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

[89_325i]

Loaded up the next morning to head home, with some dirty vehicles..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bxjTx4vWP0&t=587s

And will post more interesting photos/vids as they become available.

This is excellent! Congrats! I loved the in car vid, looked like a lot of fun.

[irish44j]

(recap of WMWR a few posts above this!)

oh also, after unloading and unpacking, got back to the M50...

rebuilt the PS pump, and put most of the accessories on..





I have until the end of March to get the M42 out, do some upgrades to the engine bay area, and get this drivetrain in..

[irish44j]

Thanks, I joined those groups and I'm now following you on FB and Instagram. I'll start a thread on here when I get going, it'll be bodywork then cage first. Probably won't be easy to source a cage up here but I have a few ideas.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

post about the cage on the BMW gravel rallying page. There are several Canadians in there that will know where to get a cage done right.

[89_325i]

The wiring is really super-easy. I haven't done it for the M50 yet, but did it for the M42 swap into this car (originally M10). Just takes a couple hours and looking at (widely available) resources to match colors.



There is a lot of e30 rally resources out there, with dozens of them running in the US. If you're on facebook check out "dirty e-thirties" page and "BMW gravel rallying" page and make sure you do a thread on here and we'll be sure to chime in.

Thanks, I joined those groups and I'm now following you on FB and Instagram. I'll start a thread on here when I get going, it'll be bodywork then cage first. Probably won't be easy to source a cage up here but I have a few ideas.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

[irish44j]

WMWR Winter Rally 2019


(simon van der wal pic)

Last rally with the M42 (slightly sad)

Since Chris already did his write-up of WMWR'19, here's mine (re-using some of the pics that he borrowed from me for his thread). WMWR is one of our closest and favorite events. It's not a full stage rally, but instead the first 2 stages of STPR run 3 times each (i.e. same stage in both directions). But if you've followed along with me, you know that I prefer the more technical stuff (rallycrosser.....) to the high-speed stages at STPR, and they are better suited to our low-power, balanced e30 as well. Last year we won 2WD at WMWR by choosing the right tires – while others chose poorly. This year we'd have no such luck, as everyone showed up with snow/ice tires – so with a level playing field, it was sure to be closer.



We rolled up to Wellsboro and unloaded, and headed out in the Sequoia to do recce, along with a few other teams in their own tow rigs...







Then off to tech. Though I keep the car in pretty good shape, tech always makes me a bit nervous. But we flew through with no issues – so that's 10 techs successfully passed :)

I forgot to upload a pic of our car at tech, but it looks like...the same car you've been reading about for 9 years now. So here's a pic of the Merkur getting tech'd instead



Chris and I managed to show up to tech wearing the exact same thing, which foreshadowed what happened later...



That night, headed out to the local bar to hang with some of our local friends – oddly enough none of the 3-4 local rally drivers were entered, for one reason or another, which kind of sucked.

Next morning off to parc expose we went.




(lori Lass photo)

There was a chainsaw ice-sculpture competition going on across the green




And then off we went to start the rally. While we've done this rally 3 times before, there were some changes this year. First, a new half-mile section was added at one end running through the Waste Management quarry area (also used for STPR this year), which was pretty cool and made for some great photos and vids. Here's Sean Burke's video footage (us at about 0:50) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6Xq...lKOCj8BBrdZkj0

The other change was at the jump. At STPR it's a wide-open, big-air jump. SCCA rallysprint rules discourage “getting air,” so every year they try something to slow the cars down. This year, they made a double-pin-turn at the jump where you entered on one side, drove past the jump, pin-turned and drove up and over the jump (fairly slowly) then another pin turn, down along the side, and going down the straight.

