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

[irish44j]

Well, I won't notice any difference per se, since I curently have an M10 in the car, and the Ford injectors are going in the M42 that's being swapped in this winter......so I will really have no basis for comparison, lol.

[kingston]

Ah, gotcha! Well, have fun anyway!!

[irish44j]

Well, another event in the books. This was one with a big collection of RWD cars (9 in MR, 6 in PR). The frontrunners in MR (Shawn and Gorka in the RX7s and myself) all kind of got screwed with multiple water truck passes right before our runs. The large contingent of other MR cars today (mostly e30s, an MR2, and Shawn's co-RX7 driver) were farther back in the order (thanks to rankings), so they got to run the course after we had dried it for them, lol. Price for points I suppose :)

After a short morning session due to timing equipment issues (we only got 3 runs).... out of 9 cars, class leader Shawn was sitting 5th, I was sitting 7th, and Gorka (who I'm tied for 2nd in season points with) was 3rd, I think. Shawn's co-driver Scott Lentz was in first, and a couple of the e30 newbies were up in the top as well. Shawn and me, in particular, had DREADFUL first runs directly after the water truck. Both of us had 4-5 cones and bad times in addition. I'll note that Shawn and I are on identical Yoko rally tires with identical wear (from the same set!). And we did close to identically bad on that run. Gorka, on the other hand, started behind me and got to watch the two of us look like idiots in the first section (all grass and mud, all wet). So that and his nearly-new rally tires that still had nice square tread blocks, and he stomped both of us on that run and there was no coming back, basically. We were both 15-20 seconds back after ONE run. Gorka was driving great today as well, and also apparently figured out an issue the RX7 had been having, and gained some power. Yay....

In the PM the course was dry and I was clawing my way back toward the top, running close to Shawn and Gorka and getting a lot back from the other e30 guys in particular. But then the water truck came again.......TWICE. And on each of those I fell farther back. For the afternoon I also took riders on 5 of my 6 runs, and I always tend to drive sloppy with riders it seems. But whatever. I knew Gorka had 2nd for the season locked up and I have 3rd locked up, so why not just have a good time now, lol.

Final standings had Gorka in 1st (first time Shawn's been beaten all season), Shawn's co-driver in 2nd (he was on pretty much dried-out terrain most of the day), Shawn in 3rd, Chris Nonack in his V6 MR2 in 4th about 12 seconds ahead of me in 5th. I did manage to beat the 4 other BMWs in MR, so at least there's that. But Pat Henry (first-timer at rallycross, but a good driver at other motorsports), was pretty damn close. Again though, the other e30s were running behind us in more dried-out conditions so that did help them to some extent. Will be interesting to see how close/far everyone is if we get a all-dry event next time out (fingers crossed).

standings for the event here: http://www.wdcr-scca.org/RallyCross/...1/Default.aspx

--

In other interesting things....one of Jim Spoth's friends co-drove my car today. He usually drives a Saabaru (stock). So we could run opposite groups he ran in PR class (he won't get season points for it though). PR ran in ALL dry conditions so were much faster than MR today, and he beat me by over 80 seconds total in my own car, haha....I thought he looked damn fast.

That said, the conditions made me expect that. What I was MORE interested in was how close he could get to PR class leader Roberto Moreton. Mike finished only 12 seconds back of Roberto on the day. Pretty good for first time driving a car totally different from what he usually drives. This is good, because word is that Roberto is moving to MR next year (stripping his interior). So this tells me that Roberto is about as fast as Gorka. And with my engine swap and hopefully fresh tires I can pick up some time next season.

Gorka is apparently moving to mod AWD in a vintage Audi rallycar of his, and Shawn may put interior back in and run PR (so I've heard) but who knows what the RX-7's will be doing next year. What I do know is that there's a good crop of e30s (and the e28) and it looks like we will all be pretty competitive with each other in MR and PR classes. I have a feeling the SR guys may also bump up to PR/MR next year too.

more later, with some pics and a few other (hopefully) interesting things.

