Das Beast: My E30 track / street build

[Elysian]

Hey Guys, was on vacation. Back now. Might be starting up again this weekend if Rob is available. Stay tuned.

You missed all the crazy weather then?

[dvallis]

Absolutely. We try to get out of Austin in August when it's 110F and hurricanes are prowling the gulf.

[dvallis]

Das Beast is BACK

Ok, back from vacation and ready to finish this project. On to the pedal box.

First thing is getting the aluminum bulkhead template transferred to 10 gauge steel.



Then we fabricated the frame rails from 1x1 steel box stock.



Busted out the MIG and Obi Wan went to work. Welder was acting up so his welds looked like mine 6 months ago. :devil:



End result looking pretty good. Unfortunately we were about 1/4" off in 1 plane, so the bulkhead plate did not sit flush. Could have shimmed it, but after a beer and talking it over, decided to redo the frame arms.



Version two fit perfectly. Here it is with the pedal box hung. I like this setup because (a) It has room for the remote brake bias setup, (b) We can access all adjustments with the pedal box bolted in place, and (c) Has room for remote reservoir plumbing. It's rock solid when bolted into the car.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Whoa!! Sick build, should be moved to the project forum. I didn't know this was here!! Subbed

[dvallis]

Hey Sh3rpak!ng. Welcome to the Das Beast adventure. More good stuff to come. :devil:

[dvallis]

Pedal Box Mega Post

So, the pedal box is finally coming together. This is easily the most time intensive system per size we've tackled yet. Well ... maybe the engine was more, but that was so long ago we're over it.



Perfect fit. Good spacing. Should have worn racing shoes for the picture. :devil: Need to add a dead pedal.



Good room for accelerator. Pedals are co-planar. Setup will be great for heel and toe. And its all adjustable if we need to make changes later.



Now, where to put the remote reservoirs? We tried using a single bracket (shown in cardboard) with them in a triangle formation inside the shock tower struts but didn't like the results.



This was the Ah Ha moment. Needed to trim the reservoir brackets in order to get them lower and under the hood line.



Then we busted out the metal break shear. Rob was very happy. :devil:



Mounting bracket looking good



Remote reservoirs assembled. Our design philosophy is "always make it removable". Much easier to assemble or repair things on the workbench.



If something is well engineered it will fit nicely and look good. I like it.



And now you take EVERYTHING off again and design the remote fill hose system, on the bench. See previous post: Make everything removable. You do not want to do this on your back under the dash. Now it's just "turn the crank" engineering to clearance hoses and make sure everything is the right length. While enjoying a beer.



It's Beer 30. Time to knock off. To be continued .........

[Elysian]

That looks great.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Finally read through the whole build. Epic. I love the whole DIY aspect and seeing your skills improve. Looking forward to future updates

[dvallis]

It's definitely been an adventure.

[dvallis]

Pedal Box is DONE

Work intruded on Das Beast this week. Finally back on track today.

Since we are moving the remote fill hoses, had to plug the hole in our bulkhead plate. An electrical panel blank fit perfectly.



Also worked great for an extra hole in the firewall.



Back to the clearance bracket. This keeps hoses from hitting the clutch and brake pedal arm. It's been evolving.



That didn't work. It eventually ended up looking like this.



And ... finally we get to this. Needed to pierce the firewall, but not the wiper motor rain gutter. Will add grommets to keep the hoses away from sharp metal edges.



Inside view.



Finally the end result. Pedals are rock solid, level and co-planar.



On the gas



Heel & toe braking, throttle blip and downshifting. Perfect.



Job well done. Declared victory and called it a day.

[dvallis]

More brakes

Getting closer to having brakes. Making the last hard lines. Here's the front.



Installed



Rear line



Installed



Protecting tubes from the bulkhead edges with some conduit.



Reservoirs getting attached



And .... all done

[dvallis]

Das Beast is on a minor hold. Had my wisdom teeth pulled. Not so effective wrenching while gorked out on pain meds.

[wworm]

god speed the healing I cant wait until the engine goes in! just went back through the engine building progress. I'm very stoked

[dvallis]

Quick update. Brake bleeding tool arrived today. After a lot of research I decided to go with pressure bleeding. All the track guys I got info from swore by this method or manual bleed.

FYI, if you have not bled brakes before there are 4 methods:

1. Manual: Put fluid in reservoir, open bleed screw at caliper, pump pedal, close bleed screw, repeat

2. Vacuum: Tool sucks fluid from reservoir via caliper bleed screw

3. Pressure: Tool pushes fluid from reservoir to caliper bleed screw

4. Reverse Injection: Tool pushes fluid from caliper bleed screw to reservoir

Discovered the topic of brake bleeding is basically a Holy War. Found any number of supporting cases for each. Chose pressure bleeding because:

1. Is faster than manual
2. Produces less air bubbles than vacuum
3. Cleaner than reverse injection (fluid coming out of reservoir)
4. Can be done by 1 person when needed
5. Well suited to my brake setup (separate front/rear circuits)
6. Tool was fairly cost effective
7. Tool has option specifically for Tilton masters and reservoir
8. Good reviews of tool on Amazon

We plan on bench bleeding the masters in-car before bleeding down each circuit.

Informed advice welcomed. Please don't turn Das Beast into a brake bleeding Jihad. :devil:

[Mwishlist]

I have the same Motive bleeder, man; probably the best money I've ever spent on a tool.