Alpine e30 progress/build thread

[m42b32]

157.8k

Had a few moments to work on the car over the weekend, so I finally wired in a pair of early e36 window switches and pigtails. Got them wired in and both the switches are bad. Nice!

One switch only works sometimes, the other only goes down. The behavior follows the switches when swapped so my wiring is good at least. I took them apart and they look a little corroded. Going to try and clean the contacts and re-solder any joints. If that fails I'll just have to get some new ones.

[jc43089]

m42b32 said:

157.8k

Had a few moments to work on the car over the weekend, so I finally wired in a pair of early e36 window switches and pigtails. Got them wired in and both the switches are bad. Nice!

One switch only works sometimes, the other only goes down. The behavior follows the switches when swapped so my wiring is good at least. I took them apart and they look a little corroded. Going to try and clean the contacts and re-solder any joints. If that fails I'll just have to get some new ones.  

Try cleaning the contacts up, I have had intermittent e30 window switches and cleaning fixed them.  The full current goes through the switch and the arcing pits the contacts.

[Jdesign]

jc43089 said:

Try cleaning the contacts up, I have had intermittent e30 window switches and cleaning fixed them.  The full current goes through the switch and the arcing pits the contacts.

Same, You should be able to just clean them to revive them

[m42b32]

Windows go up, windows go down

Cleaning the contacts worked great. I was able to get a thin strip of sandpaper between each contact in the switch to clean up any pitting and corrosion then sprayed them down with CRC contact cleaner to remove any oils/debris. Each direction went from many ohms (one was almost 200) to under 3 when closed. One of the contacts looks like it had actually gotten hot at some point so there was definitely a ton of resistance there.

it turns out the write-up I followed for the wiring was wrong and my switches are backwards lol. That's what I get for not checking the pinout. After daily driving e36's for a number of years it felt wrong immediately, so I'll flip it around eventually.

[B C]

E36 window switches are rated #4 in Cosmopolitan magazine's "Top 10 E30 mods that will drive him wild!, #6 will shock you!"

[gilber33]

m42b32 said:

 One of the contacts looks like it had actually gotten hot at some point so there was definitely a ton of resistance there.

I cleaned up my window switches this winter and I had the same thing. A couple of the contacts were black. Not sure what would have caused that, but it was a little unsettling seeing that when I took them apart.

[m42b32]

B C said:

E36 window switches are rated #4 in Cosmopolitan magazine's "Top 10 E30 mods that will drive him wild!, #6 will shock you!"  

I can confirm, very satisfying

[m42b32]

157.9k

Battery wouldn't hold a charge. Replaced and back in action!

[m42b32]

158.4k

4/27/1991 - 10/08/2020

[B C]

I got to take a ride in this car today. The acceleration was very good. No need for any more power than this in an E30!

[KaiserRolls]

Time for a plush dash mat

[Rekpoint]

F

[m42b32]

KaiserRolls said:

Time for a plush dash mat

This one should work well

[m42b32]

158.5k

Drove it across a truck scale near my house for fun last night. Subtracting my weight it came in at 2,720lbs with a full tank of gas. Stock 318is curb weight is ~2600, so I was initially a bit bummed I'd added 130lbs with the swap... But, when you consider I had a trunk full of stuff and a roof bike rack setup on it at the moment, that's actually not too bad!

[B C]

Mine was 2,720 with the M20 and automatic. Thats not much weight gain at all for the power increase

[KaiserRolls]

B C said:

Mine was 2,720 with the M20 and automatic. Thats not much weight gain at all for the power increase

I should eventually corner balance it and figure out total weight

[m42b32]

I'd be curious to see how it compares!

[m42b32]

158.7k

Well, it's officially this car's 30th birthday yesterday. For the last few months I was certain it was built 4/27/1991 and I got it out for a great drive in the nice weather to celebrate the occasion. Well, I looked it up this evening and it turns out it was the 26th, lol. Oh well, its the thought that counts.

[m42b32]

158.7k

I've been having some odd noises coming from the steering while turning the wheel towards full lock while parking, so I pulled the front struts to re-grease the strut mounts to see if that helps at all. While I was in there I removed the fixed camber plates and added e90 drop hats. I had always heard they were a direct drop in, but once the whole stack with the top mount and various washers were installed there wasn't full thread engagement on the top nut. I ground down the tapered washer piece on the top hat to reduce the thickness and end up with a flat mounting surface like the factory mount, but I forgot to take a picture. This is the part I'm referring to, I shaved it down by about half. It is a steel insert and still had more thickness left than the original e30 top hat so it should still be more than strong enough. 

With the added drop hats and removed fixed camber plates (add another 5mm or so to the front ride height), the stance is so much better. It could still be a bit lower all around, but for now this is perfect. All cleaned up for the picnic!

The z3 rack is now leaking quite a bit from both sides, so I am going to give rebuilding it (or a core if I can find one) a shot at some point in the near future. I found this thread: https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?2153710-DIY-How-to-rebuild-your-Z3-short-ratio-rack-and-pinion. And this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9drVXzCOuM) that are quite helpful. Seems like a tedious job but not impossible to do at home. Saving here for reference. 

I changed the oil a few weeks ago too.

[m42b32]

159k

It been below freezing and snowed once already here so I guess it's time to fold the mirrors until spring.

I had a pretty much trouble free year with the only problems that popped up being the battery going dead fairly quickly and a fuel leak at the fuel pressure regulator a few weeks ago. The leak stopped by just tightening the fitting, but I'll probably take it apart to re-seal properly before next season. I also swapped out the primered front lip for a cheap black one from ebay (you're welcome @straight6pwr). I'll admit it looks a heck of a lot better, though someday if/when I paint the car I will color match the primed one.