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Thread: Not sure if there is a class for this, low budget Father Son Build '79 E21

  1. #26
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    Outstanding build! I hope to do one of these with an E30 with my dad some day. We got the track days under our belt, just gotta build a SpecE30 for us to share now!
    2001 540i 6-Speed / 1989 325i M20 / 1994 Suburban 2500

    "You gotta fix the nut behind the wheel before you fix the bolts on the car"
    LoveClub Member #23

  2. #27
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    O.T. On the topic of the thread - I can not figure out how to edit it. It is suppose to say "Not sure if there is a class," started thread in brain fad mode.

    I have tried to edit it but not working out - I am thinking it can not be edited because it is the "link" info on the site?

    Thanks "DrBoboh" it is a good opportunity to pass on some fab experience/instruction to my son as well as just a great time to spend together. We are both loving it (well I am) - hope you and your dad get the change to do your build.
    Last edited by OLD MAN; 03-14-2009 at 12:27 PM.

    Always FUN TO DRIVE - Build Thread & Tech info - 79 320/6 track car build thread -- Videos of track car -Adam in car Auto-x video - Start-up video - 4/2011 Adam's TOP BMW time San Diego BMWCCA - 4-5-15 Dyno break-in run new M20B25 - Exhaust Thread - Link

  3. #28
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    The car's starting to really come along. We've finally got all the wear parts replaced and now we're looking to start building it into a track car; so i'm really excited to follow you progress in this thread. Looking for ward to seeing you and adam at the fest.

    Quote Originally Posted by OLD MAN View Post
    O.T. On the topic of the thread - I can not figure out how to edit it. It is suppose to say "Not sure if there is a class," started thread in brain fad mode.

    I have tried to edit it but not working out - I am thinking it can not be edited because it is the "link" info on the site?
    I don't believe that you can edit a thread title I think only admins can do that.

    "The argument then is that if the FIA takes it away, then we will probably find ourselves developing something that’s even more expensive and more complex." - Matt Morris

  4. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by OLD MAN View Post
    O.T. On the topic of the thread - I can not figure out how to edit it. It is suppose to say "Not sure if there is a class," started thread in brain fad mode.
    Only a mod can edit the thread title but all you have to do is ask. Either PM to the appropriate mod or use the report thread icon (red/white triangle in upper right) to ask for a title change. Best to give exactly what you want it to say so we can just cut-n-paste.

    I changed it. Is that what you want?

    Jay

    From wannabe to has been in a few short years..... the older I get, the faster I was

  5. #30
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    Thanks Jay Yes perfect - I actually tried PM'ing you last week on this, but I have been have a lot of thread/site issues of losing connection. Not sure if it is my computer or if it is the site issues. Anyway had the PM written and crash it did not send. Again - Thanks Jay.

    Always FUN TO DRIVE - Build Thread & Tech info - 79 320/6 track car build thread -- Videos of track car -Adam in car Auto-x video - Start-up video - 4/2011 Adam's TOP BMW time San Diego BMWCCA - 4-5-15 Dyno break-in run new M20B25 - Exhaust Thread - Link

  6. #31
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    nice build, btw tell adam i said hello, i see where he gets his racing inspiration from, we used to bounce ideas off each other in school for ultimate track setups when he had his old caged e30

    -josi

  7. #32
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    Hi E21Favuzzi - Hopefully you and your day have a fun time with your build, I once again have found out how easy I can go way over board.... I am hoping to be able to start work on the "B" piller loop this week end.

    Adam and I will not be going to the fest this year, he has school and I need to get the car back together and running.

    josie36 - Thanks - I will tell Adam hi for you, so you went to RCC?

    Always FUN TO DRIVE - Build Thread & Tech info - 79 320/6 track car build thread -- Videos of track car -Adam in car Auto-x video - Start-up video - 4/2011 Adam's TOP BMW time San Diego BMWCCA - 4-5-15 Dyno break-in run new M20B25 - Exhaust Thread - Link

  8. #33
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    I love this project!

    Nice write up, great pictures....I wish I could share this stuff with my Dad...

    Lucky buggers!

  9. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by OLD MAN View Post
    josie36 - Thanks - I will tell Adam hi for you, so you went to RCC?
    yeah i met him at rcc a few years back, haven't hung out wit him for a while since i moved back in with my parents in l.a. since he has told me he is gonna paint the miata british racing green

  10. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by PEI330Ci View Post
    I love this project!

    Nice write up, great pictures....I wish I could share this stuff with my Dad...

    Lucky buggers!
    PEI330Ci Thanks.
    Your write up and build thread is one of the top ones I go to for ideas. You my friend are doing a great piece of work yourself!

    Adam and I have been having a great time playing with these little E21's now for about 5 years. We started auto-xing the silver 80iS with the San Diego and LA chapters before buying this '79. Both of our driving skills are improving along with we get to spend some fun time together!

