the grip missile. chronicling the sadventures of a neglected M3

[tsmith25]

I vote for 245 square, or 245f 255r. I'm not sure what your offset is, but if you are using spacers, it would not be that hard to fit the 245's up front. Worst case, you have to raise it a little show off some tire as well as wheel. I would put front grip above appearance. Way more fun is worth an extra .5in less "hella flush".

[doktor b]

I vote for 245 square, or 245f 255r. I'm not sure what your offset is, but if you are using spacers, it would not be that hard to fit the 245's up front. Worst case, you have to raise it a little show off some tire as well as wheel. I would put front grip above appearance. Way more fun is worth an extra .5in less "hella flush".

that's just it. i don't think even a 245 up front will actually net me 'way more fun'. the car is an absolute riot to drive as is. i'm going to replace the current 215/35s up front with 225/35s when they're due. (which will be this summer. i ordered a new wheel bearing a week ago and it's still not here. front toe is a little wonky, but the car is too much fun to park. so i'm tearing up the front tires in the interim.) we'll see how that goes.

apparently i took more pics of my junk last week than i thought. so i got them loaded up on my [ancient but reliable] flickr and now present them to you.

letting it warm up last week in the driveway.


super grainy roller that Pawel snapped with his phone off his computer screen. i'm gonna get some hi-res shots from this set at some point.


the sun came out one day last week and out come the pterodactyls.


and this is to show how things have changed over the last 3 years.



i've taken the counsel of some of my close friends and have decided on a course of action for this jalopy...for the time being.
weight will continue to be removed. i.e. sunroof plug, hood, boot lid, possibly fenders, suspension links & arms, interior, etc.
i'm going to start working through the details of the car. all the key marks, paint eventually (or a wrap. i have limits to what i'm prepared to spend on this thing), window seals, door handle seals, the 4 or 5 remaining rust spots (all pretty small. only the windshield surround actually worries me), etc.

basically, i'm going to continue to refine it and work on all the details that will potentially/hopefully transition the #gripmissile from a missile to a decent car.

[tptrsn]

I for one am glad that the "junk" in your pics was your car.

Personally I think the need for more front tire can be rectified by the increased use of the skinny pedal. Let that LS torque do work!

- - - Updated - - -

But then, I did try to tear the front suspension out from under my car last weekend, while using copious amounts of skinny pedal, so probably my advice is not good to follow...

[doktor b]

I for one am glad that the "junk" in your pics was your car.

Personally I think the need for more front tire can be rectified by the increased use of the skinny pedal. Let that LS torque do work!

- - - Updated - - -

But then, I did try to tear the front suspension out from under my car last weekend, while using copious amounts of skinny pedal, so probably my advice is not good to follow...

funny you should mention that. on my way home last night, i had to follow some fools out joyriding at 40mph in a 55. well, i live in the land of roundabouts. so when we got to the first one, i passed both asshats on the inside of the roundabout using copious amounts of skinny pedal. with just some skinny pedal modulation, i was able to get the rear to rotate nicely around without it stepping out and exited the roundabout in a hurry as well as very fashionably.

and i figured someone would wonder what was going to happen when i said here's some pics of my junk. lol.

[rajicase]

Car looks sick man. Love it!

[doktor b]

Car looks sick man. Love it!

Thanks!

[squashman702]

SOOOOO, now that you've been driving it, do you have anything that you would've done different from the get-go? I'm pretty late in my build to be messing with major changes since I'd like to drive it this summer, but I'd like to know your thoughts.

[doktor b]

SOOOOO, now that you've been driving it, do you have anything that you would've done different from the get-go? I'm pretty late in my build to be messing with major changes since I'd like to drive it this summer, but I'd like to know your thoughts.

