E30 Race Car wreck, time for major surgery

[Erick]

w00t! Congrats. I know how it feels to bring back a car from the dead... although mine is still 1/2 way dead... missing headlights and turn signals. lol

[Lance Racing]

Bumper trim then the bumper go on:





Undertray and brake ductwork reconnected:



The most beat up and abused front 'is' splitter on earth is rehung:



JR checking alignment settings:





4:30pm and ready to go on the trailer to break in the engine. We'll run the front white until after the test and tune on Friday to allow the fresh paint to continue to harden before laying graphic vinyl on it. We ran out of time to corner weight the car, so we'll do that on Friday too.

[Lance Racing]

10am Wednesday, time to hang some freshly painted sheet metal:



Test fitting the first fender:



Installing brake ducts and fog light covers. Both OEM pieces.





Lower valence on:



Hood going on:



Then passenger fender on:





Starting to look like a BMW!

[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

[nefarious7907]

Nice Restoration

[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 !!!

[MR 325]

Looking awesome my man, very nice!

[Fanzotti]

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

[PiercedE30]

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

[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.

[markseven]

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

[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.

[DarkWing6]

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

[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!

[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: