Bronzit E30 - OBDII S52 shaved bay - weekend/autox toy - Journey

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Alright. I'm getting lazy with my updates again. Took apart my pedal box to replace bushings. That turned into a fiasco. More updates on that later. But I did replace all of the bushings, replaced the accelerator pedal, added OMP pedal covers, reinforced the pedal box, upgraded the clutch return spring and sandblasted/painted it all. Bought some aluminum tread plate to make false floors. Found evidence that a rat ate some other animal under the hood of the car.

Edit: tapatalk only posted 3 of 9 photos... sigh... I'll try again soon




Rat thanksgiving under the hood.... set some traps and caught the bastard a day later.




Diamond plate aluminum for false floors




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[Sh3rpak!ng]

Started doing some long overdue detailing.... of whats left of the paint :p The roof and trunk are in bad shape. Clearcoat failing everywhere. Actually turned out pretty good considering the starting condition was totally cloudy. Looks decent for now. I'll do my best to keep the car clean and covered. Maybe considering a resort in the near future. Went for another canyon drive this time joined by another friend and his new-to-him E30M3. Caught the wife slipping, playing with the blast cabinet! And this detailing progress brought to you by Allagash white. Forgot how good that one is. Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Sh3rpak!ng]

That looks almost factory. You should sell them!

Thanks! I am pleased with it. It would be a great candidate for vacuum forming. Not this time consuming hand formed thing I did.

Next up I am making floor plates from diamond embossed aluminum (powdercoated black)... but before I hand make them I will check the price to buy them already made vs the cost to buy the raw material. If it's not too far apart I'll just buy them already done. Peeled up some of the driver side sound deadening tar off the floor and found some minor rust. I knew it was there. That'll be addressed (probably the passenger side too) and hopefully I'll have enough motivation to at least brush on a layer of grey rustoleum to even out the color and make the interior look halfway presentable again.

[amcp]

That looks almost factory. You should sell them!

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Got this driver kick panel piece done which has been bugging the shit out of me for ages. Before and after Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Sh3rpak!ng]

This car has transformed in such a cool and what i think is a unique way. Thanks for sharing with us. Keep that thing going.

I really appreciate that observation and I'll keep sharing as long as r3v is still here.

[jeenyus]

This car has transformed in such a cool and what i think is a unique way. Thanks for sharing with us. Keep that thing going.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Looks functional

thank you for your blessing

[2mAn]

Looks functional

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Flame suit on. Good thing its made from leftover heat shield tape




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[Northern]

Ok yeah I've been through that one before. I shortened the bushings and ran a low profile nut, eventually ordered new bushings from GC when I switched to the short koni race inserts.

Also MRT says some 15's work with the bumpsteer kit, so I'm trying to find info on WHICH 15's would clear. Apparently 370mm ID is what is needed. I'm running fairly heavy 16's right now and would love to switch to something 15x8 with a higher offset, like a TRM C1 or whatever that Sparco wheel is that Tire Rack carries.

[Digitalwave]

Their plates don't work well with Bilsteins because the thread is much shorter than Konis. You have to remove the top portion of the centering spool and run loctite on the nut because there is only a few turns of engagement. It was sketchy. Vorshlag designed a spool that double as the nut (it's internally threaded) which beautifully solves that problem.

[Northern]

I've had issues with their camber plates and ultimately just went with Vorshlag, as their design solved all the issues I was having.

What issues did you have with their plates? I have an old version and I like them, other than needing to grease the thrust bearings a few times a year.

Edit: The bearings are probably 8-10 years old at this point, so I should just replace them. I am a fan of the two bearing setup instead of everything going through the spherical.

[Northern]

[snip]

Yeah thanks, I meant on the rack.

I was running it that way for years, and from what I remember I had bad bumpsteer issues.
At some point, I saw the video that Pasi made with a laser level showing suspension travel, and that seemed pretty definitive that the spacers should go on the bottom of the rack...
When I tried to mimic that, my rack ended up fouling on the (rear sump) oil pan, so my rack is now somewhere upper middle of the height range and I still have bad bump steer.
I'm going to need to replicate the laser pointer plot he did of various positions and figure out which is best, because I really don't think it improved (my alignment changed for the better between rack heights as well)

If I knew there was a definitive solution, I would spring for it, but I too have a bad taste left in my mouth from the last time I dealt with GC for something and they sent me 3 different emails back essentially asking for photos to prove that I owned the stuff I was trying to buy replacement bits for. Some of that had to do with the fact I was trying to buy short inserts for an existing full length GC kit I'm sure, but eventually they just didn't respond anymore.

Other than that, I find Garagistic quality is always a bit suspect, and MRT doesn't sell the tie rod ends yet? Only the full kit, which like you said might not/does not fit 15's (and I want to go back to 15's)
What is it about the VAC kit that you like? It's not adjustable or anything, and also a little skeptical of VAC after stories of their 24v turbo cams and not being able to provide specs or any installation information for them.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

I forgot to add in my post that despite all of those things, I am just glad companies make anything for this old ass platform anymore. I am glad that GC is at least an option for us at all!

I suppose that is also a fair point. You'd just think that being such a niche market, customer service would be better.... anyway, I really never intended to air this, I just got reminded of what a fiasco it was and how much it interrupted my plans/schedule.

Hoping to test the car with new spring rates this weekend!