AWD to RWD conversion...of myself; a/k/a/ e30 gravel car

Just got off the phone with Jan Vanvurpa and ordered up a set of JVAB Gravel SpecSpenders (GSSⒸ) for our 85 325e. I'm posting this up more for the legions of future e30 owners that abandon the streets or SpecE30 for gravel because it was a royal bitch to find good info on e30 gravel suspension.

Some basic info for the lone ranger that searches for e30 rally suspension and finds the thread.
Car: 85 325e, 2 door with 95 s50 and corresponding gear box. Rear Diff....yes it has one, no clue which one we're going to run, we currently have: 2.79, 3.73, 3.91 and 4.10, all limited slip...gotta figure that shit out before Maine. We also have the z4 steering rack which is a bit quicker and should be nice.

Personal Gear: slanty stickers and flat-brim hats as far as the eye can see...

Suspension, a/k/a SpecSpendersⒸ Haven't even put the core parts in the mail to John Van Endo (JVA yet, but he's building us a set of 50mm Bilstein for it with the soon-to-be-patented JVAB Dirty30 ears, basically the Subaru-type setup as seen in that Kiwis thread (is Kiwi racist?) which will make it much easier to change a set in service.

So that's about it, tell me how great I am and boost my ego, or just leave this here for the future. All snarkyness and general malaise about internet egos aside, I'll post up a pic when the come in and I'm sure we'll have a blast in Maine in 55 days...now to work on an actual car instead of talk/post about it.

-Dan McEndo



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2014 05:49AM by Dan McGinn.

What kiwi thread do you speak of?

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Dan McGinn
So that's about it, tell me how great I am and boost my ego, or just leave this here for the future.

Nice choice with change from AWD to RWD!!! Why an E30 instead of the massively better E36 though is beyond me.
55 days might be a little bit of a rush order for some parts...

---

Grant Hughes



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/21/2014 07:14PM by NoCoast.

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aj_johnson
What kiwi thread do you speak of?

This little fella:

http://www.rallyanarchy.com/phorum/read.php?5,83964

e36 Grant, bah! e30 is the last Bay Em Vay with a soul!

On a serious note, the car fell in my lap and I couldn't resist doing it up. I do have a some backups in case Mr. VanVurpa has supply issues with Bilstein; I'd prefer not to got that route but come hell or high water the sounds of quasi-M-sport raspiness will wake the pines of Western Maine.

Full disclaimer, I'm rarely serious and forums have no tone, so take everything (especially things written with excessive-punctuation) with jest. I'm just a dope building a car to have fun. More importantly, a few pics, because without pics, it didn't happen online.



Gratuitous welding pics...com



and cutting the rear firewall for back-stay installation.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/21/2014 08:32PM by Dan McGinn.

and the 2 3/4 scale helper, he's figuring it out quickly!



teh Force is strong with this one...





Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2014 06:43AM by Dan McGinn.

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NoCoast

Quote
Dan McGinn
So that's about it, tell me how great I am and boost my ego, or just leave this here for the future.

Nice choice with change from AWD to RWD!!! Why an E30 instead of the massively better E36 though is beyond me.
55 days might be a little bit of a rush order for some parts...

meh, E30 is a couple hundred pounds lighter...

thats going to be a monster with a s52 in there!

It was definitely a quick car in street form, 2.79lsd with stock 98s52 gearbox, with m50 intake/exhaust and Turner chip, would misbehave if proper throttle/brake/shitty tire ratio wasn't observed. On the 195 tires that I bought it with, it would easily roast the tires going downhill on dry pavement shifting from 2nd to 3rd at about 60mph. Granted, the PO did all the amateur shit: gobs of power, tight suspension....and no brakes. Even knowing that I calved a 1/4 cubic yard of the brown stuff out the back acre on my first time pushing the car in a straight line. Corners.....no chance without the rebuild going on now.

Great looking cars , probably one of the classic body styles in motorsports history. It'll be great no doubt.

Are you allowed to run Group 5 as a newb (if you are)?


Dave

He's not. S52, meh. S54 is where its at. All I ask is please please please don't post video jumping it twelve thousand times a week.

---

Grant Hughes

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NoCoast
All I ask is please please please don't post video jumping it twelve thousand times a week.

Yea we dont need more of that!

Hi Dave! John mentioned your car yesterday when I was speaking with him, I'd like to pick your brain when we get this thing on the stages. As far as Group 5, this car is actually an s50, (2990cc) not s52 (3201cc), I always get it backasswards, so its Group 2, not 5. Not much of a difference in displacement, but it keeps us within the rules to get more coefficients.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/22/2014 05:49AM by Dan McGinn.

Quote
Dan McGinn
Hi Dave! John mentioned your car yesterday when I was speaking with him, I'd like to pick your brain when we get this thing on the stages. As far as Group 5, this car is actually an s50, (2990cc) not s52 (3201cc), I always get it backasswards, so its Group 2, not 5. Not much of a difference in displacement, but it keeps us within the rules to get more coefficients.

Oh damn, I was hoping for some more people playing in G5. After 2 blown up S50s (technically the same motor 2x, both valve issues), I've moved on. Really wanted somthing that would keep me in G2, but the new motor is a 3.2, so G5 it is for me.

Dave