    Always FUN TO DRIVE - Build Thread & Tech info - 79 320/6 track car build thread -- Videos of track car -Adam in car Auto-x video - Start-up video - 4/2011 Adam's TOP BMW time San Diego BMWCCA - 4-5-15 Dyno break-in run new M20B25 - Exhaust Thread - Link

  11. #36
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    Wow Daryl, I haven't seen this build thread yet. I don't venture out of the e21 section often enough. The progress on the car really looks great. You have some good ideas on the cage.

    What diff ratio are you running, 3.64? I assume lsd? What sway bar diameters? How much did you spend on the hood?

    '81 320i turbo | t25, 931 CIS, 240hp, 13.92@100mph | 2.2L m10 Turbo Build | My E21 Videos |

  12. #37
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    Hi JR -
    Thanks, I have had this tendency to rework things since I got my first car a couple of years ago . It was a 57 chevy 4 door wagon with 40,000 miles on it paid $500.00 for it then. Fabed up my own grille the second week I had it, I like my cars to be different then others.

    I think the diff is a 3:91 LSD, we counted rotations and that is what it worked out to. But is has no bottom end to it, the tranny is not the original to the car it is a 5 speed with no speedo connection on it. I plan on looking into this more after we get it running again.

    HDX on the E21 forum makes them we did some trading and money for it, I do not remember the full price. I did a thread on it in the E21 section I will look for it and PM you the link.

    Always FUN TO DRIVE - Build Thread & Tech info - 79 320/6 track car build thread -- Videos of track car -Adam in car Auto-x video - Start-up video - 4/2011 Adam's TOP BMW time San Diego BMWCCA - 4-5-15 Dyno break-in run new M20B25 - Exhaust Thread - Link

  13. #38
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    nice, going to the meet tonight?
    RIP homie TehPandaShow: Loiue

  14. #39
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    good job, keep it up, wish my dad would be intrested in these builds. Now he should be called a OLD MAN, You should be called a BIMMER MAN.

  15. #40
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    You have been busy Daryl!! Keep up the good work.

  16. #41
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    Thanks 'n2bimmer' and 'bensmall' - we have been busy. I just hope we can get this thing back together enough to start and run at an auto-x by April.... DO not care if it is all the way finished, just safe and runable.

    I have been doing allot more work since the last pictures posted but want to do more before posting more pictures. Hopefully I'll get more pictures up in two weeks, I'm going to take this weekend off of car work, I have been dreaming of roll cage tubing lately.

    How is everything down under?

    Always FUN TO DRIVE - Build Thread & Tech info - 79 320/6 track car build thread -- Videos of track car -Adam in car Auto-x video - Start-up video - 4/2011 Adam's TOP BMW time San Diego BMWCCA - 4-5-15 Dyno break-in run new M20B25 - Exhaust Thread - Link

  17. #42
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    Thumbs up Nice!!!

    Nice build.
    Will I see you this weekend at the AutoX?
    Cheers,
    -----Richard -----"Family Guy Budget Racer"-----
    Delphin Metallic '87 325is sleeper (Cardinal Red interior) money pit

  18. #43
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    Thanks Delphin Metalic
    We will not make it down this weekend. Adam has a Saturday class and both of the E-21's are down. Race Car - well you can see where it is and the 80iS has water in the oil..... Trying to get the race car running by mid May. Going to work on it this weekend.

    Always FUN TO DRIVE - Build Thread & Tech info - 79 320/6 track car build thread -- Videos of track car -Adam in car Auto-x video - Start-up video - 4/2011 Adam's TOP BMW time San Diego BMWCCA - 4-5-15 Dyno break-in run new M20B25 - Exhaust Thread - Link

  19. #44
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    i may pick up an e21 today
    RIP homie TehPandaShow: Loiue

  20. #45
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    Up dates? I wished my sister still lived in Moreno Valley, I would come done and help

  21. #46
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    Quote Originally Posted by bmac320i View Post
    Up dates? I wished my sister still lived in Moreno Valley, I would come done and help
    Thanks for the offer. We have been working on the car and we are starting to get to where things are looking positive. But we did take a weekend off two weeks ago and the whole family went camping up at Big Sur in Northern California - had a great time, it was good to get away.

    I have been doing a lot of staring at the car in the mornings before work and in the afternoons after work, planning things out and making sure I do things in the correct order. I do not want to do something, like weld in a tube that will get in the way of something else that I need to do.

    We have been doing a multitude of tube fittings. Adam is learning a lot about fitting tubes together and I am trying to remember some things I use to know"?". Notching tubes can be tricky in some places, always need to remember a little at a time, I have had to start two tubes over so far. We have also been doing more and more cleaning, the shop vac is always busy sucking up the mess after the grinding, cutting and paint scraping.


    We started this phase by welding some 1-3/4” tubes to the tops of the rear sub frame mounts inside the car, but I forgot to take pictures of this. Then I cut some 1/8” thick plate into pieces to add support to them, trying to box them to the floor some. Next we cut and fit a cross tube between the two sub frame uprights, along with working on two pieces to connect the sub frame post to the rear end hanger area posts. Then Adam cut and fit two of the harder tubes, which go down from the rear strut tower cross bar to the rear end upright tubes. We now have got the rear end suspension area pretty tied together - I think?






    Action shot of Oldman making sparks...





    While working on these, I also worked on getting the drivers side bottom base tube into the car. During this time I also decided to add a piece of 1 1/4" square tube on the passenger side above the jack point, driver's side will get the same piece added to it.

    Added gusset for jack point -




    Driver's side bottom base tube installed -




    We also finished the rear suspension box-in






    Once I finished the driver's side base tube, I was able to get the Main "B" pillar roll bar bent and tacked into place allowing us to start cutting and fit the rear down tubes.











    We have also been patching rust spots we have found, filling holes here and there along with "cutting off" more pieces of unneeded metal. We do not think we need....

    Big thing is we are moving forward, more things are being put into the car!
    Last edited by OLD MAN; 04-10-2009 at 08:28 AM. Reason: I did this late last night and ... spelling showed it.

    Always FUN TO DRIVE - Build Thread & Tech info - 79 320/6 track car build thread -- Videos of track car -Adam in car Auto-x video - Start-up video - 4/2011 Adam's TOP BMW time San Diego BMWCCA - 4-5-15 Dyno break-in run new M20B25 - Exhaust Thread - Link

  22. #47
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    Nice progress. Quick question though, are you at all concerned about meeting cage rules for road racing? Just wondering about the main hoop attachment. If no concerns then no worries.

    Cheers,
    Carlos.

  23. #48
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    I was thinking the same thing as Carlos. I was also wondering about the rear down tubes. They seem to terminate onto the cross bar as opposed being notched so that they terminate to the cross bar and the shock tower. I'm no cage guru but thought that was a no-no.

    Wish I could do that welding and bending stuff.

    Jay

    From wannabe to has been in a few short years..... the older I get, the faster I was

  24. #49
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    Quote Originally Posted by clopez95m3 View Post
    Nice progress. Quick question though, are you at all concerned about meeting cage rules for road racing? Just wondering about the main hoop attachment. If no concerns then no worries.

    Cheers,
    Carlos.
    I need to look at the rules again, but the main hoop will be having gussets on it where it meets the bottom tubes. Also the bottom tubes will be full length switch welded with sheet metal, one piece going to the floor and another to the door seals. I need to get all the tubes fully welded into place first before doing this. But I may be stuck at this point; as far as NASA rules go, I do not think our cage is not legal anyway. Because we have put pieces going to suspension mounting points. As I read their rules, "no cage tubes for chassis stiffening allowed, only tubes for safety are allowed".

    Personally I am not sure how welding a tube to a piece of plate welded on the floor is stronger then welding it to the top of another tube welded to the plate on the floor. I am not trying to safe every pound of weight that I can, so if I need to add a few more gussets I will. not sure that will help make it any more legal though?

    Jay, I have two designs for the rear down tubes - the one pictured and the one of which I think you are talking about. The current tubes are long enough to change to the other design. I confess, I got lazy/tired of grinding so this looked great at the time. Just to make sure I understand, you are concerned that the main hoop rear down tubes attach to the strut cross bar and not the towers them selves?

    As far as following the rules, I am not sure we will ever do any wheel to wheel with this car. Plans now are just to do Auto-X, track days, driving schools and such. I do not think we can afford any serious racing, or that there is a class we would fit into that we could be competitive in. Main thing is to spend time with my son doing something we both joy, and I just like tinkering and building cars.

    Thanks for the input, I like the ideas and sometimes I get to close to the project to see all the details. This is one of the reasons the main hoop and the down tubes are not welded in yet.

    Always FUN TO DRIVE - Build Thread & Tech info - 79 320/6 track car build thread -- Videos of track car -Adam in car Auto-x video - Start-up video - 4/2011 Adam's TOP BMW time San Diego BMWCCA - 4-5-15 Dyno break-in run new M20B25 - Exhaust Thread - Link

  25. #50
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    Quote Originally Posted by OLD MAN View Post
    [COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]IPersonally I am not sure how welding a tube to a piece of plate welded on the floor is stronger then welding it to the top of another tube welded to the plate on the floor.
    It's just strictly rules stuff, required tubes have to terminate on base plates that's all. I think you have your tubes supported pretty well so I don't see it as a big problem strength wise. If you would've welded things up in a different order though (main hoop to the base plates, forward down tubes to the base plates, THEN attached the horizontal tubes along the rocker) you'd be totally legal. I was thinking more in terms of NASA GTS rules so the car could compete in a power to weight class and you can go nuts on the cage.
    If you're not really concerned with road racing though then no sweat. I just see cages sometimes that people have put a lot of effort into and with just a couple of changes the cage could be legal for any type of competition.

    Cheers,
    Carlos.

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