Das Beast: My E30 track / street build

[dvallis]

Windows

Started the lightweight windows today. MA Shaw has door windows for $450. Condor speed shop has them for $170. Plastics Performance has all 5 for $250 but oversize shipping from the UK is $200. Time to get creative.

There are a couple of shops in town that sell 48" x 96" sheets of 1/8" Lexan for $100. I might be able to get all 5 windows on one sheet. First, need to make the templates.

Side front window in progress.



All done



Side rear completed



To be continued....

[dvallis]

Talked to 3 body shops today. They all started at $20K to do fiberglass and paint for the whole car. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Yeah, I know. Body work takes a lot of time. People have to get paid. But "starting at $20K. Come on!

Plan B is in effect. Going to do all the fiberglass and sheet metal prep with Rob. Then drag to the car to Econo Body And Paint. They quoted $500 to paint the whole damn car inside and out.

Of course, We've never actually done sheet metal and fiberglass work. Saw it on History Channel a few times. :devil: In Rob's words, "We're out where the busses don't run. But I'm game if you are."

This ought to be interesting.

[hadee94]

Wow this thread is Amazing. Getting into some head work preparing for the same KAMOTORS turbo kit so I'm really excited to see your progress. Love the precision and cleanliness of the build.

[dvallis]

Custom windows

Continuing with the custom windows today.

Took the paper templates and transferred them to cardboard. Adjusted a little along the way.

Rear window. Fits better than it looks from this pic.


Side rear


Side front


All together


Next step is grabbing a $100 sheet of lexan, taping down the templates and cutting out windows.

[dvallis]

Freaking WHEELS !!!!!!!!

Wheels are starting to be a pain in my ass. Can't find anyone with 17x9 4x100 57.1 ET-0 (or low) in stock.

On top of that, we're not liking the DTM Fiberwerkz front fenders for the size of tires I want to run. This is the clearance with 205s. I'm Looking at 245s. So ...... I'm going to have a pretty complete wide body fiberglass kit for sale soon. Quarters, fenders and side skirts.

[dvallis]

Das Beast Body Shop

Did I mention body work is a pain in the ass? Measure, mark, adjust, check the other side, tape, yell, bang head. Repeat.

I scored some late model rear bumper shocks and brackets from Craigslist, so the plastic rear bumper conversion can finally start. Don't know the guy's name, so if you're reading this .. Thanks!

Bumper shock fits fine.



Fitting the bumper and brackets. This is tedious.



Now remove everything and mark for drilling.



Metal drilled and bracket fitted.



Here's the final product. I like it. Still need to trim the bumper ends by each wheel well. That's going to take more careful measuring and cutting.

[Kershaw]

Just read through this whole thing. Great work. Bending the valves sucked. And you can bookmark the realoem page after you enter your vehicle information so you always just go straight to it. Easier that way.

Good luck with the body work.

[dvallis]

I have RealOEM book marked with my VIN entered on my phone :devil:

[dvallis]

Das Beast Body Shop

Time to Get Medieval on the trunk. Today we're cutting out the spare tire well to make room for our diffuser and get ready for the fuel cell.

Rob REALLY wanted to use his new plasma cutter to chop out the wheel well. Cooler heads prevailed and we decided to do it by drilling out the welds. "Broadsword vs scalpel and patience" method.



First step is grinding off the paint so we can see the welds



Now drill out all the welds. They sell a specialized drill bit for this at Harbor Freight.



Rob's great idea. Put a floor jack under the spare tire well and "get some".



More drilling and prying. We are winning.



It's OUT!



Hmmmmm. Great possibilities now. Lots of room for the diffuser.





Rob wasn't satisfied. :devil: Fuel filler tube had to go.



Still not done. We started cutting out everything that didn't have a job any more. Fuel overflow tank, exhaust heat shield, wheel well liners, various brackets. Total 15 lbs of various junk. You can literally push the car with two fingers now.



And now .. the secret weapon. Trunk floor gets covered with a 1/4" steel plate bolted to the frame rails. It has multiple uses: patch for the floor, fuel cell mounting plate and rear ballast. There's 750 lbs of engine, diff and driver up front. We need something to keep the rear wheels on the ground. The 80 lbs of steel plus up to 90 lbs of fuel in a 15 gallon cell will do the job.

[kronus]

something is wrong with the front fenders if you're having trouble fitting 205s under m3 flares. how far are they from the strut?

cage fab looks nice!

[dvallis]

Nothing wrong with the fenders. They're stock from DTM FW. Tires are 205 but I noticed they are under inflated. Section width is more like 225 now. Inside sidewall is 10mm from the strut.

[kronus]

that space could be rubber instead.. I run 225s under stock fenders, they're about 2mm away from the strut without rubbing.

[peterman]

Did you corner weight the car yet? 80lbs seems like a good starting point.

[dvallis]

Not yet. Will do that once the engine is back in

[Brad Sindoni]

Did I mention body work is a pain in the ass? Measure, mark, adjust, check the other side, tape, yell, bang head. Repeat.

I scored some late model rear bumper shocks and brackets from Craigslist, so the plastic rear bumper conversion can finally start. Don't know the guy's name, so if you're reading this .. Thanks!

Bumper shock fits fine.



Fitting the bumper and brackets. This is tedious.



Now remove everything and mark for drilling.



Metal drilled and bracket fitted.



Here's the final product. I like it. Still need to trim the bumper ends by each wheel well. That's going to take more careful measuring and cutting.

Glad they made it there safe. happy to help out! great progress so far. looking forward to more updates!