325TI - Project Mpact
Discussion
"It needed lots of holes in the Aluminium mount to make it lighter" 
It's been a busy few weeks since my last update, the Compact has had teething problems again.... This time it was in the driveway luckily.
Since getting the Compact on the road I've covered roughly 1000 miles, for peace of mind an oil service was done at 700 miles to make sure all was well since the rod bearings were changed and that no horrors had risen, all was good. After that I was more confident to put my foot down and take the revs higher...... it feels pretty nippy, although the traction control keeps stepping in even when it's turned off
After it's first spirited drive round some local roads and to see some friends I pulled up to home and into the driveway, realiseing I wanted the car the opposite way round to wash it, I popped it into reverse and a single "twang" noise was heard, I reversed out onto the road only to find the gearstick flopping around like a
in a bucket. Instantly knowing where I'd had the Bell Housing machined/converted from SMG to Manual had failed, the gear detents had popped out. Just about managing to find a gear to limp it back into the driveway, and that's where the Compact stayed for a few weeks until the ramp was free in the workshop.
And.... the underside of the car was stripped (again) of it's under trays, Exhaust and Prop etc to access the gearbox.
The offending items, found on layed on the under tray.
With the Gearbox removed and under closer inspection it seemed as if where the bell housing had been machined for the C-clip to locate, the groove wasn't quite deep enough and the C-clip was unable to hold the pressure of the spring and had given way.
After a bit of head scratching, the hole diameter was the right size for an M22x1.5 fitting. So I tapped the holes out (decided to do the top one too, just to be safe),
Found some M22x1.5 Sump plugs which I turned down so that the Springs had a pin to locate on, and that the Springs where under the same compression once the plugs were wound in.
All done, fingers crossed.
I'd noticed that it was quite common for the clutch fork pivot to be changed to a stainless item as the OEM Nylon item wears or can snap, So while the Bell housing/gearbox was off I made a new pin and fitted that,
With all that done the Compact was reassembled, Apart from the Exhaust, which I decided to cut up the silencer again and add some quietness,
The end/top half of the casing was cut off, the merging part I had previously made was perforated by spending 3.5hrs drilling holes....then re-packed and welded.
It's made quite a bit of difference to the drone which is what i'd hoped for.
And the GoPro mount photo for those who asked, it's not the prettiest as it's been cut up 3-4 times for different cars, but it works
That's all for now, hopefully nothing else breaks!.
Since getting the Compact on the road I've covered roughly 1000 miles, for peace of mind an oil service was done at 700 miles to make sure all was well since the rod bearings were changed and that no horrors had risen, all was good. After that I was more confident to put my foot down and take the revs higher...... it feels pretty nippy, although the traction control keeps stepping in even when it's turned off
After it's first spirited drive round some local roads and to see some friends I pulled up to home and into the driveway, realiseing I wanted the car the opposite way round to wash it, I popped it into reverse and a single "twang" noise was heard, I reversed out onto the road only to find the gearstick flopping around like a
in a bucket. Instantly knowing where I'd had the Bell Housing machined/converted from SMG to Manual had failed, the gear detents had popped out. Just about managing to find a gear to limp it back into the driveway, and that's where the Compact stayed for a few weeks until the ramp was free in the workshop. And.... the underside of the car was stripped (again) of it's under trays, Exhaust and Prop etc to access the gearbox.
The offending items, found on layed on the under tray.
With the Gearbox removed and under closer inspection it seemed as if where the bell housing had been machined for the C-clip to locate, the groove wasn't quite deep enough and the C-clip was unable to hold the pressure of the spring and had given way.
After a bit of head scratching, the hole diameter was the right size for an M22x1.5 fitting. So I tapped the holes out (decided to do the top one too, just to be safe),
Found some M22x1.5 Sump plugs which I turned down so that the Springs had a pin to locate on, and that the Springs where under the same compression once the plugs were wound in.
All done, fingers crossed.
I'd noticed that it was quite common for the clutch fork pivot to be changed to a stainless item as the OEM Nylon item wears or can snap, So while the Bell housing/gearbox was off I made a new pin and fitted that,
With all that done the Compact was reassembled, Apart from the Exhaust, which I decided to cut up the silencer again and add some quietness,
The end/top half of the casing was cut off, the merging part I had previously made was perforated by spending 3.5hrs drilling holes....then re-packed and welded.
It's made quite a bit of difference to the drone which is what i'd hoped for.
And the GoPro mount photo for those who asked, it's not the prettiest as it's been cut up 3-4 times for different cars, but it works
That's all for now, hopefully nothing else breaks!.
Small update of whats been going on recently,
The Compact has been faultless the last few weeks, slowly getting more confident driving it again as it feels totally different now compared to how it was before the conversion was done.
That being said, last Sunday (10.11.19) I had booked on to a track day at Snetterton. The weather was dry but a bit chilly, the cold didn't stop a good turn out though..... there was some expensive cars on track!. It was a good day minus a few red flags and track closures (nothing to do with me), I was very cautious to begin with and was trying not to hold up the quicker drivers, but as the day went on my confidence built up and I really started to enjoy myself.
The Compact done brilliantly, I've never had a car that revs for so long and the brakes work very well indeed. Although to begin with it did seem a bit "understeery", I think this was due to the front of the car being a bit too stiff and me not knowing the car well enough yet.
So, I'll be softening the front shocks a bit, swapping the front M3 anti roll bar back to the Compact one and maybe another wheel alignment at some point.
But here's some photo's from the Javelin Track days Flickr,
In other news the M3 donor shell is going to be going up for sale soon, I'm currently still pinching bits off it at the moment.
I wanted to keep the bonnet and front wings from the M3 as part of another project on the Compact at a later date, but the M3 front wings were quite rusty, mainly the near side so..........
I fabricated a new repair panel,
Cut out the previous bodges and tacked the new repair panel in,
Fully TIG'd the panel in,
Ground the welds back smooth,
Job done. Or so i thought
I didn't have anywhere to safely store the Wings and especially the bonnet being Aluminium, I wanted to fix them to the wall up and out the way.
I ordered some lengths of Aluminium tube and worked out what I was going to do,
Started notching some bits,
And bending some others, then TIG'd them all together and ended up with this,
Which was fixed to the wall,
And now I have a giant 1:1 scale AirFix kit
The Compact has been faultless the last few weeks, slowly getting more confident driving it again as it feels totally different now compared to how it was before the conversion was done.
That being said, last Sunday (10.11.19) I had booked on to a track day at Snetterton. The weather was dry but a bit chilly, the cold didn't stop a good turn out though..... there was some expensive cars on track!. It was a good day minus a few red flags and track closures (nothing to do with me), I was very cautious to begin with and was trying not to hold up the quicker drivers, but as the day went on my confidence built up and I really started to enjoy myself.
The Compact done brilliantly, I've never had a car that revs for so long and the brakes work very well indeed. Although to begin with it did seem a bit "understeery", I think this was due to the front of the car being a bit too stiff and me not knowing the car well enough yet.
So, I'll be softening the front shocks a bit, swapping the front M3 anti roll bar back to the Compact one and maybe another wheel alignment at some point.
But here's some photo's from the Javelin Track days Flickr,
In other news the M3 donor shell is going to be going up for sale soon, I'm currently still pinching bits off it at the moment.
I wanted to keep the bonnet and front wings from the M3 as part of another project on the Compact at a later date, but the M3 front wings were quite rusty, mainly the near side so..........
I fabricated a new repair panel,
Cut out the previous bodges and tacked the new repair panel in,
Fully TIG'd the panel in,
Ground the welds back smooth,
Job done. Or so i thought
I didn't have anywhere to safely store the Wings and especially the bonnet being Aluminium, I wanted to fix them to the wall up and out the way.
