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

[kts]

Aluminum will be a lot lighter as I'm sure you know but it's going to be a lot more expensive and harder to find.

I think you can pick some sheets of 12 or 16 gauge steel for not too much and fab up what you are looking for for not too much cost. I'm headed to a friend's place later who picked up a lot of sheets of steel for a tii he fabbed up for Lemons and I'll ask him what the steel ended up costing him.

The RaceSkids plates which are popular here start at the radiator support like you said and then go to the 15mm bolts that connect the steering rack to the subframe. From there maybe make a 2nd plate to cover the transmission like you are thinking. I think a 2 piece solution would be easier to install/remove and to fab up.

I have a few other ideas but I'll have to draw them in Photoshop since it will be easier to make a photo than try to describe it. (Plus I need to look to see how low the M10 oil pan sits in the car, the M20 pan is REALLY low.

[irish44j]

While the daughter was napping between various birthday celebrations, got some stuff in the mail, got some stuff bought, and got some stuff done.

First.....STILL looking for a tie rod end nut. It's M10, but fine thread and NOPLACE around here has one, not even Fastenal. McMaster has them, but in packs of 25. Grr. Stopped by Olympus to inquire, and they didn't have them either. But they had new tie rod ends for $17, so I just bought one. Figure I'll use it one day rallycrossing, so might as well get it as a spare, and use the nut lol



So with that done, all four wheels on, car on the ground for the first time in a month!



Mail came, and so did my sport trunk spoiler that I got in trade for a used guibo. Not in the greatest shape, but I should be able to spruce it up. We'll see. The shipper's packing was.....creative





Also the other day I found I had some amazon.com credit.....not enough to buy anything cool. so what can I spend it on? Some yellow Lamin-x for the fog lights (and for the headlights, but we'll see). I love me some yellow lights!





Battery was totally dead, so jumped it. Car started right up, albeit with some funny smells for a while like burning. Didn't see or find anything of note, so maybe just some crap in the exhaust or refurbished exhaust manifold. Drove the car up and down the street a few times. Brakes are grinding a bit in back when on the pedal, making me think that perhaps they're not bled well enough. Will deal with tomorrow.

Oh, and here's a shot of the clearance for the "rally lights" with the hood open. Close, but perfect!





Also nice to get the car out in the driveway so I can clean up the disaster area!



Oh, and one other little thing that I got in the mail, just because I always wanted to have one of these on a car, ever since I saw my first Lancia Delta rally car....

[irish44j]

In the category of "that was dumb"

I posted a bit ago about one of the rear brakes grinding. Decided than rather than watch new years boring festivities on tv, would go investigate.

Didn't take long to notice the problem:



yeah, that would be a brake pad on upside-down. I'll add this one to the "best of automotive fuck-ups by me" list....lol

[CW325]

A lot of good progress here! Not sure if you mentioned this but how did you mount the Hellas?

[irish44j]

A lot of good progress here! Not sure if you mentioned this but how did you mount the Hellas?

they're just drilled into the top of the bumpers. I was going to fab up a bracket to mount from the license plate holes, but I didn't want the lights sitting out that far. Did alot of measuring and got them where I wanted them, while still leaving clearance for the hood to open.

If you look 2 or 3 posts up, there's a side-view photo where you can see the mounts.

Still have to do the wiring and such. Trying to figure out if I can use the stock fog light switch (and/or wiring, I think it's still there as well). Will have to see if any of it is in good working order.

[irish44j]

did some test-driving today. Everything feels good (especially the suspension), though I am getting a bit of a rumble from somewhere in the back half of the car. With the car up in the air the only noise I hear is some light rear brake pad contact and a bit of ruble somewhere around where the driveshaft center bearing is - so that might be the issue. So hard to tell...

Some out in the sun pics..



4x4 stance yo. Hellaunflush.

[irish44j]

grr...upon further thought and examination I'm thinking that it's my driveshaft center support bearing that is bad and causing the grinding noise I'm hearing. Dammit, I KNEW I should have replaced that thing while I had the exhaust and DS off the car.

so....back up on jackstands this week :(

[irish44j]

as I wait for a few other parts to come in, did some fun stuff today.

First, took my daugher to her first college hoops game, where my George Mason Patriots put the smackdown on conference bitch William&Mary.



she thought it was loud..


when I got home, first put together a battery tie-down out of random stuff. It hasn't had one since I bought the car, but don't want to buy anything since the battery will go to the trunk eventually.



Pulled the back deck of the car, took out the heavy speakers in them, and recovered it in some gray outdoor/patio carpeting.



Then built my "cargo shelf" in place of the back seat, using some 1/2" MDF. Should be good for strapping down the track/rallycross tires, toolboxes, etc. I plan to put some tiedown eyes in it. Still need to figure out how to secure the rear end of it. The fronts will have some pins through the stock boltdown eyes to hold it down. Pretty pleased with the fit. Used the same gray carpet. Will do the back of the seat as well with 1/4" MDF. Probably hinge it off the bottom, so I can pull them out at the track. The intention is to make all the boltdowns for them quick-release or pins with a clevis ring. We'll see.

not sure why the photos are in such a wierd color....must have my camera on a strange setting...

templated


more or less finished

[CW325]

Nice. Will you be stripping out all the radio wiring or just the speakers?

[e30trooper]

nice !

my early 84 318i i used to have came with the factory 3.91 lsd small case. Rare diff

[irish44j]

some better pics....

Again, these are made to be quickly removable at rallycrosses, but I want the car to be somewhat nice at least when I'm just cruising or something, lol.

You can see, the particle-board connectors at the bottoms of the vents were broken, so I screwed the vents in - you can't see the screws with it in the car anyhow. No idea what that black triangle thing on the deck is, but I put it back on just because it looks cool, lol



And here's a better shot of the backseat area/parcel shelf area now. I'm thinking I'm going to get some pop-up sunken tiedowns so they sit flat when not in use but can be used to strap down a cargo net or wheels when needed :)



I also plan to paint the door cards with some black vinyl paint, because I hate the tan, but I'm not spending money on new door cards for a car like this!

[CW325]

the triangle thing holds the seatbelt for the middle seat ;)

[irish44j]

Nice. Will you be stripping out all the radio wiring or just the speakers?

The wiring to the rear speakers was removed. Also the wiring for the trunk and gas cap auto-unlocking mechanisms (removed), the power antenna and wiring, and a few other little things.

I will be putting front speakers in, only because I am always listening to music, and I don't want to do 2-hour trips to Summit Point all the while listening to loud tires and old car sounds! Hearing the noises that old cars make always makes me nervous, lol.

[irish44j]

the triangle thing holds the seatbelt for the middle seat ;)

ah, that makes sense. I wouldn't think of that since there are no rear seatbelts, lol.

[kts]

I've noticed the sound coming from the rear speakers of my car than the fronts. Not sure if that's my lousy wiring, the location/angle of the fronts, or maybe I'm just crazy. I hope the front speakers are enough to drown out the road noise to/from the track.

And I would have killed for that antenna wiring the other day! ;) I added the antenna back mostly so I can listen to 103.5 for traffic reports should I be stuck in traffic while driving the E30.

The rear seat DIY looks good. I like the idea of pop up/down tiedowns for a cargo net.

If painting the rear door cards don't work out you can pick up used cards at junkyards for cheap. Crazy Ray's up near me sell them for $13 each.