Journal of a Peruvian Rookie

[MIMI1]

[bimmerfish]

Sorry that I can't help you with your diagram. But this really is a great thread. Amazing how similar it is to my path into this addiction - right down to the Imola Red X5 tow vehicle. I have to acknowledge, however, that I now wish that I had done more of the work on my car myself - like you have.

Question. Are you planning to have the chassis dipped? I only ask becuase I know that there is a substantial amount of weight that can be eliminated by doing so and you have already done all of the hard work of COMPLETELY stripping the chassis. I know quite a few racers who did NOT have their cars dipped who now wish they had. Worth considering.

Keep the pictures coming.

[Naka]

February 2009, Fourth Week: Time to load the chassis on the trailer.

But how am I supposed to do that? How am I supposed to get it off the lift without suspension?

Before I even started the project, I asked James Clay about that. "Furniture Dolleys" was his prompt answer. "An empty chassis is not that heavy, two people can move it around without problem".

I quickly find out that to be true. But not fully. Those small wheels on the dolleys will not go over bumps very well, so my main concern are the ramps for the trailer.

Before I destroy everything I worked for so far, I call for help to the only people interested in wasting a beautiful unusually warm Saturday morning loading a car up onto a trailer. BMWCCA members. Again, what a great bunch of guys.

My two perennial track Amigos, Bill Heumann and Kurt Resener are out of town, so they "regret" missing the "fun".

Dan Miller, Dave Arnold and Sean Heumann (Bill's son and future racer himself, I hope) show up at my house, and more than a car-loading exercise, it seems more than an E46-owners reunion.




First things first. Getting the car off the lift. I have to put the front and rear subframe back on the car, so I can jack it up and swing the lift's arms out of the way, then lower it on the 4 furniture dolleys.

Yes, Clay was right. Moving it around with furniture dolley is so easy. It even rotates on the spot. Piece of cake.






Errrrrrr....or maybe not.

The little wheels hit the begining of the ramps and stop, but the car keeps sliding forward. So we need to jack up one end up and push, until those dolleys have cleared this obstacle.

But we estimate that the rear-end is so low, that it would hit the ground when the front starts going up.

So we try what I did once, load it rear-end first. We set up the winch to help us in this very delicate part of the process.




So off we go. Seems like a good idea.




But it wasn't. Can't get the jack to the rear subframe, not enough clearance.




Mmmmm. Back to plan A. Front-end first.




Better now. Much better.

But it happened as initially estimated. The rear end starts hitting the ground as we go up.




Yes, it is hitting the ground, no question about that.




Well, we are kind of stuck. There is no going back now. So we used a cardboard to let the rear end "slide" without damaging the car.




And it works!!!

Car is safely loaded on the trailer now. Or so I hope.






Now it's waiting time. A cage is next. I was planning to take it to Bimeerworld, but they are too far. And with my schedule as it is, I can't get it done that way. I wanna be able to travel back and forth the same day to see the progress. I have to take it somewhere closer. Much closer.

So I ask around and everybody in the area is using Mark McMahan. He is so much closer and his schedule will fit mine. And my good friend's car is already there (Kurt Resener) and when he goes to pick it up, we can take mine and do the "exchange".

So all I can do now, is wait for Mark to finish Kurt's car. Then we can take mine. If for any reason I can't go, I know Kurt would take it himself. He's that great of a friend.

Now, it's time for me to go to the designing board and create a suitable cage. More research ahead of me.

[Naka]

Early March 09

I eventually finish the preliminary design of the cage.

More BMWCCA members come to the rescue. I cannot overemphazise how much I appreciate the assistance provided. Kudos to Jack Money and Ken Price who spent a great deal of time answering my relentless emails and helped me a great deal to clean up my ideas.

Since I'm somewhat computer illiterate, I just grab a piece of paper, a pencil and a ruler to draw my design. Unfortunatelly, in my 2-D graphic, I cannot represent clearly my intended "pyramidal" door X-bars (a la Porsche GT3).



A horizontal bar in the main hoop for the harnesses will be later added once my seating position is determined. This will ensure my seatbelts will be at the optimal height relative to my shoulders.



Late March 09

Finally, Kurt's car is finalized. So now we arrange to go pick his car up while taking mine up.

Stopping by Cincinnati, I notice my car is not level anymore. Mmmmm....




After getting closer to the car, I notice how lucky I was (or how stupid, depending on the perspective).

Passenger's side:






Driver's side is even more impressive:








Thank God, nobody is watching. So I get away with it. NOBODY will ever know what a lucky IDIOT I am. Except for Kurt. But he already knew that.

So we get the jack out (which we loaded in the truck to help us unload the chassis when we get to the cage builder) and lift the front end.

This time, just like on the rear end, we make sure the straps go THROUGH the furniture dolleys, so we don't get any more surprises.







Much better.... (I hope)....




Luckily for us, unloading it is nowhere as hard as loading it up. It takes us less than 10 minutes.

So now my car is just waiting cage work. In two weeks I plan to stop by to follow up on the progress.




