phenryiv1's Rally Cross 87 325- Caged, B25 Swapped, Rear suspension refresh Last Page

[95maxrider]

I'm a little curious about why your e radiator doesn't work with the i motor. Hopefully I don't run into the same problem tomorrow :o And how in the world does the i tach not fit?

[phenryiv1]

I'm a little curious about why your e radiator doesn't work with the i motor. Hopefully I don't run into the same problem tomorrow :o And how in the world does the i tach not fit?

Inlet/outlets are not in the same places between eta and i cars. This can be overcome with the use of eta hoses, but the i coolant bottle is on the opposite side as the eta one and the overflow nipple on the radiator is in the wrong orientation.

As to the tach, a picture speaks 1000 words, so i'll upload one later. But the long story short is that early motometer clusters use a tach with a circuit board that is a different shape than later cars. Either that or the 7k motometer tach that i bought on here was not from an e30.

[phenryiv1]

So...updates.

On a positive note, I was able to dig through a bunch of parts from parting out another e30 plus all of the work on both this one and my now-departed '88 and I found the speed nuts to mount the oil cooler, which was formerly held in place with 3 zip-ties. This is much better:





I still need to get some protection fo rthat, but nose-dives are less likely in RallyX than are scraping the bottom of the car, so I might be safe for now.

I reconnected the driveshaft to the trans and the diff and got everything tightened down. Little about working on cars is more frustrating than having an lift in the garage but working on your back in the driveway.



See those Condor mounts again...beefy!

I also got the shifter installed. The b!tch clip really earned its name. I could not get it to close properly because there was no way to get leverage to close it, but after about 20 minutes of cussing it it just seemed to snap into place while I was trying to move some random tool in place to try to snap it closed.

I also replaced the rear "stay" or bracket for the carrier. It was very easy to do with the driveshaft out of the car, and both the metal of the carrier and the rubber bushing were in terrible shape.

New bracket:



From the top:



I MIGHT need to clean up the dash a bit over the next two week.

Friday night I got the odometer out of the old Motometer cluster and reset the mileage to "000000" for the sake of easier record-keeping. The title was already listed as mileage not-disclosed, so no legal issues there.

I followed this thread for the how-to: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=193348

So this does not look right...



Much better:



Back together:



So this was a problem...

I also bought a Motometer 7K tach to switch into my existing Motometer cluster to replace the 5K tach that came in the eta. I saw a link here: http://www.strictlyeta.net/technical/tachometer.html

I looked at the tach and it seemed right, before I actually removed the old one from the housing. After removal of the original unit, I fhound out that the 2 tachs are not compatible. Picture:



Old on left, new on right. Still determining the year of the "new" one so that I can avoid the same mistake twice.

We also got some of the sound deadening off of the floor. The co-driver worked on that while I did the mechanical stuff. I have more pictures but they either did not upload properly or Photobucket ate them.



Edit: Other deadner removal picture:

[Nick_S]

Always love reading updates in this thread. Keep it up!

[phenryiv1]

Always love reading updates in this thread. Keep it up!

I try...I really do...

So a quick update based on a call I got about 20 minutes ago. The exhaust issue noted on the previous page (about not being able to get from the dual downpipes to the single exhaust path) was resolved today. The co-driver and I decided to divide and conquor. He took the pipe that still had the merged section just as the twin pipes enter the cat (it looks like an "X" pipe when cut open). I took the twin pipes that were cut beyond that point.

I tried going to local parts stores for reducers and adapters and he took the other pipe to exhaust shops near where he lives. After me striking out, he succeeded in getting a shop that would "oval" a 3" pipe to form it to the ovaled section of the pipe that he had, then woudl weld in a 3" to 2.5" reducer to allow us to go 2.3" back to a more conventional exhaust. We still need to lay out the final path, but at least we have the hardest part figured out.

Pics as soon as I get them from him.

[95maxrider]

I'm jealous of your oil cooler....

[phenryiv1]

I'm jealous of your oil cooler....

See what I meant about the cluster/tach? 1 pic = 1000 words.

[phenryiv1]

Exhaust pictures from the 2-to-1 conversion:









Details later.

[phenryiv1]

Not much new to report, but I collected some parts for this final push to next weekend's race.

Dynomax 17733 2.5" muffler, cherry bomb to fill the spot where the old cat was located, and some oddball connectors to lay out the path.



Misc small parts form Tischer (getbmwparts.com). I needed them in a hurry so I ordered them straight from BMW, as several of the parts are dealer-only parts that other parts places order from BMW dealers or have drop-shipped. Also grabbed a PS belt from Advance Auto Parts since I needed to round up to $100 to save $40 on my exhaust parts.

