Page 16 of 27 FirstFirst ... 67891011121314151617181920212223242526 ... LastLast
Results 376 to 400 of 660

Thread: Laminar's M3 5.0 swap: Fünf-Null

  1. #376
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    PNW
    Posts
    935
    My Cars
    LS E46
    Hey genius, the point is snow doesn’t hurt anything. And no one cares where you are. No one was asking.

  2. #377
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Des Moines, IA
    Posts
    1,051
    My Cars
    '97 M3/4/5.0
    Quote Originally Posted by Tim Mc View Post
    Any consolation - I find myself in snowy Stuttgart for a few years thanks to my families desires.
    Ooo, I had wondered where you were going when you had to pack the M3 away. Living abroad is a very cool experience, I hope you're enjoying it!

  3. #378
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Stuttgart, Germany
    Posts
    577
    My Cars
    1997 M3 / 5.3
    We would have loved to bring the M3 over, but it wouldn't get past the custom docks at Bremerhaven. Disappointing, I just eyeballed a near mint E36 four door...just before it was crushed. Sad - not many junk yards here and seemingly few older models on the road. I've only seen a couple E36's. Many environmental rules - creates challenges for car fun. Heck I can't even wash my car at home...must be at a car wash due to the run off.

    The Cougar is a unique cat! That is an undertaking, but quite satisfying when complete...

  4. #379
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Des Moines, IA
    Posts
    1,051
    My Cars
    '97 M3/4/5.0
    Back at it! SCCA chapter is doing a dyno day for the Time Trials series, so I'm piggybacking on that to see what kind of massive power my little 5.0 puts down. That's just a few days out, so it would make sense that I finally dig my car out of the snow and tear it apart.

    Since doing the engine work, I noticed that one bank was consistently richer than the other. This could be an exhaust leak before the O2 sensor, or it could be an injector problem. My injectors are 36lb units I bought used off of eBay and slammed straight in the car. I decided to pull and clean them.



    I made up a little block to clamp the injector in place both ways. First, blow cleaner through backwards to clear out anything hiding inside. Then blow through the correct way to see if the spray and pattern look good.



    To cycle the injector, I grabbed a spare pigtail from my stash:



    And wired it up to the #1 injector on the engine. Then I put the Megasquirt in test mode and had it pulse the injector a few hundred times. (sorry, you have to scroll to the right to get to the video)

    https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu7tMPXAtIR/

    I was initially planning to actually flow test the injectors - I started modifying a spare fuel rail to hook up to an external fuel pump and spray into a graduated cylinder for measurement, but I'm not sure I have the time right now.

    I also wanted to address cooling. It got as hot as 230 on the track last summer, so I wanted to do what I could to help it cool down a bit more.





    I'll remake those out of some corrugated polypropylene and fix them in place, hopefully that directs a bit more air to the radiator and helps keep things cool.

    I need to get the intake put back on, change the oil, and dial the tune in before Saturday.
    Last edited by Laminar; 03-13-2019 at 11:13 AM.

  5. #380
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Des Moines, IA
    Posts
    1,051
    My Cars
    '97 M3/4/5.0
    When the engine got warm last year, I had a badly cycling idle. I tried all of the tuning tricks I could, but I couldn't ever get it to settle down and it would occasionally make the car die.

    With everything apart, I'm trying to eliminate any possible hardware problems. I cleaned and oiled the air filter. I cleaned the MAF sensor. I'm inspecting for vacuum leaks. I'm also looking at the PCV system. Changing cams changes vacuum which messes with the PCV. The valve I had in there was an aftermarket replacement for a carb'd Mustang 302, a part number 2221. When digging around in my bag of hose clamps and vacuum fittings I found another PCV valve stamped "2313 MADE IN USA." Some digging tells me this is for a stock Explorer 5.0. Some more research tells me that all aftermarket PCV valves are garbage.

    I ordered a Motorcraft EV98B, which is for a stock Mustang. It was all of $6 vs. the cheapo $2 aftermarket units. I wish there was more data out there on the factory units and their specs. I know someone makes an adjustable PCV but for $130 I can buy and try a lot of different valves.

    Anyway, I finished up the radiator air routing. I'm still planning to install a splitter which will seal off the bottom of the radiator. Maybe I'll throw some more of the plastic down there to seal it off until then. Couldn't hurt...



    I also changed the oil and did a quick check of the front suspension. I refreshed it all last year and it seems like everything's still tight. Tonight I need to do the same at the rear and take all of the rear camber out for maximum dyno gainz.

    Also I did something dumb.



