Another Sunday, another Autocross. Like last week, this event was held in the parking lot of the Iowa Events Center which is on the smaller side, lending itself to tight courses. This month’s course included a long 7-cone slalom, which was great for working on getting my slalom speeds up and backsiding the cones.
I forgot to bring my helmet (on the day when you’re NOT supposed to forget things), so the flubs you see where I’m wearing a borrowed open face were on the second run where the tires were still cold and the car was incredibly tail-happy. Luckily my wife stopped by with my helmet so I no longer had to feel like I was wearing someone else’s apartment on my face.
Speaking of flubs, those poor RE-11a rear tires are pushing 7 years old and are certainly not as sticky as they once were. I was hoping to nurse them through a couple of events next season but it looks like I’ll be picking up some more RE-71Rs right away to match the fronts and to keep the rear end behind the front.
Last month’s course had a couple of high speed hard braking zones which brought out my engine’s tendency to lose oil pressure when all of the oil went sloshing to the front. For this event I switched from Motorcraft’s 5W-20 blend to Mobil 1 10W-40 and overfilled by about a half quart. You can see the pressure dip when I brake hard, but it only goes down to ~22psi instead of the 10psi I saw last month, and it recovers right away. Last event, it would stay at 10-15psi for a few seconds of hard acceleration out of the corner, which is a little scary. When I build this engine I’ll look at baffling the oil pan, but for now I’m satisfied.
Still waiting on final results, but as it sits I landed at 10th of 65 for raw times. That didn’t include the 7th and 8th runs, though. I know my 7th run was about two tenths faster than my 6th, but I know of at least one car that beat my 7th run in his 7th or 8th, so my position could drop. Either way I’m very happy with the event and my progression this season – I started out finishing mid pack but have managed to work my way up to the top 15% or so in the last couple of events.
Very nice...one of the few that actually run their swapped cars in a competitive event!
the canton roadrace pan i bought for my swap fits *almost* perfectly. the swaybar hits the front sump, though really their pan looks like a modified OE pan and the front sump looks exactly the same, so if you don't have issues with your current setup the canton roadrace pan will probably work just fine for you
the kickouts in the back might pose some problems for guys with tight exhausts though - once i get my bmw back in the garage, i'll take some measurements of the kickouts and report back
Popular engine swap weights & stock engine weights
M42 + trans - 427lbs
302 + t5 trans - 475lbs
m20b27 + g260 - 497lbs
m52b25 vanos + g250 - 544lbs
351w + t5 trans - 572.5lbs
LS, aluminum block + t56 - 609lbs
LS, iron block + t56 - 719lbs, EST.
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...60-m42-1jz-2jz
My exhaust actually touches the rear sump, so a new pan would mean new exhaust. When this engine gets built I'll be building headers for it anyway so that shouldn't be a problem.
Crud, mark me down for a race pan and pickup when I can summon the strength and patience to install it. The Ford Racing pan costs more than I would like, but it looks like the easy button. I'll just keep telling myself, it's about the same as a new set of tires & mounting.
If I was doing it again, I'd just take the Summit pan I bought and add some baffles per the Ford Racing design. For the street driving and mild autocross duty it sees, the engine will be fine.
For a full-on race car, I'd look at a real pan. If you think about losing a $250 engine, plus a tow home from a track, plus lost entry fees, plus buying the right pan after all, it's worth the real pan in the first place.
ya know, since you're mainly doing autox right now, i'd bet that an accusump/accumulator would do the trick just fine
Popular engine swap weights & stock engine weights
M42 + trans - 427lbs
302 + t5 trans - 475lbs
m20b27 + g260 - 497lbs
m52b25 vanos + g250 - 544lbs
351w + t5 trans - 572.5lbs
LS, aluminum block + t56 - 609lbs
LS, iron block + t56 - 719lbs, EST.
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...60-m42-1jz-2jz
Looked into it - it would unload in the first corner then steal flow from the engine to refill itself, possibly not being ready for the next corner. Maybe for a track day with 20-30 seconds between braking zones, but not an AutoX with 4 braking zones within 40 seconds.
I like it, what are you using for tubing?
No idea if the stock one will fit, and no desire to spend $100+ to find out. I already had the 3/16" plate from building my engine mounts and Menard's gouged me at $10 each for a couple lengths of tubing. And this way I can be sure it clears my drain plug.
Generic Menard's 1" 16GA tubing. I got the other side cut and notched last night but it was raining pretty good and my legs were getting wet sticking out from the under the car. Tonight I'll make the final pieces and gussets and get everything fully welded.
There used to be a steel distributor nearby that had free delivery and no minimum order - it was awesome. I got 20' sticks of 3/16" angle, 3/16" x 4" plate, and 1.5" round tube for like $25 each. I guess it wasn't a viable business model though since they're gone now.
Somebody gave me the stock one, so I can't fuss about the price. But it makes complete removal of either of the two drain plugs something between difficult and impossible. I was sort of bummed, until I remembered I bought one of these for coolant extraction (before it cost $55 and came in the Christmas color scheme) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1. Cars with dipsticks. Gotta love em.
Maybe after I suck it up and install the stupid $500 Ford Performance baffled oil pan, the drain plugs will be in better spots. Looks like they side mounted 'em.
I'm almost done with my wiring. Intake and throttle are next up.
Last edited by JBasham; 10-12-2016 at 09:55 AM.
Got primed and undercoated last night, tonight I'll bolt it back up, hopefully the holes still match up. I welded as much as I could with it installed so it wouldn't pull too far out of shape.
It did need a little hole-widening to get the outermost bolts to fit, but it was no biggie.
Started pulling weight out last night. The luxury package heated power seats weighed in at 66lbs each.
Rear seat and sound deadening pulled. I'll probably yank the console, and maaaaybe the carpet. Everything will go back in after the two autocross events this weekend, so I'm trying not to get too radical.
I'm stealing the seat from my video game driving seat, which is just a cheap racing seat from Amazon.
I thought about making a rear strut bar last night but the general forum consensus is that it didn't really do anything. The shock towers don't actually flex that much and the panel behind the rear seat provides plenty of stiffness. After I get the seat bracket made tonight I may see if I can fit in a front strut bar.
Last edited by Laminar; 11-12-2017 at 05:29 PM. Reason: fixed pics
Did you drive the car with the subframe brace yet?
I knew the lux seats were heavy, but 66 pounds is a LOT. Making me reconsider getting racing buckets for my LS car. Granted, I could probably stand to lose 50 pounds myself, which would help.
Just enough to pull it into the garage. I felt a bit WT having a car up on jackstands in the driveway all week, but once I realized what was wrong it was too late to try and drive the car anywhere. Plus it's dropped below 45 degrees overnight this week and that's too cold to leave the RE-71Rs outside so the M3 gets a temporary garage spot. After this weekend the Blizzaks go on and the Potenzas get cozy in the basement.
wait what? is this thing getting the full racecar treatment now?
Popular engine swap weights & stock engine weights
M42 + trans - 427lbs
302 + t5 trans - 475lbs
m20b27 + g260 - 497lbs
m52b25 vanos + g250 - 544lbs
351w + t5 trans - 572.5lbs
LS, aluminum block + t56 - 609lbs
LS, iron block + t56 - 719lbs, EST.
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...60-m42-1jz-2jz
Just for this weekend. I'll put everything back afterwards, if for no other reason than I can't spare the garage space to store the interior.
Got the seat in last night. Don't mind the hole in the bottom cover, it's where one of the bass shakers usually sits.
Last edited by Laminar; 04-06-2017 at 09:48 AM.
that sure is some fancy stitching for a cheap amazon seat
Popular engine swap weights & stock engine weights
M42 + trans - 427lbs
302 + t5 trans - 475lbs
m20b27 + g260 - 497lbs
m52b25 vanos + g250 - 544lbs
351w + t5 trans - 572.5lbs
LS, aluminum block + t56 - 609lbs
LS, iron block + t56 - 719lbs, EST.
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...60-m42-1jz-2jz
Feelin' all Bentley up in here.
lolololol. i've sat in a $10k (probably) leather couch before - the plushness of the leather is incredible. i couldn't imagine that feeling while puttering around town in a 400hp+ car
Popular engine swap weights & stock engine weights
M42 + trans - 427lbs
302 + t5 trans - 475lbs
m20b27 + g260 - 497lbs
m52b25 vanos + g250 - 544lbs
351w + t5 trans - 572.5lbs
LS, aluminum block + t56 - 609lbs
LS, iron block + t56 - 719lbs, EST.
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...60-m42-1jz-2jz
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