[irish44j]

As an addition to the above ^^ I was pretty surprised at how close the other e30 guys were to me today, even if they did have somewhat dryer course than I did. Since I've autocrossed against Pat, Nick, and Jason for years I had an idea on what to expect on their skills, but for first-timers they really drove impressively in the other BMWs. All of them were on brand-new snow tires, and all of them are 6-cyl cars with considerably more power than I have, which I think really helps them close the gap even without a season's worth of experience......which makes me a bit worried about once they get the experience and still have that power too. And Pat and Nick know how to build cars to a purpose, so they'll do it just as well as I (in my opinion) have.

All in all, this puts extra impetus on getting the M42 into the car this winter, and then try to wring some extra power out of it with a chip and whatever else I can do short of FI. At least that will get me on a level-ish playing field in terms of power with them, since I'm sure they'll do many of the same setup things that I did with the suspension/etc (or already have) so I will really need that power next year once they get more of a feel for the courses and gravel/dirt driving. It's gonna be fun next season.

ALSO pretty happy they were close, on the other hand. I didn't want them to come out and do badly, decide they didn't like it or that it wasn't worth it. So hopefully they stick with it and we'll have a fun season next year going back and forth (with or without the RX-7s).

[phenryiv1]

As an addition to the above ^^ I was pretty surprised at how close the other e30 guys were to me today, even if they did have somewhat dryer course than I did. Since I've autocrossed against Pat, Nick, and Jason for years I had an idea on what to expect on their skills, but for first-timers they really drove impressively in the other BMWs. All of them were on brand-new snow tires, and all of them are 6-cyl cars with considerably more power than I have, which I think really helps them close the gap even without a season's worth of experience......which makes me a bit worried about once they get the experience and still have that power too. And Pat and Nick know how to build cars to a purpose, so they'll do it just as well as I (in my opinion) have.

Thanks for the compliments. I really think that there should be a post-season test & tune. I'd love to have you drive the 325 to see how you do with the higher power, and I'd like to get a feel for how big of a difference the rally tires make.

As you mentioned (in the wall of text that I truncated), I think that if we can sort out some of the suspension things that you have done- bushings, ball joints, etc), the car will feel a lot better. Also, with my sloppy shifter and worn out linkage, I had to search for 3rd several times, and I shifterd 3-4 when I meant to go down from 3-2 at least once. Little thing like that are irritations that take my focus off of driving and onto the car- which really is an irritation.

You will benefit from the fresh M42 and a chip, so all-in-all, the cars will be a lot closer to even next season. We MIGHT have slightly more power (assuming that out B27 is not exhausted), but you will be lighter and can hold gears for longer with that higher redline. Right now our better power somewhat balances out your suspension advantage in terms of the totality of the circumstances, but with both cars getting upgrades where they need it, we'll still be pretty balanced (I think).

And you are off the hook on the GoPro- I just ordered a Motorsports Hero2.

[irish44j]

true. No reason we can't swap for a run at the next event. I have 3rd in class locked up so it won't much matter anyhow.

[irish44j]

one other interesting little note from the last event.....

The 4-person ETA team had a bit of an issue when they put two large cracks in the right rear suspension tower just two runs into the day (keep in mind, the car has run three seasons with 4 drivers per event, so it's more like 12 seasons of rallycross!).

After much scrounging of random scrap parts from other people and random toolboxes, they put together a "repair" and proceeded to run the rest of the day (about 20 more total runs on a rough course). e30 = the toughness.



also, the rough course revealed a "repair" a previous owner had done on Nick's e28 in a rusty area of the wheel well. It was revealed when it fell out. Yay clump of fiberglass, painted to blend in with the metal...

[irish44j]

So in the meantime, I've also been working on the M42 a bit. Basically have it most of the way back together, now that I got the final pieces of timing gear. Ended up buying a new (updated) chain guide and new chain. MIght as well just DO it while I'm in there, right?

Everything back together good, except I need to pick up a longer bolt for the odd top fitting of the chain guide. Once that's in I'll put the upper timing cover back on and button it all up...





Removed the "mess under the intake" and TB preheater too. Still need to get the right hose there going to the port on the head, but will find something that works...



Mustang injectors in there



In the "what the hell" category......I need new exhaust studs (they were missing when I got the engine), and it turns out the M42 uses an M7 stud, which is basically impossible to find other than ordering it special from BMW. Why they didn't use M8 like every other damn e30 engine is beyond me.....annoying though. Even Fastenal and McMaster don't have them.....



Some other stuff to put back on , and a coil pack that I got from Stuart.


In other things, most of the gauge cluster is now not working well, aside from the speedo and fuel gauge. The temp gauge bounces all around and the tach is dead. And this cluster has new board batteries, so I think all the banging around just knocked something loose inside it. This winter I'm going to ditch it entirely and build a panel there (and also in the center console) and just put some standalone gauges for everything in the car. One less BMW electronic piece to deal with....

[irish44j]

and since I neglected to post any good pics from the last event, here are a handful that I and others took:

typical grid line shenanigans. Reminds me I need to put some through-bolts in my rear bumper pistons, since everytime someone bumps me the bumper gets cocked outward on one side and I have to kick it back in , lol



Spencer getting sideways


The ETA boys skipping the course entirely to find a very large, very deep mud puddle


Nick in the e28


with me




making a path for the water truck




Matt B in his MA H6-swapped impreza that dominates most events


subies


the competition - Roberto and Gorka


Doesn't get much closer than this. The cone wobbled but stayed put


and more here if you want to see them

http://s78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/Summit%20Point%20Rally-X%2010-14-12/#!cpZZ1QQtppZZ24

[dnick]

looks fun josh!

[kts]

In the "what the hell" category......I need new exhaust studs (they were missing when I got the engine), and it turns out the M42 uses an M7 stud, which is basically impossible to find other than ordering it special from BMW. Why they didn't use M8 like every other damn e30 engine is beyond me.....annoying though. Even Fastenal and McMaster don't have them.....

....

Fortunately they are cheap, like 40 cents a stud. I highly recommend the studs from an E90 since they have an E-torx bit on the end to make installation very easy. They are like 42mm vs 45mm for the stock M42 but you should still have enough stud to bolt the exhaust manifold on.

With the engine on a stand like you have double nutting the studs in wouldn't be too hard, just a pain. I used the E90 studs on my E36 and it was a life saver with the odd angles and limited room to work. You'll just need an E6 etorx bit or wrench.

I'll post up the part number when I'm not on my iPad. I paid 40 cents or something cheap like that per stud from my local dealer. Even times 24 studs it was worth every penny for me with my E36 for the time and frustration they saved me.

[kts]

Also for the temp gauge in the dash, check for loose wires but also look into a new temp gauge sensor, mine was old and replacing it fixed the dancing temp gauge issue I had. Not sure about the M10 but on my M20 it was the 1 prong sensor with a brown connector.

[irish44j]

cool, sounds good. And the M42 studs are 40mm, I think. At least that's what the one I have is.

[irish44j]

Also for the temp gauge in the dash, check for loose wires but also look into a new temp gauge sensor, mine was old and replacing it fixed the dancing temp gauge issue I had. Not sure about the M10 but on my M20 it was the 1 prong sensor with a brown connector.

yeah, it's still reading fine, it just moves around a bit. The wiring connectors on the stock gauge cluster are crappy. Even for the speedo I have to wiggle it sometimes to make it work. I've taken them apart and fixed/reinforced them as well as I can, but getting tired of it. Just gonna get some tougher gauges....plus I want oil pres, oil temp, and amps anyhow so might as well do them all.

[phenryiv1]

Fortunately they are cheap, like 40 cents a stud. I highly recommend the studs from an E90 since they have an E-torx HEAD on the end to make installation very easy.

Josh-

I have e-torx bits if you need to borrow them. I bought them for when I built my 327i motor.