1985 BMW 318 Stage Rally Build - 1988 Porsche 924S Street Build - Sequoia Build

A few more pics from Tyler Powers

This one is cut off, but I thought it was interesting how much rear compression I got with the stiffer M3 springs,  coming through a left-hander uphill full throttle.

This (below) is absolutely, positively, NOT the fast line. This is the run that blew it for me on Saturday and I specifically recall completely botching this turn with a way-too-late apex, out in the moon dust. I'm quite certain I lost a good 2-3 seconds between what you see here and for the next 100 feet or so trying to get back to the racing line out in the dust. That was otherwise going to be my best run of the day until I did that - and it almost certainly cost me the win on Saturday. 

For comparison, here's class-leader Stephen Nichols running the correct line through there with the earlier apex.

At least I wasn't the only one blowing that turn. Though Mike Golden out in the dust in the MR2 isn't exactly unusual

2-3 cones later I'm still trying to power back to the lower line where the hardpack is, stuck with the left side out in the dust :/

Well, I registered for next Saturday. Guess there no going back now. ;)

The E46 is almost done, my buddy is coming over Tuesday to reflash it. Whether it's 100%road worthy before Saturday is slightly up in the air. (Thanks ECS Tuning) But I'm gonna send the Miata anyway. 

In reply to AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) :

Excellent.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate

Well, that's a wrap on the 2020 Rallycross season. Thanks to COVID, our usual 8-event season was condensed into four 2-day (individual) weekend events, so still 8 separate scoring events. Coming into this weekend (events 7 and 8). Stephen Nichols held a strong points lead thanks to a pair of wins and mostly other top-3 finishes, with me in 2nd a few points ahead of Nick in the M2, and Eric Eisele in 4th with an outside shot at the championship still.  With all of my results this year in the top-3, and two drops available to everyone, it was going to be interesting. Stephen's worst finishes were a 3rd and 4th, Nick had a 5th and 7th, while my worst two were both 3rds. So basically anything worse than top-2 this weekend would just be drops for me, for all intents and purposes. 

This weekend the weather was absolutely perfect, in the 70s - unusual for November around here - and we were back at Summit Point Motorsports Park to run the two courses there that we know well. Saturday's event had over 80 entries - another huge entry list, with Mod RWD, as usual, with a about 15 drivers. We were on the old "Barn Course" - which we've run for years and I really haven't done too well on in recent times.  The top several drivers in class came out of the box with similar times, but I picked up a cone on the 3rd run (as it would happen, the ONLY cone anyone in the top-5 got all day), when I caught a rut and get pulled into it.  Otherwise, the top-5 were knocking down similar times. After a few runs the car started feeling a bit odd, having a lot of trouble hooking up traction exiting turns and really getting the tail side-to-side accelerating hard on the big straights. This was the first event in a while I've done on gravel tires (vice Maxsports) so that may have had something to do with it - but I was running tire pressures below 20psi and don't usually have traction issues like that. It felt a lot like my LSD had finally bit the dust - the car reacted similarly when my old 3.91 LSD finally burned out. In any case, I pushed on through the day but couldn't quite keep the car in check and had to take it easier on corner exit than I typically need to.  In the end, Nick pulled off the win by almost 3 seconds over Stephen, and I was one second back of him.

For Stephen, this 2nd-place finish locked up the championship for him. He's been doing this for over a decade in a couple of e30s and had won SR and PR class a few times over the years, but hadn't won the class since joining MR 5-6 years ago. But he's always been one of the fastest/most consistent drivers and probably could have won a couple if he didn't miss events here and there that hurt his points. 

Going into Sunday on the smaller, looser, and more turny "Tree Course," Nick and I were battling for 2nd in class. Basically, whichever of us finished higher than the other would win the class. I've done well on this course previously and Nick (to my recollection) hasn't really loved it.  Eric's bad finish on Saturday knocked him out of the chase for 2nd/3rd so it was really down to us. I considered bringing my other LSD diff and installing it in the morning at the venue, but that just seemed like more work than I felt like doing to try to get 2nd, honestly. I also thought about putting the Maxsports back on, but didn't feel like bothering. 

