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

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    Originally posted by irish44j View Post
    btw Stuart - I managed to take the little tiny black "click" piece out of the defroster switch and used it to fix my fog light switch, so it worked out fine :D
    Awesome! Glad it all worked out.


    Go here be happy!

    Ratchet Garage e30 V8 build.

    Comment


      Today received my ebay strut tower brace. It's stainless steel and looks really beefy. And it was cheap. About 1/3 the price of strut bars that the major e30 retailers sell, with free shipping.

      But, here's the problem with cheap stuff sometimes: It doesn't fit well.

      First of all, the holes don't line up. I had to slot the holes on one side significantly (like 1" over), and just to bolt it up it's pretty sloppy. Second of all, it rubs against the spark plug wires on the dizzy. The FSTB was probably templated on a non-M10 car with the dizzy elsewhere.

      Both of these are problems, but not dealing with shipping it back, etc. So maybe next week I'll cut the one off-fitting end off and take it to get welded back on in a better position to line up and clear the plug wires. Not a big deal, but still a bit annoying. In the end, it'll still cost alot less for this bar and to get it fixed than it would for even most used bars on the forums....

      If anyhing, I'm taking the car in to get the muffler welded on so maybe those guys can do it at the same time.

      the bar on the car:


      driver's side is a good fit:


      passenger side fit is terrible. Temporarily improv'd


      way too close to the dizzy for comfort
      Stage rally/rallycross e30 build/competition journal
      Track/street e21 build
      visit Condor Speed Shop
      visit Motorsport Hardware



      [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"] 1985 318i/M50 Rally Car - 1988 Porsche 924S - 2005 Sequoia tow pig - 2018 GTI

      Comment


        Originally posted by irish44j View Post
        Today received my ebay strut tower brace.

        But, here's the problem with cheap stuff sometimes: It doesn't fit well.

        First of all, the holes don't line up. I had to slot the holes on one side significantly (like 1" over), and just to bolt it up it's pretty sloppy.

        passenger side fit is terrible. Temporarily improv'd

        A lot of the name brand braces have fitment issues as well. There is some evidence that the distance between the strut towers on some models and there seems to be no real reason or pattern to which models this happened to.

        You can get some flex in the strut towers by jacking the car up from the front crossmember and sometimes that is all that is needed to make the bar fit.

        I had to do some reaming of holes to get my Sparco bar installed (which looks to be identical to your bar other than the paint/powercoating on mine), but from your close up of the passenger side it's way way off.

        Any idea if the car was ever in a wreck? Could explain why it's off so much. (Although it's really probably just a case of shody Chinese knockoffs...)

        Comment


          I'm pretty confident that the car has never been in a wreck. There's no evidence of that anywhere - and as you can see in this thread, I've pretty much seen every little detail of the car so far, lol. I think it's just a matter of shoddy workmanship/fitament.

          It's almost moot anyhow - even if the holes did line up, it would be hitting the dizzy. SO I think the easy solution is just going to be to cut off the bar flush with the end plates, and just have them welded back on in a position where they'll have more clearance on the dizzy and line up better.
          Stage rally/rallycross e30 build/competition journal
          Track/street e21 build
          visit Condor Speed Shop
          visit Motorsport Hardware



          [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"] 1985 318i/M50 Rally Car - 1988 Porsche 924S - 2005 Sequoia tow pig - 2018 GTI

          Comment


            Sucks that the strut brace didnt fit. If you need a foglight switch pm me, I have one, maybe we can work something out :D

            Comment


              lol...I already drew up an end template for the towers. Then I'll just angle-cut the bar and weld it to the end plates (which are full-circle 3-bolt in 3/16" scrap steel). Should work fine and be stronger than the original anyhow. Just have to find some time to get down to the steel fab shop since I don't have a drill press or holesaw bit big enough for the inner circle!

