Learning to drift? My build/rebuild - Austin, TX

[jjjjjjj]

So I did my first event last weekend and had a blast. Very little "drifting" lol I was either going straight or spinning out but still a really good learning experience. Here's the car before leaving for Houston.



Some pics at the event










Here are some mostly unsuccessful videos, before, during and then after the rain.. dry, wet and then better later- still no angle

Pardon the noise, this was phone mounted in the car. My first 2 runs:





- - - Updated - - -

...and the rains begin:



It dried a little bit after the competition.. I had a slight better attempt at entry but not really:





- - - Updated - - -

Damn dude this car is coming along very nice and its on the way to becoming a drifting machine! That handle is looking nice and I'm liking those little notches at the end of it so that it locks into the handle a little better (Mine had a little bit of play in it because i didnt make those 2 notches). Its always great to see someone improving on a homemade design to make it just a little bit better than it used to be, BTW If you want a slightly cleaner look for mounting the extension to the handle I can send you what I used to secure it. If your looking for a cheap upgrade that will improve your throttle reponse/feel for the M50 then get these billet aluminum throttle body bushings, http://www.meurosport.com/Aluminum_Bushings.php , they're a great little upgrade especially if your throttle body bushings are shot (like mine were).

Great choice on the 3.23 as I just bought and installed mine over the weekend and it is already a much more noticable difference in the lower gears and I can't wait to go out and slide with it. Keep up the good work, and for reference i have a set of 16x7 spares for drifting and I run either a 205/55 or a 195/55.

-Taylor

Thanks! The handle works pretty well, it's solid with the notches. I would definitely appreciate a better suggestion for holding it in place, I really couldn't think of anything better than the pin. Word on the throttle cables, that's a pretty slick solution, reminds me of my old e30 and wondering why the e36 didn't just come like this?!? What happened with the welded diff? I wasn't sure I wanted to go that route for a daily so I did the 3.23 first and love it as well. Plus, coming from a 3.15 my car felt faster for like 2 days!! I have some 225/50/16 on my spares but next time I will be looking for something smaller, I had a hard time maintaining any sort of drift with pretty much stock power on the 225's.




More updates: So I'm about 99.9% sure I got scammed on the wheels I bought from a member. No contact, no shipping info, nothing for 3 weeks... then I go to PayPal to dispute only to learn that he's from out of the country. Great. I'll get my money back eventually so for now I broke down and sent off my damaged wheels to get repaired.

Right now I run 225/40/18 on my 8.5" rim and it's a little streched but not so much that it's worthless. I'm looking for a little more clearance so do you think I'd run into any real problems if I choose to slide on some 215/35/18?? Rubber band status I know but it's a pretty common size it seems.. thoughts?

[motocaddy]

Right now I run 225/40/18 on my 8.5" rim and it's a little streched but not so much that it's worthless. I'm looking for a little more clearance so do you think I'd run into any real problems if I choose to slide on some 215/35/18?? Rubber band status I know but it's a pretty common size it seems.. thoughts?

You did fine for your first event. The track was not very suited for low power heavy cars like ours and I had a lot of trouble, as well. The setup they had at the Drifters Ed last weekend was much easier with my car.

A 215/35 is fine on 18x8.5 and is the size I would run. I don't really even consider that stretched, as 215mm is pretty much 8.5".

[beansIII]

Yeah the drifters ed layout was fun, round 3 was a hard course. We all struggled haha

[jjjjjjj]

Amazing what $100 gets you these days around here. Rockin' it with BMP and UUC:

image-1969166476.jpg

Also flushing out this dude and re-sealing a leaky cover:


image-653346954.jpg



Doing some Tuesday night work!

[jjjjjjj]

Welllp... There's exhaust leaks... And then there's this:


image-1415960323.jpg


Where'd my horsepower go? Oh, out that giant crack!


image-2937728587.jpg

eBay stainless shorty headers, circa 2005. After thinking all along I'd be able to weld this up myself, I think I need to get a professional opinion. Yeah, already tried to patch it up once years ago

[motocaddy]

yeah, that'll cause a few ponies to escape! i'd probably just go for new headers. it could be welded up, but you'd probably want to grind out the old repair first.

[Euroslide]

I'm got some euro reps off my z4 50$ plus shipping. Had them on for 30k miles no cracking on them.

[jjjjjjj]

I'm taking a chance and I've already welded it up. It's ugly as crap but seems sealed.

I just don't want to spend any more money on parts that I hope to upgrade. I guess it's good practice for installing a turbo manifold, right?

So I had a great afternoon with my all too humble welding setup



image-2375152019.jpg

So this is probably the nicest thing BMW has ever done for me. Such a nice little tab to help out. Thanks, BMW!


image-4089369642.jpg


Thanks for looking.

[HTOWN///M]

Looking good! Not bad for your first event. Do you have a welded diff? I cant tell from the pics. You should weld it up while you have it out of the car. I cant wait to get mine out of the shop so i can start sliding it

[D Unit]

Very cool blog... I enjoyed reading it very much from beginning to end while I sat on the train to work. I never thought about drifting before but you're inspirational. Btw, how are the cosmo racing camber plates? Would you recommend them?

[jjjjjjj]

HTOWN- thanks! It was a wet day but was a good learning experience. Balls were growing by the hour but I just need a better handbrake setup and seat time. The diff is 3.23 LSD and still works really well. I've been following your e39 build so that should be cool to see but I really want to see the M3 out there!

D - thanks, I have been inspired by several others around here! Auto-X seems boring to me and DE or whatever track days are so expensive and pretty dangerous due to high speeds. Drifting is somehow the safest and coolest to watch all at once so I'm hooked. I'm just a little bummed that there aren't any events in my town and I've already missed several this season due to work/school/kids/life

So the Cosmo Racing camber plates... I can say that they are pretty good quality but one of mine has issues and should have been returned before they sat too long to do anything about it. They have a solid metal bearing that is really tight on one of my plates but perfect on the other. There weren't any torque specs so I pretty much left the strut nut ever so slightly loose and used thread lock to keep it in place and it spins freely. At first I had to check on it every week or so to make sure it was still tight but about about 2 months ago I cleaned it off and used red loctite instead of blue. Problem solved.

I can't really knock them based on my biased experience but if you are in the market for camber plates and coilovers, then it's probably best to get BC or something with plates included.. $995 shipped is much better than dealing with the headaches of cheap parts!

[HTOWN///M]

JJJJJJJ- Yea my build is going slow. well parts are piling up for it but cant seem to get the shop to give me a straight answer on when the cars is going to be done with the 5 speed swap. Once its out I can start installing all my parts I have. My intake, coilovers and Hydro ebrake all have to go in. Then its off to get the cage built. We will see if I get the M3 out there. I really dont want to mess it up and trash it. thats why i got the dedicated drift car.

[jjjjjjj]

I hear that, your M3 is sick! I plan on being "careful" with my sedan but if I ever "need" a dedicated drift car it will be an e30 vert because I miss my old one and because convertible racecar.

[jjjjjjj]

Some updates from this past week or so.

Installed BMP adjustable rear control arms (Steel, with polyurethane bushings) and a set of UUC red poly tranny mounts with the enforcer cups. Bought it all from a member, best $100 I've spent on this car. It looks really weird to me without the rear camber but i'm sure my back tires like me better... I did my best to get 0 degrees camber and toe in the rear (still about -3 camber up front) but I really need an actual alignment:







Haven't done any drifting yet, just a few fishtails. it feels... more predictable.

I also pulled out my diff to flush it out, reseal the cover and used some heavier valvoline synthetic 75/140 oil that is actually made for an LSD this time. Maybe it's my imagination but it seems to be locking more with less noise and best of all, no more leaking. I also found out that my rear axles are probably on their way out so glad that at least it's not the diff slipping.

Pulled off my exhaust system and rear header and welded several cracks and holes. Runs great, feels like I picked up 10-15 hp. Sounds a lots better too and should have a much easier time passing emissions here in about a month... then I hope to build a new single 3" system.

Also got 2 new front tires and had a bent and cracked wheel repaired. they did an awesome job so I had to let it sit inside and admire it for a while...





Played around with some plasti dip, experimenting before I do my wife's wheels:







Ok, enough playing around. Im pretty bummed that I'll miss the awesome 2 day event this weekend, the Mexican Standoff at Mineral Wells, but I will do my best make it out to an event next month. Been looking into the ArkLaTex events too, I'm hoping to plan a weekend drift + casino trip soon. I really wish I could find somewhere to at least practice locally and legally...

Oh well. Thanks for looking!

[motocaddy]

I replaced my axles with some from OReillys for $50 ea and lifetime warranty. Been running them all year with the welded diff and no issues.

[jjjjjjj]

I replaced my axles with some from OReillys for $50 ea and lifetime warranty. Been running them all year with the welded diff and no issues.

Oh thats not bad at all, thanks! How did you get the axle nut off? I tried in the past but gave up because that isht wouldn't budge with a breaker bar + floor jack handle.

[bennyfizzle]

they're generally knurled in a couple areas with a chisel or something to lock the nut onto the tab, you need to open those up before you go cranking on it

do you have access to air? or a chubby friend?

[motocaddy]

Oh thats not bad at all, thanks! How did you get the axle nut off? I tried in the past but gave up because that isht wouldn't budge with a breaker bar + floor jack handle.

I have a cheap electric impact that is a monster. I definitely suggest picking one up. It makes quick work of just about any bolt.

[jjjjjjj]

Yeah, I did my best to bend the tabs out of the way but still no luck. I don't have a good air setup and I barely weigh 160..

I'll have to try again later, it wasn't awful but I know I'll end up breaking something when I get more track time.

Wow never looked at an electric impact, that could be a pretty handy!

[HTOWN///M]

^ yea i bought an electric impact and it makes quick work of everything. def a good buy and nice to have.

ben- Thats one hell of a deal and good to know on the axles from oreilys.

[jjjjjjj]

Extremely excited about the upcoming Lone Star Bash!! It will be only my second event and a two-day event so I hope to get a lot of seat time and actually learn something.

Need: New rear axles, alignment (since getting adjustable rear control arms and less camber), tires (duh)


Updates --


Dropped the ride height a little, repainted the bottoms:




Picked up some new-to-me wheels, cheap and light, 17x8"

[MikeE36]

Hell yes!

Lone star bash is going to be insane. I think there's like 5 FD drivers coming now....

Mike

[bennyfizzle]

what makes you think you need new rear axles?

[jjjjjjj]

Every time I take off, release the clutch, downshift, pretty much whenever power is transferred I hear a click and a clock and there is a lag. When my car is jacked up I can turn the wheel maybe an inch because if the play in the axles. I confirmed it wasn't my diff because I just had it out recently... And it all seemed to amplify once I put my poly trans mounts in. I'm guessing the "slop" was disguised better with the worn mounts.

Pretty much preventive maintenance at 208k because next month I plan to drive 4 hours, drift 2 days and drive 4 hours back

[bennyfizzle]

yeah, probably not a bad idea, but mine did that with freshly rebuilt axles as well, most of the slack from the rear in an e36 that you're decribing will come from diff mounts and rear balljoints