Alpine E30 Convertible Running Log
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Sheesh, long overdue for an update here.
I’ve been lagging on getting this done; the spring ended up being completely full (like, every single weekend from January to May) with water ski team maintenance stuff, and the season went until May to now. The team hasn’t had an official member dedicated to fleet main fence in a long time so the backlog was enormous. Like, waterlogged and rusting boat trailer bearings that haven’t been repacked in a decade, rotting trailer floor, and broken bilge pumps and blowers, enormous.
I’m finally getting a chance to get back into cars though thankfully, and have made some good progress! It feels amazing to be finally getting somewhere.
Fuel tank is back in and the tank-adjacent stuff is plumbed in. I’m holding off on installing the fuel hardlines until the engine comes out and goes back in so I don’t accidentally damage them. My brake hardlines seem to fit nicely though, which is exciting!
And tonight, for the first time in something like 20 months, the car’s subframe and chassis were reunited. Big stuff! My only concern so far is that the fuel tank neck is contacting the subframe because of the subframe riser bushings; it doesn’t seem to be severe though, so I’m probably going to leave it. Don’t have much of a choice I guess.
Engine oil has been drained, PS hoses disconnected, a/c lines are unhooked, and all fuel/intake/other things have been disconnected in the bay other than the starter ground strap, oil cooler lines, coolant hoses, and the DME. The plan is to button up the rear end ASAP and get it back on four wheels so that I can reposition it, then yank the engine and get cracking on the swap stuff/timing belt. Also planning to get the HIKfab skidplate welded on by @rampelsauce while the engine is out, should make it a snap to weld and repaint.
Hoping to make a lot of progress this fall. I’d love to get it done, but I’ve made promises like that before (look at how long it’s been sitting). It WILL get done before next summer; the ski team is doing an 80’s themed show and it’d be sacrilege to not have the quintessential 80’s car not running for it.
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Had an interesting issue today I’d like to pick everyone’s brains on: reconnected everything on the e30, engine back in, cranks but no start. Cool. Engine and entire fuel system have been removed and out back in, so not that surprising.
I started with the fuel system because it was the fastest - I pulled the fuel return line on the FPR, and it was bone dry even with cranking for a cumulative 20+ seconds. Didn’t smell like fuel either (new lines). Tried jumping fuel pump relay, no dice, so it’s something with fuel delivery. Found that the fuse is blown. Replaced, it blew again when I cranked it. So a short of some sort or a bad pump.
This is where it gets interesting. I used a Milwaukee M12 battery to directly power the pump - ran fine. I then put my multimeter in-line and got something like 2-3 amps. Cool, so not the pump?
Not so fast! I then used the multimeter on both pin 87 at the relay socket (feeds power to fuse and then the pump) and tested resistance to ground (with the pump unplugged) expecting to see low resistance indicating a short somewhere. No dice - seems to be normal with no completed circuit.
After a lot of double checking of that result at various locations, I hooked up a jumper wire from the power wire of the fuel pump to the positive connector on the pump itself - but NOT connecting the ground on the pump to body/harness ground. I then jumped the fuel pump relay again, and POP goes the fuse again.
So it appears my pump is faulty and shorting out internally? Anyone ever experience this? I’ll be ordering a new pump from FCP tonight but just seems weird. The car did sit for three years since it last ran, but it was inside and dry. No fuel pump issues before I parked it and the existing pump has about 10 years and 20k miles on it only. No idea of brand. Anyone have any thoughts?
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Update: It runs! I pulled the fuel pump assembly thinking I might’ve pushed a wire so it was shorting, and noticed my wires going in were opposite the ones on the pump body (brown to red, and brown to green/purple). The connector was busted partially so I just zip tied the two piles together when I put it back together; I must’ve reversed those somehow. Corrected it, was able to jump the fuel pump normally, and the car fired off almost immediately! Now for the clutch slave, driveshaft, and exhaust! Nearly there!
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It drives!!!!! First time in nearly three years that this car has moved under its own power and it feels oh-so-good.
