KEVORM's college budget PRO3 Build

[KEVORM]

So I figured it was about time I put together a build thread for my car.

Story:
After working my ass off in school and at work I decided I would buy myself a project car. My rational was that the car would cost about the same as a quarter at school and I felt the learning experience would be justifiably significant to warrant the cost. So the search began. Coming from the VW scene I really knew nothing about E30’s. I had a few friends with them, but other than that really nothing. I built and paid for the whole car by myself with the exception of some gracious friends helping along the way. I built the majority of the car during my senior year of college. I took extra shifts at work to pay for it and drove out to work on it just about every weekend (which my girlfriend hated :)).

In the beginning I really had no clue what I wanted the car to be. I already had a daily, so some sort of weekend canyon carver was my initial intention.

This was followed by the usual progression of engine swap ideas….LS1 (too expensive)…..S54(too expensive)…..S50(too boring)……Turbo(Turning problems)…..uhhhhh now what.

Then one of my best buddies Bill decided he was gonna build a PRO3 car for the spec series we have up in the PNW. Well shit….I gotta have one too! Because Racecar

And so begins my journey, there has been much head scratching, money spending and deadline missing, but in the end its been super fun and a great learning experience.

Here we GOOOOOO! I’ll try and add tid bits that I learned along the way.

Because I knew nothing about E30’s I decided on an Alpine white 1984 325e that belonged to a friend of a friend. $900 and that bitch was mine!!! Loaded her up on the trailer and off to the garage! (Summer 2011)



Once at the house I started stripping the car. Still had no clue what I wanted it to be at this point but the carpet was really moist and I was worried about mold and such so I tore it out.





Other than a little bit of rust here and there she really wasn’t too bad. All of it was surface and was treated and sealed.







Sound deadening is for pussies, so that had to go! (Note: Use dry ice not a heat gun, the heat gun smells terrible and takes forever)
Before


During


After


I used paint/adhesive stripper to get the adhesive up. Use gloves when you do this, that stuff leaves some nasty chemical burns.


Who knew the handbrake was such a handy paper towel holder?




It was at this point that I decided to go full racecar. As a result the interior got the full strip. I decided on PRO3 as it is extremely popular in the northwest and is well known for its comradery and competitive racing.













Not a good start to the weekend, mysterious broken rear window!



Started the weekend by taking the dash out. A cool head and a friend help but it really isn’t that hard once you get the hang of it.


Everyone’s favorite…..wiring!



I started to take parts out of the main harness. Wiring diagrams and a lot of patients are your friend here. (Fall 2011)




At this point I had the car pretty well stripped and knew that I wanted to create a full blown PRO3 car. My thinking was that rather than create some mismatched track car I would focus on one class that way it would be worth something when I went to sell it.

PRO3 requires the M20B25 and my car was an E so the B27 had to go!






Picked up the engine from a guy on R3v and hauled it down to the garage. Upon further inspection everything looked pretty decent. Oil pan was cracked but I knew I could scavenge parts off the B27.

The mountains were blue! Beer Break!


Took the pistons out and started cleaning up the block for paint.







Decided on Chevy Red-Orange. Orange is my Sisters favorite color and makes it easy to see oil on the block. The paint was still wet, it’s not nearly this neon in person.



Cleaned the pistons up too!



More later…..i gotta get back to studying!

[KEVORM]

Now it was time to take the old motor out. Got a couple of buddies to help and we cued the music. (Winter 2011)








With the old drive train out it was time to go to the cage builder. The car sits super high without anything in it. Always thought it’d be a good rally car. (Winter 2011)




I had the roll cage done by a family friend named Dave Clark, he’s one of the best in the business and did a fantastic job on my cage. If anyone is looking to get work done his shop is in Kent, WA and I can give you his contact info.











Most of Dave’s clients now days are rally folks. I figured if there is anyone you want building your cage it’s a rally guy, they like to crash.


Now for the new parts to start arriving!! (January 2012)











Got a late model front valance and put that on the car too. Excuse messy garage…..


Starting to look mean!

Unfortunately everything doesn’t always go smoothly, wanted to take off the harmonic balancer and found that all the bolts were sheered. The donor car the engine was in had been in a front end collision…..left hand drill bits FTW!



It’s about February now (2012) and with the race season fast approaching I wanted to kick it into high gear! Sent the head down to Highland East Machine shop in Renton and they did a fantastic job. All new guides, seals and gaskets, as well as a few new valves. All cleaned up and ready to rock. I elected to put it back together myself to save some money and for the experience of doing it!







Now it was suspension time! All the old stuff had to go, every bushing and bearing was toast. First up was the struts. That OEM stuff wasn’t gonna cut it for racing. Had the OEM struts in the fronts still, completely blown. (Spring 2012)



Sent those off to get all racecar-ed up!
And this is what I got back!





