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Yeah, will all be my own work. Just keeping an eye out at the moment to try and get some repair panels to use for a reasonable price.
E30 Project/restoration thread
- Thread starter Thomas. PLease.
- Start date
I think the mileage is bogus on that thing, it's been hovering around 70k since 2005 & once even went through an MOT at 65k but it fluctuates. In the meantime it's failed the MOT on tyres, appears to have had them changed then a few years later down to cords again.
Odometer failure is common and OP said he knows the odometer doesn't work.
I'd guess its probably around double what it reads (Although with an E30 mileage is the least of your worries...)
I do wish people were more proactive with fixing odometers when they break so it doesn't look like the cars have a dodgy past though.
Given how borked the MOT history already is, I'd probably just replace the whole cluster with a working one. It would be easiest.
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Yeah bearing in mind the odometer isn’t working I’d taken the mileage with a pinch of salt. It’s not going to stay standard so would rather it’s a bit of a ****box than something genuinely worth keeping original.
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One to consider, I took the cluster apart again yesterday and the Speedo gears are all intact and seem to be working so not sure what the issue is. I’ll see if the new batteries solve the rev counter and mpg dial and go from there. Coolant and fuel both work as expected.
The rev counter and MPG dial not working may be yet another seperate issue. It gets its signal via a wire in the blue plug on the back. I think the SI board does get involved somewhere, but my SI board is non functional and everything else about my cluster works.
It sounds to me like the cluster may be cream crackered, but yeah see what the new battery does first.
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Well you were right on the SI board batteries, replaced them this morning and still no luck with either rev counter or speedo. Everything else seemed to work ok still.
On to the proper next job now, and it has somewhat escalated. Ordered a full new rear panel so now need to tidy the rear up and get to work fitting that when it arrives. Did toy with building up what was there, but with a couple of other rust spots it just seemed easier to replace. Lots of spot welds to get through and quite a bit of work will be needed to get everything sitting right but hey ho.
On to the proper next job now, and it has somewhat escalated. Ordered a full new rear panel so now need to tidy the rear up and get to work fitting that when it arrives. Did toy with building up what was there, but with a couple of other rust spots it just seemed easier to replace. Lots of spot welds to get through and quite a bit of work will be needed to get everything sitting right but hey ho.
Don
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Top thread! I will be following 
Should be a fun project!
Should be a fun project!
Is the speedo not working either? I thought it was just the odo.
The speedo takes its signal from the sensor on the diff. Make sure the sensor is OK and the wiring from the sensor to the cluster is OK. The odometer won't work unless the speedometer works.
The speedo takes its signal from the sensor on the diff. Make sure the sensor is OK and the wiring from the sensor to the cluster is OK. The odometer won't work unless the speedometer works.
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Caporegime
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If there is one thing that deserves hell it is the person that designed the first double skinned spot welded panel. The amount of pain he has caused people over the years is crazy. I love the way a double skinned panel teases you and when you remove the outer skin it surprises you with the horror underneath as a double whammy.
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hard agree.
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No it’s both speedo/odo and rev counter. Makes sense for it to be sensor as the gears were fine in the odo itself. Will take a look at the sensor and see if I can trace the wires to get continuity.
If the speedometer hasn't been working for so many years, how has it been passing MOTs...
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Good question...
More progress, whilst waiting for the rear section I wanted to make a start on the front footwells, in particular the drivers side which is in a fairly bad way. that meant getting the seats out and carpet out, which was a disgusting sodden mess.
Even found some more treasure! Only went out of date in 2019.
Once that was out I could get a better look. Passenger section looks ok, on the drivers side the section where the accelerator pedal attaches is pretty bad and has been patched before, it looks like they may have sealed up the drain hole which is possibly why it's now gone bad again.
Started cutting first to just trim away the rot. I've got some repair sections for this portion of the floor so should be ok to use those once ready.
Annoyingly a previous repair goes into the sill so will need to cut and replace that section too.
One other hole in the front pan which I decided to start by repairing before moving onto the bigger sections
Cut out done,
Excuse the welding.
Given its under the carpet didn't think it needed to be flush
Then primed.
Onto repairing the corner section tomorrow.
Looks good - so what weldng equipment had you invested in - is that a skillset you have from your job. ?
my tachometer had had reading problems because of the the camshaft sensor, I don't know if that had impacted speedo, or mileomter, had never thought about it before.
my tachometer had had reading problems because of the the camshaft sensor, I don't know if that had impacted speedo, or mileomter, had never thought about it before.
Tacho signal is the black wire in the blue plug on the back of the cluster. You should see AC voltage on that wire when the car is running.
If you have that, and it looks like something normalish (1.5 - 6v or something) then the issue is likely within the cluster itself.
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I've got a 10yr old Clarke 135te Mig welder; it's not the best with only 4 voltage settings but if everything is clean seem to usually be able to get reasonable welds. All self taught, I grew up on a farm so always been in and around machinery and my Dad was pretty handy with tools so picked up a lot from him, but taught myself to weld just by trying what worked and what didn't and doing small bits on various cars over the years. And watching lots of youtube! I'm by no means good, but I can weld a patch.
The hardest part I find, and most time consuming is the fabrication work to get the patch the right size/shape/orientation; the welding bit is much more straightforward once you're there if the settings are in the right ballpark.
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The only reason for rejection is if the speedometer is "clearly not working", and given that most MOT tests involve driving the car a minuscule distance onto a ramp at low speed I would imagine that a failed speedometer rarely, if ever, gets picked up.
I guess thats true.