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

[NeedaBimmer]

Nice build so far, it's really coming together. When is your next rally? I want to see this thing in action!

I may have missed the post but what are your plans for the M10; stock, boost, or swap?

[irish44j]

Nice build so far, it's really coming together. When is your next rally? I want to see this thing in action!

I may have missed the post but what are your plans for the M10; stock, boost, or swap?

First rallycross at Summit point is in two weeks (March 18th). I should have some pics and GoPro vid after that.

No plans for the M10 for the time being. As long as it's running well, I'll leave it alone this season. I also have a spare M10 longblock and spare Getrag 240, so next winter the plan will be to rebuild those and possibly do some work to them, we'll see. No plans for boost, since boost doesn't really help in rallycross that much anyhow (see how Subaru GC 2.5RS's are often much faster than WRX/STIs).

Someday may drop something else in there, but we'll see. As light as this car is it doesn't need a whole lot of power and even with a stock M10 it gets up and goes pretty good (and that coming from someone who daily-drives a 300hp stage 1 WRX with a VF52). If I swap anything, it will be an M42 most likely (and S13 would be nice, but probably not in the budget). I want to keep a lightweight engine up front and not real interested in putting a six up there.

[irish44j]

speedbump today....radiator has a crack at the upper hose. Looks like I'm getting a new radiator, dammit...more on that later.

[irish44j]

More little stuff today, and some issues. And some things in the mail on the way.

First, some new brake pads should be in tomorrow, so I pulled the rotors to get them turned (front only). Wanted something with a bit more bite than the OEM-style pads.

Second, went to Wally World and with measurements in hand found myself a gear box that will fit the e30 trunk well. Actually it's damn near a perfect fit, and was only $20 and lockable. Pretty tough.





Also pulled out the timing chain tensioner spring/piston assembly to check it's operation. Haven't had any timing chain noise, but did it just to be safe. Worked fine, the piston ball moved freely, etc.



Annealed the washer since I didn't have a new one :) Don't mind the dirty stove burner, we're getting a new stove soon lol...



Now onto problems: While in the area, noticed a coolant leak. Thought it was just a loose hose clamp, but it turns out the upper radiator hose tube is cracked, dammit. Old plastic + I must have been too rough changing the hoses last week. So, ordered up a new M10 radiator, 80* thermo fan switch, and a Spal puller fan. WOuld have switched to an M42 or M20 radiator setup, but I only have 2 weeks to get the car ready to go, not enough time to scrounge up expansion tank stuff, new hoses, etc. Just go with what works for now.

doh:

[FunfGan]

Man, If you were closer I have an m42 rad you could have had.

[irish44j]

it's ok, an M42 setup would have still had the issue with not being able to bleed it, since the M10 has no engine bleed screw like the m42 does....

[kts]

Plastic epoxy that! ;)

[irish44j]

I did, but it turns out the entire inlet is cracked off inside the hose. I'll be more confident with a new radiator, if the plastic on this old one is THAT brittle...

[irish44j]

so a few things today. Pulled the radiator out. A new one is on the way, as well as a 14" spal fan and an 80* thermo switch. So will assemble it all out of the car using the factory clutch fan shroud and then just drop it all right in.

on to another issue. Still can't figure out where I'm getting a loud squeal over 3k rpm or so, at any speed, whether sitting still or driving. I replaced the alternator belt and that didn't fix it. The PS belt was a bit loose, and here's why: the adjuster with the cog bolt is stripped and can't be tightened the normal way. So I flipped the bolt and leaned on the PS pump to tension the belt, and then bolted it down tight. Should do the trick now that the belt is tight enough.

Now the real question (to be determinied once the radiator is back in) is if that's where the squeal is from. I can't seem to locate it using the hose-to-ear method. Sounds like its coming from the front of the engine, but not 100% sure that it's not being transmitted inside the skidplate from someplace farther back.

I can't think of much else that could make a squeal sound like that independent of car speed, and related only to rpms - a front crank bearing or something? I really hope not.....somethign clutch-related? I haven't checked if it makes the noise with the clutch pedal pressed in - throwout bearing or something? I would think either of those would make a grinding noise rather than a screech.

But the PS pump moves smoothly and doesn't seem to have enough resistance to make a belt slip - even one that is a bit loose.

Guess I'll find out later this week..

