My e36 track car
Discussion
So, its been a while since i updated, so here goes.
I was lucky enough to be offered an E36 M3 evo shell at a good price. The car still had various bits (some useful, some not) still attached. I managed to take the rear light wiring from the loom (mine was shredded in the crash), and the car also came with an alloy drivers door. These doors are like rocking horse s
t, and weigh a substantial amount less than the standard steel. Having both sides would be preferred, but having it on the drivers side will help with corner weighting anyway. I then used the ECU and other bits to trade against bits I needed with the rebuild.
New Car
Once I had everything out, and the front and rear subframes and wheels on, it was sent to Custom Cages to have a full weld in cage fitted. I wanted Sean at Total Dynamic Motorsport, but he was busy.
Who ever owned this car in the past, had also fitted a bolt in cage, so the mounting boxes/feet were still in place, so they w would The Custom Cage cage would only go to the front diff mounts, were I wanted to go to the rear aswell. They were happy to make this addition and have done it perfectly the way I wanted.
I know there has been some 'bad press' about CC lately, and that all came out 2/3weeks after i collected my car, but I've found nothing wrong with my cage or the work they have done. Yes, it wasn't the cheapest, but I could have spent my money on worse things. I also had seat bars fitted this time for added safety.
After getting it back, I set about finding someone to paint it for me. Luckily, Al at Alsa Automotive got in touch saying he'd like to help. I jumped at the chance after seeing his work!
I wanted to get all the brackets at that cut out, lighten it as much as I could before going to paint, but with the car being outside, surface rust began to appear on the cage. There was 1 bit of rust that needed attention on the shell, and that was in spare wheel well, where pipes went through to the old charcoal filter. Unfortunately my welder died before I could fix it before paint.
So the car was taken off to paint.
Since the car was away, i decided to strip down the engine and give it a complete rebuild, why not?
1st thing to order was a M54b30 inlet cam. This gives better lower down torque compared to the standard inlet cam.
Next I picked up a set of M3 evo exhaust manifolds. I then made an order with Turner Motorsport, and ordered a new set of camber arms, a Stewart water pump, an underdrive pulley kit and solid diff and rear subframe mounts.
I also made several trips to BMW getting bolts for the engine, and various other bits.
My fiance and myself went to New York, so again an order with Turner was made, with it being sent to my hotel.
Turner do great packages with all the top and all the bottom end rebuild gaskets and seals. With the price they charge, even having it sent to the UK would have been a money saver. I ordered a set of ARP main studs. I'm sticking with OEM headbolts, as I dont ever plan on removing the head again, which if I did head studs would have made sense.
I also ordered a set of Samco hoses to compliment my Mishimoto M3 aluminum rad and external header which i ordered in the UK.
Since I’m no longer going to use an OEM rad, I had even more coolant hoses that were no-longer needed. So, I’ve bought a coolant block off plate from Hardmotorsport (eliminates the heater matrix loop that I done before). However, by doing this, the spider hosing that comes out the back of the water pump housing would be open. On 2.8s, this piping, is metal, so blocking it off would be abit harder. So Turner luckily do a conversion kit (as other engines use a different fitting), which will allow me to fit a blanking plug (probably a short hose with a plug). Also will save abit of weight!
The old coolant hardlines, usually come from the heater matrix, the throttle body and the header tank on the rad
Stolen from Turner, but how it will look after
My new dampers arrived aswell, a set of Nitron R1s.
C G Motorsport were doing a 'black friday' deal, so I jumped at that chance and ordered a new clutch. This time I opted for a paddle clutch. They also skimmed my flywheel down to allow the clutch to wear in properly.
My new windows arrived aswell. Again I used templar perforamce, however this time I went for the 'margard' coating which helps stop scatches. The last set I had, never had this coating and were covered in light marks fairly quickly. I also opted for no window opening on the passenger side seeing as the car will hardly have a passenger. They also happily cut the hole in the rear passenger to allow me to fit an intake vent again. It'll just be neater this time.
So, I’ve finally got the engine completely stripped down, and now it’s time to start deep cleaning!
