Alpine e30 progress/build thread
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e30s arent setup that way earlmeister. the knuckle and the strut are one piece.
car is looking awesome! love how wide that tire looks up front.
Dan
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You could add shims between the knuckle and strut to add a touch of camber
This way you keep your drop hats
It looks sketchy but is very very common
I wish it were that easy on an e30! The M3 struts are two piece but not like the e36/later cars, the split is horizontal between two cast parts:
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Got cut short on Wednesday due to the nasty storms rolling through, but in that time I installed the camber plates and camber correction strut mounts, got the fan mounted for good, and a few other odds and ends.
Last night I went in determined to drive it home. Got there at 5pm and worked all the way to 2:30am.
- Brakes flushed and bled
- Cooling system filled and bled
- Power steering hoses/reservoir assembled, filled and bled
- Rear sway bar links shortened and installed
- Axles re-booted and installed
Got the wheels on and set it on the ground, I did a half-assed string alignment to get the toe zeroed but I will definitely need to get a proper alignment asap. The gas is pretty old but it smelled ok, definitely going to dilute it with fresh 93 once the tank reaches half and add a can of seafoam to clean out any gunk. Cranked it over for a few seconds with the ignition leads off to circulate the oil, put the leads back on and it fired right up!
Test drive went as well as I could've hoped. Handles great, rear sway bar is a little creaky over dips, and I definitely need to fit the e32 master cylinder ASAP as there is way too much travel in the brake pedal.
Drove it home last night and to work this morning, felt really good to have it back on the road! It runs nice and cool and everything seems to be working as it should.
Only issue I have found so far (other than all the oil leaks, but those were there before...), is that the passenger front caliper bleed screw is leaking a little bit of fluid. This is likely contributing to the soft pedal a little bit. I cleaned it off this morning, along with the paint in that area...dammit, and tightened the bleeder down a bit more. Checked it when I got to work and it's still leaking. Its possible I got some junk on the mating surfaces, so after work I'll be pulling the bleeder and cleaning them as best I can. Hopefully that solves it...anyone have any experience with this?
Driving impressions:
- Z3 rack is worth its weight in gold (seems to be the going rate anyway...)
- Shifter almost feels like it's gated and the placement is perfect
- Smaller steering wheel is amazing
- Needs a lighter flywheel
- Brakes are not confidence inspiring at the moment
- A speedo would be nice because guessing won't be fun when there is a cop checking speeds and there is no traffic to match pace with. Hoping to have that sorted shortly (body side plug and sensor socket on the diff are different)
- I feel every pebble in the road and it's awesome
- Poly mounts on the m42 really aren't that bad, NVH is definitely up there though
Going to give it a good wash after work today, and then I'll see you at the picnic!!
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In other news, I finally back in town and made more progress after work today. Got my new Stromung exhaust installed, the tip is perfectly centered in the cutout after very minimal adjustment and everything fit together really well, couldn't be happier with the purchase.
Looks good! I got mine centered by readjusting the front pipe but I don't have anywhere near the clearance as you've got between the exhaust tip and top of the rear valance. I end up with about 1/4" max and as a result it hits on anything but smooth roads. Kind of annoying. Hangers/straps are about six months old. What am I missing?
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Looks good! I got mine centered by readjusting the front pipe but I don't have anywhere near the clearance as you've got between the exhaust tip and top of the rear valance. I end up with about 1/4" max and as a result it hits on anything but smooth roads. Kind of annoying. Hangers/straps are about six months old. What am I missing?
Just replied to your pm!
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i think you definitely win the award for 'worked hardest to get their car done for the meet'
- I feel every pebble in the road and it's awesome
preach it, brother!
Dan
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i think you definitely win the award for 'worked hardest to get their car done for the meet'
Does it come with a cash prize? Because I could use one haha
I just really wanted to enjoy it this summer so I picked a deadline that seemed reasonable a while back. Turns out if you slack for the first few months things pile up quick
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Z3 rack is great, be warned, by summers end it will feel normal to you and only after driving a car with the stock E30 rack will you remember how great it is
That's why he's getting the other one finished before the fall cruise.
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That's why he's getting the other one finished before the 2020 fall cruise.
Fixed that for you haha
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Had a blast getting this to the picnic and so stoked to finally have it on the road. I believe I fixed the leaking bleeder screw issue as well (so far so good at least). It turns out that the replacement bleeders I bought were likely just a hair too short. It seems that I was bottoming out the threads at the same time that the tip would seat at the base and as a result I wasn't getting a tight seal. I installed the longer bleeder screws from the original non-m calipers and re-bled everything, so far it looks like they are holding well. The brakes are MUCH better.
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Curious as to which replacement bleeders you were using / length? I've had issues with bleeders that came on a set of Centric remanufactured rear calipers. Snapped off a bleeder on Friday trying to snug it down. Went a wee bit too far.
Thats a bummer... do you drill the bleeder out and re-tap or is the caliper ruined?
I just looked it up, they are "FTE" brand bleeder screws that I bought from AutohausAZ. I'll have to get the length measurements next time I am at my garage, but I replaced them with the original bleeders from my e30's old calipers as the threads were about 1/4" longer, and they seem to be doing much better (brakes feel better, no visible changes in the fluid level in the reservoir). No drips on the wheels, though I haven't been underneath since the picnic to inspect them up close.
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Went ahead and ordered another caliper since I need to have a working one in place by this weekend. We'll see if the one with the snapped bleeder is salvageable or I'll return it to get the core charge refund. Not sure what screws Centric uses.
I've got a couple of spare bleeder screws from Bimmerworld and from ECS (think they are also FTE). Used them on my front calipers and they have been fine. Good idea about measuring.
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