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

[badwella]

That's a great idea for that spare wheel nut. Definitely gonna do something like that for mine now.

[irish44j]

Aand....as we wait for the big projects in a few days, here's a few more little ones. Detail stuff, stuff that I want to do, stuff that I don't really *need* to do right now but what the hell. And because I like the little personal/creative touches :)

First, got a box in today from Primitive Racing with my first aid kit and spill kit. Yeah, I know I could have assembled those myself for maybe a few less bucks, but I don't feel like spending an hour in WalMart and the Pharmacy rounding up stuff. Easy button here, and they shipped fast.

So first order of business is to mount the first aid kit. Already had this planned out. Some of you may ask "why in the car instead of the trunk where a lot of people put it?" Well, I figure that any significant injury in the car would likely take place in a rollover or contact with a wall, tree, etc. And if either of those happens, it may not be possible to get the trunk open (Nick couldn't get his open after the truck hit him in the e28). So by putting it here, I'll have better access.

It's not bolted down, but instead held with two high-strength straps running through some individual chain links welded to the bulkhead. Now hindsight is 20-20 but I welded on the links and then remember that's a pop-out panel there held in place with weak tack welds. So had to go around it and tack weld it in place better so the whole panel doesn't pop out. D'oh....but whatever, it's done now.







Project two....in the works. Some ghetto-fabrication using the passenger-side vent assembly and some lexan. This will be used to mount power outlets for Jim's navigation gear (iPad) and phone. Can never have too many power outlets (though an alternator upgrade may be in order in the near future...)

Anyhow, more on that when it's done.



And third....I hate the little twist-knob for the spare tire boltdown. And I want leverage to get it tight. And a support bar for the center of the upper load board (see post last week). Anyhow.....a weld nut, couple washers, some steel stock, and a cut-in-half bushing axle and there it is....

[irish44j]

nah, this should be fine so it has the factory attachment points. I have lexan here and can cut it easily if I change my mind. I think this will work out well.

And with that in mind...

A few little (and big) things came in the mail today:

First, a couple packs of LED strips (red and white), which I'll use for interior and trunk lighting. Will have separate switches so we can have the red on night stages if needed, and white if we need real light. Cheap and easy....we'll see how they turn out. I tested them and they're good brightness for interior stuff.



Also got in a 12-wire plug I ordered off ebay to consolidate all my cluster wires to make install/removal easier. Assembled and everything work. Nice.









Oh, and got five fresh new Altimax Arctics in, after selling my 15" Winterforces. These are said to be better for winter rally (among street snow tires) and 14" is better for wheel selection at the moment.

[phenryiv1]

S
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

Do you want me to cut you a plexi panel in the shape of the OEM cluster?

[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.

[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]

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.

[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]

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]

[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.

[DER E30]

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

[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..

[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]

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 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).