    The car gets parked outside so I try not to make it too embarrassing for my wife (basically the only thing preventing me from putting a big ol' wing on it). We'll see how long these last.
    Last edited by Laminar; 03-15-2019 at 09:50 AM.

  6. #381
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    DeWitt, Michigan
    Posts
    6,080
    My Cars
    '97 540i/6, '97 328i

  7. #382
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    North OC, CA
    Posts
    3,327
    My Cars
    01 M5 TiAg/M1SW
    The stripes are great. Keep 'em on as long as you can!
    Nate J.

    (oOO\ (|||)ş(|||) /OOo)
    Titanium Silver/Black Nappa Full 07-18-2001 E39 M5 Heritage (BZ99672). 198,000mi+. Increasing daily. Engine rebuild thread.
    (eŌō\ (||||)ş(||||) / ōŌe)
    Alpineweiss III/Black Merino Full 03-26-2007 E60 M5 Manual (CX08265). 157,000+. Dead starter -_-

    RIP, Seabiscuit. Black Sapphire/Schwarz 03-11-2003 530iA Sport (CK39185). T-boned 03-01-2017 at 155,861mi.
    Take 2 "Otto" - Toledo Blue/Sandbeige 04-25-2002 530iA Sport (CH98032). Sold 11-10-2017 at 147,743mi.
    Take 3 "Manuel" - Toledo Blue/Grau 10-29-2001 530i5 Sport (CE92358). Sold 02-01-2019 at 217,600mi. I regret that. Build Log
    Reliable P.O.S. - Green/gray 1995 Camry V6 LE. 270k mi. Sold for space.

  8. #383
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Stuttgart, Germany
    Posts
    577
    My Cars
    1997 M3 / 5.3
    Agreed!

  9. #384
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Des Moines, IA
    Posts
    1,051
    My Cars
    '97 M3/4/5.0
    Gassed up and headed out.



    Started by getting it weighed. This is with full interior (driver's seat swapped with racing seat), 3/4 tank of gas, no A/C.



    Tim Mc weighed his stock '97 M3 sedan non-luxury package (manual seats) at 3237 with no fuel. The last time I weighed my car with the iron heads and both stock front seats and almost no fuel it was 3277. So it looks like my head swap/header build/seat swap took out over 100 lbs. If I swapped out the passenger seat and took out the fuel it'd be below 3100.

    And what about power? It was a little less peak than I was hoping for, but still decent for a worn out high mileage junkyard shortblock with some Craigslist parts slapped on. The torque curve is a beauty and exactly what I was going for with the Explorer intake and long tubes - over 300 by 3000rpm and hp carries to about 6000 before dropping off too much. This puts me smack in the powerband from 30-65mph in 2nd gear, perfect for everything but the slowest of turnaround corners. And I have the rev limiter set at 6250 so I can hit 70mph in 2nd for those extra long straights. If I swapped to a 3.73 rear end I'd drop down to about 25mph but top out at 60. That'd be a good tradeoff for the low speed courses we sometimes see but it'd hurt on the fast courses.

    278hp@5200, 312tq@3700.





    Video:
    https://www.instagram.com/p/BvFUS99gyPF/

    Car made the 80 mile round trip without a hiccup!

  10. #385
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Stuttgart, Germany
    Posts
    577
    My Cars
    1997 M3 / 5.3
    Laminar,

    Great update - always a good feeling to see results from your blood, sweat, and tears!

    A 100 pounds is substantial...= more HP.

    I would have topped up the tank before weighing - less variables, but in the big scheme of things likely just +/-20 pounds...

    The E36 is still one of the better looking cars out there.

    Thanks for keeping the thread alive!

  11. #386
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Des Moines, IA
    Posts
    1,051
    My Cars
    '97 M3/4/5.0
    Quote Originally Posted by Tim Mc View Post
    I would have topped up the tank before weighing - less variables, but in the big scheme of things likely just +/-20 pounds...
    You're right - I didn't even think about weighing the car when I left, I forgot they were doing that. I like to run autocross events at about 1/4-1/2 tank so I put enough in to get me there, back, some tuning, and to my first event.

    Reviewing the datalogs shows I was only running 33 degrees of timing (small block Fords typically are happy with 34-36) and my AFRs were a bit rich at 12.5. Some timing and tuning could release another 5-10hp pretty easily.



    The only thorn in my side right now is the oscillating idle. It's better than it was before, but not perfect, and it likes to die when the revs first drop when the clutch goes in. Once the idle settles it's fine, but the thing died several times while the guy was trying to drive it off the dyno, which was a bit embarrassing.

