yeeeha!
if yours has a new waterpump and timing belt you are about 200K miles ahead of me! looking forward to hearing how it goes!
also, check salvage yards for the clutch goodies. there are tons of E30's in the salvage yards around here and they bring prices down a good bit.
So...my camera has gone MIA...but here's the car straight from the ad:
http://columbiamo.craigslist.org/cto/2038576946.html
On r3v30tech (I practically consider them the same site...) they would be screaming "DOHC SWAP!!!" 
So you're going down to Mexico for the big rally, right?
Appleseed wrote: So you're going down to Mexico for the big rally, right?
I don't get it...or maybe you're not talking to me. Like Baja?
Anyway...Does anyone know if Rustoleum or one of the other paints that's popular with the "$50 paintjob" crowd has a silver that is somewhat close to what's on this car?
[edit: Looks like Rustoleum has "aluminum" or "smoke grey"...a couple of possible close-enough matches]
I got me some swanky euro junk...
The CL pic is deleted, so I can't tell what color you're dealing with. When I had to do some touch-up inside the trunk of my car, I found that Rustoleum 'Aluminum' in the spray bomb to be nearly an exact match for BMW 244 Sterlingsilber. I hoped for it to be close, but honestly I could not tell the difference.
For base/clear, I've had good luck with having a friendly auto paint supplier mix a tiny quantity of the base (like $20 for a half pint of paint and a pint of reducer) followed by spray bomb clear. Show quality? No. 5-foot car. Yes.
ClemSparks wrote:Appleseed wrote: So you're going down to Mexico for the big rally, right?I don't get it...or maybe you're not talking to me. Like Baja?
He's referring to the U.S rally team that bought a cheap E30 then competed in the Mexican WRC event earlier this year.
Silver-type metallics are notoriously difficult to match - even using code-matched paints.
Ian F wrote: Silver-type metallics are notoriously difficult to match - even using code-matched paints.
Understood...that's why I figure I won't even try for a real match and just go with the closest available off the shelf hardware store paint. 
Ian F wrote: He's referring to the U.S rally team that bought a cheap E30 then competed in the Mexican WRC event earlier this year.
Caswell's got a .pdf of the GRM article at his website:
http://www.caswellmotorsport.com/GRMdiningwiththegods.pdf
Funny thing. I've been saying I don't want to do this work to the Volvo.
No sooner did I get the BMW home than I started getting excited about fixing some of the problems with the Volvo.
It totally makes sense to me now...but I hadn't been realizing that I just wasn't excited about working on it because I couldn't take it down (off the road) long enough to do some of the things it needs.
If I've got two semi-nice semi-craptastic vehicles...then I've got layers of automotive protection (my standard mode).
So...I think I'll plan to keep BOTH of them for now (though I'm still not thrilled with the volvo, so I'd happily trade it or sell it if the right deal came along).
The BMW is pretty cool, but I haven't gotten to know it yet. First step is to fix the clutch, clutch hydraulics, and possibly the shifter. From there...we'll see what I've got.
Here's a craigslist photo of the car:
the other ones from the ad are here: http://s123.photobucket.com/albums/o313/clemsparks/1985%20BMW%20325e/
Clem
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