cameras ready prepare to flash

[s14brent]

So this summer has been brutal heat/temp wise in vegas. Been MIA, I rarely had the time to even drive the e30 at all. I haven't even put on the wheels/tires that I bought in the last post. I also have been working as much as possible playing catch up for 1.5 years of not working. Met my goal end of september (f yeah!) so I finally started mess around in the garage again.
A buddy of mine unfortunately sold his e30 recently and gave me 3 open diffs that were in his garage taking up space. The plan was to rehouse the LSD core from my 3.46 for a back-up differential I guess. (basically if i ever sell the car it will get the 3.73 lsd and I'd keep the kaaz unit).



turns out there was a 4.1 and 2x 2.93's. I ended up cleaning up the 4.1 and straight traded across for a 3.73 open diff locally.



swapped over the crown gear from the 3.73 open onto my spare lsd core (from the 3.46)



ordered all new bearings/seals again from FCP, but this time I needed a differential side bearing removal tool. The kit from OTC worked out perfectly.



pressed on the new bearings and installed the new seals/races



Reinstalled initially with 1.6/1.8 shims and the gear pattern was decent but the backlash was reading .002/.003 which is a bit too tight.



ended up using 1.5/1.9 racingdiff shims that I had from the set (last time I used 1.4 / 2.0).







Ended up with a spare LSD for the price of seals/bearings/tool. Pretty happy with that, and this time the whole process felt faster. I was thinking of rebuilding the actual diff to 3-4 plate setup, but it's literally a spare that will sit on a shelf for quite some time. May end up ordering a poly diff bushing around cyber monday to throw on it before actually sealing it up! Felt great to wrench again after quite a long time!

Only other thing I've done since then was replace the broken door handle surrounds with the leogrande units up front.





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different typeface but none the less, 6mm stamps acquired.

[s14brent]

That's great, thanks. Yeah my mates was ridiculous, there was no progression, it behaved much like a Detroit 4x4 locker. Around a gentle corner it would bind and lock, and pitch the car sideways a bit. Great for drifting but in the rain it would be very risky.
The noise doesn't really bother me as much, just having smooth progressive engagement.

yeah, i got stuck in a rain/hail/snow storm driving back from a socal track day in my s14 (long ago). it was easily the scariest drive i've ever had. definitely call ray at kaaz usa and ask him what he recommends.

Great updates!

I also got dooped by trying to get a personal specific wheel hub. The genuine one I get from vac was a 15 pound pot metal pieces from China. But Crowders was able to order 4370.95.0604 which ended being the collapsible hub I was looking for. I like that rubber boot look too on the adapter.

I was running a drilled out momo one but the turn signal cancel was 30* off.

Film picks turned out great!

Interested to see how the GTA wheels go. I’d be all over them If the E36 suspension setup allowed the clearance for me.

so I actually had some nardi mounting plates made up- I was going to shorten the hub cut/weld but it took so long for the plates to arrive I already went through that whole hub fiasco.





I guess it can be a project for another day......

Not rushing on the GTA wheels - Maybe if i have time later this week I'll try to get some tires mounted/swapped. It's not a huge priority at the moment. I was kinda thinking i should just buy grippier fronts and have those mounted as the fleva's kinda suck up front - but that was also when it was almost 20 degrees difference here in vegas - so they might be "good enough" for now LOL

And thanks man! I'm super glad the roll actually came out. I remember messing up a few rolls in highschool/college. Hopefully will start shooting more and more film (i'll still bitch and complain about prices) And I already shot a roll of 3200P Tmax. Hoping to drop that off later today actually. Should be some really cool content - hoping there are some keepers as I actually took it to a charity event and shot some performers with it. Really getting that film GAS and want to get a 67 next.

[moatilliatta]

Great updates!

I also got dooped by trying to get a personal specific wheel hub. The genuine one I get from vac was a 15 pound pot metal pieces from China. But Crowders was able to order 4370.95.0604 which ended being the collapsible hub I was looking for. I like that rubber boot look too on the adapter.