We went out of the gate hard again, but I got a cone on the first and the second runs, though I was a bit faster than him. Both cones were cones I would not normally hit, but the car really just was not staying "in line" the way I'm used to and both happened under heavy throttle when the car stepped sideways. I'll check the LSD lock torque this week to be sure it's shot, but I really can't see anything else that would cause the rear end to step out and/or not hook up under off-camber acceleration like that. 

In any case, with those two cones, I knew it was over. Nick was running similar times to me, but he almost never hits cones (he didn't hit one all weekend, as it happens). So after a couple more runs just to see (one of which I picked up about 1.8 seconds on him), and Nick leading the event by around 4 seconds (Stephen a ways back after 3 cones early), I pretty much conceded 2nd place for the season. The upside is I got to jump in some other people's cars to try them. First up was Nonack's BR-Z, with a fresh, tight diff and stage suspension (not yet caged). Man, that car handles well and is very intuitive. It drives a lot like a slightly bigger Miata but with way more power, especially with Chris's short gearing in the rear end (requiring 3rd even on the small course). My time first time ever in a BRZ was just a shade behind what I had been running in my own car earlier.....

2nd up was Mike Golden's MR2, which is 2ZZZ-swapped (so, about 200hp). Never driven an MR2 in anger or on slippery surfaces, so I didn't attack as hard with it (fearing snap oversteer). But I found that the car really drives like a little slot car. So much grip as long as you stay on the throttle. I got into the fluff on the last turn braking zone and lost some time, but it was still a fairly good run, I think. To finish the day I jumped in Stevie's class-winning e30 and knocked down a fast run, so that felt good at least. Those guys all drove my car on the same runs and can chime in on their thoughts. Mike said my car was really tail-happy with little traction (my thoughts exactly, this weekend). Chris wasn't sure it was an LSD issue I was having. Stephen forgot it didn't have ABS and plowed a 6-cone wall in a braking zone when he locked them up lol...

All in all, somewhat disappointing end finishing 3rd (I've been 1st or 2nd for 6 straight years in this class), but goes to show that this MR class is really, really good and really, really deep in talent and fast cars. I've said it all year that any one of about ten drivers can win the class on any given day/course. I think of the 8 total events we had four different event winners, in actuality. So, no 4th championship for me (or 3rd for Nick), good to see Stevie finally winning one!

And a few other random pics from the weekend. I'll add some more thoughts on the car and future plans (?) later this week once I take a look at a few things. All in all, another great season with DC Rallycross - which in my estimation is still, by far, the deepest most competitive MR class in the country (no offense, Detroit and Ohio guys - you have some fast dudes for sure). 

Kimmett, disposing of his rear bumper once again, en route to his 7th consecutive MA championship...

The Dirty Industries boys doing a quick tire change after a debead...

Mike Golden taking his run in the e30

me taking mine in the MR2

Riding in Nick's seatless M3 to get back to the paddock...

One of my coworkers dropped by in his 585 (wheel) HP Dinan M4, which has about 100 track days on it (he's an instructor), and is also his daily driver.....

So while it's on my mind, just jotting down a few things that will be in the off-season plan for this car - mostly so i don't forget. I'm going to put the e30 on ice for a few weeks at least while I finish up some things on the Raider project, so I expect this thread will be fairly quiet for a while aside from whatever pics pop up from last weekend's event that are worth posting. 

1. 4:10 diff will get a rebuilt with a 3-clutch upgrade. I'll probably leave the 3:73 with two at the moment, since it had pretty good lockup last I checked (but I'll re-check it). The 4:10 I checked once I got home, and it was releasing at about half the stock value (65 lbft), which explains why it was maybe doing ok on flat launches but not locking on high-load turn exits. In any case, that validates that it wasn't just my imagination (which is what Nick and Chris seemed to think). 

2. Need to think about rear spring rates. For stage, when there is a 2nd person in the car and additional gear and higher speeds, the e36 M3 springs have generally felt pretty good. But for rallycross I think they're simply too much rate. May just go back to IX (or IC) stock e30 springs, but I need to look around and see if there are any other good options in terms of beehive-style springs (to avoid binding).

