Tumeke

We continue our epic story where we left off, with our Hero @yoeddynz getting bored with doing panel work. A man with more than one super-power - he also knew about how to make automobiles run - sort of. A little prep work happened before any attempt to make 2500cc of metal turn. A new(ish) battery was supplied care of local BL enthusiast @Slacker_Sam. and many consumables were sent so that testing could commence. A care package of Rock-Auto's finest consumables and some gentleman's literature. First up: Liquid retention. Alex pulled out the Radiator as it didn't like holding ice-cube juice. \ @Slacker_Sam. to the rescue. Another radiator was sourced and thrown in the hole. Ignition: New plugs, leads and spinning points bits was replaced. The quality of the current parts was amazing. Prince of darkness strikes again Now that all the obvious stuff was changed, including a ballast resistor, dodgy accelerator cable, carb issues* and pretty much everything else that i've forgotten.... It was time. The key was ready to turn! And, off course, everything was fine and we all lived happily every after. The end! What didn't happen: NO OIL PRESSURE. Must be a sender fault eh? Cool. Fixed. NO OIL PRESSURE. Must be another connector. Cool. Fixed. NO OIL PRESSURE. Probs the light in the dash. Cool. Fixed. NO OIL PRESSURE. At this stage, shit means that after actually checking real pressure that we have an issue. And, may I proudly present to you, whanau, the issue. Yeah. That's the oil pump. As pretty as it looks, it's inability to spin is considered less that satisfactory. F*ck. Will our hero escape the never-ending BL inflicted issues? Will he instead go for a bike ride and forget such a traumatic event in his life? Tune in next post for next next incredible adventure of Alex the shit car fixerer!

The show goes on due to @yoeddynz making comments about me not updating. Rock Auto came to the party with a lot of the bits needed: Offered everything up to the motor, including new cambelt, tensioners etc and put the motor back in the hole. I couldn't fire until I'd done the electrical though. With the old shell having given everything it could, it was sent to it's forever home. Next - the loom and heater-box needed some love as I decided to swap the whole loom over. This was a fun job - quite a few differences between 1983 and 1988 4 pt vs 6. Whole interior removed, whole loom fed through the dash, changes made due to 2 door instead of 4, manual instead of auto, electric windows instead of manwell etc. A bit of splicing from old plugs to new and plenty of reference to original wiring looms to get everything right. Also installed the 6 cylinder check-light system with all the additional idiot lights and reset. I think this photo was on the home straight as the carpet is back in. I often forget to take the photos. Pelican parts came in with some nylon bushes for the pedal box and a hard to find bung for the thermostat. With the interior close enough, I could try to fire the old girl up. Try being the word. I then learnt that the distributor drive runs off what I thought was an idler pully on the cam belt, so the timing decided it would prefer to make fires in the intake instead of the exhaust. A quick retime (luckily I hadn't put the cooling system in the way yet) and we had success! Timing was dialed in properly, but it still has an occasional hesitation. I might do an injector flush as well. Cooling system was then offered up, flushed, and bled, and an oil change happened. Quickly realised some of the rubber pipes were well crusty so another Rock Auto order sorted 90% of those, and one from ebay Latvia.... Tyres were changed to whatever I had lying around. I don't have a balancing system at home, just an armstrong tyre change. Managed to find some nice m-sport e30 seats to drop in: So where we're at Today: WOF Check needed when Covid allows. Change of plugs and I think there is a manifold vacuum leak somewhere as the idle seems a little high. I might do an injector flush as well. What's next? Further road-testing Level 3. Bushes and suspension shocks will need an update, so will install a little low at the same time. Things I'd like help with (?): Some nicer wheels ideally some basket-weaves that fit an e30 & some random trim panels. Drop me a line if you think you can help. Next report due with some completed photos when I'm allowed to leave home.

Auckland crew will go to the pub as soon as we are allowed and organise to come down again - this time to the actual event, rather than being locked down and having to do our own....

trying to track down some elusive cooling system hoses and get it running, then will make it prettier after that

I'LL LEARN YOU NOW THAT HAGEN IS THE BEST BEER IN NZ. Oh. I mean cheapest. Hagen is the Cheapest beer in NZ.

Nec task - have a gander at the new shell. The M40 1.8 motor was resting on the front cross member - it seemed like a manwell conversion had started but to me it was weak-sauce and unknown so out she came. bye-bye boat anchor This then went onto marketplace and was swapped for some money and beer. With that out of the way, a bit of an assessment of the power-barn could commence along with a tidy-up. The expected rot was found behind the fuse box - which looked like it would be a good place for rain to come in and soak the carpet, so it was cut out and replaced with some fresh steel. Speed holes removed Next the donor car donated its M20B23 and getrag gearbox, driveshaft and entire loom from headlight, engine, cabin right back to tail light. @sentra also removed the diff and gave it a rebuild* The differences between the loom was so great, this seemed like the easiest way to do things, and as I had to remove the loom to do rust repairs anyway it wasn't such a big deal. New Mota Guv? Early engine with cold-start injector and non front-mount dizzy. @Mr Vapour is gonna have a visitor I think. Next came the additional pedal. You can see the state of the floor from the donor that it had got the cancers. Pedal box, clutch master etc. The steering rack was removed as it was a known useable unit. Measurements were taken for brackets from the donor before being de-spotweld for: the clutch fluid reservoir, radiator expansion tank, relay holder, power steer reservoir & radiator mounting brackets. These were then welded into the new body. Brackets to be removed and swapped over. Finally for this session, a rock-auto list was made: Cambelt, waterpump, tensioner, thermostat housing, gaskets, etc. Thermostat housing not looking so healthy. K. Gotta go back do some work now. Tune in text time pls. Thamls. *Reconditioning comprised of cleaning it with a hose and drinking a Hagen.