Here's us on one of the entries:


And making the pin turn, a bit sloppily with not enough slip


Not much air to be had


(both Mike Seitz photos)

I know the guys who like the air (like Chris) didn't really like this setup, in spite of the fact that many of them have hydro-brakes to assist in the turns (we don't). Since we generally don't go very big on jumps anyhow, and like tight stuff, I kind of enjoyed it – though it would have been nice to have some additional turning space and grip in there. In any case, it let spectators at the jump area get to watch a bit more action from each car than just a jump.

We continued on, without much drama. Had a few quick minor offs that required backing up, and a few close calls (sliding across a big ice sheet in a corner and almost hitting Matt Chmielewski's WRX that had already skidded off there and hit a tree), but overall the car felt pretty good and we were on pace with the notes. Between stages comparing notes with Nonack and Alan Edwards, it was pretty clear we were all running close times to each other (with only the Subarus running a bit faster).

We finished 3 stages and headed for service, which consisted of eating lunch and our crew checking stuff, since nothing needed repairing.

Nonack had about 45 people on his service crew, looking desperately for something to fix (which is typical for him, except this time nothing was broken...)



And out we went for 3 more stages. Now the rally had started with snow/slush/frozen mud surface, and during the day any area in the sun melted and became giant lakes of water (with shady areas remaining frozen). As we progressed to the last couple stages all that wetness was re-freezing and getting very slippery again


By the last stage, it seemed like we had a slight margin and with everything refreezing, drove a bit more carefully to avoid trees, rocks, and/or flatting our Altimax Arctics on some of the jagged rocks that had been kicked up during the thaw. Still put up a pretty good time, but I'll admit that I almost coasted through the last few turns which were getting icy, thinking of BRS where we almost went off right before a stage finish. Would be a lousy time to go off.



So, we transited to the final check-in, took a few pics with our excellent crew



Then off to the fairgrounds, where we parked next to Nonacks....



Some other casualties were there...Ozgur's e30 (you may recall I gave him the shell) had some transmission issues and debeaded a tire and retired after 4 stages.



Matt managed to get unstuck and continue on for a few more stages before his WRX retired



So in we went for the post-event dinner and awards/hangout time. And after a while, provisional scores were posted. WTF?



yep, you read that right. We tied with the Nonacks for 2nd overall (I think we actually “beat” them based on a stages-won tiebreak or something). AND we tied them on time on the 5th stage. What are the chances? Since they are in the “over 2.5L class” and we are in the “under” we both won our classes. But still, pretty crazy that after 83 minutes of stage time we tied. It was cool, but also annoying since I know I let off for those last few turns that could have saved us a few seconds. Oh well...



Loaded up the next morning to head home, with some dirty vehicles..



Overall, pretty pleased with my driving and Jim's notes, and the car's performance in general. Not a huge entry field, but we did well against drivers who have historically been faster than me (Chris, Alan, among others) so I'm personally happy we were able to win on equal-tires this year. Looking forward to next year's WMWR again!


(Lori Lass photo)

Here's some in-car vid from one of the stages to give you an idea of the conditions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bxjTx4vWP0&t=587s

Some other spectator video: (us at about 2:55 and a few other times) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u6eTVBCJWc&t=8s

And will post more interesting photos/vids as they become available.

[irish44j]

Just read through a good bit of that (last 30-40 pages).

Someone put me on to the thread because I'm mulling jumping the gun on building my E30 into a rally car and wasn't sure it'd be a good idea. This has convinced me. Wow.

I have a 325i with a M50 non-vanos swap that the guy never finished the wiring on (he was an idiot, just buy an adapter). I need to fix some bodywork, but then theres a cage going in it for sure. I will definitely keep tabs on your swap, as I'm sure the last guy did some things wrong and I'll see how to fix them in here.

The wiring is really super-easy. I haven't done it for the M50 yet, but did it for the M42 swap into this car (originally M10). Just takes a couple hours and looking at (widely available) resources to match colors.

There is a lot of e30 rally resources out there, with dozens of them running in the US. If you're on facebook check out "dirty e-thirties" page and "BMW gravel rallying" page and make sure you do a thread on here and we'll be sure to chime in.