The bores are in good condition, so I’ve got a bore honing tool just to take the shine off of them. The engine is actually in VERY good condition inside, which obviously I’m happy with.
I’ve also decided to completely remove the ignition barrel casing. Unfortunately, it’s not a straight forward removal and I’m going to have to come up with a way to hold in a bearing in place to stop the steering shaft moving around… But I think I have it sorted.
I received the car back from Al, and I’m properly happy with the colour and the way shes turned out. In the end I went for ‘ferrari red’, or as its also known ‘lipstick red’. I’ve yet to see another BMW in this shade. I also had the inside sprayed in Vauxhall grey (same as majority of BTCC cars).
The rest of the body panels are still with Al and I’ll collect them in the next few weeks.
I’ve then removed the rear subframe again, and also all the front uprights and struts. This is so I can get the front uprights, RTAs and other various bits (mounts) off to powdercoat. Just need to pop the bearings out first.
Yes, I know there are 3 RTAs there, 1 is my broken one from my crash. I’ve still got it as I need to remove my driveshaft. Obviously I’ve got new wheel bearings and hubs all round to fit after.
So, that’s everything I can think of at the moment. Hopefully I’ll have the windows in by next weekend, but need to get a few things done on the inside first (hole saw will be used a lot…)
I was lucky enough to be offered an E36 M3 evo shell at a good price. The car still had various bits (some useful, some not) still attached. I managed to take the rear light wiring from the loom (mine was shredded in the crash), and the car also came with an alloy drivers door. These doors are like rocking horse s
t, and weigh a substantial amount less than the standard steel. Having both sides would be preferred, but having it on the drivers side will help with corner weighting anyway. I then used the ECU and other bits to trade against bits I needed with the rebuild.
New Car
Once I had everything out, and the front and rear subframes and wheels on, it was sent to Custom Cages to have a full weld in cage fitted. I wanted Sean at Total Dynamic Motorsport, but he was busy.
Who ever owned this car in the past, had also fitted a bolt in cage, so the mounting boxes/feet were still in place, so they w would The Custom Cage cage would only go to the front diff mounts, were I wanted to go to the rear aswell. They were happy to make this addition and have done it perfectly the way I wanted.
I know there has been some 'bad press' about CC lately, and that all came out 2/3weeks after i collected my car, but I've found nothing wrong with my cage or the work they have done. Yes, it wasn't the cheapest, but I could have spent my money on worse things. I also had seat bars fitted this time for added safety.
After getting it back, I set about finding someone to paint it for me. Luckily, Al at Alsa Automotive got in touch saying he'd like to help. I jumped at the chance after seeing his work!
I wanted to get all the brackets at that cut out, lighten it as much as I could before going to paint, but with the car being outside, surface rust began to appear on the cage. There was 1 bit of rust that needed attention on the shell, and that was in spare wheel well, where pipes went through to the old charcoal filter. Unfortunately my welder died before I could fix it before paint.
So the car was taken off to paint.
Since the car was away, i decided to strip down the engine and give it a complete rebuild, why not?
1st thing to order was a M54b30 inlet cam. This gives better lower down torque compared to the standard inlet cam.
Next I picked up a set of M3 evo exhaust manifolds. I then made an order with Turner Motorsport, and ordered a new set of camber arms, a Stewart water pump, an underdrive pulley kit and solid diff and rear subframe mounts.
I also made several trips to BMW getting bolts for the engine, and various other bits.
My fiance and myself went to New York, so again an order with Turner was made, with it being sent to my hotel.
Turner do great packages with all the top and all the bottom end rebuild gaskets and seals. With the price they charge, even having it sent to the UK would have been a money saver. I ordered a set of ARP main studs. I'm sticking with OEM headbolts, as I dont ever plan on removing the head again, which if I did head studs would have made sense.
I also ordered a set of Samco hoses to compliment my Mishimoto M3 aluminum rad and external header which i ordered in the UK.
