Nice Trailers!!!!
99 M3 STU/ GTS3 Project
Long overdue update that I'll try to keep short and sweet.
HyperFest 2018 - VIR - May 18-20, 2018
Between the March shakedown and HyperFest, I had a couple small issues to fix. When trying to mount the kill switch solenoid, I accidentally drilled through the fuel tank vent line right before the March event and I tried to patch it with JB Weld. That didn't work so well and fuel would splash out when the tank was over 1/2 full. Unfortunately this involved dropping the tank which wasn't too terrible. The biggest issue was needing to modify the exhaust as it seemed to shrink by about 1/4" after the first couple heat cycles. Some scrap tubing from a local shop and a couple minutes with my welder made that an easy fix also. Another minor fix involved a friend removing about 3/4" from the OD of the steering wheel hub so the radio PTT wire didn't get caught between it and the AiM dash. I finished up my prep by getting my compliance dyno pulls at FlimFlam Speed here in Richmond.
The culprit
Extended mid section next to the resonator
Smaller OD on the hub adapter so the radio PTT wire didn't get stuck anymore
Dyno pulls with Kevin at FlimFlam Speed
We ditched the 18x10s for some 17x9.5s and 245 Hoosier R7s. I also go some 245 Hoosier H2Os mounted on the 17x9 Apex wheels.
Final prep before HyperFest - making it look like a real race car with numbers and stickers
HyperFest was a washout on Friday which ended with VIR shutting down the track due to flooding in several spots late in the afternoon. We had a great GTS2 field of 10 cars all weekend for the races. Saturday I qualified P3 in the rain and then we had a wild, caution-filled race which was thankfully dry and sunny. I ended up finishing P3 which I was very happy with given the competitive field we had.
Sunday morning I qualified P7 which is where I expected to be before the weekend. The race was a crazy start behind a record large Spec E46 field. At the end of the long race I was P4 but got bumped to P3 after a post race DQ. Double podium for the first race weekend!
Saturday race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrVHCEKBJfQ
Sunday race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQAcm6A1erY
The only issue I had with the car was very low oil pressure when coming off track with 200+F oil temps. It was so low (3-5psi) that I was scared to let the rpms dip lower than 1500-2000 when hot. This is all due to the lower oil pressure of the S54 oil pump which I expected but not that low. Long story short - I ordered a VAC high volume pump, installed it but got no oil pressure after priming without fuel. I then rushed to source and install a stock S52 pump/pan. I got it all in and had perfect oil pressure thankfully. I assuming there was a large air pocket with the VAC pump but I sent it back for them to check out. At this point I'll probably stick with the S52 stuff for now as I'm sick of dropping the oil pan.
Summit Point - June 9-10, 2018
This was my first time back at Summit since April 2016, before the old car was wrecked. Saturday I qualified P2 and started next to last year's GTS2 NASA ECC Champion Scott Blair who is obviously a damn good driver. He taught me a lesson or two early in the race and I was able to find a way by him later in the race. I was holding him off until his gas pedal broke which let me cruise to my first ever race win! It was a great feeling to finally win and I had family there to watch which made it special.
Sunday I qualified P1 on a damp but drying track. Scott got the jump on me and slowly pulled away during the entire 40 min race. My tires were old and gone after first 10 minutes so I tried to hold on. I finished P2 but just barely.
Overall a fantastic weekend with Dad. One we'll remember for a long time.
Saturday race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0W2-tlRk-U
that's great man congrats!
99 M3 STU/ GTS3 Project
Awesome, congrats!
Congratulations! Looks like the car is doing everything right.
Thanks guys! It's fun to have a working car again and have some success with it after all the hours and hard work putting it together.
A friend of mine, Zach from SimSeats racing simulators, outfitted my car with 4 GoPros for the Sunday race at Hyperfest. He sent me this link yesterday for the awesome video he put together. Take some time to watch it all! He did a fantastic job with the editing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5Az1Ze-csQ
Last edited by hoki06; 07-02-2018 at 07:27 AM.
That was a great drive at Summit! Look forward to battling it out more often with you!
Very interesting. So, with proper lower shrouding you can successfully block the kidneys on an e36 and not impact cooling? @VIR this past weekend, water temps on my Spec3 (M50 w/CRF radiator, Stewart pump) were under 190F during 30 mins race on a 65F day...
- - - Updated - - -
P.S. - Eric - the new car looks incredible. You really did a nice job with the build!
I will pay you to come and help me with my wire diet!!! im pulling my hair out with this! Great build!
Well.... this is the final update to this long journey. About this time last year, Dad and I had some long talks and realized it's time to get out of racing for a while as life priorities for both of us have been changing which makes it harder and harder to justify the cost and time commitment of racing. I had some great final races at Summit Point last November and again at Hyperfest at VIR in May this year. Last month I found a local buyer for the car who is still doing HPDEs but is the perfect new owner as he'll enjoy it and take care of it. He picked up the car Wednesday night and has it on track this weekend with PCA at Summit Point!
In preparation for the sale, I had a local friend take some high quality pictures of the car. These were mostly for my enjoyment and to document the car in it's final state. It's sad to see it go but I have great memories of it with my dad and I'm sure I'll build another car in the future once life settles down.
Enjoy!
Bookmarks