[89_325i]

Just read through a good bit of that (last 30-40 pages).

Someone put me on to the thread because I'm mulling jumping the gun on building my E30 into a rally car and wasn't sure it'd be a good idea. This has convinced me. Wow.

I have a 325i with a M50 non-vanos swap that the guy never finished the wiring on (he was an idiot, just buy an adapter). I need to fix some bodywork, but then theres a cage going in it for sure. I will definitely keep tabs on your swap, as I'm sure the last guy did some things wrong and I'll see how to fix them in here.

[TeXJ]

oof, that's right my bad haha

[irish44j]

you going obd1 or obd2 on this swap?

Just OBD1, since that's how it came. I like to keep things easy :)

[TeXJ]

you going obd1 or obd2 on this swap?

[irish44j]

A few more quick things before we go rallying this weekend...

pulled the valve cover, coil packs, and plugs. The plug seals on the valve cover were pretty leaky so lots of oil down there, so had to do some cleaning up. The valve cover gasket MUST have been original, it was hard as a rock - no wonder it was leaky.





Also got in my replacement seals and o-rings to re-seal the VANOS. It wasn't in failure mode as far as I know, but might as well do this while I have it all open.



Then spent a few hours cleaning the engine, which is looking pretty decent now.



The oil pan was straight-up nasty. Did a lot of scrubbing and wire-brushing. Thank goodness for Dawn!



I also pulled the oil pump sprocket nut and cleaned the nut and threads, and then replaced it with a liberal amount of Loctite Red, and punched the thread ends for a bit of extra security. These are known to back off and cause a loss of oil pressure (mostly on track cars that see high RPMs a lot). Better safe than sorry.



Things on the bottom end going back together, a lot cleaner now.



And our friends at Condor Speed Shop sent me some fresh UHMV M50 swap mounts (the right height for the e30), as well as fresh G240 transmission mounts and new bushings for the shift carrier at both ends, to tighten things up. Though the solid mounts were a bit too much vibration for me with the M42 due to it being a rough 4-cylinder, they should be substantially smoother with the six-cylinder and its natural balance.



A few last-second prep things for WMWR - rain-x all the windows, and added a lower front banner/sun shade, since WMWR runs late into the afternoon and evening and there is a lot of sun-in-the-eyes action



Also did the side windows as I've done before, which is great when the sun is coming from the side (duh)



Then found out all the lighting testing, etc. I've been doing drained my Yellow Top. Deep cycle batteries are nice, but a pain to charge. It was all the way down to 7 volts and my Die Hard charger wouldn't charge it (thinking it was no good). So I did the old trick of wiring in parallel with a good battery to get the charger going, and after a few hours back at full power.



So, pack-up time tomorrow!

[irish44j]

ok, let's keep going now that there's something interesting to work on again...

First order of business: get rid of this e34 shell and get my garage back. A guy was initially going to buy it for body panels to fix his, but he bailed. After spending a week talking to him and him sounding really interested, he just stopped answering my messages altogether. I hate selling stuff to unreliable people who waste my time. Anyhow, spent the other day pulling additional parts off to sell, and some for Carlos from Condor Speed Shop (my sponsor), who races an e34 in Chumpcar.

Once that was done, made a few calls and found a place to take it to hopefully get a few bucks in scrap money. I threw the heavy ass transmission in the trunk, some other junk, old exhausts, etc from behind the shed, and other heavy metal stuff into it and loaded up.

Once again, I keep regretting not putting a winch on my trailer. I've never had the need for one so far, until now. So, bust out the come-along and some tie-down straps and slowly cranked the car onto the trailer.





I've never scrapped a car before so called to check the requirements. Really the only requirements for this place were "you take the tires home with you (they can remove)" and "big hole in the gas tank and anything else with fluids." So, had to drain the gas tank last night. The gauge was showing it as close to empty. NOPE. Drained like 9 gallons into 5-gallon buckets (my lawn mower will have fuel for a decade!).