Since I’m no longer going to use an OEM rad, I had even more coolant hoses that were no-longer needed. So, I’ve bought a coolant block off plate from Hardmotorsport (eliminates the heater matrix loop that I done before). However, by doing this, the spider hosing that comes out the back of the water pump housing would be open. On 2.8s, this piping, is metal, so blocking it off would be abit harder. So Turner luckily do a conversion kit (as other engines use a different fitting), which will allow me to fit a blanking plug (probably a short hose with a plug). Also will save abit of weight!
The old coolant hardlines, usually come from the heater matrix, the throttle body and the header tank on the rad
Stolen from Turner, but how it will look after
My new dampers arrived aswell, a set of Nitron R1s.
C G Motorsport were doing a 'black friday' deal, so I jumped at that chance and ordered a new clutch. This time I opted for a paddle clutch. They also skimmed my flywheel down to allow the clutch to wear in properly.
My new windows arrived aswell. Again I used templar perforamce, however this time I went for the 'margard' coating which helps stop scatches. The last set I had, never had this coating and were covered in light marks fairly quickly. I also opted for no window opening on the passenger side seeing as the car will hardly have a passenger. They also happily cut the hole in the rear passenger to allow me to fit an intake vent again. It'll just be neater this time.
So, I’ve finally got the engine completely stripped down, and now it’s time to start deep cleaning!
The bores are in good condition, so I’ve got a bore honing tool just to take the shine off of them. The engine is actually in VERY good condition inside, which obviously I’m happy with.
I’ve also decided to completely remove the ignition barrel casing. Unfortunately, it’s not a straight forward removal and I’m going to have to come up with a way to hold in a bearing in place to stop the steering shaft moving around… But I think I have it sorted.
I received the car back from Al, and I’m properly happy with the colour and the way shes turned out. In the end I went for ‘ferrari red’, or as its also known ‘lipstick red’. I’ve yet to see another BMW in this shade. I also had the inside sprayed in Vauxhall grey (same as majority of BTCC cars).
The rest of the body panels are still with Al and I’ll collect them in the next few weeks.
I’ve then removed the rear subframe again, and also all the front uprights and struts. This is so I can get the front uprights, RTAs and other various bits (mounts) off to powdercoat. Just need to pop the bearings out first.
Yes, I know there are 3 RTAs there, 1 is my broken one from my crash. I’ve still got it as I need to remove my driveshaft. Obviously I’ve got new wheel bearings and hubs all round to fit after.
So, that’s everything I can think of at the moment. Hopefully I’ll have the windows in by next weekend, but need to get a few things done on the inside first (hole saw will be used a lot…)
Thanks lads!
Hamster, I've got lots of pics. I'm almost finished my NVQ, I just need more write-ups of jobs I've done. So, the engine rebuild is obviously a massive tick in the box. So if you need a point, I'm happy to help with what I know!
So lots of bit shave been arriving, and I've slowly been getting into the car.
Myself and Chris (brother in law/top mechanic) set about removing all the bushings from the rear end stuff, before dropping it off with the powdercoaters. Was amazed at the 2 day turn around...
Due to the crap weather holding me back from working outside on the car, I jumped on ebay to get a 'tempoaray garage'. For £150 I managed to get a 6x3m.
I've had to set it up as a 4m garage as it was covering my neighbors drive aswell! The car does stick out a little bit, but that's so I can get round the back of it atm. Once I have the wheels on the car, I'll be centering it in the garage. I had to build the garage around the car since it's on stands.
Since we had some cover, we got amongst removing the brackets and drilling holes to lighten the shell.
Ideally, I would have prefered to have done this before sending to paint. But, I needed to get the shell sealed (especially the cage). Anything with a double skin will be getting drilled...
Unfortunately, when pressing the diff backplate bushings, I never removed enough of the powdercoat from the bush holes, and the diff case cracked. So, I'll be buying a new casing soon... However, we got the rest of the bushings and wheel bearings fitted.
Turner solid subframe bushes fitted. Going to be solid...
So before fitting the subframe, I needed to fit the fuel tank (just to make life easier). But before fitting the fuel tank, I needed to fit the rear brake lines.
