E30 #2: 1990 Delphin: RHD ITB M20

[318aye]

After looking through my old build thread I realized how nice it was to have decent documentation on all the work I had done, so I think I'll have one for this car too. More of a diary for me than anything else. I also hate when people do cool stuff and don't get into the details when they document, so prepare for dimensioned drawings, etc. 7/21 - I'm truncating / reworking this thread as some stuff isn't present on the car anymore, and photobucket has screwed up the photos. Sorry for the lack of continuity.

Background:

First car I ever bought outright.


Ended up like this.




Then I did this for a while.



And then this.



Sold those. Got this. Overall goal is a fun street car, with the ability to HPDE once or twice a year. More power down the road, not sure the route yet. Little interior upgrades along the way, definitely some new shoes.

[rzerob]

Sweet. Great brackets, how much would you sell a set for?

[318aye]

If you have a welder, I'd sell you the bracket halves. I'm ok trusting my own safety to my welds, but I'm not ready to have other people's possibly depend on them. ;D

Would be simple enough to assemble; just mock up at 90 degrees and weld. The plasma cutter marks all the hole locations and I drill them out. PM me if you'd like to talk about it!

[rzerob]

I would prefer to weld them myself. I will PM you sometime after the New Year if that is Ok.

[318aye]

That would work. Looking forward to hearing from you!

[rzerob]

If you have a list of the hardware you used that would be great too. Best to ask now while it's fresh. Sorry for thread jacking for that little bit.

[eur04lif3]

Love everyting, but cannot obtain myself from my hatred towards blackout kindeys.

sweet plasma machine

[TimeMachinE30]

Cool work.

Good looking series of cars too.

[rzerob]

Did you get this car in PA? There was one for sale not too long ago that looked very similar. What wheels do you plan on putting on it? Please don't say ESM's. What intake manifold is that for in the pic with brackets on the sliders^? V8? Swap plans in the future?

It looks to me that you could cut out about an inch off the bracket half that is connected to the slider. The rear bolt looks like another bolt space up above it and the front bolt looks like two bolt spaces above it.

I can't see the structural integrity being compromised by cutting that inch out and making them shorter. As long as you have good welds. You could go with thicker metal if you were worried. That would lower you another inch. I am 6'2 so the height would effect me less. How is your view of the gauge cluster with the brackets?

[318aye]

@TimeMachinE30: Thanks!

@rzerob: Yeah, I flew up there for it. Is this the one you saw? http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=333628

Not entirely settled on wheels at the moment, will probably end up being something weird, old and step lipped. K20Z1 top end that I had laying around waiting for a 2.4L bottom end is in the background. Ended up selling it. If I can swing it, I'd like to get an S54 in here. I feel like I could execute an M20 turbo much better now that I'm not building it in my college driveway though.

If you squint hard at the picture below (look at the far side where you can see the inside of the bracket) you can see how the rear bracket hole is a large triangle. This clears the bottom of the bracket by maybe 3/16", so not much room. However, I drove the car extensively over thanksgiving, and realized that I had the seat back cranked most of the way forward the first time I sat in it. I adjusted everything and now my helmet clears by 1/2". These are built from 1/8", I'm not worred about them structurally. Gauge cluster view is perfect, but I still have the stock steering wheel. I've had the Momo Montecarlo in 330mm and 350mm and have run into cluster visibility issues with stuff like that. I might pick up an M-Tech 1 here soon, I'll let you know if it blocks anything.

[rzerob]

@TimeMachinE30: Thanks!

@rzerob: Yeah, I flew up there for it. Is this the one you saw? http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=333628

Not entirely settled on wheels at the moment, will probably end up being something weird, old and step lipped. K20Z1 top end that I had laying around waiting for a 2.4L bottom end is in the background. Ended up selling it. If I can swing it, I'd like to get an S54 in here. I feel like I could execute an M20 turbo much better now that I'm not building it in my college driveway though.

If you squint hard at the picture below (look at the far side where you can see the inside of the bracket) you can see how the rear bracket hole is a large triangle. This clears the bottom of the bracket by maybe 3/16", so not much room. However, I drove the car extensively over thanksgiving, and realized that I had the seat back cranked most of the way forward the first time I sat in it. I adjusted everything and now my helmet clears by 1/2". These are built from 1/8", I'm not worred about them structurally. Gauge cluster view is perfect, but I still have the stock steering wheel. I've had the Momo Montecarlo in 330mm and 350mm and have run into cluster visibility issues with stuff like that. I might pick up an M-Tech 1 here soon, I'll let you know if it blocks anything.

Yeah, that is the one. It was a clean stock example, but I thought 10k was a little much in my opinion.

Glad you got the height situation solved, that equates more head room for me as well with your spacers. The gauge cluster visibility will most likely not be a big issue if you can see the cluster fine now. If it is there are little things you can do to rectify it. Like spacers on the steering column. Considering your access to some equipment you should be fine.

[ncbrock]

Hey I know this car. I like the new seats.

[318aye]

@ncbrock: Hey bud! Thanks! Seems like you're busy yourself?

@rzerob: Indeed, just ended up being the right car for me. I learned a good deal (mostly patience) from building the sterling car, and I wanted this car to warrant the time I'll be putting in.

These should ship soon. Hayashi Racing Techno R Fins. 15x7 +15. I need to get wheel studs and possibly drophats for the front as well.

[318aye]

One wheel arrived a day early! Looks like the lips just need to be repolished, but the faces, hardware and barrels will need to be cleaned up quite a bit.



Cat approved.

[318aye]

Everyone arrived safely. Phew. Broke one down to see what I'm really dealing with. As expected, lips will just need to be reworked with a powerball. Barrels will need to be stripped. Might powdercoat, might just get back to metal and clear them. Hardware will need to be polished at the least, may replace as it appears to be heavily oxidized. Faces will get stripped, repolished, and have the centers repainted. Looks like they have a plastic centering ring for the hub bore that has definitely seen better days. May try and 3D print some replacements.