One of the many projects going on in the GDL workshop, is this one-of-a-kind E30 BMW housing a twin turbo 2JZ engine from a Toyota Supra. Here is the rather humorous happenings of stage one of this build. Getting the car was half the adventure. This article is written by Nick one of the guys who have been very active in getting this project happening. Excuse his potty mouth.
Although I have not owned this thing for very long, I already feel rather attached to it. I better explain why before I start going on about the character mods it has or you will think I’m a loop.
I went camping up the coast with a bunch of mates a few weeks ago. It was planned as a fun weekend out; camp fires, getting drunk, freezing our goolies off in damp tents with very little lighting and limited reception. Unfortunately for me, I’m on Telstra so 4G plagued me with full bars.
Most people would see this as a good thing being able to communicate with the outside world, Facebook, being antisocial, etc… No, not me, this trip was going to cost me a bit more than I thought. There have been many intoxicated nights where I have woken up the following morning to rather large extravagant purchases made via eBay and other Paypal driven sites which can only be handled with a slight giggle and a deep sigh as I am broke until next pay day. Like every weekend I changed my Paypal and eBay passwords to complicated unmemorable ones in an attempt to slow down my purchases and prepared for the worst. I know what you’re thinking, you’re full of shit mate. Honest, I have a problem. Here’s some transactions made last week…
FML.
Anyway…
The first night for me began late; I drove down after work with another mate and arrived well after dinner so we were greeted with merry moonies and slurred words. It seems drinking began rather early and catching up was far out of our reach that night but we made a decent attempt.
I woke up the next morning to 4 purchase confirmations for some Bluepoint tool sets and some “entertaining” shift knobs, four of them… Gah.
Next night was a little different, the usual intoxicated campfire shit talking was had but this time I found myself on Gumtree yelling at a mate to buy a car he already owned. Think it came down to if he didn’t buy it, I would.
I woke up the next morning with a deposit down on a car in Melbourne.
Finally, some actual relevance to this thread. Pretty surreal feeling waking up to it. What the actual fuck was I thinking, I already have 2 cars and this one is in another state, I guess it wasn’t as bad as when I owned one in Japan for a little while…
Took it on the chin and had a mate in Melbourne go and inspect it for me to make sure it would make the drive back. It was liked, apart from some suss wiring it seemed like the go.
So here it is, a burgundy 1986 4dr e30 325e. Props to the owner for the gumtree photos, it actually looks like the paint is in good condition. In actual fact it’s like someone had sex on it wearing a 50 grit bondage suit.
I sat back a couple days while I attempted to get work off to go grab this thing, no dice. Over our usual dinner gathering I managed to persuade 3 friends to follow me the next night to fly down after work, pick it up and drive it straight home in time for work the next day. Idiots lol.
So Thursday was the night! Cheapest flights booked with Tiger Airways (the bicycle of the air) and we were on our way!
We were greeted at the airport by a faithful old mate that had abandoned Sydney to live in Melbourne for work and we made our way to the eastern suburbs to get this Nazi sled.
It felt like 5 minutes of looking over the car and another 5 going around the block before money changed hands. In hindsight I should of looked a little more at the car considering the lives of my three mates and myself are in this thing for several hours at night but we were tired and hungry so we yolobaggins’ed it and fled to the nearest restaurant.
My initial impression of this was utter disgust at myself for purchasing such a monstrosity. The locked differential with 2.9. WTF ratio made it almost stupid to turn. Every time we had to stop I would clench my butt cheeks and pray it would pull up in time. I’m sure it would have been rad cruising the Melbourne streets with chopped springs, halo projectors , momo steering wheel and huge autometer gauges, but that just ain’t my style so as soon as we hit Sydney, this shit was fucking gone.
Highway driving was pretty unforgettable, with the assistance of what we will call ‘nodose’ and an iPod with 64gb of music we shared the driving talking shit all the way.
My mates all had peanut bladders, constant stops in the freezing cold were necessary. The firewall also had a few choice holes where the rubber grommets ‘should have been’ so the front seats were not as desirable if you wanted to be able to feel your toes.
Sunrise was pretty epic.
We ended up cracking the 11 hour mark to make it home. FB Drift Sales deals were operating in the back seat and a detour via Canberra to pick up a TypeX wing was necessary. I was late for work to say the least.
All in all, I bought a 30yo car sight unseen, drove it for 11 hours and made it home alive. Pretty chuffed at that outcome.
I’ve written too much and I have a headache now, I’ll post up some progress mods /demods soon.
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