shEck3lls0's 318i Rallycross/ DD (slow) build

[shEck3lls0]

Video of the dead bearing.

[shEck3lls0]

Got the subframe aparts and started to clean up the diff and subframe today. I have been working for about 1-2 hours a day taking my time on it. Hopefully I can finish it this weekend.

Dirt off the diff.


Got the subframe pretty cleaned up and a lot of the dirt off of it.


Old trailing arms off.


Going to change the fluid and bushing in the diff. The fluid was extremely dirty and looked relatively low.

[phenryiv1]

In on this thread.

[irish44j]

This thread is weak. Needs moar pictures and more rattle-can paint features ;)

[shEck3lls0]

This thread is weak. Needs moar pictures and more rattle-can paint features ;)

As per Josh's request.

[shEck3lls0]

Did a couple of other small things today.

Took the old sway bar off and noticed it was slightly bigger than the one from my parts car which has new bushings on it. The smaller sway bar is off an 85 325e compared to the one that came off my car which is a 91 318i. I mic-ed them both and the smaller is 12mm compared to the larger which is a 14mm. Wondering if this would give me any of a difference.

Larger on the left.



Also put on the extra set of brembo blanks I had as the older rotors looked a little bit destroyed.



Painted the diff cover and put new fluid in it. Went with some 80w-90. I had an extra gasket for the cover, but it ended up being for a medium case rather than a small case. Used some moderate rtv usage instead.


Picked up some of this 3M window weld to fill in the diff bushing to stiffen it up/prolong the life of it slightly.


The last thing I did was replace the brake lines I stripped out the fittings slightly. I picked them up from Salvo auto. 30cms long and I just bent them to fit.


Bent and installed.

[irish44j]

excellent.....

[shEck3lls0]

Not sure how many lurkers I have on this thread as I don't seem to get much feedback. However, I will continue to update. So we are nearing the season and I have a couple more things to do before the season starts up again in March.

The "majors" are:
-Finish front suspension
-Redo the exhaust
-Do a fluid change(oil and transmission) with new oil pan gasket
-Make some plastic protection for some of the underneath of the car most importantly the fuel filter.
-Get some new rally/snow tires.
-Get the temperature gauge working so I don't overheat on the grid.

For updates, I was able to finish the rear suspension and get everything put back together. The only thing I had trouble with was getting the e-brake cables off. I will be putting new cables in later, but it shall do without them for now.


Getting the subframe into place.


And since I can't really take pictures while I am doing work, here is the subframe up and into it's new home with everything now hooked up and new bilsteins in place.

[shEck3lls0]

Also was able to start on the front suspension, however I was cut short as it started to snow and ended up with a little over an inch of snow by the end of the night... with only more to come supposedly. I pick the worst times to do suspension work.

First started by taking everything apart which came apart relatively easily.


Strut housing out.


The only PITA part of suspension is getting the control arm bolts... which honestly werent even that bad. Everything went relatively smoothly.


The old control arms were unbelievable. I knew the passenger side was destroyed cause I was starting to be able to feel it over bumpers pretty noticeably.



So now for the "new" parts.... Lots of the suspension parts I have for this car had a couple hundred miles on them from the parts car I had awhile ago for my other m50 swapped car.
Control arms(brand new)

Tie rod ends

The bilsteins which I bought off another member(vinne30) since he went with the gc setup.

And the good sway bar end links on the sway bar. I also noticed that the sway bar was once again bigger from the 91 compared to the parts car (an 85 325e) I had by just a couple mms.


The car already had some aftermarked CABs which I reused. They are a 2 piece design which I found pretty cool. Not sure what brand they were.

And then put them on the new control arms and got the control arms on.



Had to break out the re-threading kit I have as I accidentely cross-threaded one of the CAB bolts.

[shEck3lls0]

Also thanks again to VinniE30 who got me a nice little christmas present. KAMotors rally style mud-flaps.



Though they were a gift, im still gonna voice my opinion on them that I they kinda look half-assed for a product that he's making and selling alot of. The brackets are shitily done, though the material that the flaps are made out of looks pretty decent. We'll see how they hold up to this season's mud.

[irish44j]

Not sure how many lurkers I have on this thread as I don't seem to get much feedback.

I think everyone is just getting tired of all the rallycross e30s, lol. You need to throw some Volks on there and stretch some snow tires onto them. Then you'd get 10k new views by tomorrow :D

I do love the high-quality paint job on the rear suspension stuff ;)

[camip]

I enjoy your build. Nice to see cars with dirt on them.

[roguetoaster]

Real spirit working outside when there is snow on the car! I for one am not tired of rally-x builds, I just want hear a little more of the thought process behind some of the more innovative/different decisions, such as an opinion on mudflaps.

Don't I still owe you a promised shift knob? Next time I am up that way I will have to drop it off.

[kamotors]

They are just mud flaps and they get the job done, if used right they will be thrashed no matter what. They have been proven tough on local rally car e30's.

[shEck3lls0]

They are just mud flaps and they get the job done, if used right they will be thrashed no matter what. They have been proven tough on local rally car e30's.

Not the flaps themselves really. Just how they mount. Idk, I'm just scared I might lose one. I'll probably make myself some extra mounting points and some aluminum reinforcements.

I have your intake on my m50 car and I am very pleased with that. ;)