I've removed all the mechanical handbrake fittings from the rear hubs, and I'm now running the brake line from inside the car through old handbrake lines. I'm going to run a linelock on the rear lines to give me my 'handbrake'.
I fitted my rear T connection near to where it went through. But, when trying to fit the fuel tank, realized there wasn't as much space as I thought. So I had to pop the tank back off and move the t-piece lower and make a new O/S brake line.
How I 1st set the brake lines.
How I finally set it. It's annoying me how 'un-straight' the brake lines are... But it works. I've used the normal line routing, so it's all neat and tidy.
Subframe rebuilt. Everything was given a de-grease and cleaned.
Before fitting anything, I chased all the threads just to make sure they were clean. I'll do this for any threads before fitting.
Rear end all fitted. All nuts and bolts were torqued to the correct setting, then torque seal applied to make checking easier.
Once I had finished outside, I rebuilt my steering shaft. I gave it a clean, then a quick paint to tart it up. Before rebuilding with a solid steering bush.
Tomorrow, I'm off to have my weld on steering boss, welded on. This will mean I can figure out where my seat will be, and from that, where my pedal box will be... Christmas? Don't have time for that...
Hamster, I've got lots of pics. I'm almost finished my NVQ, I just need more write-ups of jobs I've done. So, the engine rebuild is obviously a massive tick in the box. So if you need a point, I'm happy to help with what I know!
So lots of bit shave been arriving, and I've slowly been getting into the car.
Myself and Chris (brother in law/top mechanic) set about removing all the bushings from the rear end stuff, before dropping it off with the powdercoaters. Was amazed at the 2 day turn around...
Due to the crap weather holding me back from working outside on the car, I jumped on ebay to get a 'tempoaray garage'. For £150 I managed to get a 6x3m.
I've had to set it up as a 4m garage as it was covering my neighbors drive aswell! The car does stick out a little bit, but that's so I can get round the back of it atm. Once I have the wheels on the car, I'll be centering it in the garage. I had to build the garage around the car since it's on stands.
Since we had some cover, we got amongst removing the brackets and drilling holes to lighten the shell.
Ideally, I would have prefered to have done this before sending to paint. But, I needed to get the shell sealed (especially the cage). Anything with a double skin will be getting drilled...
Unfortunately, when pressing the diff backplate bushings, I never removed enough of the powdercoat from the bush holes, and the diff case cracked. So, I'll be buying a new casing soon... However, we got the rest of the bushings and wheel bearings fitted.
Turner solid subframe bushes fitted. Going to be solid...
So before fitting the subframe, I needed to fit the fuel tank (just to make life easier). But before fitting the fuel tank, I needed to fit the rear brake lines.
I've removed all the mechanical handbrake fittings from the rear hubs, and I'm now running the brake line from inside the car through old handbrake lines. I'm going to run a linelock on the rear lines to give me my 'handbrake'.
I fitted my rear T connection near to where it went through. But, when trying to fit the fuel tank, realized there wasn't as much space as I thought. So I had to pop the tank back off and move the t-piece lower and make a new O/S brake line.
How I 1st set the brake lines.
How I finally set it. It's annoying me how 'un-straight' the brake lines are... But it works. I've used the normal line routing, so it's all neat and tidy.
Subframe rebuilt. Everything was given a de-grease and cleaned.
Before fitting anything, I chased all the threads just to make sure they were clean. I'll do this for any threads before fitting.
Rear end all fitted. All nuts and bolts were torqued to the correct setting, then torque seal applied to make checking easier.
Once I had finished outside, I rebuilt my steering shaft. I gave it a clean, then a quick paint to tart it up. Before rebuilding with a solid steering bush.
Tomorrow, I'm off to have my weld on steering boss, welded on. This will mean I can figure out where my seat will be, and from that, where my pedal box will be... Christmas? Don't have time for that...
Brilliant!!
I will have my bosses on my back now as all i have done today is read this!
it was a shame about the old car after all the work you put into it, but i am sure this one will be a lot better.
looking at the videos you could tell the difference in the way the car behaved and also how your skill increased time after time.
keep up the good work and keep the updates coming.
I will have my bosses on my back now as all i have done today is read this!
it was a shame about the old car after all the work you put into it, but i am sure this one will be a lot better.
looking at the videos you could tell the difference in the way the car behaved and also how your skill increased time after time.
keep up the good work and keep the updates coming.
brian394 said:
Hamster, I've got lots of pics. I'm almost finished my NVQ, I just need more write-ups of jobs I've done. So, the engine rebuild is obviously a massive tick in the box. So if you need a point, I'm happy to help with what I know!
That takes me back. It's quite a few years since I had to file all my job cards in my NVQ folder. You are lucky if you can use jobs on your own car. We had to have a copy of the customers job card for it to count. Luckily I restored a 1973 911 which meant I could basically tick off every box except Diesel engine all with one car. I have just bought a 328 for future build. It's going to get used for a stag do European road trip first. Then the engine and box will come out to go into my 318 track car. I'm particularly interested in this rebuilding the M52 with the M54 crack to produce a 3.0l. Is this the path you are going down?
So, I went to Ludlow Engineering with my steering column and my weld on boss. Because of the way BMW integrated the ignition barrel, once its removed, the coloum loses its top bushing. The perfect fit bearing would be a 25x45, but finding a bearing that size was nigh on impossible, so I ended up with a 25x47. This meant the bearing wouldn’t fit into the column housing. Luckily Dan was all over it and quickly made up a sleeve, welded it onto the housing and pressed the bearing in. Perfect fit. Next was the boss itself. Due to Dan owning his own racecar, he’s used these before. As he pointed out, he could just weld the end of the boss onto the end of the shaft, but with it being such a crucial joint, it would be better if it was fitted into the shaft and welded. He machined a couple mill off the bottom of the boss so that it could fit into the shaft, then welded the boss onto the shaft.
I gave it a coating of black paint just to tidy it up.
Painted and fitted, looks much better.
The steering rack was painted next.
I’ve got all new hoses, rack pipes, and reservoir coming aswell. I fitted the column, linkage and rack into the car.
I then got back onto the car removing ‘excess’ weight. The parcel shelf was finished, then the rear quarters attacked. I then went through the car, cutting out any and all brackets that wouldn’t be used. The engine bay was completely taken back, since the only OEM bracket I’ll need is the OBD connector.
Original seat brackets gone.
Rear quarters.
My passenger door, which is brilliantly light. The drivers door, being alloy, and with the same hole cutting, is stupidly light! Not complaining however!
I’m collecting the rest of my body panels tomorrow, aswell as paint so I can go over all the parts I’ve cut.
Since I’m at the point where I can’t really put anything else into the car until I’ve painted, I’ve finally got round to cleaning the engine components. Between a mixture of POR15 degreaser and a steamer, it’s not as bad/hard as I was expecting.
Cam carriers. Look at all that grime!
Dishwashers has it’s uses!
And started the head. Just got abit on the outside a one last going over on the inside tomorrow night and thats done.
And then primered up (using POR15 primer) the timing and vanos casing.
And finally, my bearings finally turned up, so I need to get the block and sump cleaned, then painted before Saturday as thats rebuild day!
I gave it a coating of black paint just to tidy it up.
Painted and fitted, looks much better.
The steering rack was painted next.
I’ve got all new hoses, rack pipes, and reservoir coming aswell. I fitted the column, linkage and rack into the car.
I then got back onto the car removing ‘excess’ weight. The parcel shelf was finished, then the rear quarters attacked. I then went through the car, cutting out any and all brackets that wouldn’t be used. The engine bay was completely taken back, since the only OEM bracket I’ll need is the OBD connector.
Original seat brackets gone.
Rear quarters.
My passenger door, which is brilliantly light. The drivers door, being alloy, and with the same hole cutting, is stupidly light! Not complaining however!
I’m collecting the rest of my body panels tomorrow, aswell as paint so I can go over all the parts I’ve cut.
