My 318i rallycross build thread - Now with event action! May 2012

[irish44j]

So....I have a WRX, but it's an 09, it's a daily driver for my long commute, it's far from being paid off, and it is setup for autocross and would need ALOT of changes for rallycross. It's morphing toward a trackday car eventually, so wrong direction.....

I decided to get a RallyCross car, but wanted to do something RWD or AWD and something dirt-cheap....e.g. Under $1k for a running, driveable car. In this area it's next to impossible to find a half-decent impreza for twice that cost, and didn't want a legacy/forester/outback because I will be working on the car in my garage all winter, and with all my other crap in there a larger car simply won't fit.

SO, after months of searching I decided to get something slow and not built for RallyCross.....but something with alot of cheap/used/interchangeable parts with better models, good aftermarket support, and old enough to get vintage tags on (so no inspection/emissions!).

(note that I'm doing a build thread here because I have a WRX so I've lurked here for a good while, and because this is by far the best rallycross forum out there, and good advice is good advice, whether it's a Subie or not. I'm also mirroring this thread on GrassrootsMotorsports forum, since those are the guys who excel at doing a build "on the cheap" which is also my goal.)

The goal for this car will be mostly to have fun, but of course I would love to make it semi-competitive - to the extent that can be done with a low-power car not built particularly for this kind (or any kind) of motorsports. It looks like here in WDCR region, that class is primarily e30 325's and 1st gen RX-7s. The car will be built to stay within the rules of SCCA PR class. Someday it might move to Modified if I get the bug to drop in a different engine and strip the entire interior, but for now PR is the goal. I paid under $1k for the car and all the spare parts, so the goal is to keep the improvement/modification budget as low as possible as well.

So off we go:
The starting point is a 1985 BMW 318i 4-door that appears to be more or less stock. Mileage is showing at 188k miles, but the ODO is broken as seems to be the case with all high-mile e30s. Who cares. The car is 98% rust-free, with the only rust spots I can find are one small part on a rocker seam, and a few other very small parts. Good, I suck at rust repair. I can't find any body filler anywhere, so that's a plus. Paint appears to be original but it's in good shape - seems to have been a garage-kept car for most of its life. The car came with a truckload of spares, including a set of BBS wheels, a set of bottlecaps, a spare 5-speed tranny, and a spare M10 engine (and about 10 other boxes of all kinds of new and used stuff from new copper manifold bolts to spare MAFs to spare ECUs to three new sunroof seals, lol).

The only part that may or may not be stock is the diff. It is the BMW small case (as came on the car), but the metal tag shows it being a 3.91 LSD diff. I've found that this diff was available on canadian early 318s, but haven't verified that US models got it (still investigating, nobody seems to know for sure). Someone also noted that it may have come from a e21 320is. Either way, since it's using the same case that the 318i came with, the LSD is allowed for PR class by my reading of the rules
.
Initial projects for this car will be as follows:
* Minor electrical/interior fixes
* Bilstein HDs (preferably used)
* new bushings everywhere
* reinforcement of rear strut towers (if allowed under rules, will investigate)
* new rear wheel bearing
* possible swaybar upgrade
* possible race seats (used or cheap!)
* possible roll bar (we'll see)
* shifter bushings or STS
* armor (skidplates)
* tires (preferably used for now), with higher profile than stock - the car can't get much slower, so why not!

And will go from there. Will stay on the stock springs for the moment, since they're not bad, and they give tons of wheel gap and ground clearance.

Any advice, criticisms, comments, ideas, or general knowledge anyone here has is welcome. And no, I have no engine swap plans in the near future (and yes, I'm well aware of my options in that category!). I did a few rallycrosses about 15 years ago, but in some stock beaters and I didn't know much about it. Also did a short stage rally in my old Lancia Delta (I lived in Italy in the 90s), so have some experience at off-road driving....but not saying much!

A few quick pics, and off we go...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2155.jpg

some (but not all) of the spare parts stash that came with the car. There's also a complete M10 engine and a couple other wheels not in the picture.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2157.jpg

with my daily driver/autocross car. Yes, ironic that I have a WRX and instead I'm using an old BMW for rallycross.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2152.jpg

where the four little hampsters hang out
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2194.jpg

[slowbaru]

First things first Congrats:thumbsup: Second Replace the motor mounts right away. Get ready to have some fun. I have a bunch more tips if you want to hear them.

[irish44j]

First things first Congrats:thumbsup: Second Replace the motor mounts right away. Get ready to have some fun. I have a bunch more tips if you want to hear them.

yes, the more tips the merrier.....as long as you're not gonna say "M42 swap" or anything like that, lol. I know jack about BMWs except for what I've overheard for 3 years autocrossing with BMWCCA (in my subaru, lol).

motor mounts are already on the list, any suggestions as to the best ones to get?

[Super2.2]

I never had to buy motor mounts for my rally e30... but I always liked shopping at koperformance.com. Some things were a bit pricey, but I could usually find any OE pieces that I needed for a better price than the dealership.

Dang... I miss that car. RWD FTMFW.

[slowbaru]

I made my motor mounts out of 2" delrin rod and two 3" 3/8 by 16 grade 8 hardware. You get a little motor vibrations but it won't go anywhere. Check the entire cooling system, they like to leak if they are not kept up, maybe add an electric fan. Keep the stock motor as long as possible. Check the intake manifold, the fittings like to come loose, if loose just jb weld them back in. Is that an extra airbox I see? Does your ac still work? Use the bottle caps for offroad and the weaves for street. For seats I got some from a convert at pick-n-pull

[slowbaru]

I never had to buy motor mounts for my rally e30... but I always liked shopping at koperformance.com. Some things were a bit pricey, but I could usually find any OE pieces that I needed for a better price than the dealership.

Dang... I miss that car. RWD FTMFW.

Yeah mine ripped both motor mounts inhalf and then the motor jumped up and ate the lower rad hose

[irish44j]

I made my motor mounts out of 2" delrin rod and two 3" 3/8 by 16 grade 8 hardware. You get a little motor vibrations but it won't go anywhere. Check the entire cooling system, they like to leak if they are not kept up, maybe add an electric fan. Keep the stock motor as long as possible. Check the intake manifold, the fittings like to come loose, if loose just jb weld them back in. Is that an extra airbox I see? Does your ac still work? Use the bottle caps for offroad and the weaves for street. For seats I got some from a convert at pick-n-pull

cool.
car appears to already have an electric fan (it has both a puller fan behind the radiator and a pusher fan in front of it, but haven't looked closely to see what the controllers are).

yes, that is an extra airbox. Oddly, the p/o powdercoated the stock airbox (but black, so it's hard to tell). Car came with extras of tons of stuff. I'm still trying to figure out what half these extra parts are - many of them still brand-new in plastic bags.

AC doesn't work. Compressor is in there, but no belt. Also have a second compressor that came with it. But....I don't much care about A/C. I guess I can't pull the stuff for prepared class, sadly.

I have a set of Miata seats in my GT6...tempted to transplant them into the BMW and see how they fit.....

btw, in case anyone cares, this is my other mostly-complete project car
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/GT6%20restoration/agt6001.jpg

[slowbaru]

the electric pusher fan is for the ac system only comes on when the ac is on. I run M2 so I gutted the whole ac system. Also the the oil cooler from a 325is will work on your car. btw your project is bad as hell. MG? opel? triumph?

[irish44j]

the electric pusher fan is for the ac system only comes on when the ac is on. I run M2 so I gutted the whole ac system. Also the the oil cooler from a 325is will work on your car. btw your project is bad as hell. MG? opel? triumph?

cool....well remains to be seen if I decide to just go M2 to make things easier and let me do whatever I want to do, lol. I'm guessing both the oil cooler and AC delete would put me there, so we'll see!

The other car is a 1970 Triumph GT6. I did an extensive build thread on it (literally from a bare frame) http://club.triumph.org.uk/cgi-bin/forum10/Blah.pl?m-1206842587/ if you have any interest. Too bad the car is a bit on the fragile side for real motorsports. And a bit on the dangerous side, lol.

[irish44j]

Did a quick compression test after work before dinner today: 150 on all four cylinders! (:D)

[slowbaru]

check this place out www.iemotorsport.com/bmw/E30-parts.html

[irish44j]

after not much research, already decided I'm going to shoot for M2.....so I can go to the 325 suspension/brake stuff and bigger tube shocks. I may have a local buddy parting out an e30 325, so now would be the time to get that stuff....

[winski357]

that. triumph. is. sexy.

[irish44j]

1. Ordered front Bilstein HDs. SInce this is an early e30 it takes the old 45mm struts in the front (all after 1986 take the 51mm), which are pretty hard to find used and most are the Sport (I want the HD, since I'm not lowering it). Pelicanparts and one other place that sells Billys says these are no longer available in the 45mm size but I found them elsewhere, so I'll bite the bullet and order new for about $200. The rears are the same for all years, so I'll get those used at some point in time.

2. Picked up some heavier oil (15W-40) and filter to do an oil change. I'm going to run 20w-50 when I start using the car, but for now this should be good for quick test drives, tuning it up, etc.

3. Got some new spark plugs (the ones in there look pretty old and grimy). Will also be checking all vacuum hoses, intake hoses, etc to make sure I have no leaks, and try to determine why the car idles high.

4. Plan on doing the "bumper mod" (more on this later). I'll need all the extra space I can get once I bring the car into the garage, so that will save me 6" (and I will probably take them off for the winter to save another 6").

5. Turns out there is carpeting in the car OVER the original carpeting. That's pretty ghetto. I dont' need that much plushness, lol. Will rip that stuff out today or this weekend.

[irish44j]

took a day off work with a nasty cough/allergies today, so of course I couldn't just sit on the couch all day, had to get some work done.

I pulled the spark plugs - they were old Autolites, black as soot and generally pretty old-looking. Replaced them with some Bosch Platiunums.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2203.jpg

Also fixed up some minor things, like two loose heat shields under the muffler that caused an annying rattle, and hmm...this doesn't look right. AC compressor (not hooked up, but still with lines) just swinging around by its upper mounts. There's the clunk I heard on turns driving the car home
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2202.jpg

scored up some hardware and secured it, though I don't have the upper bushings for the second set of frame bolts. Good enough. All the A/C stuff will come out anyways if I run in M2.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2204.jpg

Also did an oil change with some Rotella 15w40 (couldn't find any 20w50 as I wanted, but it's just temporary anyhow). The drain plug was....interesting. The filter is not really in a very convenient location.....
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2205.jpg

While I was under there I took a good look at the undercarriage. A few minor rusty spots but nothing much of note. One small hole in the driver's footwell where the drain plug used to be. More interestingly, the entire undercarriage above the driveshaft was oily, and there was oil on the crossmembers below it. I can't tell where the heck this oil is from though. The DS isn't oily, and this is a couple feet toward the back of the car from the transmission output flange. The tranny is also very gunky, but didn't have any fresh oil on it, and isn't dripping. Will investigate this further with the car in the air sometime soon.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2206.jpg

The mailman brought me a little package - lockset with key off ebay. I only did the doors for the moment (since one didn't work and the other was missing), so now I can lock the car. Of interest, when I opened up the door cards, I found that there was all kinds of crap in there....little broken plastic pieces, some random screws, and what appears to be the assembly for power locks, just hanging there by their wires and not actually attached to anything. Probably don't work anyhow, so I just unhooked the power actuator plate thingy and took it out of both doors rather than have it banging around in there. Also cleaned up the door cards nicely, they look pretty good now
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2207.jpg

Last project of the day: some interior cleanup. Took out the passenger seat (would have been easy, but the tracks were very difficult to slide). As I already knew, some P/O had carpeted OVER the original carpet with what appears to be some home carpet remnants :P So I ripped that out, and found that the OEM carpet was pretty nasty, stains everywhere, etc.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2208.jpg

So out that came too. Once all the foam was pulled out, had access to the floor. OVerall, it's pretty good. Some surface rust and there was a bit of moisture in the footwell (will investigate for leaks), but not much. THe floor was solid, but did have one small rust-through spot in the backseat footwell, and then another little rust-through spot on the left side of the front footwell. Both should be pretty easy fixes with some fiberglass. For the rest, will POR-15 everything. Not sure what I will do about replacing it. The foam was nasty, the carpet was nasty. It's all in the trash now. Will have to see what the rules are in terms of not having carpet (but still having the rest of the interior in there), or "how much" carpet I would need to put back in for PR (e.g. floormats?). Really, I'd like to just hit the entire floor with spray-in bedliner once I have it all fixed up, and not deal with getting new carpet that will just get all dirty and muddy anyhow, lol

It looks worse than it is. Almost all of that is surface rust, except the smal hole on the far left (outside of the "circle" in the floor) and another little hole near the bottom of the transmission tunnel. After doing British cars, this stuff is nothing.....
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2210.jpg

[A1337STI]

Check what the rules are for fans / switches . If the rules allow it, you should wire up the "AC fan" onto a switch. so if the car starts running hot you can kick it on. my car (impreza) was running hot at my last rallyX and a little switch to the 2nd fan would have helped a bunch.

[irish44j]

Check what the rules are for fans / switches . If the rules allow it, you should wire up the "AC fan" onto a switch. so if the car starts running hot you can kick it on. my car (impreza) was running hot at my last rallyX and a little switch to the 2nd fan would have helped a bunch.

will look into it, thanks. If I go M2 I'll probably convert the main fan to electric too, to get a couple HP that the crank-driven fan is currently stealing. Actually this weekend I'll test and see if the AC fan actually works, and go from there.

[irish44j]

Today not much on the car since I was working.

Did cancel the order for the 45mm front Bils. I'm going to source up full later e30 suspension with the better rear trailing arms, better brakes, and 51mm struts. Easier to find parts for, more stout, and better stopping are all good things for rallycross.

So goodbye to PR, hello to M2 :) Having basically no restrictions on what I do will make it more fun anyways....

The P/O (who only had the car for a few months) also got in touch with the owner before him to check on some maintenance items. The P/O2 said (though had no documentation) that the water pump was replaced "about a year ago" (so I'll assume 2 years ago) and that he "thinks" the timing chain was done at the same time, but he didn't do the work himself apparently, he just paid a shop/dealer to do it....so who knows.

I have a water pump on the way anyhow, so will probably do it just to be safe. If the old one is still good I'll just keep it as a spare.

Today's quick project was to rip out the drivers-side carpeting. more shattered glass (someone must not have been happy with a previous owner since it's just glass and no sign of any panel replacements or anything). I really should get an autocheck/carfax done but I'm too cheap (anyone out there have an account?)

The good news on the driver's side is that the rear floor is perfect, not a sign of rust anywhere. The front floor has some surface rust, but does have a small hole just below the gas pedal. Should be an easy cut-out-and-fiberglass fix, especially since there is a reinforcing bar there anyways where the pedal bottom mounts. Also one stud for the seat mount apparently fell out of the chassis, so there's a hole there from it (will just push a new one through, it's not rusted or anything). So all in all I have 3 smallish rust holes in the entire floor pan to fix. Pretty pleased with that.

For seats I've been thinking about what I want to do. The thought of some Sparco Evos is in my mind (they can be found used fairly cheap), but I kind of want something that will be a bit more comfortable and adjustable for regular driving, especially since the local rallycrosses are a good ~2 hour drive from here.

I'm leaning toward looking for some Porsche or possibly Miata seats. There is a pair of black leather 944 seats local for cheap, so might go check that out and take some measurements. I've always like sitting in Porsches and felt the seats were pretty supportive and comfortable at the same time. If I get the leather ones, I'll get them recovered in cloth probably. Not a big fan of the e30 "sport" seats, and M3 seats are usually beat to hell, or if they're decent they're $$$.

A few quick pics:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2211.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2212.jpg

[irish44j]

Today was planning to attack the floors and some other things, but got hung up for longer than expected helping a friend do a battery relocate in his car so only did a few quick things to the e30.

1. pulled out the rear seats. major accomplishment :bs:

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2216.jpg

2. did the front bumper reduction mod....taking the diving board there and compressing it about 5" in. This required drilling out the hydraulic pistons mounts and getting the oil inside all over the place (even though I thought I had prepped sufficiently to avoid a major mess). Then compressed them with a vise and re-installed. Reinstallation is a bit tougher since with the bumper pressed in it's pretty tight accessing the mount bolts. Will likely get rid of the rubberized "spats" that go around the bumper edges to cover the gap that is no longer there..

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2215.jpg

moments before oil-mageddon
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2214.jpg

compressed vs. uncompressed
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2217.jpg

finished product (see earlier pics in this thread for comparison)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2218.jpg

[irish44j]

Decided tonight to go out and check the shrader valves on the AC lines and lo and behold....no freon in there. Which means....I had a project for the evening:
goodbye A/C! (still have to do the AC radiator and the stuff under the dash, but cleared out the compressor, mount bracket, and lines underhood tonight)

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2229.jpg

Also pulled the battery to check out the pan, after I noticed that my passenger-side water leak was coming down near the firewall/box junction there. Sure enough, some rust-through on the pan and on the side lip. I did some test drainage through the air intake vents with the car on level ground.....and whatever German designed that drainage path was a moron.....water pools nicely exactly where all the rust is. Oh well, nothing some fiberglass won't be able to fix...

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2228.jpg

Time to get some shuteye...

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2231.jpg

[irish44j]

so a couple quick things:
new fiberglass on the battery tray, after cleaning up/cutting out the small rust holes. I also built up the area on the left side lip up under the hood mechanism, since it sits low and allows water to pool....once it's fully dry I'll sand it down and paint
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2233.jpg

on to inspection of some of the vac hoses. Pretty clear that someone improv'd alot of these. The plan is going to be to replace all of it with whatever I can find locally. Would be nice if there was a Samco vac hose kit for the M10, but no dice. Guess I'll have to stick to rubber unless I feel like spending a day measuring and ordering custom pieces...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2234.jpg

really nice....the brake booster hose. Way to keep it simple, lol.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2235.jpg

[adamthomas625]

You might think I'm crazy but I can help you get your subie paid off. I just got with a company and started out spare time. I have a free black BMW now that they give me 600 dollars a month for. Since they do that I now have a free daily driver and I'm going to build my subaru into a rally car.. They will give you 600$ a month as long as you have a black BMW. So what you can do is use that 600 to pay your subaru off!! This company has allowed me to make more money than I did at my full time job(plus drive a free car) and now I can use that money for rally!! www.adamthomas.bodybyvi.com watch the videos.

[irish44j]

You might think I'm crazy but I can help you get your subie paid off. I just got with a company and started out spare time. I have a free black BMW now that they give me 600 dollars a month for. Since they do that I now have a free daily driver and I'm going to build my subaru into a rally car.. They will give you 600$ a month as long as you have a black BMW. So what you can do is use that 600 to pay your subaru off!! This company has allowed me to make more money than I did at my full time job(plus drive a free car) and now I can use that money for rally!! www.adamthomas.bodybyvi.com (http://www.adamthomas.bodybyvi.com) watch the videos.

interesting concept, ....IDK that it really applies to me though...not really in need of weight loss and (6'0, 165) marketing is defintely not my thing. Anyhow, the money isn't really the issue for me, I'm just doing this car on the cheap for the fun of doing it on the cheap (my other projects were definitely not done on the cheap). I didn't look at the BMW thing because it requires an email and phone number (which I do not give out). Thanks for the heads up though!

[adamthomas625]

interesting concept, ....IDK that it really applies to me though...not really in need of weight loss and (6'0, 165) marketing is defintely not my thing. Anyhow, the money isn't really the issue for me, I'm just doing this car on the cheap for the fun of doing it on the cheap (my other projects were definitely not done on the cheap). I didn't look at the BMW thing because it requires an email and phone number (which I do not give out). Thanks for the heads up though!

to see the bmw thing you can go to www.overview.visalus.com and it's not a weight loss product. it's a nutrition product. I've actually gained muscle from it. and that's fine man just thought I would offer and try and help!! I'm doing a ViSalus rally paint job and using my rally car a tax write off :headbang:

[irish44j]

to see the bmw thing you can go to www.overview.visalus.com (http://www.overview.visalus.com) and it's not a weight loss product. it's a nutrition product. I've actually gained muscle from it. and that's fine man just thought I would offer and try and help!! I'm doing a ViSalus rally paint job and using my rally car a tax write off :headbang:

I do appreciate it, and thanks for the head's up. I definitely want to see the paint job!

[irish44j]

ok, so $15 worth of random hoses from the local auto parts store, a few reduction and elbow fittings, and for the price of one OEM formed hose all of the main induction hoses are now replaced and leak/crack-free....
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2236.jpg

that looks better than what was above, lol
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2237.jpg

re-oriented with a "modified" elbow/holder.....the p/o clearly liked long hoses going anywhere. I prefer more direct as well as I can do them without any kinks.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2238.jpg

[irish44j]

not much work on the project today. Woke up at 530 am and trucked 200 miles down to Va.Beach (from DC) in a stellar 2 1/2 hours to pick up a buddy who called in a favor (was dropping off his Z06 for some engine work down there) and headed back up this way in another fast time. In time for football kickoff, though my Skins disappointed of course. Fine, more time to rake leaves, ugh.

As to the car, spend a little while stripping a few interior panels and insulation and pulled the cabin a/c lines. Also re-installed the intake air box and went to pull the car out of the garage to clean up the mess of tools and general **** all over the place.

of course...dead battery. Left the trunk open and I guess the light drained it, doh. Jumped it with the WRX (a bit more hassle now that it has a trunk-mounted/boxed battery) and ran it for a while in the driveway while I cleaned up. With the vac hoses replaced, the idle is now more around typical levels rather than the high idle it had before...though the tach doesn't work, so I'm just guessing at that since I'm too lazy to count....

oh, and a small package came in the other day...

once I do the suspension/brake swap from the 325, I'll install some wheel studs into the hubs and use lugnuts rather than the OEM lug stud setup, which is really annoying...

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2240.jpg

[irish44j]

Got around to patching up the small rust holes successfully and decided to clean out everything and do the bedliner interior. I was going to get Herculiner, but happened to come across some Rustoleum bedliner at walmart, which was less than half the price. Worth a try, since it's not like I need "the best" or for it to take massive abuse like a truck bed will.

Anyhow, did the entire floor pan and the accessible transmission/driveshaft tunnel area. Driver's side came out great (just scuff-sanded the original paint). Passenger side, which I had previously done with POR-15, not as good. Apparently this bedliner doesn't like POR-15, because I started getting the "crinkling" as it pulled up the POR-15. stellar.

In any case, still turned out ok and not going to worry about it for the moment. Passenger side will probably get a re-do at some point.
The Rustoleum stuff seems tough enough for my purposes, and does have good texture like any other bedliner (I used herculiner on my old XJ). For $35, not bad. The whole interior took only about 10% of the gallon can I got too, so plenty more to use :)

not the best pic, but here it is on the driver's side
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/DSCN2267.jpg

this should confuse some people driving behind me....

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2269.jpg

[irish44j]

Had the afternoon free today, so decided to do some minor projects. I know that these aren't terribly interesting to look at or read about, but I'm trying to keep track of even the small stuff - first so I know what I've done, and second because who knows which of these small things might be of interest to other people....especially with me doing it on the cheap and improvising alot.

This car had hit a small deer previously, so the front of the hood has a dent (looking for a replacement hood), the grilles were broken, and the lower grille support bar was bent and the paint cracked off, with rust starting.

Basically, several small projects at once today. Took the grilles and support beam off, and that made it easier to take the A/C pusher fan and the A/C radiator out. I'll eventually put the fan back in (as an auxiliary) but I need to fab up some kind of mount for it. Also need to check to see if it actually works.

Nice to get some junk out of the nose of the car, even if it's not all that heavy.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2270.jpg

also straightened, sanded down, and repainted the support bar. very exciting I know...

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2271.jpg

Since I had previously tucked the front bumpers, now the rubber "spats" that covered the gap when the bumpers were out were pretty much covering the entire top of the bumper. Looked fine, but why not do a little project. I took the entire pieces off, marked some cut lines, and trimmed them back about 2-3" all the way down, and around the sides (using metal shears, an angle grinder to bevel the edge a bit, and a palm sander to smooth it out. Also repainted them with rubberized bumper coating leftover from doing a buddy's pickup truck a while back. Anyhow, minor thing, but looks better IMO, and was free so why not...