I was running a drilled out momo one but the turn signal cancel was 30* off.

Film picks turned out great!

Interested to see how the GTA wheels go. I’d be all over them If the E36 suspension setup allowed the clearance for me.

[econti]

That's great, thanks. Yeah my mates was ridiculous, there was no progression, it behaved much like a Detroit 4x4 locker. Around a gentle corner it would bind and lock, and pitch the car sideways a bit. Great for drifting but in the rain it would be very risky.
The noise doesn't really bother me as much, just having smooth progressive engagement.

[s14brent]

How do you find it on the street, feels the same as an OEM? Mate had a KAAZ in drift spec in his S13 and it was very harsh, but I'm told they can be set up to have more progressive engagement which I would want

So this is my third kaaz differential - I too had a 2 way in my s13, and 1.5 way in my NA miata. (the 1.5 way was significantly quieter (however i did run full interior and was on new(ish) oem rubber bushings all around. The clunks usually come at slow speeds/decel and the decel ramp on the 1.5 way is much larger (guessing its something like 35/65 - i would ask ray @ kaazusa for specifics). I also had a Tomei 2 way in my s14 - all of the 2 ways are about the same from my memory but all of them are set at 100% out of the box from the manufacturer
.
However keep in mind my oem bmw lsd did make some noise on slow turns in the pits/parking lots - definitely not kaaz level clunks but it was definitely noticable and may have been loud due to no carpet and poly bushings..

Both the kaaz 1.5 & 2 ways can be setup at 100%/ 65%/35% (if you wanted to you could literally ask them to set it up for you at that percentage you want when you order it from Kaaz and they will ship it out like that), if not they should include a diagram how to set the clutch plates/shims for each setup in the box or its easily available online. The "super q" is supposed to be even more quiet, but fyi it is louder than my oem diff...which was to be expected from a 2 plate oem diff to a 12 plate setup.

not sure if that even makes sense but I hope that helps.

At prices of used diffs now days - and costs of rebuild kits (changing ramp angles+additional clutch plates) I think the kaaz unit is a great way to go even at msrp. I'll be sure to give more thoughts/impressions on this when I actually get to take it to an event.

[econti]

How do you find it on the street, feels the same as an OEM? Mate had a KAAZ in drift spec in his S13 and it was very harsh, but I'm told they can be set up to have more progressive engagement which I would want

[s14brent]

Have you driven it with the diff in yet?

i drive it usually once a week, but no i haven't "driven it" as intended

[econti]

Have you driven it with the diff in yet?

[s14brent]

haven't touched the car at all. just got a roll of colorplus 200 developed and had a few pics of the e30 on there i wanted to share.

[s14brent]

Been really kicking myself in the ass for missing the last event. I was just too tired to attempt to make it to the event. It was also super windy that week and I was just over worked. - So far no mention of a March event and I doubt there will be one with only one more week to the month. I just really hope I can make the next one.

took a few notes from e30mclow's thread and found out about those laser cut axle spacers offered by "seems legit". I didn't read the ad and ordered a second set of "extended" hardware. Turns out the extended is the same 50mm length as stock even though the spacer is 6.5mm thick.


I didn't really like that so I ordered some grade 12.9 zinc blue m10x55mm bolts



While I was ordering bolts I decided to get some 10.9 m12x30mm bolts for my e36 M3 coilover to spindles (since i have 3x washers sandwiched between the coilover and the spindle for extra camber adjustment). Prior I was running 25mm bolts which worked, but the threads were short on the outside bolt since its' threaded all the way through.

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I've been looking for a good 16x8 +0 wheels to run up front. Decided to look for some epsilon GT-A wheels. since they can be had relatively cheaply if you can source them. I have been looking on and off for at least a year now, Found 3x locally but the pair is +16 which I actually don't mind running in the rear, but I really want to run the 0 up front to get rid of some of the spacer stack going on.

