ILC's 1991 318 S50 track rat

[i_love_cars]

Well FML

I trailered the car to a body shop for frame measurement and while there wasn't any buckling on the front frame rails, they were shifted slightly to the right and the driver side is low by about 11mm and the passenger side is down about 5mm.  Body shop was generic and I really just wanted them to measure the frame for me, but they gave me an estimate anyway and were like "we don't really know what to do with this car and are afraid it will break if we pull it because there are some spots that are starting to rust" and wanted $2500. 

Well they are afraid because they are a volume body shop and are going to want to heat the metal rather than just brute force pulling the frame, and in the case of any areas with some amount of rust, heating it will greatly reduce structural integrity while pulling. I know guys in the racing world who can do it the right way and not ruin shit, so I will be contacting them for a price as a "cash on the side" job. 

In the meantime, I just threw the car up on RacingJunk for funsies asking for $7,000 OBO as basically a full track setup for swapping because there's still $12k worth of parts including the motor, or for someone to repair - and see what happens. If it hasn't sold by spring, I'll see about having my guy pull the frame and if he can't be troubled then I will part the thing out.

[YoungCR]

Not interested in shell swapping?

[KaiserRolls]

Every e30 now-a-days is worth $8k, you shouldn't have any problem getting money out of it.

I wouldn't be surprised if every e30 out there is a tad off lol. They are old and relatively twistable.

[Boris3]

This. Yours is probably in better shape than most e30 track cars out there. Most common method of frame straightening is chains, a pickup, a BFH, and a stout tree.

[i_love_cars]

Boris3 said:

This. Yours is probably in better shape than most e30 track cars out there. Most common method of frame straightening is chains, a pickup, a BFH, and a stout tree.

Yeah I just want to do it as close to "right" as possible. 

The body fixes are super easy once you get past the pulling of the frame. I can get a brand new core support from ECS for $320 which isn't bad.

[straight6pwr]

this is a track car right? even with the slight twist, just drive it! adjust suspension to fix any slight pull you probably won't even notice when you get it all back together.  someday maybe you fix it or do a chassis swap.

[i_love_cars]

straight6pwr said:

this is a track car right? even with the slight twist, just drive it! adjust suspension to fix any slight pull you probably won't even notice when you get it all back together.  someday maybe you fix it or do a chassis swap.

yea corner balancing would be likely able to compensate for the very minor tweak the car currently has. I am still gonna try to have it pulled by a friend for cheap and then weld in a new core support and probably run the bitch and just get track insurance so if it goes wonky on me at the limit I can at least get paid out on it lol

[1990m3]

Pinkeys has experience repairing a seriously messed up e30, I've seen pics of what they have done to one car and also seen it in person after the repair.  Talk to them, might be worth your time. They can straighten it out me yoj can rattle can it, might be worth your money

[i_love_cars]

Well friends, the E30 is officially sold. The answers to the standard questions are as follows:

1. Where did it go?  David Spears bought the car and will be tracking it all this season while Dan Frodl is working on his LS E46 build. I will likely be driving the car as well at some track events this year as the future of this E30 is to exist as a backup/spare track car for our group of friends who regularly do HPDE. 

2. Why did you sell it?  dastuz and I are planning some larger investments likely in commercial real estate, and I need to free up and save as much capital as I can over the next 3-6 months. Keeping the E30 means I'm also committed to buying a trailer, and then making it worth my while to have the car by doing a lot of track events and that + consumables + insurance adds up quick. Doing the math, I'm saving myself $10-12k in 2017 including the price of a trailer, plus the cash I get back from selling the E30 (about $9k)

3. Are you going to track the M3?  Yes I will be tracking the M3 at Road America, and likely paying for consumables/track time/insurance on the E30 for 1 or 2 events at Blackhawk Farms

4. What about your truck?  Tax writeoffs are important when you're just rich enough to be poor like me. The truck stays for now

5. Will you buy another track car?  It will be at least 2-3 years I would say before I buy myself another dedicated track car.  dastuz and I own several rental properties together that we bought back between '08 and '11, but since late 2011, the only real move we've made is buying our own houses to live in which is really not an investment. Tracking is an expensive hobby and considering I have the E92 to play with, I think the track car/trailer money can be better spent elsewhere for the time being. 

6. Will you be living the E30 life vicariously through Mitch and Ben?  It would be hard not to.

[Earl]

You summed that up pretty perfectly=) Congrats on the sale and the luxury of still being able to track the car

[MattY]

i_love_cars said:

Tax writeoffs are important

i feel this. can't wait till i hit 25 if im still on the 1099 life

[suspenceful]

Sounds like a win-win for everyone. Congrats and best of luck.

[Boris3]

Glad it all worked out.

[YoungCR]

good deal! What's on the to do list yet?

[KaiserRolls]

Living vicariously lol

[GunMetalGrey]

i_love_cars said:

6. Will you be living the E30 life vicariously through Mitch and Ben?  It would be hard not to. 

We are the chosen ones.

But why? Is it solely based on color? 

Sad to see it go, but it sounds like it will be beneficial in most other aspects so it makes sense!

[i_love_cars]

GunMetalGrey said:

We are the chosen ones.

But why? Is it solely based on color? 

Sad to see it go, but it sounds like it will be beneficial in most other aspects so it makes sense!

It is the red, and that becomes more readily apparent every time I see your signature photo, which is hard to tear eyes from. 

YoungCR said:

good deal! What's on the to do list yet?

just needs a core support welded in and a new fender, then some cheap paint and it will be ready to go. I will update the thread too when I get back on track with it in a few months. Not 100% sure when Dan will have it ready but I called dibs on the first event =P

[straight6pwr]

bought, used, abused, then passed to the next guy! guys, prostitution is illegal.

[i_love_cars]

Thought it would be neat to post - the E30 is back in action! New owner had it out at Blackhawk Farms this weekend and from what he tells me it is running very well! Happy to see this thing tearing up the track again. 

[Boris3]

I saw the last few runs on Saturday. The car looked good back out on the track and the driver wisely avoided offs into the grass swamp.