Project Flipper

[JTapper]

Some of you may have seen my newest addition to the fleet, a 1987 325iC. The pictures I have now are few and far between. Here is how it looked when I picked it up Sept 10th:






So far I've tucked the front bumper, replaced the oil pan gasket, and fixed a minor PS fluid leak due to a bad factory clamp.

What it needs to be where I want it:

Aesthetics:
New rear diving board (from JPB in the spring)
New black top (from ejohnson sometime late fall)
Recover the seats
Steam clean or replace the carpet
is front valance and lip
25mm spacers in back, 15mm up front.

Performance:
It's a semi-secret but does include an M20B27 stroker.
Ebay sleeves and H&R Springs (doing this weekend)

I had a hell of a time getting the strut housings off. I ended up using a torch on the tie rod ends and pounding them off. I mucked up the threads pretty bad even though I left a nut on there so I had to replace them today.

Car Quest is WIN! I called an 1pm today to get tie rod ends, since the only Napa with them was in SLP. I ended up getting them for $6 less at Car Quest, and they will have them there by 3pm. These guys rock!

I'll shoot some pics after it's sitting on the ground complete. I didn't take in-process photos, I did it the same everyone else does, but I didn't cut off the factory lower factory lower spring perch. I will later, but I wanted to make sure I like coils first.

As far as being called "Project Flipper", I'll leave it for you Bimmer guys to figure out.

[Toftii88]

cool

[JTapper]

Forgot to mention...When I pulled the calipers off the rotors one of the pad surfaces fall off it's backing. Not like I hit it and it fell off, it just fell the hell off. Who knows how long it was lose, but not good. Needless to say I just finished doing the brakes while I'm waiting for my tie rods to show up at car quest.

[momo]

I know you're using H&R springs, but just as an FYI, those ebay coilovers are generally known to be right around 400 lbs/in springs.

Cool project though, are you sticking with the bottlecaps?

[JTapper]

I installed the springs that came with the kit since they were 450lb, and I ordered H&R 450lb. Figured if they worked out, I could just use them and return the H&R's. Don't know what to think about the chinese springs. I set both sleeves at the same height, but I'm 1/2" lower on the passenger side. I went for a drive and took some nice turns, came home and it was still 1/2" off. Ended up dropping the drivers side to match. I rechecked everything and can't figure out why it would be off, unless the springs are marked wrong, which being chinese, is a good possibility. I'm going to try the H&R springs when I install new strut tubes and cut the stock perches off the strut housing. Would anything else besides the springs be causing the difference in ride height? Yes, I check my tire pressures.


For now, I plan on sticking with the bottlecaps.

[JTapper]

Before bumper tuck and lowering:


After:


Probably drop the front another 1" after I cut the stock perches off and weld up a new one for the sleeve to sit on. The sleeves I got were designed for the E30 and actually slip over the stock cartridge and rest on the top of it. The top of the sleeve just has a small hole for the strut shaft.

[mimalmo]

stereo update?

[JTapper]

stereo update?

Sounds better. Needs some new speakers though. There are some older pioneer speakers in there now. They've got to be fairly old. I'm going to tear into it this winter and see if I can't go up to 6 1/2" in the back. Maybe put an 8" sub tucked up in the trunk. I'm leaning towards making a fiberglass box to maximize space.

[Sven7]

It's gray. You need to paint the wheels imo

[momo]

Just wondering, do you have a link to the page where you bought the coilovers? Or know the name of them? Just curious, since I can't find coilovers for any e30 bmw on there.

Looks nice dropped by the way... I can't really tell if the wheels would look better painted or not though.

[JTapper]

Its a kit for an e36. Stock stuff won't swap over but these do. My brother got it for me I will find out. It was like $140 for the coil kit. Its not bad, install was simple but the sleeves aren't long enough. What u see is the lowest it'll go without cutting and welding on the strut assembly, which I plan to do. The current max drop will soon be the max height.

[momo]

So I was bored tonight and did a few photochops. Hope you don't mind me using your car as a subject.


(Front lips look way too bright in comparison to the rear, but I think that's how they were in the original pic)





(the background at the top should've been cropped off, but I don't really feel like fixing it)

[JTapper]

Haha...nice. I like them.

I actually plan to do yellow lamin-x on some Bosch Elipsoids hopefully. They seem to be a lit nicer than the Hella's.

I like the painted bottlecaps. I'm going to see how close to Delphin the powder coat on my Volvo wheels is, it's real close. If it's damn near exact, they have enough of the powder left to do another set. I prefer that to paint just for durability. I curbed my 20's a little and did minimal damage, where with paint they would be trashed.



In other developments:

I found a new home for the E30 for the winter. I'll be storing it in a 10x20 storage unit between work and home. I plan on stripping the interior at home this weekend, bringing it to the storage unit and pulling off the front suspension and the drivers seat and taking them home with me.

Suspension will get the factory perches cut off and new coilover perches welded on, along with new sport struts. I plan on building and assembling the stroker over the winter on a stand in the garage, complete with a steam clean and fresh coat of engine paint. Intake manifold and valve cover will get powder coated (color TBD). I'll bring it home early spring for reassembly. Found a guy selling a full 5spd swap kit on R3v for $50, so I'll probably pick that up. Includes pedals, slave, master, linkage, console, lever, and boot.

[JTapper]

My plate arrived today:

[BimmerTim]

neat