ALSO I'm thinking hard about depowering the e36 steering rack when I put it in , and pulling all of the PS stuff. I've heard good things about PS delete on these cars, and since this 318 is really light up front with thin tires it should be pretty decent I think. Thoughts on that? Will it help or hurt with rallycross in your opinion?

pics...

radiator out


looks pretty weary


stripped adjuster

[kts]

I did, but it turns out the entire inlet is cracked off inside the hose. I'll be more confident with a new radiator, if the plastic on this old one is THAT brittle...

Yea I would get a replacement too. The epoxy comment was a joke. ;)


As for the E36 rack, I'd leave it powered. I could see manual steering sucking in a rallycross with having to fight the wheel a lot, especially when at slower speeds.

I'd install it powered, you can always do a PS delete later if you want to feel the difference.

[irish44j]

Some stuff came in today, and this weekend is the last gasp of work to make sure everything is working and ready to roll for next weekend (the 18th)!

First, a GRM member hooked me up with a killer deal on a new Spal 14" low-profile puller fan, which came in today. Didn't want to deal with the various mounting brackets, so decided to improvise using the factory shroud (which should also keep some mud, etc out of the fan blades). I used M6 bolts, whose heads fit perfectly in the Spal mounting slots, for main support at top and bottom. Though the fan sits flush against the radiator upper and lower caps, just to be sure I used some zip-ties through the screw-mount holes to secure it even better. A pretty good fit I think. I would have gotten a 16" for a perfect fit, but that would have cost twice as much, and 14 should be fine with an 80* switch and a 71* thermostat.

the fan


mounted up




test-fit on the old radiator. The new radiator should be in tomorrow so I can put everything back together. I may also fab up some plastic panels to "seal" the fan area around the sides of the electric puller, we'll see. Probably not necessary, but could help with the suction.



Also another little project. I said earlier I installed an old CD player of mine and it worked great. Nope. Now I remember the reason I took it out of a previous car in the first place - the LCD screen is wack. Works occasionally, but shows the wrong displays. Other times doesn't work at all. Checked all the face connections and they seemed fine, and eventually just gave it up as a waste of time to try to fix.

Did a bit of research, jumped on Amazon, and picked up a Kenwood "basic" unit. It has the same power as most of the mid-range models (50w x 4 MOSFET), but has only basic features: a CD player, a radio, and a mini-jack for plugging in an iPod. No digital storage, satellite radio, or other techie stuff, just a basic unit. Cost me $50 shipped, and I had a $15 Amazon credit already, so dirt cheap. Installed it (soldered connections) and it works great, and sounds surprisingly good running 2 old speakers. Not as good as my system in the other cars, but pretty damn good for a rallycross beater.

I'll keep the deck keys in the glovebox and pull the unit at events so it doesn't get vibrated to death, lol.

Also looks pretty decent too, though the display is VERY basic. Just fine by me.





Also the brake pads came in for the front. I went with Hawk HPS because I got them pretty cheap and have used them on my last 4 or 5 cars and always liked them. Will get the used front rotors turned tomorow so I have fresh surface, and then the brakes will go back together, skidplate back on, and car back on the ground.

After that, just a few other little things and I think I'll be ready!

[irish44j]

T-minus 9 days until the first event - wrapping up the final touches for the car to hopefully survive the day :)

Luckily, the UPS and FedEx people showed up early today and brought all remaining parts I had been waiting for:

1. Hose seals, lockplates, and spacers for the e36 rack swap, which will happen probably in a few weeks. Still contemplating whether I will fully depower the rack, or keep the PS for the time being.

2. New radiator came in. The factory aux fan wiring wasn't working for some reason, and couldn't find the problem after a couple hours of digging, so I pretty much just wired it independently, using some sections of the stock wiring but not the stock high and low speed relays. I set it up with a single temp switch (80*) and dummy-plugged the other temp switch hole in the new radiator. Using a 71* thermostate. Since I didn't order a Spal intall kit, I just used a Hella foglight relay, which works fine. Got everything installed piece of cake, filled back up, and tested. The temp gauge is just above halfway when driving around, and afer a couple minutes idling in the driveway and the temp gauge midway between 1/2 and 3/4 the fan kicked on as expected, and brought it back down to 1/2 on the temp. Much quieter than the clutch fan, and no drag on the engine.

