"Our" LeMons e30

[irish44j]

Well, I'm not actually one of the owners (that would be Jim Spoth and Stephen Nichols), but I drove with the team at Capitol Offense a few weeks ago and helped out on the car (and did a lot of the painting). Anyhow, figured I'd just post it up for the hell of it since none of the other guys on the team are on here (except Spoth, but he doesn't post much).

They ran the car in Chump at Watkins Glen in May and finished, but not very high with stock ETA engine, stock springs, and pretty much everything stock except gutted interior and cage/safety stuff.

For Capitol Offense (at Summit Point) the springs were cut, a few other "performance" things done, and we turned the car from a well-weathered and dented dark blue into something a bit better (IMO). We ended up 18th overall with only one minor mechanical issue in the 16 hours (retaining nut on the throttle cable came off during my first driving stint, so I had to get towed back in and the nut replaced). But 18th not bad for a stock ETA with stock cut springs, I think. A few other e30s finished ahead of us, but I think they were all "i" cars, and I think we beat all of the other ETAs and the M42 cars - I could be wrong about that though.

So...

I did almost all the painting of the exterior. This car is for Lemons and Chump, so it's meant to be a bit goofy but not too crazy. I need a sponsorship from 3M tape and Rust-oleum. A full week of evenings with rattle cans, wet sanding, and taping.

This is the "regular" (chump) look (but before the springs were cut)







this took a lot of tape for details that nobody noticed, lol.


For the LeMons race, our theme was "Judge Phil" (blatant brown-nosing, yes), and Chris Helgesen (one of the drivers) did an alternate hood which was really excellent.



Judge Phil liked it too..


He also took my idea of using a DirecTV dish off my house as a spoiler and did some fab work to take it to the next level. Still has the adjuster on it as well. While it certainly contributed some drag, it also provided noticeable downforce on the rear compared to without it, which helped out on the tight and curvy course at Shenandoah.





a few action shots







though I was a bit partial to this one, since I'm an M42 guy myself...I had a number of tight battles with this car during my driving stints.

[roguetoaster]

I hope you guys will be coming to VIR in early August. If so feel free to drop by the now ratty looking silver #318 or 319 (not sure which we will be running) with the orange taped rear metal bar bumper and have a look a fellow M42 powered "motorsports" car.

Paint job looks great BTW! Was it like that @ the Glen, if so I really don't remember it for some reason, but that may have been due to the really poor weather and hiding out in the heater trailer except as needed.

[irish44j]

I don't think we'll be at VIR - the two primary car owners had a scheduling conflict with something else so had to cancel out on that, unfortunately. I know that was the original plan though, since they asked me to come drive again. Jim and Chris (the main owners) are more into Chump than Lemons (they're not as "into" the theme stuff as the cheap racing), but I think we'll plan to do both here and there sporadically as their schedules allow. I heard Jim talking about a race in Sept/Oct up near Pittsburgh, though I don't know offhand what track or series he was talking about.

At the Glen the car was just dingy OEM dark blue with peeling and faded paint, unpainted cage, and nothing that would make it the least bit memorable.

I keep trying to convince them to drop an M42 in, but they also rallycross a 6cyl e30 so they like the bigger engines. I think they're looking real hard for an 'i' motor to swap in when there is time.

[roguetoaster]

If it helps move them in the right direction, we were 4th at Daytona this year (3 seconds out of 3rd), and we get around 13/14 MPG on track.

[irish44j]

lol....unlikely but I'll note it.

We would have picked up several spots at least, but we were running 6 drivers (not complaining, since I was the 6th guy recruited I think...:) ), and were pitting at around half a tank due to fuel starvation issues. Also didn't help that our LSD sometime during the practice session became an open diff.....and LSD is pretty important at Summit because of all the tight sections. We had a lot of spinning inside wheels during the race, for sure.....

[roguetoaster]

lol....unlikely but I'll note it.

We would have picked up several spots at least, but we were running 6 drivers (not complaining, since I was the 6th guy recruited I think...:) ), and were pitting at around half a tank due to fuel starvation issues. Also didn't help that our LSD sometime during the practice session became an open diff.....and LSD is pretty important at Summit because of all the tight sections. We had a lot of spinning inside wheels during the race, for sure.....

If you haven't already, adding a second pump (low pressure on the drivers side feeding the other side, if you can pass it in Lemons that is) is a great way to combat starvation issues along with the larger tank, which you might already have.

[irish44j]

I think it was just one of the things that we didn't get around to doing before raceday. The plan (TMK) is to pull the tank and clean up/improve the whole system at some point.

[spoth]

Wow, you guys work fast. I don't post much since I've only really been working on E30s seriously for about a year now. I don't think I have enough experience to provide much value here.

Anyway, here's the car as raced at WGI:



And yes, that is positive camber in the rear. As Josh said, not particularly memorable, although I can guarantee you had a fun time passing us.

roguetoaster, hopefully I at least said hi to someone on your team (I do remember stopping by the 318 car, not sure if there was anyone there to talk to). I tried to get around and help out or at least introduce myself to most of the E30 teams there, but you know how it goes in the paddock.

I've spent the last three months or so working almost full time on the car, and we broke some semi major stuff at Shenandoah, so we're going to take some time off from actual racing in the short term. My plans are to fabricate some bushings and camber plates, and rebuild the diff, and run the car at some trackdays to give us all the opportunity to concentrate on getting faster or figuring out how to make the car faster, rather than driving in the mirrors and avoiding smashing things. (We are all rookie road racers at this point)

I'm resistant to all swaps at this point, mainly because there's a lot of room to improve in areas that aren't the car. We typically keep running hour stints since I still don't trust the car, and we run a lot of drivers so I want to make sure everyone at least has a shot. Our pitting and driver changes could also use improvement. Most importantly, we aren't particularly good drivers. We actually already have an M20B25, but I'm open to an M42 swap. Mainly, I'm waiting to see what happens with the Chump rules for next season before committing to any major mechanical project.

We had fuel starvation after 5 gallons used at WGI, but that was just the in-tank pump not working. We swapped to for a good-looking junkyard one for Capitol Offense, and we ended up running it down to 4 gallons left or so after my day-ending two hour stint there with no issues, so I'm shelving any immediate plans to mess with fuel delivery. Long term plan is to swap in a 63L (we have an '87 with a 55L) tank with the auxillary pump roguetoaster described for added longevity. The Overengineer'd guys at capitol offense ran a 63L tank with an M42 and were doing three hour stints. Crazy.

I'd also like to use this summer break to come up with a team name, but I really suck at that kind of thing.

[irish44j]

Most importantly, we aren't particularly good drivers when we are driving on tarmac, as opposed to dirt and grass. .

Edited. Hey, let's be at least a little fair to ourselves. The drivers on this team have collectively won about half of the top class finishes in two rallycross classes this season, and all of us are near the top of the standings (including you, if you go to all the events!) :D

[spoth]

Fair enough. Our rallycross skills are very handy when we're drifting the car, four wheels off, or having a little too much fun in the paddock.

Still, driving is driving, and I think part of the reason we have been turning out decent laps is rally/auto-cross experience.

[roguetoaster]

roguetoaster, hopefully I at least said hi to someone on your team (I do remember stopping by the 318 car, not sure if there was anyone there to talk to). I tried to get around and help out or at least introduce myself to most of the E30 teams there, but you know how it goes in the paddock.

I've spent the last three months or so working almost full time on the car, and we broke some semi major stuff at Shenandoah, so we're going to take some time off from actual racing in the short term. My plans are to fabricate some bushings and camber plates, and rebuild the diff, and run the car at some trackdays to give us all the opportunity to concentrate on getting faster or figuring out how to make the car faster, rather than driving in the mirrors and avoiding smashing things. (We are all rookie road racers at this point)

I'm resistant to all swaps at this point, mainly because there's a lot of room to improve in areas that aren't the car. We typically keep running hour stints since I still don't trust the car, and we run a lot of drivers so I want to make sure everyone at least has a shot. Our pitting and driver changes could also use improvement. Most importantly, we aren't particularly good drivers. We actually already have an M20B25, but I'm open to an M42 swap. Mainly, I'm waiting to see what happens with the Chump rules for next season before committing to any major mechanical project.

We had fuel starvation after 5 gallons used at WGI, but that was just the in-tank pump not working. We swapped to for a good-looking junkyard one for Capitol Offense, and we ended up running it down to 4 gallons left or so after my day-ending two hour stint there with no issues, so I'm shelving any immediate plans to mess with fuel delivery. Long term plan is to swap in a 63L (we have an '87 with a 55L) tank with the auxillary pump roguetoaster described for added longevity. The Overengineer'd guys at capitol offense ran a 63L tank with an M42 and were doing three hour stints. Crazy.

I'd also like to use this summer break to come up with a team name, but I really suck at that kind of thing.

No idea who stopped by, at the Glen, we were mostly holed up in the trailer. But if you are at future Chump races where we are stop by anytime and say hi.

As far as car mods we are running H&R race springs, Bilstein Sports, and PFC pads and the tank upgrade. I would suggest going with stock bushings to keep the AIV and costs down as there is really no real advantage to doing anything else suspension/driveline wise. As far as camber plates I thought it was possible to reorient the stock strut mounts and add negative camber.

Good luck getting better and see you at another event or maybe rally-x, if I ever get another GTI or another ugly E30.

[spoth]

Sounds good.

I don't have $135 in my AIV to accommodate even the minimum charges for shocks and springs, and it seems to me that Spec E30 grade parts would get dinged additionally, but that's my impression of the rules, seeing as I actually haven't teched a car with that level of modification.

I was going to fab some bushings because I can do it inexpensively. We were dinged $10 for using some poly FCABs I had on the shelf, so I think I could take a $20 TCV hit for offset delrin FCABs and aluminum subframe mounts made using material we already have lying around.

I haven't looked too closely, but all of the chump/lemons E30s I've seen with significant camber have been running plates, since they seem to want to put strut mounting holes where the big circle in the strut tower is. I suspect spinning around the strut mount and redrill/slotting holes might also work.

Thanks. Everyone should have a rally car.

[roguetoaster]

Sounds good.

I don't have $135 in my AIV to accommodate even the minimum charges for shocks and springs, and it seems to me that Spec E30 grade parts would get dinged additionally, but that's my impression of the rules, seeing as I actually haven't teched a car with that level of modification.

I was going to fab some bushings because I can do it inexpensively. We were dinged $10 for using some poly FCABs I had on the shelf, so I think I could take a $20 TCV hit for offset delrin FCABs and aluminum subframe mounts made using material we already have lying around.

I haven't looked too closely, but all of the chump/lemons E30s I've seen with significant camber have been running plates, since they seem to want to put strut mounting holes where the big circle in the strut tower is. I suspect spinning around the strut mount and redrill/slotting holes might also work.

Thanks. Everyone should have a rally car.

Well, I am sure we could be persuaded to sell some of our AIV docs for the right price. Or just troll CL as I do.

If Chump is following their rules any non stock bushing (one or the whole cars worth) should be a $75 addition to AIV IIRC.

[JGood]

I was at Capital Offense in a white & blue Volvo 240. I remember seeing this car several times while on track. I could see that satellite dish from miles away, lol! That car is definitely quick! Well, compared to ours at least. Nothing like an ETA making a 90whp Volvo feel slow...

[Nygdup]

Getting Chump to pay attention to their own rules is hit and miss. One day they penalize you, the next they let an E36 328i run with no penalty laps. Go figure.

We have a whole thread here, but just in case you missed us... John Allen Special ChumpCar: