The car weighed 3140 on a certified truck stop scale. At the time, I weighed 260lbs.
The car had the AC in it when weighed and no back seat, no door cards front or rear, no headliner, fiberglass seats. Still has carpet, padding, full dash. I have a 4 point 1/2 cage.
Had it's first event with aero this past weekend. I was slow, but 4 seconds faster than my previous really slow times.
The aero is working, but maybe too well. It's a bit pushing in a few spots on NOLA so I am going to try an stock rear bar on her.
Had to "clearance" the rear fenders a bit more for the meatier tires, but it was a quick trackside repair.
Everything else on the car went well. Managing TT and all the issues that came with that was a complete cluster - but they don't pay me enough to let that bother me.
- - - Updated - - -
Today's update is installation of the Bimmerworld dual fuel pump setup to prevent the fuel starvation issue that plagues E36s in hard right turns. The fuel tank is a saddle over the drive shaft. The main fuel pickup is on the passenger side. When in hard right turns with 1/2 a tank or less, all the fuel moves to the driver's side and the car fuel starves. This kit puts another fuel pump on the driver's side which feeds the passenger side pump as well. Supposed to give you the ability to race down to E.
installation would have been 100X easier without the 1/2 cage.
Also, sourced an OEM M3 rear sway bar and purchased new springs. Going from 500F/650R to 600F/750R.
There was another E36 at the event that experienced a front lower control arm failure that did fairly significant damage to his car. Decided I needed to update those as well. New control arms with HD ball joints are in the garage; ready to be installed.
Last edited by darbyfam; 05-27-2016 at 04:34 PM.
Working on adding lightness. Removing the AC vents, heater core and all un-necessary wiring (radio, speakers, OBC, etc). Also working to get the carpet and padding out, any sound deadening, the door glass, the rear speaker tray and some other rear un-necessary wiring out of the car before my next event in July.
Also picked up a new diff that I will swap out before that event. Going from 3.15 gearing to 3.73.
Worked on the doors and door glass today. Pulled all the regulators, motors, guides, etc and fabricated some tabs to hold the glass in place during transport and storage. Glass comes out in about a second for the track. Used a small piece of moulding between the tabs to ensure a good weather seal for the glass/door.
This hooks under the glass and uses the door as a "stop" for the right height.
Installed
Going to have the wife make me some padded covers for the glass and later will switch to plexi to save possible broken glass.
Today's work included removing the sound deadening. $18.00 of dry ice, a hammer, scraper and about an hour of work to remove ~33# from the car.
Also added back about 1#
Last edited by darbyfam; 06-17-2016 at 09:33 PM.
Adding more lightness: S2R carbon fiber headlight deletes arrived and were installed (really great quality on these. They took about a month to get, but I think they were worth it). Also scored a set of knockoff ACS stubby mirrors. Now waiting for a big box from Hard Motorsports so I can put her back together again.
Today's work included installing the Hard Motorsports heater core delete plate and the heater hose re-route blocking plate to the back of the block. Just need to put a brass elbow in the water hoses to complete the re-route. Off to Home Depot Racing.
Got allot done over the last week:
1. Finished pulling all the sound deadening and a good bit of the unneeded wiring.
2. Installed a dead pedal from a 1979 Mustang
2. Got the wife to crawl behind the cage and pull all the sound deadening and wiring from the back parcel shelf
3. Wired up and installed the gauges in the new dash panels.
4. Installed a new diff. 3.73 gears, 3-clutch, polished R/P, Rogue Engineering diff cover (thanks Chris!!)
5. Washed her.
Have a few small punch list items to get done before next weekend's NASA event.
Nice!!!! Great progress!
1996 328i (m52B28US) OBD1 euro ZF 5spd. 3.23LSD conversion / Chem. PnP Head/ DINAN stg.2 CHIP/ VAC race valves/ S52 cams/ A/C delete/ fan delete/ Washer Fluid resv delete/ ARP head studs/ Cometic 140MLS / VAC Solid Engine/trans Mounts/ CAI / 2.5"Borla race exahaust/ NGK R spark plugs, M50 Mani, S50 Oil Res, Riot Racing HFTB, SAMCO Hoses, JBR FW, X-Brace, Mtech Front Bumper, RE RSMs, stoptech SS lines, Bilstein sports, H&R Race Springs, S52 Reinforcement plates, Kosei K1 w/ bridgestone RE960as, Brembo/stoptech slotted rotors, M3 Trailing arms, M3 Calipers, M3 Axles, ACS strut brace, weight reduction.
http://mbuild.blogspot.com/
I had a few issues this weekend but nothing major. This was the shake down of the following changes:
1. New, stiffer springs
2. New front control arms
3. Bimmerworld dual fuel pump kit
4. New diff
5. New alignment
6. Significant weight loss (in the car only).
I had a bit of a rubbing issues with the lower stance and new alignment. Issue fixed with BFH, but had a little wear on the tire
Also, I felt way down on power all day Saturday. The car just felt sluggish and my times were well off the competition (if more off than usual). Finally figured it out on Saturday night after the track went cold.
Coil pack boot had a hole in it and the spark was grounding out on the head.
Put a little electrical tape on it which lasted about a lap before losing power again. Lost 3 seconds and gained 11MPH on the front straight on that one run.
No other issues otherwise. Spring rate change feels spot on, the dual fuel pump setup work perfect (ran all the way down to E without any fuel starvation), the diff feels amazing (Thanks again Chris). Got another punch list of very small items to get done before a September event at Barber
Just because I like how it looks
Today's modding: Changed the oil; first time since rebuild noted in this thread. Actually forgot I still had "break in" oil in the car and did four events on that oil. It should hurt to be stupid, but luckily looks like everything is OK. Some shavings but very, very fine shavings and not a whole lot of them.
Also fixed a broken water temp sensor, adjusted the headlight deletes (the driver's side came a little loose and was rubbing on the paint), and changed all the coil pack boots. I also installed the Hard Motorsport brake duct kit
I ordered a set of Wilwood Superlite calipers for the front and will finish up the brake/brake cooling when the calipers arrive on Wednesday.
Today's modding: Finished up the brake cooling install, adding some more hose clamps and some zip ties for security. Installed new Wilwood Superlite 4 piston calipers and started mocking up the Cool Shirt install.
The brake kit I got utilizes the stock M3 rotor rather than the usual upgraded E46 CSL rotor (or larger). I liked this because (1) I wasn't experiencing fade issues so I didn't feel a larger rotor was necessary and (2) this kit can be shifted to the rear later if I ever want/need a larger kit up front.
Anyone ever cut that "nipple" out the middle of the spare tire well?
I cut mine out with an angle grinder and just used aluminum tape over the hole. My homemade cool suit cooler sits back there so a piece of angle aluminum covers some of it as well.
I ended up cutting it out. I purchased a sheet of aluminum and cut two pieces a bit larger than the hole. I put one piece in the trunk, one under and used a rubber gasket and nut/bot to sandwich the two pieces in the hole. It's water tight. The Cool Shirt is now setup on the driver's side in a Cool Shirt mounting plate. It is easier to open and fill with the cooler on the other side.
Last edited by darbyfam; 07-23-2016 at 06:13 PM.
You're going to love your cool shirt system! I ran mine for the first time last event and it made a world of difference. I mounted my CS box in place of the passenger seat. It's a quick swap to change between seat and box, the lines are super short and the filled box weighs exactly the same as the passenger seat plus sliders (within 0.5 lb). I don't know how old your box is, but Cool Shirt recently issued a bulletin on the need to drill a small hole in one of the pump nipples to prevent air locks. I believe they've fixed the flaw on brand new units as of 2-3 weeks ago, but mine needed the mod. Also, I bought some cheap re-freezable ice bricks from Academy Sports, $1 to $3 ea, depending on size. They come in a variety of sizes and I found a combo that very nicely fills the interior volume of my CS box, which is the smaller of the two available CS box sizes. I found that these bricks will remain at least partially frozen for about half a day in the box, including two track sessions under a hot race suit. So I can bring two sets of the bricks to the track, load one before the first run and keep the 2nd one in a small ice chest.
Your brake ducts look great. Check your hose-to-tire clearance at full lock. The tires rub the hoses on many e36 setups. On my car Turner just "ovalized" the hose (i.e., flattened it just a bit) as it passes through the zone where the edge of the tire would otherwise hit it.
Felix - I have had the CS system in two previous cars. I also swear by it. My box is brand new and I also use the ice blocks.
I checked my ducts at full lock and adjusted accordingly.
THANKS and see you at Barber in September.
Got the brake kit buttoned up and everything bled. It's a long story and I don't want to admit my level of stupidity, but the brake bleed took much longer than it should have.
Car is off jack stands and ready for a good wash and the trip to Barber in two weeks.
Looks great.
FYI, in that pic of your brake duct, the rotor is backwards. Your left and rights are swapped.
I'm sure. They point backwards. They don't scoop air, air comes in in the middle and spins outward via centrifugal force. That's why cooling ducts force air to the center.
Thanks!! I didn't pay attention to the rotors - another bonehead move. I need to make another pass on the bleed, so I will double check them and correct if needed.
Last edited by darbyfam; 07-23-2016 at 05:19 PM.
Mine were incorrect and now fixed. Thanks for catching that.
Bookmarks