3. Over the last year or so I feel like I've had some quesionable spikes in water temp here and there after rallycross runs. I need to look into this - whether it's a sender issue, gauge issue, there's some air in the system, or something else. Not *too* worried about it, but it's worth investigating. Seeing a temp spike at a race day is somewhat unsettling.

4. Front shock towers plated. This is on the list already. 

5. Add additional bars to the cage running into the footwells and to the front shock towers. This isn't going to be terribly easy, so will have to think on it.

6. Electrical - I'd like to build a new fuse box inside the car and re-wire a bunch of stuff. We'll see if I have the patience to take that project on. 

On the diff, is it relatively simple to shim the clutch packs or the spring to get a little more preload on it?  Slipping a little less might help it live longer.

This thread from last year might come in handy when you get into the diff. I'm hoping to get into mine in the spring and do the 3 disc upgrade.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/bmw-323is-lsd-2-disc-to-3-disc-upgrade/152260/page1/

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:

On the diff, is it relatively simple to shim the clutch packs or the spring to get a little more preload on it?  Slipping a little less might help it live longer.

Looking into it. I'm not real concerned though considering this diff lasted 30 years plus a few dizen rallycrosses plas a half dozen stage rallies in stock form :)

adam525i (Forum Supporter) said:

This thread from last year might come in handy when you get into the diff. I'm hoping to get into mine in the spring and do the 3 disc upgrade.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/bmw-323is-lsd-2-disc-to-3-disc-upgrade/152260/page1/

Exceelent, thanks!

In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :

I didn't realize it was an unopened stock diff, my fault- I figured it was rebuilt when you put it in.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:

In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :

I didn't realize it was an unopened stock diff, my fault- I figured it was rebuilt when you put it in.

I cannot say it was never been rebuilt, But I know it was never rebuilt by me.

Some great shots from Alan Olson from last weekend!

Nothing new on my own car, but last week my cousin called me to ask about an e30 he was looking at. He lives up in NYC and has always wanted one and was ready to pull the trigger. The one he was looking at seemed to ahve some red flags, but just then one popped up here in Virginia, literally 2 miles from his parents' house. So I went and checked it out for him. It's an '86 325e, and totally stock, with parts I've never even seen surviving on an e30 (like the under-engine splash guard). Apparently had one owner for the last 20 years, who had it vintage tagged/insured and didn't drive it much, and just moved to Hawaii so had to sell it. 

Anyhow, my checkout went well, car drove great, interior is MINT (no dash cracks, no sign of any seat wear), and even had the little OEM leather pouch holding touch-up paint and stuff in the glove box. So he pulled the trigger and took the train down Monday to buy it. Then I get a call on Tuesday. It won't start......it cranks but won't fire at all. WTF. Well, today I had the day off anyhow so I loaded up the Raider with tools and e30 stuff and headed over there about 45 minutes away.

First check was the fuel/DME relays. They had power, and then when I jumped the fuel pump relay, car fired right up. So stuck a spare one in that I brought, and worked fine. Shut it down, stood around and chatted for a while. Then he's like "let's go for a drive" so we jump in and....it won't start. hmm. I'm used to M42/M50 DOHC cars....I don't know much about M20s, honestly (I did call Jim for his thoughts). 

Second planned check was gonna be the speed/reference sensors on the bellhousing. I had all kinds of issues with my Porsche that uses the same setup, and they definitely will cause a no-start. My e30 engines have all been DOHC (except the M10 way long ago) so I'm used to the CPS up front. Anyhow, checked the resistance on them and they checked out,.....and then both plugs literally crumbled in my hand!

So yeah, that's some old brittle plastic, but that's a good sign that one or both were only making intermittent contact at the chassis wiring plug, which would cause the no-start. So, he just ordered a couple new ones ($33 from FCP...the local BMW dealer wanted $155~!), and hopefully those will do the trick when he installs them later this week. I'll know in a couple days. 

In any case, an e30 in NYC will give him some hipster cred lol. 

Still want to hand you $1500 or $2000 or whatever and be like "E30 me, I'll pick up when you find something groovy"

The 325i I wanted to buy still had all that undertray mess, IIRC.  When he was selling it he wanted close to $4k and that was before the market exploded.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Still want to hand you $1500 or $2000 or whatever and be like "E30 me, I'll pick up when you find something groovy"

 

The 325i I wanted to buy still had all that undertray mess, IIRC.  When he was selling it he wanted close to $4k and that was before the market exploded.

This one was a bit over $5k. Overall in stellar shape with a ton of things recently replaced with new, OEM parts (so many BMW dealer stickers on parts all over the car), but did need new tires (the tires on it looked great but were 18 years old!) and a muffler. 

Honestly, I was surprised he got it for that. This one is so clean, great paint, uncracked dash, mint interior, and literally not missing a single interior piece (even the tool like is complete and mint). I mean, it's an ETA so that's a ding against it, but still. 

I think the "cheap e30" ship has mostly sailed at this point. They still pop up, but always have issues. Best bet is to look for an early 318i, which are the least desirable by the fanbois since M10 90hp lol...., and just do a swap (I mean, that's what I did). 

In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :

Oh no, I'd be all about the M10 with twin sidedrafts and a ludicrously oversized Schrick cam, because what I REALLY want is a 2002, but if you want to talk about ships that have sailed...!!!

I mean, Artur's (now ex-) car sounds incredibly badass in only the way an inline six can, although I'd detect notes of aircooled 911 in its tone...  I'm a man of zing and revs.  Fours are groovy.  And if I were to do an engine swap it'd be another four, not a six.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :

Oh no, I'd be all about the M10 with twin sidedrafts and a ludicrously oversized Schrick cam, because what I REALLY want is a 2002, but if you want to talk about ships that have sailed...!!!

I mean, Artur's (now ex-) car sounds incredibly badass in only the way an inline six can, although I'd detect notes of aircooled 911 in its tone...  I'm a man of zing and revs.  Fours are groovy.  And if I were to do an engine swap it'd be another four, not a six.

I enjoyed the M42 and the great balance that came with it, but the M50 sounds far better, and is endlessly more powerful :)

Side note: go look for an e21. It's kind of fallen through the cracks...they're basically a slightly porky 2002 that looks more like an e30. Can still be found pretty cheap here and there, and they are PERFECT for M42 swap (or, keep the M10) and the bay also fits the sixes. I still see them pop up occasionally for cheap. Kind of like a Sequoia in the Toyota Truck linkup.....still very good, but not popular for one reason or another. You may recall my e21 build thread....

In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :

I have never seen an E21 ever.  I haven't seen an E36 in a very long time and E46s are rare enough that it's notable when I see one on the road.

Now, if you are interested in a trashed E90, THOSE are not terribly hard to find, for now.

I just realized that it's been forever since I've seen a 1-series.  And that one was a 1 M (or whatever they called it), with New York plates and about five rolls of painter's tape on the undoubtable irreplaceable nose, on the Ohio Turnpike headed east.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :

I have never seen an E21 ever.  I haven't seen an E36 in a very long time and E46s are rare enough that it's notable when I see one on the road.

 

Now, if you are interested in a trashed E90, THOSE are not terribly hard to find, for now.

 

 

I just realized that it's been forever since I've seen a 1-series.  And that one was a 1 M (or whatever they called it), with New York plates and about five rolls of painter's tape on the undoubtable irreplaceable nose, on the Ohio Turnpike headed east.

take a cruise to Pittsburgh..it's an automatic, but that's not tough to fix. .

or Michigan

IDK if this is the real price, but it's in Ohio

Just saw this non runner advertised in KY:  https://m.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2685195418359074/?ref=browse_tab&search_query=Miata&tracking=%7B%22qid%22%3A%226897401614728508642%22%2C%22mf_story_key%22%3A%223868535906494487%22%2C%22commerce_rank_obj%22%3A%22%7B%5C%22target_id%5C%22%3A3868535906494487%2C%5C%22target_type%5C%22%3A0%2C%5C%22primary_position%5C%22%3A-1%2C%5C%22ranking_signature%5C%22%3A0%2C%5C%22commerce_channel%5C%22%3A503%2C%5C%22value%5C%22%3A0%2C%5C%22upsell_type%5C%22%3Anull%7D%22%7D

Dropped the 4.10 diff today. It's nice not having the spare tire well there any more. I did the whole thing with the car sitting on the ground :)

After much de-mudding, got to taking it apart. I thought my new LSD clutches would be in today, but I guess not....in any case, the bearings feel good and the seals weren't leaking so I'll probably just leave them as-is.

Nothing else to do late-night so got out there and cleaned and painted the case and cover. Seems kind of pointless since it's going to get dirty/muddy/sandblasted in no time, but hey, it's something to do.

While I was out grabbing some cash at the ATM, this nice M4 followed me into the lot and stopped next to me. He had seen the Condor Speed Shop sticker on the side of it, and apparently he went to high school with the owner (Carlos). Not a huge surprise since Carlos is from this area originally, but still very small world.

Finished up the diff today. While waiting for DHL to get here with the clutches I disassembled. Fluid looked good, but the old clutches are clearly worn on the contact side with little friction material left. On the cheap I could have flipped them and used the other sides, which looked decent, but that's not what we're doing...

The DHL showed up with some new clutch packs and pressure washers (I forget the actual name for these things) from RacingDiffs over in Europe. 

The ramp plates looked perfect, so didn't need to use the little shim pieces the kit comes with (which requires some minor machining). So, after dousing everything in some fresh fluid, assembly is reverse of removal, other than a third set of clutches replacing the 6mm big thick washer/spacer thing.

And all back together

And easy job putting it back up in the car (if you don't have studs on the top of your diff to replace the stock bolts, you should). Also, the access holes down through the trunk make tightening the upper nuts much, much easier (not shown)

I need to put about 40 miles on the car of normal driving before I really test this out and need to make sure I actually do that - I think when I rebuilt my old 3.91 a few years back it burned out quick because I didn't break it in (installed, went and rallycrossed the next day....), so going to make sure to do it right this time. 

Another item for the car came today as well, but not going to discuss at the moment since they sent the wrong thing so I'll have to do a return and wait for the right one.....grr. 

So still doing break-in on the diff, but with the new higher-strength Bellvue washers, as-tested right now the breakaway torque at the hub is slightly over 100lb-ft (compared to ~60 for a stock 2-clutch one and half that for my old tired one). Havne't done anything crazy since I'm still breaking it in, though, so can't say yet how different it feels on the street or dirt.

In the meantime, got a few things from my friends at Condor

So that's just a replacement diff mount bushing for my other diff (3.73 LSD) which still had a OEM-style bushing in it. I also added mounting studs to it for easier swapping, if needed.

So a couple weeks ago I ordered an ebay radiator listed for a Z3M. Unfortuntately, when it arrived it was only a 2-row, not the 3-row I expected (my mistake, not theirs, for not reading the listing well). Anyhow, the vendor basically just returned half my payment rather than pay for return shipping so that's now either a spare or one to sell to someone else. It's basically the same as the one that's been in the car and worked fine for about 7-8 years now. No complaints on the Chinese radiators.

That said, I've never liked how warm this car runs. It may be in the "normal" range, but I'd like it a bit cooler. So I want a 3-row radiator. So today the correct on arrived...a full 3-row knockoff from China. Yeah, I'd love a Mishimoto but not spending triple on something that may get impaled by a tree branch at any time. Also, pretty sure these are made in the same factory but sold as an off-brand, lol. IDK.

In any case, there it is. MAybe I'll put it in tomorrow. Should be drop-in fit since I don't have an OEM crank-driven fan.

In other news, I'm currently on lockdown for the second time this autumn. First time a co-worker was suspected of having COVID so I locked down for a few days until his test came back negative. In this case, no idea of any contact with anyone, but for some reason last week I lost most of my taste ability (no other symptoms, and can smell fine). It's come back and gone away a few times, but anyhow that's one COVID symptom (also a symptom of allergies and other stuff as well), so went and got a test and now I'm locked down to the garage, yard, cars, and my bedroom until results get back - so, fingers crossed.

Luckily, my bedroom is about the size of my living room, so it doesn't totally suck to be stuck here when not in the garage.