              I got the fog switch working, just was missing the tiny black tab that locks it in the "on" position, which I pilfered from the defroster switch that Stuart sent me :)
              Stage rally/rallycross e30 build/competition journal
              Track/street e21 build
              visit Condor Speed Shop
              visit Motorsport Hardware



              [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"] 1985 318i/M50 Rally Car - 1988 Porsche 924S - 2005 Sequoia tow pig - 2018 GTI

              Comment


                My daughter informed me that she can take care of the problem.....

                Stage rally/rallycross e30 build/competition journal
                Track/street e21 build
                visit Condor Speed Shop
                visit Motorsport Hardware



                [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"] 1985 318i/M50 Rally Car - 1988 Porsche 924S - 2005 Sequoia tow pig - 2018 GTI

                Comment


                  I went to my great-uncle's farmhouse today and dug around in his giant building full of random junk/scrap metal/old rusty cars/etc. This is the kind of place that would be a dream trove for Grassroots Motorsports types.

                  Was looking for some 1/8" steel plate to make a skidplate with, but almost all of his sheet steel was 1/4", and that's way too heavy for my purposes.

                  In the end, I managed to get some 14 gauge stainless sheet. Obviously this is not sufficiently stiff to make for a good skidplate, but it will do decent temporary duty as a general splash/flying rock/mud guard for the underside fo the engine bay and tranny, and it doesn't weigh too much. I'll probably make it in the form of a real skid - it is thick enough that it won't deflect statically, though it will be limited protection on any hard hit. Luckily, this car sits really high (about 6-7" clearance under the oil pan) so I don't expect to take any hard hits at Summit, really. Since it's about 4" wider than the size I want, I'm going to turn up the outside edges about 2", so that should add a good bit of rigidity to it as well

                  I also will go get some 2" steel bar from Home Depot to use as stiffeners and reduce deflection. Will either weld them onto the sheet, or perhaps just bolt them on initially.

                  All in all, it's not exactly the protection I was looking for, but it was free and it's alot better than nothing, at least as a heavy-duty splashguard.

                  The plan is to use two large bolts through the holes in the main subframe as rear mounts, and put a couple bolts through the lower radiator support as the front mount.

                  Anyhow, more on this once I do some bending, cutting, and bolting. Monday is a federal holiday, so I have all day in the garage for this :)

                  Stage rally/rallycross e30 build/competition journal
                  Track/street e21 build
                  visit Condor Speed Shop
                  visit Motorsport Hardware



                  [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"] 1985 318i/M50 Rally Car - 1988 Porsche 924S - 2005 Sequoia tow pig - 2018 GTI

                  Comment


                    tomorrow's plan is to take it on a bit of a shakedown cruise as I run some errands within 20 or 30 miles of home and hit some of the "country" roads to see how everything is running. One thing I hadn't gotten around to yet is hooking up the car audio. And I really don't want to drive around all day with no tunes, listening for every little noise and being paranoid, lol.

                    So, time to re-hook-up the CD player that came with the car. It's an old Blaupunkt unit. And as good as the Germans are at building cars, they suck at audio equipment, at least in this range. I hate Blaupunkt decks.....but this is what I have, so I guess I'll use it. And I'll break out the CDs since I haven't run a radio antenna wire yet and it doesn't have any hookup for my iPod :( I'll need to find some new audio before the long drives to Summit, because I don't want to carry old CDs around, lol.

                    And since the speakers in the back deck are no longer, had to run some wire and install them in the front kick panels (where the original wires went, no idea....)

                    So, it works. It sounds mediocre at best compared to the highish-end setup I have in the WRX and the 4Runner, but good enough...



                    Stage rally/rallycross e30 build/competition journal
                    Track/street e21 build
                    visit Condor Speed Shop
                    visit Motorsport Hardware



                    [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"] 1985 318i/M50 Rally Car - 1988 Porsche 924S - 2005 Sequoia tow pig - 2018 GTI

                    Comment


                      Your hazard button and defroster button are installed upside down. ;) (Although I'm guessing maybe you did that on purpose.)

