jsf252 wrote:
Modifiede30,
I've been reading through all the threads and came across yours. I too am an E30 fan, although all of mine have been M20 powered (2.5L, 2.7L, and one combination of the two).
My father came across an E30 323i, and bought it for $200. This would be a great donor for suspension and misc parts. How were you going to use the E30's suspension on your car? The E30 configuration is not the typical A-arm you see on most Locosts. I'm just curious to see how you planned on using the trailing arms and the struts on the front.
I had been running a 2.5l and 2.7l stroker in my last e30 - the stroker was based on the 2.7l super eta internals and 2.5l components - great engines.
For the suspension parts, I was going to cut up the front and rear spindles/uprights and weld onto to them the attachment points for the a-arms. This way the bearings and hubs were all pre-cast but I could adjust the positioning of the a-arm attachment points. This was particularly important to simplify things like brake calipers and the rear axle assemblies. I'll have to have a machine shop do this though as my cutters aren't powerful enough to take the trailing arms apart. I'm hoping they can simply cut them apart using a plasma cutter. I can then start filing down areas for the upright weld points and design around the bearing and hub assemblies while leaving the brake caliper bolt holes alone. I saw someone else do this as well - it wasn't the nicest looking assembly, but it made designing the suspension very customizable.