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2273.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2275.jpg
before trimming:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2218.jpg

[irish44j]

so, a few evening projects since the kid and wife are in bed.

First, tucked the rear bumper. Since it's damn near impossible to get the rear pistons out of the chassis had to do this one on the car. Knowing from the front how messy it was going to be, I put together an "anti-mess" setup that worked not too badly. Consisting of a milk crate with a garbage bag in it, and some cardboard cut and taped to basically deflect all the piston oil spray into it rather than all over the garage. And a small hole for the drill.

Worked like a charm, with minimal mess!

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2279.jpg

the contained mess

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2278.jpg

tucked. will probably trim back the black gaiter like I did in the front, but it reeks of hydraulic oil back there at the moment so I'm going inside....

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2283.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2284.jpg

Once inside, time for a nice easy project watching tv and sitting on the couch. With the wife eying me to make sure I am not doing anything that will make a mess, lol.
So of course there is the tail light bulb blank where the euro models get the rear fog light. I was originally going to get this all wired up and functional, but dont' really feel like it at the moment. So for the time being I just set it up spliced into the brake light line, so when the brakes are applied I'll have two sections of the tail light light up rather than just one. Got the extra spring clips from a spare/beat-up set of tail lights sitting in one of my parts boxes....

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2282.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2281.jpg

I'd get a pic of them lit up, but the car battery is dead. I'm not sure why, it's been dead every day this week and have had to jump it. Car has a new alternator and the battery is less than a year old, so my guess is that I have a drain someplace, which is going to be an epic pain in the ass to figure out. A project for a really boring winter day....until then I'll just pull the negative terminal to keep the juice alive...

[irish44j]

my thread is clearly dead in here, lol.

maybe some subaru content will help

got the black fleet out in force this morning as I prepped the triumph to go into its backyard hibernation for the winter

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2288.jpg

forward-hinging hoods, FTW!

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2292.jpg

into hibernation. This winter will be BMW time

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2293.jpg

[irish44j]

(:D)
After a good bit of looking around, stumbled upon a good CL deal on a pair of seats out of a Porsche 944. As you can see, one of them seems to have been eaten, and the vinyl is quite cracked on both (especially the driver's side), but mechanically they're in perfect shape - all controls work perfectly, rails slide smoothly, and the driver's seat power controls are functional. And damn they feel so solid and strong compared with the BMW seats.
Also I'm quite certain Porsche/Recaro designed these seats using a model who has exactly my body size, because I dont' think I've ever sat in any car's seat that fits more perfectly.
To fit these in the e30, I'll have to rig up a way to make the track/bolt width 1" wider, but that shouldn't be difficult since the entire track assemblies unboat from the seat (another great feature of these seats). Since these are gonna get dirty and beat-up anyways, I'm in no rush to reupholster them, will just get some decent covers for the time being.
All in all, even as beat-up as they look I'm extremely pleased with this pick-up!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2314.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2316.jpg

[irish44j]

so for today, a test-fit and figure out how I'm going to mount these. As figured out earlier, the Porsche seat tracks are 16" spread while the stock BMW seats have a 17" track width. Another issue is that the Porsche seats sit VERY low. When sitting on the floor where the OEM seats were, I feel like I'm a gramma trying to see over the dash.

So, in true grassroots style, let's see how we can kill two birds with one stone. Luckily sitting around the garage are some old Thule roof rack bars. Just the right size and very strong, they'll do. Plus they'll raise the seat about 2" or so.

First I figured out where to mount them to be appropriate for the Porsche rails. I decided to use the OEM inner bolts (near the driveshaft tunnel) for my inner mount, and for the outer I would go 1" in from the OEM bolts. Will have to seal the holes up later. SO that I could crank down the 17mm head OEM bolts, I opened up some holes in the top of the bars just big enough to fit my 17mm ratchet, and then drilled the holes in the bottom to match up. The result is two rails bolted to the floor.

For the outer rails, I through-bolted them into the floor and will order some backing plates to give some extra strength. The nice part about the Thule bars is they are big enough to fit a box-end wrench inside to hold the nuts that the new seat bolts will connect to...a plus. Ideally I'd just tack-weld the nuts in there, but lack of a welder makes that difficult, lol.

Another issue: The porsche seats have holes to bolt up the BMW female seatbelt receptable (even the same bolt is used) on the inside, but there is no matching bolt on the outside for the belt-side bottom anchor, which bolt to the BMW seats. Will have to figure something out, but will likely bolt those into the floor with a backing plate, since there is room to do so.

Another issue: The porsche rails are very narrow between the "U" profile. No decent-sized bolt will fit in there and still allow a socket or wrench to get to them. As a solution, I got on McMaster-Carr tonight and ordered up some grade 8 Allen bolts that will fit much better, and will allow me to just use a big allen wrench to tighten them down without interference.

So that's it for now. Passenger seat test-fitted. Some pics:

the rails. I'll seal up the original mount bolt holes. I hammered them out, but now that I see the clearance I could have just left them in and used them as guides for the Thule rail. Oh well, will do so on the driver's side.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2317.jpg

profile
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2319.jpg

the result
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2323.jpg

[irish44j]

minor stuff tonight as I wait for the seat bolts and a bunch of suspension stuff due in tomorrow..

First, made the support rails for the driver's side seat

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2339.jpg

Installed

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2343.jpg

now needed to figure out the seat belts. On the BMW the outer bottom seat belt attachment bolted to the seat. On the Porsche seats, no such attachment exists, so either I'd have to have a bracket welded onto the seat frame (neh....) or bolt it up elsewhere. Luckily, the retractor is located in the lower b-pillar, so decided to just use the same bolt (in a longer length) and bolt the outer seatbelt end to the same place, since I already know its reinforced.

Problem: the BMW seatbelt end has this S-bend bracket, which of course is backwards of how it needs to be to fit well without having the belt twisted. I decided on somthing like a seatbelt, where my life is at stake, I did not want to re-bend the bracket the opposite way, which would weaken it. Plus, it was too long and would sit up higher than the seat anyhow.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2344.jpg

Also doesn't help that the springload in the passenger's belt retractor is no good...

Solution: Since the rear seats are out and not going back in, and I don't need the rear seatbelts. Luckily, the rear seat retractors bolt right up in the same place as the front ones, though the belt guide is slightly different. Looks like it will work fine though.

Also, and even better, the lower belt end uses a standard L-shaped bracket. Exactly what I need to bolt it directly up in place, keep the belt un-twisted, and at the right height. Done and done.

I just cut an access hole in the b-pillar trim. I have an idea about how to make it look cleaner, a more elegant solution.....we'll see if it works out at a later time.
In the end, the belt is at just the right angle and placement, so pretty pleased with this improvisation..

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2346.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2347.jpg

[irish44j]

< crickets chirping in here >

lol, well I'll carry on nonetheless...

Finally got the bolts in for the seat. Now that I look at them, I think I may order a larger diameter. I'm sure these are plenty strong, but they look so small, lol.

Gotta love McMaster-Carr. They ship two little boxes of nuts and bolts in this big-ass box

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2349.jpg

In any case, the seats are mounted now and fully functional. After trying them in various positions the only issue is that they do sit a bit lower than the OEM seats. With the electric height adjustment at full "up" the driver's seat is ok (though I could go for another inch or two higher) but the passenger seat (no height adjustment) is pretty damn low. Upside to this is that there is plenty of helmet room. IDK, it's fine for now as I sort the car out but at some point I'll probably want to tweak the mount size. Maybe when I someday reupholster the seats.

how 'bout all the black duct tape. Almost blends in, lol

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2353.jpg

oh....and got three much bigger, very beat-up packages via FedEx today: front and rear suspension and brakes from a 325i (minus springs, shocks, and the front control arms - all of which I already have the stuff I want to use). I'll replace all the bushings on everything and pick up some cheap rotors and used pads, most likely. Need to do some cleaning up and repainting while I'm at it. Project for the next week or two.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2348.jpg

[irish44j]

so....decided not to autocross today. Why, you might ask? This is why. Shaved AD08s would not have been fun.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2370.jpg
so did a few things in the garage. The bulk of it was disassembling, rebuilding, cleaining, and painting the front and rear 325 calipers. They look pretty now :)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2371.jpg
Disassembled the gauge cluster to see if I could figure out why my tach isn't working. All soldered connections look fine, the board looks fine, and I tested the board batteries and they have the power I'd expect (1.5V)....so either the gauge assembly itself is bad, or I'm not getting signal from the sender. Will look into it more at some point.
While I was messing with the gauge, also jumped the test circuit to turn off the inspection warning light. Small victories.....
Got a bit bored watching my Mids getting shellacked by Notre Dame.....so back to the garage for a bit. Cleanup and somee cosmetic stuff...yay.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2375.jpg

[The_Jed]

Well, chirping crickets be damned, I'm watching this thread intently. I LOVE older Bimmers, especially the E34 5 series. (This is an E30, I know, I know...):)
I need to start my own build thread for the Brighton but the progress would be just a tad slower than the norm.

[The_Jed]

Am I correct in assuming the oil pan drain plug is similar to the fill cap; twist it 90 degrees and it can be pulled off?

[irish44j]

Well, chirping crickets be damned, I'm watching this thread intently. I LOVE older Bimmers, especially the E34 5 series. (This is an E30, I know, I know...):)
I need to start my own build thread for the Brighton but the progress would be just a tad slower than the norm.

lol, thanks. I figure more people will read/comment once I actually get into doing something interesting....wheels, or mudflaps, or getting dirty, haha... It's not that I want people to say "nice job" or whatever so much as I want people to make suggetions, float ideas, tell me I did something wrong, etc.

And yes, you need to start a build thread for sure! My thread just moves fast because I'm total car ADD, so I need to bust out alot of things at once so I don't start looking around CL for yet another project, lol.

Am I correct in assuming the oil pan drain plug is similar to the fill cap; twist it 90 degrees and it can be pulled off?

It actually unscrewed several turns and then had some kind of inner clip that kept it from coming out completely. So you basically had to hold it out of the way, else the oil just would flow all over it. Pretty annoying, honestly. I think I'll replace it with a conventional drain plug. Though I have to say, it was nice being able to open it by hand. A bit sketchy though.

minor stuff today as I wait for some bushings and parts to come in.
de-chrome of the window trim. After significant use of scotch-brite pad to get rid of the sheen, and adhesion promoter, did 3 coats of NHT epoxy paint in matte black on the entire chrome frames, mirrors, b-pillars, and the little quarter window seperator.

between getting rid of graying plastic and un-shiny chrome, and the black I think it makes the car look much better (and newer). Before putting the mirror back on I checked the hidden trim area by scratching it with a screwdriver.....and it didn't chip or scratch. Some tough stuff. Should survive a while.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2383.jpg

[winski357]

nice progress! you'll have a lower center of gravity with the lower seats too, you might notice esp in autocross

[irish44j]

nice progress! you'll have a lower center of gravity with the lower seats too, you might notice esp in autocross

truth. though I have no real plan to use this car for autocross. It's gonna be sitting high on tall springs, and won't have good street performance tires lol.

luckily, I have this for autocross:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/autocross%20random%20pics/30585438-DSC_9168.jpg

[irish44j]

dealing with a power drain someplace that is causing dead batteries.
I narrowed it down to 3 fuses that were drawing voltage with the car off:

Fuse #28: small draw. Unhooked the power antenna (don't need it) and cig lighter (don't need it). No more draw. Will remove all that wiring.

Fuse #27: large draw. Must be a short someplace. This fuse runs to interior lights, central locking system, on-board computer, and radio.

1. radio: unhooked it, and no significant change. The "constant power" for the radio memory has a very minor draw, so that's not the issue. Will hook it up again later. still need tunes.
2. on-board computer: this is a 318i. Pretty sure I don't actually have it, that was a 325 option I think.
3. central locking: not working anyhow, so I pulled the control box and will pull all the wiring in the future to clean things up. Don't need it, don't want it, who cares.
4. interior lights: I suspect this is where the drain was, but I'm not tracing every interior light wire in the car. Besides, I have no need for them, they're dim as hell anyhow. I'll probably run new wires on a master switch if I want them in the future.
result of all that: Fust #27 is no longer drawing any current (shocker!).

2 down, 1 to go.

The one left drawing current, a large current, is #21. This fuse controls all kinds of crap....including the active check control (which my car doesn't have), service interval indicator (which I would love to eliminate), the clock, and most importantly the tachometer. My tach (and associated fuel economy gauge) haven't worked since I bought the car, so I suspect either I'm grouding out someplace causing the tach NOT to work, or the tach itself is shorting. Either way, this is going to take some investigation. I'm almost certain this is the harness that's causing my battery drain, so it's going to be the one I take apart to figure out and trace wires. With any luck, if I can find the short it will make the tach work again. That would be useful to say the least!.

wish me luck...ugh.

[irish44j]

things I ordered today:
full set of used manual window regulators. Apparently everyone in the USA ordered their BMWs with nifty (lousy) power windows. So I found a full set in the UK for around $100 total.
and stainless braided brake lines.

things on their way:
Some Ireland Engineering rear trailing arm bushings

things that arrived:
Set of lightly used rear Bilstein HDs. No leaking, bushings look practically new, and got them for under $75 shipped for the pair.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2427.jpg

[irish44j]

excellent.....found the battery drain. It was the glovebox light/flashlight assembly someplace. Don't need either, removed, all wiring removed (I'd say at least 1/2 oz. worth, lol).

total battery draw is now only 5 milliamps now, and that is with the radio hooked up.

on to more interesting things...

[Rex_Saugerty]

i almoust bought prefacelifter e30 with 2.0 engine. but seller fukekd me up. so i ended up with sx i had before subaru :) but i do like e30 more than any other 3rd and 5th series

[rollo]

Nice journal, seems we have a lot of dirty E30s on DI :)

The seat stuff is interesting.. those 944 seats look great in there. I'm kinda wary with seat mounts. Big overkill hardware is a good idea.

[irish44j]

lookie lookie what is no longer in the car....

that's right, 27 lbs of crap I don't need. The entire power lock and power window system, including all the wiring, motors, controllers, etc.

I'd say that these stupid systems that only work half the time anyhow make up like 50% of the wiring in the whole damn car, haha...

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2432.jpg

[irish44j]

Nice journal, seems we have a lot of dirty E30s on DI :)

The seat stuff is interesting.. those 944 seats look great in there. I'm kinda wary with seat mounts. Big overkill hardware is a good idea.

yeah, me too. It's stopgap while I get the car put together, so at least I can sit in them to drive up and down the street, haha....

actually it's funny....when I try to move the seats as much as possible, the only movement I get is the floor itself flexing, haha. I think my hardware is actually stronger than the floor!

but yeah, I'm going to fab up a reinforced mounting frame at some point when I finish alot of other projects.

[irish44j]

some stuff came in last night:

In the blue package, direct from the UK, full 4-door set of manual window tracks/regulators. Was very happy to install these. Now I just need some handles - right now I'm using a vise-grip wrench to open and close the windows. The regulators are in good shape and I only paid about $100 shipped for them (got a discount for buying all four), so that was good. They operate smoothly.

In the other box are some new (secondhand, so cheaper than new) Ireland Engineering rear trailing arm bushings, since the rubber ones are shot. I was just going to use OEM rubber ones, but these actually ended up being cheaper, so figured I'd go with them.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2433-1.jpg

Spent today cleaning up various messes I've made in the car, raking some leaves, and cleaning/prepping/painting the metal of the trasmission tunnel. I won't be putting back the OEM center console pieces, so might as well make it look nice underneath.
I plan on rigging up a cupholder using the "L" bracket that used to hold the back of the shifter console down. Gotta have a cupholder!

Also pulled out the mess of stuff around the shifter and the tattered rubber boot. I'll just get a new rubber boot and attach it directly to the metal. It'll look like a semi trucker shifter I think, lol. Won't do anything until I can score up a Z3 shifter though. I cannot deal with the semi-trucker length throw of this stock one!

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2438.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2437.jpg

Also managed to get the old rubber bushings out of the trailing arms. After snapping a large bolt used as a home press, I decided to just burn it out. Took about an hour to do both of them and they came out cleanly. Cleaned up the arms and will put in the poly bushings this weekend.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2434.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2435.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2436.jpg

The rear suspension will be done next weekend. I'm waiting on new CV boots and new brake lines at the moment, so will just do all of it at once. I have the arms, hubs, calipers, etc all set now, so it shouldn't be TOO hard I hope.
One thing I still need to find is the ebrake cable for a disc brake car. It's different from the one for my original drums, so will be keeping my eye open for those.
cleaned up

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2441.jpg

[irish44j]

a few minor things during halftime

1. got some FREE 325i front rotors from a RevLimited member. Almost full runout, just some surface rust. Cleaned up decent with some scotchbrite pads and paint...

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2474.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2475.jpg

2. made up a quick template for what will eventually be a parcel shelf where the backseat used to be. The bare chassis under the seat is curved and not good for putting "stuff" in. When I go to events I'll want to put alot of crap there, so need a level surface with some tie-downs. This is the start of it. More once I start building it.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2476.jpg

3. Trunk full of stuff I need to install once a few last parts come in!

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2477.jpg

[Rex_Saugerty]

do work...

[The_Jed]

That was a ton of wiring!

[irish44j]

It's been a busy week at work so not much has gotten done. Plus I'm still waiting on a few parts to come in before I can do the full 325 suspension/brake swap.

In the meantime, I managed to find a perfect-condition VDO gauge cluster (harder to find for the old 4-cyl cars!) from a Rev member who gave me a great deal on it ($60 shipped). My cluster tach and temp gauges weren't working, and everything on the new one works. Also he had just replaced the memory/circuit board batteries, so that saves me the trouble...Also the odometer works, which seems to be pretty rare on e30s!

new on top, old motometer gauges bottom. The VDOs just look nicer too, especially the warning lights, for some reason...

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2478.jpg

got a few things in - rear brake rotors (just got some cheap new ones, tired of looking for used ones!), and some CV axle boots so I can replace them while I have the rear end apart - the current ones aren't split, but they're pretty crappy-looking. Also new nuts/clips for the hub nuts, to be on the safe side.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2479.jpg

Also started cleaning up the first of the four 15" mesh wheels. Two hours with various scotchbrite pads and other improvised cleaning tools. All those damn little spokes, so gotta go in with one finger at a time and be creative to get to some of the spots. It's about 75% done, then I'll prime and paint it up to see how it turns out before doing the rest. These will be my street wheels so they might as well look decent. Probably will be in gunmetal or dark grey, haven't decided for sure yet.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2480.jpg

[Rex_Saugerty]

do a wet sanding with 800grid paper befor painting. it WILL look better :) if you have any questions PM me :) cuz i've done it and have seen it done a lot

[irish44j]

do a wet sanding with 800grid paper befor painting. it WILL look better :) if you have any questions PM me :) cuz i've done it and have seen it done a lot

thanks, that's the plan. I've refinished/repainted alot of wheels over the years but none has been nearly as much of a PITA as these!

[irish44j]

rolled up north an hour and picked up a good hood (that doesn't have the front of it smashed in like mine) and installed, along with some (US) grilles since mine were badly mauled. The wheels will be the same color as this hood, so maybe I won't bother painting it, lol

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/DSCN2490.jpg

[irish44j]

I've been trying to buy as much used stuff as I can to keep this a low-budget job, but there are a few things that I prefer to buy new, including brake lines.
On my front porch today, some Ireland Engineering SS brake lines. While I was there I got the reinforced rear shock upper mounts as well, since I've heard that the stock ones are a weak point.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2492.jpg

[irish44j]

some updates from today

1. picked up another rear passenger seatbelt (which I will use for the front in this configuration with these seats), so need to install that.

2. I still haven't found some used front Bilsteins, so for the time being I'll keep the 318 front suspension on the car since I have all winter to find them. I did, however, swap over the 325 front calipers and rotors and some Ireland Engineering stainless flex lines, and installed my front wheel studs (but without loctite, since they'll be coming out soon and I'm not driving any farther than up and down my street with no plates/registration)

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2494.jpg

3. also scored up some not-broken (US) grilles, cleaned them up and painted them, and also did the bumpers and headlight trim rings in matte black (which looks shinier in these pics than they are). I still need to black out the bmw logo as well....because I like black.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2510.jpg.

[irish44j]

working on getting the entire rear end apart. Decided I'm going to drop the entire subframe and do the main bushings. That'll also give me a chance to pull the diff and clean off 30 years of grease, grime, and dirt. Just so I can get it greasy, grimy, and dirty in the spring.
Just getting the rear wheels off was quite an effort, they apparently were torqued to 100,000lb/ft. My Snap-on impact wouldn't budge a single lug on either side (and it's never failed to remove any huge rusty bolt before). In the end it took me literally jumping up and down on the end of a cheater pipe on the end of my biggest breaker bar. On every single lug. Like 10 jumps each.
So by my calculation, that comes out to somewhere in the neighborhood of 500lb-ft. WTF. And somehow nothing broke or stripped, amazingly.
Wheels off, the first thing I notice is that there is a rusted-out cover running in the passenger wheel well. I haven't looked it up, but this looks to be something associated with the fuel system, perhaps? It seems to be covering a couple of small hoses. hmm.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2530.jpg

Seems like something I will fix with some sheet metal, unless that cover is a cheap part, which I somehow doubt.

Also pulled one of the axles so far, so will get on with replacing the CV boots on it, since they're cracked and nasty. Hopefully everything is ok with the joints, will check them out pretty good.

[Cougar_01]

Nice build.

But the online translator completly messed the title of the thread. "Mein E30 Rallycross-Aufbau-Thread" would be correct. :) "Sammlungskreuz" is quiet funny because it translated "rally" in the meaning of "to gather/collect" :D

[Whizbang Rally]

in german, rally is "rallye" german isnt that fancy. Sammlungkreuz means more like "rally together on the battle field"

[Cougar_01]

Sammlungskreuz is no german word, trust me :)

[Whizbang Rally]

might be dutch or similar, i get confused with some of those areas as they are close but diffferent

[Whizbang Rally]

actually it is german. its two words though. Kreuz means cross and sammlung means collection

[irish44j]

got down and dirty today and pulled the other axle and the diff. 25 years of dirt, grime, grease and every other nasty substance known to man.

managed to make a mess of my workbench putting new boots on one of the axles (will do the other when I get more boots), but the joints seem tight and in good shape, so that's good.

the diff was surprisingly easy to get out...bolts were not seized and came out easily, which was pretty surprising considering their age and condition.

did a good bit of cleaning with a wire brush and scraper and filled up a dustpan with caked-on grime...nice

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2531.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2535.jpg

now back to one of my original mysteries: The early 318i from everything I've found came with an open diff (one of 3 different ratios, including a 3.91).

But the diff on this car is a 3.91 LSD. It has the original tag, and it's not a remanufactured/rebuilt unit from the factory, it has an OEM/original number on the metal tag. Tag is S391 590 (the "S" being for LSD).

On the top is stamped in white paint "S" also (for LSD), but also "X," which is what the late 325ix would have.

BUT, this is a small-case diff, and the 325ix came with a medium-case.

So....total mystery as to what the hell this diff came off of. It doesn't much matter, as 3.91 is an ideal ratio for the little M10, and the LSD works so I'm not complaining. Just a matter of curiosity for me.....

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2546.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2541.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2538.jpg

don't know what these numbers mean
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2544.jpg

[irish44j]

a quick update for today. Didn't work on the car, but did get a couple things:

First, some mad tyte blue bolts from McMaster-Carr to replace the axle bolts when I put it all back together. Not sure why I got blue ones, but they were the same price so why the hell not :) Gotta love McMaster..

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2560.jpg

Also picked up some cheap tires that I'll give a try using for rallycross - we'll see. They are VERY soft sidewells, lol. But the tread pattern looks good for loose/mud grip so maybe I'll just use them on wet days. I like the squared sidewall edge, should give good bite. They're studdable too (ha ha)

They're also slightly taller than my stock size, and height never hurts.

Swedish, German-made Gislaved brand tires. Know nothing about them, but the P/O only used them one season (on his e30 vert), and when I got them they were bagged in his basement, so not subject to the elements. Rubber seems good, no dry-rot. Guess we'll see if they fall apart at the first event.