I got these for a ridiculous price ($10ea?). But I still couldnt find an extra 0 offset for the front. They have also been repainted so I decided to just order 2 reps off jegs. I don't think I'm going to worry about color matching at this moment. It's really close and I don't plan on doing any photoshoots with the car...(ever really LOL!)

I had the hardest time trying to find a 2.5" flap wheel that was actually 2.5".

I tested out the slight bore needed on the repainted 3 wheels first. I used a spare hubcentric spacer for test-fitting the hub. It really doesn't take much effort at all. Just be patient really. I'll end up using these 3 for spares. I have yet to do the new fronts' but hopefully I'll get that settled and maybe to a tire shop later this week since I'll have a bit more time.

[s14brent]

Figured there are only so many times i can update my last post, so I ordered 5" 14kg swift springs on the 21st and had them installed by 3pm (23rd). Took my time cleaning out the torrington bearings and regreasing. (what a pain)




I apparently didn't take pics, but i bought a second set of ETA adapters e46 billet caliper adapters (for secondary calipers). SRS ones are just rough cut steel and i was never happy with the finish. You can see the new adapter in the background of the last pic.





I lowered the rear about an inch. I may change that but it's much better to have the full adjustability again now vs just HIGHER. I'll probably lower the fronts down 2 threads tonight but for now but i'm trying to source another pair of front fenders. I think I mounted the flares a tad bit too high and want to redo them.

Fingers crossed I may have found 3 GTA epsilon mesh wheels (2x 16x8 +16 and sadly only one 16x8 0 offset). Hopefully picking those up friday after work. I am still having sway bar rubbing issues so I think I just need a lower offset up front. I will be throwing on some additional spacers (5mm) just to measure total offset needed for clearance and spraying the oem sway bar with some black paint to see if it rubs off after this weekend. I may throw the 22mm swaybar up front eventually since I can't seem to unload it, and also there is actually noticeably more body roll after going back to stock - even with the poly bushings. It seems like a lot of e30 drift guys dont even run sways but the body roll kills me.

Sucks but those GTA wheels have been hard to find (locally) lately (been looking off and on for 4-6 months now), but the e38 style 5s are et 23, so its only going to be a 7mm difference for now. If that deal doesn't come through, I may just order a pair of reps off jegs or something to test if i get impatient..The goal is to find 2 sets to replace the two sets of style 5s. I don't know many other 16" 5x120 0 offset wheels readily available.. I'll probably throw on some grippier tires up front - might try some fire hawk indy's since I know someone who works at firestone and hopefully can get me a discount lol. The Yoko/Advan v701 barely have any use since the last event but I don't think they provide enough grip. Even this weekend with the colder weather I plan on running a little lower psi up front.

edit: 02/24 had to shave off some of the e46 caliper bracket to clear the secondary caliper mounts as it was causing some interference. did like 2 threads lower up front but i don't think it did anything at all and I lost daylight so I called it a day..going to test drive it tonight or tomorrow and see how I feel and before doing a last minute registration for Saturday.

[s14brent]

So I had to take advantage of the good weather we've been having. Started by pressing on the new carrier bearings on to the kaaz unit.


Felt good to use the press since I tend to use it once every 2.5-3 years LOL
Dropped the diff out, and removed the LSD from the carrier.

swapped over the crown gear onto the kaaz unit. Used some longer flywheel bolts (m12x1.5) as sacrificial bolts since the bolts pull the crown gear to seat properly onto the LSD.

cleaned up the 10 crown bolts before applying red loctite and torquing to spec

installed the bearing race(s) and oil seals. Made sure not to block the oil passage.

used some gear marking paint to check back lash.
Original shims were Left: 1.8mm and Right 1.6mm. (apparently you need to keep the shims at 3.4 total)

^ some noticeable root toe contact
I changed the shims out twice and checked each combo and ended up using the racing diffs 2.0mm/1.4mm shims and this is a much better contact patch.


