Project Canyongrun - E36 Revival

[2mAn]

Style 42 enjoyers truly are the kings of E36 owners. I've got 8, now 7, for my drift car. So light and also cheap

If they were a little wider, Id be in love... Most of the E36s I've seen on BaT dont have these wheels.

Im considering a Z3 right now that has em. They just look lost in those big hips that the Z3 has

[econti]

To be fair I've got 45mm of spacer on my rears to bring them out to the guards. In white and with the car dirt nasty low it's kind of a low budget touring car vibe. But also they are like $200 a set so it's not as much of an issue when I walk it into a gutter and delete the lip

[Panici]

To be fair I've got 45mm of spacer on my rears to bring them out to the guards. In white and with the car dirt nasty low it's kind of a low budget touring car vibe. But also they are like $200 a set so it's not as much of an issue when I walk it into a gutter and delete the lip

Would like to see some pics of this!

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Thread update:
Finished stripping the Bostongrun parts car.
Briefly tried to get the rear axles out, but decided I didn't want them enough to unstick them from the hubs after the 8LB sledge didn't budge them.
I was also going to take the front suspension & subframe, but realistically I will never return the good E36 back to stock so the parts would just sit around.

Pulled the running M52B28 which will now sit on the engine stand as a spare for both my E30 and E36.
Called a scrapper for the remaining shell to clear up some driveway space as it seems to be getting packed for some reason...

Also spent a chunk of my wrenching time this April on the Miata, refreshing & upgrading the cooling system.

[Panici]

E36 has been sitting for about a month as I have been driving the Miata more often.
Finally took it out on Thursday and it ran great, besides a very hot center console.


This was a reminder of the lack of gasket around the shift rod (since I purchased the car). I had stuffed some microfiber rags down there for the winter which worked well enough for the cold months.

Fitted up the one I bought as part of my last pelicanparts order, and threw on a spring to help counter the ZF320 5th gear lean. Surprisingly enough it does help!

As I had already taken apart half the interior, I replaced the upper center console, cubby, and switches with the nicer ones saved from my parts car.

[Panici]

Had some solid wrench time on the E36 this weekend. Prepping the car for duty again this winter.

Finally welded up some exhaust mounts to replace the single steel cable that was (loosely) holding the entire exhaust system in place. There is one mount coming off the differential, and one right between the resonators and cats. The tips actually sit tight to the bumper now instead of hanging down in the breeze.

Shot some fleet paint on the rusty areas under the car. Will be getting an oil underspray before the salt flies to hopefully extend the life of the chassis.

Removed and flushed the power steering res/filter. Alas the pump is still whining and will need to be replaced. Going to wait until it quits completely.

Installed a cheap $20 eBay RGB underglow kit just for fun. Unfortunately the strips are about 40% too short. It looks great when up on jackstands, but not so great when the light is only inches from the ground. It's obvious the strips are short.
I wired the LEDs up to the fog light circuit, and then rewired the circuit so I can turn them on at any time regardless of headlight or ignition switch position. As a bonus the cluster fog light indicator still works!

I added 15(?) sheets of 80mil Kilmat sound deadening to the trunk. Now that the car has proved itself reliable, I am hoping to kill some of the road and exhaust drone in the cabin.

Since the trunk was apart, I installed some rear damper mount reinforcement plates. I also added a rivnut to the trunk floor to secure the subwoofer box.

For good measure, I redid the power/ground wiring to the amplifier.

[Panici]

Post 36


Had the car undercoated (Krown oil spray) this fall. Will slow down the rust to get a few more years out of the chassis.

Threw on some 20mm rear spacers as I needed the 15mm set for my E28. Unfortunately I discovered the rear fender lips are full of bondo when I went to roll them.

Bought some staggered Style 68 wheels wrapped in snow tires. Should be less sketchy then the all-seasons I ran last winter.

17x7.5 ET41 Front
17x8.5 ET50 Rear
225/45R17 all around.

The small plastic fitting snapped right off my radiator. Thankfully I had a spare rad in my basement, even had some coolant ready to go.

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Kinda like the drift rat look with the Style 42s and the Style 68s together!

[2mAn]

I was considering getting those wheels as they are relatively light, but quite a bit lighter than the current wheels, with the same specs as what’s currently on it... looks good when you slam the car

[Panici]

I was considering getting those wheels as they are relatively light, but quite a bit lighter than the current wheels, with the same specs as what’s currently on it... looks good when you slam the car

I lucked out with the tire sizes, they are perfect for E36 fitment.
If there were 245s on the rear (as on the E46) I wouldn't be able to run as aggressive a rear spacer.

I can also see why 17" wheels are the E36 size of choice. They fill the wheel arches nicely.

[econti]

Man those blast pipes are just ridiculous I love it

[Panici]

Let's start with a pretty picture, because it's all downhill from here!




Car has been inop for the better part of a month now.
It is the winter headache so far this year. 🙄
Thankfully my Jeep is reliable as ever as a daily.



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Steering wheel vibration was more pronounced with the 17" wheels. Time to address the problem.
Removed the old inner & outer tierods. These look like E36 parts and didn't have enough thread engagement due to the E46 LCAs.

Bought a set of E90 inners and E36 outers, and trimmed both to make them work. Easily twice the engaged thread count now.

While I had the thing in the air, found my driver's side front swaybar mount is separated from the frame. Going to have to reinforce like I did for the passenger side.

Took the car to the alignment shop, had to remove the front lip in the parking lot with my pocket knife to fit on their equipment. Left the car overnight and the shop was able to adjust the front toe into spec, but said the rear camber adjustment bolts are wrong (?) so they didn't touch them.
When I arrived to pick up the car yesterday, the clutch pedal was on the floor. Shop claims it drove in and out just fine.


Limped the thing home without use of the clutch. Starting in gear, floating gear changes. Only crunched the box twice. 😅


Have ordered a set of FTE Master and Slave cylinders along with a Chase Bays single piece clutch line. Will probably take a few weeks to get everything up to Canada.
Going to try adding some brake fluid and bleeding meanwhile, but don't have my hopes up.


Parts removed with one shagged joint.



Driver's side swaybar mount



Unmodified (top) and modified (bottom) E36 outer / E90 inner tierods.

[econti]

Camber adjustment bolts were 'wrong'? Sounds like a skill issue

[Panici]

Camber adjustment bolts were 'wrong'? Sounds like a skill issue

Might be, my first time going to that specific alignment shop. Although I wouldn't be surprised if the previous owner just shoved a hardware store bolt of the wrong size in there.


As for some good news, I filled up the brake fluid res with some DOT 4.
Apparently the clutch hydraulic system in an E36 will self-bleed with enough pumps because it's working great now.
Threw the front lip back on after some ziptie stitch repairs.

Going to keep my orders in for the replacement parts so they're on-hand if needed. Also will keep a bottle of brake fluid in the trunk for good measure.

[downforce22]

never heard of using e90 inner tie rods, whats the benefit to using those? cheaper?

[Panici]

never heard of using e90 inner tie rods, whats the benefit to using those? cheaper?

They're longer (actually are too long and need to be trimmed.)

The E46 lower control arms kick out the lower strut mounting point for more static negative camber.

This moves out the outer tierod mount point, and means the tierods need to be longer to keep the same thread engagement between inner and outer.

[CubbyChowder]

That Canyonrot color is amazing. The wheels really suit that car too. E36 sedans are sweet, I totally want one.