If anything, I can have some fun this winter with them if we get some deep snow :)

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2555.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2557.jpg

[irish44j]

Got down and dirty today with the intention of pulling the rear subframe.
After disconnecting the brake lines, e-brake lines, and already having the diff and axles out of there, ready to go. I took one of the trailing arms off as well, but that was a hassle so I'll do the other one once the subframe is off the car, when I can get better leverage.
A few notes: I continue to be amazed at the (presumably) OEM hardware on this car. For a 27-year-old car, I have yet to experience a snapped bolt, or stripped the head off a bolt, or had a bolt that was seized and couldn't be broken loose with expected effort.
This in major contrast to my 2000 Maxima, where suspension bolts and things would shear off or strip pretty much constantly when the car was only 6-7 years old. Here's to German material engineering and using quality pieces!!!!
SO, heard some problems with people dropping the rear subframe, with the bolts/main bushings being seized. I used a hub puller tool on the bottom and both sides dropped easily, though I didn't drop them off yet, just down to the bottom of the threaded bolt.
My current problem is that the driveshaft is still in the subframe center opening, and it won't clear. So I think I'm going to have to pull the driveshaft to do this (was hoping I wouldn't have to).
Got as far as pulling the heat shields above the cat, which was a bit of a hassle. Will deal with the DS tomorrow....
looking more naked
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2561.jpg
stupid DS! (don't mind the chisel there, it's just to prop the DS up to keep the center bearing good
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2563.jpg
one control arm off
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2566.jpg
the stuff. One axle re-booted
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2567.jpg
here's an interesting one. On the driveshaft is written "DON'T FORGET, IT'S NOT...." but the last word is missing. So now I don't know what I'm not supposed to forget. Dammit.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2570.jpg

[irish44j]

got the subframe off and cleaned it up today.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2576.jpg
the bushings pretty much just sheared apart - they were totally shot. So the inner part of the bushing is still on the chassis studs. Will need to figure out a way to get those out.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2574.jpg
looks naked under there!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2575.jpg

[Super2.2]

I'm pretty sure this is the LSD off of the '91 318IS. It looks exactly the same as my old one and I think it was a small case as well. Thats the only other E30 that came with an LSD(except M3) I think... could be wrong though.



got down and dirty today and pulled the other axle and the diff. 25 years of dirt, grime, grease and every other nasty substance known to man.

managed to make a mess of my workbench putting new boots on one of the axles (will do the other when I get more boots), but the joints seem tight and in good shape, so that's good.

the diff was surprisingly easy to get out...bolts were not seized and came out easily, which was pretty surprising considering their age and condition.

did a good bit of cleaning with a wire brush and scraper and filled up a dustpan with caked-on grime...nice

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2531.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2535.jpg

now back to one of my original mysteries: The early 318i from everything I've found came with an open diff (one of 3 different ratios, including a 3.91).

But the diff on this car is a 3.91 LSD. It has the original tag, and it's not a remanufactured/rebuilt unit from the factory, it has an OEM/original number on the metal tag. Tag is S391 590 (the "S" being for LSD).

On the top is stamped in white paint "S" also (for LSD), but also "X," which is what the late 325ix would have.

BUT, this is a small-case diff, and the 325ix came with a medium-case.

So....total mystery as to what the hell this diff came off of. It doesn't much matter, as 3.91 is an ideal ratio for the little M10, and the LSD works so I'm not complaining. Just a matter of curiosity for me.....

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2546.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2541.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2538.jpg

don't know what these numbers mean
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2544.jpg

[Whizbang Rally]

325IS also had LSD

[irish44j]

a bit more the last day or two, just a few projects to finish up the disassembly so I can reassemble the rear end soon.
Everything on the rear end is now removed, except the old ebrake cables (for drum brakes). I'm having a tough time getting them out of the tubes running through the body to the handle, so any advice is welcome. Need to replace them with the disc brake cables.
Also replaced the inner brake flex hoses with stainless/braided ones, which is much easier with the subframe out.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2579.jpg
since I was raking 25+ bags of leaves all day, most of the car work had to be done in some late-night Sunday action. Trying to take advantage of these last warmish days of the year..
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2581.jpg
pulled the exhaust today as well, after taking a bit to figure out how the heck to get to one of the manifold flange bolts. Will definitely be replacing the bolts/nuts when I reinstall, they were pretty bad, but luckily none snapped or stripped, so that's good.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2585.jpg
Then pulled the full driveshaft. While underneath the car, noticed a few things: First, one of the small crossbraces under the tranny tunnel was loose and one of the bolts was stripped, so will have to deal with that before I put everything back together. Secondly, there is a TON of transmission oil all over the rear end of the tranny case, front driveshaft, and tunnel. Hard to tell how recent this is, though, because there is none on the Guibo at all which seems kind of odd. I think my box of spare parts that came with the car comes with a rear tranny seal, so may investigate changing that out if it can be done with the tranny in the car. Will check Bentley. Third, two of the guibo bolts were loose, so will ahve to tighten that stuff up as well.
I'm going to leave the DS off the car for about a month I think, since I'm expecting a short shifter kit for Chrismas from the wife, so it'll be easier to install with all that stuff out of the way.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2586.jpg
Also bot my BFH out and banged out the "knurled bolts" that hold the subframe in, since the old inner subframe bushing and stop washer were seized to it. Knocked them out the top into the cabin, and once they were free of the old bushing, knocked them back down in again. Good to go.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2590.jpg
Finally, opened up the diff to drain. The fluid was dirty as hell, but was happy to see that it was still at the upper fill hole, which means that the seals are probably still good and I won't have to mess with them this winter. Will be replacing with Redline 75w90 gear oil.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2591.jpg
Finally, just ordered some random nuts and bolts that I want to replace, from McMaster.
Probably nothing else until next week, with Thanksgiving stuff going on for the next few days, and waiting for a few parts to come in. When we go to visit my parents (who own a marina with a machine shop), will toss the subframe in the back of the SUV and have it pressed out down there with the big equipment :)
Happy Thanksgiving to the 2 people who are still reading this thread, lol...

[irish44j]

I'm pretty sure this is the LSD off of the '91 318IS. It looks exactly the same as my old one and I think it was a small case as well. Thats the only other E30 that came with an LSD(except M3) I think... could be wrong though.

325IS also had LSD

Found out that it's actually my OEM LSD. Apparently the 3.91 LSD's were available on some early 318i models (even though they weren't "IS" models).

The later IS had a 3.73 LSD, I believe.

[Whizbang Rally]

good to know, a few friends have E30s

[irish44j]

in german, rally is "rallye" german isnt that fancy. Sammlungkreuz means more like "rally together on the battle field"

I just used babelfish, lol....just wanted a title that didn't look like everyone else's!

My language skills are in English, French, and some Chinese. Definitely not German :mrgreen:

[irish44j]

PARTS INVENTORY!

So I sat down tonight and took an inventory of the parts I have, since I discovered I've already ordered a couple small things that I already have. The p/o had alot of small stuff still in the OEM/PelicanParts bags and boxes. Other things I have to figure out what the parts are in the near future. This list doesn't include a couple boxes of various interior peices, bags of used hardware (marked on baggy what it is), and other random stuff.

Since I'm doing build threads on several forums, I'm just going to keep this list on one, because it's too much trouble to update on 3!

So it's being kept on my RevLimited build thread here:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showpost.php?p=2791749&postcount=2

[irish44j]

A few last things before Thanksgiving:
My inventory of parts shows that I have ALL of the replacement pieces to do the shifter linkage, which is really sloppy. I may hold off on that for a month or so since my wife is probably getting me the Z3 shift setup, so I'll do it all at once
It's super-gunky/oily up in there, but seems like its from the shifter linkage seal leaking, rather than the main rear tranny seal - it looks to be new and all the leakage is ABOVE it, so unless this car has been in anti-gravity, that's probably not it lol...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2594.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2596.jpg
naked chassis
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2597.jpg
Down at my parents' marina for the holiday, so brought my rear subframe with me to use one of his presses to do the main bushings. A bit of torch heat and it slid right out with little effort. That means that in the next week or so I can put the entire rear end back together...excellent
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2648.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2649.jpg
Happy Thanksgiving All!

[irish44j]

Back from Thanksgiving and managed to do a bit of assembly. Pressed the new subframe bushings in (OEM rubber ones), which was super-easy, and then attached the 325i/disc brake trailing arms (with Ireland Engineering poly bushings). Need to get some new trailing arm bolt locknuts, then I'll bolt it all back onto the car and start assembling the rest of the rear end.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/DSCN2773.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/DSCN2777.jpg
also had a package waiting on the porch when I got home.....mostly some small parts that I needed. Included though were some e30 M3 offset LCA bushings for when I do the front suspension in a few weeks
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/DSCN2775.jpg
Also started rebuilding the other CV axle with new boots but after replacing the outer boot I'm a bit suspicious with the joint. It feels kind of "notchy" when rotating and movign back and forth. Going to check it out a bit more, and then maybe order a reman from NAPA since they're fairly inexpensive.....we'll see.
a few random pics from the Thanksgiving break - visited my parents who own a marina down on the Chesapeake, so it was a nice relaxing weekend on the water
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/DSCN2625.jpg
did some exploring on some of the little local river roads in the 4Runner
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/DSCN2656.jpg
didn't have a chance to take the boat out, but did take a nice sunset picture of it!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/DSCN2714.jpg

[irish44j]

Didn't work on the car much today or yesterday, other things to do.
A few things though
First, after putting new boots on the second CV axle, I think it might be no-good....the movement/play on the outer joint doesn't seem smooth so it worries me. Going to look around for a cheap remanufactured unit I think. I have at least a month before the car will be on the ground again, so no rush.
Also, got a package today
I bought a pair of "unkonwn condition" front Bilsteins from a fellow GRM'er. They are what he said, and I knew going in that they'd probably need a rebuild. One has smooth travel (but some brown grease in the seal), and the other seems to be seized up. As it turns out they're the OEM billies from the sport model, I was hoping they'd by HD's, but no big deal. I may or may not get them rebuilt, since they only cost me $30, and just re-sell them.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2779.jpg
So was waiting on seeing them, and since they won't do the job I want, I just bit the bullet and ordered some new HDs for the front. I want to get this front suspension taken care of, so don't really want to use the sports, and don't want to deal with a rebuild at the moment. Front HDs is a place where getting new ones is worth it, so I did.
Also in that deal, the seller had a set of OEM offset upper strut mounts (they run about $150/each new). Still new in box, and I got them for $50 for the pair, so that was VERY worthwhile!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2780.jpg
Tomorrow's project will be to get the rear subframe back into the car, once I find some M12 locknuts locally for the control arms. I want to torque them down before I put the subframe on, it's easier that way.

[irish44j]

got up early to get my yardwork out of the way so I would have some "car time" before football, and got a good bit accomplished today.

First, got the rear subframe back on. It went on a hell of a lot easier than it came off, that's for sure.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2791.jpg

also got the stainless rear brake lines (inner and outer) hooked up, cleaned up the springs and repainted them while I was at it, and reinstalled the rear suspension with the 325i trailing arms/rear brakes.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2794.jpg

Still have to get the old ebrake lines out (which I still haven't figured out how to do!) and get the new disc brake ebrake lines in.

A few things I noticed:
First, a rust-through spot under the wheel well rubber undercoating. It's not structural, just the lateral brace to the rocker panel it appears, so no biggie. I'll just clean it up and paint it most likely, so stuff can't collect in that spot in the future and cause more rust.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2785.jpg

And of course the former-mystery cover. On 325's this cover is where the trunk battery cables run. Since the early 318s don't have the trunk battery, took a bit of investigation to figure out what is in there. The cover is all rusted out (and will be replaced), but looks like it is hose for the evap/gas tank overflow "system"....bleh.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2787.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2789.jpg

the cover
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2788.jpg

where the hoses enter the gas tank
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2792.jpg

anyhow, feels like I'm finally making some progress now that I get to put things back together :)

[irish44j]

stopped by a local dealer today on my lunchbreak to pick up a couple bolts and a transmision output seal. Oddly, I've never been in a BMW dealer before, and was thorougly impressed by the leather/mahogany smell going on in there, lol.

Anyhow, put the new seal in, cleaned up the diff a bit more, put the stub axles back in, and painted the rusty case with some POR-15, just to prevent more near-term rust.

I know most guys clean up the rear case cover and make it look pretty, but didn't bother much more than a wire wheel, since it'll probably be dirty/muddy all the time anyhow...

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2797.jpg

[irish44j]

took off work early to do some Christmas shopping, and that gave me a little time to do some car work while it was still light out for once.
Not coincidentally, got a box of a few needed parts in :)
First had to get the remaining ebrake cable out of the steel tubes at the rear end. Totally seized in there, the only way to get it out was to use progressively larger drill bits until one bit enough to yank it out. After much cursing and some bloody knuckles, they're out!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2802.jpg
and the new cables came in. Went with new ones because 1) I like to be safe and 2) getting used ones out of a junk car would have been a MAJOR pain.
had a good laugh at the giant bag thing they came in, lol
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2803.jpg
installed
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2801.jpg
now is a good time to mention that setting up the ebrake (internal to the drum) is a major bitch, especially getting the spring pins in with no leverage at all, so the tips of my finger is sore as hell from pressing with all my weight, lol. Still need to get the ebrake actuator for one side, so right now just one is hooked up, but it's not like I"m in a rush. Also permanently put in the new extended wheel studs with red loctite.
so managed to get the new rotor on, and the rebuilt caliper, and that means I'm officially done with the left rear suspension, aside from getting some brake pads and bleeding the lines (and of course installing the CV axle).
I'm also about to pick up a used stock IS rear sway, so will install that before I put the diff back in, hopefully this weekend.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2805.jpg

[irish44j]

was getting something out of the garage and I saw the extra exhaust manifold sitting there, all pretty with silver powdercoat that the previous owner did, but never installed. Then I looked over at the car's engine bay and saw the nasty, rusty manifold sitting there off the engine.
So, since the exhaust is already off of the car, this seems like a quick little project to do. Also having it off will give me a chance to take a good look at the engine mounts and clean up that side of the block and head from all the gunk.....
pimpin'
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2806.jpg
oddest gasket ever, with a heat shield thingy to protect the plug wires. Looks like I was getting a bit of blow-by on the gasket, so will give a better inspection when I get a chance.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2807.jpg
yep, gunky and could use a cleanup. The engine mounts look ok, but since this car's gonna be banging around I might just replace them pre-emptively, since I hear they're a weak point on these cars. Though maybe that's for the heavier engines, not the little baby M10
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2808.jpg

[irish44j]

removing front suspension, and of course the balljoints are the suck, and the bolts are seized. Say hello to Mr.Dremel.

Rather than buy new lemforder LCAs, I'm going to replace the balljoints with Moogs (inner and outer) for half the price, and they'll last longer hopefully. Should be fun....

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2809.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2811.jpg

[irish44j]

Got the new front Bilstein HDs in today. I would have liked to find some used ones, but everyone seems to be selling Sports rather than HDs, and I want to start getting things put together, which was waiting on front inserts, so I couldn't wait all winter. One of the few "big ticket" items I'm buying for this car, and I'm sure they'll be worth it.

Got one installed, piece of cake. Still need to rebuild the control arm balljoints, so it's just hanging out by itself right now.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2812.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2813.jpg

the old top-hats are a bit nasty, lol
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2816.jpg

the new camber-adding top hats....moar negative!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2817.jpg

you may notice that one of the top studs is missing, and that brings me to "dumb things done without thinking." Took about 5 seconds to press the studs out of the old top hats since the new ones didn't come with any. No problem. Then went to press them back into the new ones, shouldn't be a problem, right? Except I grabbed a backing socket that was a 1/4" drive, and didn't even think about it. So when I tightened the vise to press the studs in, the ends wedged into the 1/4" square and DOH....so now I need one new stud.....:(

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2815.jpg

Probably going to relax tonight and actually hang out with my wife (lol!). Tomorrow's plan is to pick up some diff and tranny fluids (Redline 75W90 and Redline MT90 is what I'm planning, though still going to do some research in the morning), fill up the diff, and put it back in the car along with one of the CV axles (the other one is shot, need to get a new one).

[irish44j]

was in a good mood after seeing the Eagles get their asses kicked, so figured I'd do one thing before bed....

Press/cut out the original control arm bushings from the "lollipop"
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2819.jpg

Then used much elbow grease to press in the new one with a bench vise, since I don't have a press here (that will be remedied soon). In advance I froze the bushing in the icebox and lubed up the lollipop with some dish soap. Went in fine most of the way, but the last 20% required a cheater bar on my vise...

mission was accomplished....
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2818.jpg

....but my trusty 5" vise, which has taken everything I could throw at it for 15 years, finally met its match

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2820.jpg

[irish44j]

another day, another project.
First I went and picked up some gear oil so I could load the diff (and install new, non-rusty Torx plugs), and then installed it and one of the CV axles (I need to replace the other one and haven't bought a new one yet)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2823.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2826.jpg
Once done, took a break from the BMW to switch my summer wheels on the WRX (with SP Sport 01s, not good in cold) back to my stockers (with Wintersport 3Ds), as well as to do an oil change on the WRX.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2822.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2829.jpg
Then the UPS girl arrived (and she's quite cute, I might add) with a surprise delivery of a set of Moog balljoints. Surprising since I just ordered them yesterday and shipped UPS ground. But the place is only like 100 miles from here, so I guess it only took a day.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2827.jpg
So change of schedule from doing Christmas lights to seeing if I could get a balljoint out without using a press (on the list of things I need also). Using a method that someone on Grassroots Motorsports told me, and also a Dremel to make that method easier, I managed to get the outer BJ out of one of the LCAs. I will, however, need a press or balljoint installation kit to put the new ones in. It was alot of work to do this one the non-press way, so I may just take the other 3 someplace that has a press and have them do it.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2831.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2832.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2834.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2835.jpg

[irish44j]

I offhandedly mentioned the other day that a Harbor Freight press would be a useful birthday or Christmas present. Today after church my wife handed me her credit card and a HF 20% off coupon and said "happy birthday, go buy it and you can have it early."
Also picked up a "Master balljoint press/socket kit"
Every day I thank God for the Chinese, who brought us cheap industrial/shop tools that we can actually afford. Amazingly, this one went together fine....no wrong bolt holes, no misalignment (unlike my HF engine hoist).
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2836.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2837.jpg

[irish44j]

balljoints in (at least on one, so far). Piece of cake with the press and the balljoint adaptor pieces!

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2851.jpg

Also cleaned up the garage disaster area, looks nice now! Luckily I had saved a place over the last few years of setting up the garage just for the new press :)

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2849.jpg

[DoWork]

I like this thread, very informative! Its kinda cool that this popped up today as I might be getting a 89 325i as a toy.

Nice work so far man! Keep it up!

[irish44j]

I like this thread, very informative! Its kinda cool that this popped up today as I might be getting a 89 325i as a toy.

Nice work so far man! Keep it up!

thanks, well if you do, I have a carbon of this thread over on RevLimited, which is one of the good e30 forums. It gets a bit more response than this one, lol....

[DoWork]

If I get the car, I will be sure to check it out. Its posted on a local forum, and we are all squabbling over how much we want to pay for it at this point lol.

[irish44j]

today's update, not much different from yesterday's.....but doing the second side was easier. Even though the subframe balljoint nut is pretty tough to access, I managed to get to it with 3 wobbly extensions and 3 straight extensions and it came off pretty easily....no spinning balljoint, no cutting needed! Everything else came apart pretty nicely as well, so it turned out being 10x easier than the passenger side, surprisingly.

Also had a pretty easy time getting the balljoints out of this arm with the press and getting the new ones in. And the new M3 offset bushing in the lollipop.

The balljoints in the arm were COMPLETELY and entirely shot....no wonder the front end was super-sloppy driving this car home....

Tomorrow's plan is to put the whole front end together and &quot;within 30 minutes of assembly&quot; (for the sake of the offset bushings) get it down on the front wheels (and will drop the jackstands in the back to make the back sit stock-ish height for even weight).

Still waiting on a new CV axle for the rear, and an ebrake acutator. Then I can finish up with the rear end as well. Car still won't be able to drive until after Christmas, since the wife is getting me a Z3 shifter kit, so I'm keeping the driveshaft and exhaust out until that's done.

Out with the old, in with the new!

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2856.jpg

[irish44j]

I'm actually pretty pleased with myself after tonight's project. THe last step to getting the front suspension back together was getting the new M3 offset bushings/lollipops onto the LCA. After reading horror stories about this I wasn't looking forward to it, especially having to do both quickly and get the car on the ground to set the bushings.

After a few attempts at doing it by hand, then with a BFH, neither of those made any kind of progress at all....the fit is damn tight, especially with the solid rubber bushing.

So....the next step was to rig up some kind of ghetto-fabulous tool to pull it on there.
the parts: a really long threaded rod, cut in half, some nuts and washers, a drilled-out L-bracket sitting around in a parts drawer, and.....

a 1970 Triumph GT6 hub, still with the bearing still on it :)

The hub happened to have a perfect inner diameter for pressing the bushing/lollipop on - and of course already has a really strong/stiff flange with perfectly spaced holes in it :)

It was slightly cumbersome, but actually worked like a charm and I got both of them on in about 5 minutes each. Would have been faster, but can't use the impact while the kid is asleep!

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2857.jpg

Then I quickly got the car back on the ground to set the bushings. Since I"m still missing a rear axle and the hub isn't all put together yet, I couldn't put on the right rear tire. But I wanted the car to sit as level and near-stock as possible, so...

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2859.jpg

[irish44j]

not much new to report this week. Have had to stay late in the office recently and everything a bit hectic with Christmas coming up, shopping, etc.
Still trying to round up a few minor parts on the cheap to finish up putting the suspension/brakes all together. Made a bit of progress today with a full set of FREE brake pads (only paid for shipping) from a Grassroots Motorsports member. They're Jurids, so basically OEM stuff, but will work fine for the time being to get the car on the road. Eventually will put something more performance-oriented on the car, but right now that's one less thing I have to actually buy!

They're used, but as you can see they're near full thickness. Not bad for free!

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2887.jpg

[irish44j]

Well, not thinking I just realized that I still haven't transferred the title for this car from the previous owner, and the title says it has to be done in 30 days after sale date. So will hit DMV (Va.) tomorrow and see what they say. I really hope this isn't going to be a major issue, but who knows....
Got a few cosmetic things done recently:
Blacked out the rear bumper finally
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2889.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2888.jpg
And got two of the four euroweaves cleaned up and painted. Trying to match the gray hood color. It's fairly close but will be able to tell better once they're on the car out in the sun..
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2905.jpg

[Rex_Saugerty]

me gusta those wheels :)

[irish44j]

me gusta those wheels :)

thanks,

funny thing is that two of them are BBS Euroweaves, and two of them are non-BBS. They look identical in every way, but apparently BMW switched manufacturers at some point, using the same casting specs. Random.

It's nice that they're 15x7, so I can put some meatier 205's or 215's on there :)

Think I'm going to put Star Specs on these for street use, and maybe do an autocross or two whe I don't want to drive the WRX. Just for the hell of it. The winter/rallycross tires will go on the bottlecap 14's.

[irish44j]

Since the previous owner of my e30 was nice enough to leave me a box of parts that included full refresh of the shifter linkage, decided to tackle that tonight, since I know the wife is getting me a Z3 shifter for Christmas, so might as well do it all at once. Yay for free/new parts.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2931.jpg

So I take apart the shifter console and sheet metal shift bracket, only to find THIS: the two front mount brackets. See how many problems you can see with this pic

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2930.jpg

I wondered why the shifter was so extremely sloppier than anything I've ever felt in my life.

Now here is what the mount brackets are SUPPOSED to look like

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2932.jpg

Keep in mind, whoever last worked on this part of the car (I think to do the rear transmission seal) also managed to leave two of the driveshaft bolts loose (cross-threaded the nuts), so I had wicked vibrations at any speed over 30mph driving the car home.

To boot, one of the threaded holes into the transmission casing was stripped/cross-threaded as well, so to re-install everything I had to drill it out and heli-coil it. That was alot of fun in a tight spot.....

