Trent's fleet changeup

It is time for some changes. 

My interest in my R55 Clubman S has waned. I am done with the car

It has been what I expected. Fun, nimble, quick and efficient.  It is also an R55 MINI and I am very aware I am driving a grenade with the pin pulled. It is gonna go. It is currently my daily.

The 81 VW Caddy is my part time daily, beast of burden. Far more useful than it has any right to be. 

It is a keeper. I will never find another this rust free and solid. It does need some work though.

The missus MK3 Cabrio

It has no value to us. Bought as a toy. She hasn't driven it in two years. It is for sale cheap. Probably just an ABA swap donor to whoever buys it.

The Kia Soul

Her daily. The definition of a penalty box. A hateful place to spend time, but it is very reliable. It is gonna go. She works in Portland at least once a month and this thing is about 85 decibels at 70mph. 4 hours of that a month is no longer an option. She is super rad and deserves better.

Not quite sure what is happening with everything yet. We have tossed around the idea of leasing a Model 3. I have brought up something like a 5 year old Optima or Flex. She also likes the idea of no payments for a while.

Do I trade in the Clubby on whatever she decides on? Do I sell everything outright and pay cash? I don't know yet.

But I also did something yesterday that will either make this transition easier or harder. Not sure yet.

Yesterday I was browsing CL at 11:30 lunch (like one does) and saw something I have had quite an interest in at an appealing price point.

By 12:30 I had test driven it

By 3:00 I was back with cash.

I am the new owner of a septuagenarian owned E39 BMW 530i. Records of every service since new at the local BMW dealership. Every maintenance item dealt with before the car was put up for sale (new brakes, hoses, belts, filters). Garaged since day one. Sat for the last 5 years due to declining health.

Manual transmission, sport interior, Msport bits in the interior, Anthracite over gray, Dual zone climate control. The only things it doesn't have are heated seats and bluetooth connectivity

It was cheap, it is in very nice shape. It is bloody FILTHY inside. The wheels are corroded on the lips

It needs.... A detail and a new cupholder unit. Seriously. That is it! 

But man is it gross. Spilled coffee is my guess

My plan WAS to drive it whilst I sell the R55 but Bianca fell in love so it might become hers for a while.

Tell us about the Caddy. I've had a coupla-three of them over the past decades. All ended up with GTI drivetrains in them. Spectacular combination of utility and fun.

The Caddy is an 81.

I had some Cabriolet sport seats (my favorite VW seats) reupholstered in the 77 GTI tartan and swapped the dash and instrument cluster to a Cabriolet version

Its original 1.7 has lost more than a few of its 70ish ponies. It takes a couple of downshifts to make it up most hills anymore. I have also intentionally NOT changed the timing belt thinking it will be the impetus of a motor swap someday.

I have rebuilt a GTI 1.8 JH motor and it has been sitting to the side for over a year. The plans was a little boost from a KO3 and EFI via a Megasquirt but I have dialed that way back for now. It will go in on the existing K-jet CIS basic for now. The 90hp will be a boost, I will get to play with CIS again. A refresher if you will. We have had quite a few CIS cars in the shop lately and I have been giving the techs info based on 20 year old experience. I have already taken off the turbo and manifolds in preparation.

There is quite the pile of parts waiting to go on

Steering rack

New Techtonics exhaust

Misc bits I have refreshed 

I will admit the temptation has been strong to swap in the ABA from the cabrio but I can knock this pile out in a few weekends if scope creep doesn't get too bad.

Ditching the Soul, Clubman, and Cabrio for the 530i and ??? has me soooo curious about what ??? might be if Bianca takes the BMW...

In reply to Trent :

Nicely done. Well, it's gonna be nicely done soon. You should actually be able to knock that out in a single weekend, assuming the beer fridge is off-limits until about 6pm...

Before

After.

I'm gonna have to get a carpet cleaner/extractor. The amount of filth is appalling 

Love that caddy, ALH swap its the best IMO, if you are doing any swap

fouckhest said:

Love that caddy, ALH swap its the best IMO, if you are doing any swap

I know that is a popular option, but I just can't stand the smell and sound of a diesel.  I am more of a high revving 16V kind of guy. 

The JH will be a cromulent motor for now. It will drop in with no hassle and allow me to stick with the FF 5 speed. Once it is boosted up to ~150hp it will be a perfect match.  

this machine cleaned my winter beater avalon very well, highly recommend it. Do not drink the forbidden coffee

I've never seen an E39 with that much cupholder remaining. They don't exist in a non-broken state.

My friend has dailied an E39 530iT for years. It's been a great car and he's figured out how to fix a lot of the common problems they seem to have.

Check your door drains and vapor barriers. See if you've still got the original water pump and radiator. Both are known wear items.

In reply to Patrick :

That spot cleaner is a quarter of the price of a good detail.  Thanks for the tip

buzzboy said:

I've never seen an E39 with that much cupholder remaining. They don't exist in a non-broken state.

My friend has dailied an E39 530iT for years. It's been a great car and he's figured out how to fix a lot of the common problems they seem to have.

Check your door drains and vapor barriers. See if you've still got the original water pump and radiator. Both are known wear items.

I was serious when I said everything was new. Water pump and radiator on that list.

I will pull the door cards and inspect the vapor barriers and drains. This car has been garaged since new so I don't expect to see any pine needle blockage

The replacement cupholder is on its way via an eBay seller

I ordered the E39 specific Eonon Android stereo last night. Gotta take advantage of the holiday sales

I am also going to hide a wireless charging pad under the console while everything is out. 

Trent said:

fouckhest said:

Love that caddy, ALH swap its the best IMO, if you are doing any swap

I know that is a popular option, but I just can't stand the smell and sound of a diesel.  I am more of a high revving 16V kind of guy. 

The JH will be a cromulent motor for now. It will drop in with no hassle and allow me to stick with the FF 5 speed. Once it is boosted up to ~150hp it will be a perfect match.  

 

16v, I like it!   Pair that with a little gt25/gt28 turbo and now you are speaking to me! 

Think it would actually be cheaper to toss in a 1.8T than to turbo the 16v. Should have known that VW would be one of the other cars you'd be working with other than the Fiat. 

Dear Santa, can you make me stop thinking about buying this?

"It has no value to us. Bought as a toy. She hasn't driven it in two years. It is for sale cheap. Probably just an ABA swap donor to whoever buys it."

Talk to me about the R55. Miles etc?

I had an 81 Caddy as well, put well over 300K on it and it also lost more than a few ponies after a while, put my wife's totaled 83 GTi engine into it and  drove it 3 more years!

It's an 08. Just turned over 120k IIRC. Auto w/flappy paddles. 100% stock. I'm currently doing front swaybar endlinks and tie rods to prep it for sale

In reply to etifosi :

I mean, if you want to transport an old VW from Oregon then......

In reply to Trent :

I've been looking for a cheap, non-crusty convertible with enough of a back seat for my miniature human to experience open-air motoring about the countryside, like every kid should. I also need an adventure. 

In reply to etifosi :

It is a 200k mile 98 that needs a clutch soon, has a hole in the muffler and the top leaks. Asking $1000.

New sway bar links and tie rod. 

The Harbor freight "Maddox" inner tie rod removal tool was a complete failure.  The "C" shaped inserts for the different hex sizes spread open and slipped at maybe 20ft/lbs while I was able to remove the joint with pliers

Ready for an alignment and a detail before it gets listed.

And what about this in the Cabrio picture?

In reply to Noddaz :

Recently sold.  Build thread here

In reply to Trent :

I have to wait for my auto insurance renewal to arrive at the end of January before I commit to anything, but if it doesn't go up I'd like to find out if there are 2854 miles of clutch lining left in the Cabrio.