....and so it begins, project Turtle Farts.
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Why Turtle Farts? Be as she's low, slow, and sounds like an elongated fart due to the cherry bomb exhaust.
Regardless, I'm glad she's finally on the road!Backstory: I was looking for a clean E30 coupe since fall of last year, and found this '86 325es on Craigslist in Wisconsin Rapids last May... took the hour drive to Rapids and met with the owner who was best described as "eccentric".
He had inherited the car from a friend following his passing and soon realized he didn't have the means to continue working on the car.
First impressions were good! Completely rust free, lowered on bilstien's, all suspension bushings upgraded to poly, upgraded brakes, and best of all, it ran and drove.
Unfortunately there was absolutely zero service history, but the car fax showed it came to Wisconsin from California in 2013.
It had a terrible driveline shudder and a cracked, but meticulously fixed with JB weld, oil pan. The expected cracked dash, non functioning odometer, and a/c are all present and accounted for. Other than that, most everything else is good. Following a bit of haggling and $2,900 later; she was on the back of a flatbed heading to my house on May 23rd. I felt pretty good with that.
I spent my free time this summer replacing the oil pan (thanks Snap!), the driveshaft, guibo, center support bearing, timing belt and other maintenance items, a good cleaning and polishing, and here we are!
My goal for this year was to bring it, along with my '89 cabrio, to the Door county Euro rally this September.
I plan on a mild restoration to follow in the upcoming years... the big question is: what do I want to do with the powertrain?
I want a mild, reliable build, and am thinking a turbo/hybrid (i) build utilizing the current engine, or a outright swap with a newer motor.... after looking under the hoods of a few cars at the E30 picnic, I was overwhelmed with the options and talent that is out there! I am excited to see where this goes....
-Tim
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Looks pretty awesome for the price. Nice find!
https://www.instagram.com/_jdesigner_/ http://nevertoolow.tumblr.com/
🥳SOLD BMW E24 633CSI - BMW M30B32 🧪SOLD HCH ES9 - 1.3 LDA
👽BMW E30 325IC - Toyota 1JZ-GTE ⏰ HONDA EF9 CIVIC SI - JDM B18C5
☠️BMW E36 318i - Ford 5.0 FE302 🚴♂️ GT-Labomba - 26x2.75 Freeride
🤹♀️SOLD BMW E36/7 Z3 - BMW M54B25 🧓SOLD BMW E10 2002 - BMW M10M05 -
Nice! I dig the wheels.
https://www.instagram.com/_jdesigner_/ http://nevertoolow.tumblr.com/
🥳SOLD BMW E24 633CSI - BMW M30B32 🧪SOLD HCH ES9 - 1.3 LDA
👽BMW E30 325IC - Toyota 1JZ-GTE ⏰ HONDA EF9 CIVIC SI - JDM B18C5
☠️BMW E36 318i - Ford 5.0 FE302 🚴♂️ GT-Labomba - 26x2.75 Freeride
🤹♀️SOLD BMW E36/7 Z3 - BMW M54B25 🧓SOLD BMW E10 2002 - BMW M10M05 -
February update....
Found a complete “i” head conversion (head, harness, ecu, gauge cluster, etc) out of Florida on an E30 classified site on Facebook, and subsequently purchased the lot on January 11th.
Unfortunately, I have yet to see the parts due to “shipping issues”,and am thinking I will never see them, or my money again... hopefully the seller, Dillon Kowalski @ DSKustoms in land o lakes Florida decides to make it right for me...
On a good note; I pulled the car out of its winter slumber to have some hail damage repaired, and a fresh coat of paint the first week in March! Hopefully when she gets back, spring will have arrived! Here’s a picture as this will be the first, and last time this car will see snow....
-Tim
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Did you pay with paypal? If you didn't send it as a gift you are covered.
Sucks that people can't be trusted though.Who is doing the painting?
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GunMetalGrey- Elite Auto Works in Appleton is doing the paintwork...
I’ve been eyeballing the bimmerhead cams... I figured it would be worthwhile to recondition the head right away. (If it ever comes
)There is so many options out there, just gotta figure out what I’m going to do! I’ve at least settled on staying with the M20.
I can’t wait to see your project, hopefully it doesn’t sway my decisions so far!
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PayPal will do right by you, just make sure you file the claim within the allotted number of days post transaction.
My gf has had to file many claims & has always had her money returned or some sort of agreement was met. Perhaps Miata people are just shittier people idk
Hope it works out for you
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There is so many options out there, just gotta figure out what I’m going to do! I’ve at least settled on staying with the M20.
I can’t wait to see your project, hopefully it doesn’t sway my decisions so far!
Dont worry, my glorified M50 swap is going to suck majorly and will probably only put a handful of license plate lengths on a freshened up M20 car in a completely legal street race. The amount of room you have in the M20 engine bay to work with is so nice. Unlike some some booster-rubbing, oil-pan smashing, header-hammering boat anchor I know of. It should make for a decent commuter economy car though.
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March update...
Good news everybody! After two months, my parts finally came in... as you have it, apparently it’s difficult to send parts out while in jail. 🤨. Looks like most the parts I need for the swap are here except for the engine wiring harness for the 173 ecu, the crank pulley, and sensor. Hopefully I’ll be able to find those locally.
Looks as if my work is cut out for me...
-Tim
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I'm glad your experience with a Florida seller went better than mine!
Ughh... never again. I’m sticking with the local scene from here on out! Maybe we need to start a Florida Seller support group, I'll bring the beer!
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Unless you are trying to keep things original, it may be worth your while to ditch the stock brake booster check valve and lines and just run an E21 check valve. It makes removing and installing the intake a lot nicer.
The intake situation on the M20 is a bit stiff and cumbersome compared to what I was used to working with at least
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