[phenryiv1]

So Josh (irish44j) came up yesterday and we got some work done. With a week until the Test & Tune and 8 days to the first event, things are not looking good.

I have 4 major areas needing attention:

Power Steering: Need to connect lines, install and tension the PS belt, and bleed the steering system.
Exhaust: Need to install everything behind the manifold connection.
Cooling System: Need to integrate the B25 engine-side cooling system and the B27 chassis-side components, bleed the system, and ensure function.
Interior: Need to install belts or harness for driver's side, install gauge cluster, replace the dash or at a minimum secure loose wiring/items, and possibly install something in the form of a passenger seat.

I also need to get the B25 running better. We have multiple leaks in the vacuum system and hunting them down is less than fun with only one person.

My updates will come in parts, but the cooling system was a semi-bust. I got everything physically integrated, but the issue is that now the car is simply not drawing coolant through the system.

I started a "Help Me!" thread on here as well...

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=282087

So here is what all we did:

I retained the eta radiator and coolant overflow bottle, so to connect it to the B25, we routed the 3/4" overflow hose around the front of the motor (I don't have a mechanical fan) and spliced it in where the i coolant bottle hose is on the driver's side.

Piktarz:

Splice into the eta coolant line:







Routing:



Splice at the "i" connection (the path down from the B25 coolant bottle on the driver's side):



So when I went to refill the coolant, the car is not pulling coolant from the overflow bottle as I let the car run. How long should it take for the coolant do start draining from the overflow tank and into the rest of the cooling system? The bleeder screw is open.

I have not let it run more than about 60 seconds at a time so far. Am I shutting down before the t-stat opens? I don't yet have my gauge cluster back in the car so I was hesitant to let it run for too long.

[phenryiv1]

So when we went to fire up the car to bleed the cooling system, we discovered a leak of substantial proportion. Obviously, something is missing here...



It should connect here:



For some reason, whoever built the motor capped that off. We could get the car to run with the VC breather port blocked off, but it did not run well. I need to replace that hose, but for now I will probably route some heater hose in a loose loop until the part arrives. That should at least let the car idle properly to check for other leaks and to try to get the coolant system bled and to work the PS system.

We also found that the lines to the brake booster are fairly loose:





After fooling with all of that, Josh had to leave due to family obligations, but before he left we got some form of a ramshackle exhaust system installed. More on that in the next post.

[phenryiv1]

To get the exhaust going, we had bought a 26" cherry bomb (it was all that they had in stock), a Dynomax muffler, and a selection of extensions, clamps, bends, and flexpipe. I bought more than what we knew that we'd need, so in the end we had a lot left over for me to return.

Josh brought this little helper down with him:



After some work, we ended up with this:



More pictures later, but for now to call it "on" the car is pretty insulting. At least it is all attached to the car, though nothing to the back of the "y" pipe from a few posts up is actually attached. I have some strapping and hangers to get on the car to get it hung somewhat properly, after which I will try to get the car to a shop that can replace the flex pipe with solid pipe. We did not have the time nor the ability to make the bends needed to clear the subframe so we used the flexpipe for now.

[Gary Horneck]

Quite the flexpipe run. Should work in the dirt though. We had a RallyX test-n-tune session yesterday, let the fun begin.

[phenryiv1]

So at the JY yesterday I managed to find a cluster with a 7k tach that had the right circuit board for my eta cluster. It was listed as having bad odometer gears, but I just needed the rest of the cluster so no problem.

I got it home and disassembled.
All 3 tachs:



Matching backs:



Interesting tidbit of info...the MotoMeter cluster had a VDO tach in it.





Since the cluster was missing the cover, the gauges were all dirty and dusty. I cleaned up the tach:



Test-fit:



Removed the Inspection LEDs:



Back together:



It isn't perfect, but it will do for the rallycar.

[irish44j]

Quite the flexpipe run. Should work in the dirt though. We had a RallyX test-n-tune session yesterday, let the fun begin.

yeah, it was one of those "gotta do something quickly and don't have time to futz around with building something with proper bends/elevation changes. Pat will have to probably hang this setup at 4 or 5 different spots using some strapping.

Since his car is towed to the track, it should be fine though.

On a side note, welding flex to exhaust pipe sucks. I was having a hard time getting a good weld on the pipe section without burning through the flex end....in the end, it's functional and *shouldn't* leak but it sure is ugly.