Since I’m at the point where I can’t really put anything else into the car until I’ve painted, I’ve finally got round to cleaning the engine components. Between a mixture of POR15 degreaser and a steamer, it’s not as bad/hard as I was expecting.
Cam carriers. Look at all that grime!
Dishwashers has it’s uses!
And started the head. Just got abit on the outside a one last going over on the inside tomorrow night and thats done.
And then primered up (using POR15 primer) the timing and vanos casing.
And finally, my bearings finally turned up, so I need to get the block and sump cleaned, then painted before Saturday as thats rebuild day!
TroubledSoul said:
Great work, which bearings did you go for (clearance)?
I still want to know where you found that shell!
I went for King race bearings. I was thinking about Acl bearings, but the Kingo had better reviews (especially when it came to actual tolerances). I've stayed standard sizing. When we stripped the engine, we were suprized at how good a condition it's in, it's obviously had an easy life before coming to me. After a quick clearance check, we were happy to stay standard.I still want to know where you found that shell!
The shell, well, after my accident, before even leaving brands, I had been offered 3 different shells. Then someone mentioned that a friend had an evo shell sat around. He had bought it from another ex-Kumho driver in the hopes of a shell as his had been repaired a few times. He never got round to it, so it had been left sat outside and he just wanted shot of it. Unfortunatly for himself, in October, at brands he had a big shunt going through paddock and had a mk2 eshort implant itself in his side... so I'm lucky I got it went I did as he may have had to use it...
Damn, I was looking for a while as I have considered reshelling mine as there are a couple of difficult welding repairs needed. Plus the jacking points have been plated over and then the underside covered with a stonechip type substance. Unfortunately they didn't strip it all back before application....
Still caught in two minds with mine whether to reshell or just keep going with mine and fixing as we go. I never ever manage to find shells for sale though unless they are just regular E36 models.
I will also be going for the same bearings. I was interested in whether you went standard clearance or not as the guy at Nevlock offered up some with an extra thou and I was pretty baffled as to whether I'd need that at first. I understand now that extra clearance would really be used if the engine was highly tuned and probably running forced induction etc.
Still caught in two minds with mine whether to reshell or just keep going with mine and fixing as we go. I never ever manage to find shells for sale though unless they are just regular E36 models.
I will also be going for the same bearings. I was interested in whether you went standard clearance or not as the guy at Nevlock offered up some with an extra thou and I was pretty baffled as to whether I'd need that at first. I understand now that extra clearance would really be used if the engine was highly tuned and probably running forced induction etc.
As far as I'm aware, the only difference to the evo shell is the strength plates on the rear subframe. But these can now be bought for less than £100 alone. So if you find a cheap e36... I did see a full e36 coupe with a screwed 1.8 going for 250 on facebook... if you got something like that, sold/scrapped everything else, you'd have a good shell for under £300...
Ye, I dont see why you'd need extra clearance. It didn't even cross my mind about changing...
So, I collected the rest of my body panels and I’ve had lots of little bits arriving. My battery also turned up. Well I say battery, its bloody tiny! 680crank amps, so more than powerful enough, and only weights 3.5lbs!!!
We then started rebuilding the engine. Everything has been cleaned, primed and painted using POR15 paint.
The bores were in good condition, but with us fitting new rings, we ran a honing tool over them to remove the shine.
Lovely clean block, and lovely new bearings fitted. Removing the old bearings, it was amazing at just how good a condition they were. Happy with that, even if we are replacing them.
The ARP studs were fitted, then the oil pump was refitted. We quickly tacked the oil pump nut on, as these have a habit of undoing themselves.
The valves were removed so we could replace the valve stem seals. Unfortunatly we found that the exhaust valves were bent slightly. We had assumed the pistons had bounced off the valves as there was slight indents on the exhaust sides. So I’ve got new exhaust side valves, and cleaned the input side valves
I also managed to find another alloy door on ebay and got it for a bargain price. I already have the drivers one, so that’s some more weight lost.