  12. #387
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Norton, OH
    Posts
    4,358
    My Cars
    2019 Miata RF, 88 325i
    Nice Car is probably a blast.

  13. #388
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Herndon, VA
    Posts
    625
    My Cars
    98 M3/4/5, RIP 528e
    Congrats on the solid numbers, puts my S52 to shame! But now I'm curious to see if my car makes what I think/hopes it makes. Are you still planning on doing some rally-x events this year?

  14. #389
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Des Moines, IA
    Posts
    1,051
    My Cars
    '97 M3/4/5.0
    Quote Originally Posted by 95maxrider View Post
    Congrats on the solid numbers, puts my S52 to shame! But now I'm curious to see if my car makes what I think/hopes it makes. Are you still planning on doing some rally-x events this year?
    Good question - for this event I jacked my coilovers all of the way up. You can see from the pics that even at max height it still appears to be lowered. The exhaust hit the lift as he was trying to back it on the dyno. It's...low.

    The front springs are 6" x 525lbs (9.3kg/mm) and the rears are 6" x 700lbs (12.5kg/mm). I could buy springs of the same stiffness but 2" longer. At max height the car would be 2" taller, but the coilovers still have enough adjustment to drop it down to autocross height.

    In reality, RallyCross and Autocross call for very different spring rates. I'm wondering if I could find a compromise that would be stiff enough for road course work but not knock my teeth out offroad. I don't want to change the front springs back and forth, messing up the alignment.

    Apparently they're running a new venue on a local dirt track that's hard-packed and fast. I want to try to make it out there if I can, that's the kind of course I can handle.

  15. #390
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Herndon, VA
    Posts
    625
    My Cars
    98 M3/4/5, RIP 528e
    Quote Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
    Good question - for this event I jacked my coilovers all of the way up. You can see from the pics that even at max height it still appears to be lowered. The exhaust hit the lift as he was trying to back it on the dyno. It's...low.

    The front springs are 6" x 525lbs (9.3kg/mm) and the rears are 6" x 700lbs (12.5kg/mm). I could buy springs of the same stiffness but 2" longer. At max height the car would be 2" taller, but the coilovers still have enough adjustment to drop it down to autocross height.

    In reality, RallyCross and Autocross call for very different spring rates. I'm wondering if I could find a compromise that would be stiff enough for road course work but not knock my teeth out offroad. I don't want to change the front springs back and forth, messing up the alignment.

    Apparently they're running a new venue on a local dirt track that's hard-packed and fast. I want to try to make it out there if I can, that's the kind of course I can handle.
    Wow! How do you still have your front bumper in one piece? I put on the non-M version before even trying to rally-x. I'm running no-name 250lb 12" front springs and 400lb 7" TC Kline in the rear. A big turning point for me was swapping out my former normal coilover-style 7" Hyperco rears to the Klines, which are an OEM beehive-style spring. This completely got rid of the coil binding I was getting, and I was getting it a lot. I'm very curious to know how your car rides in the dirt! What tires do you run for rally-x? We made the switch to a hard packed dirt place last year from loose stuff the years before, and I went from not being in the top 5, to being the season champion. I suggest you go to all the events there that you can!

  16. #391
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Des Moines, IA
    Posts
    1,051
    My Cars
    '97 M3/4/5.0
    The front bumper may actually be in a couple of pieces...

    I have a set of Blizzak LM-25s in a 205/50-17 with wheels I bought off of Craigslist. That's what I've run in the past. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for something in a 215 or 225 and 50 or 55 to give me a bit more sidewall and ride height.

  17. #392
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Metro DC
    Posts
    826
    My Cars
    79 323i, 94 325is, 13 M3
    Thanks for going to the hassle of doing a dyno and posting it. It's nice to see real numbers. Sorry I was too busy to do it with my stocker with the intake/cam swap.
    If God meant for man to motor-swap LS engines into track cars, He wouldn't have created Corvettes.

  18. #393
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Des Moines, IA
    Posts
    1,051
    My Cars
    '97 M3/4/5.0
    Racing starts tomorrow, so I've done a bit of work to prep. First, the splitter. I cut this out of plywood last year and never attached it to the car. I finally figured out how I wanted to attach it and plowed forward. I had to make a press brake attachment for my 20 ton press.













    And the stand test:


    I also changed the oil - running 15W50 Mobil 1 now. The poor 170,000 mile junkyard engine just isn't as tight as it used to be. As I came off track during last summer's track day, I was seeing the oil light flicker at idle, which is ~15lbs. That was on 10W40. We'll see how this does.

