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

[irish44j]

Spent the day today doing some team assistance and giving the M42 a full shakedown run. 30+ miles on the highway at 70 and the car ran great, aside from being just barely bearable in terms of engine/exhaust noise. I definitely plan to do some re-soundproofing on the firewall and transmission tunnel in the very near future.

Helped out Nick and Bobby with the e28 for about 4-5 hours today trying to get the newly-built hybrid engine going. Long story short, in those hours we didn't get it running, chasing down one issue after another. Apparently they finally got it going about an hour after I left, by switching out ALL of their "new" injectors back to the stock ones. I had mentioned it earlier, but injectors were last on the list so we didn't get there until last. Figures, lol









Also swung by ETA team member Chris Helgesen's place, checked out his most excellent shop, giant machine-working tools, and some of his cool fabrication projects. Also took a ride with him in the ETA to troubleshoot a noise he was hearing. Let Jim Spoth run my car behind him. Gotta say, even on the road Chris drives that ETA at 99% track style....It was a fun ride.

Nick and Jim both drove my car today, though I don't think either was terribly impressed by the 4-cylinder, both of them being 6-cyl e30 guys :) I don't think they were prepared for how "rough" the M42 feels versus the M20, which is much better balanced.

Oh, and at the shop....most epic toolchest I've ever seen: Snap-On Chevy Bel-Air in the legit turquoise color. So awesome...

[irish44j]

a shot posted up on our FB team page by the RG318 Cup guys..

[95maxrider]

Nick and Jim both drove my car today, though I don't think either was terribly impressed by the 4-cylinder, both of them being 6-cyl e30 guys :) I don't think they were prepared for how "rough" the M42 feels versus the M20, which is much better balanced.

Oh, and at the shop....most epic toolchest I've ever seen: Snap-On Chevy Bel-Air in the legit turquoise color. So awesome...

It's tough to say if the roughness was from the motor or the poly motor mounts. Felt more like the mounts than anything. It wasn't that bad!

Yeah, I worked around that tool chest for so long I forgot how awesome it is. It's pretty bitchin'.

[irish44j]

It's tough to say if the roughness was from the motor or the poly motor mounts. Felt more like the mounts than anything. It wasn't that bad!
'.

lol...and those are solid mounts (and poly transmission mounts). With the stock mounts in it's definitely smoother, but still not as smooth as a sixer.

[irish44j]

Did a little bit of indulgence today. I know it's kind of anathema for a car like this, but after the long cruise yesterday the sound was really annoying. If this was a trailered track car that would be ok, but I have to drive to events and like to cruise on the weekends, so I don't want a headache after driving for 2 hours.

So....a bit of weight penalty. But not much. 4-5lbs tops.

I used this:


(thanks Pat Henry and Nick for the suggestion)

Did the passenger firewall (inside and outside), as well as the entire transmission tunnel back to the shifter and a small part of the passenger floor. Basically everywhere the exhaust runs directly under. We'll see how well it works. I may cover any "foot contact" areas with some skateboarding grip tape or something so the insulation doesn't get torn up. We'll see :)



outside firewall behind the heat shield (basically replaces the stock stuff, but this is lighter)



passenger footwell. only in locations where feet won't be most of the time

[95maxrider]

Did a little bit of indulgence today. I know it's kind of anathema for a car like this, but after the long cruise yesterday the sound was really annoying. If this was a trailered track car that would be ok, but I have to drive to events and like to cruise on the weekends, so I don't want a headache after driving for 2 hours.

So....a bit of weight penalty. But not much. 4-5lbs tops.

How many rolls did you get? I don't think one roll weighs more than 2 pounds, but I don't have a scale to check with.

[irish44j]

How many rolls did you get? I don't think one roll weighs more than 2 pounds, but I don't have a scale to check with.

I got 2 rolls. I was just guesstimating that each were 4lbs, but could be less. It's pretty light either way.

[spoth]

Honestly, I didn't mind the noise or vibration at all, which is good, since I figure the chumpcar is going to end up having similar levels of NVH.

I mostly missed the torque of our 6, but I'm used to the 4.10, and I drove it like an eta, so I was shifting way early. (Not to mention the fact that I was being a respectful test driver... Nick)

The insulation does look pretty cool, though. It reminds me of the Apollo Lunar Module. If only it was gold.

[irish44j]

Honestly, I didn't mind the noise or vibration at all, which is good, since I figure the chumpcar is going to end up having similar levels of NVH.

I mostly missed the torque of our 6, but I'm used to the 4.10, and I drove it like an eta, so I was shifting way early. (Not to mention the fact that I was being a respectful test driver... Nick)

The insulation does look pretty cool, though. It reminds me of the Apollo Lunar Module. If only it was gold.

mine is a 3.91, so it's actually not that far off. But my redline is about double the ETAs, lol.

[spoth]

mine is a 3.91, so it's actually not that far off. But my redline is about double the ETAs, lol.

My understanding is that transmissions from 4 cylinder cars have lower ratios, but the extra redline definitely helps. 1st on our car with the 4.10 is to 15 MPH or something equally silly. Now that we can chip though, watch out.

[irish44j]

Got some random small parts in from our newest team sponsor IMBMparts.com (check out their site, their prices on most items beat man of the other popular distributors here on R3V if you're looking for OEM BMW stuff). Also run by our man Danny, here on R3V :)

And some more car bling, which will be on 4 cars on our team :)

[irish44j]

PROJECT: EVAP CANISTER BLING-IFY.

Eventually I'll get around to removing the evap stuff. But since I just finished those two bottles of Guinness, might as well make some use of the wraps :)





heheh...

[phenryiv1]

I am about to remove the evap stuff as soon as i can find the time.

[unevolved]

That's awesome.

[95maxrider]

I am about to remove the evap stuff as soon as i can find the time.

Does removing it do anything except reduce clutter?