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Thread: I bought another E30.

  1. #51
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    18 Cummins 3500 00 330t
    Looking good man.

    sorta sad you brought the e38 to the sonic meet


    The Dog Collar was a nice touch haha


  2. #52
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
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    E30 M3,E28 M5,E39 M5 etc

    I bought another E30.

    Come autocross! Way better than a sonic meet. All those nice cars that sit in the garage with clean wheels :-(

    - - - Updated - - -

    I've been experiencing fuel starvation on track about 5 seconds after a highly loaded right hand corner (ex: lift, turn-in, on the gas 20ft before the apex). This can happen with as much as 3/4 full rank of gas!

    A few weeks ago, I took the fuel pump out of the tank and noticed the rubber reducer/expander was cracked on the large end, see the photo below. This reducer cannot be purchased separately from the dealer, is it a common part in another vehicle I could scavenge? Any ideas on a way to replace it with items sourced locally?


    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr



    Since I couldn't find a early E30 locally to snatch that rubber piece, I had to improvise a bit...


    1st step was to use a special type of teflon tape used on fuel systems & wrap the split part of the reducer to the tube. This took a few tries as there isn't much room around the other pipes, and teflon likes to fold over on itself:





    2nd step was to heat shrink the reducer/teflon combo onto the fuel pump:


    shrunk






    3rd step was raiding the spare parts bin for some small hose clamps and clamping the heat shrink on either end for good measure. Sorry, I forgot to take a photo of this step.


    And the result? Two friday's ago I went to a local open lapping day and used an entire tank of fuel with zero starvation! In fact, it wasn't until the light went on that I even had a second thought about it. This is on 235/40/17 Nitto NT01's too, so no shortage of grip to slosh the fuel away from the pickup point.

    My guess is that the split in the reducer either allowed air to enter the system when fuel was sloshed to the left side of the tank, or that fuel was pushed out of the split, either way, creating a bit of a gap between the in tank lift pump and the external main pump.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Of course when you fix one thing, something else breaks...

    While at the track mentioned in the post above, I noticed a weird vibration on braking in the 50ish mph range during my second session in the morning. The vibration got worse as the session went on, and after about 5 laps, I pulled in to the pits to investigate (side note, my HF infrared temp gun measured 570°F brake rotors!). After a bit of poking around, I noticed one of the bolts that hold the strut to the control arm/tie rod "dogbone" was loose! These bolts were torqued to spec (28-30ft/lbs) with red loctite, and even a bit of nail polish applied to the bolt heads for quick checks to see if they loosened.

    Out came the toolbox, and the 13mm wrench & sockets. I found all four bolts to be some degree of loose, but the bolt most inboard and to the rear sheared off when I applied about 20ft/lb (elbow torque wrench) of force...hmmm, that's not good

    In a decision of acceptable risk, I decided that since the 2002 and E28 and the much heavier than my E30 M3, E34/E32/E31 came with a 3 bolt setup from the factory, I could tighten the 3 good bolts and drive a bit less than flat out until I felt the vibration again, which would result in me pitting for the session. Not the most advisable, especially to internet lawyers, but it worked. I'd last an average of 5 laps before the vibration returned and I'd have to pit to remove the wheel and re-tighten the 3 bolts.

    Obviously this was not a long term solution! I decided to fix it by being as german as possible... over engineer the shit out of the fix.

    So, the fix action would be:
    - New 10.9 grade bolts
    - bolt threads cleaned with a die
    - Tapped hole threads cleaned of old loctite
    - Red Loctite
    - Torqued to 30ft/lbs
    - Safety wired (lock wire)

    But of course I don't have any safety wire laying around, and I haven't safety wired a nut since being in A&P school 13 years ago! This can only mean one thing, a trip to harbor freight...

    DSC_0192 by ericandshovin, on Flickr


    If you'd like to make your own drilled head bolts, I'd recommend buying one of these:


    or these:




    But if you want to do it the hard way, all you need are these few items
    - Drill press vice ($12 HF)
    - 1/16th" cobalt drill bit, buy more than one
    - Oil to lubricate the drill
    - Drill press (handheld would be incredibly difficult)
    - good dikes
    - good needle nose pliers
    - flat head screwdriver
    - SAFETY GLASSES



    Drilling the hole (pretty self explanatory)
    DSC_0198 by ericandshovin, on Flickr



    End result. The dogbones take 4 bolts that are 3 different sizes.
    DSC_0209 by ericandshovin, on Flickr


    Here I did a quick practice run. The keen reader might notice this bolt is different that the ones above. On my last bolt, I broke the 1/16th bit off inside the bolt head. The tip of the bit was literally about to poke through, you could see it bulging! So I had to make a trip to ACE (their nut/bolt selection kills Lowe Depot's) to grab new drill bits (buy Cobalt ones) and I ended picking up all new hardware as I liked it better.
    DSC_0201 by ericandshovin, on Flickr



    If your interested, I made a little video pretty much explaining everything I just said above, and showing how I safety wired the bolts on the car. My apologies in advance for blocking some of the key moments with my hands accidentally in front of the camera! I'd recommend watching in 720p for the clearest picture.



    And here is the final result.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    We have our last autocross of the season tomorrow, so hopefully it all holds together!
    Last edited by S14; 09-12-2014 at 08:41 PM.

  3. #53
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    18 Cummins 3500 00 330t
    dang good work man. Good work on the fuel pickup. ill have to make it out to an autocross at some point, granted my boat won't be on the track anytime soon


    Greg and I are headed to the pull and pay today, when and where is the autocross?


  4. #54
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    Colorado Springs
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    E30 M3,E28 M5,E39 M5 etc

  5. #55
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    Sep 2002
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    Vancouver
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    98 M3
    Lol, every week I go through a stint of looking for an e30 m3, then I tell myself "show some restraint, you can't buy one until your wife is done school." Then you post something and I start looking all over again. Love seeing someone really enjoying it.

    - 98 m3, techno/anthrazit cloth, 124k and officially worthless - 89 m3, alpine/black 143k and officially old - 2000 323it, tiag/grey, 169k and officially boring

  6. #56
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    1985 318i Coupe
    Sick!
    Last edited by YoNorm; 09-23-2014 at 04:57 PM.

  7. #57
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    I've acquired a Davis Craig electric water pump and digital controller, and a used MR-2 Spyder (2000-2005) electro-hydraulic power steering pump (EHPS)! I should be installing the EHPS in the next few weeks. the EWP depends on my ability to source a used euro S50 water pump to gut.


  8. #58
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    Los Angeles, CA
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    #Project333Ti & Z3 Coupe
    Motor should feel more responsive without the drag of the WP & PS pulleys

    That euro s50 sounds great! What does the exhaust consist of?

  9. #59
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    Thanks! I believe it's an e36 eismann muffler and a center resonator of some sort. There is some two2one and one2two piping going on in the middle. I want to clean it up, but it doesn't leak or drone or give me headaches, so it's way low on the priority list!

    I'm not really worried about the horsepower, Although that's nice! For the EWP, I want to better control the night rpm engine temps. 20 minut sessions would get pretty hot oil temps (+260°).

    And for the EHPS, I noticed the stock pump and z3 1.9 rack had a hard time keeping up in really fast auto-x transitions. It was like a square wave of ps/no ps/ps/no ps! Haha!

    I hope both of these parts will help with those issues and make the car even more bulletproof.

  10. #60
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    Nice! I look forward to seeing and hearing this thing again at autocross this summer.

    Was your M5 at one of the events last fall? I saw one (not competing) and figured it might be yours.
    - Brent
    www.angry-ass.com

    Quote Originally Posted by danespann View Post
    Every E34 needs the same things in the end.

  11. #61
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    Quote Originally Posted by BleedsBlue View Post
    Nice! I look forward to seeing and hearing this thing again at autocross this summer.

    Was your M5 at one of the events last fall? I saw one (not competing) and figured it might be yours.
    I hope to get it all done by the first auto-x! Might be a mooch in someone else's car, or just a spectator for the first one. I brought the M5 out to the auto-x school, but not again. It might go to one or two to test out it's new rack and pinion setup...
    I love the E34 M5, do you have any pictures of yours to share? Haley Kupfer has driven her dad's euro M5 quite a few times, looks great out there!


    Spent a bit of time poking at things. I hadn't looked at the engine bay in a while, but there is NO space! Where I thought the EHPS pump would fit, was take up with lots of other things. I think the EWP will fit nicely in the lower radiator hose, but even that is tight.

