Hi Everyone!
My name is Glenn and I'm from Brisbane, Australia. This is my story and build thread of a track warrior!
I'm a huge e30 fan and bought my first e30 back in 2009. The car was a 1990 BMW e30 318is M42. 190000Kms and in mint condition. After owning the car for a few months I installed some lowered springs. Then due to my driving style the clutch started slipping so I figured that it was time for an upgrade. I went and bought a AASCO motorsport lightweight flywheel (9lb) and Exedy heavy duty clutch. The change to a single mass flywheel was really nice as it freed up the top end and the car pulled stronger.
Around this time I had the idea of racing it. I have always been into racing as my dad use to rally so I've spectated at heaps of hillclimbs and sprints. In early 2010 after having to car for 8 months I decided to enter Mt Cootha hillclimb. Obviously the car would need some race modifications to be competitive. I bought a set of coilovers and 15x8s XXR rims with Toyo R888s. I finished the event 3rd in class and caught the racing bug!
Next event I entered was Noosa hillclimb. By then I had added a full exhaust, and a 4.11 LSD. By the end of the weekend I was in first place and had broken the class record 4 times! After this I entered as many events as possible with the main focus of my mods being weight reduction. The car ended up tipping the scales at 1040kgs with me and half a tank of fuel (probably equates to around 950kgs dry). I went on to win Mt Cotton Hillclimb 3 times in a row!
After noticing the engine starting to blow smoke I summed up my options for a rebuild. At first I wanted to stroke to M42 to 2.1 liters, but this would push me into the 2000cc and over class. If that was going to happen then I was going to do it properly. So I started to source componets to convert to a 1990 M3 Evo 2.5L motor.
At the same time as this I went back to Noosa hillclimb and took 1.5 seconds off my previous best putting me 2 seconds slower then a Porsche 997 GT3.
So at the end of 2010 I found a 2.5L S14 in the states at a super low price, so I snapped it up and shipped it over. The engine came with 276/284 cams, standard Evo 2 bottom end, 48mm throttle bodies, carbon intake and Alpha N computer. The engine arrived in mid February and I started gathering parts for a rebuild, CP pistons, ARP studs etc. I was lucky that I decided to rebuild as the engine had been put together poorly. Everything was new, pistons, rods, crank, oil pump etc except 2 of the rods were put in backwards, a timing chain bolt was loose and there was 2 oil filter housing gaskets installed.
I also started collecting for the install, upgraded brakes and suspension. This is when things started going down hill. While gathering parts I was still entering heaps of events. Towards the end of April I entered a time attack at Lakeside park raceway. I had never raced there before, only driven there once at 'fast road speed'. The morning of race day arrived and I woke to find pissing down rain! So after the drivers briefing I went onto the track I very wet conditions. As the day went on the track dried and times came down until another down pour. By the time I hit the track again these was a dry line forming. At this point I will tell you my approach to racing is 'go hard or go home'. Something that came a bit me in the arse! Coming around the back side of the circuit I was flat in 4th doing about 140kph when the back end stepped. The rest was just a ride as wet grass doesn't slow you down much. I bounced of barriers and came to rest 200m down the road. The car had heaps of scratches and the sill was smashed in.
After inspecting the damage I decided in would be cheaper to get a new shell. Lucky at the time a guy at work was selling a 318i so I bought it off him for $400 not running. After stripping it to a bare shell and installing all my suspension I sent it to get a roll cage. This is when the guy doing my cage said he found rust in the chassis rails! So I am back to square one.
The engine is being built by the fantastic lads (Simon and Pierz) over at RX Automotive as I write this. These guys have helped me out on more than one occasion and are always happy to give me advice! I am looking at a few different shells this week and will update when I have one.
Thanks for reading!
Glenn
My name is Glenn and I'm from Brisbane, Australia. This is my story and build thread of a track warrior!
I'm a huge e30 fan and bought my first e30 back in 2009. The car was a 1990 BMW e30 318is M42. 190000Kms and in mint condition. After owning the car for a few months I installed some lowered springs. Then due to my driving style the clutch started slipping so I figured that it was time for an upgrade. I went and bought a AASCO motorsport lightweight flywheel (9lb) and Exedy heavy duty clutch. The change to a single mass flywheel was really nice as it freed up the top end and the car pulled stronger.
Around this time I had the idea of racing it. I have always been into racing as my dad use to rally so I've spectated at heaps of hillclimbs and sprints. In early 2010 after having to car for 8 months I decided to enter Mt Cootha hillclimb. Obviously the car would need some race modifications to be competitive. I bought a set of coilovers and 15x8s XXR rims with Toyo R888s. I finished the event 3rd in class and caught the racing bug!
Next event I entered was Noosa hillclimb. By then I had added a full exhaust, and a 4.11 LSD. By the end of the weekend I was in first place and had broken the class record 4 times! After this I entered as many events as possible with the main focus of my mods being weight reduction. The car ended up tipping the scales at 1040kgs with me and half a tank of fuel (probably equates to around 950kgs dry). I went on to win Mt Cotton Hillclimb 3 times in a row!
After noticing the engine starting to blow smoke I summed up my options for a rebuild. At first I wanted to stroke to M42 to 2.1 liters, but this would push me into the 2000cc and over class. If that was going to happen then I was going to do it properly. So I started to source componets to convert to a 1990 M3 Evo 2.5L motor.
At the same time as this I went back to Noosa hillclimb and took 1.5 seconds off my previous best putting me 2 seconds slower then a Porsche 997 GT3.
So at the end of 2010 I found a 2.5L S14 in the states at a super low price, so I snapped it up and shipped it over. The engine came with 276/284 cams, standard Evo 2 bottom end, 48mm throttle bodies, carbon intake and Alpha N computer. The engine arrived in mid February and I started gathering parts for a rebuild, CP pistons, ARP studs etc. I was lucky that I decided to rebuild as the engine had been put together poorly. Everything was new, pistons, rods, crank, oil pump etc except 2 of the rods were put in backwards, a timing chain bolt was loose and there was 2 oil filter housing gaskets installed.
I also started collecting for the install, upgraded brakes and suspension. This is when things started going down hill. While gathering parts I was still entering heaps of events. Towards the end of April I entered a time attack at Lakeside park raceway. I had never raced there before, only driven there once at 'fast road speed'. The morning of race day arrived and I woke to find pissing down rain! So after the drivers briefing I went onto the track I very wet conditions. As the day went on the track dried and times came down until another down pour. By the time I hit the track again these was a dry line forming. At this point I will tell you my approach to racing is 'go hard or go home'. Something that came a bit me in the arse! Coming around the back side of the circuit I was flat in 4th doing about 140kph when the back end stepped. The rest was just a ride as wet grass doesn't slow you down much. I bounced of barriers and came to rest 200m down the road. The car had heaps of scratches and the sill was smashed in.
After inspecting the damage I decided in would be cheaper to get a new shell. Lucky at the time a guy at work was selling a 318i so I bought it off him for $400 not running. After stripping it to a bare shell and installing all my suspension I sent it to get a roll cage. This is when the guy doing my cage said he found rust in the chassis rails! So I am back to square one.
The engine is being built by the fantastic lads (Simon and Pierz) over at RX Automotive as I write this. These guys have helped me out on more than one occasion and are always happy to give me advice! I am looking at a few different shells this week and will update when I have one.
Thanks for reading!
Glenn
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