Had a minor snafu with it running though on initial start. When I first lit it off last week it was idling super slow but Infigured it was just from time sitting and would quickly adjust, but no such luck. Got a CEL, read it via stomp test, and it came back as an “Injector Batch 1 Fault”. Some quick research pointed to the C191 connector under the intake manifold as a likely culprit, especially since I wasn’t able to separate it despite a lot of trying when the engine was out.
I pulled the boots off of the connector and immediately saw major corrosion, and made the executive decision to just cut the connector out. It turned out to be the right call - I had to pretty much destroy the connector on the bench to eventually separate the halves. I spliced the wires back together, and lo and behold, running on all 6 again. Idle is a bit slow and it stumbles a little when recs return to idle, but I’ll chase that in time.
Drove around for 20 minutes, bled the cooling system, checked function of all major systems, and it all seems OK. Next steps are interior and body reassembly, then I’ll get my skidplate welded and be good to go!
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Awesome!! That first drive probably felt great!
It did! Exhaust is hitting the tunnel a little and needs adjusting, and the shifter I bought sucks (garagistic chassis mount… figured they couldn’t mess that up. I have been proven wrong) but generally it drove perfectly and ran okay once the plug was fixed. Idle is a tad low and it isn’t idling perfectly but it gets up and goes once you’re moving.
Slight diff leak as well, either a halfshaft or the output seal but not worrying about that for now. That’s a winter project haha, interior reassembly and shakedown starts next week! Hoping to put on some real miles this fall before it gets parked for winter.
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Jeez, I’m bad about updates here. I put maybe 500 miles on it this fall, and installed factory rubber engine mounts the day I parked it to tone down NVH. The 95A poly ones were too harsh for my liking.
Also installing a new Z3 shift lever and a completely refreshed OEM shift assembly with DSSR before the warm weather comes back - the garagistic shifter doesn’t have enough throw for my liking. Way too notchy.
Black Friday sales were good this year too, so I bought a Continental/VDO Bluetooth head unit and will be installing that before spring as well. Super pumped to have a more OEM looking radio finally!
Some pics:
Just this last week, I took the time to pull the driver’s seat out so I could replace the driver’s bolster. I bought like 3-4 junk seats from someone on here a few years ago (turbo S5x in the fox valley area?) for one single bolster, and honestly, well worth it! I still need to correct the rear seatback tear but the driver’s seat is more important to me at this point. I used a cheapo hog ring kit off of Amazon and it worked surprisingly well - start to finish it probably only took me an hour or a little more including pulling the bolster off the old seat.
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I will post a larger update down the road when i get around to uploading like a million photos, but I took the car down to The Vintage in Hendersonville, NC last week/weekend - needless to say, the trip was one for the books and a must - do for anyone on this forum. No major mechanical issues either - the worst one was a bad brake light switch that I fixed temporarily with a clutch switch and some good ole manual control
. So much cool BMW brain-melt action, and even better, just an awesome group of people who love 'em and drive 'em hard.I made my trip a bit extra special by taking the long way there, driving to Pittsburgh day one, then cutting south along Skyline Drive/Blue Ridge Parkway for around 250 miles through VA until I reached NC where the majority of it is still closed due to damage from Hurricane Helene last fall. The event went for three days in NC, then i took two days coming home (including driving the Tail of the Dragon).
All in all, a wonderful trip I'd love to have some fellow WIBimmers accompany me on with their own cars in future years!
The stats:
2700 miles
8 days
12 states
2.5 days of rain
One flash flood warning and one large rock hit to the skidplate
28.5mpg average
One failed brake light switch - found a replacement at the Vintage! (no, I didn't steal it from another unsuspecting vert owner)
20lbs of Stromung exhaust lugged home with me diagonally across the interior
25+ Alpinas viewed at the CCA museum in Greer
At least 10 E9's that i left drool puddles on
And a partridge in a pear tree
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Maintenance > photos
Oil change: 208,357. Used a Mann filter and trying out the Liqui Moly Classic 20W-50. Seems okay for a car of this age and appears to have a little more ZDDP than standard Castrol GTX, and falls under the FCP euro lifetime guarantee, most importantly. It’s not like M20’s are overly picky about their oil.
