316 superlite

[petrolhead]

Surely you must love sheetmetal work ;)

Even space crafts are made from sheet metal :).
0,75mm thick. Real easy to work on.
-that's 0.03 inches in american money. Anyway, not even that heavy. Easier to straighten/repair than aluminium when it hits something.

[petrolhead]

[petrolhead]

TDC marks not exactly spot on..

[litu]

very nice..Hhmm those "kineys" looks nice, i mean there is not so much air flow prevention

[petrolhead]

very nice..Hhmm those "kineys" looks nice, i mean there is not so much air flow prevention

You spotted the point of that pic. M3s I believe have that open kind of kidneys, and a SE has thinner vertical thingies in it (I believe), don't know what theyre called. My front valance and spoiler are without airways, so the only route to radiator is through kidneys and the side grilles. Goes together with the late 316i radiator front tunnel I'll be using.

[petrolhead]

After 7 months of not working on the car, got it to start for the first time. Because of the very high compression I decided to fill her up with RE85, which is 85% alcohol, 15% gasoline. Available at gas stations in my neck of the woods. I don't know if you have it in America.

[petrolhead]

Here's proof:

http://petrolhead.kuvat.fi/kuvat/VID_20170215_162808.mp4

I did some synchronization to the throttles before assembing rest of the inlet stuff. The plenum had to be cut and welded back together to clear the starter.

[2mAn]

I really hope your car ends up being really damn light. Mine was recently corner balanced and came in at 2327 with a roll bar and an aluminum M52

[petrolhead]

Weight distribution concers me more at the moment than weight. But, I can always change the car further.
The engine management should be about tuned now. I measured and corrected the wheel alignments yesterday. I didn't get left rear toe as I'd have wanted but otherwise they're where I want them.

[petrolhead]

The car passed the (mandatory for road cars) technical inspection, and the tech changes were entered to the registration info. So, it now has plates, insurance and it's officially roadworthy :).

I started work on a diffuser, replaced the thermostat and coolant expansion tank O-rings. It now sits in it's own corner of the garage waiting for the snow to melt. I drove perhaps 300km. The engine feels very strong if I do say so myself. No noticeable weakness on low revs even though the cam is 300/300 deg. Still has some knock on WOT at higher revs, but I believe with less ignition advance it'll be OK. And the box is just great. The smaller rev drop from 1->2 and 2->3 really does matter :). Dyno session will come much later on but it pulls quite adequately. The best thing about M10/30s is the width the torque curve I think.

Interesting to see how this'll turn out..

[Kershaw]

Congrats on getting it legally on the road.

[petrolhead]

Congrats on getting it legally on the road.

Thanks, I appreciate it. :) I do have a certain feeling of accompishment. Even though it's just an 8 valve NA car, I've spent some amount of hours and Euros to get to this point. With one goal achieved I can concentrate on future developments.

[petrolhead]

I really hope your car ends up being really damn light. Mine was recently corner balanced and came in at 2327 with a roll bar and an aluminum M52

It's ~2189 at the moment, that includes about 15 liters of fuel, spare tyre, all other fluids topped up, withOUT driver. Next I'll just move on to the weight savings that cost money, concentrating on the front of the car. It IS nose heavy :(.
Fiber hood, lighter flyheel/clutch assy, M3-starter motor, DIY inlet plenum would be the obvious first changes. These would add upp to 20 kilos of saving.

[petrolhead]

Vacuum adjustment/synchronization made the idle better.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wziwcTqng2s

After syncing I measured the vacuums of each throttle while they're open a bit. Still even readings between each. From that I deduce that the mechanical sync must also be correct. With only 4 cylinders it's important that each works for a living :)

[2mAn]

It's ~2189 at the moment, that includes about 15 liters of fuel, spare tyre, all other fluids topped up, withOUT driver. Next I'll just move on to the weight savings that cost money, concentrating on the front of the car. It IS nose heavy :(.

Fiber hood, lighter flyheel/clutch assy, M3-starter motor, DIY inlet plenum would be the obvious first changes. These would add upp to 20 kilos of saving.

The E30 will always be nose heavy, I actually plan on similar mods to get mine closer to an even 1000kg. I haven't even begun to get into the small details that you've already done, so I am going to borrow some of your ideas.

I wish I had some ideas that contribute but your list includes everything I can think of.

The double edged sword is those sweet independent trumpets, they help with power but are heavier than a single TB setup.

A corner balance obviously will help too regardless of the total overall weight. Mine was able to get a perfect 50 cross.

Keep it up, good things are to come