My new e21 drift build

[audioscience10]

So I picked up a driveshaft from a e34 auto because it had the right bolt pattern for the guibo on my new 5 speed. The only problem is it isn't even close to the right length and it has the wrong rear bolt pattern. So I cut the rear shaft off of the e36 ds and am going to take it tomorrow to get welded. I don't trust myself enough to weld it myself...

Got it within .010 in my garage with hand tools.

Also modified the tunnel to accept the new shaft.

I filled it all in but forgot to take a pic

[audioscience10]

The driveshaft is done and the perfect length... My e21 rear sub however won't let the ds go in without loosening the diff up. (No big cuz I'm getting ready to pull the diff anyway to take to my buddies house to weld with a big welder, mines just a little Lincoln 110v.)


Gonna throw this on the lathe and drill a 1/2" hole half way through this to make a shift knob out of it. Bought it for $2.


OT: My side project for the weekend. Free tricycle from the 70s (with the rust to prove it.) A quick coat of paint and its ready for the girls daughter:

[audioscience10]

Started in on the wiring... The e21 looks like a mess here but the only wires that are staying out of the bunch is the bundle that goes to the rear of the car (i.e. the tail lights and the fuel pump wires.)



For those of you that have thinned the harness in an e36, do I need any of the wires that travel to the right of the steering wheel in the big bundle by the heater core under the dash? If I don't need them I'm going to save myself the pain in the ass of removing the whole dash and I'm going to just cut the harness there.

[Johie18]

Hi, good looking project! I am also preparing e36 suspension in the front of my e21. What's your caster angle? I have difficulties with mine. Now i am brainstorming how to change it. right know it looks that i have to cut the complete strut. Which i don't like doing.

[audioscience10]

Hi, good looking project! I am also preparing e36 suspension in the front of my e21. What's your caster angle? I have difficulties with mine. Now i am brainstorming how to change it. right know it looks that i have to cut the complete strut. Which i don't like doing.

The subframe is sitting about 4" toward the rear from where the e21 subframe bolted up. Then the motor is mounted about 3.5" forward on the subframe...

This is from when I was building the subframe adapter. The inside holes at the top are for the e21 and the outside large holes are where the subframe of the e36 bolts up:


With mine the subframe placement was dictated by the strut location. Because I knew the motor was going to be a custom mount anyway I I just knew the wheels had to end up in the center of the wheel wells with decent geometry.

[Johie18]

The subframe is sitting about 4" toward the rear from where the e21 subframe bolted up. Then the motor is mounted about 3.5" forward on the subframe...

This is from when I was building the subframe adapter. The inside holes at the top are for the e21 and the outside large holes are where the subframe of the e36 bolts up:


With mine the subframe placement was dictated by the strut location. Because I knew the motor was going to be a custom mount anyway I I just knew the wheels had to end up in the center of the wheel wells with decent geometry.

I understand it. I did a bit different way. I changed the e21 subframe and made custom trailing arms. So the wheels where placed in the center of the wheel wells and the trailing arms where adapted to that position. As explained i have now a caster angle of 15 degrees when i move the struts with camber/caster plates maximum forward. I think it will be steady on high speed but i'll loose grip during cornering. I would like to go for the more standard e36 m3 caster of 8 degrees. But what i dont understand is that you don't have this problem but you also place the wheel in the center?

[audioscience10]

I understand it. I did a bit different way. I changed the e21 subframe and made custom trailing arms. So the wheels where placed in the center of the wheel wells and the trailing arms where adapted to that position. As explained i have now a caster angle of 15 degrees when i move the struts with camber/caster plates maximum forward. I think it will be steady on high speed but i'll loose grip during cornering. I would like to go for the more standard e36 m3 caster of 8 degrees. But what i dont understand is that you don't have this problem but you also place the wheel in the center?

Post a picture if you can or send me one. My suspicion would be that when u built a custom lca to mount to the e21 sub you changed the geometry of the suspension. Without seeing what it looks like I'm just guessing though. Edit: I found your build thread. It definitely appears your suspension geometry is off... PM me and we can discuss what's going on in detail if you want.

[ButteDorFrank]

nice build ! ... starting similar project next summer , I'll be watching this to get some good ideas ! ... altho I'll be using e28 stuff, ... can't wait to see what you do with the fenders ...

[audioscience10]

Thanks man. Yeah for a street car definitely would have gone with e28 as well. The way Ski did it it looks super easy. I did it the hard way with the e36 stuff because there are more options out there for getting more angle on the front and adjustability in the rear...

[ButteDorFrank]

yeah, that's the downside about the e28, not as much ajustability but a little less fab work/more bolt on type of deal ... (for the rear anyways)

Now for the front, I was thinking of doing similar to you, as in, take the whole front of the e28 (subframe, disc, control arms, ect) and mount it ...

