My turbo 24v alpine coupe

[mitchlevy7]

Haven't updated in a while....

I have made little to no progress since I got back from Japan.

I bought 3 steering wheels in Japan. 1 Nardi (similar to blackline), another nardi (classic wood), and an ILTR wood wheel. I also got a scroth harness for 25 bucks. I sold one of the nardi wheels and it paid for all the wheels i bought!

I am driving my daily to chicago so I have been focusing on making that reliable. Just did timing belt, water pump, thermostat, air filter, belts....ect.

I have made a plan to get the Ms3 to switch on from the key using a diode and transistor, info I got from some e30tech threads. I had to buy 100 diodes and 100 resistors. I have also been buying alot of tools to work on the car, as I do not really have access to as many tools as before.

I took my racing dynamics off this car and put them on my daily. I love the wheels so I might as well use them. Still looking for wheels for this car, but I do not really have a budget to do so.

I started my new job at CP-E. It has been an awesome experience so far, but the starting intern pay is horrible. At this point in my life, for such a good experience, I think it is worth a pay cut, even if its %40. Being able to draw things in Solidworks and then make them in the shop via CNC is awesome. I am on a team developing a twin turbo kit for the N54 platform, and when all the prototyping is done, ill be doing an install on a 1M. Our kit can fit up to 2 gtx40 in such a small space! (were actually going with 28's).

Right now, my plan is
Wire up megasquirt adapter. I have everything done in excel, just have to do the actual wiring.
Fix up the little things so the car is driveable (bleed clutch, install a harness, fix vanos line leak (have sealing rings))
Configure MS3 until I get a base tune down. I want to be able to drive the car to work (~8 miles) to put it on the dyno.
tune.
Make a pass side seat bracket. I want the VAC one, but I don't have the money. Maybe ill design my own and cut it from stock on the CNC.
fix roll cage
fix all the wiring.

figure out how to remove all the dynamat. This may be the deciding factor in the build. Rust is building up under the dynamat and its real shitty. May have to just transfer everything to a new shell.

Previously, I was just going to tune up to what the WG springs will put out, but i just bought a boost control solenoid from DIY autotune




some pics from Japan

This belongs to the owner of liberty walk


more liberty walk




more liberty walk...



dope e30 outside of liberty walk. Had a little "talk" with the owner (didnt speak any english, but we had a translator)

[mitchlevy7]

wow. I havent updated in several months.

I graduated from UMD after a really long semester.

I am now head of the installation department and engineer at Custom Performance Engineering. Now that I pretty much have a shop to myself more updates are to follow soon. I need to spend alot of money on tools before I can put any more money into this but I will soon finish wiring the ms3.

Anyone still listening? sorry theres no picture updates. The car is sitting in my driveway on bottlecaps. The roof has been leaking and there has been a constant puddle behind the passengers seat. Its getting real rusty.

New plan:
get the car running on ms3 and tune it.
buy a new daily
transfer the engine to my current daily (89 coupe) which is alot cleaner and I can fix alot of the mistakes I had made before (hole in the engine bay, shitty bay paint job. messed up roll cage, no interior)

I want a fresh start. I was learning alot on this car and I feel like I can do it alot better. I will have much better tools and resources. I want to make it much more engineering based and design some parts for it.

[CorvallisBMW]

wow. I havent updated in several months.

I graduated from UMD after a really long semester.

I am now head of the installation department and engineer at Custom Performance Engineering. Now that I pretty much have a shop to myself more updates are to follow soon. I need to spend alot of money on tools before I can put any more money into this but I will soon finish wiring the ms3.

Anyone still listening? sorry theres no picture updates. The car is sitting in my driveway on bottlecaps. The roof has been leaking and there has been a constant puddle behind the passengers seat. Its getting real rusty.

New plan:
get the car running on ms3 and tune it.
buy a new daily
transfer the engine to my current daily (89 coupe) which is alot cleaner and I can fix alot of the mistakes I had made before (hole in the engine bay, shitty bay paint job. messed up roll cage, no interior)

I want a fresh start. I was learning alot on this car and I feel like I can do it alot better. I will have much better tools and resources. I want to make it much more engineering based and design some parts for it.

Congrats on graduating and getting a new job! I checked out their website, looks like they make a lot of badass stuff. Have fun!

[mitchlevy7]

Congrats on graduating and getting a new job! I checked out their website, looks like they make a lot of badass stuff. Have fun!

Thanks!

[2mAn]

Im still watching!!! Congrats on graduating. Hope to see some car updates soon. They get frustrating when they are sidetracked, but once its done its so worth it. Keep at it!

[mitchlevy7]

UPDATE

Bought a daily so I can reliably get to work while i dive back in on the project. Boss said I can leave 1 car in the shop.



220k 328i hardtop 5 speed vert for a steal. Authentic M bumpers. Clean body, no rust.

I bought it fully knowing it had a bad wheel bearing so I bought both rears and hubs and the tools to do it. Drove it to work last week on tuesday but didnt have time to do it after work.... on the way home the wheel completley comes off. The lug bolts broke, most likley from being heat cycles from a really bad bearing. Got it towed and did both wheel bearings last week. Luckily no other damage except a warped rotor!

This thing is going to be a distraction from my e30's for a while so I can get it 100% reliable and up to par for daily duty. Ordered most of everything today-

clutch, O2 sensors, VC gasket, oil and filter, MAF, intake tube, sway end links, WP, thermostat and I have an extra m50 manifold for it. Anybody know a good place for the m50 manifold conversion parts?

I also had some time after work and I started the harness. Got halfway through wiring the BIP373s and making sure they fit in the dummy adapter board. No pics right now. My tuner friend said it might be easier to just make a engine harness straight for the MS3 because the pins on the motronic are soo close together. That will be plan B for now.