^ r&p contact much more central on the crown gear.

Dial indicator was used to measure the backlash, but here's a pic of it zero'd out. Measured in at .005-.006 which is thankfully within spec (.005-.008)

I was curious and sent RacingDiffs a pm on IG.

pretty happy I went with them for the shims. They really have the most in-depth guide on YT.

Will probably check again once more before final clean up and slapping the cover back on and filling up. Figured it'd be a good idea to let the loctite settle before filling it up. Super excited to see how different the car reacts to the 12 plate 2 way. Despite the kaaz being the SUPER Q model, I will probably do a similar break-in process like I have in the past. I'm definitely not planning on NOT testing it out before the next event lol.

edit: cleaned up as much of the gear marking compound as I could even though it is "diff fluid safe" supposedly. brushed on a light coat of kaaz diff fluid onto the diff and halfshafts and went through the cleaning process of the cover and all hardware.

I'm not going to be able to reinstall the diff into the car until Sunday due to my schedule. Meanwhile I'll be thinking about how I should fill up the diff fluid out of this metal can (pre or post install). Been trying to look for substitutes for the kaaz diff fluid (mineral based). Anyone have any recommendations? I'll probably just have to order the kaaz fluid moving forward - no big deal.
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Edit: 02/21

Got the diff back in the car on Sunday with help of a fellow e30 buddy. My jack totally sucks to use since it has the twist knob at the end of the handle so I reached out for help. Bushing mounts were loose in this pic. I was just happy to get the damn thing back up in place.



I know its not necessary, but I've been comparing track shots (under load) and static shots and think I may order a pair of 60mm swift 5" 14k rear springs. ride height under load is perfect with 6" 12k springs, but I do want to lower the car a bit without having tire issues on track. If it's terrible I can always swap back....but IF I install them, setup ride height and get an alignment, chances are I'm not going back at that point.
Also trying to figure out ride height with the car completely loaded with track day equipment too. Figured this might be the first step before going for wider tires since this will ultimately be affected as well. so currently it is 9/12kg (504/672 lb/in) so i would be upgrading to (504/784).



Feels good to get that project done. I will be taking it out for a small break-in process later this week. There is another vegasdrift event this weekend. I'm not 100% I can make it due to it being on a work-day.

Also swapped out the steering base on the rig. Bought a FANATEC DD1 (direct drive goodness). Turns out the V2 had some connection issues.



Downloaded ACS and Content Manager and started to download some cars and maps. But tbh the most fun has been playing WRC10. doing those iconic rally races in all types of weather conditions has been ridiculously fun. There goes all my productivity!!

[It's Soda Not Pop]

sooo ebay said march 08th as ETA for diff shims but I got them delivered today via DHL from Serbia!



Not sure if i'll have the time to dive into that this weekend, but I'm in the middle of a pc/racing sim build that i've been wanting to do forever now (more-so since 2020 but people weren't really selling complete setups or just marking them up over msrp). I found someone across town selling a rseat N1 rig/Fanatec setup & monitor for a killer deal. The steering wheel(s) are kinda faded at the grips, but he gave me 3 of them, and the N1 rig has ALMOST every available option (all of them but the speaker mounting kit). It's an older Fanatec cS v2 base, 1.5 shifter, sequential shifter, and v3 pedal box. He had the pedal damper kit also bnib which I installed on the throttle as the brake seems decent as it is. Oh and it came with a butt kicker & mount which should be cool. De-stickered it since it was mostly sneaker brands, a local tattoo shop and off-road shops. Funny thing is some of the larger stickers were strategically placed to cover up imperfections so I added some stickers that were just sitting in a tool box drawer for now. Hopefully this will help with my lack of Saturday seat-time issues or something....


First thing after getting it home and partially assembled was how FAR and LOW the handbrake was for me. I wanted to set it up as close feeling to the e30 cockpit as possible.