Opted for single adjustable race valved KONI’s 550 up front and 850 out back (would have gone 625-750 in hindsight). GC makes a great product and the bang for the buck when the topic is full race suspension is great!


Finally got some time to add to this (stupid law school)

Also had Bill at Manntechnik make me a power steering delete! Easy to do before the engine goes back in. (available here: http://myworld.ebay.com/manntechnik)



Time was starting to run short and race reason was getting closer and closer.

Got the bottom end all buttoned back up. One of the oil scavenge rings was cracked (by me while pistons were out) so I had to replace that.



also added a windage tray and a baffle




Now it was time to tackle the front suspension. Eventually got everything out of there. Tie rods can be a huge bitch and not want to come out. Got new Control arms and some Bimmerworld Solid CAB’s too!







Got it all up in there. GC was nice enough to install my new front hubs, I just sent them down with the struts in the same box when they were shortened and such.



and dumped the front end!



Now it was time to get the engine back where it belongs! This is a story in itself, Two of my friends and I were up at the garage to work on the car for the weekend. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to locate an engine hoist. After a considerable amount of beer we decided that if we used some long 2x4’s and a few straps wrapped around the block we could get it in there.



What do you know it worked!

Cleaned up the transmission and installed an AKG DTM rod (super awesome).




Also took out the subframe to put in the new mounts and diff mount that Bill at Manntechnik made custom for me! Also got some AKG trailing arm bushings. Used the thread-all method to get the old bushings out. Works well once you get the hang of it. If you asked Seatown88 really nice he would probably make these mounts for you.



Then we put the trans in (totally forgetting to install the plate that goes between the trans and the back of the block)



Then it was time to roll her outside for the first time in months. Doesn’t look very menacing with the bottle caps on there but she’s pretty to me!



Tossed the head on



then the Intake mani too



One of the things I didn’t realize is all the wiring issues I’d run into because I bought a square harness car. I used some info I found online and make up an adapter from two female ends, one from a donor round car and the other from my eta harness that came out of my car.



Making the racing season at this point was not looking good. Due to graduation and other things I had missed almost a month of working on the car, parts continued to come in though and I held out hoping that id make the last few races.



Basket weaves pic



NKG spark plugs


Got a lot of help from the PRO3 crowd. Scott from NGK hooked me up with a set of plug wire and plugs, I stole Bill’s basket weaves and was given some old R888 take offs which I mounted. Also got some motorsport hardware studs. The racing community is full of super nice people who were always willing to help.

RACING SEAT!!!!



This is when I though I might make it. Got a OMP HTE seat OMP harness and wheel along with hub adapter…..my wallet wasn’t happy but there is no reason to skimp on safety. You want to be able to giggle while flipping though the air not worry about that shit harness and seat you bought off ebay.

Went down to PIR to watch Bill’s first full PRO3 race (was in observation before). The manntechnik car!



Unfortunately, work and law school preparations were too much. I had the option to stay in the PNW for school but ended up electing to attend The Sandra Day O’Conner College of Law at ASU. So it was time to wrap her up.



Went back over thanksgiving break and moved the car up to Bill’s.



Then over winter break I got to drive it for the first time after owning it for 1.5 years. A little shaky as there’s no passenger seat and the car is running open header aka it's loud.


Now it’s in Bill’s hands. Plan is to fly up and race it at least 2x if not 3x this season. It will then (most likely) be sold at the end of the season. Also interested in trades for E30 M3’s lol.

If you’re interested in doing this yourself be prepared to pay. To build one “right” costs a fair amount. The cheapest way to do it would be to buy a straight 89 or later “I” car, then add cage and refresh all the suspension components and buy a cheap seat and harness. I could see you doing it for 8k or so if you skimped on EVERYTHING. My build cost me north of 14k and I got a break on A LOT of parts due to family connections. There are so many little things you wont think of, so many $100 orders you didn’t plan on. My rule of thumb is whatever you think it’s going to cost add AT LEAST 20%. 30 or 40% is probably more realistic. If you have any question feel free to PM or just post them here. Can’t wait to race this summer.

[acolella76]

550 and 850 is a pretty big difference... ideally you want about the rear to be 125-130% the front rate, no more than 150%.

Keep up the good work though, the first race can't come soon enough :)

[seatown88]

550 and 850 is a pretty big difference... ideally you want about the rear to be 125-130% the front rate, no more than 150%.

Keep up the good work though, the first race can't come soon enough :)

Yeah, the spring rates are a little out of whack, but they are exactly what GC recommended for me when I speced my kit. The springs will be fine-tuned through some testing.

While Kevin is away at school he has entrusted me to help him finish his build for the upcoming race season. There are really only a couple of small projects until it's ready to race.

I started out with removing the steering lock and dropping the column an inch to position the steering wheel in a better location while seated in the race seat. The mounts that I machined for Kevin, similar to my car drop the seat as low as possible while maintaining enough material to prevent the fasteners to pull out in the event of a crash.