Mark "The Roll-Cage Guy" Mcmahan from Akron OH will be doing the work. He did my bolt-on roll bar previously, so he's worked on my car before, and I was very satisfied. His quality of work is nothing short of EXCELLENT. Being much closer to my home helps a great deal too. I was able to get back home that same day and still make it to my late night soccer game.

Many thanks to Kurt Resener, for towing my car up there. And for tolerating me for so many hours while getting there and back.

[TIATO]

Gary, it was a sincere pleasure meeting you at VIR. Great story you have going here. Feel free to call with any questrions.

[speedblind]

Great thread and story - not too many people document how they got to where they are. Very enjoyable read. Good luck with the chassis/cage.

[vinnymac]

February 2009, second week: Now back to the car:

I remove the fender well liners and expose the fuel expansion tank in the rear:




Looks complicated to me (too many hoses). I better move up to the front:




But I also run into trouble. I cannot get the brake line off, and in my futile attempt to losen it up (even though I use a flare-nut wrench), I round off the nut. CRAP!! I guess I'll have to replace the whole line.

Well, no problem, everything is now so exposed. Might as well get both sides out (since I round the other one too, damn it!!)





Still some work to do. So I decide to CLEAN the engine bay.




Beautiful. I'm so proud. Getting faster and faster.


Now, it is time to finish the interior:







February 09, third week:

Now I feel so pumped up (and reckless), that I "resect" the fuel system out too.

Whole system




Rear section:




Front section:




After reconstructing everything back on my garage floor, I went back to my desk and studied every single part. Obviously, I'm still unsure of what to do.

What is it supposed to go back, and what is garbage? The carbon canister loop is supposed to be an non-vital item for emissions-only purposes (and fuel economy too), but that's as far as I'm willing to go (guess).

Until I have an epiphany. "Aha! I'll put a post on Bimmerforums and I bet they will tell me what to do. Such a great crowd".

So I draw a diagram illustrating the parts I removed, hoping somebody will chip in with insightful advice on what should go to the trash and what should go back to the car.

So, here it is ("please, somebody help!" a voice rings in my head):





That's all I can do. Now, it's time to patiently await advice while getting the car ready for transport to a cage builder.

Great diagram and pictures. You should be able to remove #12 entirely and cap the vacuum line #23.

[Jonathan@BimmerWorld]

Pass-through garage... I love it!!

[1SlowSpec3]

btw how much did the lift cost?

[raoke]

If it helps, you can take pictures of the connections or parts and tape it to the piece so even if you don't know the name of it, you can use the picture as reference to where it goes.

Awesome journal I read everything.

[beatadrum]

btw how much did the lift cost?

+1

[JClark]

Way to go Gary. Your garage kicks ass. Let me know if you need to offer free car storage to fill it up, I'll do my part. See you guys at Mid O.

[Naka]

btw how much did the lift cost?

To be honest, I don't remember exactly. But it was something like $3,400 installed. Receipt is in one of the many boxes in the basement.

www.rotarylift.com

Amazing craftmanship. Highly recommended. So much easier to work on cars now.

Question. Are you planning to have the chassis dipped? I only ask becuase I know that there is a substantial amount of weight that can be eliminated by doing so and you have already done all of the hard work of COMPLETELY stripping the chassis. I know quite a few racers who did NOT have their cars dipped who now wish they had. Worth considering.

Yes, I considered it. But it is too much of a hassle for a Prepared car. If I remove all that weight, I will have to put it back. And there are not many good places to put all that weight in. Besides, the undercoating is at the best place of the car now. At the very bottom. And I won't have to worry about the car rusting away. So I have opted to spend the money somewhere else. I don't think I will regret it.

[Naka]

Second week of April 09:

I go to VIR to help crew for Bill Heumann. Meet a lot of great people. And learn a lot too. I pay especial attention to the IP and JP cars. "So much to do and learn", I say to my self. But everybody is so helpful answering my never-ending questions. Which make things so much easier and interesting.

One of them, is Jason Marks, from Bimmerworld, who reviews my fuel system diagram and helps me a great deal by marking off the items not needed in a race car.

As soon as I get back home, I go work on the drawing board:







Many, many thanks Jason.

I try to make sure that eliminating the carbon canister and the expansion tank is legal in Prepared class, but the rules aren't clear about this. So I submit a rule-clarification request.

[bennyfizzle]

Awesome build thread, really loving it.

[Happy Hazard]

Awesome thread man, its great to see the humility in someone and just be able to laugh at your own mistakes, which we all make.

Great stuff man, keep it up. I really enjoyed reading your build!

[RacerX]

Saw your car at Mark's place on Tuesday eve.....it's taking some shape. ; )

Cheers.

[Naka]

May 09, First Week

Still waiting for my car, so I decide to work on my engine, quietly sitting in my garage.

I decide to embark on the S54 Oil Pump/Pan upgrade. In order to get ready, I read the Bentley Manual (E36 and E46) and the TIS. But the most helpful reading, by far, is Vinnymac's post on the matter. Awesome! Vinnymac is the MAN! Thank you! thank you! thank you!!

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1175553&highlight=oil+pan


I start by removing the stock oil pan and pump:



But then, I quickly realize that I am missing some hardware. I am supposed to have two slightly different brackets for the oil pump pipes, but the ones I have are exactly the same. Damn it!

I should've known better. In this business, things NEVER go as planned.

I call the dealer to get the right bracket but the problem is that I don't really know which of the two part numbers is the one I'm missing. The ones I have, came in two bags with their respective different part numbers, but one of them was obviously mislabeled (since I have the same identical parts). Which one? Without having the right ones to compare with, it was impossible to know. And the dealer does not have any of the two in stock. So I have to order both of them. One, lucky me, has to be ordered from Germany. So it will be a week, at least. Wonderful!

All I can do now is wait, and cover my exposed engine internals with clean rags and towels.

I can't do anything else either, as I don't want to rotate the engine around and make a mess with the residual engine oil. Nice!



May 09, Second Week

Excellent! I have my brackets now. Both of them. They are indeed different. Very different. The ones I've got are different in color. But what really matters is the orientation of the opening for the pipe securing bolt.

I decide to post the picture in case somebody needs it for future reference




I'm glad Vinnymac mentioned something about them being different, otherwise I probably would've forced things a little bit. Or maybe not.


So, finally!! My spanking brand new dual-pick up oil pump is installed. New gasket too, of course!




And while I'm at it, I secure the oil pump nut. I use high-temp loctite and the old and tried wire trick. No tack-welding for me. Not because I don't like it, but because I don't know how. I need to ask Bill to teach me how to weld. That's a skill that I'm sure will come pretty handy during this build, sooner rather than later.




Time to put the new S54 oil pan on. But of course, I need to run into more delays. What would the enjoyment be if I didn't? This pan requires 3 special length bolts. Which I don't have. And neither the dealer. For some unknown reason, I'm not surprised.




On the driver's side of the pan, towards the back, these three openings are slightly taller than the other ones. So the S52 bolts aren't long enough.





I probably could go to a hardware store and figure it out. But given my level of ignorance, I would probably get the wrong size. And since I'm dealing with expensive pieces of metal, I decide to play safe, order the damn bolts from the dealer and wait. I guess I'll finish it next week. Need to work the next few days (my real job).




May 09, Third Week


All this waiting, for just three bolts. Again, for future reference, I decide to post a picture of them, next to a "regular" one. The "regular" ones, that come on the S52 pan and can be reused, are 20mm long. These ones are 25mm long (on the left).




About time!! Three weeks for an oil pump and pan change! I'm glad I'm not a professional mechanic. Or I would be fired in less than a week! (if not less).





I now can turn the engine around and start removing the header. Prepared for "everything", I get 24 new nuts for the header.

F...K!! The nuts would not come loose. But the whole stud. And of course, the dealer doesn't have them in stock!! F..k! F..k! F..k!





By now, of course, the parts guy at the dealer thinks I'm some kind of an idiot, ordering different little parts every week. And I believe he's not far from the truth.


At least, this time the engine is upside up, so I start working on the cooling system.

A get the stock water pump out, to replace it for a new Steward Water Pump.




And also install a new thermostat and thermostat housing




Now I need to wait for those studs. Another more week. Just to keep my "normal" rhythm.


.

May 09, Fourth Week

Studs are here. So I get to finish the install. New gaskets too.




Aren't they a thing of beauty?!



AA headers. Why them? Because that's what Bill has in his car. If James Clay says that's the way to go, I have no authority to challenge his advice.

I also change the valve cover gasket. No cams for now. I want the car to run reliably first. This year will be just a shake down year for the chassis. No engine work. If I ever get the car ready, I'll play with the JP crowd until I do cams.



June 09, First Week


I get an email from the Rules Comitee. They made a clarification on the rule book. Now it's official. It is legal to remove the Carbon Canister and the fuel expansion tank, with associated piping. Excellent. My diagram for the fuel system is LEGAL. Thanks again for your assistance, Jason.


.

[1992525]

Those studs that came out with the nuts still attachted, can just simply be re-installed. Are you planning on new headers?

[lughed]

You are a good story teller. Good luck on this.

[IWannaBMW]

I love success stories, you should adopt me man .


Great story, and life you got there. Good luck man! wish i could be in your shoes

[willcg]

Gary, looking good. If you ever need a hand, let me know. I'd be glad to help (and learn something along the way, too).

Will

[Inv3ctiv3]

One of my favorite build threads.

[windnsea00]

[TIATO]

Gary,

Nice update. Dont ever think the guys at the parts department think of you being an idiot. Heaven knows how many times Ive been at the parts counter picking up a small box of misc bolts and hardware and handing over a few hundred dollars. The more you go, the better your relationship becomes with them and they become interested in your project.

Ive had to hold off on certain work because of missing/incorrect hardware. My parts guys are good and get me 99% of the parts I special order in 2 days.

Arrent those AA headers beautys. Word of advice. Dont torque those header nuts/bolts down yet. When the engine is back in the car and its time to attach the downpipe, you WILL need to loosen them so that you can align the connections easier and facilitate the V-band connectors.