Building a e30 for the 24 hours of Lemons

[Massive Lee]

Lee,

I might have missed this. are brakes a safety item so they can be modded an unlimited amount?

According to Bam2002, wheels and brakes are safety items, and therefore not counting in the $500 enveloppe.

If a regular e30 has to bleed 6 times in 24 hours (10 minutes each time), change pads 4 times (15 minutes each time). Both services only will be a loss of over two hours... Imagine doing 24 hours on the same set of pads and rotors, without bleeding. Right there, you gained 2 hours against the other e30s.

[sumyungguy]

Lee,

I might have missed this. are brakes a safety item so they can be modded an unlimited amount?

If you show up with nice expensive brakes and wheels, they hit you with some laps.

According to Bam2002, wheels and brakes are safety items, and therefore not counting in the $500 enveloppe.

If a regular e30 has to bleed 6 times in 24 hours (10 minutes each time), change pads 4 times (15 minutes each time). Both services only will be a loss of over two hours... Imagine doing 24 hours on the same set of pads and rotors, without bleeding. Right there, you gained 2 hours against the other e30s.

Honestly, none of that is necessary in these races, unless its on a big wide open track. We didn't touch our braking system, and never experienced any brake fade or pedal feel issues, Hawk HPS pads, stock rotors, and some super blue. We brought all that was necessary to bleed brakes and change pads but it never came off the trailer. In our case there was nearly 90 cars on a 1 mile long road course so there was what you can call traffic, in my two 1 1/2 hour stints I got maybe 10 hot laps that I could go 100%. Its truly a different animal.

[LTDScott]

If you show up with nice expensive brakes and wheels, they hit you with some laps.


Honestly, none of that is necessary in these races, unless its on a big wide open track. We didn't touch our braking system, and never experienced any brake fade or pedal feel issues, Hawk HPS pads, stock rotors, and some super blue. We brought all that was necessary to bleed brakes and change pads but it never came off the trailer. In our case there was nearly 90 cars on a 1 mile long road course so there was what you can call traffic, in my two 1 1/2 hour stints I got maybe 10 hot laps that I could go 100%. Its truly a different animal.

Why would they hit you for laps with nice wheels and brakes? They're free. A team showed up at the last Altamont race in an E36 BMW with pimp brakes and wheels and got docked a bunch of laps, but that was because the car was clearly not $500.

And I agree fully regarding the brakes. Huge brakes simply aren't needed. Get some good stock rotors, good pads, good fluid, and call it a day. One of the teams running a Honda Civic has been on the same set of pads/rotors through 3 races.

[sumyungguy]

Why would they hit you for laps with nice wheels and brakes? They're free. A team showed up at the last Altamont race in an E36 BMW with pimp brakes and wheels and got docked a bunch of laps, but that was because the car was clearly not $500.

And I agree fully regarding the brakes. Huge brakes simply aren't needed. Get some good stock rotors, good pads, good fluid, and call it a day. One of the teams running a Honda Civic has been on the same set of pads/rotors through 3 races.

Yeah that's the one we competed in :). That car wasnt racing, it was a camera car that was being a douch and running into people.

[LTDScott]

Yeah that's the one we competed in :). That car wasnt racing, it was a camera car that was being a douch and running into people.

If it's any consolation, we were pitted a few stalls from them (I was with Saabs Gone Wild) and their car was in the pits a lot longer than it was on the track.

[bam2002]

New photos are up.. We got the cage done..

http://www.keeperofcars.com/lemons/cage/index.html

[ecniv]

Looks good. Ours will be ready soon as well.

[LTDScott]

New photos are up.. We got the cage done..

http://www.keeperofcars.com/lemons/cage/index.html

Wow, looks like you left your sunroof in?

[bam2002]

Yep it was an oversight, with the halo we can still get grinding wheels and remove the tracks etc. If not we will jsut weld it closed.

For the lemons race, i feel its more about dependability.. the 20 lbs wont be a huge deal. I could be wrong..


AND going back to the Brakes.. So does any one know of a brake pad sponsor for use with the stock brakes?

[155///MPH]

Brakes are safety items.......

[TXBDan]

We're also building an '86 325e car. www.doriftodogs.com

We're also looking for a front camber solution. We'll share if we find one if you will :P I don't think there's enough room on the top of the towers for slotting.

I think 4.10s would be WAY too short for this motor. Honestly, this baby stock has a great amount of grunt and goes through the gears quite nicely. i'd consider a 3.73 at that max, and i'd be fine w/ running it how it is.

[TXBDan]

Also, guys,

If you need a weld in cage kit, KOPerformance is doing a group buy on the Kirk cage. Its a great deal. If just one more person goes in w/ me, it'll be $550 for the cage. More people and it'll be even less!

[LTDScott]

For the lemons race, i feel its more about dependability.. the 20 lbs wont be a huge deal. I could be wrong..

Agreed about the weight, it's not the end of the world, but my main concern was headroom. I'm 6'3" and all torso and I need as much headroom as possible. Plus we're buying an Autopower cage (they're here in San Diego and they gave me wholesale pricing) and from what I understand the cage is much easier to install without the sunroof cassette.

We tried slotting the strut towers and... well we required some welding, and were not able to slot it much. Bending the strut housing is an option.

[TXBDan]

We also removed the sunroof and cassette. It took one person about half the day to do it. Just start going crazy w/ a cutting wheel on an angle grinder. the whole front out. the rear should pull down, its just glued. Then we cut a piece of an old road sign (nice aluminum) to a proper shape and riveted it over the hole. Worked out great.

I deleted mine and reinstalled the skinned stock panel back in place and made it look nice and perty on my track car, but this was much easier and much faster.

[LTDScott]

Yeah, we plan to just rivet some metal over the hole. Our car is going to have some... things... on the roof, so we may need sheet metal for rigidity.