Considering the limited quantity of prep that was done on this I'm pleased with the way it turned out.

Hoping to shoot paint Saturday or Sunday

Summer out here makes it hard to work on cars when there are so many awesome other things to do!
Finally laid some primer down in the engine bay

GunMetalGrey said:

It's uncomfortable how easily everything comes apart on this thing... Parking brake lines running into the chassis came out without even pulling 

Tossing in riser bushings and new trailing arm bushings, rebuilding and painting the brake calipers, repainting everything, installing new brake lines, and putting it back in without a diff or axles (current ones lack grease, and diff is wrong for my application)

Progress, not engine bay though, which I'm waiting for some warmth from the elements before painting. 

Refinishing the rear subframe is something I would like to do in the future. RTAB's, subframe bushings, powder coat the frame and the arms, and change the seals on the diff. I just need a place that the car can be up on stands for awhile.

It's uncomfortable how easily everything comes apart on this thing... Parking brake lines running into the chassis came out without even pulling 

Tossing in riser bushings and new trailing arm bushings, rebuilding and painting the brake calipers, repainting everything, installing new brake lines, and putting it back in without a diff or axles (current ones lack grease, and diff is wrong for my application)

Progress, not engine bay though, which I'm waiting for some warmth from the elements before painting.

KaiserRolls said:

Pretty sure you’re correct. There is a stock “proportioning valve” on the main run to the rear line IIRC

Not sure about e30s, but the “proportioning valve” on an e21 applies the same pressure to the front and rear up to a certain pressure, and then biases after that. The intent is that during light braking, the rears get activated to even out brake wear and keep rust off the rotor... er, drums.

REKIII said:

Yellow Cosmoline?  What is that. Sorry, newb question.

Cosmoline is a sealant / rust proofing that was applied to engine bays of E30's during transport. For the short duration it was on for transport no discoloration is usually observed, and dealers were supposed to wipe it out of the engine bays and apparently there was even a bottle of mineral spirits shipped in the engine bay to do so. Most dealers did not, and after the vehicles start seeing heat and use the sealant yellows and hardens, becoming very difficult to remove. 

Circa ~2005 BMW was still shipping cars covered in a heavy wax coating that was pressured washed off with high heat water.

REKIII said:

Yellow Cosmoline?  What is that. Sorry, newb question.

Borrowed from the same factory they made mosin nagants at

Finished pulling the driveshaft. The CSB seemed to be new which is neat! 

Wait...

Found some performance parts hiding in it! Offset CAB's! 

Firewall sound deadening / heat shielding removed carefully. Not a single piece of messed up hardware. I keep waiting to find rust... Still no signs

m42b32 said:

I am fairly certain the stock ABS system does not do any biasing so you could definitely just keep the stock valve to simplify things. 

Pretty sure you’re correct. There is a stock “proportioning valve” on the main run to the rear line IIRC

GunMetalGrey said:

^Respect

Haven't spent a ton of time on this, plenty of other things going on. Spent some time with it the past couple of days (after driving the other E30, my god that thing is frightening amounts of fun). 

I got most of the engine bay stuff out and did a light cleaning in there as it was quite gross. I'm thinking it'll still need a pressure wash to get all the small corners and such.
I'm half tempted to not spray the bay, but I don't know why. It's not all that much work after having done it once. This one will be harder as I plan to leave all the brackets and such due to retaining cruise control and all of those fun things. 

I'm debating on taking ABS out, but I don't see much reason to do as such. Anyone have thoughts on this? I've driven E30's without ABS and it was never much of an issue, just the occasional tire smoke from auto-x as one corner would go light. 

Interior had been pulled a bit ago, but it looks like I never made mention of that. The inside will be getting a full refresh as well. 

I’ve never felt any real reason to remove it as long as it’s working. Sure, if it’s not functional anymore rip it out, but I guess I don’t see why a minimally intrusive (on the street) safety net should get canned. 
 

I can’t comment on track or autocross use though, someone else might have more feedback on whether it can be intrusive or annoying in those situations, but for a street car, I’d keep it. Personal opinion and all that though. 
 

Holy hell is that car clean and nice, what a find. Alpine E30’s ftw!

Haven't spent a ton of time on this, plenty of other things going on. Spent some time with it the past couple of days (after driving the other E30, my god that thing is frightening amounts of fun). 

I got most of the engine bay stuff out and did a light cleaning in there as it was quite gross. I'm thinking it'll still need a pressure wash to get all the small corners and such.
I'm half tempted to not spray the bay, but I don't know why. It's not all that much work after having done it once. This one will be harder as I plan to leave all the brackets and such due to retaining cruise control and all of those fun things. 

I'm debating on taking ABS out, but I don't see much reason to do as such. Anyone have thoughts on this? I've driven E30's without ABS and it was never much of an issue, just the occasional tire smoke from auto-x as one corner would go light. 

Interior had been pulled a bit ago, but it looks like I never made mention of that. The inside will be getting a full refresh as well. 

Interior is all out, engine is out. 

Getting started on engine bay cleanup and strip for paint.

Intended things to keep with this chassis and with S52
- AC (was working when engine was pulled, dryer looks replaced. R12 converted already?)
- Cruise Control
- ABS maybe? Unsure on that one so far

I didn't know how hard water could be holy crap. Tried vinegar and water, WD40 (internet for ya...), CLR, and eventually was direct by the fine folks of WiBimmers to quit messing around and get the DA and buffing cutting compound out. 

Some amount of time later I had part of one window done. That stuff really clings on for dear life! It's looking like about 50% of the car will need this treatment. 

The side trim had a nice black ring around it that also didn't want to wipe off. Between broken clips and faded paint on the side moulding I popped it all off and will be repainting, re-clipping, and buffing off the black ring. 

The S52 is finally at a point where I am comfortable bringing it over to this chassis, but I have realized this chassis is nowhere near ready for that kind of power. 
I wish it was as simple as just swapping front and rear subframes from the other E30, but I have a no rust situation going on that I would love to keep, so I will be sourcing all new parts once again. I think I will be making a big black Friday splurge for poly bushings for all areas of the car. 

I am very tempted to pull the engine out of this early, stash it, and get to work on the cosmoline and non shiny engine bay... I really enjoyed doing the last bay shave + paint and think I could do better a second time around. A truly horrible place to work in once painted though, as panic is constant about dropping a wrench! 

I wish I could sell one car before the other to fund this project... or live somewhere cheaper haha.