I need to move my PS cooler to the front of the rad instead of behind it.
i wish I'd wrapped the headers. I bought the wrap and then got too excited and slapped them on unwrapped.
i wish I'd spent more on my clutch master cylinder so's to avoid cutting the firewall to allow my current MC to fit.
i wish I'd spent more on the oil cooler adapter and gotten something thermostatically controlled, or just skipped it til I need it.
im not happy with my harness and its general untidyness.
I wish I could decide if I want a track car or a street car.

[rajicase]

SOOOOO, now that you've been driving it, do you have anything that you would've done different from the get-go? I'm pretty late in my build to be messing with major changes since I'd like to drive it this summer, but I'd like to know your thoughts.

I was gonna answer for him but I think if I mention it one more time time in this thread he is going to drop kick me...

[doktor b]

I was gonna answer for him but I think if I mention it one more time time in this thread he is going to drop kick me...

Lol.

[mrfoley328]

I am fitting these fenders to my car, but I am worried about water getting in between them and original panels causing rust. I see you had wrapped over them. How clean of a finish was this? I am thinking this could be a good way of sealing off any water from getting in.

[doktor b]

I am fitting these fenders to my car, but I am worried about water getting in between them and original panels causing rust. I see you had wrapped over them. How clean of a finish was this? I am thinking this could be a good way of sealing off any water from getting in.

if you're worried about corrosion between the overs and steel body, make sure your steel body is in excellent condition, prime and paint all the holes drilled for mounting, wax and seal the paint, and then install the overs.
or just take them off once a year and clean underneath. it's about a 2 hour job to drill out all the rivets, clean the body, touch up any scratches or rust, and reinstall with new rivets. that's what i did.

also, be sure to seal up between the outer layer and inner layers of quarter panel for strength and to eliminate dirt/water intrusion into the trunk & backseat. lots of DIYs out there to help you along. (i just hacked away at the body with reckless abandon and let the junk get into the trunk. i'm going to make new plastic/aluminum fender wells this coming winter tho.)

hope that helps.



in other things #gripmissile related, i was trying to sort out why my radiator fan runs constantly yesterday. turns out the PCM is sending the 'fan on' signal as soon as the car starts. so either the PCM has sustained some bit of damage, the tuner cocked up the calibration, or i have a short to ground.
building on that newfound information, i slapped the car back together this morning so i could drive it to job2 and realized 5 miles from home i'd forgotten to plug in the fan. lol whoops. fortunately, i'm kind of awesome at hacked together builds and the car ran at a rock solid 180* all the way til i got off the interstate and onto surface streets where it got up to ~205* while backing into my parking spot at the TV station. NBD. this verifies the efficacy of my cooling setup and that 'fan on' all the time is wasteful. so i plan to refine my cooling fan control strategy. i don't want a manual switch, but i may include a manual override.

anyone with any experience or input please feel free to chime in.

<3
drb

[doktor b]

ordered a MF'ing racekor part i've been wanting for 3+ years.

[tptrsn]

Spill the beans, dammit!

[TostitoBandito]

A fire extinguisher?

[doktor b]

Spill the beans, dammit!

Nevar!

A fire extinguisher?

Safety last. If it catches fire, I'm driving it into a lake/pond/river.

[tsmith25]

front tires?

[doktor b]

front tires?

Nope.


(I'll post a pic when I get shipping info)

[doktor b]

Ordered another racekor part.
same deal. No details til I get tracking. Just sharing my excitement for now.

d-r-b out

[tptrsn]

Damn DrB! You go!!

[doktor b]

Damn DrB! You go!!

Well I'm done for two weeks now! Hoping to get the junk and then get it installed before I order more parts on the next check.

[tptrsn]

Good luck with that.

[CblockM3]

Spill the beans or I am unfollowing this thread

[doktor b]

Spill the beans or I am unfollowing this thread

Ah jeeze.

i got one big piece of CF and one big piece of aluminum.

demands met, secrets still intact. Shoulda been a lawyer or politician.

[tsmith25]

Is it an undertray and splitter to compensate for lack of real front tires? I would put a winking emoticon here to indicate sarcasm, but I'm not that good at forum-ing.