The logical thing to do was to chop up the mounting plate obviously.



picture of the v3 pedal set after installing the damper and adjusting height/mounting angle.


Will hopefully have the fresh PC ready to go by Monday. Will be back for car content once the kaaz super q is installed - or not.

Holy shit that's a rig

[s14brent]

sooo ebay said march 08th as ETA for diff shims but I got them delivered today via DHL from Serbia!



Not sure if i'll have the time to dive into that this weekend, but I'm in the middle of a pc/racing sim build that i've been wanting to do forever now (more-so since 2020 but people weren't really selling complete setups or just marking them up over msrp). I found someone across town selling a rseat N1 rig/Fanatec setup & monitor for a killer deal. The steering wheel(s) are kinda faded at the grips, but he gave me 3 of them, and the N1 rig has ALMOST every available option (all of them but the speaker mounting kit). It's an older Fanatec cS v2 base, 1.5 shifter, sequential shifter, and v3 pedal box. He had the pedal damper kit also bnib which I installed on the throttle as the brake seems decent as it is. Oh and it came with a butt kicker & mount which should be cool. De-stickered it since it was mostly sneaker brands, a local tattoo shop and off-road shops. Funny thing is some of the larger stickers were strategically placed to cover up imperfections so I added some stickers that were just sitting in a tool box drawer for now. Hopefully this will help with my lack of Saturday seat-time issues or something....


First thing after getting it home and partially assembled was how FAR and LOW the handbrake was for me. I wanted to set it up as close feeling to the e30 cockpit as possible.

The logical thing to do was to chop up the mounting plate obviously.



picture of the v3 pedal set after installing the damper and adjusting height/mounting angle.


Will hopefully have the fresh PC ready to go by Monday. Will be back for car content once the kaaz super q is installed - or not.

[s14brent]

So I didn't end up using the sparco hub. However I did find a short hub that covered 2 of the 3 things. Flashpower short hub off amazon for $60 and it has blinker cancellation, horn ring, AND it has steering wheel ignition lock grooves....but they don't necessarily work.. I'm over it at this point, I may check it out another day and see if i can hit a few channels with a dremel and see if it will lock. But this is the best option I've found so far and it's basically half the price of the NRG short hub that doesn't have the ignition lock OR horn. The hub is super short, and luckily the 11mm nardi adapter was just enough clearance for the button.



Just really happy i won't be smacking my elbows on my seat countersteering anymore.
Got the parts in today for my next project which will be exciting. Picked up a Kaaz Super Q 2-way differential (12 clutch plates/wpc treatment)

I ordered new carrier bearings, shaft oil seals, o-rings and cover gasket. (edit: I actually decided to order the racing diffs 10x 188mm diff shim kit 1.0-2.0mm - would really hate to be in there and not be happy with incorrect back lash) The BMW OE sets are 1.45-1.69 and 1.72-1.96. I just don't want to have to revisit this ever really!

Next drift event is Sat. Feb 26th. (it's the last road course event of the year supposedly so I really want to go again) I'm not sure if I'll be working that day or not yet, but I'm planning on going at the moment. I ordered some gear marking compound and got a magnetic mount dial indicator to read run out/backlash.
I just got another pair of spares mounted up this week - going to use the achilles atr-2's for burners. Heard good reviews and they aren't that costly. Still unsure what to do if I move to 17s, I feel more comfortable with 16s at the moment since I know I can run them square with no rubbing issues. I really wanted to order a full set, but I've heard some mixed reviews. Figure I'd document how I like the tires here since theres' not a lot of 16" tire options available lately.

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Small TACO update: I had a shop paint match the ARE camper. Got sick of the 21' tails and got a pair of OE 19' red/clear tails and MESO total tail stage 1 LED's for them. Really finding it hard not to dump money into the truck right now. It's screaming for some larger tires but I just passed 6k this month and I'm at the tire shops wayyy too much as it is LOL. Oh and I actually just renewed my registration, I can't believe it will be a full year come march!!