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I did not know this thread was here! Awesome. I'll be sure to post the MTech's progress as we go. Right now we're replacing a few things to make it road-ready and after that comes the trans swap.Tashan Dorrsett posted:Anyone else going to the e30 picnic in Tacoma this weekend? My e30's been parked under a tree for the last month-and-a-half and I haven't fixed the paint damage from its latest parking lot incident but I'm probably going to show it anyway because hey it runs and drives again. My boyfriend mentioned this today. My MTech won't be ready before the weekend--we have to replace a few suspension parts and we can't even do the transmission conversion until next week sometime. So we're planning on going next year. By that time, the MTech should be really pristine. Edit: also, apparently the BF was feeling left out being the only person in the family without a convertible so he bought a 91 e30 vert that is near-mint. The cosmetic condition is stunning--the leather is hard as a rock but not cracked so he's oiling and conditioning it to see if it'll go supple. If that works he's going to use it on what leather we can salvage from the MTech, which is not nearly as dried out. This one is a non-MTech but it was in such good condition, and a single-family car, that he had to buy it for $1100. It won't pass smog and it needs a new transmission but he can probably flip it pretty easily since the cosmetic condition is just shy of flawless. So now, we have six cars between us. Five e30s and a classic race Mini. Two will be sold soonish, and the most recent convertible e30 will be flipped as soon as he gets the trans and smog issues sorted out. Once I can get the MTech out of the garage, I'll post some pics. Maggie Fletcher fucked around with this message at 05:29 on Jun 24, 2015 |
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Jun 24, 2015 05:25
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Tashan Dorrsett posted:
Thanks! We could probably have it road-worthy by the weekend, but it needs a few bits and bobs on the suspension, and the trans it has leaks some fluid, so we decided to just make the trip next year. It should be really special by that time. We could drive two of our e30s up--most of them are just dailys but one is a RallyX and you already know how awesome the MTech is. The problem is, it's about a 15 hour drive for us and we're gonna want to share driving duties. So next year we'll probably just bring the MTech. I just wish I could get it out of the garage but the BF says it's not ready. I love my daily driver e30, but I'm ready to move on to the vert, especially since the weather's been so nice. Maggie Fletcher fucked around with this message at 17:34 on Jun 24, 2015 |
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Jun 24, 2015 17:31
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edit: by the way those household steam cleaner thingys for clothing work wonders on old leather, the cleaner it is the better it will respond to treatment & it's probably the least harmful way to clean leathers. It'll get even drier and stiffer after steaming, but you should be able to get it soft again. If it's not cracked and just stiff I guarantee it's not too far gone.
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We pulled the subframe out of the MTech today--we have to replace the subframe with the one from the e30 we're cannibalizing because we can't get the axle out of the hub to replace the wheel bearings. The subframe we're replacing it with shouldn't be as tough to get the axles out. We were able to salvage the differential, but we replaced the diff fluid and gasket while it was off the subframe. I mentioned in the other BMW thread that the BF had found a fully restored MTech like mine that sold last year for $13,500. Now he's thinking about selling his race Mini to get that one, because the guy is thinking about selling. I made him promise he wouldn't forget about restoring mine--he tends to get distracted by his half-dozen projects. Is it totally selfish of me that I kind of hope he doesn't buy it? I was really enjoying having the rarest car of the bunch.
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Jun 27, 2015 06:23
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Yall remember the e30 MTech vert I picked up back in June? After sitting on stands for four months, the internal restoration is all but done. The suspension took forever, broke a couple of cheap tools from Harbor Freight, but it's finally in. While we were doing the transmission conversion we decided to swap in a newer, more powerful engine he had pulled out of a beautiful, low-mileage, but wrecked e30. We also discovered that the floor panel was already fitted for the clutch pedal, so that saved some time during the conversion. The boyfriend also put in a short shifter he had lying around. We test drove it last night and it is so, so smooth. I've been abusing the hell out of my 325e because it was a cheap piece of junk (driving it about 300 miles a week but still doing all the maintenance it needs, it runs fine but is just cheap), and I can't believe how much better the MTech drives. It still needs some minor tweaks here and there to run perfect, but it should be done really soon. I'll take pictures once it's done, but the exterior hasn't changed much. We'll be doing a cosmetic restoration probably sometime in the spring. It doesn't need much, just some dent pulling and new paint.  Edit: by "we" I mean my boyfriend. I bought the stuff and he did all the work. I can't even begin to imagine how much work it took to get that thing restored. He said he'd never do it again; I said the restoration could be my birthday present this year. Maggie Fletcher fucked around with this message at 19:39 on Oct 13, 2015 |
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Oct 13, 2015 19:33
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BraveUlysses posted:Post some pics! I don't have the specs in front of me but judging from the engine it looks like a newer M20. Since the cosmetic restoration isn't done yet, there aren't a lot of changes that a photo would show, but here you go! This is the Craigslist photo:  This is what it looked like when I brought it home. It drove pretty well then although I'm not a fan of the automatic transmission:  This is the old engine. It had something like 300K miles on it but was still running really well. We're either going to sell it or keep it for a spare:  Probably won't run like this...  This is the new engine that came out of a salvage car. Approximately the same specs but much lower mileage:  Edited for huge.
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Oct 13, 2015 22:59
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