[CorvallisBMW]

.... on the way home the wheel completley comes off. The lug bolts broke, most likley from being heat cycles from a really bad bearing. Got it towed and did both wheel bearings last week. Luckily no other damage except a warped rotor!

That must have been a butthole-puckering moment!

[mitchlevy7]

Updates

Finally sold e36. It was taking too much of my time to make it dailyable.

Bought this



Right now I am making over 300ft-lbs at 2500rpm from 1.6L ....and then it dies from there. Let my company use it for R&D an get all parts free. Best sounding exhaust I have heard in a while. Sounds like a loud abarth.

Made a big purchase for this build



16x10 rear and 16x9 front. Going to try 245/45/16 in the rear and 225 in the front. They are 4x100 with the right center bore. I would have run my old RS' but didn't want to bother with adapters or more than 10mm of spacer.

I am rethinking the turbo. Honestly I dont know what the hell kind of turbo is on there, just some words from the guy who sold it to me... thats my ignorance.

Might try a GTX2871R with a bigger tial housing or a 3076 so that I have room to grow. I want the quick spool. Been driving too many Speed 3's with 30's and 35's and theres way too much lag for me. I also want to try a borg warner EFR turbo. They spool really quick.

Also have the UUC BBK on the way. Love not using adapters. Must be the engineer in me. I hate the idea of adding failure points to the brakes.

Also doing a different intercooler. Right now I have a CX racing POS on there. Few months back we put one on a mustang EB and it really didn't do anything over the stock intercooler which is tiny. I have a few FMIC's laying around I want to try. Only problem is limited room on the e30.

[mitchlevy7]

UPDATES. FINALLY.

Brought my alpine coupe to work and got started. It has been sitting in my driveway for 1.5 years now.



Theres a wheel from a mini cooper on there because I got a flat in the racing dynamics on my red car and I didn't want the car sitting on a flat.

Stockpile of parts in my office



Barrel from the OZ's which are taken apart. That box has garagetastic floor mounts and side mount adapters. All that wiring is from the MS3x. ST front sway bar. rear strut bar.

Also in that box is this



I finally just bought it. I have wanted it forever. AKG stage 2 DTM shifter.

thursday I went back and looked at the current turboback exhaust on the car.....

Now its in the recycling.

The wastegate merge looked like it was welded by a child and the V-band on the downpipe at the turbo was....far from flat.

the exhaust I built was stupid and it hung super low and it was 409 SS and the tip was stupid and the muffler was stupid and it was all stupid.

The car is in the other shop right now but ill get pics later. Doing an open dump for the downtube. Car will basically be straight piped with a resonator and a special suprise...waiting on V-bands to get shipped here...


Also on the way is the heretic kit from condor speed shop. Replacing ALL the bushings. This car is going to be worth the wait....

and its gotta be done by Jan 3. Wheels will most likley wait until after the car is running.

Yesterday me and my buddy did this....



I needed to put the subframe back on to make it a roller but both cars are switching subframes completely. The turbo car has reinforced motor mount holes and the rear has hangers welded to it... oops

[2mAn]

UPDATES. FINALLY.

I finally just bought it. I have wanted it forever. AKG stage 2 DTM shifter.

So glad to see updates on this! Ive wanted to get one of those AKG shifters too, they are so badass

edit: Side note. Is that Ford the Fiesta? How do you like it? Does it at least get good mpg for being such a small motor? I always liked the Abarth, but it still got just decent mpg so its like "why bother with this little 1.6l?"

[Northern]

Hopefully you're starting to hit some luck with this car. It seems like it's been a rough time up until this past update.

[mitchlevy7]

So glad to see updates on this! Ive wanted to get one of those AKG shifters too, they are so badass

edit: Side note. Is that Ford the Fiesta? How do you like it? Does it at least get good mpg for being such a small motor? I always liked the Abarth, but it still got just decent mpg so its like "why bother with this little 1.6l?"

Yea. Its the Fiesta ST. If you floor it every chance you get you will get like 17 mpg. If you drive like a grandma you can get 40 on the highway. Driving like.... me you get 30 plus or minus 2 depending on how throttle happy I get and how much city and highway driving happens.

Not bad for 25psi of boost and over 300 ft lbs. Very fun car and economical to daily.

[mitchlevy7]

Update from Yesterday.

Finished the new downpipe.





Getting my welding better.



I also got some of the "midpipe" done. Did a big flex section too which was terrible to weld. We usually MIG them here but I went for TIG and got no color and had to use tons of filler.

No pic for that yet... pretty much got to a little past the CSB.

I also made a dumptube. Sorry this pic is complete garbage but it gets the idea accross.



I need to finish the catback today as I won't have access to the exhaust shop after today. Then the car will come over here and get disassembled. I am still waiting on my last V-Band so I might just do a 2 bolt flange or a slip fit.

Anybody have any suggestions for FMIC? Not trying to cut up this whole car.

Also my Condor Heretic Kit came yesterday. Happy with it.

[mitchlevy7]

Did so much work with little to no updates.

Most of it was really boring, switching drivetrains.

The white e30 is on the red e30's subframes and is out of here. Sold the chassis and the m20.

bought an intercooler and catch can and a bunch of little goodies here and there.

The rear subframe I planned on using was cracked at the rear diff mounting holes.

So last night, after my order came from garagetastic, I did this...



I am going to finish stripping the paint from it and then its off to powder.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

the exhaust I built was stupid and it hung super low and it was 409 SS and the tip was stupid and the muffler was stupid and it was all stupid.

This made me laugh. I know that feeling.

Glad to see good progress!