Now it got me thinking ... I know stock e21 has decent steering angle ... I don't know about e28 or e36 (I only drove the e28 a few times, the girlfriend uses it to go to work, I have a shuttle bus that picks me up)

I know if I swap the front of the e28, I won't use the powersteering, I'll retrofit a manual rack and pinion (lighter and easier)

Now what I am wondering : anyone knows what is the width of the front (disc to disc) of the e21, e28, e36 ? I know they go wider and wider but just trying to figure out how big is the difference

and also how big is the difference in steering lock angle ? is the e36 the one with the better angle ? can you achieve as good angle with the e28 stuff ?
I know for further down the line there's some nice aftermarket parts for the e36 (http://slrspeed.com/applications/e36/) but a little pricey for now ...

can you post pictures of your car on how much the wheels are sticking out now ? sick build and very good info on here

[ButteDorFrank]

where are the updates !

[audioscience10]

Hey sorry progress has slowed to a crawl... It has been crazy cold here in Mi and my garage isn't heated or even insulated. So that means very little progress will happen until the spring. Also I have to get it out of the garage for a while so fix a car up for my little sister who will get her license in March.

[audioscience10]

Wow, thread from the dead time...

So it has been a long time since I've updated this. Don't worry you guys didn't miss much since I haven't touched it in almost a year. Well I'm finally back to work on it. There is one change though, the m52 is gone and I'm building a stroker m10. The goal is to get 400+hp from a high boost light weight motor. I am currently in the process of collecting engine parts.

I also realized I want to do more of a full on race chassis so on Friday I decided to do this.



Then Saturday I cut the cowl out and threw the subframe back in.


I'm going to start working with some tubing this week and build a new lighter weight (removable, the e21s doesn't come of like the newer cars so pulling the motor is a pita) front end.

I have been playing around a bit in the meantime with a different e21.

[ButteDorFrank]

Nice ! tubular front ... I like !

[audioscience10]

Wow, so with other places that I'm documenting this thing I've been neglecting this thread.
Here's a quick run down of what I've been up to.

The tube front is built, still adding mounting tabs for various things.


The coil overs are built and the rear arches are done. The wheels are my 17x7 et22 Charger wheels with new holes drilled. They won't be track day wheels but more of if I drive on the street.




Then I went and put e46 arms on the front since a buddy of mine is building me some angle adapters and the tire already almost hits the inner wheel well at lock. The front arches are on my to do list, but I've moved to tearing down the motor so I can get it to the machine shop.


Since No Star Bash landed in Michigan this year I am rushing to get it done by the time the snow goes away so I have time to test and tune before May.

[derrty30]

had no idea no star bash was coming to mi this year!!! fuuuu, wish my car was gonna be done. anymore info on this?

EDIT. just saw it on michigan drifting.

[E3F]

This is awesome! Always wondered if there was anyone crazy enough to try it! While you're in there maybe move the lower camber link mounting point down on the rear subframe????

[3184life]

Can you post some more pic of the tube front? Maybe so we can see how they attach to the frame rails? Looks good though

E28 with lake pipes?

[audioscience10]

Can you post some more pic of the tube front? Maybe so we can see how they attach to the frame rails? Looks good though

E28 with lake pipes?

Yeah the top I welded a 1/4" plate to the strut tower and bolted it to that.


The bottom slides into a bigger tube. There will be cross bolts that go through and hold them in.


Yeah the exhaust fell off the e28 and I decided to have a little fun with putting it back on.

[audioscience10]

Quick update. Well I signed up for No Star Bash for both days. I am just going to be in the newbie group. The engine has been removed and stripped. The block made it to the machine shop on Monday, I'll hopefully have it back by the end of next week. I have a bunch of stuff left to do to have it ready to slide by May, all the plumbing, electrical, turbo kit, and finalizing the suspension are the major things. oh and tuning... I am probably going to be cutting it close.

Oh I almost forgot. A buddy of mine made up a couple sets of angle adapters. Here is where they leave me on angle.

[audioscience10]

The block is back from the machine shop. So I threw some paint on it.


Then I cleaned up and painted the front end components.

Here is the angle for now. I want to add rack spacers to squeeze a bit more out of it.


Next up I have to steal the brake system and transmission from my e28 so I can get this thing assembled...

[audioscience10]

So this happened this weekend...



The motor sounded good initially, but one trip down the road took care of that. It turns out all the ice that was in the block may have won. Because now she sounds kind of like someone threw a fork into a garbage disposal. Oh well I didn't know how much I could expect anyway. I don't want to put the race engine in until the chassis has some mileage under it so I already have a new motor lined up to drop in...

Oh and just for the heck of it, a few pics:

[ButteDorFrank]

nice to see it rolling ! can't wait for some updates on how it handles !

[audioscience10]

Well I am still neglecting this thread. The car is running and driving right now. I am trying to get the tuning dialed in.

Here is how she is sitting at the moment.

[lazar540i]

What kind of fenders/ fender flares? They look awesome !!!!