So off I went this morning early to the scrapyard, and doh....inspector sees my "large drill holes" and is like "no, they need to be BIG, like the size of my fist." Crap. So I turn around and haul 15 minutes home at 730am, grab my biggest hole saw, and put three BIG holes in it. And then towed it back. This time no problems. Got weighed in, drove to the back where a guy was racking and stacking cars in his big claw machine.

Backed it up, and he lifted it up a foot so I could take the wheels off.



Aaaand....my impact would not budge the rusty lug bolts. Well that was dumb. Luckily, I had thrown the stock lug wrench into the trunk for scrap. Grabbed it and with most of my strength managed to break them all free, while I saw the guy in the machine chuckling a bit. Threw the wheels into the truck (selling them to an e36 rally guy) and watched the e34 go to die.



I also previously pulled the exhaust and cut out the middle section/cats, which I'll sell along with a spare M42 cat. Wanted to see how they matched up with the M42 exhaust and if they'd fit on the e30 with some modification. Maybe...with a chop of a few inches of the single-pipe section upstream of the cat. Hmm.



So, car gone, garage back. Time to get the engine up on a stand. But first, did the rear main seal.



Stuck the little flywheel from the auto trans back on, rotated it to stick the TDC pin in (checked at the front as well), and stuck it up on a stand. I dont' like this 3-leg stand for the big M50 really (fine for the M42), but Nick used it for his S52 and was fine, so....but Added a front brace to help stabilize it nonetheless.



Not doing much tonight, but did pull the main crank bolt and related stuff. My big impact made quick work of it.



And most of the rest of my parts coming in, have almost everything I need at this point.

Also finally got my e-code Hella H4 headlights for the Porsche to replace the sealed beams. So, installed those even though that car isn't going to see any night driving until the spring probably



yeah, these are the old lights. forgot to take a pic of the new ones. Whatever. Red Porsche.



Also doing final prep for the winter rally next weekend. not much to do, really. I think we're good to go for the most part. Weather looks questionable - coudl be rain, snow, ice, mud, or all of those. So, typical mess.

[irish44j]

Oh I absolutely agree with the reasons for doing it, torque is a wonderful thing

Did you guys get many alloy engines? Wasn't there something with the M52 that meant you got iron blocks instead?

Something about the cylinder sleeves. I think the only Mxx engines that were aluminum were the M52 in the Z3 and the M54.

[econti]

Oh I absolutely agree with the reasons for doing it, torque is a wonderful thing

Did you guys get many alloy engines? Wasn't there something with the M52 that meant you got iron blocks instead?

[irish44j]

Lightly disappointed the M42 is going but it'll certainly be interesting to see how much faster it will be with more power

you're not the only one. Because I like the M42 so much, for the last year I've been mulling the idea of trying to do a supercharger or turbo in order to stick with the engine. The rallycross and rally venues we run at just have a lot of hills and open areas, and loving the M42 doesn't make it any more powerful lol. Also....

1. This M42 is probably pretty tired. I never did the crank bearings or any internals, so I'm sure the crank thrust bearing surface is pretty worn.

2. DASC is hard to find and expensive, and the added weight of either S/C or Turbo and all the associated stuff is probably geting close to what the M50 will be anyhow.

3. I dont' like the idea of having an intercooler on the front of a rally car. Things on the front of a rallycar tend to get hit by immobile objects lol.

4. Turbo/SC is adding complication and points of failure -- both things I don't like to add on a rally car.

5. Cost. The entire M50 swap, when taking away selling the e34 parts, shell, and (possibly) all my M42 stuff, may end up being pretty close to free or at most a couple hundred bucks. No chance I could put together a reliable FI setup for anywhere close to that.

6. I will probably keep one of my two M42s. Because you never know what else I may want to use it for in the future ;)