Das Beast: My E30 track / street build

[stonea]

Any reason you didn't use the DTM style rear trailing arm adjustments? With all of the fabrication work on this car and the fact you weren't happy with the IE adjustments it seems like the perfect solution.

[dvallis]

You know, in all the hours of research I did a "DTM subframe" option never showed up. I'll dig into that some more. Thanks.

[dvallis]

Now I know why it wasn't an option. E30 DTM subfame is unobtanium. Drool. Rob and I will custom fabricate one of these eventually. After the first time we wreck the car. :devil:

[stonea]

Finding the real deal is going to be next to impossible. Even if it was I'm sure they'd cost you your first and second born. FLG bought the adjusters and had them welded in. Unfortunately his build thread is dead, but he did post some pictures on r3v Facebook.

Here are the adjusters

http://www.irp.lt/individual-racing-parts-product/rear-trailing-arms-dtm-style-adjustment-kit-need-weld/

Here is his finished product

[HennaE30]

Das Beast: My E30 track / street build

Because 2 x 33211226901 = $1000 for real BMW parts. Using $40 Chinese half shafts in a 500 HP race car is asking for trouble.

Did I miss something? Where did I say anything about using cheap Chinese half shafts? You'd have to be insane to buy them from BMW directly, but there's a lot of places that sell rebuilt factory half shafts (or if you are really worried about them holding up, could've just gotten CATuned chromoly ones) but oh well, they are finished now.

That DTM rear subframe is gorgeous, but good luck every finding one.


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[dvallis]

That linkage is nice. I'll eventually build a custom suspension but for now need to get this car done.

And the half shafts ... they're rebuilt already. A couple of hour is no sweat and you keep the OEM quality.

[jeffnhiscars]

Sorry if i missed something but you can buy GKN Lobro half shafts for $2xx and they are the OEM. Last one I replaced which I believe was original, had their name stamped on it.

[dvallis]

Maybe next time

[dvallis]

Rear wheel bearings

Pressing new bearings into the trailing arms. The harbor freight tool kit works really well.



Bearing and circlip in place



Using the same tool to press in the wheel hubs.



On to the half shafts

[dvallis]

There are a couple of great write-ups on half shaft rebuild here (inner and outer) so I won't document the heck out of this. Couple of key points to note:

1. Get a tub of new grease. The little packs in the boot kit are not enough
2. Clean the hell out of everything before reassembly
3. Go easy on the grease during assembly. Pack it well before sealing.
4. Outer end of the shaft is stamped with 6 hash marks
5. Double ring on inner CV joint goes towards the diff
6. Small edge of inner races line up with larger edge of outer races

Starting with the inner end of the half shaft



Inner CV joint with circlip in place. Rubber boot went on first.



New boot in place, packed with grease and clamped. Reassembling inner joint. Vice woks find to press on the covers. Put a couple of diff bolts through to line up the holes on both sides before you do this.



Both inner joints done.



Outer hardware clean and ready to go. Covers are slightly mangled, so will have to work on the seal.



It's easiest to do the outer joint with the shaft on its side. New boot and cover slides on first. Squirrel cage goes on the race before mounting on the shaft. Don't forget the clip. Pack some grease in the outer race before assembly. Put in one bearing, lining up small arc of inner race with large arc of outer race. Put two more bearings in every other race. Work the joint carefully back and forth, in and out to seat the bearings. Repeat with the rest of the bearings. This was a lot harder than the inner joint. It takes a lot of patience, some grease and small moves.



Pic with everything in place. CV joint should move freely and not bind. At this point I previously packed everything with grease and tried to re-assemble but it was a greasy mess. You want to leave the rubber boot loose and make a good seal with the metal cover and CV joint first.



Bearing cover in place, metal lip resealed with Loctite liberally applied inside and in the groove. I might even seal it with an extra flat rubber gasket or liquid metal epoxy. Going to leave this overnight and see how the Loctite cures up.

[dvallis]

Insufficient respect for the angle grinder. Frigging thing will take a finger down to the bone before you can blink. Missed me this time but it was close.

[badwella]

y no update, senpai?

[dvallis]

Ha. :-) I'm falling behind on the job. Will have some good pictures this weekend with the suspension build and diff reinforcement continuing.

In the meantime, we're almost finished the grunt work. I boogered up one of the wheel bearings when pressing in the wheel hub. Didn't have the puller tool seated flush with the bearing face. It basically pressed out the bearing race. Ouch! Lesson learned. Here's the new one done.



The Loctite brand adhesive sealant that came with the rebuild kit did a good job bonding to the cover. We backed it up with an external coating of a silicone based adhesive sealant. (Black stuff on the right)



We reassembled the other half shaft outside CV joint the same way. Half way through Rob said "Doesn't the grease cover go on first?". Thanks Gilligan! :devil: Un-assemble, re-assemble. I'm good at it now. This time we applied the sealant adhesive to the inside of the cover around the edge. Should make a good seal with the inside face. Once it dries hard we'll goop the outside as well.



The CV boot clamps that came with the kit need a $50 crimp tool from Matco. (30800) Not happy about that so I'm looking for some 1/4" screw-on hose clamps instead.

[ThatM20Guy]

If you don't mind me asking what exact loctite sealant was it? Going to be rebuild my axles here in the next few weeks.


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[jeffnhiscars]

If you don't mind me asking what exact loctite sealant was it? Going to be rebuild my axles here in the next few weeks.


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The boot kits I got from BMW came w Hylomar