Alpine e30 progress/build thread
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Looks great, what color are you planning on finishing them in?
Thanks! I'm not sure yet, I am split between a bright silver like the ones Earl posted, possibly a gunmetal color, or maybe even a bronze/gold color as I think it could look pretty good on alpine white. I am also debating blacking out the lug area like the older Alpina wheels, I will have to play around with photoshop to see what I ultimately like the most
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I think silver would look the best. If you wanted to be really cool with them. Paint them black and then polish the face. That would leave it black in between the spokes=)
You mean like this?
I think that would look really awesome, in fact that might be my favorite option now. I have until May to get these things done so I can do just about anything haha
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Well, its been a few months since I've done anything, I got aircraft paint remover and have been slowly working on the wheels and man is progress slow. Two are disassembled and I have begun stripping one of the faces but haven't had much time to get it done, hopefully I can get the ball rolling and have them ready to go by the spring.
I am preparing for a massive overhaul weekend on my spring break in March, I've got everything for a full brake job (except the braided stainless lines), brake fluid reservoir grommets are leaking so those will be replaced too, lower oil pan gasket and oil change, rear differential mount, rear shock mounts, trans/diff fluid change with appropriate redline fluids (I have two quarts of royal purple sychromax but have heard a number of negative things so I am going with redline...anyone want to buy the sychromax?), pulling the cluster and fixing the speedo needle since its like 5 mph off, and tie rod ends/front end alignment. This is all in preparation for the 1000 mile drive back to school, should be interesting for sure haha.
Two things:
recommendations on braided stainless brake lines for someone on a budget? Ireland engineering has a full set (DOT approved, teflon lined/braided/coated) for $95 that I am considering
My radiator looks quite old and is possibly original, do E30's have the same radiator failure expectations as e36's? Mine already has a new t-stat/water pump/hoses/fan clutch.
EDIT: Also need to fix the drivers side headlight, wont light when you turn the switch but if you hit it hard enough it will blink, most likely a connection issue.
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I had Royal Purple Synchromax in my g250 and then switched to 50/50 redline d4 and redline 75w-90NS (only because of gear rattle with lightweight flywheel) and it was much quieter, most likely the noise reduction was due to the increased viscosity though. I use Royal Purple XPS oil in the engine though and it is fantastic. Check my build thread for head pics after 45k miles.
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I had Royal Purple Synchromax in my g250 and then switched to 50/50 redline d4 and redline 75w-90NS (only because of gear rattle with lightweight flywheel) and it was much quieter, most likely the noise reduction was due to the increased viscosity though. I use Royal Purple XPS oil in the engine though and it is fantastic. Check my build thread for head pics after 45k miles.
Ive heard much better things about their engine oils (Saw your pics, incredibly clean!) Its more just the synchromax I have heard sub-par things about, it seems to break down/thin out much faster than other equivalents
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Wheels are looking really good and everything too for that matter. Keep up the good work!
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Id spring for some OE non-stainless brake lines and save some money. Thats just me though.
Would the difference not be noticeable? I figured that while I was replacing the lines I might as well upgrade while I'm in there, but if it isn't worth it that would change my mind
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I am not the expert at all, but I tend to go for the cheapest rotors (not ebay) that you can get at a local parts store or online parts retailer, the highest quality pads you can get for your intended application, the highest quality fluid, and OE rubber lines and hydraulics.
I tend to believe that this combination will net you the best braking performance per dollar.
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A very important part of replacing rotors is to thoroughly clean the hub surface. Check for run-out with a dial indicator if possible, if you don't have one make sure every spec of rust scale is gone. Any run-out will cause the "high" point in the rotor to bump off of that sides pad and will wear a thin spot on opposite sides 180 degrees apart. The rotor then will have the same symptoms as a "warped" rotor. That being said I would avoid China made ones. Centric parts are cheap and the last time I bought them for our Nissan they were made in Canada. They have a nice dual directional grind on the face, some parts store rotors I have gotten before were not even surface ground. I have the gold coated brembo slotted rotors on the front of the Maxima and they are excellent and still look good after 3 years of being a winter beater, but they are a bit spendy.
Eh
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I have a set of coated Balo rotors for the car (much cheaper than others, OEM supplier to Audi and generally good reputation) and OEM Bosch pads. I have a quart of ATE super blue, bought it right before it was banned, for the fluid flush but I might have to pick up a quart of the gold to top it off just in case. I did some research and a full set of ATE rubber lines is only $75 compared to a $95 minimum for braided stainless so I may just go with the rubber and spend the difference elsewhere, I've got some time to look and see if it is worth it
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CaTuned just came out with set of stainless lines. Great guys to deal with
http://www.catuned.com/p/106/catuned-brakes-brake-lines-bbk#.Uu77Tsvnav0
Hadn't seen these, thanks!
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Well, I'm home for "spring" break which means the e30 is officially out of storage! At the end of this week I will be loading it up and driving about 1000 miles back to school. Before I go I've got quite a lot to do. I ordered a bunch of parts and over the next few days I will attempt to finish everything
Last night I did the rear shock mounts. Drivers side took about 20 minutes total:
New heavy duty RSM's with ECS Z3 reinforcement plates
And then came the passenger side aka satan's top nut. Took a few hours and ended up removing the entire shock to get it off:
\Original bmw shocks with 144k on them, total junk. Once I get some more money I will be replacing these with Bilsteins
That explains the clunk I was getting in the rear...
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Look into mustang and camaro shocks. They are cheaper than the bilsteins and also offer better performance
Never heard of that as an option, you did mustang shocks on your ti right? They're a direct replacement?
Got more done on the car today, I need to buy new H4 bulbs for my headlights because one isn't working right, not burnt out though which is odd.
Replaced the rear differential mount with a Powerflex purple bushing (middle between street and race hardness)
Really clean inside the diff, pretty happy about that
Bushing wasn't as bad as it looked on the car, still replacing it though as the rubber had softened significantly
Powerflex bushing installed, went together extremely easily. New cover gasket installed and everything torqued to spec, filled it with Redline 75w-90 gear oil.
No clunking when going from a stop or over bumps, responsiveness on acceleration and deceleration is definitely better as well and the ride quality hasn't changed at all
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