Choice one. Yeah I should have gone for a ride with you at Hanmer to taste a more modern engine swap. Unfortunately the days of cheap manwell gearboxes are gone now, otherwise I'd have gone that route for sure. Unrelated... Someone find me a gearbox for this M52B28 pls* *may be for British estate not BMW coupe

We left our story with the discovery of a few tiny little rust holes. Our Hero @yoeddynz had his work cut out for him (a bit like the rust he found) I don't actually know what he did TBH, but he did send me some photos so I'll make my own story which is all 100% correct at time of publication*: 1. ROOF Holes previously found enbiggened, Alex played with a brass pencil and inserted lots of old rust filings into the hole he found from a Hillman Imp. Then he and added some black stuff and steel. Also tinted windows with plastic. Pleased with himself, he repeated the exercise on the other side also, while making some wooden boxes for his quad. A professional jigsaw enthusiast, he had no problems finding a piece of metal that fitted the exact hole he had cut out earlier. Metal glue applied to ensure it won't fall out. Note the colour -matched black & decker suspension adjustment tool. He then found two more pieces of steel and repeated the process on the co-pilot side, adding curtains to the passenger compartment also. The pencil now balanced on the roof. Happy with his efforts, he made more holes above the boot to be able to have another go Suck/blow/suck/blow repeat until tender and golden. All shiny and water-tight A spray of some black stuff for protection and that'll do for now. Gosh what a magic fixer guy! Also the observant of you will note that @Slacker_Sam. had found some brand new tyres and generously fitted them to make moving the car somewhat easier and safer. Tune in next time for more rust discovery, broken stuff and much excite. *could be?

Roll on to 2017 and I got wind of a 1988 e30 Coupe without transmission and a uninstalled motor going for cheap. (This was before the prices of E30s started taking off) I ventured north with @Threeonthetree and found this: It was a facelift 318i 'rust free*' coupe in delphin grey. Povo spec and in pieces. Body looked straight and I saw potential so Dragged it home and parked it up until time allowed for further investigation.

BACKSTORY Once upon a time - 1983 in fact, Auckland was the host of the New Zealand Motor show. All the manufacturers displayed their new offerings, including BMW with their new E30 3 Series BMW. Germany new the show as happening and sent out a top of the range 323i coupe, in hellrot red, with M-Sport interior, M stickers and a slightly breathed upon M20B23 motor with 5 speed transmission, just to give the press something a little more spicy than the average 323i, but not enough to raise alarm bells. The car went through a couple of owners until it ended up in a friends ownership in the early 90s. The car served the owner @Mr Burns's senior for a number of years. He was a spirited driver and enjoyed using the car to its full potential, including every trip to the shops for milk, or 4 up on family holidays around the country. By the early 2000s, as with most early e30s, there was more rust holding the car together than steel, so a running gear transplant was arranged into a 1984 4 door sedan and the old body was sent away. The blue sedan in better days. The 'new' sedan was daylied for a few years, until the same fate bestowed it's chassis. It was then parked up under a hedge for 15 years and forgotten about. Neglected The rusted car came into my possession at the sad passing of Mr Burns's senior, as reg had sadly lapsed, it hadn't run in an age. It was trailered and parked in my storage shed as a 'one day' project.

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Once upon a time, @Slacker_Sam. purchased yet another car, in an unfinished state as per this photo taken 20 years ago: Image © Sams Mum circa 2016? All Rights Reserved . "Little Sam and his new white sneakers and motorcar" Click photo for more The car - a 1972 Triumph 2.5 PI Estate in White(?) with manwell 4 speed + O/D, PI spec interior, injection system missing and replaced with carby@sentradave SUs, went into storage in 2016 after sitting for 16 years in an unfinished state at Woodburn Air Base. Cue 2020. Sam found another similar car needing less work and decided to offload this one. Sam lives at the top of the South Island and I live in the busy sh*thole of Auckland, so logistics were going to be fun. Buying cars unseen knowing full well they haven't been on the road since 2000 is what makes an adventure so a deal was done. What was needed however was some work to make a journey under its own steam. Enter THE HERO. A mythological and legendary figure of divine descent endowed with great strength and ability, an illustrious warrior, a person admired for achievements and noble qualities. Enter @yoeddynz and trusty sidekick @Hannah The car was delivered to the Hero's bat-cave and an assessment was done revealing the following treasures: Pre-cut inspection holes Factree weight reduction Speed holes Grot Further weight reduction was also found, the motor didn't run, the tyres were mush, the interior was in 1000 pieces and god knows what else. Needless to say I was optimistic.... Stay tuned for the next time I have half an hour to bring you the next exiting episode of Triumphant Estate Restoration!

Man if I wanted it easy I would just take the Jimny. gonna take a smol bike, prolly 2t. Not suited to the task and loving it. #dontforgetyourroots