    Next to address is the suspension. I jacked the coilovers all of the way up for dyno day and still scraped my exhaust getting on the dyno. I lowered it back down to race height and replaced the rear bump stops, they were pretty shredded when I adjust the shocks for drag racing last year, so I ordered replacements.



    I have a set of rear shocks intended for a Z3 coupe (same place I got my front coilovers). They bolt up just fine, but seem to leave me with very little droop - at full extension the rear tires are only an inch or two below the rear fenders. I'm not sure how much droop I actually need so I stuck with my E36-intended Konis and set them in the middle. The Z3 units would be better as they're double adjustable and can be set on the car. The units I have in there now have to be removed and fully compressed to adjust.

    Last is tires. I'm really not sure what to do this season - I want to do autocross, rallycross, and drifting.

    I have three sets of wheels:
    - Stock 7.5x17/8.5x17 with worn out RE71Rs
    - 17x8 square with worn out Blizzaks
    - 17x9 square with worn out A7s.

    With temps in the 30s tomorrow I'll just run the RE71Rs. I want to keep the 17x9s for autocross but I'm not sure what tires I'll run. If I find some cheap A7 takeoffs I'll run those, otherwise I'll maybe throw a fresh set of 245 RE71Rs on that and just do street tires for a while.

    I think the 17x8s will get some 215 Blizzaks for Rallycross/winter use.

    That leaves the stockers for drifting, I'm thinking 225 Indy 500s all around.

    I get a pretty steep discount on Bridgestone tires so if I'm buying new, it's way cheaper to go that way. I can get a full set of Blizzaks installed for less than I can get a used set of anything on Craigslist. I know they're not the best rallycross tires, but the best rallycross tires don't come in 17" sizes!

  19. #394
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Stuttgart, Germany
    Posts
    577
    My Cars
    1997 M3 / 5.3
    Thanks for keeping *MY* E36 V8 candle burning - looking forward to your car fun this year!

    That rally cross has got to be rough on a car - certainly a true test of machine...
    Last edited by Tim Mc; 04-14-2019 at 01:47 AM.

  20. #395
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Des Moines, IA
    Posts
    1,051
    My Cars
    '97 M3/4/5.0
    First event in the bag. Started the day at about 33 degrees outside, decided to run the worn out RE71Rs so I threw those on the car. I got the rear shocks adjusted to...the middle?

    Started it up Saturday morning and burned off all of the oil that I spilled onto the header wrap while trying to pour without a funnel.



    On a positive note, with 15W50 in the car, hot idle pressures were more like 30-35psi vs 15-20 on 5W20.

    With the crappy tires, changes in suspension setup, cold weather, more power, and splitter (if it made any difference) it was basically a completely different car. Last year it would always push mid-corner. This year with the rear sway bar still tight from drag racing and power bump from the new engine bits, the front end was solid but the rear end could come out any time, any place.







    Started the day running in the 59 second range. On my last run of the first heat I tried to smooth everything out and dropped from a dirty 59.4 to a clean 58.2.



    I corner worked and watched the second heat of the other classes. One of my friends runs a C5 in the stock class and managed to crank out a low 55, one of the fastest times of the day. I grabbed him so he could ride with me for my second heat. We talked through some stuff on the course and my first run was a 58.1. After some more discussion, my second run dropped to a 57.8.





    He decided to hop out and give the car a little weight loss. My next run was a...59.7, almost two seconds slower. There was just no rear grip - the tires were always very cold to start with and the rears about done anyway. For my last run, I committed myself to reigning it in and being as smooth as possible. By the second corner I had already screwed that up, so I went overboard and drifted a few corners just for fun.





    Overall a very fun day, just a bit disappointing feeling so slow. I'm running 1-2 seconds behind people I was beating two years ago with no coilovers and less power, but fresh tires. "Make it adjustable and they will adjust it wrong" is really hitting home here.

    The plan for the season:
    - Fresh RE71Rs, 245/40R17s on my 17x9 wheels.
    - Get the Z3 rear shocks rebuilt and installed
    - Loosen the rear sway bar
    - Alignment of some sort

    I think that will get me a solid baseline at which point I can start dialing in the shocks and get back up to where I should be and hopefully start beating people again!
    Last edited by Laminar; 04-15-2019 at 02:18 PM.

  21. #396
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Stuttgart, Germany
    Posts
    577
    My Cars
    1997 M3 / 5.3
    Cycled out tires seem to have more challenge getting up to temps...I'd bet that was the biggest detraction.

    Great pictures by the way!
    Last edited by Tim Mc; 04-15-2019 at 03:40 PM.

