Decided to rip out the entire electrical system. So I removed the entire dahsboard as well to get better acces. Once I have the entire electrical system out, I will remove all unnecessary cables and only keep the bare minimum needed.

The Burgundian will get the driveshafts from the E30 325ik -88, since these are the strongest of those I have. The E30 323i -85 is more or less identical to the E30 325ik -88

The driveshafts from the E36 316i 1.9 Compact were smaller at the differential flanges (smaller flanges and thinner bolts) but were identical at the wheel flanges.

The difference between a E30 wheel flange and a E36 Compact wheel flange can be seen to the right. The flange to the left in the picture is from E36 Compact and the one to the right is from E30.

Preparing for a 4-to-5-bolt conversion. Just bought a complete rear assembly (except subframe and diff) from a BMW 316i 1.9 Compact E36.

To get 5-bolt in the rear is quite easy. By taking the wheel flanges, brake pad carriers and brake discs from the E36 Compact I should have 5-bolt in the rear.

The 3.73 LSD (Limited Slip Differential) internal parts inspected, everything in good shape. Left to do is to replace input shaft and output shaft seals.

There are some advantages of using that stuff from the old 325ik -88. The wheel bearings are bigger in the 325ik -88 trailings arms. And the differential is a LSD (Limited Slip Differential) with a ratio of 3.73 (the original differential is an open one with a ratio of only 3.46).

• the open 3.46 diff will be replaced with a LSD 3.73 diff (from my 325ik -88)
• the subframe will be replaced with refurbished (from my 325ik -88)
• the trailing arms will be replaced with refurbished (from my 325ik -88)
• springs and dampers will be replaced with used ones in good condition
• replace all brake lines and hoses
• replace all fuel lines and hoses
• relocate the fuel pump and filter reduce fuel tank size

So time to strip two complete rear assemblies and refurbish parts to form at least one complete fresh looking rear assembly.

Back in the garage again after having some welding done. Now it's time to strip down the entire rear assembly and refurbish and replace.

Started by removing the entire rear assembly from the 323i -85. Then I did the same thing on the 325ik -88. I will more or less take everything from the 325ik -88 and use it on the 323i -85 (after having refurbished the parts of course).

Finally I could make that 200 kilometer journey to get all the swiss cheese holes welded shut!

Now all the holes in the floorpan have now been covered with new steel sheets and welded down in place. Filled and covered the seams with Hagmans Karosserikitt and then with a couple of layers of zinc primer. Later on the floor will be painted with a 2-component acrylic paint or similar.

The old open 3.46 diff started to leak hysterically from the input shaft seal. Not much to do except to replace it. And while the diff was easy to access, I removed 24 years of dirt and rust and splashed a layer of black paint over.

After having fixed the exhaust manifold and the battery, the next problem became evident. The differential was basically emptying itself through the shaft seal for the propshaft. I mean, it literally ran out gear oil!

So that shaft seal had to be replaced before i could drive anywhere. And to do so the differential had to be removed from the rear sub-frame. But there are four very hard-to-reach bolt and they are large (17 mm) and they are VERY rusty and been there for 25 years - so the only alternative was to simply lower the entire rear axle assembly.

And to do so the exhaust system, heat shields, propshaft, rear dampers, handbrake wires, brake hoses etc etc etc had to be removed as well.

The plan was to drive the car for a 200 km trip (to do some welding). However after 20 kilometers one of the plugs in the exhaust manifold worked itself loose and then it turned out that the battery was totally flat and only managed to perform one engine start. Now it's sitting still and looks more like an offroad vehicle than a track car - but this will change!

Turned out the battery was a total write-off (the charging system seems to be fully functional though). So a new battery was purchased. But this time I went for a smaller and ligher MC battery!

A 18.5Ah (175 CCA and 175x87x155 mm in size) battery was chosen with a weight of only 6.1 kg (13.4 lb) - that's a weight reduction of roughly 8 kg (18 lb)! Left to do is to secure it firmly in place and fix the connection cables.

What a beauty! I was - for the very first time since I started the track preparation - able to take a very very very limited test drive - but still it was a test drive! Well, the reverse and 1st gear seems to work. As well as the clutch and brakes. And the engine reached operating temperature for the first time after the engine rebuild.

So far so good. Next steps is to adjust the engine timing and go through all the vacuum hoses. Then do some more test driving...

Yes, there are some similarities to a swiss cheese at the moment. But that's will be fixed in the near future. Now I', currently removing all old and rotten metal so new can be welded in place.

In order to do some metal work I need to remove those damn asphalt carpets glued/melted to the bottom of the floor. A heat gun and a scraper is all you need - and some patience!

Managed to remove all the asphalt carpets at the front and rear foot wells. The rest (located around the transmission tunnel) will be removed later. Just have to remove the very last layer - I think a rag and some white spirit will do the trick.

Today my trusty garage friend joined as well. He's usually very silent but sometimes he can be extremely noisy! His face is blue and got black eyes and a very long nose :-)

Damn! Couldn't fit some small details on the gearbox linkage and it was leaking at the rear seal. So I just had to once again remove the entire exhaust system, the starter and the gearbox!