But it's all freshened up now with all new bushings, mounts, grommets, o-rings, etc and ready for the Z3 shifter now.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2933.jpg

[irish44j]

Got some things accomplished today, after spending the last week or so doing Christmas shopping and work!

First order of business, picked up the reman'd CV axle at Autozone. $65, and it is at very least a BMW OEM housing, so we'll see how it holds up.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2949.jpg

So most of my axle-to-tranny bolts were pretty much ****...either stripped or cross-threaded, or the wrong size. I'm starting to see a trend with this car. Every place I checked wanted about $25-30+shipping for the OEM bolts and nuts. The local dealers wanted something like $5 PER BOLT! Screw that...

Trip to Fastenal, which I just discovered is a half-mile from my work. Life just got better.

I needed the 50mm bolts (M10, 1.5 pitch), but the OEM bolts have a really long shoulder (due to the Guibo), and I haven't found any 50mm bolts except OEM that have that shoulder. McMaster didn't have them. Fastenal didn't have them. BUT Fastenal had some 70mm bolts that had the same shoulder length as the OEM bolts. So got them (as well as some top-lock locknuts. All grade 8.8 stuff, like the OEM bolts.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2943.jpg

When I got home, I got out the dremel and cutting wheel and cut them off to the 50mm length, nice and clean. So for $9 I got the bolts with the CORRECT length shoulder and good locknuts, full set.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2946.jpg

next to an OEM bolt

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2944.jpg

ready to put the DS back on as soon as I get the shifter stuff all finished!

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2948.jpg

Wanted to get the axle on, just because the next few days I won't be able to. I hate getting CV axles on. Tried first, could hardly get it to engage at all. So got out a small file and cleaned up the splines, which were a bit musroomed and burred. Tried it again and afte about 20 minutes of cursing under the car and trying every possible way to get leverage while on my back upside-down, finally got it in. I am a bit worried since the reman outer boot is a bit bigger than OEM, so it's fairly close (5mm) to the shock. I may put new boots on it (I have an OEM set sitting around) if I get ambitious. Will do it on the car! Or I might put a small washer spacer inboard of the shock bottom mount to give it a few mm of clearance. Or I might just let it be and if it rubs, I'll replace the boot then.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2950.jpg

ok, that's all for now. Time to wrap the last of the Christmas presents. I hope all of you have a pleasant Christmas or Hanukkah or whatever you celebrate this time of year, even if it's just a celebration of having a couple days off work and enjoying being with your families!

[irish44j]

After a morning of presents with family, grandparents, and the kiddo, I had a couple hours befor the next family function, while the girls hung out, and decided to get in the garage.
My Christmas automotive take this year:
Z3 shifter and a DieHard charger from the wife, and some Hella 500s from the parents.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2977.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2993.jpg
I've been waiting for the Z3 shifter to put the bottom of the car back together, and of course now that I have it, there was no waiting. Installed the shifter, and decided what the hell and put the driveshaft back on as well, with all new hardware. Also got the heat shields back on as well as most of the exhaust (need to buy a couple new bolts and run the O2 sensor. In any case, the car is almost ready to go back on the ground finally. This week I'll get the Gisvelds mounted on the bottlecaps and also order up some tires (probably Star Specs) for the euroweave 15s.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2992.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2988.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2989.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN2990.jpg
Hope you all had a great Christmas!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/DSCN2998.jpg

[irish44j]

Got the rallycross/winter tires mounted finally. Eventually I'll get around to cleaning up and painting the bottlecaps, but that will wait.

Gisveld NordFrost 3 in 185/70/14. They're the same tires as the General Altimax Arctic, but with european badging, which gives and extra 10hp of course!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3069.jpg

[GClark]

Loving this project, keep up the great work. I have a soft spot 318s, I love the round headlights.

[irish44j]

as of today I'm only awaiting a few small rear brake parts and one tie rod end nut before I can put all four wheels on and get the car back on the ground. All of these parts are on the way, from RevLimited member wodcutr (Dan), who was nice enough to pull them off one of his parts car and send them to me for dirt cheap - THANKS!

In preparation for those parts getting here, the other last step was to bleed the brakes. I ended up having to get some new bleeders - primarily because the tiny nut on the OEM ones (6mm?) was smaller than any flare-nut wrench I have and I really don't like using box-end on brake fittings. So off to the local parts store to pick up some with an 8mm nut.

Once those were on, time to bleed. Since I brilliantly sold my power bleeder (I never needed it with my other cars!), had to do it the old fashioned way - ask the wife to come out in the cold garage and pump the brake pedal, lol.

Anyhow, all done and I think they're bled well. If not, once I get it moving around any last air bubbles will get to the valve and I'll let them out.

btw, used ATE Blue fluid in case anyone cares.

An inspection of the system with the new braided hoses shows no obvious leaks at any fittings, so that's a good sign.

[irish44j]

also decided to do a little bit of fun/easy project tonight. The Hellas :)

still need to wire everything up, but they're mounted!

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3073.jpg

[irish44j]

While the daughter was napping between various birthday celebrations, got some stuff in the mail, got some stuff bought, and got some stuff done.
First.....STILL looking for a tie rod end nut. It's M10, but fine thread and NOPLACE around here has one, not even Fastenal. McMaster has them, but in packs of 25. Grr. Stopped by Olympus to inquire, and they didn't have them either. But they had new tie rod ends for $17, so I just bought one. Figure I'll use it one day rallycrossing, so might as well get it as a spare, and use the nut lol
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3080.jpg
So with that done, all four wheels on, car on the ground for the first time in a month!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3091.jpg
Mail came, and so did my sport trunk spoiler that I got in trade for a used guibo. Not in the greatest shape, but I should be able to spruce it up. We'll see. The shipper's packing was.....creative
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3081.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3082.jpg
Also the other day I found I had some amazon.com credit.....not enough to buy anything cool. so what can I spend it on? Some yellow Lamin-x for the fog lights (and for the headlights, but we'll see). I love me some yellow lights!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3084.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3085.jpg
Battery was totally dead, so jumped it. Car started right up, albeit with some funny smells for a while like burning. Didn't see or find anything of note, so maybe just some crap in the exhaust or refurbished exhaust manifold. Drove the car up and down the street a few times. Brakes are grinding a bit in back when on the pedal, making me think that perhaps they're not bled well enough. Will deal with tomorrow.
Oh, and here's a shot of the clearance for the "rally lights" with the hood open. Close, but perfect!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3090.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3089.jpg
Also nice to get the car out in the driveway so I can clean up the disaster area!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3100.jpg
Oh, and one other little thing that I got in the mail, just because I always wanted to have one of these on a car, ever since I saw my first Lancia Delta rally car....
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3083.jpg

[irish44j]

did some test-driving today. Everything feels good (especially the suspension), though I am getting a bit of a rumble from somewhere in the back half of the car. With the car up in the air the only noise I hear is some light rear brake pad contact and a bit of ruble somewhere around where the driveshaft center bearing is - so that might be the issue. So hard to tell...

Some out in the sun pics..

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3111.jpg

4x4 stance yo. Hellaunflush.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3112.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3113.jpg

[slowbaru]

have you taken the sound deading out yet. I pulled 55lbs out of just the trunk alone

[slowbaru]

by the way, the car is looking good:thumbsup:

[irish44j]

as I wait for a few other parts to come in, did some fun stuff today.
First, took my daugher to her first college hoops game, where my George Mason Patriots put the smackdown on conference bitch William&Mary.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3149.jpg
she thought it was loud..
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3123.jpg
when I got home, first put together a battery tie-down out of random stuff. It hasn't had one since I bought the car, but don't want to buy anything since the battery will go to the trunk eventually.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3155.jpg
Pulled the back deck of the car, took out the heavy speakers in them, and recovered it in some gray outdoor/patio carpeting.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3152.jpg
Then built my "cargo shelf" in place of the back seat, using some 1/2" MDF. Should be good for strapping down the track/rallycross tires, toolboxes, etc. I plan to put some tiedown eyes in it. Still need to figure out how to secure the rear end of it. The fronts will have some pins through the stock boltdown eyes to hold it down. Pretty pleased with the fit. Used the same gray carpet. Will do the back of the seat as well with 1/4" MDF. Probably hinge it off the bottom, so I can pull them out at the track. The intention is to make all the boltdowns for them quick-release or pins with a clevis ring. We'll see.
not sure why the photos are in such a wierd color....must have my camera on a strange setting...
templated
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3151.jpg
more or less finished
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3153.jpg

[irish44j]

have you taken the sound deading out yet. I pulled 55lbs out of just the trunk alone

I've pulled out some, but I don't think the 318 has as much as your car, since it was a bare-bones model. I haven't touched the trunk yet. It will be the last thing I deal with.

especially since it's not real accessible with the car in the garage and the door down (and it's staying down for the next month probably as it gets really cold!)

[irish44j]

some better pics....

Again, these are made to be quickly removable at rallycrosses, but I want the car to be somewhat nice at least when I'm just cruising or something, lol.

You can see, the particle-board connectors at the bottoms of the vents were broken, so I screwed the vents in - you can't see the screws with it in the car anyhow. No idea what that black triangle thing on the deck is, but I put it back on just because it looks cool, lol

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3157.jpg

And here's a better shot of the backseat area/parcel shelf area now. I'm thinking I'm going to get some pop-up sunken tiedowns so they sit flat when not in use but can be used to strap down a cargo net or wheels when needed :)

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3159.jpg

I also plan to paint the door cards with some black vinyl paint, because I hate the tan, but I'm not spending money on new door cards for a car like this!

[bone_1113]

very nice so far!

[irish44j]

Finished a few little things tonight:

First, put the finishing touches on my ghetto-fabulous battery tie-down...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3166.jpg

Second, since I'm not going to be using the brake pad wear sensors, but don't want the stupid red light on, I cut off the wires and sensor, grounded off the ground, and spliced the two resistance wires together to trick the car into thinking that the sensor was still installed. Small victories, lol
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3164.jpg

Also built the backing board for my backseat delete and covered it. Might I add that when recovering stuff, an electric staple gun with some 1/4" staples is about 1000x easier to use on MDF board than a manual staple gun that rarely penetrates far enough!

Now that I have the panels in, I'm pretty happy with the quick-remove setup I'll have. The only thing holding the panels in are two pins (in the seat bottom original metal "loops") and two wingnuts that will bolt through into the metal seat backing (I need to tack-weld a couple nuts on the back so I can screw them in from the front. With just these four pieces of hardware, the two board pieces are held securely (the bottom of the back piece holds the back of the bottom piece down. No rattles, no movement. Mission accomplished. I will probably also setup a hang-net for small cargo stuff on the back, and some tiedowns on the bottom piece.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3162.jpg

[irish44j]

Some minor stuff today. I had to take some time after work to figure out why the WRX was intermittently throwing a combo of ABS, VDC, and Hill Assist warning lights. After much research it looks to be pretty common on the 08+ models, caused by a faulty brake switch. Fiddled with the switch for a bit, didn't find anything amiss, but on two subsequent drives no lights, so who knows.....

In any case, I really don't care about ABS, VDC, and hill assist being absent anyhow, lol. Just the annoying bright warning lights :)

Back to the e30, had a couple packages waiting at home for me. The first was about 20 days coming....two new window cranks that I picked up for about $8 each (pretty cheap compared to most out there). So now I have three total!

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3168.jpg

more interesting was the packaging they came in......gotta love ebay international!

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3167.jpg

Also the new center driveshaft bearing assembly came in a day early, so of course had to install. Getting the old one off was simple with a big gear puller. I didn't notice any particular gritty-ness or grabbing...felt like a good bearning and turned smoothly. I'm hoping that under load it was no good. Otherwise this was an exercise in pointlessness.

New one was a bit of a hassle to get on, not having a slide hammer (mental note....). The splined axle was long enough that I couldn't find much of anything to fit over it that was long enough to seat the new bearing. Eventually I stacked up a few of my press collars and got it done

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3169.jpg

tomorrow hopefully will get the exhaust and shields back on and be able to try it out. If I still have noise, the only thing left is the diff. So I guess I'll just have to deal with it....

[irish44j]

A few trusims:
1. Married, kid, living in the 'burbs, I have no social life to speak of.
2. Car is out in the driveway tonight, since I"m cleaning up the disaster area in the garage where it's been on stands for the last month.
3. I hate it when the garage reeks of gasoline.
Due to these three facts, it is Friday night and I decided an hour ago to do a small project that I really wasn't looking forward to. Noticed while spending hours under the car that the fuel lines at the pressure regulator/carbon canister/emissions crap was all cracked and nasty. Broken fuel line is not something I want, so needed to replace this. The arrangemnt in that area is not exactly condusive to people without tiny hands, especially when all the hose clamps are oriented in directions where they're next to impossible to loosen.
But since, again, I have nothing going on on a Friday night, and the car is outside, and it's not terribly cold.....might as well :(
As expected, it was more of a hassle than it seems like it should have been. And due to the positing I had to be in, I got a nice flow of gasoline right up the sleeve of my sweatshirt tking off one of the lines.
But the new lines are in, and that's one less thing to worry about. I plan to fab up a rock shield of sorts for this area, since it looks ripe to get damaged by flying gravel or other debris.
Anyhow, new lines in...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3178.jpg
Old line and hardware....
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3180.jpg
Got around to putting a crapload of tools away and reorganizing my drawers, since my original setup had some drawers getting too crowded with tools.
yay...now I can find things I need again...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3181.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3182.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3183.jpg

[irish44j]

got the DS and exhaust all put back together (after having to improv some exhaust hardware due to really crappy manifold studs, grr. Had to put the original ugly/rusty manifold back on until I can fix the studs on the powdercoated one).
Went for a spin and the car felt great, with a few minor exceptions:
1. need to do a better brake bleed job. Still got a bit of mush and squeak.
2. the snow tires are so soft, I can't really push the car much. I'll be ordering my Star Specs tonight for the euroweaves. I want to feel the car with good street tires :)
3. no more noise from the DS tunnel, so I guess the old CSB was indeed bad. I still am getting some light (rumble?) from the back end, but it's tough to tell if it's the diff, if a brake backing plate is slightly rubbing, if a bearing is bad, or if the snow tires are just really, really loud. I'm leaning toward the loud tires, but we'll see soon enough.
Overall, I think it's kind of funny that this car has less rattles now inside than my 3-year-old WRX does. Then again, the WRX springs are about twice the rate so the bumps and road imperfections are much more apparent. Of course, the WRX makes up for it with more than triple the horsepower, lol.
Also blacked out the rear windshield/window trim finisher, which had turned all brownish. Much cleaner now.
A couple night pics for the hell of it
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3177.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3172.jpg

[irish44j]

oh, and at the gas station a guy asked me what "DIRTYIMPREZA" meant. I explained that it was a Subaru forum for rally/rallycross.

He seem puzzled as to why the sticker was on a BMW, lol....

[Skemcin]

oh, and at the gas station a guy asked me what "DIRTYIMPREZA" meant. I explained that it was a Subaru forum for rally/rallycross.

He seem puzzled as to why the sticker was on a BMW, lol....lol

and I was in the CAA - Old Dominion University as a matter of fact. Practice squad for mens and womens backetball. Has W&M ever been any good? Why haven't they moved to an ivy league division?
:roll:

Like the thread. I have a 79 Porsche 924 that I would love to get started on - "life" just keeps happening. One day...

Great work.

[eage8]

haha, if you think the snow tires are bad @ 50* wait till you drive around on them on a summer day :) They're like jello

[irish44j]

lol

and I was in the CAA - Old Dominion University as a matter of fact. Practice squad for mens and womens backetball. Has W&M ever been any good? Why haven't they moved to an ivy league division?
:roll:

Like the thread. I have a 79 Porsche 924 that I would love to get started on - "life" just keeps happening. One day...

Great work.

W&M was decent a couple years ago when they knocked off UVA, but generally...not that great.

Mason did go into the Convocation Center (ODU) earlier this week and beat ODU the for the first time in 8 years though ;)

I grew up right down the street from ODU. I think I played more tennis on their courts than most of the actual ODU tennis team did!

[irish44j]

haha, if you think the snow tires are bad @ 50* wait till you drive around on them on a summer day :) They're like jello

yeah, thankfully that will only be on the dirt, and they'll have the pressures jacked. At least this is a light (~2400lb) car. It would be hell on my WRX. Only temp. Next season I'll probably spring for some gravel tires or something more rallycross-specific. Right now that's not in the budget.

For street, the Star Specs are on the way.

[Skemcin]

W&M was decent a couple years ago when they knocked off UVA, but generally...not that great.

Mason did go into the Convocation Center (ODU) earlier this week and beat ODU the for the first time in 8 years though ;)

I grew up right down the street from ODU. I think I played more tennis on their courts than most of the actual ODU tennis team did!
The CAA can be up and down - I was there during the Oliver Purnell days. FWIW, I was the mascot at ODU for 4 years - nationally ranked tow of them. If you went to any of the games 90-94 I probably hit one your girl friend!!!
:eek:

[irish44j]

The CAA can be up and down - I was there during the Oliver Purnell days. FWIW, I was the mascot at ODU for 4 years - nationally ranked tow of them. If you went to any of the games 90-94 I probably hit one your girl friend!!!
:eek:

I was at Mason 94-98. The bad old Paul Westhead days where GMU scored 95 points per game, but gave up 110 per game. Run-n-gun-and-no-defense. We had four losing seasons in the 4 years I went there. Then Larranega came right after I left, and won every season.....

90-92 I was in Norfolk at Maury HS, watching my buddy Joe Smith dominate the Southern Va. high school hoops scene (I played 8th grade club ball with him), then was overseas, so couldn't follow college hoops (no internet where we were!). For some reason I never followed ODU hoops - probably because I was all about UVA in those days, lol

[irish44j]

Spent most of the afternoon washing and cleaning the cars. Why I have 4 black cars is beyond me, because they look crappy even when clean, at least in daylight, lol.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3188.jpg

Then got the hardware I wanted to finish up my "cargo area" where the backseat used to be. About $10 worth of stuff from home depot, I think this will do the job.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3192.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3193.jpg

Also test-painted one of the tan door panels, with some paint made for plastic/vinyl. Came out ok, but it was fairly cool outside today, and I think they paint will work better on a warm day.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3196.jpg

And fitted my swap-meet sport trunk spoiler. I'm going to take it back off to sand/paint it, but I wanted to get it on there for the hell of it.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3198.jpg

[irish44j]

two words: Star Spec

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3209.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3208.jpg

[rollo]

Nice! I have some Star Specs waiting to go on the Capri (just need to fix the carb first).

Car is looking great!

[irish44j]

thanks....I need to get off my ass and finish sanding/painting the other two wheels so I can get this stuff mounted up later this week. Just in time to use them in 30 degree weather, lol.

[eage8]

Are those really the stock springs on it? it looks like a monster truck haha.

[irish44j]

Are those really the stock springs on it? it looks like a monster truck haha.

yep, but it looks taller due to about 200lbs out of the inside (at least), the tires are 185/70/14 (compared to 185/60/14 stock), and it's only been driven a couple mile since the suspension was assembled, so the springs haven't settled yet..

I'd love lower for looks, but for rallycross on a car with a low oil pan this fits the bill for now. Plus I have a ton of travel and pretty soft springs. It wil get a bit lower once the skid is on there, since it will weight a bit. And eventually a rollbar or six-point.

[irish44j]

Spent some time in the cold garage tonight in misery, prepping and painting the last of the four Euroweaves. The wheels had a ton of baked-on super-thick brake dust and no type of solvent would get all of it off, especially as hard as it is to get into the little crevaces on these wheels. But I managed to get 95% of it off, do some prep sanding until I got frustrated/tired of it, and a few coats of paint. Tomorrow I'll do a final coat on all four wheels since it's supposed to be non-humid and around 60 degrees, and throw some clearcoat on.

All in all I'm not terribly impressed by my job on these (I've refinished 4 or 5 sets of wheels in the past that turned out much better), but they look ok from a couple feet away if you don't look too close, and that's good enough for a beater car in my book.
Also taking a closer look one of the wheels has a bent lip, but it doesn't look bad enough that it will affect anything other than appearance.

Friday I'll get the star specs mounted up :D

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3213.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3229.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3231.jpg

[irish44j]

tires mounted and wheels on. Took it for a quick spin and even in 195s at 30 degrees out they grip like a mofo (and throw tons of gravel up at the car, which is magnified by my lack of carpeting/soundproofing/rear seats, lol).

This would look so hot if the car sat 3" lower, lol. Oh well.

and yes, I have alot of wheel gap. But not as bad as it looks since this is right after the car came off jackstands!~

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3233.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3237.jpg

Also sold my pair of front OEM comfort seats to some young local guys. Sold them cheap, but it's some extra cash for the pick-n-pull yard on Monday, and they're not taking up space in my garage, so that's good enough.

[rollo]

I think the wheels look great. Could use some caps though.

[irish44j]

I think the wheels look great. Could use some caps though.

Yeah, I don't want the full-width weave caps, but I'm going to look for some smaller 2.5" caps just for the center section. Will be looking during my junkyard pick-n-pull on monday :)

[irish44j]

Took a nice drive this morning to feel everything out. Aside from the M10's lack of power, the car drives pretty nicely at this point, though it definitely needs a rear sway. Stopped at Home Depot and took the prime-time parking from the Benzes, lol..

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3238.jpg

Also fiddled around with the engine trying to correct my 2k idle. I tried to check the timing but through the tranny hole I just can't see the marks. Too coroded or something. I'm going to do the marks on the drive pulley so I can read it there, when I get around to it. Will address this stuff another day when it's over 35 degrees.....
Sanded and painted the sport lip spoiler and installed it as well. Turned out pretty decent I think.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3240.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3239.jpg

Also did a little project, seeing as I have no console any longer I wanted to put something to hold my phone, drinks, etc. Used a seat-mount cupholder from the auto parts store, cut it down, and used the old console bracket to bolt it to the HVAC front bracket piece. Sits in a good spot - drinks are accessible, doesn't interfere with the shifter, and doesn't look like total crap, lol. And of course had to decorate it.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3244.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3245.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3246.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3247.jpg

Test-fit of full set of tall rallycross wheels/tires. They fit, and my tiedown locations hold them securely. Excellent.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3255.jpg

Also ordered so Rallyarmor basic mudflaps, but in the longer (SUV) size. Will cut to fit. Would love the urethane ones, but not dropping $150 on the at the moment..
And took some exterior shots with the new wheels/tires. 4X4 STANCE OWNS! lol... When I was out driving I didn't slow down for speedbumps, needless to say.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3252.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3249.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3248.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3253.jpg

[irish44j]

So, as Stuart (FunfGan) mentioned, I shot up to Baltimore today to hit Crazy Ray's, one of the big local pick-n-pull yards. I had a list of parts to find for myself, and picked up a couple things for him to trade for some things he had for me. Overall a very productive trip.
And it was COLD....I was bundled up like a mofo..
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3265.jpg
I paid a grand total of $38 for:
- 3 dash/gauge cluster trim pieces
- a good-condition power brake vacuum hose (the reinforced kind)
- a bottlecap center cap (missing one)
- the "elephant trunk" drain piece in the engine bay that nobody seems to have
- a pair of yellow glass pieces from a Benz (used for yellow headlight/foglight conversions on Subarus and other cars). These sell for about $30/pair on the forums, so I try to grab them anytime I'm at a junkyard.
- the front left engine bay cowl piece (that covers the inside of the headlights and routes the "air scoop"
- the cover for the fuel/evap hoses in the passenger wheel well.
Also pulled a Mustang 5.0 distributor and an e30 main wiring connector for Stuart's V8 swap project - which I traded to him for:
- a Magnaflow muffler with a nice tip (will have to get it welded on to my pipe, with a reducer.
- a sport steering wheel sans horn (just a backup, since I have a Momo on the way).
- a glovebox with working latch (my latch is broken/missing).
So that's a pretty good haul for $38 (and another $15 in gas) on a cold holiday morning!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3271.jpg
The real prize was this piece, which nobody seems to have one of for sale, and most junked cars have it completely rusted to oblivion (like the one on mine). But on my third e30 of the day I found one in great shape, though it was quite an effort to get off the car with the rear wheel on and the car on the ground. Of course the two with rusted covers had the wheel off and up on blocks. figures.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3272.jpg
installed, along with some undercoating on the wheel well where it was peeling off
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3274.jpg
power brake vac hose installed. Had to modify slightly since it was off a 6-cyl e30
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3275.jpg
also took a few pics of the firewall electrical distro block. I was going to pull it but didn't have the hex wrench I needed.....the only tool I needed that I forgot! In any case, may do a different kind of distro block anyhow, we'll see.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3264.jpg
So all this stuff is installed (except the muffler and steering wheel) on the car now. Also spent some time adjusting the parking/ebrake. Which is a bit of a hassle now that I have studs for the wheels instead of the threaded lugs. I had to take one out on each wheel to access the adjuster (as shown in Bentley). Not much fun since I Red Loctite'd them good. Had to get out the torch to heat them up to free the loctite. *Mental note*

[loudes13]

Can't wait until we some pics of this e30 with some dirt on it!