  22. #397
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    DeWitt, Michigan
    Posts
    6,080
    My Cars
    '97 540i/6, '97 328i
    Love that press brake!

    As for the autocrossing woes, I agree, tires are probably the biggest factor, but I would also at some point soften the rear rebound setting (or if it's a single adjustable then just soften it), and see if that softens the reaction to transitions at the rear of the car. I always found that I liked the car to err a bit more toward understeer on transitions than the neutrality I wanted in steady state cornering. To me shocks are the tuning device for transitions, and then other things are the tuning devices for steady state balance. In a very rough way of describing it anyway..

  23. #398
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Des Moines, IA
    Posts
    1,051
    My Cars
    '97 M3/4/5.0
    Prepping for this weekend's 2 day event. Tried to start Tuesday night, but ended up laying down a bunch of mulch, cleaning out the garage, and just getting the car in the air.

    Went out last night and had to mow, but still made time to swap the clutch master cylinder. My floor was looking pretty gross.



    This has happened before - the pushrod from the clutch pedal to the MC is really short and a tiny misalignment sideloads it pretty badly. Last time it just about started pouring fluid out so I swapped the internal piston. Apparently the bore was damaged enough that it continued to slowly leak by and drip on the carpet.



    I grabbed an all new MC assembly and put that in.



    I spent some extra time checking the alignment this time. I originally thought the pushrod was aimed too far up or down, which is what I adjusted last time. I actually looked at the piston bore this time and it was pretty obvious that the misalignment was side-to-side. So I adjusted the angle of the MC to where the pushrod stays nice and straight for its whole stroke.



    Hopefully it takes this time. I did buy a 3-MC clutch and brake pedal set from Wilwood last year in case I want to fix this and the spongy brake pedal once and for all, but I don't think I'm quite ready to go full manual brakes on something I still street drive.

    On the list for tonight and tomorrow:
    - Loosen the rear sway bar
    - Get all the shocks to full soft so I can dial them in correctly
    - Lower the rear, it's sitting a bit too high
    - Check the alignment

  24. #399
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Des Moines, IA
    Posts
    1,051
    My Cars
    '97 M3/4/5.0
    Friday night:
    - Lowered the rear one turn of the adjusters.
    - Loosened the rear sway bar
    - Set all shocks to full soft
    - Checked alignement





    I ended up not needing to adjust anything, which is amazing, because I installed coilovers, swapped inner and outer tie rods, changed control arms, and replaced a wheel bearing since my last alignment.

    Here's the specs:
    - Front camber -3.5 deg
    - Front toe 3/16" total toe out (0.12 deg per side)

    - Rear camber -2.0 deg
    - Rear toe 1/4" total toe in (0.15 deg per side)

    I would have preferred more like 1/8" to 3/16" toe in in the rear but I wasn't about to go unbolting the RCABs for 1/16" of an inch.

    I also had my lovely clutch/brake bleeding helper help me bleed the new clutch MC. It looks like the clutch slave isn't happy being so close to the new exhaust.



    I'll need to shield that somehow, and in the meantime order a new $8 Miata clutch MC.

    Wheels and tires were fitted and I was ready to race.





    Saturday:

    A good showing for BMW. If you look reeeeeally closely there's a Z3 coupe headlight poking out from behind the orange Miata in the background. I didn't get the E90 M3 in the pic, but managed to nab the rest of the BMWs all together.



    This is a smaller venue that lends itself to tight, technical, not-that-flowy, slow stuff. My biggest hurdle was tire temps. The beginning of the course had a huge carousel. It got the front tires up to temp very quickly, to the point that they were overheating and greasy by the end of the course, which was three extremely tight, slow corners to the finish. I pushed really badly. I kept dropping tire pressures to get it to start at 37psi all around, as that's what the chalk told me looked good.





    I finished 9th/47 raw, which is decent but I expected to be faster.

    Afterwards we had some fun runs and I let a friend that normally drives FWD take my car for a spin. On a whim, I dropped front tire pressures down to 35psi. On his second time ever racing a RWD car, he took 3 tenths off of my best time, which would have been good for 6th overall. The tire pressure drop helped significantly with maintaining front grip until the end of the run, and doing four runs back-to-back made a significant difference in getting heat into the front brakes. He had way more braking force than I did. Maybe I should block off the brake vents to stop them cooling too much?

    Sunday results (and carnage) to come.

  25. #400
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    DeWitt, Michigan
    Posts
    6,080
    My Cars
    '97 540i/6, '97 328i

Page 16 of 27 FirstFirst ... 67891011121314151617181920212223242526 ... LastLast

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •