I got them cheap but ended up selling them, they were too far gone. These wheels are stupid light and great looking, but being cast wheels that were never strong to begin with, it's risky to run them these days IMO. The newest ones are probably 15 years old, and are very likely to crack on the lips or barrels. They were 17x8" ET40 and weighed 15.2lbs each!
Thanks!
Appreciate it. I got my stitches out last night, and am feeling a bit better now. It will be a while before it's back to 100%, though. Just excited to be back in the E30 soon! Aiming for Road Atlanta in early December.
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Wow! T.J. amazing progress, I just read from page 12 (where I had last been sorry, been busy for a while)
Sorry about the foot & loss of the event/lap record, you'll get 'em next year!Leave a comment:
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Love the wheels... all of them. Sorry to hear about your foot. Great thread update and work, as always!Leave a comment:
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Catching back up. I feel like nothing has happened since the last update, but also a bunch of stuff has happened since the last update.
Some tire stacks. 225/40-17 Hoosier R7 next to 225/45-16 Toyo R888R. Then mounted Hoosiers (left) next to unmounted Hoosiers (right).
There's just something about a clean shop, isn't there?
Despite having enough fender lip clearance, my rear tires were still rubbing once in a while. As it turns out, they were hitting those stupid bumps inside the late model arches. I rolled and hammered the bumps flat, then painted over the rubbed off portions. I don't think it rubbed again at Daytona, but we'll see next time I'm at Sebring.
Front tire fitment is close enough that the mold release nubs from the tires leave marks on the strut tubes, but no actually rubbing.
Tale of 3 sets of wheels.
Loaded for Sebring
New TE:AL TA16 set came in gloss black, can't wait to get these on the car.
Sebring. Did a new personal best and fastest TT5 time of the weekend, 2:34.6.
Picked up more wheels. I have a bit of an obsession with JDM wheels on BMWs.
Finally swapped out my stock fuel tank, which had a huge dent near the fuel pump pickup area due to someone jacking the car up by the tank.
One of of the SSR Integrals was bent, had it straightened by my local wheel shop.
I took my diff apart to put new clutches in it. It was all pretty straight forward until I was tapping on the carrier end caps with the new o-rings on. I neglected to properly support the unit as the cap was coming in, and I broke a few of the needle bearings. Oh well. Time for a pro rebuild on this 4.10. Lesson learned.
This is what a worn out clutch disc looks like.
Since I was hoping to drop some more weight from my car, not running a full fuel tank seemed logical. Since I knew the in tank pump was going to be starving a lot, I switched it out for a DeatschWerks DWMicro low pressure lift pump. This pump is said to be able to run over an hour dry without burning up. Pretty straight forward with very little modification. The sock sits at the same height that the stock one did.
SSR Integrals are back from powdercoating. Volk matte bronze. Next to GT3 wheels that make these look like go kart wheels.
I was contemplating a new final drive anyways, so when I messed up the 4.10, that bumped up my time frame. At most FL tracks I run 125mph max speed or less. A 4.10 is capable of almost 150mph, which my slow car will never reach. After doing a lot of analysis, I decided on a 4.45. It can theoretically do 139mph at 7,000 RPM, but I only was able to hit 135mph at Daytona. It will be perfect for every track I run at... except Daytona.
This unit has an E36 LSD carrier which is said to be several pounds lighter than the E30 carrier. It has twice as many holes in the exterior, and they are much larger. First pic is the E30 carrier, second pic is the E36 carrier. Should help with rotational mass! Since I run 20-25 minute sessions, I went back to 75w90 (from 75w140) for a little less drag.
The car rips with the 4.45. I was already running in 3-4-5, with several short shifts into 5th for only a short bit with the 4.10. 4th and 5th are way more usable and the car actually accelerates well in 5th now.
Daytona was a lot of fun, despite it raining a lot that weekend. I didn't expect the track to be as fun as it was in a slow E30. I look forward to running the NASA Nationals there next year.
Sold the E36!
Heading into the final event of our season back at Sebring. I had a chance to win my class, and was hoping all season to beat the TT5 track record at Sebring (which was a 2:33.8). I headed down to Condor Speed Shop on a Sunday to corner balance my car. Fatefully it rained for almost 5 hours straight, and the area was flooded. The water was up to the rockers on the X5. I almost didn't make it to the shop. We backed the trailer to their bay door and corner balanced the car.
Afterwards, loading the car back onto a trailer that was in 8" of water, I took my shoes off. Long story short, I slipped on my aluminum trailer deck, and ended up with 18 stitches in my foot.
That was 1 week before the event, and I was on crutches. It really came down to a game day decision, but I ended up sitting the event out unfortunately. My main competitor Josh cinched the TT5 title, and set the track record too in the process (he went 2:33.55. I was so bummed! But now I know whose record I am going to beat next year
That event was last weekend. I'm off the crutches now, but still limping pretty badly. It's going to be a while before I'm back to normal, since the cut is kind of between the ball and the arch of my foot, an area to moves and stretches quite a bit! I am glad I sat out the event, and didn't risk my recovery. But boy, do I feel stupid that it happened in the first place.
Since my trailer and gear are all loaded up anyways, and the Florida season is over, I am probably taking the opportunity to go up to Road Atlanta with NASA SE in December. I have not run RA, so that should be a fun way to wrap up the year!
