E30 Rally Build Thread

[drutt23]

Nice progress man! Keep it up!

[iamsam]

Did you clean up the door inner shell after removing the factory plastic? I removed my factory plastic and the inner shell was a mess of mud, dust, grease, and sticky residue.

[MasterOfPuppets]

So I picked up a bulb to replace the weak one in my shift light (2-pack was $5). The original was 3.4W, and I upgraded to 5W. This change plus a better incident angle makes the light effective. Here's how it's (temporarily) mounted:



Should be hard to miss. As I mentioned previously, I stripped the doors. For those who are curious, here's how they look:



Somehow in the course of removing all the door lock mechanism and wiring from the driver's door, I did something to irreversably lock the passenger door :curse:. Power accessories are the devil's work! I will solve this when I remove the entire lock mechanism, I just now have to do it from the passenger's floor instead of a comfortable chair with the door open. Ah well.

[iamsam]

WHOA my bicep scale is waaaay off....

Now, let's get some exhaust work done!!

[MasterOfPuppets]

40 lbs? I could swear the compressor alone must weigh 50... Did you weigh it all?

Yep. Compressor and hardware was just over 20. Condenser and fan were about 15, and the rest of the lines were 5. Even the massive cast iron compressor from the '73 Lincoln was only 45 lbs.

[iamsam]

40 lbs? I could swear the compressor alone must weigh 50... Did you weigh it all?

[MasterOfPuppets]

AC Pull

Finally, more progress. Ripped out all of the engine bay AC apparatus. Now I have a nice big empty space in front of the radiator, perfect for a relocated oil cooler and maybe a pusher electric fan.



All told, the AC stuff weighed about 40 lbs, which is roughly 1.8% of the overall weight of the car.

Pulled the door panels and all of the power lock crap. There are now about 10 fewer wires running out into the door. I figure I'll make some aluminum panels to cover up all the metal edges per the RA rules. I can probably even sell my panels and come out even. Sweet.

Installed roof vent #2, no pics yet but they work great. It almost seems like they're too effective, but I'm sure I won't think so when it's 95 degrees and humid next summer.

EDIT: Door panels are spoken for.

[cjm]

Not an E30 but thought you all might like to see.

I took this Sat at service for Oregon Trail Rally. This is a newly built car. They put coil overs at all 4 corners with new brakes from the same company to fit 15" wheels. I can't remember the name of the company, sorry.


BMW E36 M3 Rallycar by ChrisMason, on Flickr

[MasterOfPuppets]

This is the one I've got, and it looks very similar to yours (but I bought it 3 years ago): http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-G2945/

I'll be visiting the car next weekend and can take a look at how I wired it, if you think that'll help.

Same one, but don't bother looking for my sake. The wiring was simple enough, I just need to make sure all my connections are good. I think it's just a crappy light that needs a super-bright red LED slapped into it.

[blalor]

I don't know, I had to put it straight up to my eye to even tell it was working when I first tried it out. … So I think this model just sucks. Either that or I wired it poorly, which is unlikely, but worth checking.

This is the one I've got, and it looks very similar to yours (but I bought it 3 years ago): http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-G2945/

I'll be visiting the car next weekend and can take a look at how I wired it, if you think that'll help.

[MasterOfPuppets]

But I think the angle is really important. I don't think it's intended to be that far out of your line of vision.

I don't know, I had to put it straight up to my eye to even tell it was working when I first tried it out. I've used other shift lights made by actual brands (autometer specifically) and they blind you completely if they're pointed at your face at all. Most of them I've run with the caps on they're so bright. So I think this model just sucks. Either that or I wired it poorly, which is unlikely, but worth checking.

[blalor]

Haven't read the whole thing, yet, but this is a fantastic build thread. I love these; they show me how little imagination and resolve I actually have. I put that same (er, I think) shift light in my teams LeMons car. It's screwed into the dash right above the gas gauge (on the slant) and works great (and is nearly mandatory, since our tach stopped working). But I think the angle is really important. You're obviously a smart, resourceful guy so I'm sure you'll find a solution, but I don't think it's intended to be that far out of your line of vision.

[jasonsnoddy]

I hope you guys make LSPR11 even without the car. I could show you around while you are in town.

I'm out in Portland Oregon right now for the Oregon Trail Rally starting tomorrow. Today we had press rides and an invite only parc expose downtown. Anyone interested out west here should head to PIR by 6pm tomorrow.

were you at olympus? which car?

[LuckyHenriksen]

Haha off topic but I am going to be up in the different stages of the ORT today through Sunday, working as a road marshall. Maybe I will see you there!

[rstraugh]

Thanks for taking the time to sign up and post, this is all great to know. Hopefully I can keep you entertained over the next few years with the build followed by race footage As Sam said, the good sways are on his car now, but it's probably even more likely that his old stockers I have now have a bad bushing somwhere (especially the way he drives). It's on the list of things to check out when I get it on stands.

Too bad to hear about the clutch, although it's good to know that the original lasted 206k! Sounds like it may be a pressure plate and/or flywheel and/or pedal linkage wear/setup issue if several different friction discs have exhibited slippage. I may just replace the whole shebang, we'll see what it looks like apart.

Also good to know about the filter, I'll probably order one this week. I knew it looked a little beat, but 1998...!

I replaced the friction disc and pressure plate both times. If I had it to do again I would have kept the stock pressure plate and replaced the friction disc. The flywheel is original.

Double check the measurements on the air filter; I found that one from memory. My memory obviously isn't that great since I didn't remember that the swaybars were in Sam's car.

If the clunk you are hearing is more of a thud while cornering on bumps you might check to make sure the exhaust is centered well. I chased that clunk for years and thats why it has the group N rear subframe bushings. Turns out that the exhaust was hitting the body under high cornering forces because it was slightly off center.