Alpine E30 Convertible Running Log

[YoungCR]

More motivation to get through the semester!

[Bassboy3313]

P_Roloff said:

I feel like if it snows again, I’m gonna catch the ban hammer from @snap, but oh well.

It snowed again...

[straight6pwr]

Brian...if you ban him...he will win.

[P_Roloff]

Bassboy3313 said:

It snowed again...

I think I'm gonna keep my presence here to a minimum for a week or so haha.

[B C]

Not necessary, just wear your new member title with remorse

[P_Roloff]

Another small update:

Finally got the cruise control working, the speed sensor wire was just disconnected from the cluster. I also put a newer, nicer motor module thing in that I picked up from @Jdesign awhile back. Thanks again! Got a new battery as well a few days ago, the old one was junk after only 4 years but they still gave me some money for the warranty so I’m not too upset. 

Otherwise, I’ve just been enjoying driving it. According to the OBC, I’m averaging around 20mpg too, which is the best of the 5 cars my family has at the moment. 

Next on the list is repairing the leak at the filler neck of the fuel tank, doing another smoke test to check for any more vacuum leaks, maybe trying to tackle repairing the rear seat, and disassembling/cleaning/greasing/repairing the front seats. 

I also rolled over 193k!

[HipMF]

Congrats on actually trying, let alone succeeding. The cruise in my TI hasn't worked since I bought it. Troubleshooting has been limited to....um.... yeah, kinda never really did anything about it, despite the fact that I drive 100 miles each way to the shop and back most weekends....

[P_Roloff]

HipMF said:

Congrats on actually trying, let alone succeeding. The cruise in my TI hasn't worked since I bought it. Troubleshooting has been limited to....um.... yeah, kinda never really did anything about it, despite the fact that I drive 100 miles each way to the shop and back most weekends....

I feel that. It hasn’t worked for over 10 years in this car, I guess I was the first one to care enough about it to try haha. If you even get around to it, I think I have an e36 control stalk laying around if that turns out to be the issue.

[P_Roloff]

Another small update.

The faded and worn rockers have bugged me for as long as I can remember, so I finally decided to tackle refinishing them. I did a bit of research on what to use, and finally decided to just use SEM trim black over something like bedliner or a rubberized undercoating. I wasn’t really sure what lengths I should go to for prep work (i.e. whether I need an adhesion promoter, primer, or something else) so I just scuffed with 400 grit per the can instructions and went over it quite a few times with a degreaser. I guess we’ll see how well it holds up.

In case anyone was wondering, the black spots above the rockers are POR-15 that was used around 5 years ago when the trim strips were pulled off and rust was found underneath. I just wire wheeled the rust off and coated it, it’s covered by the trim so I figured it didn’t matter much. It does look gross with the trim off though, I’ll take some pics tomorrow with the trim reinstalled.

Pics:

[Jdesign]

We use that paint all the time on prototypes at my work. Its really nice stuff.

[P_Roloff]

Jdesign said:

We use that paint all the time on prototypes at my work. Its really nice stuff.

Yeah, I really liked it. What I liked even more is that the auto body supply shop off Fish Hatchery Rd. that I bought this stuff from has a whole rack of different SEM paints, and they’re cheaper than on Amazon or anywhere else I could find.

[Jdesign]

P_Roloff said:

Yeah, I really liked it. What I liked even more is that the auto body supply shop off Fish Hatchery Rd. that I bought this stuff from has a whole rack of different SEM paints, and they’re cheaper than on Amazon or anywhere else I could find. 

That's where we get it. They delivery to us weekly.

[cpandrewschmidt]

which body shop has that paint?  Which one is best match for BMW?

[P_Roloff]

Body shop supply on greenway crossing, the SEM trim black matches the black trim and stuff on our cars almost exactly.

[straight6pwr]

and don't forget its really good quality - it sprays nice, covers evenly and is very durable. i've sprayed basically every trim piece of my e30 with this stuff with great success.

[P_Roloff]

straight6pwr said:

and don't forget its really good quality - it sprays nice, covers evenly and is very durable. i've sprayed basically every trim piece of my e30 with this stuff with great success.

I see you have the headlight trim rings there-do you like the look painted black? I’m on the fence on whether to keep the silver or go black.

[straight6pwr]

P_Roloff said:

I see you have the headlight trim rings there-do you like the look painted black? I’m on the fence on whether to keep the silver or go black. 

all my headlights are smoked, so it's necessary. for regular headlights, both work nice. it seems unnecessary to buy silver paint since you have the black already.

[YoungCR]

+1 for Body Shop Supply! They have a store in Madison and Janesville.

[P_Roloff]

Haven’t updated in awhile, I’ve really just been enjoying driving it lately. I rolled over 194k recently, making that more than 2000 miles since late May. 

I recently did some paint correction, took me around 16 hours for the whole process of washing, clay barring, compounding, polishing and waxing but was well worth it both in results and the lessons learned. Most if not all of the light scratches and swirls are gone, revealing a surprising amount of deeper scratches, gouges and chips. I suppose that’s what happens with 29 year old original paint. I’m going to go back and redo the trunk and hood, I think I can still get some more imperfections taken care of because I did a super light cut the first time.

I also picked up a new to me sport steering wheel from @YoungCR to replace my cracked and worn out one. It made a huge difference in the look and feel of the interior, super pleased. I also got a replacement speaker as well, so my speakers all work now. Thanks again!

The other new thing is a set of euro grilles that I picked up from a guy in Chicago along with a perfect, uncracked rear ashtray for $45 total. The drivers side grille is warped which is why I got them so cheap, but I made some good progress with a heat gun to straighten it out. It’s still a little wavy, but I’m gonna work on it more tomorrow, then do some filing, sanding and then paint to cap it all off.

I’ll post some random pics of all this tomorrow.

[P_Roloff]

Today’s happenings:

Front right shock let go in a mildly spectacular fashion, guess that means that I have a bit of work ahead of me when I get back from school next year. All of the rubber in the front end is worn out anyways, so I’m just gonna do it all at once when I have the opportunity, probably with an e36 rack as well. 

I’ve heard that using e36 centered control arm bushings is a good upgrade, any other recommendations? Would e90 drop hats work fine with stock suspension, or is it not worth it? I’d like to maybe reduce the wheel gap a little bit if I can for cheap. 

Also, some pics of the euro grilles. The passenger side one is a genuine BMW part, but the drivers one isn’t and I think that’s why it fits kinda weird and was warped.