Until next time
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Sebring does have some good sunsets!Last edited by moatilliatta; 01-12-2021, 10:04 AM.Leave a comment:
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Awesome update, instagram is cool or whatever, but the forums fulfills like the E30
What engine trans mounts are you running?
did you cut 2 rocker shaft access holes in the fire wall yet? :)
What sway bars are you running?
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My first real camera is 15 years old, a Canon Digital Rebel XT. I started keeping it in the shop so I'd start shooting again. Still have the lens I bought with it too, a Sigma 18-50 EX.
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225/45-15 is too undersized though. I'm running a 4.10 diff, which is already borderline too short. I would like to try them back to back though. The weight being the advantage with the 15's.Leave a comment:
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Yeah, that'd be interesting to see if no roll center spacers and smaller wheels feels better than roll center spacers + big wheels. Running a 225/45/15 R7 would be a hoot!
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Hey Eric. Overall I am happy with the hood, but it does not fit very well. It seems to me that all composite E30 hoods are high on the sides, in the center of the fenders. This one is a good 1/4" - 3/16" taller than the top of the fenders, even after a ton of time spent adjusting it as best as I could. My older VIS hood had the same issue, though not quite as bad.
I have roll center spacers in the front that prevent 15's from fitting. The tie rods hit the barrel of the wheel. I've considered removing them, but I think it's a net positive running the larger wheels with the roll center spacers. Plus, for E30's, the only plausible Hoosier tire size is the 225/40-17 they make and I'm now running on the Bimmerworld forged wheels.Leave a comment:
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awesome stuff man! Love the new carbon fiber hood. Would you buy it again?
Also, why can't you run 15's? E30 M3 brakes should clear no problem.Leave a comment:
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And we're back! I wrapped the some projects on the car in early June, as we were finally back to racing after over 4 months off. Let me tell you that racing in Florida in June, July, and August is brutal. After a couple years, the paint in my interior needed some re-coating in the high traffic areas. I've really loved the results when using Rustoleum enamel in a jar. Just roll it on with a 4" roller, and it's not messy, it's durable, and it looks nice and even. The only caveat is that it takes a while to fully dry, especially on any paint that goes over seam sealer (I'm not sure why that is).
Painted the rear firewall sections.
Started painting the cage and interior in the E36, which had seen better days.
E30 after a day or two of drying:
Got some cool old school Momo wheels for the E36.
The interior of the E36 is mostly done, for now. Also installed some ducting and the stock plastic stuff around the radiator.
Here is the final result with the rear firewall in the E30. Installed with black zinc screws and black finishing washers.
I had been chasing an annoying clunk in the rear end of the E30 for quite a while. I had bolt checked the car 3 times (which actually probably fixed several other minor rattles, like the rear exhaust heat shielding) and hadn't come up with anything. On a whim I replaced the RSM's with Rogue Engineering units that still have rubber bushings, and that fixed the problem. Even though my spherical RSMs had no discernible play in them (in fact they were quite tight), they were rattling just enough to make a racket since my car is fully gutted.
One of the last things was getting the car aligned before the event. It didn't need much adjustment, but I really wanted to see where my camber was at after going back to stock-height rear subframe bushings.
Washed it and loaded it up a few nights before the event, so leaving after work would be easier.
The event at Sebring went well. I matched my personal best on the R888R's on Saturday, and then ran the Hoosiers with the new Bimmerworld wheels for the first time on Sunday. I did a best time by over 2 seconds after getting used to the slicks. Following my best lap I was showing almost another second of improvement, but pushing too hard, I went off in turn 16 (second to last corner at Sebring). Nothing bad, just a dirt drop on the outside that cost me the lap and my time from that session. I was still able to win TT5 on Sunday.
Disconnected the rear sway bar on Sunday, and I really liked that change with the high spring rates that I'm running. It was fine with the bar connected with the R888R's, but I didn't like the feel of the bar with the Hoosiers. The rear driver's side tire was rubbing a little bit, but annoyingly it's on that bump on the INSIDE of late model fenders. I am going to try smashing down that bump before the next event.
One of my upcoming projects is going to be swapping in a new fuel tank. Surprisingly there is 0 rust inside mine, but in a previous life, someone jacked the car up by the tank. There is a huge dent on the passenger's side, near where the pump picks up from. I think I get even worse in-tank pump starvation than E30's normally get because of it. I don't get any cutting out because of the surge tank, but the in-tank pump is crying for it's life unless I run the tank full. We'll see if a new un-dented tank makes any difference there.
Back to working on the E36 getting it ready for it's first event, I installed ISC N1 Track coilovers care of Bimmerworld. I had AST's on there, but they were all blown, and they are costly to repair (if parts are even available -- they were an old design). I sold them and just went something inexpensive but well proven. When I put the car back down, it was obvious by the front wheel placement that one of the sides had something going on. One wheel was centered, and one was pretty far forward in the fender. I wasn't sure which side was off since it's been a while since I've had an E36, and I knew M3's had different caster than non-M's, and that 95's were different than 96-99's. I checked the part numbers on the control arms and spindles first, and they were right for the car (this one is a '95). It wasn't obvious at first, but it turns out the passenger side control arm was bent (and the tie rod too). I knew this car had been crashed, hard, more than once. Guess these pieces never got replaced. The subframe and spindles look okay, so we'll see how it looks after I get the new control arms and tie rods in this week.
I'll leave you with just a teaser now of one of the on-track photos. I have the whole set to post later, just don't have time at the moment.
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