Tuesday, May 7, 2013

E21's on YouTube

I was just directed to the following video by PimpPalaceCustoms who is also responsible for the mad looking Mid Mounted Mazda Mini Truck. No interior? No Bonnet? No Problem!



This awesome video got me thinking back to the some of the videos that have helped re-energize this build as it's progressed, and I thought I should post some examples here.


Another E21 engine swap - this one with an EVO motor is laying down some very controlled drifts:

Some group 5 hillclimb video, mainly for the sound to get the spine tingling and help with motivation:

Hopefully I'll have similar traction issues to this car:

Here's a video which I found via the European Car Club of Australia Forums shortly before I got my motor running:


Here is an example of what NOT to do:


This is the reason I've not thrown away my original M20 - audible magic - turn up your speakers:

While I'm on the subject of M20's, eBay Germany has listed this very rare Hartge Rocker Cover

I also noticed an auction running for a set of yellow headlamps; might be worth a look if that's your thing:

Even if you don't speak German, this Magazine could be a good little conversation starter on the coffee table:

Also, I've posted one of these before - but here in a different livery is another Group 5 Model:



Thursday, May 2, 2013

eBay Germany E21 Round-Up

As I have done a couple of times before, when I go on eBay.de to have a look for cool E21 parts, I summarise and post them here for anyone else interested in these cars to take a look at - tonight is no exception and eBay Germany delivers yet again!

First up, I've found what appears to be a set of the BBS rear bumper under spoilers or spats. They are currently only asking 50 Euro and I've only ever really seen the actual front bumpers up for sale so I'd say these are relatively rare.



The second are a pair of chrome mirrors, these would look quite cool on the right car. They don't really suit the track purpose of my car, but might suit one of yours?


I also found some cool seats, first there's a Single E21 recaro seat - then I stumbled across a set of Alpina trimmed seats, my german is basically non-existant and as best I could glean from a translate these were fitted at some point to an E30 touring so the back seat might be no use; however the front ones look the goods!

Next I came across a black M20 manifold - this looks pretty cool and would probably be an easy/quick way to change with your existing unit to mean minimum downtime if your E21 is a daily driver - at currently less than 30 euros it's not particularly dear, however postage may be a killer due to the size and weight.

I also found an M10 Alpina airbox which is very cool! (and very dear) but worth a look for you purists:

If my E21 still had an interior, I'd almost certainly pick up some M-sports styled leather gear boots - especially for under 10 euro.

For those of you interested in doing an EFI conversion (as I was originally intending) you might want to check out this M30 manifold modified to fit M20. If I'd been sticking with the original M20 motor I'd also have looked at these quite seriously - E21 6cyl headers/extractors or these ones which look a bit more substantial.

I'm also thinking about getting myself a BMW Service Team Jacket but not sure if that makes sense given my choice of powerplant. 

Moved At Last!

So it's been a pretty hectic week here; we got the keys to the new house on the night of the 24th and got stuck right into moving house on the ANZAC Day public holiday on the 25th.

One of the first things to be moved (due to trailer availability) was the E21. We ran into some difficulty getting it onto the trailer because of an exhaust flange - in the end we needed four boards under each ramp AND to jack up the front of the trailer with the trolley jack before it would clear. I've got to track down a short video of the car sliding on the ramps trying to get on so I can show you all, hopefully sometime in the next week or so I should be able to get my hands on a copy.

Loading up in the driveway of the old house

Safely stowed in the garage at the new house

This is the view from my study (where I write these updates)

I am now going to be walking past the car every time I go between my study and the house (as there is no door directly between the two) so progress should continue - it may not be at its recent breakneck pace however!


Although the new house does not have the same amount of floorspace in the garage as the old shed, it does have an additional workshop which seems to be much better insulated (being brick and tiles) than the old shed and so should be a little nicer to work in during winter. I'm using the smaller workshop as a storage building as well as locating my press, drill press, bench vice and general workbench etc for fabrication.

The front garage will house my shadow boards and tools for actually working on the cars, but to maximise space I will keep actual stored parts etc in the front garage to a minimum.

The mower (as seen in previous posts) is getting a workout moving load after load of stuff from the front yard to the back. There's not enough room to get a car down here but a small trailer and the mower fits easily. This trailer was on loan for a couple of days, but I have an old A-frame here and some spare steel so I will begin to make a trailer up purely for this purpose soon which will make transferring heavier items between the two locations a breeze.

Slowly filling up - more has been put in since this shot but I haven't got a more recent photo yet. It will all change quite a bit so I'll put a few more photos up as I go.

Here's the new front yard - the E21 just visible in the right hand bay of the garage.

The left hand bay is currently totally full with boxes from the shed, the BBQ, bookshelves and other items.

Lastly, here's a video from unloading the car: