Rally / RallyX Build

[atxE30]

Latest Progress.....(And a distraction....)

Between crappy weather, work and some drive shaft to diff bolts that required a lot of PB Blaster to get loose, it's been a little slow.

First things first. the driveshaft to diff flange bolts are a total pita. they are supposed to be 17mm.....but i'm guessing there was a different definition of 17mm when this car was made? I came close to rounding one, which would have been a disaster. Tried a few diff brands of wrench, all loose on the nut. Then, had an ah-ha moment when i realized i still had the toolkit! BINGO the 17mm wrench in the trunck toolkit a perfect fit. So between that, a week and a half of PB Blaster soak and the linked box wrench technique for leverage, came right off.

So diff is out:



Drive Shaft off (Guibo was toast, might do that aluminum/delrin race mod for this):



Oh, and ordering new rear drive shafts as this was discovered when I pulled them:



I had hoped to have the rear sub-frame off last Sunday but ran into the issue where it's stuck. Could not find a 5/8 tap in ATX on a Sunday to do the common extraction approach, so had to order. It gets here today and so I'll have the rear subframe off this week.

And finally, that distraction I mentioned In the title..........



had my first couple of races last weekend. went mostly ok. I did spin the car once in each race, but got back into things. Pretty humbling having to start over in a new (for me) sport. But we have harrishillroad.com near me and it's just too easy/fun to get on the track in a large group and race wheel to wheel.

I'm on track with 325 to make the Champcar race in October and the WRL race at COTA in Dec.

[atxE30]

yeah, i'm doing all of the bushings with the condor speed shop stuff.

thanks for pointer to garagistic folks for the disk. that's a no-brainer for me now since i'm not doing spec e30, but rather chump/champ car stuff. think i'll do that tomorrow.

[paynemw]

next question for the broader group: has anyone ever cut the wheel well out and replaced with a welded in disk? i'm guessing thats worth like 40-50lbs..and **un-obstructed** access to diff, etc..

There are a decent amount of people who do that, I don't think SPECE30 guys can do it. Garagistic sells a pre-cut sheet. If you do that, you could probably also install the 2nd Diff mount with ease.

There are a few re-enforcement tabs that can be welded to the rear-subframe. I also used the powerflex bushings in the rear and front subframes.

If you replaced your trans mounts and not your engine mounts you'll hear a crazy rattle when you start your engine... it's just the stiff trans mounts.

[atxE30]

Plugging away...

photos to follow, but latest:

got calipers and parking brakes stripped off. bummer there is that the pistons were pretty beat up and i did not order new ones with rebuild parts, so in the interest of expediency, and picking my battles, i ordered up re-builts.

got the tranny mount bushings installed...

next up, drop the diff and get the rear subframe off. once that's done, i'll do the fuel filter and inline pump. i'm hemming and hawing on the in-tank pump. also i'll start the install of all of the chase-bays brake line replacement plumbing. i'm doing the whole deal there: front to back...

side note, got another set of jack-tands (6-tonners), so i got the car about 25 inches off the ground. muuuuuuch better! not as good as a lift but working under it is a lot less irritating..

next question for the broader group: has anyone ever cut the wheel well out and replaced with a welded in disk? i'm guessing thats worth like 40-50lbs..and **un-obstructed** access to diff, etc..

[atxE30]

Working on it. A fair amount already gone, which has offset a little more than half of the parts costs so far.

I really need to get the rest moved to make room in the garage. I'd make someone a killer deal at this point to take it all...

[paynemw]

Please tell me you're selling all of that interior to make some money back

[atxE30]

Progress!

Insulation out. All glass but front out. Front subframe ready to go back in with all new CA's, tie-rods and HD sway bar links.

[paynemw]

pictures dude

[atxE30]

Sound Insulation Sux!!

Ok, that was a chuckle. Easily 70-80 pounds out of the trunk, Prob 120-125 overall....

Swinging that mallet for 3.5H was fun.......

[atxE30]

Welds Done....Mostly....

Break for food required after early morning weld session start to beat the wind...





Paint later today....

[atxE30]

Progress....

Started a new gig, so been a little busy during the week. Have been making progress though.

Power Steering Out, Front subframe out. Prepped for re-enforcements and paint (welding and painting is tomorrows activity..):





When I pulled the subframe, it revealed one of the CA joints was bad. So ordered those up along with some new sway bar links as they were done too. (Ordered tie rods too since everything's apart....

Also pulled the manifolds off (have headers going on)....

I have an oil pan baffle, and one of these to put on while the subframe is out of the way:



What also became obvious now that the engine bay is significantly less cluttered is that for sure i need valve cover gasket, and likely that damn cam seal too. Will go ahead and do the valve adjustment while I'm in there...

I should have just pulled the damn engine.....sigh......

[irish44j]

The point I was trying to make is that a well set up car can be competitive regardless of drivetrain configuration, so don't let the fact that the E30 is RWD discourage you from rallying it. If you decide to rally you might find it more fun than the other layouts ;)

Oh, I agree 100% with that, I was backing your point with more example. It's why I daily drive a 300whp WRX, but rally a 140hp e30. old RWD cars are infinitely more fun in the dirt than turbo AWD cars, at least in my opinion. Also a lot cheaper to run!

[sileighty]

The point I was trying to make is that a well set up car can be competitive regardless of drivetrain configuration, so don't let the fact that the E30 is RWD discourage you from rallying it. If you decide to rally you might find it more fun than the other layouts ;)

[irish44j]

Thought you might want to watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqx9cH_r9ig

In that rally Hayden Paddon won 1st overall in an old Ford Escort. So it's possible ;)

lol..."old Ford Escort"

Most of the surviving Mk2's are ridiculously built machines driven by top drivers. Hell, Seamus Burke's is a NEW shell completely built from scratch for rally....and is extremely fast. Was whooping up on Millen's Toyota factory-backed AWD and right on the heels of the Subaru factory drivers. Was fun having our pit right next to theirs...that car has insane suspension and brakes.



We're not talking about Jim Kelly's escort ;)

[irish44j]

Thought you might want to watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqx9cH_r9ig

In that rally Hayden Paddon won 1st overall in an old Ford Escort. So it's possible ;)

The Cossies are very quick, and usually driven by quick drivers. At STPR I think one of them was leading for a bit, though didn't end up winning. In regional rallies (i.e. no Higgins/Pastrana/Millen/etc), it's not uncommon at all for 2WD cars to take the overall win, or at least come close. Hell, Kevin Smith and Matt Rhoads have won a fair share of events (including a couple winter rallies) in a FWD Impreza. RWD is a bit tougher to take overall in, except in dry conditions. Sean Burke same story in an old CRX. It's not just about being the fastest. It's about being the fastest while not crashing or blowing up engines (what turbo subarus like to do).

But let's face it: almost none of us is doing rally because we expect "to win the entire rally." Winning in class (G2/G5, etc), or just for fun is where it's at. If you want to take overall wins, you'd better have big balls, and a big budget. And if you have those two things, you can win with any drivetrain configuration, in theory.