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Ask and ye shall receive. Warning: BMW content.

Drove my M3 from SF down to Orange County for the Thanksgiving break. Why the M3? Well, it's the only one of my cars with cruise control, it's actually pretty decent at cruising in 5th gear, and I wanted to take it up to the Malibu hills. Didn't get photos on the drive down because it was dark.



8am Thanksgiving morning on the 'Snake' section of Mulholland. Cayman R driver was the only other guy up there when I arrived



His "I've been coming up here for 47 years, it's not how it used to be" stories were interrupted by a group of Alfas





I call this picture "why is my M3 three different colors?" There has been some nasty paintwork over the years... one day I'll get around to fixing that



Santa Monica



Cruising



Crystal Cove in Newport Beach



Sunset in Laguna Beach



Had a stop to make on the way out of town today



Do DC2 Recaros fit in the back of an E30? Yes, yes they do



It's not a real California road trip without In-N-Out.

Recaros and JDM steering wheel going in tomorrow!

CW-ITR

iTrader: (11)

Haha! Great road trip, great R...Eh...Great M and great pics. If I knew you would stop by H-motorsonline, I would have you pick up a Mugen part from Steve for me. On the other hand, I don't think your M3 can swallow an additional 2'x5' part. Thanks for sharing.

CW-ITR

iTrader: (11)

To make it Type-R related..........

white rocket

Great E30 M3 pics! Thanks for sharing

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Okay I lied, didn't get everything installed as planned. Changed the transmission fluid to GM Syncromesh FM because I've had good luck with it in my Miata. Trimmed and slapped the CT engineering sticker on the airbox, it looks pretty decent but I wonder if it will stand up to engine bay temperatures. Reinstalled one of the OEM vacuum hardlines between the intake elbow, manifold, and valve cover.

I installed the passenger side Recaro... damn, these things are red. Feel great to sit in. The driver side seat rail is tweaked so I haven't yet installed, once I straighten it out I'll be able to finish that job. Didn't get around to JDM steering wheel either, but I will this week.

Can someone help me out - I got rear mud flaps, do the screws thread directly into the rear bumper plastic or am I missing some clip-nuts? I see PN 90675-SA5-003 on the parts diagrams in that general area but I can't tell if they're what I need. I also seem to be missing the plastic screw bushing in the body on the RH side. Any guidance on what PN that is?

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Inside H-Motors. Yellow ITR in the middle had yellow Recaros that looked to be brand new in plastic with Recaro paperwork.



Fancy Sharpie stitching touch-up on the JDM wheel:



Halfway there... driver side will have to wait, I need to exchange the seat track I got.



Kitty approved

DC2-ProdUcTiOnS

iTrader: (2)

Nice update.... I dont think I would be able to actually GO to HMotors warehouse.

I would leave with an empty bank account...... No.....Seriously...


Im assuming VIN tag on pass rear 1/4 is just outside of the pic? I thought it was just under the door catch?

purplepassiongsr

Good progress. Been watching this thread and youre well into the right direction. Keep it up. Regarding the mud flaps you don't really need the inside clips. But supposed to use them. I zip tied the inside hole and has worked well

Bently_Coop

Nice update, looks like a fun drive.

thadon805

iTrader: (3)

The front mudguards will bolt on with existing screws and clips where the side skirts is fastened.

As for the rear, you need 2 metal clips for each side that slide over the holes in bumper . On addition, for the tab on the mud guard that attaches inside the rear fender well, you need a plastic receiver that is square shaped. You will see the square hole on in the rear fender well where the hole of the far tab of the rear mudflap lines up with.

Hmotorsonline should have included the hardware.. if you need the oem hardware, pm me, I can ship it out for cheap if you pay shipping

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I got the screws, but not the receiving hardware. I'll double-check tonight and send you a PM if I need them, thanks.

Finally got a license plate on the car! The white plate clashes with the black car, but I have a black plate on order so it's just temporary.

