Newby needs car help

#1

Newby here…
Looking for a build candidate but not having much luck. Considering converting my Chump e30 but there are a couple items that may rule that out.

  1. Previous owner cut out the rear bulkhead behind the seat for some reason. I patched it with a steel panel but it is not OEM.

  2. Doors are gutted and cut out with crash bars removed. I could do new doors but my cage sidebars are bent to go out to the door skin. Does all of the OEM metal structure need to be there?

  3. Spare tire well is removed and patched over. Can I weld in a new one?

  4. The car is an early e model without anti-skid with an I motor. Is anti-skid required? Also I had to convert the square engine connector to the later round
    one.

  5. Upper radiator support is cut out and replaced with a bolt in cross tube.

  6. There is some rear quarter panel damage in front of tge wheel that can be pulled out but I doubt it would look perfect.

My feeling is that the car it too compromised but I am looking at options.

#2

Brickhouse, where are you? I’m in Savannah, GA. and there’s several e30’s in various states of repair available. Also, Brian Edmonds is selling his car. He’s in AL. No drive train but that can be remedied easily enough.

Re. your chump car.

  1. Your patched rear bulkhead will either be ok, or you can make it ok easily enough.

  2. Your doors are ok.

  3. Yes, you can weld on a new spare tire well. That will need to be done, maybe not immediately, but eventually. If you’re in SE region and you suck, people won’t care much about your spare tire well so you’ll have time to fix it. If you don’t suck, folks will be more sensitive to your car being entirely legit.

  4. There’s been some debate re. abs lately. The bottom line is…don’t worry about it. This issue has some wrinkles. We’ve long told folks that ABS has to be installed, but there is no requirement that it actually functions. Recently tho there’s been lots of debate re. the ABS rule and imo what we (and I) have been telling folks is wrong. IMO the rules do not require that 84-86 cars have ABS. Also, there is a 2016 rule change under discussion by the directors that says that no one is required to have ABS.

Square engine connector?

  1. See #3 above.

  2. NASA has a 50/50 rule. Your car needs to look ok from 50’ and 50mph. Everyone’s car gets a bit banged up eventually. It’s racing.

#3

I’m in Memphis, TN. Wouldn’t live in AL if it was free :stuck_out_tongue:

#4

Lol, sorry about that. Not sure what I was thinking.

#5

Thanks for the quick reply. I am in Greensboro NC. This makes me think that I could just transition my current car. I think I will look to bring the car to one of the events and let everyone see it and firm up the plan. It would be great to run some events as abackmarker in the current car while I look for a new candidate. I prefer to build rather than buy.

#6

Lots of SpecE30 types around Greensboro. We need to link you up with a local. Go here https://www.facebook.com/groups/SpecE30/ and say “I’m in Greensboro, NC. I’ve got a truck full of beer and I want to talk SpecE30. Who’s in” and folks will come out of the woodwork that won’t necessarily find this thread?

You coming to Road Atlanta next month?

#7

I will do that. I just found the Facebook page tonight. Can’t make RA, racing at VIR that weekend. Am thinking of coming to RR in Jan.