[irish44j]

Can't wait until we some pics of this e30 with some dirt on it!

gonna have to wait until March!

and hopefully the pics will be of it throwing a roostertail of mud, and not being hooked up to a towtruck :shock:

[irish44j]

This week's project:

Dash revitalization (or ruin).

I plan to pull the dash, which is badly cracked. The plan is to sand it and bondo up the cracks (or something like that), and then FLOCK IT! Ordered up some flocking stuff from Don-Jur, in charcoal gray (black will get too dirty, too fast).

So, we'll see how this works out. Worst case it looks terrible and I go find another dash at a junkyard (or just ignore it). Best case it will look epic, and I will be the idol of all rallycrossers everywhere (lol)

[irish44j]

Was at the office for 14 hours today unexpectedly, so I don't have much energy tonight to tackle some projects I wanted to work on, like pulling the dash. Sucks, because it's a rare balmy 60-degree evening here and we're back in the 30s again tomorrow....back to numb fingers....

So just one little one that has the dual purpose of clearing some junk off my workbench and taking care of one cosmetic issue that's been annoying me: the missing trim pieces behind the back door. I've been driving around with them off the car (since one fell off in my driveway), with black duct tape covering the holes. Totally unsat....

Not sure why BMW did it this way, but these trim pieces give the appearance of a vent or something behind the door, and they're attached with these odd-shaped hard rubber nubs with c-clips on them. Don't know why they're not just bolted or riveted to the car since there doesn't seem to be any reason to take them off the car anyhow.

So....no ordering stupid nubs that didn't hold them on well enough before, especially since this car is gonna be taking a pounding. Busted out the gel epoxy, filled up the holes (and the few remaining nubs), and put them back on the car permanently.
Yeah, I know....pretty exciting stuff.

More exciting are parts on the way, perhaps for a weekend project.
1. flocking stuff for the dash
2. Rally Armor basic mudflaps (SUV size) that will be cut and fitted.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3277.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3279.jpg

[irish44j]

Spent the early evening watching my boys from George Mason whoop up on the mid-conference-dwellers from Delaware to go to 14-5 and 6-1 in the conference (with Towson and their 37-game losing streak coming up next).
Then I got off my arse and pulled the dashboard. Pretty straightforward, didn't break anything but did take some elbow grease to get it the last 10% over the steering column. As you can see, this dash is pretty nasty. The plan is to hit it with some bondo, sand it all down good, and then FLOCK IT!

Below the dash is about 25 years of nastiness, so that will take a good amount of cleaning up before I put this all back together. Somehow I think putting it in will be more work than getting it out......

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3284.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3286.jpg

[irish44j]

a few little things tonight:
First, my HVAC fan has been squeaking like a mofo. Clearly the sign of bad bearings, but replacing the entire motor isn't something I'm real interested in. So, opened it up, everything works fine except the squeak, which I isolated to one of the bearings, of course. Hit it with some WD40 and ran it for 10 minutes full blast with no noise. I'm sure it'll wear off eventually, but at least I knwo the quick fix. Just needs to get me to and from events in March without noise.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3297.jpg
The cover had about 2" of pure grease from 27 years of use on it. Took it to the sink and scrubbed the crap out of it. Yay, it's clean.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3299.jpg
Now we move to the dashboard.
Lots 'o cracks. I took a knife and beveled the edges which had slightly turned up. Then I used plastic epoxy to fill the gaps. I went through 2 full tubes and still could have used a bit more. But not running to the store, so I filled the remainder with some glazing putty. Let it dry, did a bit of sanding but will do more tomorrow. It's not going to be perfectly smooth, but the flocking should cover it it for the most part - and it's still 100x better than it was before.
post-bevel
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3290.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3291.jpg
a bit 'o sanding
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3295.jpg
----
the thought that is constantly in my head now is that I want an e36 steering rack in this car. Every time I drive it I enjoy it, but I really DON'T enjoy the school-bus steering rate, which will be hell in rallycross.
So I'm on the lookout for the e36 rack on the cheap. We'll see if that happens.

[Subie_Slide]

the vin plate prevented it from splitting all the way.

[Skemcin]

so what's next for the dash? I was thinking about this for my Porsche - but not sure what to finish it with - maybe a roll on rubber based bedliner? Or do you have something specific lined up?

[irish44j]

FLOCK'D

Came out pretty decent, and took about an hour (plus it will be drying overnight). Actually pretty easy, just paint the adhesive on (it's thick stuff!), and use the little tubular "flocking gun" for lack of any better word for it. I missed a few little tiny places with the adhesive, but noplace really noticeable. Also messed up a little part on top of the gauge hood, by accidentally grabbing the edge of it when I moved the dash.

Went with the gray color, since I figure black will get really dirty, really fast and dirt will just blend in with the gray. In person looks pretty good - not perfect, but 95% of my cracks are now totally invisible and no more sun-faded black color. Pretty pleased with this for a $25 project!

before:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3284.jpg

after:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3300.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3303.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3304.jpg

[Skemcin]

Nice work!

[irish44j]

Put the dash back in. Please ignore the really old, really un-ipod-capable deck, haha...That will have to be resolved at some point.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3314.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3318.jpg
for those of you asking about what flocking is....here's an idea of how small the fibers are that are essentially bonded to the dash..
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3319.jpg
Also put one of my RA mudflaps on. A bit sloppy trying to get it even, doh! BTW, these are the basics, in "SUV" size. They'll sit lower once the suspension is settled (it just came off stands in this pic and is sitting even higher than usual).
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3322.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3324.jpg
I've since added an upper attachment as well. All the hardware will be covered with rubber undercoating to delay rusting a bit. Not like I can't just replace them...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3326.jpg

[irish44j]

Here's a couple close-up pics in case anyone wants to get a feel for the length/texture a bit closer up.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3333.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3328.jpg

[bone_1113]

looks great! I love flocking stuff!...its so addicting!

[irish44j]

today was a bit under the weather so called in a sick day (mostly so as not to get my co-workers sick, more than anything). Was feeling better after lunch so spend the afternoon in the garage watching 6 episodes of the 5th season of Dexter on the laptop and working on the car.
A few things accomplished:
First, finished up a few things with the dashboard re-install. Nothing exciting. My daughter tested it out for me, and everything appears functional
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3343.jpg
She also pointed out some wiring issues under the hood
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3340.jpg
Next I messed with wiring for a bit, trying to wire up the Hella fog lights to the factory harness/dash switch. Kept on having problems with it not working. The switch was ok (tested), and when pressed I could hear the click of the relay in the box. Fuses good too, but still no light. Ended up tracing the wiring harness and found that the connectors to outer wires (the round 2-pin connector near the headlights on each side) were corroded and not forwarding the charge. So cut them off and soldered in some direct wires to the lights. Now everything works, except the OEM dash switch won't click to stay on - the little plastic tab inside is broken off. But if held down the lights stay on. So next junkyard trip will look for a working switch, no biggie.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3335.jpg
cleaned-up wiring and splashguard installed
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3337.jpg
Ah, also yesterday I picked up an e36 steering rack (off a 318ti). The p/o switched to a quicker ratio and the rack is in good shape and not leaking. Eventually I'll swap this in, once I figure out where to get some new copper seals for the power steering lines. Otherwise the plan is to use all the e30 stuff, since the lines in the car look pretty new. Will need to verify that the tie rods from the e30 rack will work with the e36 rack, but I've read in most places that they will. The rack was pretty gunky, so did some wire-brushing.
also cleaned up the spare throttle body, for no apparent reason other than I want to swap it in so I can check out/clean the one currently on the car.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3347.jpg
and installed the driver's side mudflap. I'm going to wait on the rears until I get the new muffler put on, since I'm going to have to cut the inner flap to clear and not sure where to cut right now, so it will wait.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3346.jpg

[irish44j]

minor stuff tonight on the car. Spent about an hour doing a home alignment "the old way" with my string setup, boards, and tape measure. I've found that this method on other cars has gotten me pretty much just as accurate as the local alignment shop with a Hunter machine (I've gone and checked a few times, just to see).

In any case, the front alignment was all out of whack, probably due to the shot balljoints and bushings previously on the car, and compensating for them. With fresh stuff everywhere, plus the camber top hats, the fronts were off-center overall and more than 1/2" toe out. Not acceptable.

First I lined up the mark on the steering linkage with the mark on the rack to center it (a nice feature that not all cars have), and locked the steering wheel.

Then did a four-wheel alignment. The rears were pretty close to zero toe, but I didn't check too closely since I can't change them anyhow, so they might be a tad in or out. Rear camber is sitting at about 1.5* negative on both sides.

Up front I just zeroed the toe as dead-on as I can get it. From there I'll tinker to see what I like - I'm guessing I'll want it a hair toe-out when all is said and done. Also checked the camber up front and both sides are sitting between 1* and 1.25* negative, so that's pretty good for now.

All in all that was a nice easy thing that should make the handling tighten up significnatly, especially considering how much freaking toe I was running previously.
more later....

[irish44j]

I had to go into work for a couple hours, and afterwards I swung by a local guy (EvilTwin - aka Viet)'s house to pick up some parts. Kind of funny since he and I met each other almost a decaded ago when we both had Maximas - back then he was like 16 years old and it was his first car. Now he has a nice house with a 4Runner and 2 e30s in the driveway...I feel old.
Anyhow, for next to nothing he hooked me up with a stock 325i rear swaybar and mounts/bushings. I almost laughed when I saw how tiny the stock bar is (I think my battery cables are thicker!), but it's still an upgrade over NO rear bar, which is what the 318 currently has. Stopped by the Olympus on the way home and picked up some cheap endlinks, though for the life of me I can't get the damn things on the ends of the bar with it on the car....just can't get enough leverage to push them on...grr.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3352.jpg
He also had door weatherstripping/seals from a sedan sitting around - which is convenient since two of mine are total FUBAR'd. Grabbed those as well.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3353.jpg
With it being 65 degrees today, planned on having an afternoon of car work without my fingers freezng.....
Unfortunately, upon arriving home there was a crisis: The clothes dryer not working, and my wife with 4 loads of clothes to do. So....the next half-hour was spent taking things apart and the culprit was found. The tension roller for the belt (which used to have a bushing in it). Apparently the bushing had seized and over God-knows-how-long it just wore the bushing away down tot he metal collar, and then wore down the pin it rode on, until it was loose enough to throw the belt off. Spent 2 more hours driving around to find the local appliance parts store and get a replacement. THat is some bad bearing, lol:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3354.jpg
Then back to the car. Installed new dizzy cap and rotor, and set the timing to factory spec. Car is running smooth and quiet now, though it feels a bit sluggish. May need to advance the timing slightly to perk it up.
Also toyed around with my spare AFM. Took it apart and adjusted the "sweep" that had worn grooves into the contact surface. By adjusting the assembly height I was able to get the sweep into some fresh surface, so maybe it will get a cleanier/more consistent signal. Found this trick on a Porsche forum, since apparently it's used alot on 944's, which have the same Bosch AFM as the e30. Will check out the one n the car next.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3350.jpg

[irish44j]

Got the rear swaybar endlinks on today (after digging around for some lower bolts). Though it's a tiny bar, it's a vast improvement on the overall handling of the car after a quick test-drive.

I also tweaked the timing a bit, with a slight advance, and now the engine feels, if not exactly "powerful," at least somewhat peppy. Since the car is pretty lightweight at this point, it actually gets up and goes pretty decent. More power is always good, but it'll do for the time being.

Finally got around to replacing the platinums I had previously installed with some 9DS Bosch plugs, which are the "most suggested" for the M10 engine.


http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3357.jpg

With the sunroof off, decided to address the peeling paint on it by sanding it down and painting it again, except in a color that (more or less) matches the replacement hood. Just because.....lol. I think I'm just gonna put stickers and crap all over it anyhow. Again, just because.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3372.jpg

Little interior project. With the center console gone, there's nothing to attach the ebrake boot with. Though I like the raw look of it without a boot, I don't feel like jabbing my hand on the bolts or anything if I have to grab it quick. So I busted out the dremel and cut the center console apart so I could use the lower bracket where the ebrake boot originally attached. Used the rear bolt-down bracket, and then just put a small sheet-metal screw in the DS tunnel at the front. Works perfectly and doesn't look bad either :)

the part cut-out
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3367.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3366.jpg

the leftovers...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3368.jpg

installed..

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3370.jpg

buttoned up for the night
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3358.jpg

[irish44j]

A buddy of mine finished wrapping his Z06 a while back, and dropped by with a 3x5 remnant piece of matte black vinyl, thinking I could use it for whatever. After a few weeks of seeing it rolled up on the workbench, I decided it was time to have a little bit of cheesy fun. The nice thing about a rallycross beater is that I can do things to it I would never do to my daily driver. And of course vinyl comes off if it needs to.

So here it is. Flame away! I plan to continue the stripes down the side of the fender (which won't show up as much since the fender is black).

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3377.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3376.jpg

[GClark]

I love the stripes. Good work.

[Kirky]

Looks awesome! You have made some real progress with this car, cant wait for the action shots!

[irish44j]

today, on February 1st, it was 67 degrees out. Really?
ok, well took minor advantage of this to paint the other two door cards on the driver's side with some plastic paint (including cleaning/prep/etc)

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3380.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3382.jpg

and what rally car would be complete without and old-school MARTINI decal? Put on in memory of my old Lancia Delta.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3383.jpg

[irish44j]

ok, no car work tonight since there are some things on TV I feel like watching on the couch, lol.

well, just for the hell of it, a little bit of kindergarten hobby time. I have a long-kept hate of painter's tape and shoe polish on cars at autocrosses, etc. IDK why, I just do :)

So I'm going to need some class magnets (already have plenty of numbers from years of autocross). Went and found a few old magnetized autocross class decals, and an old magnetized G-Force sticker (where that came from, no idea....)

A bit of tracing printed out letters, a bit of cutting, and we have some free magnetic class letters. I know, I know. Big-time stuff here. Try to contain your excitement.

I'll hit these up over the weekend with some spraypaint so people can actually see what they say.

Coming soon:
- a couple new steering wheels to choose from
- battery relocation to the trunk
- fix the damn sunroof track.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3384.jpg

[irish44j]

gotta go help a friend do some house painting tonight.....bleh.
before I go, opened a little package on my porch. One for the BMW, one for the GT6. Haven't decided which is which yet....Got both wheels and an e30 hub adaptor (all brand new) for around $200. So if I decide I don't want them, I figure I can recoup my money pretty easy, if not make some.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3385.jpg
350mm devil
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3386.jpg
370mm retro
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3387.jpg
installed
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3389.jpg

[rollo]

Think you have it right - the modern-looking one for the BMW and the split-spoke for the Triumph.

[irish44j]

Think you have it right - the modern-looking one for the BMW and the split-spoke for the Triumph.

yeah. the Triumph currently has a Mountney wheel that looks alot liek the Retro, but the Mountey wheel has a TON of flex in it, and really annoys me to drive with it, especially on a front-heavy car with no power steering. Plus for motorsports, the Devil has a thicker grip which is nice, and is a bit smaller.

Will be nice once I get the e36 rack in the car, to get rid of the dump-truck-speed steering....

[irish44j]

some pre-Superbowl minor work today. Took the car out for a 20-minute drive today and everything seems to be working well. The ride quality is firm, but somehow better on the bumpy stuff than my WRX (on RCE yellows and Bilstein Sports). Steering is still slow, but the new steering wheel helps alot with quick movements over the stock trucker wheel. Engine and brakes working perfectly, all controls working well. Still hearing some rumble from the back, but can't tell if that's just NVH that was previously covered up by the soundproofing/rear seats or if something is actually wrong. Doesn't sound like wheel bearing noise, so might just be a noisy diff. Time will tell.

Also drained the transmission (fluid didn't look too bad, but might as well) and refilled with Redline MT-90. I know MTL is the preferred fluid, but I had three half-full bottles of MT-90 sitting around, so decided to use it for the moment. Shifter feels nice and smooth, but still may switch later. We'll see.

took a few outdoor pics, with the completed "rally stripes" made from some remnant vinyl. Against some suggestions, I wrapped it down the fenders and I think I like it that way.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3394.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3392.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3393.jpg

Also hit a small, and annoying little project: removing about 2lbs of soundproofing on the c-pillars (since the lower headliner in that area was all ripped up anyhow). This stuff is stuck on there good, and it took various scrapers and razor blades to get it all off. Fun fun. But the little stuff adds up.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3400.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3396.jpg

[rollo]

Man I love this thread.

The stripes look awesome. Goo Gone or Motsenbockers should take off the sticky residue from under the interior foam without harming the paint, if you're bothered.

I'll be interested to hear if the gear oil change makes any difference. I've been told by a BMW guy in the past that you should never change an old German car's tranny fluid because of gears meshing and viscosity changing and something something something.. I don't remember. Anyway it was probably BS - while my Corrado's shop manual does insist that the fluid is permanent, there's still a drain plug on the tranny :D

[irish44j]

ok, all this autocross talk is getting me off my rally groove :D
back to work! Got a delivery of parts today, courtesy of TurboJake. Who, I might add, is by far the best shipper, packer, and seller on the entire planet. Great parts prices, shipped super-fast, packing was professional, and I got pics of every step of the process. I highly recommend getting parts from Jake if he has what you're looking for!
The parts in question: Everything I need for trunk battery relocate. I already had the OEM 325i cable (oddly, from a Nissan buddy who couldn't use it for his battery relocation on his i30).
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/DSCN3401.jpg
anyhow, first to the trunk. The 318 still has all the tabs and mount spots for the 325i tray, so it slid in perfect. Needed to drill one hole in the floor to mount. After install I wasn't terribly happy with how much flex there is in the tray. I have a feeling that it would crack or break during alot of rallycross. So I decided to find something to use as a center support for some additional strength. After digging around the garage, found a Jeep extended bumpstop (for rear leaf springs) that for some reason I never used on the old XJ. Put a screw through the top to hold it in, and there we go.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/DSCN3402.jpg
tray in, and my Red Top fits perfectly. I will need to fab up some hold-downs, since the OEM bracket wasn't included (and probably wouldn't work anyhow). Eventually will move to a lighter race battery, but that's not in the budget right now.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/DSCN3408.jpg
On to the front.....The distro block is an easy install, since there are dimples for drilling the holes in the firewall to put it in the stock position. Getting the cable through the firewall was another story. It comes in from the side, and BMW was nice enough to put a thin metal punch-out piece there, so a couple whacks with a chisel punched it out. Unfortunately, this is where I had previously fiberglassed over, so I had to cut some of that out as well. And the reason I had fiberglased over the area is that there was some rust-through and a leak.
Anyhow, after much cursing and using various flathead screwdrivers to pry and cajole, finally got the OEM firewall grommet/seal in place. Because of the old rust, there's a hole on one side of it, so I'll have to take care of that in the near future.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/DSCN3407.jpg
Everything hooked up, just need to move the ground cable to the trunk and figure out a hold-down and good to go. I think moving the weight to the trunk will be beneficial on this car, since it's pretty damn light back there and I'll want as much weight as possible for traction, and perhaps reduce some understeer. We'll see.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/DSCN3406.jpg

[irish44j]

ah, that's better. Used most of the hardware from the engine bay setup, except stole a j-hook from the GT6 (in storage for the winter, will replace it later) for one side. Held down rock-solid now, doesn't budge an inch...

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/DSCN3409.jpg

[geekmonster]

looks like a fun project. i think the stripes look good because they are subtle enough not to stand out like a sore thumb, but also add a little bit of an interesting look to the car.

[irish44j]

minor thing today, but wanted to try it.

After going through everything in the engine to make sure things like the AFM, IACV, etc work and that there were no vac leaks, I was still idling around 2000 rpms with the timing set to factory spec. Very annoying.

So the last-ditch effort before I take the TB apart: try my spare idle control module. Getting the old one out was easy except I made the mistake of taking the black "cap" off the plug. Which of course allowed each of the 12 individual wires to pop out of their slots....grr.

Had to dig up a wiring diagram and find which plug they each went back to to get it all back together. Especially annoying since 2 of the wires were not the colors shown in either my FSM or the wedophones online wiring guide (which is for an '84, not an '85). By the length and curvature of the wires I took a guess at which the last two went to, and turned out correct. Phew.

Anyhow, hooked it all up, set my idle to 2k rpm and checked the timing again. Timing is dead-on, and with the new idle control module my idle is now chilling nicely around 900rpms. MUCH BETTER!

So, one more basic thing fixed, pretty happy about that since this seems to be a common problem with e30s, and especially M10/Jetronic cars.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0007.jpg

afterwards, my daughter wanted me to put on the big SCCA Rallycross banner that I've had sitting around for a few years (given to me by a friend). I didn't really want to put it on yet (since it seems pretty poserish on a car that has never rallycrossed yet), but 4-year-olds are convincing.

So, it's on. On the rear window since Virginia doesn't allow front banners. I may put one there eventually anyhow, lol.

In any case, this car better do ok (and my driving better be decent) since it now has more than enough stickers and I don't want to look like a total poseur :)
and yes, it's a tiny bit crooked....dammit.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0008.jpg

[irish44j]

So....I was tightening my "oh ****"handle on the passenger side, and the screwdriver slipped and put a hole in the headliner. I think it was my subliminal mind that did it on purpose.

And seriously, I cannot drive a BMW with a ripped headliner. That just won't do!

So.

Goodbye headliner. It was dusty and gross anyhow. Good riddance. Also pulled out all the orange padding/insulation as well. There's 10lbs out of the top of the car. That said, I of course still have the heavy sunroof frame in there. But I like having a sunroof, so that's some weight that I'm willing to keep.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0010.jpg

[irish44j]

also pretty psyched that a couple other local e30 guys just picked up another 318 to rallycross. Of course, they got a '91, so they'll have more power than me :/

So that should mean at least 4 or 5 e30s at WDCR events this year.....including the two that won sock RWD and prepared RWD classes last year :)

[eage8]

the 2 that won SR and PR were the same one :)

There was only 1 bmw last year with like 3-4 drivers haha

[irish44j]

the 2 that won SR and PR were the same one :)

There was only 1 bmw last year with like 3-4 drivers haha

lol, I knew that there was an e30 with mutliple drivers, but for some reason I has seen photos of two different e30s at several events. In any case, I know there will be three more there this year :) My build thread over on RevLimited has apparently been contagious to some locals

[irish44j]

Was digging around in some attic stuff and came upon an old-school Independent Truck Co. sticker. Yes, that is DEFINITELY going on the car. Old-school skate stuff = win.
And got some used sunroof track parts from some local guys, so I can get this damn thing back on after the ordeal with me breaking things...grr.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0036.jpg
So, finally got the sunroof back on with the parts from Stuart/Spencer. To get the old broken retractor piece off the crank cable, had to figure out how to take the grommet off the end. This appears to have a press crimp in it, and I couldn't get it off. So I took a cutting wheel/dremel and cut a longitudinal slot in it, allowing me to get it off. I then re-used it on the new cable, crimping it closed more and adding some solder. Hopefully it will hold, else I'll have to track down a high-strength crimp like this with a small enough profile to fit in the track.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0038.jpg
But it's working so far. nice to have a roof back on the car.
That's it for today. Wednesday I have an ebay front strut bar coming in that I picked up for cheap, so that will be a good addition to stiffen up the front end, since I've heard e30s flex alot up there, especially when being beaten on.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0044.jpg

[irish44j]

Today received my ebay strut tower brace. It's stainless steel and looks really beefy. And it was cheap. About 1/3 the price of strut bars that the major e30 retailers sell, with free shipping.

