My name is Kingston, and I'm a BMW hoarder.*
"Hi Kingston."
Yesterday I picked up a lovely `87 325iS in Alpineweiss with the express purpose of taking her to the track...
...and then I changed my mind...I mean, she's just so CLEAN...
...and then I changed it back again!
I already own an `86 325 coupe in Zinno.
She's making the transformation into a Chump Car racer. Not what I'd initially envisioned for her, but when the Alpine iS came into the picture, things changed. (See here for the initial build for Lilo: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=227292)
In addition, I have Siobhan, an M50-Swapped, BBS RX-shod `88 325 sedan that's my daily driver.
(Here's Siobhan's build thread: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=217284)
Here's where it gets complicated...
The bottom line is that the body new Alpine iS in really good shape. Too good for the track. My Sedan's body is pretty rough. Rough enough that unless I spend a fortune on her, she's never going to look anywhere near as good as she goes. But I am so attached to my sedan, that I just couldn't bring myself to gut her!
So, the plan is this:
#1 Gut the car
#2 Install a cage
#3 Install all the suspension stuff for SE30
#4 Keep racing Chump Car in Lilo in `13, and do as many HPDEs as possible. Shoot for Comp license & SE30 racing in `14!
Today was time to chase down a few problems. Things I fixed:
* Check panel didn't work. Easy fix, as it was just unplugged. For a reason, as it turns out, since virtually every light was illuminated!
* Third brake light didn't work. Simple fix - just a burned out bulb. Turned that light off.
* License plate light and rear brake light warnings were both illuminated on the check panel. Both rear lights and the license plate lights actually worked.
* Fixed the non-working horns. Simply a matter of swapping the MTech-I steering wheel from the Zinno car into the Alpine car. For some reason, this also made the License plate and rear light warning lights on the check panel turn off. Go figure!
Things I still need to fix:
*The oil level light is still illuminated (and the oil is low; I'll pick some up this week UPDATE: Adding oil to the proper level turned the light off.
* Also, the coolant level light is illuminated on the check panel. The sensor itself is broken, but I have a new one on order from Levent at Guten Parts. UPDATE: Part is installed, light is fixed. I don't know yet if I will keep the Check Panel or not, but at least this way I know wtuff is working properly!
* The brakes suck. The pedal travels pretty darn far without actually slowing the car down. I bled the brakes today hoping for an easy fix, but it was not to be. The pads have plenty of life left in them, although they are mismatched. I've ordered a new Master Cylinder and PBR front pads. UPDATE: New master cylinder didn't help much, nor did rebuilding the front calipers. MY ABS light is illuminated. I tried using a pressure bleeder, but I think I need to go back to the old-school 2-person method...
* Wiper moter est kaput. Can't wait to change that. Should be fun. Har-dee-har Update: I recommend leaving this job to someone else. Someone you don't like. It SUCKS. Also, make sure you know exactly what position your windshield wiper transmission is in, because re-clocking the wipers also sucks.
PS, here's my tribe:
"Hi Kingston."
Yesterday I picked up a lovely `87 325iS in Alpineweiss with the express purpose of taking her to the track...
...and then I changed my mind...I mean, she's just so CLEAN...
...and then I changed it back again!
I already own an `86 325 coupe in Zinno.
She's making the transformation into a Chump Car racer. Not what I'd initially envisioned for her, but when the Alpine iS came into the picture, things changed. (See here for the initial build for Lilo: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=227292)
In addition, I have Siobhan, an M50-Swapped, BBS RX-shod `88 325 sedan that's my daily driver.
(Here's Siobhan's build thread: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=217284)
Here's where it gets complicated...
The bottom line is that the body new Alpine iS in really good shape. Too good for the track. My Sedan's body is pretty rough. Rough enough that unless I spend a fortune on her, she's never going to look anywhere near as good as she goes. But I am so attached to my sedan, that I just couldn't bring myself to gut her!
So, the plan is this:
#1 Gut the car
#2 Install a cage
#3 Install all the suspension stuff for SE30
#4 Keep racing Chump Car in Lilo in `13, and do as many HPDEs as possible. Shoot for Comp license & SE30 racing in `14!
Today was time to chase down a few problems. Things I fixed:
* Check panel didn't work. Easy fix, as it was just unplugged. For a reason, as it turns out, since virtually every light was illuminated!
* Third brake light didn't work. Simple fix - just a burned out bulb. Turned that light off.
* License plate light and rear brake light warnings were both illuminated on the check panel. Both rear lights and the license plate lights actually worked.
* Fixed the non-working horns. Simply a matter of swapping the MTech-I steering wheel from the Zinno car into the Alpine car. For some reason, this also made the License plate and rear light warning lights on the check panel turn off. Go figure!
Things I still need to fix:
*The oil level light is still illuminated (and the oil is low; I'll pick some up this week UPDATE: Adding oil to the proper level turned the light off.
* Also, the coolant level light is illuminated on the check panel. The sensor itself is broken, but I have a new one on order from Levent at Guten Parts. UPDATE: Part is installed, light is fixed. I don't know yet if I will keep the Check Panel or not, but at least this way I know wtuff is working properly!
* The brakes suck. The pedal travels pretty darn far without actually slowing the car down. I bled the brakes today hoping for an easy fix, but it was not to be. The pads have plenty of life left in them, although they are mismatched. I've ordered a new Master Cylinder and PBR front pads. UPDATE: New master cylinder didn't help much, nor did rebuilding the front calipers. MY ABS light is illuminated. I tried using a pressure bleeder, but I think I need to go back to the old-school 2-person method...
* Wiper moter est kaput. Can't wait to change that. Should be fun. Har-dee-har Update: I recommend leaving this job to someone else. Someone you don't like. It SUCKS. Also, make sure you know exactly what position your windshield wiper transmission is in, because re-clocking the wipers also sucks.
PS, here's my tribe:
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