91 318is Field Rat

[econti]

And I thought E30 diving boards were bad enough

[captain awesome]

So I bought a distraction a week ago. Originally I planned to just part it out and double my money, but instead I'm going to try to make it a $2019 Grassroots Motorsports Challenge car. It's a 83 320is with Recaros, 5 speed, and a 3.91 lsd diff. I'm pulling the m10 and installing the Field Rat m42/trans stuff, and a full coilover suspension. So far I'm just in the parts collecting stage, but it looks like I should be able to keep it all within the allowed budget.

[captain awesome]

I got the seats back from the upholstery shop. They will work fine, but one of the seat seams looks a little weird to me. Unfortunately the person who made the covers is responsible for how they fit and are finished, so I can't blame the guy who helped fasten them up for me. Bottom line I don't think I would buy the covers from them again unless they addressed some issues first. For now I have the driver side mounted up until I get to make another pair of brackets.


I need to find another one of these loop thingys, and figure out how to lengthen the driver side cable.

[captain awesome]

Recaros hopefully get picked up this afternoon. The plan is to at least install the driver seat, and then focus on getting all of the A/c parts installed.


Got a few in action shots from Saturday and Sunday:

[captain awesome]

Recaros are still at the upholstery shop but I think they should be back to me this week. $40 is what I was quoted, and I'm happy with that price.


Saturday and Sunday the local SCCA had a double header, so I made plans to get power steering back in and functional beforehand. I spent some time scrubbing and cleaning up all the parts before installing, and so far so good. In fact, it feels like a completely different car now. I should have done this a long time ago.

Anyway, Saturday was sunny and pretty toasty. Not a huge turnout with only 37 entrants, and I managed to land 31st overall. I know for a fact there was more left in me, I just haven't had this little steering effort before, so it surprised me how much more aggressive I was able to drive.

Sunday there were quite a few more entrants, over 50 if I remember correctly. A nasty storm rolled through around 4 AM so the course started out pretty wet. By the 6th run it was fairly dry other than a couple spots. I finished 25th overall running extremely respectable times considering I'm only on 300tw tires with a lot of sidewall flex. One thing that really helped me was riding with a couple drivers to see what lines they are running. Usually I am too close in grid to the hot shoes, but managed to place myself far enough to get ride time in. I think it's almost time for some 200tw tires and some good Hawk HP plus pads. I love this car.

[captain awesome]

I think there may be overly high expectations of you as you seem to get much accomplished in a short span of time.

Ha! That's probably true even in this sense. I have had major trepidation about handing over the seats as I feel it should be finished by me. The guy that will be doing them is flakey with timelines, so I should have just dropped them off already. In fact, I'll load them up and try to drop them off on my lunch today! Thanks for the kick in the pants, I'll update when they are getting installed.

[captain awesome]

I love how far this car has come since you got it. The 15" weaves look so good, plus there's a better tire selection than 195/65R14. Keep up the good work!

It's hard to keep perspective on how much has changed in just a year, but I definitely agree the weaves were a good investment. Now if I can get this A/c stuff installed it will make the upcoming weather much more bearable.

[1843lamp]

They are sitting in my bedroom. I still need to get them finished by an upholstery shop, and I've not had time during the week to drop them off.

I think there may be overly high expectations of you as you seem to get much accomplished in a short span of time.

[mike.bmw]

I love how far this car has come since you got it. The 15" weaves look so good, plus there's a better tire selection than 195/65R14. Keep up the good work!

[captain awesome]

What happened to the recovered recaros?

They are sitting in my bedroom. I still need to get them finished by an upholstery shop, and I've not had time during the week to drop them off.

[1843lamp]

What happened to the recovered recaros?

[captain awesome]

Saturday the local Vette club had an autocross. It was a small turnout and warm, so we got 8 runs. On my first run as I shifted into second the top of the shifter knob broke in half. I made my way through the fairly long course, but what was left of a knob wasn't really great as there were so many tight 180 hairpins that required a downshift. As soon as I got back to grid I balled up a rag, and wrapped it in masking tape hoping to make something that would last the rest of the day. It was terrible, my steering sucked since the turns were so tight with no powered rack, my redline far before each turn was less than ideal, lots of understeer, all in all I didn't do well. I had fun though.

[wworm]

this thread lists the m54 as lighter, although I dont think I'd believe that, nor is it a big enough number to worry about IMO. Definitely would consider doing the swap down the line If you start itching for more NA power and dont using the e46 for parts. I think your plan is a good one

[captain awesome]

I get that the m54 is the motor of choice, but I already have this one. From what I gather an m54 intake and a few other little goodies will help add a little power. Considering it's a lightweight 6 that could produce double what I have with the m42 I think it may still be worth the trouble.

For now though, it will just be driven as an e46 as the list below has been installed.

New rotors, pads, radiator, water pump, thermostat, exp. tank, coolant hoses, pulleys/belts, aluminum water pump pulley, power steering lines/reservoir, secondary air pump delete, etc.

[wworm]

m54 is also aluminum iirc. if youre gonna go dual vanos m54 is definitely the better of the two.