Alpine e30 progress/build thread
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Look on R3v for the thread where the guy in Chicago bought a pristine 91 318is with roughly 32k miles for around $23k. He may be nuts but it could help you.
Thanks for the information. I sent them every relevant receipt I could find, hopefully it helps. I'm definitely going to forward that thread if I can find it, that could help me a lot...
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his user name is rlich8
Here are the threads about the purchase. I'd cherry pick to suit your needs. Beyond this case, the assorted cars for sale listings could be helpful.
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his user name is rlich8
Here are the threads about the purchase. I'd cherry pick to suit your needs. Beyond this case, the assorted cars for sale listings could be helpful.
Thanks! I'll keep this updated as things progress, I have sent them a few comparable cars that represent the value I think the car has. Its weird trying to put a finite price on something I never had any intentions of selling
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Just heard back from insurance, they are going to total the car. On the bright side, they are giving me a decent amount of money after I buy it back so it will be fixed! My plan is to have a shop replace the core support and any related structural damage, and then I will take it home, find a garage, and do everything else myself with the hopes of having it back on the road in the spring
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Picked up the car from the tow lot it was sitting in today

Finally got a good look at the damage, it really doesn't look horrible, definitely fixable. It'll just take a bit of work,,,


Top of the core support is pushed back about 3 inches, the valence is touching the drivers front wheel as well. I'm hoping to get all of the junk panels pulled off in the next few days to see what kind of structural work will be needed.
I'm hoping to use this as an opportunity to really get some good work done. I'm planning on painting the entire car, removing the AC because the condenser is trashed and it never worked anyway, doing a fan delete and installing an electric fan (my aux fan is destroyed), and a whole host of other things. The goal is to have a better car than before the accident, I'm definitely not letting this one end up in a junkyard.
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Took off work yesterday and used my morning to dig into the E30 a bit:



^ Here are some close-ups of the majority of the damage. I didn't have a big enough torx bit to get the bumper off so I can't get a good look at the frame rail yet but it looks straight with only a bit of deformation at the very end. I got the fender/bumper/hood off and was able to bend the valence away from the wheel far enough to allow it to turn freely. I also pulled out the fan shroud and was able to bend the AC condenser and radiator back into 'place' so that I could safely run the engine. I drove it around the block and the engine runs great, suspension is straight and it stops straight as well, so that is a good sign.

The ABS pump looks like it took a decent hit, so I may delete the ABS, although I am not sure about that one yet.
\On an interesting note, I found the main lense from my ellipsoid headlight, its bigger than I expected.
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Picked up this from andyhundley last weekend:

I'm going to use the body panels/trim pieces to repair my 318is, and then over time replace those panels and build this into something cool down the road.
I also got the bumper off to get a good look at the structure underneath.

Here is a top down view and a comparison to the undamaged side:


I also managed to get a mint OEM euro rear plate filler for a good price on r3v!
I'm hopefully going to be able to pick up the pace soon
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I wish I was making progress, but I haven't. I'm looking for a good body shop to replace the core support and pull the rest of the structure straight so all the panels line up properly. If anyone knows of a reputable shop that does quality work around Milwaukee that would take on this job please let me know!
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Got the car running again this morning, had to jump it and it was tough to start (the old gas probably didn't help) but once it warmed up it ran great. I was prepping it to drive over to the concours/umanksy body shop for an estimate, looks like I'll be able to do it in the next week or two. Drove it around the block a few times and it got me excited/motivated about getting it back on the road again!
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