I think the car shifts better with the GM fluid. I'm not sure what was in there before, but it flowed like a lower-weight oil when it came pouring out of the fill hole. Why was there so much trans fluid in there? Who knows.

white rocket

Lots of excellence in here

Truth about HMotors. I go broke just looking at their website. A visit to their physical location would ensure chapter 11 for me

thadon805

iTrader: (3)

No problem.

As for the GM fluid making it shift better, I've heard it's a good "band-aid" for problem transmissions.. but I've always used Honda MTF.. maybe your trans was in need of a fluid change?

Furthermore, when I bought a brand new type r transmission and took it to Synchrotech to get the final drive and 5th gear swapped, I asked them what fluid I should use and they recommend torco MTF for daily duty. . But I've always used Honda MTF.

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PM'd you about the mud flap hardware. Regarding transmission fluid... whenever I buy a car I look up 'fluid opinion' forum threads and it usually ends up making my head spin. People take it pretty seriously... in this case I just went with a fluid that has served me well in the past.

I just installed my JDM steering wheel. Haven't done a test drive but I like it better already! For anyone interested I followed this guide with success. General question regarding the USDM interior: is there a reason that we didn't get the cool parts in the US? The US steering wheel and seats are so much sadder than what was given to the other markets.

I've shipped my seat track back to HMO and hopefully will receive a new set soon to get the Recaros mounted. I've got a new shift fork coming from Chase, and once I figure out how to get the stupid locktite-d shift **** off I will be swapping out the short shifter for the OEM shift lever. It's all coming together boys... most of the 'big' work is done and soon I'll just be driving, enjoying, and doing little clean up projects here and there. That's a good thing because I'm currently tearing out the rear end of the M3 for a bit of an overhaul and it's going to require my wallet and attention for the next few weeks.

RTW DC2R

I have nothing but good things to say about the Synchromesh. I think its also been well documented in the archives. I started using it a long time ago to "fix" worn synchros. I have used it ever since. I dont know about its technical performance and heat characteristics but it has "fixed" more than one grind in my day.

Heres a pretty good thread from back in the day

https://honda-tech.com/honda-civic-d...esh-fm-641177/

white rocket

My thought has always been that the North American market has larger humans therefore a wider seat is needed. No idea on the steering wheel other than the fact that North America seems to ge the shaft on cool options that are available in other world markets.

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After driving around today with the JDM wheel, I think you may be on to something. The rim of the JDM wheel is a bit smaller diameter than the USDM and is on the border of blocking my line of vision to the top of the instrument dials. I'm about 6 foot. The USDM seats are definitely more accommodating for bigger thighs as well.

Tegra206

iTrader: (2)

ohh geez, mr. thunder thighs over here!!!

Seedc2

iTrader: (1)

Nice photos and updates! Coincidentally I just picked up an 71' GTV, by any chance do you have any more photos of the white stepnose?

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Sorry, I just got the photos that I posted.

I received my new shifter fork and front badge from Chase today, which will allow me to get the stock shift lever back in. As mentioned in my last post, most of my attention has shifted to my M3. The Integra I just get to drive and enjoy

g3teg97

Looks so clean. Lovin' the thread so far.

HYREV2NR

Cool Cattage in the Recaro dude.

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Finally got the stupid shift **** off. Red loctite, cool. I guess the person who installed this didn't understand the concept of a jam nut.

I thought I was home free for the transmission until I went to replace my shift fork and became familiar with the "bitch pin." Struggled with that for an hour or so before giving up. Will try again this week. The rest of the linkage is back to stock and ready to go, including some new Energy Suspension bushings on the other shift rod. To recap, I'm replacing this rod because the meathead that installed the short shifter got the bushings at the base of the shift rod wrong and crushed the end of the shift fork to make it all fit.

DC2-ProdUcTiOnS

iTrader: (2)

Take an allen socket to it.



Hammer to hell on it and she'll make heR way out...

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I spent some time with the hammer, but it's hard to get a swing with any power with the car on jack stands. I'll try some more.

Other things I tried: using C-clamp as a bushing pusher, and using my floor jack to try to push the pin up and out. Neither worked.