Also installed a new valve cover breather hose, and most importantly, my Strömung catback!
The perforated old one that despite being so rusty it sounds like a maraca, weighs a good 10lbs more at least:
Sounds like an awesome trip, looking forward to photos! I'd love to take a trip like that in my e30, maybe next year...
It was fantastic!! You. Absolutely. Should. It’d be awesome to have an alpine e30 convoy!
Bonus pics of my skidplate that saved my trip:
Also found a busted headlight lens I missed. Booo!
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The hikfab plate has saved my pan so many times, it owes me nothing. If it’s bent bad you can straighten them in a press (ask me how I know)
Glad to see the car made it relatively unscathed
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I never posted photos from the Vintage this year; the photo dump is at the end. Such a fun event that I’m going back this year!
I put a lot of miles on it overall last season, driving it up until late November before finally putting it away. Had a minor issue with a hanging e brake halfway through the summer but beyond that it ran and worked great! I ended the year at 212,283 miles on the odometer, so over 7000 miles? Pretty proud of that.
Took it up to Hayward in June, the Vintage in May, and all over the state after that. The z3 shifter made a world of difference, and I love the Stromung catback - it’s a little droney at neighborhood speeds but it sounds so good when wrung out that I don’t care. Minimal to no drone on the highway is way more important to me, and I can’t hear any over the wind noise!
Winter projects:
- Put in rebuilt alternator. Had it done at MJ Auto Electric in Butler and they did a great job, it looks excellent.
- E46 rack swap (AAE 3310N). Currently in progress, I’m working on getting the steering coupler shaft thingy out now and fighting the upper splined joint hard. Any tips are welcome, it’s stuck fast.
- Rebuilt PS pump, I’m swapping in a ZF to replace the Vickers that it had in there. Luckily got a ZF with all the brackets so it’s a direct swap
- Replace all PS lines and the reservoir, goes hand in had with the rack swap.
- Address a small coolant leak coming either from the looped throttle body heater hoses or from the thermostat gasket itself.
- Correctly repair the C191 injector harness; I admittedly kludged it together to get it working last time and need to go back and fix it correctly with good heat shrink and crimp connectors.
- If I can find good used speakers (or if anyone has recommendations), replace the blown rear speakers.
- Replace the literally worn through seatbelt buckle. Old car problems!
- Valve adjustment- New oil dipstick o-ring, the tube is dirty and im assuming the crankcase pressure is just enough to blow oily air past that o ring.
- Replace the tee fitting for the headlight washers; it’s never worked and it’s annoying. Might put in a smaller fluid bottle to give more room for other things
- Replace the cracked drivers side low beam; I scored a full set of ellipsoids from an old member here a month ago and I’ll probably refurb using the best lenses from both and new adjusters.
MY EYES!!!!
- Realign the muffler (it sits slightly twisted currently) and smoke test both the intake and exhaust to look for leaks. I’m almost positive I have some leaks in the cat section, but honestly with wanting to go to a header + universal cats at some point soon I’ll probably just use exhaust tape or JB weld to patch and send it for now if/when I find leaks.
It isn’t winning any concours awards anyways.
Anywho, here’s the trip pics!
A sweet print they gave out at the CCA museum!
Skidplate hit I took on Shenandoah from a fat ass rock. The HIKfab plate saved my trip and maybe me - oil on the tires where I hit it might’ve sent me off a cliff.
Obligatory Buc-EE’s stop. Clean bathrooms, but man, sensory overload. You can pry kwik trip from my cold dead hands.
Tail of the Dragon!
Some company for dinner at a German restaurant in Hendersonville! As a Wisconsinite, I can genuinely say that their food was pretty top tier and on par with the best bratwurst up here.
One of my favorite magazine articles ever was Sam Smith’s piece on the alpina 2002 at Laguna Seca. Seeing that car in the flesh was incredible. My favorite feature was the metal strips riveted over the back window to keep it from flying out at speed!