    I think this is the best spot for the EHPS. The high pressure line will be a bit longer than I had planned, luckily I bought a 6 foot stick of pipe!
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    So a very sophisticated bit of template fitting:
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    And this old cheerios box is ready to be transferred to aluminum
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    Test fit
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr


    Any ideas on how to lessen the kink right out of the radiator?
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

  12. #62
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    Quote Originally Posted by S14 View Post
    I hope to get it all done by the first auto-x! Might be a mooch in someone else's car, or just a spectator for the first one. I brought the M5 out to the auto-x school, but not again. It might go to one or two to test out it's new rack and pinion setup...
    I love the E34 M5, do you have any pictures of yours to share? Haley Kupfer has driven her dad's euro M5 quite a few times, looks great out there!
    PMed you about my E34.

    Deets about your R&P setup?!? The steering box is my #1 complaint with the M5.
    - Brent
    www.angry-ass.com

    Quote Originally Posted by danespann View Post
    Every E34 needs the same things in the end.

  13. #63
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    Machined a bit of aluminum to space out this bracket for the PS pump. Hard line has arrived, now to figure out where to put the PS cooler and routing from the passenger side to the rack and back.

    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr


    Now to do a bit of welding!

    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

  14. #64
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    Spare euro water pump came in from Germany yesterday. This lathe has been an excellent purchase!



    A few drill bits later...

  15. #65
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    I take the bus to work.
    that fuelpump reducer on my e30 m3 tore in the exact same place....
    -M3J0N

  16. #66
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    Quote Originally Posted by m3j0n View Post
    that fuelpump reducer on my e30 m3 tore in the exact same place....
    Interesting! I'd never heard/researched the issue before. How did you fix it?

  17. #67
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    Man, lots have gone on, so I'll give you guys a bit of an update! I did 3 major things (and one minor) to the car, and instead of a bunch of words, I think I'll explain it in pictures...


    1st. Electric water pump conversion:
    Not being satisfied with just removing the impeller (pic a few posts up) on the spare water pump, I hogged out just about anything I could.

    From this:
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    to this:
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    Then I decided to keep going...
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr


    Eventually I turned my sights on the outside. Since I drilled the bearing out, I didn't think I needed the large nose and ribbing that house the shaft bearings. If you have never cut bearing material... it is VERY HARD! Holy shit! I used a 4" angle grinder for most of it, then tried a diamond tipped sawzall which quickly went dull. Next I just whacked what little was left of the angle grinder cut and luckily the hardened bearing race broke. Stuck it back in the lathe and took an hours worth of very light passes to get to this point.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    The bearing race just laughed at my boring bar, so the engineer at work suggested a wheel bearing puller. Used autozone's rental program, and 10 minutes later I had success!
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr


    Made a little aluminum plug on the lathe that will fill the space where the bearings and shaft used to live, then went down to Ft. Carson's Auto Skills shop to weld the two bits together.

    Ended up with this (black uglyness is the residue from bearing grease and dirty/porous aluminum + a dip or two of tungsten...)
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    front:
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    Of course I couldn't leave it like that...
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr


    Going back in. This must be some German Engineers idea of a practical joke. F*cking bolt! (yes, I learned later that rotating the motor to the flat spot in the crank wheel makes access much better. I learned after complaining about it to a friend.)
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    Without a water pump pully and a power steering pump pully, I needed a new length belt to drive the alternator. I decided on two options

    A:
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    B:
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr


    I ended up with option B, mainly because I couldn't get option A to fit! I'd rather go with option A because I don't like the ribbed part of the belt on the smooth idler pulley... Is that bad? Is there another option I might have missed?
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr


    If I were to do it all over again... I'd pop the impeller off and leave the bearings/shaft/pulley as it was, so the tensioner pulley still worked as design.


    Anyways, once the belt was one, I put the radiator back in and started working on water pump routing. On thing I didn't like about the two euro S50 in E30 swaps I've owned is the pinch in the upper radiator hose.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr


    I thought a silicone hose without the kink would be better, but I couldn't find a silicone hose with a 90° that had enough reach to go all the way to the thermostat. So I thought about a bit of aluminum pipe in-between a 90° elbow and another straight piece of silicone. Well, my mind wandered a bit back to my days reading Super Street, and I eventually replaced the aluminum pipe idea with this:
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    With the upper radiator hose sorted, I needed to move to the lower. The Davis Craig electric water pump fits in where the lower radiator hose elbow usually goes. Unfortunetly for my cramped quarters, I couldn't fit the pump easily without the frame rail getting in the way. So I ordered the biggests 1.5" silicone 90° elbow I could google.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    I used this elbow to stand off the pump a bit from the radiator, then used the former upper radiator hose with it's crimped 90° cut off to become the remainder of the lower radiator hose. The kink in the hose that I never liked actually works great for getting the hose back in alignment with the thermostat housing.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr


    My Cheesy super street glass pipe has actually been super helpful! I can quickly and easily verify if the electric pump is on, 1/2 speed or full speed. It's also easy to see if more bleeding is necessary. This is what it looks like with the pump at full power.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    I don't have the Davis Craig controller mounted permanently in the interior yet, but it seams to be working well with controlling both water temps and my new 14" Spal pusher fan.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    - - - Updated - - -

    2: Wheels and tires & suspension.

    Our BMW club has a great autocross series with a bunch of good dudes who are fast. Very fast. I think we have more than a half dozen who have jackets from Lincoln. In an effort to try and stay in front of the curve in my class, I decided to upgrade my wheels/tires and suspension a bit.

    Gone are the Sport EVO wheels and 225/45/16 star specs
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    and the replacements are 17x9 Apex wheels with 255/40/17 Star Spec ZII's (should have gone 245...)
    by ericandshovin, on Flickr




    Here goes this part of the adventure...


    One fine day I got a call from Apex, a few days later these showed up.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    A few days after that we had a marriage...
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr


    A quick fit showed that 17x9 et42 + 20mm spacers was a tad too close to the strut for comfort
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    So I bought these VAC 12mm spacers to stack on some 10mm spacers I already had.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    I also used this opportunity to upgrade form the GC/Koni setup that the M3 came with, to the AST 4100's I've had sitting in a bin for the last few years and some higher rate Hyperco springs. First step was to dissasemble the front struts. You post E30 guys have it so easy with just 3 bolts to pop off a strut from the spindle! This height adjuster from Ground control needed a lot of leverage to start moving.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    Electrical tape and dirt for clearance between the height adjuster and strut tube... Nice.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    All clean.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    To remove this nut, I needed two full size dudes to hold my tool box/work bench down, a cheater bar, and thor's hammer (my wife) to break these bastard nuts loose!
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr


    Around this point, she dragged me away to go do real life things
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    Like go to the brewery with her brother
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr


    A few days later, a nice chap came by and bought my 325 track car.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    Out of the 23 cars I've owned, my white 325 is the car I've owned the longest, I was seriously sad for a few days afterwareds.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    At some point in time, I scored a set of yellow nuts of R3v for cheap.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr



    Back to car parts...
    First problem I noticed once the struts were out, is that the new AST inserts were a few MM too short. No problem, I have a lathe!
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    Plop these puck's down in the strut and the shock is now just right.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    AST's system is (INMO) a better solution than tape and dirt for securing the ride height. I believe ground control uses a perch to place the height adjuster on, not too sure why my set of struts don't have it. Anyways, the AST setup uses this nut to secure the shock in the tube, but it also uses the upper thread to hold the height adjuster.
    by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    Both together.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    The strut shaft doesn't poke out of the camber plate much. The normal setup uses a washer that doubles as a centering spacer on the bearing and a nut.
    by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    But my 4100 kit came with these nifty nuts that reach down into the bearing for centering as well as a securing nut with plenty of thread to grip
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    Connecting the two together. Internet legends have told me that running the top nut down with an impact ruins the shock internals, so I did this to tighten the top nut.
    by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    All together and pretty
    by ericandshovin, on Flickr





    I forgot the bump stops. F*ck.


    Back apart.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    Thread locked and torqued the roll center spacers onto the struts. I think these are going to come out soon.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    Thread locked, torqued and safety wired the ankerman arms
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr


    Back together now.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr


    At some point my lovely wife lent me a hand.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    Did a bit of a tire test fit
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

    by ericandshovin, on Flickr


    And back on the ground for a rubbadge test.
    Untitled by ericandshovin, on Flickr

  18. #68
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    Looks amazing man, Quality workmanship!

  19. #69
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    Wheres this car now?

    Quality BMW service "street, track, race"?
    Email: ZakspeedRacer@gmail.com
    1999 BMW 318Ti/M Hellrot Msport DD/Fun car

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    Get Involved!
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  20. #70
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    Looking really nice, not bad condition at all.

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