I ordered some lengths of Aluminium tube and worked out what I was going to do,
Started notching some bits,
And bending some others, then TIG'd them all together and ended up with this,
Which was fixed to the wall,
And now I have a giant 1:1 scale AirFix kit
Max M4X WW said:
Love the track update and photos.
I think the wings and bonnet should stay on the wall though... IMHO obviously!
Thanks, ah I wouldn't be putting the M3 front on the Compact... just thinking of adding the lumpy bits (arches and bonnet bulge), but that's me looking into the future as the front arches need work now due to rust bubbling up I think the wings and bonnet should stay on the wall though... IMHO obviously!
SlimJim16v said:
Impressive engineering again, though possibly slight overkill. Glad you finally got to enjoy it. Maybe look at what suspension geometry others are using on their M3s?
Yes I've been been doing a bit of research. It's not far from what others are using, the front only has 1 degree of camber..... so maybe it could do with a touch more. I'll soften the front dampening at some point and see how that goes.
PaulGT3 said:
Can't tell if you are running the standard staggered wheel setup? My 325Ti felt quite understeery on the standard wheels until I moved to a square setup - I believe some run 4 of the standard rear wheels and apologies if I've missed that from this thread.
Thanks for the input, It's running the standard staggered set up at the moment. I never had a problem with understeer before the swap, but then again it feels like a totally different car now. I think it's one of those niggles that will get sorted eventually after a lot of faffing. But I'll keep an eye out for another set of rears, thank you 
lufbramatt said:
Love the threads latest twist... as an Airfix product designer I love that you even put the part number tabs on the frame! Amazing
That sounds like an interesting job, I'd like to know more! Your the only one that's mentioned that, people usually point and say "whats the squares for" 
geeks said:
You realise people pay good money for talking points like this right? Thread continues to deliver!
Glad the car behaved at Snett, looking forward to the next update as always!
Thanks, Yes I can see why.... the amount of late nights/hours that went into it Glad the car behaved at Snett, looking forward to the next update as always!
It did behave well, probably won't be doing another track day until next year...... more tinkering in the meantime!
Court_S said:
amc_adam said:
That is fking cool as. Please say that you’re keeping that?The rear shot of the 325ti looks brilliant with the quad pipes.
Thank you, I'm quite chuffed with the photos they got...... looks nice on the move, after all the months it sat still on the ramp
cornish said:
I would spray the whole ‘air fix, thing in primer so the panels match the carrier for an authentic look.
Looks great and love all your work.
Thank you, that was the original idea to spray the frame in grey but I couldn't make my mind up with what I wanted to do, I even debated stripping the panels back to bare metal and polishing them or turning them into Art Car style.... but that's as far as it got before i needed to fix it to the wall to get it out the way Looks great and love all your work.
RoverP6B said:
I note, by the way, that the first few pages of this thread are now devoid of images, they are all deadlinked. If you have the time, is there any chance you could go back and fix these? Thank you.
Also, I'd like to reiterate that I am utterly in awe of the quality of workmanship and resourceful engineering on display here. You should be on a six-figure retainer to at least one of the big OEMs.
Thank you for the kind words.Also, I'd like to reiterate that I am utterly in awe of the quality of workmanship and resourceful engineering on display here. You should be on a six-figure retainer to at least one of the big OEMs.
I have debated putting another engine in the donor M3 shell as there is nothing wrong with the shell itself (apart from the paint job), quite like the sound of a 2JZ , but unfortunately I have too many other projects to complete so maybe someone else could take the opportunity to build something quite different.
As for the first few pages of images I have no idea whats happened there! Thank you for notifying me, I'll spend some time and try and get my head round whats going on... i'm no computer wiz
Weekendrebuild said:
Are you looking at swapping the front end on compact to the m3 ?
Nope, although I've seen it done a few times....in my opinion it makes the Compact look a bit out of proportion. The future plan is to have the M3 wider arches, and bonnet, but keep the compact headlights/bumper. That's a long way off yet, if it does eventually happen.Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff