E30 Rally Build Thread

[drutt23]

Oh look, someone from Sheridan!!

Me and a buddy at work were joking that I am the biggest dealer of E28s in Sheridan. I sold two to my buddy up there, and I may be heading up there this weekend, actually, gonna be a relaxing trek across WY, cruise control, and wait.....

Also, I will be selling a third E28 to my buddy (a parts car) AND i may be selling a 4th E28 to another buddy up there in Sheridan. Will prob end up being the only 4 E28s in Sheridan. Ha ha!

You best not be telling me where these guys are because they won't have those E28s in their possession for very long ;)

That's crazy though!! I seriously thought I was the only person in Sheridan that was really into BMW's. Except for all the rich bastards with their brand new ones.....but they just buy them to show off their munies....

If you come up here sometimes, we might have to get together and chat E30 for awhile or something. Maybe give me the addresses to where these E28's are.....:)

And to my knowledge, yes those will be the only E28's in Sheridan. I only know of four other E30's up here, and I rarely see any of them.

[iamsam]

You best not be telling me where these guys are because they won't have those E28s in their possession for very long ;)

That's crazy though!! I seriously thought I was the only person in Sheridan that was really into BMW's. Except for all the rich bastards with their brand new ones.....but they just buy them to show off their munies....

If you come up here sometimes, we might have to get together and chat E30 for awhile or something. Maybe give me the addresses to where these E28's are.....:)

Oh they WEREN'T into BMWs, but I think I have made a solid convert out of one of them, and he is spreading his disease to another, who is interested in buying my current E28...

yeah I am pretty sure I am heading up there this weekend. I will be taking the E39 540i/6 though :( my E28 isn't very road worthy atm.

The first E28 I sold to my buddy is a pretty cool car though, 1987 535is in great shape, and I am bringing up a full Bilstien Sport/BavAuto suspensionto put on. Also, he has staggered style 32s he is gonna throw on. It's going to look good.

also, read through your project thread, I'm definitely going to have to check that out.

[lambo]

Can I get a close up of the lug studs? I'm looking into them and I've only seem close ups of the 90 mm ones on trm c1's (which happen to be the wheels I'm looking at to buy).

Thanks!

[Lof8]

Looks like a blast! I am jealous.

[durtyE30]

The skidplate thing is probably a good idea, the only trouble I can see is finding a solid place to mount it way up in front, maybe on some of the bumper structure. I could make a big aluminum front and under-engine plate and then a "HDPE" plate for the rest of the underbody (once someone can explain what "HDPE" is and where to buy it).

I didn't really check the full steering travel, but I cranked it pretty good going in and out of the driveway and didn't get any rubbing. Seems like it will be fine.

And finally, I seem to have developed a large power steering leak, seemingly from one of the hoses from pump to rack... who sells 'em? And does anyone sell steel-braided ones?

EDIT: Just had what may be a brilliant idea. From what I can tell, the E30 front bumper mounts to some kind of shock absorbers just like in most cars. So, if I attached my skidplate to the bumper itself in front, and fabricated a way to mount it in the rear so that it could slide longitudinally and still be vertically rigid, I would have a shock-absorbing front skidplate! But would it be better?...

Get one of those weld-on skids that is sold on E30Tech and then modify the front of that plate to cover bottom of your rad support? I think that'd work well with sufficient coverage in strength...

As for HDPE...I've heard of HPDE (High performance driving event, non-competitive track days)

[MasterOfPuppets]

If the HDPE your talking about is the one i'm thinking of then HDPE is High Density Poly-Ethylene. You can buy it at any plastic distributor. It cuts really nice if you cut it on a CNC. I've also cut it with a skilsaw and it cut like butter. Just make sure it's clamped really good.

That must be the stuff... now to find a plastic distributor somewhere around the UP. Really, I just haven't had time to look into it all that much. And I only wish I had a CNC machine to play around with... but I have a Skil saw!

No, prob not the best idea. Those bumper shocks are one-time use, as in they compress, and don't de-compress, and you have to buy new ones. The idea is to save you in one collision, not to provide continuous energy dissipation from your front bumper for all your ramming needs.

Shucks. Have to find another way to satisfy my ramming needs.

Can I get a close up of the lug studs? I'm looking into them and I've only seem close ups of the 90 mm ones on trm c1's (which happen to be the wheels I'm looking at to buy).

Next time it's not raining and I'm not working I'll grab some closeup pics. So, June 2012. :curse: Lake Superior...

Get one of those weld-on skids that is sold on E30Tech and then modify the front of that plate to cover bottom of your rad support? I think that'd work well with sufficient coverage in strength...

Couldn't find anything at e30tech about a skidplate, but I don't think weld-in is a great idea for a car that will probably break often. Plus I think I'll enjoy making one myself while I have the car in the shop for the cage this winter.

[JasonBates]

I really do like what you're doing here. Makes me want to build my coupe so bad. Keep it up man.

[SlapDash]

Yes, skid plate must be removable. My very stout, very well built, brand-new skid plate turned out to be one-time use from the abuse it took. The plate was flat on the bottom, then had a significant bend to tuck up nicely under the bumper. Well, let's just say now the whole plate is flat.

[cjm]

TCMotorsports sells a very nice skid plate for E30 M20 race cars: http://www.tcmotorsports-store.net/e...kid-p3020.html
Currently $180
Have not heard of anyone making an E30 specific flat aluminum style skid plate generally used on rally cars.

[MasterOfPuppets]

Yes, skid plate must be removable. My very stout, very well built, brand-new skid plate turned out to be one-time use from the abuse it took. The plate was flat on the bottom, then had a significant bend to tuck up nicely under the bumper. Well, let's just say now the whole plate is flat.

TCMotorsports sells a very nice skid plate for E30 M20 race cars: http://www.tcmotorsports-store.net/e...kid-p3020.html
Currently $180
Have not heard of anyone making an E30 specific flat aluminum style skid plate generally used on rally cars.

Yeah, I don't think anything made for road race is quite what I'll need. I'm thinking full car-width, almost full car-length and made up of something like 1/4" plate aluminum or 1/8" (maybe even 3/16") steel. I'm way more concerned about durability than speed at this point... the 500hp Chevette I'm brainstorming as a follow-on rally car will take care of that.

[SlapDash]

Yup, durability is the key.

My skid plate is/was 1/4-inch aluminum plate. It covered the whole underside of the engine and we even had a mini roll cage (bash bar) surrounding the the oil pan and we STILL cracked the pan.

In Pic 1, you can see the plate in the foreground, the bash bar, then the pan. There used to be three inches of clean air between the plate and the bar, and the bar and the pan.

Pic 2 is a bottom view looking up where some killer Maine rocks lashed out and shredded the welds.

Pic 3 shows the dent in the plate from the rock that pushed the bash bar into the pan.

I think I'll relocate my oil pan to the roof.

[MasterOfPuppets]

I think I'll relocate my oil pan to the roof.

Dry sump... I like it. WTF happened out there?

[SlapDash]

Umm, they weren't so much 'roads' per se, more like 'ravines' with occasional road-esque features. I've lived in New England my whole life and I've never seen rocks like this.

I was actually avoiding a string of boulders that had been kicked up across the road from the previous 50 competitors, when I hit this wave of gravel that picked us up, sailed us through the air, and dropped us squarely on Mt. Everest with my oil pan as the pivot point.

The hit knocked the wheel out of my hand, my navvie dropped his notes and we were both looking out the sides of our helmets.

We actually finished the stage, but as soon as I shut the engine down after we lined back up, all I got on the soft Maine breezes, was the wafting aroma of hot Castrol.

[iamsam]

Yup, durability is the key.

My skid plate is/was 1/4-inch aluminum plate. It covered the whole underside of the engine and we even had a mini roll cage (bash bar) surrounding the the oil pan and we STILL cracked the pan.

In Pic 1, you can see the plate in the foreground, the bash bar, then the pan. There used to be three inches of clean air between the plate and the bar, and the bar and the pan.

Pic 2 is a bottom view looking up where some killer Maine rocks lashed out and shredded the welds.

Pic 3 shows the dent in the plate from the rock that pushed the bash bar into the pan.

I think I'll relocate my oil pan to the roof.

I think I found new sig material.

Also, Mike, I would suggest somehow tying your "bash bar" mini-cage for your oil pan up to the subframe by angling bars off the bash bar up to the frame rails, to support any loads that would come directly up into the oil pan, like landing on Mt Everest.

[SlapDash]

Ha ha, nice! Thanks for the sig addition.

I'll take a better picture of it when I find myself underneath my car again, but you can see the bash bar a little bit here.

If i didn't have this thing, or the skid plate, I wouldn't have made it past Stage 1.