'88 E30
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Basically just been collecting tools and acquiring parts for this winters project. (Which is pretty much everything that moves under the unibody)


Got the space setup. Windows have been great stuffed and plastic sealed. Torpedo heater is good to go and the parts are very very slowly rolling in, big thanks to Garagistic. Got the complete chassis and trailing arm reinforcements in/on their way and every bushing has been ordered except for the diff. The drive shaft was brand new as well as the flex disc when I did the swap.
Left to order:
Diff bushing
Every braking component
Still on the fence about sway bars
Coilover setup
So basically waiting for the bulk of it yet
Will be pulling both front and rear subframes & most likely will get rid of those as I'm getting some rust free ones from a parts car so I can refresh a good one while the car sits
Front subframe and suspension will come out while harbor freight holds my engine in the balance

Should be fun, I also stocked up on map gas, PB blaster, impact, and have been practicing my breathing techniques for when this junk won't come out easily
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I like your breathing exercises!
I really have not run into anything that doesn't come apart with a reasonable amount of force, the rear subframe bushings are what I would think to be the trickiest part of the suspension to get out, but there are tricks for that as well.
A whole suspension refresh will feel awesome, I know mine did when I did it. You actually get to drive yours so it will be that much better
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I like your breathing exercises!
I really have not run into anything that doesn't come apart with a reasonable amount of force, the rear subframe bushings are what I would think to be the trickiest part of the suspension to get out, but there are tricks for that as well.
A whole suspension refresh will feel awesome, I know mine did when I did it. You actually get to drive yours so it will be that much better

This is what I'm excited for. In all honesty when I rode in snaps properly setup m20 car (NA) it felt soooo much better than my car right after I did the s50. Suspension makes such a huge difference, I had to feel it to believe it (no homo)
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What material bushings are you going with?
Any plans for CAB's? -
Poly (95a) for subframe
Poly (95a) for diff
Solid Delrin RTABs
Solid offset Delrin FCABs
Engine & trans are already solid Delrin
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That garage looks great!! Times like these are great in the build world. Excited for you!
FYI, I might be selling my turbo manifold, turbo, and full 3in stainless exhaust next winter...
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
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That garage looks great!! Times like these are great in the build world. Excited for you!
FYI, I might be selling my turbo manifold, turbo, and full 3in stainless exhaust next winter...
Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

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Hover car

Every last bolt I need to remove I've soaked in PB blaster

Tires are under it in case harbor freight decides to let me down big time
Tools of the hopeless

Plan is to drop both front and rear subframes with as much crap intact as possible.
I snuck a peek at the RTABs and holy shit. They needed to be replaced about 4 lifetimes ago
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Everything in the front is out

Parts are all in desperate need of being recycled. I will be cleaning up the rack, getting new tie rods, new boots, etc.

Everything came out super easily. Steering rack linkage was the biggest PITA, but came out okay once the subframe was out

Parts came in today too!

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Nice work man!! Are those reinforcement plates and such you got?
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don't screw up like I did:
Make sure you know which end of the steering joint has fine splines and which has coarse splines aka which end fits on the rack. They are aluminum, the splines are easily wrecked, even if you have the correct ends going together and just dont have them lined up properly before applying some persuasion. They aren't very easy to find on the used market and when you do, you are usually dealing with dumbasses that want to charge 90% of the price for a new one.
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Nice work man!! Are those reinforcement plates and such you got?
Yep!
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don't screw up like I did:
Make sure you know which end of the steering joint has fine splines and which has coarse splines aka which end fits on the rack. They are aluminum, the splines are easily wrecked, even if you have the correct ends going together and just dont have them lined up properly before applying some persuasion. They aren't very easy to find on the used market and when you do, you are usually dealing with dumbasses that want to charge 90% of the price for a new one.
Good to know. I ended up splitting the linkage in half. Neither end wanted to slide off the splines so I said screw it and took it apart in the center.
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So found out someone replaced the subframe bushings with power flex??? They are soft enough to sink a nail into a bit. But the RTABs are another story....

And there's your problem

Good news is the subframe is freely moving with the nuts loosened. So it should come out easy. Just need to disconnect rear lines, drop the exhaust and disconnect the drive shaft and the subframe should fall out. And then get promptly trashed
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Reinstalled temporarily so the subframe wouldn't fall on my face. Plates were removed before hand. They had some BS menards hardware that I had to snap out.
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You are about to find out that even with all subframe hardware removed the dang thing is stuck to the car by means of black magic.
Having it fall out and hit you in the face would be preferable to some of the profanities you are about to invent while attempting to remove it
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