                      You don't think 14 gauge is thick/strong enough for a rallycross skid plate? Especially with the reinforcements you are planning.

                      I'm jealous of your 3 day weekend.

                      Comment


                        Originally posted by kts View Post
                        Your hazard button and defroster button are installed upside down. ;) (Although I'm guessing maybe you did that on purpose.)

                        You don't think 14 gauge is thick/strong enough for a rallycross skid plate? Especially with the reinforcements you are planning.

                        I'm jealous of your 3 day weekend.
                        not on purpose, just not paying attention, hah. You didn't mention that the adjuster switch on the left isn't popped in all the way (what is that for, anyways - gauge illumination?)

                        IDK, I'd rather have some 10-gauge that can really take a hit without deflecting or need for bracing, but this will do for the time being. This car has about as much ground clearance as the 4Runner parked in the garage next to it, so I'm thinking all I really need is something to keep mud and gravel from the engine bay. But a stainless sheet this size is over $100 and this was free, so it was a pretty easy choice :)

                        would you be even more jealous that I have a 3-day work week after it? (I work 9's, and take every other friday off :) ) Too bad the weather this weekend is going to suck......
                        Stage rally/rallycross e30 build/competition journal
                        Track/street e21 build
                        visit Condor Speed Shop
                        visit Motorsport Hardware



                        [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"] 1985 318i/M50 Rally Car - 1988 Porsche 924S - 2005 Sequoia tow pig - 2018 GTI

                        Comment


                          Originally posted by irish44j View Post
                          not on purpose, just not paying attention, hah. You didn't mention that the adjuster switch on the left isn't popped in all the way (what is that for, anyways - gauge illumination?)

                          IDK, I'd rather have some 10-gauge that can really take a hit without deflecting or need for bracing, but this will do for the time being. This car has about as much ground clearance as the 4Runner parked in the garage next to it, so I'm thinking all I really need is something to keep mud and gravel from the engine bay. But a stainless sheet this size is over $100 and this was free, so it was a pretty easy choice :)

                          would you be even more jealous that I have a 3-day work week after it? (I work 9's, and take every other friday off :) ) Too bad the weather this weekend is going to suck......
                          That switch is a volume adjuster, for the original stereo.


                          Go here be happy!

                          Ratchet Garage e30 V8 build.

                          Comment


                            today's project was cutting, bending, and test-fitting the skidplate. It's currently bolted onto the car (loosely) and the fit is good. I still need to do some detail work, including cutting some notches for extra clearance of the steering rack inner tie rod (just to be safe, probably don't need to), and setting up a couple additional mount bolts. Also will cut some holes in the upper end of the front slanted area, to let more air get to the radiator. Also may cut a small hole for the oil drain plug.

                            Leftovers after cutting were two full-length 3" wide strips, which I'll use for longitudinal reinforcement.

                            made the cuts and took the grinder to smooth the edges and round the corners


                            setup. Don't have a brake press, so we'll do this the old way, with heat, a BFH, and my own weight.


                            test fit


                            on the car


                            clearance from pan (using 4 washers in the rear as spacers, which seems about right)


                            also cut the OEM lower valence, because it looks lousy without it, and put it back on around the skid


                            on the ground




                            ground clearance is about as good as my 4Runner, lol. Hella stance yo!


                            oh, and put a painted 318 badge back on. This car isn't too fast and I don't want anyone thinking its just a 325 with a tired engine, haha..


                            Stage rally/rallycross e30 build/competition journal
                            Track/street e21 build
                            visit Condor Speed Shop
                            visit Motorsport Hardware



                            [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"] 1985 318i/M50 Rally Car - 1988 Porsche 924S - 2005 Sequoia tow pig - 2018 GTI

                            Comment


                              Nice work fabbing up the skid plate!

                              Comment


                                Originally posted by FunfGan View Post
                                That switch is a volume adjuster, for the original stereo.
                                No its a left/ right balance adjuster :)

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