ALso thanks to Jim Vogel on Grassroots Motorsports for hooking me up with a 14" Spal for super-cheap and fast shipping. Much appreciated!

new rad


wiring/relay, using the old cruise control bracket bolt


installed. I noticed that the new radiator also has brackets on the side for easy mounting of an electric fan (the original one did not have this). Since I already did my own setup, didn't use it, but something of note (btw, this is an OEM Behr radiator)




clearance with the water pump pulley. good choice of fan I think!


need to clean up the wiring at the switch end



3. Installed a 12-volt plug inside the car, since the lighter was deleted with the center console a while back, and I still want to be able to charge my phone/iPod during event weekends. Nothing fancy...





4. After putting everything back together, the dreaded high idle came back (3k RPM). I had fixed this and no idea what I did to cause it to happen again. Checked all the vac hoses again and all are tight, checked everything else I can think of related to idle, all seemed fine. So probably the IACV or idle controller are going bad, even though they were fine a week ago.....ugh.

Anyhow, took the "easy out" method by simply reducing the air intake into the IACV, tricking it into a lower idle (while not affecting the throttle airflow). Some people use a washer to restrict the vac flow into the IACV. I was a bit worried about a washer getting sucked down the line or something (probably couldn't happen, but whatever). So I found a seatbelt spacer thing (it's like a fat washer) that fit perfectly in the hose (and snugly) and cannot be pulled down past the hose adaptor. Gave it a try, and as it turns out it is the perfect size to reduce vac to the IACV, keeping the idle around 1k rpm with the engine timing slightly advanced. Excellent.

4. Got the front rotors cut, and bedded in the new front pads. Much better stopping now (better bite, smoother, and quieter)



Oh, also added some rubber grommets to the rear skidplate bolts to get rid of any vibrations that would cause it to rattle, and also spaced down the muffler a cm. or so, to keep it from rattling against the heat shield.

[irish44j]

one more little thing tonight. I still need a shift boot to keep crap from getting down into the shifter bushing, etc....especially in rallycross. Since I have no center console, I need an old-school rubber boot or something, and I've been loathe to spend $25+ on one from Summit or ebay or whatever.

So, with little time left to get anything, time to improv!

1. spare CV boot
2. cut-off section of a spare airbox scoop
3. liberal amounts of black silicone

voila! let's see how it holds up, lol....

[irish44j]

today a few things:

1. while driving the e30 today, a guy in a new 335ci hauled ass in traffic to get next to me and then gave a full-extended-arm thumbs up, then backed off and pulled in behind me. A few minutes later 4 30-something blondes in a Lexus IS350 was next to me at a light and the passenger rolled down her window and said she loved the car (mine, not hers). So apparently my rally look is working. Hopefully my rally driving works next weekend.

2. The dreaded high idle came back. Was revving to 3000rpms at stopilights, really annoying. Then it just went away for no apparent reason. Then it started again a few minutes later. Double-checked everything, and all vac hoses tight so it must be (again) the IACV or the idle control unit (both of which have been changed out twice with used spares). Fuck it. I plugged the IACV vac tube from the elbow and then plugged the IACV hose entry. Then adjusted the throttle adjustment screw on the TB to open the butterfly slightly at idel for a 900rpm idle. The old way....Anyhow, everything seems fine now. IACV essentially deleted (though not removed yet), and will control idle throttle directly with the TB. Can't think of any real downsides other than (I guess) emissions.

3. noticed the adjuster on the thottle cable is broken. And no, before you ask it has no effect on the idle mentioned above since the throttle is still closing completely when off the pedal. I ordered a new one - I probably could just jury-rig a new adjuster with some bolts, but I'd prefer the throttle be set up the OEM way, for safety reasons.

4. Also spent a couple hours helping a friend fix some suspension stuff on his Jetta...yay.

[irish44j]

did yardwork today, and the car is more or less ready for the first event (except for a new throttle cable, which is on the way).

that said, it was a warm/dry day so did a bit of painting.

First, decided that the white wheels didn't come out very well, so repainted them in the same gunmetal my euroweaves are (so now I have 2 black, and 2 gunmetal wheels).

Strapped in with my "specially-designed" tiedown system, where they can't move at all, even in hard maneuvering (I checked :) )



Also, I hate amber lighting on the back of cars for some reason. So I had some VHT lens red paint stuff, and redded out the tails on the e30. I like much better now :)