I have never seen so many Alpinas in my life. Between the 15 or so inside and the 25ish outside, it has to be one of the largest gatherings ever in North America.
This guy won sticker of the week in my book!
Japanese market LHD e36 M3!
Group drive on Thursday! Maybe 150 cars? We caused a huge traffic jam on the way out of town, sorry not sorry. I saw at least one overheat
Mt Pisgah - one of the best drives of the trip. I want to run it again this year with the quick rack - the factory one was definitely a hindrance.
A phenomenal view, finally. I spent most of my time in the mountains in the rain and fog, even getting caught in a flash flood warning in Shenandoah. The top was far closer to “water resistant” than “waterproof”
Leaky roofs call for desperate measures
Two days before the trip, I smoked an absolute hoss of a raccoon on I94 and narrowly avoided taking out my oil cooler. I ran like this most of the way down, picked up a new lower valance in Chicago on my way by, and swapped it once I got to NC.
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Might put in a smaller fluid bottle to give more room for other things
What other things???
That is so cool
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What other things???
That is so cool
I thought that logo and the hofmeister link sticker were two of my favorite gems of the trip - I kinda want one of the stickers for my tool box
And nothing exciting haha! Unless….
No, I mostly want the room to install a dedicated battery cutoff with a nice mount plate and maybe a heat shield. I keep nuking batteries in the fall when I forgot to disconnect the battery; there’s a parasitic draw somewhere and I’ve never worked that hard to find it. I hoped the new radio would do it but no dice. This is the battery switch I plan to use:
It’s a marine rated switch and we use them on all our ski team boats; some have had them installed for 15 years in what I would call a pretty brutal environment (vibration, heat, water, cold) with zero issues. This car used to have one of the screw type disconnects on the terminal and it sucked.
I’m envisioning doing a flush mount in a bracket similar to this, mounted right in front of the strut tower so I can reuse the factory ground location. I’ll have custom cables made (and probably put them in some sort of cable hider, maybe something printed?) so it all works and looks fairly OEM.
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I will add pics later, but progress is being made! (famous last words)
E30 has the linkage modified, rack installed, pump rebuilt, and is waiting on one section of 14mm ID power steering hose to get fully bolted together. Gotta bend the high pressure line to fit it as well, hoping I can get it right the first time without kinking. After that, it gets bolted together and test driven. Fingers crossed.
I also decided to put a new ATE clutch slave in with the new line since a) it already has to come out, b) the brand i bought apparently has a habit of stranding folks within a few thousand miles, c) ATE is the OEM manufacturer, and d) mine went to the floor once last year randomly and never did it again. I'll throw the old one in a ziploc in the trunk just in case though.
For the line, I went to Pegasus and bought a premade -4an braided stainless brake/clutch hose. I got the 21" version with one end straight and one end at 90 degrees. I also grabbed a spare 24" hose section in case the 21" isn't long enough (I measured with a piece of baling wire, it was a ROUGH estimate) and a s a spare. Total cost for both hoses and the two brake fittings needed to go from AN to M10 bubble flare was less than the Chasebays premade part. We'll see how it is to install but it seems to be a good alternative if you want to ditch the stock multi-piece clutch hydraulic setup and spend closer to $40.
I also took the time to solder and marine heatshrink the C191 connector wires. When the engine someday comes back out of the car, I will properly install a waterproof connector but for now it's permanent and i trust those more than butt splices on those itty bitty wires. I can't foresee a situation where I'd need the intake off without the head also coming off, at which point the engine is getting yanked anyways.
Snagged some headlights from @The Full Banana earlier this year, and found that the lenses were already cut off of them. Going to heat and pry the busted lens out of my low beam and silicone the freshie in for now, and source a low beam U.S. ellipsoid housing/lens (driver's side, if anyone has one) to put in the other set and restore this summer when I have more time.
Getting closer! Can't wait to get some shakedown miles in, the deadline for the vintage is creeping up fast.
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