But, here's the problem with cheap stuff sometimes: It doesn't fit well.

First of all, the holes don't line up. I had to slot the holes on one side significantly (like 1" over), and just to bolt it up it's pretty sloppy. Second of all, it rubs against the spark plug wires on the dizzy. The FSTB was probably templated on a non-M10 car with the dizzy elsewhere.

Both of these are problems, but not dealing with shipping it back, etc. So maybe next week I'll cut the one off-fitting end off and take it to get welded back on in a better position to line up and clear the plug wires. Not a big deal, but still a bit annoying. In the end, it'll still cost alot less for this bar and to get it fixed than it would for even most used bars on the forums....

If anyhing, I'm taking the car in to get the muffler welded on so maybe those guys can do it at the same time.

the bar on the car:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0054.jpg

driver's side is a good fit:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0057.jpg

passenger side fit is terrible. Temporarily improv'd
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0059.jpg

way too close to the dizzy for comfort
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0058.jpg

[irish44j]

My daughter informed me that she can take care of the problem.....

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0060.jpg

[irish44j]

I went to my great-uncle's farmhouse today and dug around in his giant building full of random junk/scrap metal/old rusty cars/etc. This is the kind of place that would be a dream trove for Grassroots Motorsports types.
Was looking for some 1/8" steel plate to make a skidplate with, but almost all of his sheet steel was 1/4", and that's way too heavy for my purposes.
In the end, I managed to get some 14 gauge stainless sheet. Obviously this is not sufficiently stiff to make for a good skidplate, but it will do decent temporary duty as a general splash/flying rock/mud guard for the underside fo the engine bay and tranny, and it doesn't weigh too much. I'll probably make it in the form of a real skid - it is thick enough that it won't deflect statically, though it will be limited protection on any hard hit. Luckily, this car sits really high (about 6-7" clearance under the oil pan) so I don't expect to take any hard hits at Summit, really. Since it's about 4" wider than the size I want, I'm going to turn up the outside edges about 2", so that should add a good bit of rigidity to it as well
I also will go get some 2" steel bar from Home Depot to use as stiffeners and reduce deflection. Will either weld them onto the sheet, or perhaps just bolt them on initially.
All in all, it's not exactly the protection I was looking for, but it was free and it's alot better than nothing, at least as a heavy-duty splashguard.
The plan is to use two large bolts through the holes in the main subframe as rear mounts, and put a couple bolts through the lower radiator support as the front mount.
Anyhow, more on this once I do some bending, cutting, and bolting. Monday is a federal holiday, so I have all day in the garage for this :)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/IMG_0062.jpg

[irish44j]

tomorrow's plan is to take it on a bit of a shakedown cruise as I run some errands within 20 or 30 miles of home and hit some of the "country" roads to see how everything is running. One thing I hadn't gotten around to yet is hooking up the car audio. And I really don't want to drive around all day with no tunes, listening for every little noise and being paranoid, lol.

So, time to re-hook-up the CD player that came with the car. It's an old Blaupunkt unit. And as good as the Germans are at building cars, they suck at audio equipment, at least in this range. I hate Blaupunkt decks.....but this is what I have, so I guess I'll use it. And I'll break out the CDs since I haven't run a radio antenna wire yet and it doesn't have any hookup for my iPod :( I'll need to find some new audio before the long drives to Summit, because I don't want to carry old CDs around, lol.

And since the speakers in the back deck are no longer, had to run some wire and install them in the front kick panels (where the original wires went, no idea....)

So, it works. It sounds mediocre at best compared to the highish-end setup I have in the WRX and the 4Runner, but good enough...

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0065.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0063.jpg

[irish44j]

today's project was cutting, bending, and test-fitting the skidplate. It's currently bolted onto the car (loosely) and the fit is good. I still need to do some detail work, including cutting some notches for extra clearance of the steering rack inner tie rod (just to be safe, probably don't need to), and setting up a couple additional mount bolts. Also will cut some holes in the upper end of the front slanted area, to let more air get to the radiator. Also may cut a small hole for the oil drain plug.
Leftovers after cutting were two full-length 3" wide strips, which I'll use for longitudinal reinforcement.
made the cuts and took the grinder to smooth the edges and round the corners
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0067.jpg
setup. Don't have a brake press, so we'll do this the old way, with heat, a BFH, and my own weight.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0069.jpg
test fit
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0071.jpg
on the car
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0078.jpg
clearance from pan (using 4 washers in the rear as spacers, which seems about right)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0073.jpg
also cut the OEM lower valence, because it looks lousy without it, and put it back on around the skid
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0081.jpg
on the ground
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0086.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0085.jpg
ground clearance is about as good as my 4Runner, lol. Hella stance yo!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0084.jpg
oh, and put a painted 318 badge back on. This car isn't too fast and I don't want anyone thinking its just a 325 with a tired engine, haha..
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0083.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0068.jpg

[Kamotors]

nice work! gotta love E30's;)

[irish44j]

yesterday's project was cutting, bending, and test-fitting the skidplate. It's currently bolted onto the car (loosely) and the fit is good. I still need to do some detail work, including cutting some notches for extra clearance of the steering rack inner tie rod (just to be safe, probably don't need to), and setting up a couple additional mount bolts. Also will cut some holes in the upper end of the front slanted area, to let more air get to the radiator. Also may cut a small hole for the oil drain plug.
Leftovers after cutting were two full-length 3" wide strips, which I'll use for longitudinal reinforcement.
made the cuts and took the grinder to smooth the edges and round the corners
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0067.jpg
setup. Don't have a brake press, so we'll do this the old way, with heat, a BFH, and my own weight.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0069.jpg
test fit
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0071.jpg
on the car
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0078.jpg
clearance from pan (using 4 washers in the rear as spacers, which seems about right)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0073.jpg
also cut the OEM lower valence, because it looks lousy without it, and put it back on around the skid
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0081.jpg
on the ground
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0086.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0085.jpg
ground clearance is about as good as my 4Runner, lol. Hella stance yo!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0084.jpg
oh, and put a painted 318 badge back on. This car isn't too fast and I don't want anyone thinking its just a 325 with a tired engine, haha..
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0083.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0068.jpg

[irish44j]

made some modifications to the skid today:
- shortened up the front end to not come up as high, so as not to block the lower radiator opening.
- added some 14ga reinforcing pieces. it's still fairly light-duty, but these add some longitudinal stiffness at least.
- figured out my hardware (for the most part, need a few things from fastenal tomorrow)
- killed several drill bits and jigsaw blades in the process.
- cut out some clearance notches for the steering inner tie rods, just to be safe (though probably not needed)
- partial install/test fit. Much better than the original version, but still a few minor details to work out
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0099.jpg
the hardware. You may recognize those spacers as coming from e30 seatbelt bolts, lol
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0101.jpg
test-fit
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0105.jpg

[irish44j]

finished up a bit of my protection today..
First, the skidplate is now complete. Got all the right hardware (mostly stainless, but some grade 10.9) and bolted it up. A few points:
1. The rear bolts have spacers for clearance
2. The front bolts are to the back lip of the radiator support. It's not the strongest area, but I think it will be sufficient. I used some steel backing plates to distribute the load so the bolts won't pull through on small hits. Also since there is a gap where the bolts go (the plate abuts the lower radiator support beam farther up), I used some cut fuel injection hose pieces to act as large "shock absorbing" spacers. IDK if it would actually work, but what the hell, lol.
3. And of course had a bit of fun with paint, just because.
So that's one project down.
installed
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0107.jpg
front mount bolts
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0108.jpg
clearance to the pan
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0109.jpg
some lipstick
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0111.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0115.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0118.jpg
Next little project was to address something that I've been thinking about a while. The secondary fuel pump and associated equipment is just kind of "out there" just in front of the back wheel. I really would rather this stuff not get totally covered with mud and get hit with flying gravel, so a little bit of basic protection. I cut up an old cover for a rubbermaid heavy-duty storage bin. This is pretty beefy plastic with some flex to it. And with a built-in lip it worked perfectly for what I wanted to do. That area of the rocker is the one rusty plate (and has some bondo)....I'm guessing it got bend/crushed by a jack at one point and a p/o tried to fix it. I can't use it for jacking so hit it with some POR-15 and covered it up. I'll use the double-bracket rear subframe tie-in as a jacking point in the future.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0125.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0121.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0123.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0124.jpg
Also have a line on some used Yokohama A035 rally tires (off of an actual rally car) in my size for cheap, and not too far away. So the plan will be to pick those up and use them instead of the snow tires. Peace of mind to have some beefy sidewalls.
out in tha sun..
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0114.jpg

[89ChevondaSI]

Beautiful.

Good thinking on the rubber hose for absorbers. :thumbsup:

[irish44j]

ok, so I lied about not doing anything. Got off my arse and did a few things tonight.
First order of business was inspecting belts and pullies, as I've been getting a chirping/squeaking sound up there. To make inspection easier, I decided to go ahead and pull the stock clutch-driven cooling fan (which I will go buy an electric to replace it with tomorrow). Been meaning to do that for a while.
Fan takes a 32mm open-ended wrench.
IDK where this came from, but I happened to see it in the back of a drawer in the tool box. Whadya know....32mm :)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0135.jpg
with the fan and shroud removed, there's alot of room in there. My plan is to get a fan with an outside housing diameter of about 17", and bolt it to the stock shroud, which attaches nicely to the radiator. We'll see what I can find tomorrow at the junkyard or at the parts store.
This should gain me a couple horsepower by losing some parasitic drag on the engine anyhow....and a couple of horsepower means alot when you've got a wimpy M10~!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0127.jpg
old fans.....heavy and sucky
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0128.jpg
upon removal, I immediately noticed something that might have caused squeaking or other issues: 2 of the 4 bolts that hold the water pump pulley onto its hub were missing. And the 2 were next to each other, so it was basically only bolted to the hub on one side. Had a couple M6's sitting around, and replaced...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0126.jpg
Issue #2, I had noticed that the alternator belt was a bit loose. Looked to be adjusted as tight as possible, but when I took it off (to check the smoothness/action) I saw that the original "ladder" adjuster bar was stripped at the top. Brilliant.
Just so happens I had been WONDERING why the p/o had a brand-new adjuster bar in the big box 'o spare parts. He never got around to installing it. So I did. After all back together, the belt deflects less and the alternator sits more solid. Excellent.
old and new
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0131.jpg
car does have a virtually new alternator, so that's a plus
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0131.jpg
next order of business may be to do the water pump. It seems to be working fine and doesn't make any noise, but it looks pretty old. Project for later this spring I think, or maybe sooner. ALl the coolant hoses are pretty mushy and old-looking, so I think I'll replace them soon as well.

[irish44j]

today was a travel day.....250 miles round trip in heavy traffic and rain. Yay. But did manage to kill 2 birds with 1 stone:
First, sold my bottlecaps with the snow tires to Spencer and Stuart for their rallycross e30, for some cash and trade for one of their sets of bottlecaps with old tires on them.
Second, met up with Kevin Turner, a local rally guy, to buy one of his used sets of 185/14 Yoko A035 rally tires (medium compound), which have alot of life left on them. Also picked up a second set for Shawn (moxnix on GRM) for his RX7 rallycrosser.
I got up to Baltimore early, so made a quick stop at the big pick-n-pull yard (Crazy Ray's) there. It was raining, I didn't really come prepared to dig around the yard so only had a fleece on and a few tools with me, lol.
Didn't see any e30s there, but there were a ton of e36s, and I pulled the aux fan off of one of them. It has more blades (and curved for higher cfm) than the stock e30 fan, and I may mount it as either a pusher or puller. We'll see how much cleareance I have on the backside of the radiator. It'll be tight, but there is more room on an M10 car than on the sixes, at least. If not, I'll order a Spal.
Anyhow, some pics as usual
beautiful older 5-series I saw on the way out of town
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0137.jpg
loaded up
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0144.jpg
e36 fan
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0151.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0153.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0158.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0156.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0159.jpg

[Pretendingtowork]

Just a quick heads up...the stock E36 fans have been known to mysteriously loose fan blades, sometimes putting them partially through a radiator. Ask me how I know? It happened to another friend of mine as well. So just keep that in mind.

Edit-Both times it was on a 99 M3 if it matters.

[irish44j]

Just a quick heads up...the stock E36 fans have been known to mysteriously loose fan blades, sometimes putting them partially through a radiator. Ask me how I know? It happened to another friend of mine as well. So just keep that in mind.

Edit-Both times it was on a 99 M3 if it matters.

Thanks....it's a moot point anyhow - I just checked and it's too big to fit in front as a pusher, and it's too deep to fit behind as a puller. So that was $14 down the drain....ah well. But whatever, can't go to a pick-n-pull yard and not buy ANYTHING :cuckoo:

[eage8]

what size do you need? I just pulled the fiero GT fan off my RX7. It's definitely a nice fan. I'll measure it when I'm in the garage tomorrow.

[irish44j]

what size do you need? I just pulled the fiero GT fan off my RX7. It's definitely a nice fan. I'll measure it when I'm in the garage tomorrow.

16 inches is ideal, but a bit smaller would work. The main issue is depth, as I need it to be no more than about 2.5" in total depth. The e36 fan was almost 4". A slimline Span is about 2.5" so it's probably what I'll end up needing.

[irish44j]

did some maintenance on the Subaru tonight and switched on the summer tires, since this winter has been a bust and I want my performance back...

did get a couple little tiny projects done on the e30.

First: a brand-new junkyard-sourced cargo net from a G35 (including the mounting "nubs") on the rear seatback piece. Just because you can never have too many cargo nets to carry random crap...or reading material

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0162.jpg

Second, after talking to Shawn last night was thinking about how much of a hassle it will be to use my GoPro suction mount on a super-dirty car (not a problem in autocross, but definitely in rallycross). So went to the box 'o GoPro parts and stuck on a couple perma-mount clips, one on hoot front, and one on the roof. I'll probably put a couple more on, perhaps one on the side (my favorite view), and one on the trunk to look backwards. Why not...

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0163.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0164.jpg

[irish44j]

I've been putting off doing cooling stuff for a while....I hate antifreeze with a passion. But it was time. So after making a huge mess of my driveway (hopefully will not kill any local wildlife, cleaned up as good as possible) with antifreeze, I replaced the water pump (the old one looked ok, but I'm in there so why not. I'll keep the old one as a spare), cleaned up the pulleys, replaced the thermostat with a 71* one, replaced the upper radiator hose (the old one was really soft). The other hoses were newer and in good shape, and no local replacements so I kept them. New clamps everywhere. Also put a new accessory belt on, which got rid of my 3k+ rpm squealing that is a major embarrassment.
Next project is the front brakes. I'm using some secondhand rotors and secondhand OEM-style pads. The braking isn't as good as I'd like, and I get alot of squeaking and squealing. Next week will get the rotors turned and get some Hawk HPS or HP+, since I hear Pep Boys is clearing out HPS at super-low prices. We'll see if they have any e30 pads.
Still looking for a 16" electric fan, but today for 50 miles the car ran well below mid-temperature on the gauge with the new thermostat and 50 degree weather. I may put the 80 degree back in eventually, but this will do for the moment.
pics, as usual
pump and accessories off
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0165.jpg
the old stuff, pretty grungy
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0169.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0170.jpg
New belt. It was the cheap one at the local parts store ($4.99 vs. 18.99 for the "better" one). It's made in the USA and looks fine. I picked up a 2nd one for a spare, just in case
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0171.jpg
put back together. DId some corkscrew paint on the water pump pulley, just for fun
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0174.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0172.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0167.jpg
SPent some time last night "fixing" my disintegrating Bentley manual. Used a whole roll of packing tape, going page by page to reattach the book back together. It's not pretty, but it works!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0175.jpg
Tried to hook up the AccessPort to bump my boost up to 18psi like the Subie runs. Sadly, it didn't work on the e30 :/ haha....
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0176.jpg

[Gr3en]

I love your car! Soooo niceeee!

[Subie_Slide]

that wrench is an actual BMW tool the newer ones have a rubber grip. I used to work at a BMW dealership in service, used that guy a lot. you should get a smoother throttle now that that cluch isnt on there. A lot of people do that on the e36 aswell

[irish44j]

must be common for other stuff then, because I had it for years before owning this car!

[irish44j]

got the A035's mounted. Damn this setup is heavy. And loud. Drove just down my street on them and my neighbors must have thought it was a big rock-crawling 4x4 coming by, haha...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0281.jpg
then, for no reason other than "because rally car" I painted the bottlecaps. Didn't have more than half a can of any paint color in the cabinet, so just did two black and two white. Hey, why not, lol....
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0293.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0292.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0288.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0287.jpg

[irish44j]

Deep thoughts: Just an offhand guess, but I think I've spent maybe $3500 on this entire project, including the purchase price of the car, SCCA membership, season of rallycross pre-paid, a set of rally tires, a set of Star Specs, and a pair of used and a pair of new Konis. Add that in to all the smaller stuff and that's my guesstimate of overall cost. I've also sold off about $500 worth of parts that came with the car. Not too bad. Were I to sell the rally tires and the euroweaves, I could be pretty close to the GRM $2012 Challenge budget, actually. Not that this car would do well in the GRM Challenge...

Anyhow, another quick one: install of the rear mudflaps. I used the RallyArmor basic universals, so had to do some trimming and fab up some basic brackets. All in all they turned out pretty good I think.

the brackets

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0295.jpg

installed. I'll put some rubberized undercoating over all the bolts once I'm sure everything is lined up how I want it.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0297.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0300.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0302.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0305.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0306.jpg

had so have a bit of fun, just because this is not a serious car, so it shouldn't look too serious.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0309.jpg

[irish44j]

I know this car is for rallycross and a good audio system is not necessary or desired. But I have to drive to the track, and the Blaupunkt deck that came in this car is simply atrocious. The sound is simply pathetic and it can't even drive the so-so Infinity speakers in the front kick panels. I've always hated Blaupunkt and been amazed that anyone ever bought them.......So went digging into the parts cabinet to pull out an old Pioneer deck that was pulled out of my 1992 Accord almost a decade ago (it was a nice deck at the time). Had some display issues, which I fixes with a little ghetto-work with the soldering iron. Hooked it all up, and damn....the 2-speaker system actually sounds very good now. me = pleased. Still no iPod input, but I have about 600 CDs in cases in the hosue, so I'll just listen to old-school stuff to and from the track.
Also disabled the security tabs so I can pull it out quickly before the event starts and put it back in easily afterwards.
old:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0327.jpg
new(er)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0328.jpg

[irish44j]

forgot about a few other little things I did today. Pretty small stuff, but might as well post it up anyways.

First....I left the car outside yesterday during the big downpour and found that I still had a leak, since there was a ton of water on the passenger floor (which luckily is Rhino-linered, so no big deal). Thought I had fixed all the leaks, ugh.

Luckily, the dust on the inside of the firewall showed exactly where the water trail came from - the seal around the HVAC unit. Hmm....not going to rip apart the whole dash to pull it and replace the seal, so investigated from the frontside access panel to the heater fan. Clearly leaking through the foam seal, which sits only like 1cm above the drain route from the intake vents.....so any heavy rain overwhelms the drain. Also cleared some junk out of there that probably didn't help with drainage.

Ended up just using some leftover silicone from recent bathroom caulking work and just put it all over the top of the seal, in the gaps, etc. It's really tight in there so used a small flathead screwdriver to smooth it and make sure it filled all gaps. Dumped a bucket of water in to the vents (slowly) and no leaks, so we'll see if it's a good permanent fix

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0312.jpg

Second. Thinking back to an eduro I crewed for a few years back, where our front-running car's day ended when a chunk of asphalt kicked up and pierced the gas feed hardline. The e30 hardlines for gas and brakes are pretty exposed. THe rally flaps will help, but wanted a bit of secondary protection on that side of the car. So, cut out more of my trusty plastic storage bin top, lol. bolted on with a second nut onto the bottom of one of my seat bracket mounts.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0324.jpg

More on those lines, the fuel line wraps around the front of the subframe runners right behind the front wheel, totally unprotected by the mudflaps when turning left, and prime for a hard gravel/rock kickup (am I sounding paranoid yet?). So I cut out some hose from an old fluid transfer pump, and wrapped the line (held in place with zipties). Probably pointless, but peace of mind at least

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0325.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0326.jpg

and a few other random pics I took with the car out of the rear mudflaps, etc

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0314.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0315.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0322.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0318.jpg

oh, and painted the front center caps black, just because...

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0321.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0317.jpg

[irish44j]

More little stuff today, and some issues. And some things in the mail on the way.

First, some new brake pads should be in tomorrow, so I pulled the rotors to get them turned (front only). Wanted something with a bit more bite than the OEM-style pads.

Second, went to Wally World and with measurements in hand found myself a gear box that will fit the e30 trunk well. Actually it's damn near a perfect fit, and was only $20 and lockable. Pretty tough.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0329.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0330.jpg

Also pulled out the timing chain tensioner spring/piston assembly to check it's operation. Haven't had any timing chain noise, but did it just to be safe. Worked fine, the piston ball moved freely, etc.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0331.jpg

Annealed the washer since I didn't have a new one :) Don't mind the dirty stove burner, we're getting a new stove soon lol...

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0333.jpg

Now onto problems: While in the area, noticed a coolant leak. Thought it was just a loose hose clamp, but it turns out the upper radiator hose tube is cracked, dammit. Old plastic + I must have been too rough changing the hoses last week. So, ordered up a new M10 radiator, 80* thermo fan switch, and a Spal puller fan. WOuld have switched to an M42 or M20 radiator setup, but I only have 2 weeks to get the car ready to go, not enough time to scrounge up expansion tank stuff, new hoses, etc. Just go with what works for now.

doh:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0335.jpg

[irish44j]

so a few things today. Pulled the radiator out. A new one is on the way, as well as a 14" spal fan and an 80* thermo switch. So will assemble it all out of the car using the factory clutch fan shroud and then just drop it all right in.
on to another issue. Still can't figure out where I'm getting a loud squeal over 3k rpm or so, at any speed, whether sitting still or driving. I replaced the alternator belt and that didn't fix it. The PS belt was a bit loose, and here's why: the adjuster with the cog bolt is stripped and can't be tightened the normal way. So I flipped the bolt and leaned on the PS pump to tension the belt, and then bolted it down tight. Should do the trick now that the belt is tight enough.
Now the real question (to be determinied once the radiator is back in) is if that's where the squeal is from. I can't seem to locate it using the hose-to-ear method. Sounds like its coming from the front of the engine, but not 100% sure that it's not being transmitted inside the skidplate from someplace farther back.
I can't think of much else that could make a squeal sound like that independent of car speed, and related only to rpms - a front crank bearing or something? I really hope not.....somethign clutch-related? I haven't checked if it makes the noise with the clutch pedal pressed in - throwout bearing or something? I would think either of those would make a grinding noise rather than a screech.
But the PS pump moves smoothly and doesn't seem to have enough resistance to make a belt slip - even one that is a bit loose.
Guess I'll find out later this week..
ALSO I'm thinking hard about depowering the e36 steering rack when I put it in , and pulling all of the PS stuff. I've heard good things about PS delete on these cars, and since this 318 is really light up front with thin tires it should be pretty decent I think. Thoughts on that? Will it help or hurt with rallycross in your opinion?
pics...
radiator out
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0341.jpg
looks pretty weary
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0342.jpg
stripped adjuster
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0340.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0343.jpg

[irish44j]

Some stuff came in today, and this weekend is the last gasp of work to make sure everything is working and ready to roll for next weekend (the 18th)!

First, a GRM member hooked me up with a killer deal on a new Spal 14" low-profile puller fan, which came in today. Didn't want to deal with the various mounting brackets, so decided to improvise using the factory shroud (which should also keep some mud, etc out of the fan blades). I used M6 bolts, whose heads fit perfectly in the Spal mounting slots, for main support at top and bottom. Though the fan sits flush against the radiator upper and lower caps, just to be sure I used some zip-ties through the screw-mount holes to secure it even better. A pretty good fit I think. I would have gotten a 16" for a perfect fit, but that would have cost twice as much, and 14 should be fine with an 80* switch and a 71* thermostat.

the fan
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0345.jpg

mounted up
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0347.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0346.jpg

test-fit on the old radiator. The new radiator should be in tomorrow so I can put everything back together. I may also fab up some plastic panels to "seal" the fan area around the sides of the electric puller, we'll see. Probably not necessary, but could help with the suction.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0348.jpg

Also another little project. I said earlier I installed an old CD player of mine and it worked great. Nope. Now I remember the reason I took it out of a previous car in the first place - the LCD screen is wack. Works occasionally, but shows the wrong displays. Other times doesn't work at all. Checked all the face connections and they seemed fine, and eventually just gave it up as a waste of time to try to fix.

Did a bit of research, jumped on Amazon, and picked up a Kenwood "basic" unit. It has the same power as most of the mid-range models (50w x 4 MOSFET), but has only basic features: a CD player, a radio, and a mini-jack for plugging in an iPod. No digital storage, satellite radio, or other techie stuff, just a basic unit. Cost me $50 shipped, and I had a $15 Amazon credit already, so dirt cheap. Installed it (soldered connections) and it works great, and sounds surprisingly good running 2 old speakers. Not as good as my system in the other cars, but pretty damn good for a rallycross beater.

I'll keep the deck keys in the glovebox and pull the unit at events so it doesn't get vibrated to death, lol.

Also looks pretty decent too, though the display is VERY basic. Just fine by me.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0352.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0351.jpg

Also the brake pads came in for the front. I went with Hawk HPS because I got them pretty cheap and have used them on my last 4 or 5 cars and always liked them. Will get the used front rotors turned tomorow so I have fresh surface, and then the brakes will go back together, skidplate back on, and car back on the ground.

After that, just a few other little things and I think I'll be ready!

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0344.jpg

[ProRallyCodriver]

This weekend is the last gasp of work to make sure everything is working and ready to roll for next weekend

Uhm, you may wanna rephrase that.

[irish44j]

Uhm, you may wanna rephrase that.

lol....truth.

[Alias_88_]

I love your build!! With your cost so far and plenty of pics to tell your story!

[irish44j]

T-minus 9 days until the first event - wrapping up the final touches for the car to hopefully survive the day :)
Luckily, the UPS and FedEx people showed up early today and brought all remaining parts I had been waiting for:
1. Hose seals, lockplates, and spacers for the e36 rack swap, which will happen probably in a few weeks. Still contemplating whether I will fully depower the rack, or keep the PS for the time being.
2. New radiator came in. The factory aux fan wiring wasn't working for some reason, and couldn't find the problem after a couple hours of digging, so I pretty much just wired it independently, using some sections of the stock wiring but not the stock high and low speed relays. I set it up with a single temp switch (80*) and dummy-plugged the other temp switch hole in the new radiator. Using a 71* thermostate. Since I didn't order a Spal intall kit, I just used a Hella foglight relay, which works fine. Got everything installed piece of cake, filled back up, and tested. The temp gauge is just above halfway when driving around, and afer a couple minutes idling in the driveway and the temp gauge midway between 1/2 and 3/4 the fan kicked on as expected, and brought it back down to 1/2 on the temp. Much quieter than the clutch fan, and no drag on the engine.
ALso thanks to Jim Vogel on Grassroots Motorsports for hooking me up with a 14" Spal for super-cheap and fast shipping. Much appreciated!
new rad
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0358.jpg
wiring/relay, using the old cruise control bracket bolt
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0355.jpg
installed. I noticed that the new radiator also has brackets on the side for easy mounting of an electric fan (the original one did not have this). Since I already did my own setup, didn't use it, but something of note (btw, this is an OEM Behr radiator)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0359.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0360.jpg
clearance with the water pump pulley. good choice of fan I think!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0361.jpg
need to clean up the wiring at the switch end
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0362.jpg
3. Installed a 12-volt plug inside the car, since the lighter was deleted with the center console a while back, and I still want to be able to charge my phone/iPod during event weekends. Nothing fancy...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0363.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0364.jpg
4. After putting everything back together, the dreaded high idle came back (3k RPM). I had fixed this and no idea what I did to cause it to happen again. Checked all the vac hoses again and all are tight, checked everything else I can think of related to idle, all seemed fine. So probably the IACV or idle controller are going bad, even though they were fine a week ago.....ugh.
Anyhow, took the "easy out" method by simply reducing the air intake into the IACV, tricking it into a lower idle (while not affecting the throttle airflow). Some people use a washer to restrict the vac flow into the IACV. I was a bit worried about a washer getting sucked down the line or something (probably couldn't happen, but whatever). So I found a seatbelt spacer thing (it's like a fat washer) that fit perfectly in the hose (and snugly) and cannot be pulled down past the hose adaptor. Gave it a try, and as it turns out it is the perfect size to reduce vac to the IACV, keeping the idle around 1k rpm with the engine timing slightly advanced. Excellent.
4. Got the front rotors cut, and bedded in the new front pads. Much better stopping now (better bite, smoother, and quieter)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0356.jpg
Oh, also added some rubber grommets to the rear skidplate bolts to get rid of any vibrations that would cause it to rattle, and also spaced down the muffler a cm. or so, to keep it from rattling against the heat shield.

[geekmonster]

you're making some great progress.

[irish44j]

one more little thing tonight. I still need a shift boot to keep crap from getting down into the shifter bushing, etc....especially in rallycross. Since I have no center console, I need an old-school rubber boot or something, and I've been loathe to spend $25+ on one from Summit or ebay or whatever.

So, with little time left to get anything, time to improv!

1. spare CV boot
2. cut-off section of a spare airbox scoop
3. liberal amounts of black silicone

voila! let's see how it holds up, lol....

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0365.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0366.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0369.jpg

[irish44j]

today a few things:
1. while driving the e30 today, a guy in a new 335ci hauled ass in traffic to get next to me and then gave a full-extended-arm thumbs up, then backed off and pulled in behind me. A few minutes later 4 30-something blondes in a Lexus IS350 was next to me at a light and the passenger rolled down her window and said she loved the car (mine, not hers). So apparently my rally look is working. Hopefully my rally driving works next weekend.
2. The dreaded high idle came back. Was revving to 3000rpms at stopilights, really annoying. Then it just went away for no apparent reason. Then it started again a few minutes later. Double-checked everything, and all vac hoses tight so it must be (again) the IACV or the idle control unit (both of which have been changed out twice with used spares). **** it. I plugged the IACV vac tube from the elbow and then plugged the IACV hose entry. Then adjusted the throttle adjustment screw on the TB to open the butterfly slightly at idel for a 900rpm idle. The old way....Anyhow, everything seems fine now. IACV essentially deleted (though not removed yet), and will control idle throttle directly with the TB. Can't think of any real downsides other than (I guess) emissions.
3. noticed the adjuster on the thottle cable is broken. And no, before you ask it has no effect on the idle mentioned above since the throttle is still closing completely when off the pedal. I ordered a new one - I probably could just jury-rig a new adjuster with some bolts, but I'd prefer the throttle be set up the OEM way, for safety reasons.
4. Also spent a couple hours helping a friend fix some suspension stuff on his Jetta...yay.

[gregroot198521]

That idle issue almost sounds like a grounding issue in the wiring. Glad you got it to work though. Now back to lurking and being jelly of your ingenuity and knowledge.

[irish44j]

That idle issue almost sounds like a grounding issue in the wiring. Glad you got it to work though. Now back to lurking and being jelly of your ingenuity and knowledge.

yeah, that thought had crossed my mind as well, but there are only 2 grounds really involved in the IACV system at all, and both of them seem to be fine upon a cursory inspection of the ground points.

that said, there may be a ground issue SOMEWHERE, since for about 30 seconds while driving today the speedo went dead, and then came back to life (at a completely different time from the idle issue, I might note).

In any case, it was a good excuse to get rid of the IACV system anyhow, which really serves no purpose other than winter-morning startups, which isn't really a concern with this car, lol. For a rallycross car I want to keep everything as simple as possible to reduce the things that can go wrong on course!

[irish44j]

did yardwork today, and the car is more or less ready for the first event (except for a new throttle cable, which is on the way).

that said, it was a warm/dry day so did a bit of painting.

First, decided that the white wheels didn't come out very well, so repainted them in the same gunmetal my euroweaves are (so now I have 2 black, and 2 gunmetal wheels).

Strapped in with my "specially-designed" tiedown system, where they can't move at all, even in hard maneuvering (I checked :) )

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/IMG_0390.jpg

Also, I hate amber lighting on the back of cars for some reason. So I had some VHT lens red paint stuff, and redded out the tails on the e30. I like much better now :)

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/IMG_0389-1.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/IMG_0388.jpg

[bone_1113]

very nice, i love the almost day by day updates!

[irish44j]

In the spirit of 1980s amateur motorsports, I bring you the 1980s-style Mr.T t-shirt seat cover.

Because sweaty back on black leather Porsche seats is unsatisfactory

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0397.jpg

[irish44j]

a few days to go, and more or less wrapping up "stage 1" of this car: Stage 1 being "make sure it can get to the course, survive the day, and get me back home." We shall see.

In the meantime took a couple hours tonight to further read the excellent build thread for the Vorshlag $2010 Grassroots Motorsports challenge car. I feel like I've accomplished alot on this car in a short time, but when I read their thread its pretty humbling how much they did with about half the money in half the time with about 10x the performance, lol.

Also reinforces the fact that I WILL be taking a welding class in the near future and buying some welding gear. So much I could do if I could weld. Should have learned how to 20 years go........grr.

For those who haven't read the thread, I think it's on several forums - I've been reading the one on corner-carvers, which seems to be a well-informed forum of guys with alot of car knowledge.

http://forums.corner-carvers.com/showthread.php?t=42099&highlight=vorshlag

So, after my eyes got tired from their pics and text (which puts this thread to shame!), got to a few other little details on my own subtle build

1. On large bumps the exhaust bangs on the underside of the car at the flange connecting the front and rear sections. I tinkered around with the muffler hangars (spacing the entire muffler down about 1/2" to keep IT from hitting the heatshield above it), and the whole exhaust was down farther off the car. But, the worn rear pipe hanger (which comes off the rear subframe) is pretty shot and has a 1/2" or so gap above the metal hangar, allowing the whole pipe to move upward on a hard bump and bang the bottom of the car.

The easy way would be to get a new hangar. But too late for that at the moment, since that odd design doesn't seem to be present in the local parts store, of course.

So filled the gap with a couple pieces of cut fuel injection hose, zip-tied in place. This keeps the exhaust from moving up. We'll see how long that solution lasts. I'll get the right hangar next week after the event, most likely.

2. Had some worries, mentioned earlier, about the throttle cable. It was kinked in one place, and the adjuster piece was snapped. Plus the bushing at the pedal linkage was all worn out. $20 for replacement cable and bushing, put it all back in. Can't feel much difference, but it's peace of mind....don't want the cable to break or seize or anything, that would suck.

Also noticed more German ingenuity - the butterfly/TB cable pull piece has a plastic insert. The cable end can be attached at the bottom or higher up on this insert, presumably to change the pedal effort on throttle. There's also a double cable hangar, allowing different angle approached for the cable as well (not sure what difference that would make though, really. Anyhow, I just used the standard locations, but something to tinker with at some point.

new vs. old - you can see the broken adjuster piece on the right
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0398.jpg

old vs. new - note cable kink/stretch at bottom
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0399.jpg

cable adjustment/attachment plate. It's a 2-piece thing, to allow the cable end to be removed. It snaps together and seems to be holding ok, but I wrapped it up with a piece of electrical tape just to make sure it all stays together ok. The p/o had it wrapped the same way

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0400.jpg

new cable, bushing, etc.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0401.jpg

Now just starting to load up my stuff, make a list of things I want to bring, etc. I'm pretty happy about how huge this car's trunk is....it can hold about twice as much as the WRX, which is a much bigger car overall :)

But now, all is quiet tonight...

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0406.jpg

[irish44j]

Packing up a bit, since I have other things to do tomorrow and don't want to be up all night before the event, especially on St.Paddy's. Damn I'm bringing alot of stuff, 3x as much as I'd bring for any autocross.....some spare hardware, tons of tools, electrical stuff, air tank, spare clothes/shoes, etc. Plus a cooler, set of wheels + spare, jack, piece of wood for under the jack, helmet, GoPro stuff, etc etc.

The more amazing part is that half this amount of stuff used to take every bit of space in the WRX for autocrosses - that car was packed to the gills when I wasn't bringing much at all other than wheels and a few basic things.

In the e30, damn there's alot of trunk space, even with the full-size spare in there. And still plenty of room that I'll need on the way home, since a buddy coming to the event is bringing me a box full of random e30 parts that he has sitting around his garage.

I was going to bring my pop-up shelter as well - there is plenty of room for it. But I forgot I loaned it to a buddy at the last autocross last season and don't think I got it back from him yet. doh.

Back end is really squatting at this point with these soft springs. I could probably stick my whole head into the front wheel gap at this point, haha..

btw, repainted the two white wheels to a gunmetal. Because the black-and white thing did look pretty wierd as many remarked...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0412.jpg


in the box...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0410.jpg

fully packed, except a cooler that will go up front
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0411.jpg


In terms of the car, it's pretty much ready to go I guess. Still getting a drip from the transmission rear seal and/or the shifter input rod seal, but shouldn't be an issue. Also a small leak from one side of the diff (the side that I didn't replace the seal of). And the fuel pump is humming a bit - not sure if it was doing it before and I just didn't notice, or if that's new. Just a low-volume hum, so hopefully will be ok for the time being - probably something worth replacing in the near future.

[ProRallyCodriver]

a few days to go, and more or less wrapping up "stage 1" of this car

Stage 1 would be stock because there is no stage zero. I think you need to rename it BMW 318i EvoII cause it just sounds rally.

Also reinforces the fact that I WILL be taking a welding class in the near future and buying some welding gear. So much I could do if I could weld.

In-laws will be there crewing for caged Rx7 this weekend. Instead of paying for a community college class, maybe you can work out a deal for them to teach you on your own car. Find Carlos and ask him. They will always be able to weld better than I will so I never asked them to teach me.

. Had some worries, mentioned earlier, about the throttle cable. It was kinked in one place, and the adjuster piece was snapped. Plus the bushing at the pedal linkage was all worn out. $20 for replacement cable and bushing, put it all back in. Can't feel much difference, but it's peace of mind....don't want the cable to break or seize or anything, that would suck.

I once drove a Mitsu VR4 to northern Canada to compete in a rally. Throttle cable snapped in rally host town and Mitsubishis were not being sold in Canada yet so couldn't just buy one so had to drive from Northern Ontario to Washington DC w/ no throttle cable. Also, crashed hard in rally

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/169074_137607386300456_100001535859006_237342_7347 627_a.jpg

so was did it w/ broken ribs and sternum. Throttle cables are over-rated.

[irish44j]

Stage 1 would be stock because there is no stage zero. I think you need to rename it BMW 318i EvoII cause it just sounds rally.

lol....IDK though. My WRX has a "Stage 1" tune, which is a tune above the stock tune (but with no downpipe/turboback) :)

I like the "Evo" idea....reminds me of the Evo badge I had on my Lancia Delta (that was really just an HF) about 20 years ago!



In-laws will be there crewing for caged Rx7 this weekend. Instead of paying for a community college class, maybe you can work out a deal for them to teach you on your own car. Find Carlos and ask him. They will always be able to weld better than I will so I never asked them to teach me.

IDK what I'm even thinking, since my dad can weld, and owns a marina that employs a professional welder. duh........



I once drove a Mitsu VR4 to northern Canada to compete in a rally. Throttle cable snapped in rally host town and Mitsubishis were not being sold in Canada yet so couldn't just buy one so had to drive from Northern Ontario to Washington DC w/ no throttle cable. Also, crashed hard in rally

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/169074_137607386300456_100001535859006_237342_7347 627_a.jpg

so was did it w/ broken ribs and sternum. Throttle cables are over-rated.

you should see the throttle on my GT6. Pieced together with parts from a Tercel, an old Ford, and whatever I could find in a parts bin at the local British parts place.

It's a hair-trigger setup.....lol.

[irish44j]

packed and ready to go. 250lbs of wheels, tires, and other stuff in the trunk = saggy butt. Hope my alarm actually wakes me up at 5:30am...ugh.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0422.jpg

[irish44j]

Event #1 COMPLETE!
Today's event at Summit Point had a good turnout (about 50 cars), and the weather was perfect. Unfortunately, Stuart and Spencer (who have a 318is) couldn't get the car up there today due to lack of tags/trailer, so I let them co-drive mine (with trepidation!). Ironically, one of them got to do the first run in my car, not me, lol. All I asked of them is not to break it!
Anyhow, the course was alot of fun - water truck early, dried out late. Morning runs were around 60 seconds for the really fast guys (my best was about 69 seconds). At the lunchbreak we had 5 runs complete. I was about 30 seconds behind the class leader in an RX-7 (who won the class last year), and about 7 total seconds behind the 2nd place car (another RX-7). I was ahead of my co-drivers, and the co-drivers for both of the RX-7s.
Morning course was fairly soft and got rutted up later in the session, but overall was a nice setup, and aside from my complete lack of power killing me exiting a few slow transitions I thought the car handled pretty well. It was blanced with a slight nod toward oversteer, rotated well when I wanted it to, and overall felt very light on its feet.
I was running about 33psi cold on the rally tires, which is higher than the more experienced guys do. Wanted to be sure not to de-bead as I learned this car, but I think I'll drop a bit next time out. Traction really wasn't a major issue though, I feel like I had plenty of it.....the lack of power really killed me. I need to learn to carry more speed through slow transitions - hard to do since I'm a WRX/V6 guy who is used to power on-tap when I want it, lol.
In the afternoon the reversed the course and changed up alot of it. It was VERY hardpack, pretty rough, and very fast on a long downhill multi-slalom into a R-L-R sweeper. I was probably more tentative on the downhill than I should have been, and on the 2nd run I tried to adjust, carried too much speed, and LTO'd around (but managed to stay on course after a stop/drift backwards/go evolution).
We'll see how the times end up when they're posted.
A few things I learned about my driving:
- need to work on carrying exit speed
- need to work on using the rear end to line me up better
- need a keep the car in its powerband better, though gearing is going to make that difficult.
A few things about the car:
- car made it through with no damage or anything that I can tell, and the drive home was fine (though I might need to tweak the alignment).
- I did get an occasional clunk from the right rear (as did my co-drivers), but couldn't pinpoint when or why it was happening specifically. Will inspect to make sure all the subframe stuff is fully tightened up, then check for other things.
- I need to put this magnaflow on. Not being able to hear the exhaust over the rocks/gravel/wind noise sucks. And it's boring.
- Steering wasn't as much of an issue as I thought it would be. I will still put the e36 rack on, but I didn't have any trouble with trying to make quick moves on steering, that I noticed.
- Remember to seal up the trunk side-sill vents. My entire trunk had a 1/2" of dust inside it after the runs. doh.
- Car height is good. Looks like my skid only contacted anything once, since there's a muddy smear on one side of it. I'd say only 4 or 5 other cars there had more overall ground clearance than I did.
All in all, had a great time and found that rallycross is SO much more fun than autocross (which I've loved for years). Even in a 100hp M10 e30, I enjoyed today's driving more than I've ever enjoyed a day of autocross (100+ events). Overall a well-setup event that ran on time, ran without a hitch (other than a few course adjustments and a subie that blew out a LCA/axle on his first run), and the weather was beautiful. Standing in a scenic field with barns and trees nearby is preferable than standing on a hot parking lot :)
Also I like how the course changes on every run. From runs 1 to 5, the course required TOTALLY different driving technique due to compacting, material relocation, rutting, etc. Keeps it interesting.
ok, so here's a couple vids of the course (am and pm sessions), and some random pics. There were a few REAL photographers there, so these are just a few snaps from my compact camera. The ones of my car are with one of the co-drivers running, obviously.
vid:

scenic Summit Point
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0027.jpg
kickin it
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0001.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0025.jpg
the 4-person ETA team, who ran strong (not sure if I beat them or not). They get a hell of alot of action out of a 4200-rpm redline. ONe of them said they had to go into 4th on occasion!!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0040.jpg
through the trees
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0037.jpg
muddddded
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0002.jpg
the ETA guys had the radiator crack or something, just thought this was an epic pic
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0004.jpg
at lunch, swung through the main circuit paddock. It was apparently supercar day there....R8s, GT-Rs, Porches, and other things I can never afford were all over the place.
I did get a funny look from a SpecE30 racer (older gentleman) who drove by me the opposite direction in the paddock, lol.
yum
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0029.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0028.jpg
cruisin' home with the GC 2.5RS boys..two of the fastest cars of the day, I'm betting.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0008-1.jpg

[irish44j]

oops, here's the vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WINRjpC-xBY&feature=youtu.be

[eage8]

The car looked awesome. and don't get discouraged from being a decent distance from Shawn. He's really fast.

Here is my 58.8 from the morning, I'm not sure how much help it'll be for a rwd guy :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftlVPxhZFLU

and here are all my runs:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL417F8A099608D20F&feature=view_all

Let me know if you got any pictures of my car :)

-Mike (#87 blue 2.5RS)

PS. I just posted the results to the yahoo group.

[irish44j]

lol, thanks. Yeah I've autocrossed against Shawn (and Katie) on and off for years in different cars and venues so I'm well aware of how fast he is. Not that I expected to be very close to him my first time out, but I was like "damn" at how fast he is in the dirt :)

[ProRallyCodriver]

Gorka in the other red Rx7 that was in your class was the 'pro'-drifter. First time in dirt for him and in the Rx7 except that he built the skidplates for both Shawn/Katie's and Roberto/Margarita's Mazdas in the last couple weeks.

Saw the end of a couple of your AM runs before I bailed to the rallysprint.

[irish44j]

Results HERE:

http://www.wdcr-scca.org/RallyCross/ResultsRX/WDCRRallyX1201231812/tabid/1730/Default.aspx

[irish44j]

Gorka in the other red Rx7 that was in your class was the 'pro'-drifter. First time in dirt for him and in the Rx7 except that he built the skidplates for both Shawn/Katie's and Roberto/Margarita's Mazdas in the last couple weeks.

Saw the end of a couple of your AM runs before I bailed to the rallysprint.

I'll take it from the quotes that he isn't really a pro, lol. Someone on another forum said that was was a pro drifter, so was going by that. Not that it really matters other than to say that he knows how to control a vehicle well.

[irish44j]

The car looked awesome. and don't get discouraged from being a decent distance from Shawn. He's really fast.

Here is my 58.8 from the morning, I'm not sure how much help it'll be for a rwd guy :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftlVPxhZFLU

and here are all my runs:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL417F8A099608D20F&feature=view_all

Let me know if you got any pictures of my car :)

-Mike (#87 blue 2.5RS)

PS. I just posted the results to the yahoo group.

Lol thanks. Though I hope I don't end up as the "guy whose car looks great and is really slow" haha.....

Were you running at the same time as I was? I thought I had pics of all the 2.5RS's that were running while I wasn't, but I don't see yours. Mostly Kimmett, Rogue, and the one with the camo hood. I do love me some GC's.

Yeah, and the vid does help, since I immediately noticed a few turns where your lines were what I SHOULD have been doing and wasn't - and obviously your turn setup is far better than mine was (mine was admittedly pretty terrible).

[eage8]

Lol thanks. Though I hope I don't end up as the "guy whose car looks great and is really slow" haha.....

Were you running at the same time as I was? I thought I had pics of all the 2.5RS's that were running while I wasn't, but I don't see yours. Mostly Kimmett, Rogue, and the one with the camo hood. I do love me some GC's.

Yeah, and the vid does help, since I immediately noticed a few turns where your lines were what I SHOULD have been doing and wasn't - and obviously your turn setup is far better than mine was (mine was admittedly pretty terrible).

Haha, don't worry about it. My first time out an got creamed by an Sti and was itching for a rematch but he never came back until a year and a half later when I beat him by over 40 seconds :-). Driving on dirt is definitely an acquired skill...

Yeah, my car looks exactly like Ted's just with painters tape on the side lol. I ran with M4 so I should be in there.

Shawn posted up his videos today, they're probably more helpful :)
http://www.youtube.com/user/moxnix4u

[irish44j]

Now that I've had a bit to think about things, here's the "laundry list" of what I want to get done before the next event April 22nd:
1. e36 steering rack. I actually didn't have any real issues with steering slowness on-course, but faster steering is always good for control, so need to get this done.
2. after the event my trunk was filled with dirt. Odd, since I have no rust-through or other openings that shouldn't be there. The culprit is the side-fender vents to let air OUT, which pretty much just let dirt IN. So before the next event I'll wrap those in some old air filter element or something to keep the dirt/dust from getting in. Not that I care if the trunk gets dirty really (no carpet or anything), but if it doesn't need to be dirty, then I'd just prefer it isn't :)
3. still getting a leak from the tranny - it's either the output shaft seal (which looked new and good when I had the DS out, so I didn't mess with it), or the small seal on the shifter selector rod (which I replaced). Hard to see above the tranny with the DS there, but it seems to be above the rear seal....I'll check the fluid level and see how much I lose. Seems to just be a slow drip. Might just make sure to keep topping it off and deal with it next winter. I have a spare G240 sitting around that I plan to rebuild anyhow.
4. Need to figure out the occasional rear end clunk. Was under the car tonight and didn't notice anything of note. So I'll just make sure all the rear suspension stuff is torqued to spec and such and go from there.
5. The fuel pump (in-tank) is humming pretty good. NOt sure if it was before (with the seats in, it might have masked the sound), but a humming fuel pump is ripe to become a dead fuel pump. So I'll probably replace it so as not to be stranded in the middle of W.Va. Also may do the aux pump and the filter at that time.
6. Plan to bump the timing a bit. I feel like the car was out of steam above 4500rpm or so and not quite as "peppy" as I'd like. I had the timing bumped before but put it back to stock timing when I was trying to diagnose my high idel issue. Now that I changed the idle setup to manual input (no IACV), time to bump the timing again.
7. clean air filter
8. try to fab up the front strut tower bar to fit correctly, since it doesn't right now (damn you ebay!)
9. Install a shift light. I was short-shifting first because I can't really feel where the redline is on this car yet.
10. there was something else....but I can't think of it at the moment...

[irish44j]

Haha, don't worry about it. My first time out an got creamed by an Sti and was itching for a rematch but he never came back until a year and a half later when I beat him by over 40 seconds :-). Driving on dirt is definitely an acquired skill...

Yeah, my car looks exactly like Ted's just with painters tape on the side lol. I ran with M4 so I should be in there.

Shawn posted up his videos today, they're probably more helpful :)
http://www.youtube.com/user/moxnix4u

you have no idea how many times I watched Shawn's vids from last year in preparation for the first event, haha....When I got on course I half expected to look out my windshield and see a red hood, lol.

On your vid I can see me working the course, but doesn't seem I have any pics of you. I have a couple of Ted's and Adam's. I'll look again at my vids though - I was setting the gopro up behind one of the cones right off the course and getting the cars going by, so I'll see if yours was in any of that.

[irish44j]

at work this evening on doing the steering rack swap. I got everything apart just fine EXCEPT I cannot get the damn steering universal joint to release from the rack or from the steering column shaft. After and hour of prying, hammering, tugging and cursing I've given it up for the night. Doused everything in PB blaster and will try again tomorrow.

And yes, the bolts on the u-joint where it goes over the splines are completely out. Just can't get any real leverage on it at the moment. grr.

I should really stop and clean the disastrous garage mess anyhow. I hate working when everything is a mess, and everything is a mess at the moment....

[irish44j]

after much cursing, a couple broken screwdrivers, and using half of the tools in my garage to try to get leverage on things the stock rack and u-joint linkage are finally out of the car. By far my least favorite thing I've done in this build.
When it's all done and the e36 rack is in, I'll think differently I bet....The e30 rack seems to go almost 4.5 turns lock to lock while the e36 rack is about 3.2 turns lock to lock. They have the exact same stroke, in case anyone cares.
So will put it all back together tomorrow perhaps. Putting the u-joint back in should be just as sucky as taking it out was, grr.
to do this conversion, you have to shorten the joint since the e36 rack splined section is much longer than the e30 section. I probably could have improv'd it, but for 20 bucks picked up a kit with the correct spacers and hardware to do it off e30tech. One less thing to deal with.
freakin mess
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0015.jpg
stuff out
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0017.jpg
I manhandled the ujoin so much that I broke the OEM spacer/rivet attachment of the two pieces, lol. Luckily, those had to be drilled out anyhow
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0018.jpg
reassembled with the spacers
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0019.jpg
oh, also a few pics of the dirtiness picked up at event #1
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0010-1.jpg
not too dirty above the skid!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0011.jpg
dust-o-rific
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0012.jpg

[irish44j]

ok, now that I'm more or less done, a quick writeup on the e36 steering rack. First of all, it was a PITA to get everything old off, but back together was easier, really.
There are how-to's on this on the web so I won't go through everything, but a few notes:
1. I used all the stock hoses. The early cars have a flexible HP line, so I was able to get both into position pretty easily, with new washers, etc. Accessing the bolts was a bit difficult since they're on the opposite side of where they are on the e30, but I managed.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0020.jpg
2. The UJoint was a bit tighter than I wanted it, and the rubber guibo was flexed. Didn't much like that, and also didn't like the rack sitting at the bottom with the spacer on top. Lowered guys put the spacer on the bottom to reduce bumpsteer. I decided to go halfway, more or less. So I pulled out the spacers and found a comparable thickness in washers (7 of them). Put 4 on top and 3 below and the rack sits more where I want it now. As a side-effect, it also de-flexed the guibo for the most part.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0031.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0022.jpg
3. As expected, the joint was still binding, just a bit. So got in there with the dremel and shaved it down enough to clear.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0038-1.jpg
Also figured out the the big "bolt" on the bottom of the rack is actually just a cover for the inner pinion bolt. Not gonna mess with that
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0027-1.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0030.jpg
I expect this other adjuster (not present on the e30 rack) is for lash adjustment?
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0028-1.jpg
all installed
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0021.jpg
FIAMM horns - wonder if these were stock or not. I love how they sound. Tempted to put them in the Subaru, actually, in place of my Hella Supertones, which sound wussy in comparison
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0024.jpg
the max steering angle on the e30 with this rack is pretty crazy. And still no contact on the inside wheel well.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0035.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0036-1.jpg

[irish44j]

and...a few other pics from the event that spencer took
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSC_1535.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSC_1562.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSC_1573.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0006.jpg
the other e30, the Eta guys working on a busted radiator :(
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0004-1.jpg

[irish44j]

Some stuff today:
First, did oil changes on the WRX and 4Runner. yay.
Then, more oil. It's bothered me for a while that there was some odd oil drain plug on the e30...like a rubber stopper with a through-pin, making it so that the plug doesn't come all the way out and when draining the pan it takes like 10 minutes. Also just doesn't seem that strong.
Couldn't get it out through the drain hole, so dropped the pan. A shame, since it had no leaks and testing fate now.
Here's what I found:
outside:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0042.jpg
inside:
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0041.jpg
awesome.
unfortunately, also found why some p/o did this: the threads for the drain plug are stripped (dammit!).
In the "good news" part, the pan was really clean - no shavings, no nothing. So someone maintained this engine at least.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0043.jpg
Luckily, I happen to have another M10 sitting here, and it has a pan on it. Time to pull that one.
hmm....someone DIDN'T maintain this engine. Tons of metal in there, tons of other random junk. But the threads are good, so we'll use it.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0039.jpg
cleans up nicely.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0044-1.jpg
Spent about an hour prepping the block and pan mating surfaces, so hopefully will have no leaks. Also sprung for the good stuff. No more crappy gaskets, will use what race friends use for built engines. $25 for a tube! grr. It better not leak.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0046.jpg
Not surprisingly, I did a terrible job putting the bead on and got way too much on there. So it looks sloppy on the outside. Oh well. More is better than less I guess.
Installed. Yeah, I know....pretty exciting.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0049.jpg
oh, and a gratuitous shot of the oil pickup, etc. Didn't notice anything of note
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0045.jpg
---
next was to get the steering squared away. Did a home alignment (I'm quite good at them, actually) and zeroed the toe to get a "baseline" feel (will tweak it later).
tried about a half-dozen settings on the lash adjustment and I think I've found a happy medium between minimum "dead space on center" and steering effort (which is much heavier than the stock rack, but feels about the same as my WRX now, just how I wanted it). May tweak it a bit more, but it's ok for right now.
---
what else...?
Oh, a buddy dropped off an old CG-lock that won't work on his Z06. So intalled it. Haven't used one of these before (always had harnesses in my autocross cars). Works perfectly.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0048.jpg
--
a few little shop things too. With a 4-year-old, I've been trying to keep baby food jars. Time to put some of them up and organize all my random hardware. Because I hate guessing on what's metric and what's SAE with cars here that use both.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0050.jpg

[gregroot198521]

a few little shop things too. With a 4-year-old, I've been trying to keep baby food jars. Time to put some of them up and organize all my random hardware. Because I hate guessing on what's metric and what's SAE with cars here that use both.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0050.jpg
Magnets in the lids, huh? Smart idea. Did you use speaker magnets?

EDIT: Or is that wood and I am retarded? Since magnets don't generally stick to wood (maybe ironwood?).

[shoogshoog]

Glued the lids to the wood so you cant lose them? Or just straight magic?

[irish44j]

they're screwed into the wood, lol....

all my shelves are wood, because it's easier to attach/hang things to wood than metal. I paint them black because I like the look :)

here's a broader view from a while ago

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/DSCN3390.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/Garage/IMG_3538.jpg

[irish44j]

nothing exciting to talk about today. I spent the day converting my daughter's toddler bed into a twin. I can take apart an entire suspension in 2 hours but trying to figure out how to convert a simple piece of furniture takes half the afternoon.
but, mission was accomplished with a minimum of cursing
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0053.jpg
then did a few little things. First noticed that my newly-installed oil drain plug was dripping. Dammit, I knew the washer in the little baggy wasn't the correct one, grr. So tomorrow will go get a copper or crush washer, try to pull the plug, plug it with my finger, and re-install with the right washer without losing $15 of brand-new oil. Maybe just a quart, which is fine since I have a quart left in the jug, lol.
Also took the gray gasket maker and re-did the valve cover, which was leaking a bit with the brand-new OEM craptastic gasket torqued to spec.
a few other little non-interesting things (seatbelt receptacle adjustment, etc) not worth talking about or taking photos of.
So, the photo "mod" for the day. "Beacauz Racekar." And because my wife won't let me put it on the family ride, lol
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0057-1.jpg

[slowbaru]

With your flocking did you use rayon or the nylon kit?

[irish44j]

I used the Nylon, it's more durable. Rayon is for things like jewelery boxes and such.

[irish44j]

so small daily update today.

1. upon further examination, it sounds as if it's my primary fuel pump (near the left rear wheel) that is buzzing/humming, possibly not the in-tank lifter pump (though that could be dying too?). So will replace the hi-pressure pump first, since it can still pull fuel without the lifter if needed, so I shouldn't be stranded. Ordered up a new Bosch one off ebay, should be here later in the week.

2. I was about to put the skidplate back on, and decided to add a bit of side flaps to keep dirt from gettin on the topside of it. I meant to do this before, but with the car on ramps it was a good time to.

As before, getting use out of an old heavy-duty Rubbermaid storage bin cover. It's pretty tough stuff, with some flex but enough stiffness to stop any debris from passing. I just riveted to the skidplate itself, and it tucks up right behind the OEM splashguards

not that I really care if the engine is getting dirty (it will get dirty, no matter what), but I'd prefer to keep as much mud and crap as possible off the fan, belts, etc.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0059-1.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0058-1.jpg

3. unfortunately, my often-used, decade-old Gorilla Ramps (or whatever they're called) have developed a few cracks in them, so they're going bye-bye. Not getting under any car being held by cracked ramps. So today I used some old-school metal ramps that were out in my shed. Fine for the jacked-up e30. My WRX can't get up on them, not even close. On the upside, I've been looking for an excuse to buy some Raceramps, so here it is. My wife said she may get them for me for our anniversary in a couple weeks :)

grr
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0061.jpg

[irish44j]

Well the updates have been in short supply recently. First because I've had some other projects going on that needed attending to, and also because the list of things I *want* or *need* to do on this car is getting fairly short here. I have to be honest, though, that the monthlong hiatus between events is killer...I want to get this thing back on course and work on my driving, and still have 3 weeks left to wait...
Anyhow, the remaining "to do" list is as follows:
- fuel pump(s)
- muffler
- wheel bearing
So today addressed the first one: fuel pump.
I've been getting the buzzing from both fuel pumps recently. Yeah, the early e30s with the dual-pump setup (a lifter/transfer pump in the tank and the high-pressure pump under the rear rocker). The high-pressure is more important since it can (in theory) still pull fuel by itself. And it's alot cheaper, surprisingly. So took care of it today. Nothing special, but it's definitely a hassle due to the location and the way the brackets and lines are set up. But after spilling gasoline all over myself and my driveway, got it done. New Bosch pump there. And it's still buzzing. WTF. So it must be the lifter pump or the pickup filter causing the HP pump to work harder. The lifter pump new is $$$ so that's a no-go....so going to pull it out and check the pickup filter "sock" tomorrow, and keep my eye open for a used lifter pump or check the junkyards.
I was going to just switch over to a single in-tank HP pump (like later models) but didn't really feel like running new HP line to the tank and soforth.....probably in retrospect a bad decisions, but what's done is done.
While I had the fuel system empty also did the fuel filter in the engine bay. It was about 100x as much of a pain, since it's pretty crammed in there between the charcoal canister, brake MC, etc....
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0075-1.jpg
old one
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0076.jpg
and another little project. After the first event my trunk had about an inch of dirt througout the entire thing. WTF....the trunk has no holes, no rust-through....but it has the two damn vents under the bumper, which I forgot about. I guess they're not as "one-way" as they're supposed to be, lol.
Not like dirt is a major problem, but I'd rather not have it in the trunk than have it in the trunk, you know? Also, I really don't care to have my battery caked in clay...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0088.jpg
So....I don't want to stop all airflow from exiting (since I like to close my doors with the windows up, lol). So found an old engine air filter and cut it up, and "wrapped" the vents. We'll see how this works.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0082.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0089.jpg
Also pulled the GT6 out of storage and did some spring cleaning. THat also means the e30 loses its indoor parking spot, since the GT6 is not terribly weatherproof, and gets the garage bay. The upsdie is that the GT6 is so small, now I have like 7 feet of open floor in front of it, so I can actually work in the garage with the car in there, lol.
I worked pretty hard to make sure all the e30's water leaks were fixed knowning this was coming, so hope it works :)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0081-1.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0079.jpg

[TOI]

i <3 your garage

[slintux]

Just read through your entire thread, very cool project.

I have to be honest, though, that the monthlong hiatus between events is killer...I want to get this thing back on course and work on my driving, and still have 3 weeks left to wait...

Tell me about it, I've only got 2 events under my belt and I'm just itching to get some more seat time.

[irish44j]

i <3 your garage

thanks, I spend more time working on the garage than the cars, I think. All due to the fact that my wife feels that she deserves to park her DD on one side of it, leaving me with a single bay for project-car-du-jour + all my tools and stuff. It's been quite an adventure figuring out how to fit things in and put them where I can still use them.

Doesn't hurt that the e30 is pretty small, and now it being summer the GT6 is in there, and it's absolutely tiny :)

[irish44j]

Just read through your entire thread, very cool project.



Tell me about it, I've only got 2 events under my belt and I'm just itching to get some more seat time.

thankfully the next event down here is a 2-day (first day test-n-tune/driver's school, second day competition) so after that I'll probably need another month off :mrgreen:

[irish44j]

Productive day today. With the weather nice it was time for some junkyard cruising. Went up to Crazy Ray's in Baltimore and met up with Kevin (to give him some e36 rack spacers I had leftover) and then walked around the yard with Stuart (also got some rear 318is springs from him). Didn't find much at the first yard other than a few little things. No e30s there.

On the way back, stopped by the Jessup Crazy Ray's since it's on the way home. There were 3 e30s there, with alot of parts I wanted.

For a total of about $35 I came away with:
- spare tire bolt-down piece (I've been using stacked washers and a nut)
- trunk finisher trim piece in mint condition
- a few little door trim pieces
- a non-stripped adjuster bar and nut for the alternator
- a Kia coolant reservoir (which I'll use in the e30, since I'm tired of the overflow spitting out onto the inside of my skidplate)
- cover for the large relays in the engine bay (might as well keep the dirt/dust out)
- a manual window crank (I still needed one, amazed I found one in a junked car!)
- a bunch of various bolts, nuts, and fasteners (mostly for spares)
- a pair of FIAMM horns from a 5-series (love the sound of these, might replace the Hella Supertones on the WRX with them....they sound much manlier than the Hellas)
- some strut tower caps from a 5-series, that I am going to use for a little project perhaps.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0113.jpg

AND....

I just couldn't resist pulling this out of an older 5-series (which was 95% complete and in great shape, incidentally). I will install this in the e30, for pure entertainment value!

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0115-1.jpg

on the way home I passed by this shop and took a quick pic of it since two 993 Turbos were parked out front in race livery

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/IMG_0110.jpg

about an hour and 50 miles later, as I'm exiting I-495 onto I-95 doing 75mph around a two-lane exit, a blob of yellow appears behind me on my ass. I move over quick, and he takes off at about 110+ inside of me. I'm at the limits of the WRX on that exit at 75. I catch him later in traffic. RUF R TURBO. 520hp, 550tq. NICE!

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/IMG_0112.jpg

[irish44j]

got the car in the air this afternoon to do several rear-end items this week:
1. wheel bearing
2. swap in the rear iS springs to see if they make any difference
3. put the other muffler on.
Starting with #3 today.
Got the sawzall out and cut off the muffler. I'm not putting a new pipe on right now, will just get a reducer for the new muffler (which has a larger input pipe)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/IMG_0162.jpg
The muffler I got from Stuart had bungs for some other e30 model, and mine doesn't have hangers in the right position. So I ground them off. Also, the entry is on the inside (toward the center of the car) of the muffler, and my pipe goes to the outside. So I'll just flip it and have the tailpipe a bit more toward the center of the car.
The old muffler (an OEM-style Bosal one) literally rattles all around when you shake it. I think the insides have pretty much kicked it.....and sound nasty when the car is running.
old vs. "new" (used Magnaflow)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/IMG_0163.jpg
Test-fitted it with a ghetto hanger made from one of my old hangers. Looks like it will fit fine, once I get a reducer and fab up some better hangers.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/IMG_0168.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/IMG_0168.jpg
oh, and earlier in the day took my daughter to the circus. Good times :)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/IMG_0150.jpg

[irish44j]

ah ok a bit more, since my O's took care of the Twins in quick order tonight so had some time to work.

Finished up a temporary hanger bracket for the muffler. Used the original round-profile straps and with some bending and improvising I have a hanger. The threaded rod across the top of the muffler is to keep them from bending out and dropping the muffler 3-4"...

You can see the two studs from the OEM hangers at the top of the pic. This is where the two end tabs bolt up

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0171-1.jpg

here's how it sits

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0175-1.jpg

lined up well with the OEM pipe. Just need a reducer now

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0173.jpg

Then down to business on the rear bearing. Got the axle out easy (should have, since I just put it in a couple months ago!)

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0174-1.jpg

and yeah, the bearing is definitely shot. It felt fine when I installed the 325 rear suspension initially, but it's clear that the movement is rough and the outer race appears to be spinning in the spindle. I hope it hasn't worn the face of the spindle down, grr. Can't get the hub out yet, but that's only because I don't want to break out the BFH and start banging away at 11pm with the family asleep...

also checked out the rear springs. Instead of putting in the iS springs (which seem to be the same length), I'll take out the upper and lower rubber spacers. I thought I had left them out when I re-installed the suspension but I guess not. That's a good 1/2" or more right there...

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0177.jpg

[irish44j]

A productive day today, even though it was short (having to go to Easter Mass in the morning, and dinner with the in-laws at night). I resolved about 90% of my outstanding issues with the car in one fell swoop:
First, got the new muffler setup finished up. Got a reducer and lined it up with the cut-off OEM exahust b-pipe, and all fitted together snugly. Right now it's using clamps, but I'll weld it when I get a chance. Or I may leave the clamps in case I want to run an open dump at some point, lol.
For hangers I used two of the stock hanger locations (one of which wasn't used for my OEM muffler), and as show previously fabbed up a new hanger assembly/strap bracket using the old one, some threaded rod, and some careful bending. That worked well and the muffler is mounted solidly.
Nonetheless, decided to put an "auxiliary" hanger there anyhow, in case one of the rubber ones on the other hangers breaks somehow. For this I used a standard strap and wrap hanger around the tailpipe. It's not cosmetically the prettiest thing ever in terms of a clean look, but hey....nothing on this car is.
Hit it all with some high-heat exhaust paint while I was at it, just to forestall as much rust as possible considering what this car does.
hanger setup
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0206.jpg
pipe reducer with clamps
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0201.jpg
rear hanger
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0205.jpg
mounted through trunk floor
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0203.jpg
I could go for it being an inch or two higher, but still sits higher than the old one. And has sexy big tip :)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0199.jpg

I fired the car up and it's much better now. Instead of rattly/raspy sound now it's deep at idle (but not too loud, still quieter than my WRX with SPT exhaust), and sounds pretty mean when revved (yeah, even with an M10 attached to it :) )
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On to the next project: I pulled the OEM 318i rear springs to compare with some later 318is springs I got from Spencer/Stuart. Initially I thougth they were the same length but once off the car the IS springs are clearly about 1/2" shorter unsprung length. THey appear to have the same coil thinkness so I'm assuming the rate is similar, but who knows. I also removed the upper and lower spring pads that totalled 3/8" in total height. So with any luck this will drop the rear end of the car down 1/2 to 1" to get me some reverse rake. We'll see once it's back on the ground later in the week.
stock 318i (left) vs. 318iS (right)
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0202.jpg
On to the right rear wheel bearing. Not looking forward to it, but a local guy (Viet) who I've know from way back in the Maxima days (10 years ago!) was nice enough to loan me his bearing removal set (the Harbor Frieght one). I will be getting one of these sometime this summer too, since I haven't gotten around to it yet :)
The axle came out easy, as expected. The hub too a ****load of pounding with a large socket and my mini-sledge. On my back under the car, with a torn rotator cuff that makes my right shoulder not terrilbly strong. Got it done anyhow and better yet the bearing outer race didn't stick to the hub as they usually do, so that will make things easier. Hub looks to be in good shape.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0208.jpg
On to the bearing itself, and used the removal tool. Initially I tried to pull it through using the big bolt and my Snapon impact gun, but even with as much power as that thing had it was really slow going. Eventually switched to a large breaker bar and just used good ol fashioned leverage on it. Took about 20 minutes of cranking to get it out. Seemed like FOREVER......
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0209.jpg
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0210.jpg
But it's out.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0211.jpg
It's obvious that the outer race was spinning in the spindle as well, so yeah the bearing was totally shot. Even some metal dust in there, yay.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0213.jpg
Cleaned up the inner spindle with a scotchbrite pad and it looks pretty good I think. Also cleaned the splines of the hub and axle with a brass brush.....getting that mofo axle in the last time was a major PITA. Hopefully it will go in better this time, since I don't have the tool to "pull" it through.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0214.jpg
Anyhow, now I just need to hit Olympus this week and get a new bearing, press it in, and put everything back together. Car should be driving again next weekend!
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j85/irish44j/BMW%20318i%20RallyCross%20Project/IMG_0215.jpg

[eage8]

why didn't you just use your press to press the old bearing out? that's what I always do....

[irish44j]

why didn't you just use your press to press the old bearing out? that's what I always do....

On most other cars I would, but removing the e30 control arms (which are 1-piece with the spindle) is even more of a pain in the ass, involving dropping the rear subframe slightly (to get to the control arm outer bolt), unhooking the ebrake (not fun in this car, even less fun trying to get it hooked back up), and getting the LCA back into the subframe mounts (with poly bushings) is extremely hard if you can't get leverage on it (last time I did it with the whole subframe out and it was still a hassle - it would be really tough to get in with the car on jackstands).