Pitchblack Motorsports Rally e30 318i (now with M50) - and some Porsche 924S stuff.

[Northern]

I had wondered what the change to "Pitchblack Motorsports" on Facebook was about. Haven't checked this thread in too long.

[irish44j]

I had wondered what the change to "Pitchblack Motorsports" on Facebook was about. Haven't checked this thread in too long.

Yeah, figured it was time to think up some kind of "team name" since every other rally team seems to have one, lol. Dirty e-thirties was really a name for a big group of us who rallycross e30s (plus plenty of other e30 people on forums and such), so didn't want to claim that as "my own" :)

[irish44j]

Some Sunday work, in between other projects. Managed to get the car turned around in the garage so it's in a better position for building the cage.





Also finished prepping the cage mount positions, with our planned install less than 3 weeks away. Messed around with some seam welding, but I need practice and I don't really want to deal with that right now....maybe this summer.







Then for my evening project, I decided to figure out how to mount my floor jack (HF aluminum). Floor jacks are much preferred for rally vs. scissor/bottle jacks since you can lift at more parts of the car easily, they lift faster and higher, and are generally more useful (steel handle as a large lever, etc). But they're heavier and can't have it banging around back there.

So....got some angle iron scrap pieces out of the scrap bucket, figured out placement (to get the jack wheels into the trunk floor "grooves"), tack welded the angle iron snug on the jack base so it can't slide any direction, and put in some eye-bolts for tiedowns. And that's that. I can't make it budge with all my strength pulling in various directions, so should be good to go.

[irish44j]

Little stuff.....still documenting the arcane little things lol.

As previously mentioned I ordered up an NRG short hub to get a better length on the steering wheel. Ordered it the 26th, and it arrived today. Pretty good for regular shipping. Gotta love Amazon.com.

Anyhow, all set up and now the wheel position is much better. I transferred the horn contact ring from my Momo hub (since the next owner doesn't need it), so I also have a working horn again, which is good.









Also got some photos from Ozgur of the assembled cage in his e30 (which is templating mine) and made the firewall cuts to the trunk for the rear bars..

[irish44j]

So time to wrap up 2015 with a few little things. Since my daughter's birthday is New Year's Eve, I've gotten used to not doing anything tonight. So instead I went out last night to downtown DC for Josh Sennett (bluej if you're following this thread on GRM)'s birthday, and today Carin and I are chilling at the homestead with a few drinks...and she will kill me if she sees I posted this picture, but whatever ;)



In between dealing with Lexy's birthday and her friends over and whatnot, spent a bit of time this afternoon on my least favorite thing on the car...wiring. Yep, a lot of cleaning up still to do.





Meanwhile, I decided to do away with most of the stock cluster since the only thing that still works on it is warning lights and turn signals, and it will probabl not fit well with the cage's dash bar anyhow. But I don't just want an open hole there, and I'm too lazy to make a good panel. So I got creative and just modified the stock cluster (just the front part of it).....essentially it's just there to hold various warning lights, lol. So anyhow, that's what I did, and it saves me the trouble of making anything new. I know, it's strange. I kind of like it, lol





Also made a new dash console switch panel to include some new switches and stuff. Also got a couple dual-output power outlets from China (yeah China!) with cig lighter and USB power ports. One will go here, and another one will go in the parcel tray area on top of the dash (to power rally computer, etc).

[irish44j]

Bittersweet day as I towed Nick's e28 to Pat's house for its last time on the road. Pat is taking the whole drivetrain for his own projects and the rest of the car is being parted and then scrapped. Sad to see it go, as that car gave some great competition for the last 3 seasons of rallycross. Even sadder since Nick replaced it with an e36 M3 that promises to be substantially faster (at least on paper).



Also did some vinyl cutting. Since my number 44 is taken already in almost every rally organization, I picked one that is still on the Rally America "available" list to use (and which is also in sequence with a few other e30 rally cars, just for fun). So, will use this number going forward if I can. Also added some names with my co-driver :)

[irish44j]

So registration for the Wellsboro Winter Rally (RallySprint) opened today, and wouldn't you know who the first registrants are.....

Getting the gang back together :)

[irish44j]

Nothing much new to report right now...just doing little stuff, ordering various other little things (like electrical connectors), and a few add-ons.

One of the things I just got that I really like is this Sabelt co-driver bag. It has velcro straps on the back to strap to the passenger side door bars. Has holders for pencil/pen on the end closest to the codriver, plus a bunch of pockets and stuff....was nice and cheap and will be a good place to stash logbook and other paperwork, route books, etc since we no longer have a glove box.



Also (mostly) finished setting up the dash electrical stuff. Nothing is attached but here's basically what it looks like



And a bit more vinyl....Designed the "team name" with help from my 8-year old daughter and some inspiration from Lemmy (RIP)....so here it is



And, got an argon tank for the welder, and started practicing with gas. So much nicer than flux-core :)



So far about a dozen cars are registered for the rally.....9 of which are 2WD in my class. Guess the AWD guys don't like snow? lol..

[DER E30]

Looks like good progress! Love the new Pitchblack logo on the door!

[TeXJ]

[quote=irish44j;
And, got an argon tank for the welder, and started practicing with gas. So much nicer than flux-core :)
[/quote]

Hey is that a Hobart Handler 140? I have one and was wondering how you have it plugged in. I need to get an extension cord but not sure what kind to get.

[irish44j]

Yeah, that's a Handler 140. Where it's sitting there it has a plug right behind it (and the fuse box), but I've used it with an extension cord. I bought a heavy-gauge cord (I forget what size) that's about 20 feet long and it's worked fine. Just buy the heaviest-duty cord you can.

Speaking of welding, did a bit today building a front fire extinguisher mount. Because of the size of the extinguisher and the orientation, it would have been difficult to bolt it directly to the floorpan or the angled section forward of the seats. So I bridged it up a bit with some steel stock, welded the mount bracket onto that, and attached it to the floor. Probably a it of overkill, but the last thing I want is a fire extinguisher flying around the car, lol.







Added a secondary quick-release strap just in case, though the single steel strap is probably sufficient.

[TeXJ]

Yeah, that's a Handler 140. Where it's sitting there it has a plug right behind it (and the fuse box), but I've used it with an extension cord. I bought a heavy-gauge cord (I forget what size) that's about 20 feet long and it's worked fine. Just buy the heaviest-duty cord you can.

Did you get it from Home Depot or a welding shop?

Thanks!

[irish44j]

Did you get it from Home Depot or a welding shop?

Thanks!

Online from a welding place. It's the upgraded one with all-metal components. The big-box store ones are usually cheaper versions.

[95maxrider]

Online from a welding place. It's the upgraded one with all-metal components. The big-box store ones are usually cheaper versions.

Got a link and part numbers for all your welding stuff?

[irish44j]

The gas/tank I got at Airgas in Alexandria. Wire just look for a good deal online from a reputable brand (Lincoln, Hobart, etc). I can't recall where I got the welder, but there are many places online you can get that exact model (or other similar models). Pretty sure I got it on Amazon.com actually. But Lincoln and Miller have similar 110v MIGs for around the same price that are similar. Avoid big-box store welders (even Lincoln ones) since they usually have cheaper components. Mask, gloves, and little accessories are mostly from Harbor Freight, though I'd like a better mast at some point.