Hi all!
As I will post in my Haynes roadster build log, life and financial situations have dictated that I need to prioritize projects, and focus on just one at a time. So therefore, my Lotus is now in storage, and my 1989 BMW 325is has taken the forefront as a project car. So, a brief history first:
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This is Sparky. My dad bought this car in I believe 2001 as a new daily driver, since his turbocharged M3 was becoming too aggressive for everyday use. At a track day at (now closed) Second Creek Raceway, the motor blew up. It turned out the PO had media blasted the intake manifold with glass beads, and not cleaned it properly. So a few hard pulls down the main straight were enough to knock them loose and suck them through the engine. Miraculously, the head survived. A new bottom end later and the car was back on the road.
When I got my learner's permit at 15 it became the car I learned to drive in. When I was close to getting my license, and shopping for a car, I was given the option of rebuilding the whole front suspension of the car, in exchange for it becoming mine, which was the first real car work I had ever done on my own. I put over 110,000 miles on it in the next five years, and a lot of abuse, being a reckless teenager's first car. When I came back from my one year of engineering school, I realized it was a little worse for wear. Oil smoke, blown suspension, trashed bushings, ruined paint. A year or so later, the car was in a hit and run that would have totalled it, had I made an insurance claim. The front left fender, bumper, valence, and side markers were all heavily damaged, though the chassis stayed straight.
Last year, I decided 270,000 miles was a good enough time to rebuild the upgrade the engine. So, out it came, and in went a new cylinder head casting, Schrick 272 cam, upgraded valve springs, Ireland Engineering HD rockers, Ireland Engineering Stage 2 long-tube race headers, full custom catless Magnaflow exhaust, and a JB Racing 8 pound aluminum flywheel. Still on the list for the engine is a Miller Mass-Airflow conversion, W.A.R. tuneable chip, and 19lb. Injectors.
My goal for the car is a reliable autocross and track toy, that can go out and trade punches with E36 M3s and the like. The goal is more out of necessity, than ambition, as the engine modifications alone have pushed it out of the class where E30s normally compete with BMWCCA. In a few days, when I collate a list of everything I want to do to the car, I will post that, and more pictures.
I know this is not nearly as intense or unique as a lot of the other non-traditional builds, but I hope you will welcome by attempt at giving my old, worn-out first car new life!