Having car crisis, need suggestions

No sympathy was expected, but I was hoping for words of wisdom from those who have done it. Which is what I got. I thank you all.

Another possibly sign up for Fastweb. They have a massive number of scholarships that you can apply for from various organizations and apply away. During my time in Engineering school, it was rare for me to have less then 100 hours on school work and Formula SAE, The NASA Great Moonbuggy Race and Baja SAE. A lot of times it was more then that.

I can tell you what I did. I sold my cars, found a job on campus with flexible hours, rented a cheap place with some friends just off campus, and bicycled to school. I was in the same climate you are, so it's possible. If I needed to get anywhere else, there was Amtrak and Greyhound. I'm sure they have a station near campus.

Man, some of you guys were ridiculous.

I didn't see anything in the OP's post asking for a handout, or whining about how we all owe him something.

Job, sure. But what the heck gives you guys the right to hurl such abusive commentary. "We love you??" Good grief. If love looks like that, he might as well drop out of school and become a serial killer. It offers more recognition.

And Taiden, I'm impressed you didn't take the bait. You took the high road. Good for you.

But, I do agree you should consider a job. I think the car stuff is in your blood, and I have no problem with finding the balance to sustain that stuff while you are in school. But it is a bad time for 2 car projects.

Just don't take on the car loan. That's a terrible idea. You can get through without it.

Yeah no car loan for sure. It is a terrible idea, but I can't deny that it's tempting.

I checked out the front suspension on the e30 today. All the ball joints and tie rods and boots are good. Unsure about the alignment. The struts are definitely gone though. I got some 14" snows with nice tread in a trade for my 15" all seasons. I'm still a little annoyed that I didn't have any 15" 4x100 wheels. Those 15 inchers would have lasted me a long time.

Alright so here's the next thing. Where do you guys suggest I source two front struts for an early e30? I have the smaller diameter struts currently.

And finally, how do you all feel about driveway alignments? Is this just going to cause me more headaches down the road or should I trust the in-the-ball-park-on-my-Hunter-rack guy down the street?

I've seen the magnificent wiring you do in a jiffy. What about whoring yourself out on the Subaru boards to merge swap harnesses for cash? (Or parts, or food, or Mexican drug lord armored trucks, whatever type of payment you prefer.) It could be done on your own time with minimal supplies and cash outlay, and I'd think would be as clean or better than what many professionals in New England charge $500-1k for. You've certainly made a good name for yourself on various boards, as near as I can tell, as someone who knows what he's doing.

Just a thought.

ValuePack wrote: I've seen the magnificent wiring you do in a jiffy. What about whoring yourself out on the Subaru boards to merge swap harnesses for cash? (Or parts, or food, or Mexican drug lord armored trucks, whatever type of payment you prefer.) It could be done on your own time with minimal supplies and cash outlay, and I'd think would be as clean or better than what many professionals in New England charge $500-1k for. You've certainly made a good name for yourself on various boards, as near as I can tell, as someone who knows what he's doing. Just a thought.

That's a good idea. I'll go through my notes and see what I can come up with.

I did a quick check and it looks like I have 0.41" of toe out up front with the wheel straight, while the back is clappy as a ham.

I have no idea how I haven't noticed this absurdly high amount of toe out.

4 wheel alignments go for about $80 around here, but the rear is not adjustable. I'm hoping I can get a place to do just the front for $40. I was going to do it in the driveway but the tie rods are rust-welded together. Never been one to give up on rust before but this was just insanity.

SVreX wrote: Man, some of you guys were ridiculous. I didn't see anything in the OP's post asking for a handout, or whining about how we all owe him something. Job, sure. But what the heck gives you guys the right to hurl such abusive commentary. "We love you??" Good grief. If love looks like that, he might as well drop out of school and become a serial killer. It offers more recognition. And Taiden, I'm impressed you didn't take the bait. You took the high road. Good for you. But, I do agree you should consider a job. I think the car stuff is in your blood, and I have no problem with finding the balance to sustain that stuff while you are in school. But it is a bad time for 2 car projects. Just don't take on the car loan. That's a terrible idea. You can get through without it.

Heard of "tough love"? That's what it was. I heard someone who didn't have a lot of direction, was looking for some guidance, got what he asked for, and thanked us for it. That's where the "love" comment came from. The best love I ever got was the kick in the ass from my dad when I complained that I wanted to quit the service academy I was attending. I graduated and am a successful officer and pilot with a beautiful family and a life that I could never have imagined. All thanks to some tough love.

Read it however you want, though.

You're not gonna give me any lessons on tough love. 25+ years working in inner cities...

Don't let it go to your head. If you read it carefully, he MIGHT not have been thanking you.