Seat mounts


Steering column spacer


Installed

For cosmetic reasons an i rear spoiler was installed, it sure does add to the look of the car!



We also decided that it was important to rebuild the brake calipers, something I had yet to do on my car and was on the list of things to do during the offseason. I don't have any pictures of all the gunk that I found in the calipers, but it was pretty disgusting!








The rebuild took a little but of time, but it was definitely worth it to go through the brake system. Kevin bought the ECS Tuning Exact-fit stainless steel brake line kit, which in my honest opinion seems to fit better than the Ireland kit that I have installed on my car.

I picked up a 3.73 LSD from a local r3v member that I will transfer the LSD carrier to a 4.10 open that Kevin picked up over the summer. I did this during the middle of last season while I dropped the fuel tank to be resealed. It was actually a lot easier than I had expected.


4.10 mostly disassembled. All I need to do is heat up the tone ring to release it from the carrier and remove the ring gear. Then swap the carriers over and Kevin will have a 4.10 LSD.

[kid325e]

Pretty cool build!!!

[KEVORM]

Updated bump

[bataangpinoy]

sweet job man

[10Toes]

I don't believe it is legal in PRO3 to have the cage tie into the shock towers.

[KEVORM]

"Safety - All cars must comply with ICSCC Production
and/or SCCA GCR’s safety rules. Roll cages must meet
SCCA IT category specifications, attaching to the body at
no more than 8 locations."

- You cant tie into the front strut towers but I've never seen anything about the rears.

"No additional frame strengthening is allowed
except where there is a strong historic argument
for safety improvement."

- You could argue this prevents it but i would in turn argue that there is a strong historic need for a safety improvement.

"A cross-brace may be added from one shock or
strut tower to the other. The brace and/or its
mounting bracket can not be anchored to any
other part of the car and shall serve no other
purpose."

- I always read this to apply only to the front, supplementing SCCA's rule preventing front shock tower reinforcement or roll cage integration. The cage was built by a master fabricator who just won the Rolex 24 with Alex Jobe Racing, if anyone wants to bitch about it, by all means go ahead. Not too worried about it.

[seatown88]

I don't believe it is legal in PRO3 to have the cage tie into the shock towers.

It's perfectly legal to tie into the rear towers although there is some debate whether or not it is ideal to load that section of the chassis. Looking through pictures race-tech fabrication in Portland builds most of their cages tying the rear down tubes into the rear shock towers. Others tie the down tubes into where the arb mount locations are.

It is illegal to extend the roll cage into the engine compartment to tie the front strut towers and cage together however, just like Kevin mention.

[10Toes]

It's perfectly legal to tie into the rear towers although there is some debate whether or not it is ideal to load that section of the chassis. Looking through pictures race-tech fabrication in Portland builds most of their cages tying the rear down tubes into the rear shock towers. Others tie the down tubes into where the arb mount locations are.

It is illegal to extend the roll cage into the engine compartment to tie the front strut towers and cage together however, just like Kevin mention.

I see the bar welded from tower to tower as being a shock tower brace that is also then tied into 6 other anchor points which this rule says you can't do.

(e) A cross-brace may be added from one shock or
strut tower to the other. The brace and/or its
mounting bracket can not be anchored to any
other part of the car and shall serve no other
purpose

And just because other people are building them this way does not make it legal. But I guess it doesn't matter anyway as going to towers probably stiffens the chassis less then going to the floor.

[seatown88]

update....

The car will make its race debut June 20th, time to get to work!

Finally I had some time last weekend to finish welding the driver and passenger seat belt plates into the car. Once I finished those, it was time to paint the interior. It's amazing how one or two steps really make the car more complete.

Finally able to put the dash in!


It's nice being able to put parts in the car and reduce the clutter haha



Now I am able to install the belts. I did a rough adjustment with the seat out to get them within the ball park.


Starting to look like a race car!


The interior only has a couple more items to work on, gauge panel, mount a fire extinguisher, and finish wiring the kill switch then it will be done. This weekend will be about finishing the exhaust, and then driving the car around the block a little bit....sorry neighbors.

I also had a chance to use the school waterjet to cut out some 12mm spacers for the car. Fresh off the waterjet they need a little finish work and they will be ready for the car. Identical to the ones on my car, which are surprisingly similar to the hub design of the TR Motorsports.

[KEVORM]

A few pictures from the first weekend on track: Did a friday school, 80 minutes of instruction and a classroom session the night before. Really happy with the experience. The school was run by CSCC at PIR, only $210, so worth it for anyone in the area.

Luckily I "passed" the class and was able to participate in my first novice race on Saturday.

Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsullivan/








Race went perfectly. Car ran great, I was a little faster than i thought i might be. Ended up 6th in my novice race on pretty worn tires. Actually just did my second race at Pacific Raceways this last weekend (7/20), I'll upload pics from that soon too.