**2012 E30 Calendars are here** - R3VLimited Forums

**2012 E30 Calendars are here** - R3VLimited Forums

E30 lower control arm modification / Home stretch!

The next substaintial modification left to do was the e30 LCA's. This was also something (Carlos especially) that alot of effort was put into-. For those who arent familiar with the differences between the two- there is really no mounting points/strong enough metal on the older 2002 body. So it had to be created from sratch. Angled, and mirrored to e30m3 caster spec.

Threaded and notched much like the e30-

At this point in the project, theres less than two weeks away until the challenge, and the heat is on. We put in work for the last couple weeks- it was crazy, and hard to document. Driveshaft, brake lines, fuel lines, pedal assembly, throttle cable mod etc ect.. all the little time consuming things left to do. We used an e30 throttle cable, and relocated the postion of the bracket due to the sharp angle. - We used e30 brake, and fuel hard lines. e36 gas pedal, and e30 brake, clutch assembly.

But first was getting the motor in. We got it for 200 bucks off craigslist with ecu, and engine harness included. We dropped the pan to inspect a bit, and to tap in an oil drain.

Then dropped it in for the last time. Using modified e30 motor mounts. basically just shaved down to clear the narrow frame rails of the 02.
Then followed by grounding and connecting everything- stuck a crappy old tach we found at the yard, and the old boost guage from the racecar- Cut out a peice of acrylic to fit- Ill be sure to improve on this as time goes on, but for the challenge it will do.

We had found an old grant wheel in a friends garage- Dismantled a stock hub, and shaved it to fit.

Also got the rear buttoned up in the process, making custom spring perches. More pics on that later.

Next was mounting the seat. Used old sliders, and created cross peices for support.

Here it is installed. Its an old fiberglass race seat, made extra wide for whoever was hefty enough to fit in there..
Meanwhile we very carefully cut into the e30 driveshaft to shorten it. We basically cut it in half, the wheelbase + the motor position shortened it alot.

Almost there!!

In the meantime

While all the subframe/firewall madness was going on, we managed to get some other odds and ends finished. First was to complete the diff mount, get everything bolted up ready to go. Heres John putting on the finishing touches.

Stuck on a solid bushing on our 3.73

Then we sorted out the front struts. Hybrids using e30 housings with 2002 strut tops, and an ebay coilover kit. Finished product.

Also starting on the windows. Belinas dad scrounged some scrap lexan from work. Made templates and cut to fit, riveted on.

Next was fitting the booster and master cylinder. Wasnt even close to fitting, and even with a smaller 944, or 2002 booster, it wasnt going without modification.

from the wheel-well

Now pedals are mounted, and the steering column is mounted using the e30 mount. Bolted right in.

Home stretch!

One step foward, two steps back

Sorry for the delay on the update. We ran into a little issue that set us back a few days.

Now the whole plan for the subframe was to keep the original e30 suspension geometry without re-locating the strut towers- and we accomplished that, but as a result it pushed the motor way foward. Something thats easy to overlook when its just a subframe sitting there. Once we test fit an old block in there, we had to seriously re-consider things. By pushing the entire frame back, we're playing with the caster and I was a little worried about that..
This is where the pictures slowed down, at this point we didnt even know if we could make it in time knowing the artwork you see above had to be cut out, and re-done..
So the next work day we went back at it and came up with this:

Added some material further back, and drilled a hole through without cutting out all of johns nice welding. Saved us alot of time, and pushed the entire motor back over 3 inches.
Now with the motor way back into the firewall now, there was no way we could save Any of it. To us a fair trade. I didnt want the car to be too nose heavy. Now the m20 sits even further back than it does bolted to a 2002 subframe.
So once we test fit the motor again, we start to check for clearences.. It all pretty much had to come out.
But we were prepared for this, we had cut the entire trans tunnel/firewall section out of the e30, so we thought it would be easy..

But the problem with the dropping it in was the height of the entire drivetrain. Now that everything sits lower, the factory e30 trans brace notches wont reach. So unfortunatley we have to do it in sections.

Alot of work went int this. Thanks to Jason, Roy, Brian, and Christie for your help with all of this.

Finished product.

E30 Front subframe modification

So the following tuesday we had our new shop helpers, Brian and Roy, come by to lend a hand. Also Belina came by later to lend a hand. Full shop! We were all really busy for this night- so didnt get to take many pics, but these guys were a huge help.
For the last couple weeks Carlos and John have been plugging on this front subframe. The pics are few and far in between, but this will give you a basic idea how it was done. Another fellow 02 enthusiast had recently told me "many have tried, but very few have completed" regarding the front subframe swap. So needless to say theres very little info out there regarding this. Noones mistakes to learn from. But here goes.
 First thing was of course was measuring. Done a few different ways... repeatedly..  And then a mock up, using scrap metal.

Now its ready for the e30 subframe mounting holes in our new frame rails.

Here it is, ready to weld.

After some test fitting, Carlos and I banging it back and forth for an hour making sure its straight- John jumps in and tacks it on

This one shows clearly the difference in width between the two.

 At this point we're ready to start welding. Filling in the voids with anything we can.

John gets it all nice and boxed in using gussets on the inside/flat plates to fit on the out. Finished pics soon to come. John with the welder in his hand= put the kids to bed.

More info, and finished pics on this later.

Meanwhile..Brian and Roy started chopping up the doors. Skinned them to the point where they arent too flimsy. Then de-burring the edges. Hate to chop up somewhat rust free 02 doors, but the pain goes away when you feel how much weight was taken out..

Towards the end of the night we also covered a little ground on the rear. We bolted the rear subframe one final time, strapped in the stock 02 subframe supports, and started working on the diff mount. We really wanted to do a dual ear e36 cover on the e30 diff.. Maybe later..

And just for fun, jacked the trailing arms to somewhat ride-height... .. ... yea, its ridiculous. hahaha

Until next time.

E30 rear subframe modification

So the following week we went back to work. The first plan was to mount an e30 rear subframe. We discussed this thoroughly between the three of us, traded ideas for a while, and finally planned to solid mount it on custom made mounts using old scraps in the shop.
First thing to do was measure, measure, ... measure,.. and measure more.. We had tracked down some dimension spec sheets for both cars that helped us alot.

Then i had John jack his socks up just for this picture (jk, he always has his socks jacked up)

Then we made a jig, to get our mounting points.

Now that we have everything lined up, we tack on our mounting sleeves for the first test fit.

First test fit. We now have to cut the original bushing housing for it to move up further.

While its back out, John and i get creative.. Making sure it stays put

Now once it goes back up, we have a little issue. The trailing arm mount is so close to the rear body jacking point, that the bolt wouldnt fit. Instead of cutting into it we decided to make some spacers out of an old peice of aluminum.

Next thing is to smooth it down a bit, get it mounted, and start figuring out the differential mounting points. Until next time..
-Jay