Geeeez tough crowd. I think he is just asking for a little guidance. It's all just simple economics. You need a source of income so you have to get a job. You need a job to get reliable transportation. Forget the Fiat 500, forget the bike. Get rid of all your cars and take that money and put it towards a used car, preferably in the 3-5 year old range. Hang in there, it will get better eventually.

Many of us were in your situation in college, I know I was. I went to school during the day and worked at night. It wasn't fun, it was bloody hard but I bought a CRX which never failed me and it brought me home when I needed.

Bottom line. You need a job.

Dissenting voice...

...You do not need a job. You need an income stream.

BIG difference.

Depends on how you are wired. I am hard wired for running a business. If you are similar, there is no reason you can't generate the income you need without tying yourself to somebody else's schedule, stresses, and ridiculously low pay.

Why can't you make money while you sleep?

Just a thought... most people are not wired for it.

Carry on...

I've been providing cash flow for myself without fail for the last three years. The issue is I'm trying to switch brain gears into doing that from a dorm room.

Well,

Traded my 15"s for some 14" winter tires in good shape on subaru rims. Got them swapped over to my e30 wheels for $50 mounted and balanced. Asked for an alignment but they declined to do one because "control arm bushings are shot, one strut is blown, and both ball joints are toast" Which is hilarious because as far as I can tell only the struts are gone. The ball joints have zero play in any direction and the boots are not cracked. The bushings are beginning to show signs of dry cracking but I would not agree that they are 'shot'. The struts are definitely on their way out.

So, frustrated and determined, I decided to attack the driveway alignment. After wrestling with the rust on the tie rod ends, I managed to clear the threads and get good adjustment range on both sides.

Used a set of jackstands, some thick fishing line, a square and some basic trig (SOH CAH TOA baby!) to gain some understanding of the toe situation. After a few hours of twiddling and tweaking, I believe I have 1/16" toe in on the front. The car tracks perfectly straight now and turn in is identical on both sides at any speed. The rear does not have adjustable toe as far as I know. The passenger side appears to have 0 toe with maybe a hair of toe in. The drivers side looks a little tweaked as I believe it has about 3/32 of toe in.

Anyway, I took the car on the highway to test it out and it felt great at 70 mph except for some reason I can really tell that the struts are blown. I wonder if the horizontal load caused by the excessive toe out was taking up slop in the front end causing it to feel tighter than it was? Just a theory.

Since this car uses strut inserts, it looks like I can order a full set of front struts for about $95 shipped from Rock Auto (Boge).

Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good about the car situation and given that this is a car site I thought some of you might like a car related update of sorts.

I plan on doing all of my alignments in the driveway from now on. I would like to throw it on a rack and get a readout to see how close I was to correct. I wonder how much that costs...

Ummm... buy 1 tire, a can of rustoleum, top up the diff and... done. That can be done at Walmart for under $100.

Finish the sube wiring so it runs and unload it for whatever it fetches. Put the cash in a bucket for gas and repairs to the 318 - maybe even do a little tune up.

A reliable beater BMW that is paid for is your friend. It is still a better car than a $20k Fiat. Get a cup of coffee and clear your head. You are talking nonsense. :)

A car loan is enslavement. It isn't good for anyone but the bank.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: Ummm... buy 1 tire, a can of rustoleum, top up the diff and... done. That can be done at Walmart for under $100. Finish the sube wiring so it runs and unload it for whatever it fetches. Put the cash in a bucket for gas and repairs to the 318 - maybe even do a little tune up. A reliable beater BMW that is paid for is your friend. It is still a better car than a $20k Fiat. Get a cup of coffee and clear your head. You are talking nonsense. :) A car loan is enslavement. It isn't good for anyone but the bank.

Actually I would like to delve into the rust on the gas tank thing. It's been my experience that if you just spray over rust it will still come through. This is forming around the filler neck part of the tank which would be a horrible place to spring a leak.

Wire brush + rust converter + rustoleum + rubberized undercoating? That's what I'm thinking right now. I already have everything except rust converter.

I always wondered if someone made a fiberglass type patch panel for gas tanks. You could attack the rust as well as possible and apply it over the spot, so when it finally rusted through the fiberglass (or whatever) would hold the contents longer.

The fiberglass will work if you get a really good bond to clean metal. Not a permanent solution but good for quite a while. FWIW I have done string alignments on race cars for years with good results. Fancy equipment doesn't trump careful measurement.

Taiden wrote: Wire brush + ...

if there is a hole or enough bubbling to poke a screwdriver thru... poke it open and clean it, shopvac out the crumbs (plan for this so you don't drop it into the tank itself) - use JB Weld or the epoxy specifically for gas tank repair and some metal window screen.

Cover it with 2 coats of POR-15 or cheap Autozone equivalent and some spray paint.