After collecting that, I began refitting the wiring loom. Since I’ve completely removed the stalks from the steering coloum, I’ve moved the wipers and indicators onto the center console. I’m adding 2 single push buttons to my wheel aswell (I have bungey wire to allow the removable wheel) for full beam flash and also single wipe. All earths were given a going over with the wire wheel to ensure they get a good contact.
Ye, I dont see why you'd need extra clearance. It didn't even cross my mind about changing...
So, I collected the rest of my body panels and I’ve had lots of little bits arriving. My battery also turned up. Well I say battery, its bloody tiny! 680crank amps, so more than powerful enough, and only weights 3.5lbs!!!
We then started rebuilding the engine. Everything has been cleaned, primed and painted using POR15 paint.
The bores were in good condition, but with us fitting new rings, we ran a honing tool over them to remove the shine.
Lovely clean block, and lovely new bearings fitted. Removing the old bearings, it was amazing at just how good a condition they were. Happy with that, even if we are replacing them.
The ARP studs were fitted, then the oil pump was refitted. We quickly tacked the oil pump nut on, as these have a habit of undoing themselves.
The valves were removed so we could replace the valve stem seals. Unfortunatly we found that the exhaust valves were bent slightly. We had assumed the pistons had bounced off the valves as there was slight indents on the exhaust sides. So I’ve got new exhaust side valves, and cleaned the input side valves
I also managed to find another alloy door on ebay and got it for a bargain price. I already have the drivers one, so that’s some more weight lost.
After collecting that, I began refitting the wiring loom. Since I’ve completely removed the stalks from the steering coloum, I’ve moved the wipers and indicators onto the center console. I’m adding 2 single push buttons to my wheel aswell (I have bungey wire to allow the removable wheel) for full beam flash and also single wipe. All earths were given a going over with the wire wheel to ensure they get a good contact.
I'll just leave this here... https://youtu.be/ha2pKz3OPvw
So she's running. Got a couple little niggles I need to work out. Before that day (last friday) we had done no alignment to the wheels at all. We were supposed to do it tuesday night, but we noticed that there was a missfire in cylinder 1, which turned out to be both inlet valves had bent. From what i can figure out, it's been from when we first started, then a quick drive round the block to check the car finished them off. So wednesday/thursday i had the head off again to fit new valves.
A quick run down of the car now
E36 Evo Shell
Custom Cages full weld in FIA cage, extended to rear subframe mounts and seat brackets.
M52B30 engine - King race main and rod bearings. Arp main studs, M50 inlet manifold, M54B30 inlet cam. Tuner underdrive pulley kit.
M50S50/2 oil fitler housing, mocal oil cooler
Mishmoto M3 radiator, Z3 expansion tank, Stewart water pump. Shroud so air from kidneys and lower grill has to go through the radiator.
M50S32 exhaust manifolds onto a 2 to 1 stainless steel exhaust system.
Compbrake pedal box
Standard 2.8 calipers front and rear. Line lock on rears for a 'handbrake'.
Bimmerworld front brake cooling setup.
Bimmerworld dual fuel setup.
Nitron R1 dampers with Spire tuning valve tune.
Bimmerworld solid engine mounts - 5mm lower than OEM
Bimmerworld solid gearbox mounts - 1mm lower than OEM
Turner rear subframe solid mounts
Turner solid diff mounts
Ground Control front lower control arm bearings
H&R front anti-roll bar
Lifeline weld on QR boss
Wheel buttons - full beam flash and single wipe
innovate water/battery volt gauge and innovate oil temp/pressure gauge.
CAE shifter
Templar performance Lexan windows
Heated windscreen
flocked dash
So, back to how the car is running. My vanos isn't engaging, getting an error saying it is jamming. This is either I've timed the vanos incorreclty or the seals didn't take. Not the biggest issue in the world.
The car really needs mapping properly aswell now, so that's on the cards.
The brake pads I used on the track day were also last used at Brand last August. I couldn't get enough heat into them (even with blanking the cooling ducts), so I'll be changing for new ones before the next outing. I was kind of expecting the brakes to under-perform, since the pads are old, and i used them to clean up the rotors...
