phenryiv1's Rally Cross 87 325- Caged, B25 Swapped, Rear suspension refresh Last Page

[phenryiv1]

Hows that cage on head room?

Not too bad...however I am only 5'5" so it isn't likely to be the best fit for everyone.

My co-driver is 5'7"-5'8" and he fits without a problem, but I also have the harness bar pretty close to the back of the seat. If you were much taller than he is you could not run with the harness bar where it is because the seat would not go back far enough.

All of that said, I managed to hit the padding yesterday for the first time ever. I was in a right hander and got int a really bad rut on the left. All momentum was going left and then the rut stopped movement, but my head kept moving. It was mid-run and it was no harder than me bumping it climbing in/out of the car, but it happened. The SFI padding did its job- no hard impact, no injury, no mark on my helmet.

I will say that I may get the A pillar bar moved to be tighter to the A pillar, but that will be down the road a bit. It is in a structurally sound location, but I may move it to be tighter to the A pillar for visibility and then have gussets added for strength.

[phenryiv1]

Some shots from this weekend's event:







The mud tends to get a little bit sticky after the water truck runs:



















New Motorsport Hardware lugs installed just before the event:





Pays the bills:



And a couple of action shots. Hopefully more of those coming soon:

[JCarp90]

I want a ride.

[phenryiv1]

Motorsports Hardware Install pictures:

[phenryiv1]

Hosed her off...



Silt deposits.

[phenryiv1]

I finally bought some more photos from the last few events. I had been forgetting to go through the albums but I finally did it last week and I snagged these shots.

From the big 2-day June event:













And lastly, from earlier this month:

[phenryiv1]

So trying to remove the eBay short shifter to install my DSSR and Z3 1.9 shifter, this happened:



At least it makes it easier to justify installing the DSSR since I have to install one of these to do it...



I got the bisch clip undone and the whole old assembly out, but I am in a holding pattern as I can't find my spare G260 shift carrier. I bought another one and it ships today. Hopefully I can get his all back together before this Sunday's RallyX.

[Northern]

Floor mount that shit!

[phenryiv1]

Floor mount that shit!

I know, I know. i already have the DSSR and the z3 1.9 shifter and it has to be done for Sunday.

[phenryiv1]

Parking these links here for reference, as I need to order a D159T:

http://thmotorsports.com/corbeau/corbeau_seat_accessories_mounting_brackets/d159t/i-168729.aspx

http://www.harrisonmotorsports.com/corbeau-seat-brackets.html

[phenryiv1]

So after sitting on the DSSR install for quite some time, I finally finished it up yesterday. Long story short, with the Z3 1.9 OEM shifter, the DSSR fork was too narrow. I had totally forgotten about that (even though I know that in the past I was aware of that fact because when I did a Google search on the issue I found a nearly 4 year old thread that I had started on that very topic - http://www.e30tech.com/forum/showthread.php?t=97181 ).

I followed this guide and made good use of one of my Bentley manualshttp://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/index.php/Z3_short_shifter_conversion

After destroying the shift carrier (as seen a few posts up) by accident, I did locate a replacement carrier and got that in and cleaned up. Since I had used the crappy eBay B&M clone, I still had all of my OEM shifter parts brand new in my parts bin, so when I did the refresh for the z3 shifter I used all new parts.

I have to say several things about doing this install.

1. Whoever came up with using the Harbor Freignt tool as a bitch clip removal tool was brilliant. I owe them a beer. http://off-camber.net/bitch_clip.php
2. The bitch clip was not too hard to remove. The wobble knuckle, however, WAS a pain. I finally got it after about 45 minutes and the use of several picks, small screwdrivers, and cursing.
3. With the use of the DSSR and the Z3 1.9 shifter, I had to bend the forks out slightly on the shifter end. More below.

So all of this was done with the driveshaft, heat shields, exhaust, etc. in the car. I had the front of the car on ramps and the rear on jack stands, so getting under the car was a major pain.

After getting the bitch clip out (easy) and removing the wobble retaining ring (not the worst, but still a pain) I got the DSSR in the car and connected at the transmission end. The bitch clip replacement was not too bad, and the DSSR connection was simple at the wobble joint.

The shifter end of the DSSR, however, was a complete bitch.

I got the fork bent using a vice and a large socket and the assistance of a hammer. I decided not to file away the plastic bushing (as has been suggested in some threads) and later wished that I had.

I lined up the shifter in the DSSR and made numerous attempts to insert the pin, btu the slightly bent angles of the forks on the DSSR mad the full insertion very difficult. After 15 minutes last week and 30 minutes this week, I finally managed to get the pin to go in most of the way, but then the groove for the circlip got hung up on the "back" fork of the DSSR. No pictures due to the rush I was in, but I had about 1/8" of the pin still not in the proper (fully inserted) position. When I pushed on the pin, the whole carrier moved due to the rubber bushing at the rear of the carrier.

I finally figured out to use 2 prybars in opposition and wedged against the trans tunnel hole, then to have my wife wiggle the Z3 lever very slightly until after about s minute the whole thing lined up and the pin slid into place.

After all of that, I was so happy to have this done that I added the circlip, added the boot, re-installed the shift knob, and called it a day.

The only pics form this phase:

[Streichholzschächtelchen]

Was going to OE sport springs an improvement in your opinion? Looking to rallyx and do minor offroading in my e30, torn between using vert springs (a hair higher, close to stock rates) or OE sports (a hair lower, firmer rates). I have billy HDs.

Rally e30 life!!!

[HerbE30]

Where can I see that GoPro footage????

Also, has anyone tried using winter tires? Something I have always considered.

[phenryiv1]

Was going to OE sport springs an improvement in your opinion? Looking to rallyx and do minor offroading in my e30, torn between using vert springs (a hair higher, close to stock rates) or OE sports (a hair lower, firmer rates). I have billy HDs.

Rally e30 life!!!

The OE springs were a very good option for RallyX. We had run stock (well-used) "e" springs, low-mile "is" springs, and then later the OE Sport H&R springs. All were paired with Bilstein HDs so we can control for that variable. The OE springs had enough travel for rallycross without being wallow-y in turns. Swaybars were easy OEM upgrades ('vert front, M3/ix rear) and were consistent across the board so the springs really were the difference.

I would highly recommend the OE Sport springs.

[phenryiv1]

Where can I see that GoPro footage????

The GoPro videos should have been embedded, unless the links broke. Also, there is an e28 thread in here (95maxrider) and Irish44J's full rally build thread (which started as just rallyX) that both have tons of videos.

Also, has anyone tried using winter tires? Something I have always considered.

Early in the thread the car was on winter tires. Our course was packed and full of gravel, which tends to chunk winter tires fairly heavily. Some other regions are more soft dirt or dusty conditions, and different tires work better in different surface conditions, so for us the rally tires were much better overall. Winter tires are a cheaper way to get into the sport but rally tires did give better performance.

Full disclosure: I had MORE fun earlier in the life of this car when I was on used stock springs and winter tires than later on. I had too much mental stock invested in the car being right and the events became less about fun and more about competition. That was when I sold the car and walked away. If I did it again I would have approached it much differently.