a PM with some pics and a little more info if you're able to

[blue91lx]

Originally Posted by empera

lol yea i wouldnt want the motor/trans anyway. Send me a PM with some pics and a little more info if you're able to

You've got it!

[blue91lx]

Two of the three iXs I bought showed up this past weekend. Since then, I've been busy trying to get the garage organized. I still think I'm going to try to finish up the iS before I dive into the iXs.





I also picked up my reinforced front subframe from the powdercoater and started to reassemble front suspension components. Hoping I can get my Z3 rack in the car soon (didn't know I had to modify the firewall and make a bracket) and get the car rolling again. I also found a reasonable paint guy to get the engine bay finished up once it's rolling.

[mckpat03]

This thread makes me want to buy more cars lol.

[blue91lx]

Originally Posted by mckpat03

This thread makes me want to buy more cars lol.

I support this, but don't be like me.

I buy more cars before I ever finish others, so it's a constant tail chasing effort

I WILL FINISH THE iS, I WILL DO IT.

This is the one. I'm telling you. I'm gonna finish it.

Sometime...


...and then sell it