Corey's JDM-Tech 2

[varg]

Shame about the fan clutch, they are flaky when cheap too, gotta get the expensive one. The 225/45/16 situation is really getting pretty dire. I have been on Toyo R1Rs for the past two tire changes and they're pretty good, but I have a feeling my next tire change on my E30 will be a wheel change as well because it's a few years away. The funny thing is the 225/50/16s for my FD are significantly cheaper than the 45s are for my E30.

[Northern]

I am also ditching the 16s because of the 225/45R16 availability. Shame because they really look like the right size wheel on the 2dr cars.

[2mAn]

I like cars.

[Simple_Smith]

I like cars.

Aye I'm workin heree!

With a friendly amount of peer pressure, I'm returning to add a small update with not nearly enough pictures.


Over the winter I had spent a bunch of time on the sim rig turning laps in the DTM e30M3 and got motivated to add some DTM touches to my real world car. I ordered up a set of vented DTM style mirrors from a company in England. Upon receiving these fiberglass abominations and realizing I could have paid a lot less to be disappointed by a poorly fitting part I decided to head down a road I wanted to travel since buying my Japanese market car; Ganador mirrors. Some of you may be familiar with Ganador mirrors from seeing them on Japanese tuner cars from MR2s to Skylines to RX7s and more. If you know some of the cars they came on, you'll know they weren't available on German cars of the era. Since this project is a mix of OEM+ and period correct Japanese styled tuning, Ganadors and Regamasters were on the list for me from very close to the start. Since this was an experiment that I wasn't sure what would come of it, I ordered the cheapest Ganador reps I could find on eBay and set to work. The outside portion of the mirror (the shell that actually holds the mirror glass) is the same across all the Ganadors and cast aluminum bases are what differs vehicle to vehicle. My thought was to mount the mirror shell and supplied base to the door then mold my own bases to be 3D scanned then duplicated in 3D printed aluminum to replicate the originals as close as possible. After many revisions, many hours of applying body filler like clay, then sanding, reapplying filler, sanding that, etc. I finally got to a contour and profile that I liked. I then decided I wanted it to work with the OEM mirror seals so I added more filler and sanded, sanded, and sanded some more. Finally ended up with one driver side mirror base I was happy with and ready to be scanned and duplicated; first in plastic, then flipped (mirrored har har) to verify it will work as a passenger side mirror. Still in the process of getting it scanned and reprinted, as I think all of us can relate, life can get in the way.



Moving beyond some custom mirrors, I had also sourced the majority of the tools I needed to fill the large OEM tool kit I had added in the trunk. I found someone parting out e28s and they had a questionable rusty tool kit for $35 shipped that I decided was worth a try given the fact I'd likely never use them anyway. When I received them they were as pictured, rusty but not too terribly far gone. After some time on the bench grinder with a wire wheel most of the tools were looking good. The pliers I was certain were froze shut came apart with some PB Blaster and a bit of force. Gave them a quick paint job and set them in their new home. I'm still on the hunt for a large pair of channel locks and I also need to pull the trigger on the larger foam backing pad to apply to the trunk to get this off the checklist. I'm thinking a light application of acetone on the old foam with lift the glue and some spray adhesive will get the new foam in place.



Another small addition involved an email to Daniel Stern. I had swapped from the original RHD cutoff Japanese spec headlights to US ellipsoids last year and still wasn't satisfied with the output but didn't want to go to HID retrofits. I swapped from the generic 9012/9011 combo, which was an upgrade from the original 9006/9005s to Vosla +120 and HIR 9011s along with brighter reverse lights and 2700k fog lights. What a massive difference. Now they are comparable to modern cars and way way better night visibility. If anyone is feeling their lights are lackluster, send an email his way and he should be able to help you out. Very reasonably priced considering the insane mark-ups on headlights in auto parts stores.

The most recent change was to a set of Bridgestone Potenza RE71-RS tires in 215/45/16. This isn't the optimal sizing I wanted for this car aesthetically and when I was shopping for new tires I was originally set on the new "fast" 200tw, the Yokohama A052 in 225/45/16. At $280/ea they were nearly $100 more per tire than I had paid for my direzzas so that was a very tough pill to swallow. After going back and forth then finally watching a TireRack review video going over this year's competitive 200tw tires, I decided to go with the RE71-RS. They weren't the fastest tires tested but the drivers said they had the most feel and feedback and the A052s I was initially interested in didn't seem to communicate the grip levels as well. As much as I enjoy spirited driving, I'm not competing and feel and feedback are what is most important to me for this vehicle's goals. All the people I know that have run these tires absolutely love them so I'm excited to get them scrubbed in and up to temp on some mountain roads soon.

As for the fate of the ill fitting DTM mirrors, they're on the shelf collecting dust awaiting a burst of energy accompanied by a lull in the never ending to-do list that is home ownership and starting a family. I'm sure there will be a late night in the garage I'll pick them up and begin that process again.

[2mAn]

Ok, that was an acceptable update.

Dont keep us in the dark, this car is cool