While waiting for new parts I spent a day to remove as much cables as possible. Found quite a lot! All the cables on and around the steering wheel were removed since I don't need it!

Finally! Started the engine for the first time since I dissambled it for general overhaul and cleaning. It started and ran remarkably well even though I've removed the additional air valve (used to raise the rpm when engine is cold) and the ignition timing was set as a very rough guess! I've also plugged half of the pulse air system.

Click on the picture to see the very first attempt of starting the engine. The idle rpm is of course a little bit low and somewhat unstable but it runs quite good for the circumstances.

Managed to temporarily plug all the holes in the exhaust manifold from that awful pulse air system.

Cylinder 1-3 were plugged using some old leftover parts from that pulse air system. You can see the pipe with the reed valve at the end sticking up from the engine bay!

Cylinder 4-6 were plugged using the old pipe connectors plugged with an M6 bolt and a metallic locking nut!

Only one thing left before I can start the engine! Tomorrow I will get an exhaust gasket and I can finally mount the exhaust system. That's the only thing holding me up!

Getting closer to start up the engine. Going through the last details and trying to get info what the timing should be on this engine (have a basic setup now but must adjust the distributor later).

The sticker says 19° BTDC @ 3000 rpm and this is also confirmed by another website where my distributor was listed. Apparently I have a Bosch 0 237 304 027 distributor.

I've primed the fuel system and pressurized it - no leaks :-) So there should be fuel all the way to the fuel injectors now.

Finally the engine was put back again. The gearbox will follow shortly (need the gearbox to be able to start the engine since the starter is mounted on the gearbox).

Since the engine was disassembled I took the opportunity to get the parts thoroughly cleaned. The block went into an industrial cleaner at a speed shop and the head was cleaned by hand.

Since I will take apart this engine very soon again to replace various parts I just justed that everything was in good shape. So I didn't replace the crankshaft main bearing shells or the conrod bearing shells. Or the main bolts. Only the connecting rod bolts were replaced.

After a new set of various gaskets including a new head gasket of course, it was simply a matter of whacking it together. The oil pan gasket of cork was replaced by a layer of high-temp silicone.

Started to tip out all the carpets and sound insulation material. Partly because I need free access to the huge hole at the bottom left corner of the pedals. But also to get full access to all the wirings and other other stuff (need to to some minor fixes and changes to these).

Under these carpets you will always find a smaller lake. The foam thing under the carpets were basically full of water! And this is the place were almost every E30 has rust.

And look at that huge hole at the bottom left corner of the pedals. I know it's the same thing on the passenger side. Needs to be fixed as well.

Time to assemble and install the front and read brakes. First out was the handbrake details (new parts were needed since the old ones wasn't in a very good state). I had to come up with a better solution to hold the handbrake shoes in place. Came up with a solution consisting of aM5 bolt, two washers and a nylon lock nut.

Next the front brakes were assembled using the old brake disc but with new temporary brake pads (at the rear I reused both the brake discs and brake pads). Later on there will be Carbotech XP10 brake pads at the front and Carbotech XP8 brake pads at the rear, or similar.

Both front and rear brake calipers were rebuilt.

Car got up on jack stands and the first thing to do was to remove all brake parts. Some parts will be reused - some parts will be replaced. Intention is to do a general overhaul and upgrade only brake pads as a first step.

All brake parts collected in a box (except brake discs and calipers). The handbrake parts were completely shot - needs to be replaced. Otherwise the rest of the stuff was in fairly good condition.

The brake calipers, pistons and bores were all in pretty good condition. Will refurbish the pistons and bores with 2000 grit paper and WD40. Then new seals, dust covers and guiding bolts and the brakes will be as new again.

Discovered the clutch slave cylinder needed to be repaired. So it was removed, disassembled and assembled again with new parts from a repair kit.

Spent a couple of hours to clean the engine bay. Just to get rid of all the oil and dirt. Especially the front cross member and steering rack were completely covered in oil and dirt.

First thing was of course to remove engine and tranny and do an inspection and a general overhaul. The plan is to only replace parts that really needs to be replaced. The main purpose is to stop the oil leakage - it leaks quite a lot and that's of course unacceptable on a race track.

This is the starting point - a BMW 323i from 1985.

VIN                WBAAD710601524826
Type Code          AD71
Type               323I (EUR)
Series             E30 ()
Line               3
Body Type          LIM
Steering           LL
Door Count         4
Engine             M20
Cubical Capacity   2.30
Power              0
Transmission       HECK
Gearbox            MECH
Colour             BURGUNDROT METALLIC (199)
Upholstery         ANTHRAZIT (0150)
Production Date    1985-01-02

Order Options
350   WAERMESCHUTZGLAS GRUEN, RUNDUM
401   SLIDING/VENT ROOF, ELECTRIC
410   WINDOW LIFTS, ELECTRIC AT FRONT
494   SEAT HEATING F DRIVER/FRONT PASSENGER
498   HEADRESTS IN REAR, MECHANIC. ADJUSTABLE
816   SCHWEDEN-AUSFUEHRUNG
850   ADD FUEL TANK FILLING FOR EXPORT