Bronzit E30 - OBDII S52 shaved bay - weekend/autox toy - Journey

[rzerob]

Personally I think it would look better with white marker pen. But you have yellow interior bits so I can see why you went this route. I am not a fan of marker pen on tires. Nor a fan of a purple velvet dash but to each his own.

[MR E30 325is]

^^ I like that. A lot.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

^^ I like that. A lot.

The purple dash?

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[Motheye99]

Have you gotten those AKG CAB's installed? I'd like to know what there like on the street.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Have you gotten those AKG CAB's installed? I'd like to know what there like on the street.

Yea they're on the car now. I'm adjusting alignment today and should be driving it this afternoon. I'll check in later with my impression.



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[Jb325is]

Cool, great work on the string setup.

I have a couple things to add, as someone who has done hundreds of alignments with Smart-strings and similar setups:

1- The bumper shock mount is definitely overkill. Hanging the bars over the core-support and rear panel make for a truly universal setup. You can always set the box accurately with the adjustment of the string bars, the way they mount on the car is fairly inconsequential.

2- I think the square lower bars will end up being slightly annoying for setting the box. Usually, to make a fine adjustment you'll be wanting to rotate the lower bar slowly while moving it and I think with the square bar you'll end up having to tap it or something and it may bind up slightly where it mounts to the vertical bars. This might not be a problem now, or ever, but if these things ever get tweaked at all it's going to be a real PITA

3- If you ever want to add scale pads to this setup, I don't think your slip plates will work, they'll overhang onto the scale pad frame itself and cause some weird corner weight readings. Folded up trash bags work really well as slip plates FYI. You could just plop some scale pads on top of your Jenga tower there but that would be a bit sketchy IMO. What would be really cool would be to DIY up some scale pad leveling frames (see below), I've thought about doing this for years, just haven't done it.


Definitely not trying to give you a hard time, so don't take it that way... What you've done here is something I and a lot of others have thought about doing but never have, definitely beats paying $450+ for smart strings. Let me know if you have any other DIY scaling/aligning questions, I can probably help out

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Cool, great work on the string setup.



I have a couple things to add, as someone who has done hundreds of alignments with Smart-strings and similar setups:



1- The bumper shock mount is definitely overkill. Hanging the bars over the core-support and rear panel make for a truly universal setup. You can always set the box accurately with the adjustment of the string bars, the way they mount on the car is fairly inconsequential.



2- I think the square bars will end up being slightly annoying for setting the box. Usually, to make a fine adjustment you'll be wanting to rotate the lower bar slowly while moving it and I think with the square bar you'll end up having to tap it or something and it may bind up slightly where it mounts to the vertical bars. This might not be a problem now, or ever, but if these things ever get tweaked at all it's going to be a real PITA



3- If you ever want to add scale pads to this setup, I don't think your slip plates will work, they'll overhang onto the scale pad frame itself and cause some weight corner weight readings. Folded up trash bags work really well as slip plates FYI



Definitely not trying to give you a hard time, so don't take it that way... What you've done here is something I and a lot of others have thought about doing but never have, definitely beats paying $450+ for smart strings. Let me know if you have any other DIY scaling/aligning questions, I can probably help out

Lol you're pretty much spot on with each of your tips. The bumper shock mounts are definitely overkill and I came to that conclusion not 30 mins ago. I planned to make a universal bracket anyway. Taking the bumpers off is an irritating and unnecessary step. The square bars across the front and rear may definitely become irritating in the future, I already observed this as I tightened the knobs holding it in place and it pulled it ever so slightly left/right. The slip pads worked great so far but I see how they may not be ideal with scales... didn't think that far ahead... but that said I already got a good eye for dropping the car dead center and allowing room for the wheels to spread but still end up centered. Time will tell.

Thanks for the advice, I do appreciate it and haven't taken it the wrong way. Been following and learning from your thread(s) for a while now :) Actually I do have a question for you as someone whose used smart strings in the past. What was your preferred method for measuring distances string to rim? I used a digital caliper. Also definitely wouldve been easier with 2 people so I didn't have to keep rolling under the car to adjust, then get up measure, then roll under etc... good ab workout lol


Literally just finished the setup a few mins ago. Taking it for a drive to see how it feels. Targeted .15 total degrees toe in and 3.3 degrees camber up front. Didn't touch the rear since it's a pita to adjust and hasn't been messed with since the last alignment. Measured it anyway and found .45 deg total toe in (.14 left and .31 right) and 2.3 deg negative camber each side. The posilock rear adjusters dont quite give the fine tuning of the other type... oh well.

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[Jb325is]

Lol you're pretty much spot on with each of your tips. The bumper shock mounts are definitely overkill and I came to that conclusion not 30 mins ago. I planned to make a universal bracket anyway. Taking the bumpers off is an irritating and unnecessary step. The square bars across the front and rear may definitely become irritating in the future, I already observed this as I tightened the knobs holding it in place and it pulled it ever so slightly left/right. The slip pads worked great so far but I see how they may not be ideal with scales... didn't think that far ahead... but that said I already got a good eye for dropping the car dead center and allowing room for the wheels to spread but still end up centered. Time will tell.

Thanks for the advice, I do appreciate it and haven't taken it the wrong way. Been following and learning from your thread(s) for a while now :) Actually I do have a question for you as someone whose used smart strings in the past. What was your preferred method for measuring distances string to rim? I used a digital caliper. Also definitely wouldve been easier with 2 people so I didn't have to keep rolling under the car to adjust, then get up measure, then roll under etc... good ab workout lol


Literally just finished the setup a few mins ago. Taking it for a drive to see how it feels. Targeted .15 total degrees toe in and 3.3 degrees camber up front. Didn't touch the rear since it's a pita to adjust and hasn't been messed with since the last alignment. Measured it anyway and found .45 deg total toe in (.14 left and .31 right) and 2.3 deg negative camber each side. The posilock rear adjusters dont quite give the fine tuning of the other type... oh well.

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Something like this is what I've always used. Buy a bunch because they disappear like a 10mm socket- https://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Gauge-S.../dp/B00FG96NY2

To square up the strings on the car, I'll always measure from the lip of the hub itself if it's nicely machined or the flat part around the inner hub of the wheel. Something as close as possible to the centerline of the hub so your box isn't affected so much by the toe being out. Always a good idea to go back and check the box a few times as you go, a string bar that's shifted 1 or 2mm over on one axle can throw you off on the other.

[Javier h]

Changing the subject a bit.

And this is probably more a lack of knowledge from my end,,,,

You know how you put in a Z3m shifter in your e30 and it didn't feel right?

It worked better on the E36 328ic.

Why would there be a difference (in notchiness)?

To my knowledge, the E36 M3 tranny and E36 328i are identical.

I am assuming you are running an E36 tranny in the E30 with the swap.

Javier

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Have you gotten those AKG CAB's installed? I'd like to know what there like on the street.

No complaints. They feel tight and solid as I'd expect. Does feel like I got ever so slightly more NVH but hardly noticeable considering all the rest of the bushings are condor and there's no sound deadening.

Something like this is what I've always used. Buy a bunch because they disappear like a 10mm socket- https://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Gauge-S.../dp/B00FG96NY2

To square up the strings on the car, I'll always measure from the lip of the hub itself if it's nicely machined or the flat part around the inner hub of the wheel. Something as close as possible to the centerline of the hub so your box isn't affected so much by the toe being out. Always a good idea to go back and check the box a few times as you go, a string bar that's shifted 1 or 2mm over on one axle can throw you off on the other.

Thanks for the link to the ruler. Is that accurate enough? I don't know if I'm crazy but to target ~.15 degrees total toe in meant I was targeting a ~.7mm toe in at the front of the wheel vs rear of the wheel. Other tips are appreciated. I thought about checking the box while I was working but didn't. I'll do that next time. I think I'll also switch to black fishing line instead of clear... easier to see.

Changing the subject a bit.

And this is probably more a lack of knowledge from my end,,,,

You know how you put in a Z3m shifter in your e30 and it didn't feel right?

It worked better on the E36 328ic.

Why would there be a difference (in notchiness)?

To my knowledge, the E36 M3 tranny and E36 328i are identical.

I am assuming you are running an E36 tranny in the E30 with the swap.

Javier

IIRC at the time I first installed it in the e30 was prior to the ZF transmission from the e36. The G260 is a lot notchier to begin with so it was all magnified. I have also come to realize angle of the selector rod is fairly important which may have been another contributing factor. I had a trans tunnel mounted shifter which raised the pivot point of the shifter up and also caused the selector rod angle to increase. That means as you're shifting you're pulling the selector rod at an angle vs straight on -> increases effort.

In my e36 I benefit both from the zf transmission (and mine is very smooth) as well as a better selector rod angle. It is a bit notchier than before though, but that's just an intrinsic byproduct of doing a short shifter at all, especially tunnel mounted (mine is also tunnel mounted in my e36).

[Sh3rpak!ng]

After finishing the alignment on Saturday I went for Supercar Sunday the next morning and then a rip in the canyons. Car feels fantastic. Everything just feels "right". I think I can say at this point that this is the best the car has ever felt. Everything is dialed in to just the right level.

My friend and I actually co-drove since his porsche was in storage. Dont think we ever did that before and man it was a blast. Lot of fun to be able to talk through the cars performance and the road as we drove. I also got to ride in my own car, in the canyons, driven aggressively... that was a first and I loved it









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[wworm]

I love this car. The depth and detail is great. Hows the e36 coming along?

[Sh3rpak!ng]

I love this car. The depth and detail is great. Hows the e36 coming along?

thanks :)

E36 has been great! I've been utterly lazy about updating that thread. It's been my 100% daily driver now for around 6 months. Just replaced the convertible top and some associated hardware so now the top goes up and down on its own for the first time in probably 8 years or so. Detailed it too so it's looking fresh. Still have some small projects to take care of such as interior detail, cold air intake box, reassemble and install the M3 mirrors, powdercoat the calipers blood red (to match other accents), fix minor exhaust leak... little by little I'll clear them out

[MR E30 325is]

The purple dash?

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No no no.

The yellow marker on the tires!

[jeenyus]

tires look just as cool as i thought they would look. great work! i can imagine the feeling of everything "just feeling right". It's a feeling I am looking for.