well, saturday night at the annual dinner, I managed to be awarded a $100 gift certificate to a driving school next summer... so, I need a car, badly.

I don't know which school, but if my dad's car is done, I will drive it in june, if not, I will drive mine in september.

but, any way you cut it, I've gotta get my car done "just in case"

here is what I need to get done:

a) tires, 2 new summer tires (need 4 new winter tires too... oi!)
b) rear suspension, bushings, replace
c) radiator, replace
d) driver's seat, replace
e) shocks, replace
f) sway-bars, upgrade
g) engine: pray to God.

any ideas on the best progression on this??? or places to get stuff cheap...

everyone, keep your eyes peeled for used suspensions, wheel/tire sets, seats (race?), engines...

this is gonna be interesting.

BTW... OUCH!!!! I just dropped $500 at tirerack... dang that hurts!!!

new khumo's for both cars coming though, that will be good! (and will give me +2 bling on the E28! :D:D)

I would just hang around the parts section of the forum. People are always upgrading their cars so you could probably find your shocks and sway bars there. You would probably be better off just biting the bullet and buying a new radiator and bushings.

Good Luck.

Sorry I dont know what kind of car you are looking for these parts for, but this december I will be replacing the suspension on my M3, so if that helps out your shock problem let me know.

go get 'em das! Can I be promoted to full-time grid-Nazi???? :D

You should take care of the safety items to pass the tech inspection. If your car won't pass a driving school tech inspection, you don't really want to be driving it on the street anyway!

Drive your street car, you don't need a track car. Don't worry about upgrades. It's a school, not a race.

You don't want brand new tires at a driving school or autocross. If you've just gotten them now, they should be plenty broken-in by next summer.

Bob, I don't think you understand... in most cases, these are safety issues. Sometimes a car needs a good going-through just be safe and somewhat reliable on the track, even if it's been generally functional on the street. Worn bushings and the like can be lived with for a while on the street, but for even a driving school, should probably be brought back into shape to prevent 'issues' with breaking other parts and unpredictable handling. This is not upgrading a 2 year old car just for fun, this is bringing a 20 year old E28 up to minimum functional spec.

BMA - Heater valve repair kit $29/ replace $95 (http://216.111.176.236/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/BMACatalog?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&langId=-1&categoryId=801059&cat1=800003&cat2=800156&cat3=803383&cv=null&gv=null&parent_category_rn=801059&year=1983&clientid=bma&cookieID=12F12C0BB&accNo=208941&baseurl=http://catalog.bmaparts.com/bma/&cmd=BMACatalog)
BMA - Radiator $201 (http://216.111.176.236/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/BMACatalog?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&langId=-1&categoryId=800996&cat1=800003&cat2=800156&cat3=803385&cv=null&gv=null&parent_category_rn=800996&year=1983&clientid=bma&cookieID=12F12C0BB&accNo=208941&baseurl=http://catalog.bmaparts.com/bma/&cmd=BMACatalog)

I don't know exactly what bushings you need in the rear...but I saw yesterday that I need new differential side seals too. Maybe we can do them both next spring.

Jeremy,
If I recall you do have a nice Touring at home. Put a "Baby on board" sign in the window and you should be set. :-)

...what? Did I just hear some excuse about Brenda not letting you drive the Touring at the track? You could always give the gift cert to her.

In all honesty, if you can not get the car ready (or of course you schedule does not allow you to make it) you could just hold onto it until 2005. Right now it looks like the only MVC DE you could attend in 2004 is the June 19-20. Maybe we could work something out with the KC BMW chapter.

Most importantly is getting you a car,
Sheridan

The other option might be just to take my car... By next June I'll have the vibration and steering taken care of, which should be all it really would need. You could just slap your wheels/tires on it so mine don't get destroyed.

dude, the car will get done... and it will cost more to replace teh brakes and tires on the touring afterward than it will to just fix the E28 now! :D

and its an SLUSHBOX!!!!!

and truthfully... I REALLY want to run HPT... :D:D:D:D

adam: I AM THE GRID NAZI!!!

armen... the heater valve has been OK... and IF things go to plan... the car won't have a heater (or AC) next summer anyway! :D:D:D

thanks for the BMA links, I'll likely drive the old engine on the track, but will have a tow-vehicle available for the drive home... my faith is limited!

the rear suspension bushings are the next big step... I need to get under there and figure out which parts I need and then get my hands on them. Tires are taken care of, no worries there, so its just reliability issues.

need E28 shocks after that... HDs would be good, but anything will do. then its spare pads (HPT, in july, think about it), spare motor, and axle seals... I'm going to pull the radiator in the spring (and remove the heater/AC?), and we'll determine its condition then...

Oh by the way:

Please don't use "crash" and "track" in the same sentence like that :awink:

fair enough, fair enough...

Originally posted by dasMafia
armen... the heater valve has been OK... and IF things go to plan... the car won't have a heater (or AC) next summer anyway! :D:D:D


Are you really sure you want to have no heater? I'm fine with no A/C, but on something that has to get you to work and appts in the winter, the heater is kindof a safety issue IMO... I've driven Corvairs with no heat and it's just plain dangerous when the windsheild won't stop fogging up...unless you've perfected the art of not breathing. :D

If you're thinking of getting a separate winter beater, then never mind.

and, you see, you answer your own question!!! :D:D:D

Oh, and we really should do a compression test before you front the $$ for a radiator.... I know you don't want to know, but as you say, the radiator isn't that old and it'd be a shame to throw $$ away...

Also, here's an '89 M30 (high comp) engine for $350...
http://www.roadfly.org/bmw/classifieds/general/detview.php?view=23746

oooooh, nice... huge thanks.

you busy tonight??? I've got some stuff you might like to see...

ummm, wait up, aren't the blocks different???

Yeah, Tuesday night group.

So what is your winter beater budget, and what are your preferences? I'll start keeping an eye out....maybe Adam will sell another escrap. :)

Some '89s will bolt in. Apparently, even the ones that wont are a minor mod to make them fit. We should pop our hoods and look sometime, but methinks the welder would make short work of the difference.

haha... "winter beater" will hopefully be:

"4x Black 2000 Z3 2.3 Roadster"

in otherwords... real car.... ::drool::

re: '89s, thanks, I had forgotten that...