My next issue, my cooling system is too good now. The track day had a maximum outside temp of 7c, but whilst doing 20min sessions at just under race pace, the water temp wouldn't get above 80c! On cool down laps, it would drop to around 61/62c. So, i'll be changing the thermostat back to a 80c one for the moment. If the car starts to run abit hotter (espeically in summer), I'll just change back to the 68c one. I went with the 68c as my temps were so high before, i wanted to ensure everything was as cool as it could be. However, this may have been 1 step to far...
My oil was still around 120c, which isn't worryingly high, but id prefer it to be abit cooler. My plan is to create a shroud from one of the kidneys onto the oil cooler, so the air has to go through the cooler, then through the radiator.
So that's where it's at now. Unfortunately I won't be racing until the 3rd round of the Kumho at the start of May due to funds (the car has rinsed me!), but I'll be doing the rounds from then on.
So she's running. Got a couple little niggles I need to work out. Before that day (last friday) we had done no alignment to the wheels at all. We were supposed to do it tuesday night, but we noticed that there was a missfire in cylinder 1, which turned out to be both inlet valves had bent. From what i can figure out, it's been from when we first started, then a quick drive round the block to check the car finished them off. So wednesday/thursday i had the head off again to fit new valves.
A quick run down of the car now
E36 Evo Shell
Custom Cages full weld in FIA cage, extended to rear subframe mounts and seat brackets.
M52B30 engine - King race main and rod bearings. Arp main studs, M50 inlet manifold, M54B30 inlet cam. Tuner underdrive pulley kit.
M50S50/2 oil fitler housing, mocal oil cooler
Mishmoto M3 radiator, Z3 expansion tank, Stewart water pump. Shroud so air from kidneys and lower grill has to go through the radiator.
M50S32 exhaust manifolds onto a 2 to 1 stainless steel exhaust system.
Compbrake pedal box
Standard 2.8 calipers front and rear. Line lock on rears for a 'handbrake'.
Bimmerworld front brake cooling setup.
Bimmerworld dual fuel setup.
Nitron R1 dampers with Spire tuning valve tune.
Bimmerworld solid engine mounts - 5mm lower than OEM
Bimmerworld solid gearbox mounts - 1mm lower than OEM
Turner rear subframe solid mounts
Turner solid diff mounts
Ground Control front lower control arm bearings
H&R front anti-roll bar
Lifeline weld on QR boss
Wheel buttons - full beam flash and single wipe
innovate water/battery volt gauge and innovate oil temp/pressure gauge.
CAE shifter
Templar performance Lexan windows
Heated windscreen
flocked dash
So, back to how the car is running. My vanos isn't engaging, getting an error saying it is jamming. This is either I've timed the vanos incorreclty or the seals didn't take. Not the biggest issue in the world.
The car really needs mapping properly aswell now, so that's on the cards.
The brake pads I used on the track day were also last used at Brand last August. I couldn't get enough heat into them (even with blanking the cooling ducts), so I'll be changing for new ones before the next outing. I was kind of expecting the brakes to under-perform, since the pads are old, and i used them to clean up the rotors...
My next issue, my cooling system is too good now. The track day had a maximum outside temp of 7c, but whilst doing 20min sessions at just under race pace, the water temp wouldn't get above 80c! On cool down laps, it would drop to around 61/62c. So, i'll be changing the thermostat back to a 80c one for the moment. If the car starts to run abit hotter (espeically in summer), I'll just change back to the 68c one. I went with the 68c as my temps were so high before, i wanted to ensure everything was as cool as it could be. However, this may have been 1 step to far...
My oil was still around 120c, which isn't worryingly high, but id prefer it to be abit cooler. My plan is to create a shroud from one of the kidneys onto the oil cooler, so the air has to go through the cooler, then through the radiator.
So that's where it's at now. Unfortunately I won't be racing until the 3rd round of the Kumho at the start of May due to funds (the car has rinsed me!), but I'll be doing the rounds from then on.
Edited by brian394 on Tuesday 8th March 23:41
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