E30 Race Car wreck, time for major surgery

[Lance Racing]

Now here's a nugget of info you can believe or not... We opened up the airbox and found that the trumpet had been removed. A local racer ran his similar PRO-3 car on the dyno with and without this trumpet and found removing the trumpet LOST 4 HP!

So we yarded a trumpet out of my street E30 to get that 4hp back!



Side shot of trumpet:



End shot:



Re-installed:

[Lance Racing]

Drivetrain is now on the chains and lifted off the engine stand. We're ready to drop it in the car!





Flushing old oil out of the oil cooler lines:



Moving the car inside:

[Lance Racing]

Engine install sequence. This series of 9 shots took about 15 minutes at most. Car is lifted about 6 inches above the ground to give the far end of the tranny a little extra room under the car.















Making final adjustments before setting engine



And in!

[Lance Racing]

Power steering hoses and fluid reservoir installed. We are allowed to run without power steering, but we choose to keep it and give up a HP or two.



Fire extinguisher nozzle (in blue) re-attached. There is also a nozzle near the driver, and over the fuel cell in the rear trunk.



Drive shaft attached:



Sort of looking like something from Road Warrior:



Bracket install:



Another shot of the lower front of the car showing the swiss cheese holes that allow for crash deformation:

[Lance Racing]

The original radiator might have been OK after the crash, but we decided to play it safe with a new one. We're also upgrading our fan to one with 2,200 CFM. The fan is hand operated by a switch in the cabin. Fan is used during full course yellow flag periods when it is 100 degrees out and we're having to drive slowly behind a pace car.



Oil cooler and lines are being re-used. Saved a few bucks there.



Radiator in:



Fan in:



Coolant installed:



And the engine turns over and runs no problem!



Engine on at 2:45pm. We took a 30 minute lunch, so only 15 minutes past the 2pm goal. Great job JR and Bill!

[DarkWing6]

Man, you are good. I saw that car in person without a motor 2 days ago!

[bmwpower]

Man, I don't know how you racers do this day in and day out. That looks like a boat load of work and $$$.

Props to you friend.

[markseven]

Rockin, Lance. That is one awesome saga. Please make sure you renew your web hosting so the pictures remain in the thread :D

[Lance Racing]

No worries, the images will stay hosted for a long time.

I don't want to take credit for more than I've done on this project. I've really served as the Project Manager. I am by no means an E30 expert when it comes to mechanicals. I've generally been supporting the volunteer and professional experts and doing grunt work. And taking pictures along the way. :-)

This is an amateur racing effort, and we joke that we race for $7 trophies and wonder why we spend so much time and money on this! Well we do because of the great friends that we meet, as evidenced by all my racing buddies who came forward after the wreck and insisted I get the car ready for this August race, and their willingness to help out as needed to make the deadline.

[PiercedE30]

Wow, fast install. Just shows what proper prep work allows you to do.

[Fanzotti]

Good for you Lance, you seem like a cool dude.

[MR 325]

Looking awesome my man, very nice!

[fporro]

This is an amateur racing effort, and we joke that we race for $7 trophies and wonder why we spend so much time and money on this! Well we do because of the great friends that we meet, as evidenced by all my racing buddies who came forward after the wreck and insisted I get the car ready for this August race, and their willingness to help out as needed to make the deadline.

That about says it all, good buddys and good times to have by all.

Rock on Felles !!!

[nefarious7907]

Nice Restoration

[matthew-mayhem]

could have been much worse, that should pop right out. i have watched this car for years. soory this had to happen. good luck lance