Stripping my trackslag

[MANSFA]

Bought a 1989 BMW E30 325i two door manual with a view to tracking it. Paid £600 for the car.

Started stripping some excess weight from it last weekend, am going to keep the seats and door cards, dash, most all the other creature comforts will be binned.

Ballpark, how much weight do you reckon i'll be able to loose? 50 kgs?

Have booked a day at Brands in may, cant wait!

Any other suggested mods? Budget is very low ( sub £250), all I have done so far is check the fluids and replace the front pads....

[screwloose]

I'd invest in some good rubber.

[MANSFA]

It's got brand new tyres on it, not sure how good they are, should be amusing round the twisties...

[agent006]

Everything out of a 325 is just about 100kg. But that's pretty much everything gone (heater etc).

[Fume Troll]

Electric window motors. Aircon kit. You could ditch the fuel tank and get a small one in the boot.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ALLOY-FUEL-TANK-RACE-RALLY-A...

Cheers,

FT.

[agent006]

Start at the top and work down. No point removing your window motors and sound deadening if you've still got an electric sunroof. All it'll serve is to bugger up your centre of gravity.

[smckeown]

gary at northloop has been stripping and building a nice E30, his page is here http://www.northloop.co.uk/cars_bmw.htm

he has a thread going on scoobynet where he shows the progress

[MANSFA]

Guys, this is a strictly DIY Amateur job! I'm doing it with two mates as a laugh, no cages, no paint jobs, just rip out the excess weight and track it till it dies!

First outing is at Brands Hatch in May. Based on how that goes I suspect we'll end up spending (some) money on some minor brake upgrades ( pads/hoses/fluid) and some fresh bushes...

Thats assuming it lives that long!

A

[richad027]

Just be ruthless and get everything out of it that can. Then make sure the brakes are good. The tyres will be fine so long as they have some tread, less grip often equals more fun. A decent bucket seat and harness for the driver is the next thing I'd get it really can improve the driving experience.

Richard.

[sfaulds]

When we built an E30, we got a 320 down to a fraction under 1000kg with an SD cage in it - no reason a 325 without cage can't hit the same weight.

[sniff petrol]

sfaulds said:

When we built an E30, we got a 320 down to a fraction under 1000kg with an SD cage in it - no reason a 325 without cage can't hit the same weight.

What do they weigh as standard then for reference?

[fergus]

MANSFA said:

..track it till it dies...

Please take precautions to make sure it doen't die on track, and also please don't take it to the 'Ring. There are too many crates taken over there which end up causing very serious (sometimes fatal) accidents.

[Ferb]

Mansfa, which trackday at Brands are you doing? I will be there in my Holden Ute, should be fun

[Ferb]

Sorry forgot to say when 15th &16th May

[agent006]

sniff petrol said:

sfaulds said:

When we built an E30, we got a 320 down to a fraction under 1000kg with an SD cage in it - no reason a 325 without cage can't hit the same weight.

What do they weigh as standard then for reference?

I think standard is somewhere between 1150 and 1200. Anything under 1050 is very good going.

[chrisr29]

If it's going to be a dedicated track car then strip it to an inch of its life. The difference in terms of performance can be stunning.

If you're planning on using it on the road on a regular basis just leave as is 'cause the difference in terms of comfort reduction will be as equally stunning!

[MANSFA]

Update 1:

Spent a few hours on saturday stripping the car with the boys. We decided to keep front and rear seats and door/side cards. Rest of the interior got binned.

Result? We lost 68kgs. We had a set of scales and weighed everythong as we ripped it out. There is a bit of finishing to do , we should be able to get the weight down a bit further!

We're taking it to Brands on the 16th may, cant wait!

[chrisr29]

Lose the lot man!

If you go mad you can prob get it down to a ton which will give you a power to weight ratio better than something like a Focus ST.