E30 Build - Macon, GA

#1

For the last couple years, I have been hanging around Road Atlanta getting familiar with this whole SpecE30 sickness that many of you seem to carry. And to be completely honest, after observing the first lap, I was hooked.

Since then, I have been absorbing as much knowledge as possible from my friends in Group3 and getting to know some of you within the Southeast group. Even more exciting, I’ve gotten to watch my two sons develop a passion for racing as well by being so close to the cars, the track, and even getting to turn some wrenches thanks to one of their heros, Scott Clements aka Backyard Batman.

After an incredible opportunity presented itself to get a car, I’ve decided to get into this mess with you and thought I would chronicle my build project here. I’m certainly no mechanic, but I am a relatively quick learner and the Group3 guys seem to know a thing or two about these cars, so I’ll be leaning into their wisdom pretty frequently.

Pics to follow…

#2

Car acquired 12/8/2012 from South Carolina

1990 325i with auto transmission (beggars can’t be choosers, right?)

She’s incredibly straight with nearly zero rust and anything with issues (i.e. interior) will be coming out anyway.

#3

First time getting under her belly, 12/28/2012:

Discovered why the previous owner was having to add oil so frequently:

First major dissection–remove exhaust and driveshaft to prepare for auto trans removal. After the final cut on the exhaust and due to exhaust rust and overall deterioration, the entire exhaust literally fell onto the shop floor.

Lesson learned: Be prepared for anything and don’t let your guard down. Also, don’t let anyone under the car to “just watch”–it would have been a nasty injury.

#4

Driveshaft dislocated. Discovered that the rear axle looks relatively new. Also discovered how E30s reproduce:

I dunno, maybe I can get a few more miles out of this guibo…

End of Day 1: Auto transmission successfully removed:

#5

Lots-o-work ahead, lot-o-parts to swap. Good luck, you’re in good hands with the Group 3 folks.

Do you live in Macon or Alpharetta?

RP

#6

From Macon originally but I live in Alpharetta now. The car is in Macon (all my family is still there).

#7

Got it. Come hang out with us tomorrow at Balanced Performance.

RP

#8

That Diff looks mighty clean…too bad it is a 4.10…I would be interested in taking that off you hands…esp if you come to CMP in FEB. Overall that looks like a pretty good car to start with, I might have a white front bumper cover in my spares…

Al

#9

PM’d you Al.

#10

Back in the shop this weekend (1/12/2013) to start interior disassembly. As I mentioned, my boys are very excited about this build, so they came along. Turns out, they were a big help and it was fun for me to see them learning about cars.

Getting the front seats out definitely made it easier to work:

Carpet out (the boys enjoyed this part):

Rear seat out:

Removing the pedal assembly was no small task and I quickly realized that you have to be a contortionist to work on these cars. I don’t squeeze into small places very well:

I also managed to pick up a manual transmission last week that I found on Craigslist. Previous owner was an Alpharetta mechanic/BMW enthusiast. He also provided a driveshaft and a couple other smaller parts that I needed:

A lot was accomplished this weekend with the interior and pedal completely removed. I’m developing quite an impressive stack of spare parts, so if you know of anyone who is building a non-track e30 and needs some obscure spares, chances are I have them.

Also, the automatic trans is on the auction block if anyone knows of a good home for it.

#11

long road ahead for sure…B)

#12

Update: Scott has removed the engine and began disassembly. So far, nothing critical, just some typical things needing to be replaced or refreshed for an engine with 200k miles.

#13

Gutted:

#14

Next project is to complete the removal of everything under the dash and prepping for the cage:

Having kids is great since their smaller hands can fit into tight places:

With some guidance from “Coach Scott”, even an 8-year-old can work on these cars:

And who hasn’t felt like this at some point while doing this?

#15

Got both of them busy working:

With nearly everything out of the front end, she’s riding high:

#16

Great to see you got your kids involved.

Al

#17

[quote=“FARTBREF” post=70877]Great to see you got your kids involved.

Al[/quote]

Thanks, they have really attached themselves to this project, which I love. They were already HUGE fans of David, Scott, & Steve, but they are really excited now to be building a racecar of our own.

We’re trying to think of a way to let them leave their “mark” on the car, either with their own design that will be included (hand-drawn skulls seem to be the top idea), or some other concept that they can call their own.

On a different subject, Al, are you still interested in swapping diffs and selling me that front bumper of yours? We’re going to be at RA in March (not driving…just getting in the way).

#18

Update!

After getting over some hurdles that required my attention, I was able to get back home to get some more work done. In my absence, I was incredibly and quite pleasantly surprised to find that all had not been completely neglected–I was shocked to see how far Scott “Superman” Clements had brought the engine along!

Have I mentioned how blessed and grateful I am to have such great friends?

From this:

To this:

#19

From this:

To this:

#20

And from this steaming dung pile:

To this beautiful sight: