BJH102's e36 Track Car Build

[olemiss540]

Nice update! Any reason you didnt go with 90 degree fittings to get rid of the additional loop in your oil lines?

[bjh102]

Nice update! Any reason you didnt go with 90 degree fittings to get rid of the additional loop in your oil lines?

Thank you! No reason other than I was sure I could make the straight fittings work and not sure if I could make the 90° work.

[bjh102]

Took a quick look into the ABS issue this afternoon after waiting a few weeks to get an OBD1 adapter for my scanner.

Hooked up and got a whole list of codes.

ABS 1 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

A few years ago I had replaced the brake pedal sensor and all speed sensors. I cleared the codes and re scanned it. Now I only have this one code showing up.

ABS 2 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

Guess i will be checking the speed sensor to figure out what is going on. Maybe swap speed sensor from left side to right side to see if the code follows the sensor or stays on the left side. Ill jack the car up and start checking maybe tomorrow if not next weekend as my sway bar end links should be here this week.

[olemiss540]

Great idea. There is also an extensive troubleshooting thread on here somewhere if you can do some googling. Should have Ohm specs on the sensors so you can do that at your diag port with a meter in a couple seconds in case it tests bad right away. Obviously even if it tests good it could have issues once rolling but worth a shot before spending the time jacking the car up and swapping them.

[bjh102]

Great idea. There is also an extensive troubleshooting thread on here somewhere if you can do some googling. Should have Ohm specs on the sensors so you can do that at your diag port with a meter in a couple seconds in case it tests bad right away. Obviously even if it tests good it could have issues once rolling but worth a shot before spending the time jacking the car up and swapping them.

I searched around for that thread and cannot find it.

Oh well, it needs to get jacked up for the end links anyways.

[bjh102]

I think i found the problem. Not sure how it happened but a new sensor is ordered and should be here Wednesday. Hoping that takes care of it.

speed sensor by Brad Harris, on Flickr

[bjh102]

Sway bar endlinks arrived as did the new wheel speed sensor.

Nothing is ever as simple as it should be. The washers did not fit inside the tab for the sway bar mount the nut would not fit either as it has a flange on it. Busted out the die grinder and made two flats on the washers and away we go. Not a big deal but my 20 minute install was easily doubled. Here is an few pictures of what I'm talking about.

endlinks by Brad Harris, on Flickr

washer fitment by Brad Harris, on Flickr

Trimmed washer by Brad Harris, on Flickr

new washer fitment by Brad Harris, on Flickr

complete by Brad Harris, on Flickr

Installed the new speed sensor, lowered the car down set preload on the swaybar, cleared the abs codes and went for a test drive. No codes came back! Tested the abs was working and it feels just like it should. It is so nice to have an almost light free dash.

no abs light by Brad Harris, on Flickr

Now i just need to figure out what OHM resistors I need to jumper out the steering wheel air bag and passenger side dash airbags and my dash will be clear of all warning lights for the first time since I have owned the car.

One more problem did arise today tho. I had been noticing a smell coming from the engine bay since I did all the work a few months ago. It smells like nail polish remover. It seems to be coming from the driver side of the bay near the fire wall. Somewhere around the fuel filter/ charcoal canister area. Maybe its gas vapor? It smells more chemically than gas tho. Anyone had this problem before?

Sorry for all the pictures but my kid loves looking at pictures of the work we do on the car.

[jakermac]

Now i just need to figure out what OHM resistors I need to jumper out the steering wheel air bag and passenger side dash airbags and my dash will be clear of all warning lights for the first time since I have owned the car.

That was resolved on my 93 325is by unplugging/removing the airbag controller.

[bjh102]

That was resolved on my 93 325is by unplugging/removing the airbag controller.

I will give that a try this week/weekend.

Im more concerned by the smell at this point. Need to dive into it some more.

[bjh102]

Its about time to give this thread a bit of an update. Work has slowly been continuing with my car but it really kicked off last summer. My son loves cars and who wants to be a race car driver told my wife that my car needs over fenders and wider wheels and tires. so for my birthday a set of cliq tuning over fenders showed up and a few weeks later a new set of apex arc 8's in 17x10 and 275 40 falken azenis rt615k. now to make it all fit.

thumbnail_IMG_3984 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

I got them mounted up and fenders cut out fairly quick but stalled out a bit on getting paint and getting the project finished.

thumbnail_68091255277__F1E54999-F07A-4135-BA1B-3BD4C27ACD7F by Brad Harris, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_4006 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

I eventually took it to get aligned and corner balanced. Unfortunately I ended up needing longer front springs as I had major rubbing on the front fenders. Good news for me is the shop left one of the lock rings on the front coilover loose. So when I take it back I will only have to pay for half the cost since I am also changing the front spring length.

They pointed out a few small oil leaks and a few other issues, mainly the shifter and shifter bushings. I fixed the leaks and installed a garagistic solid mount shifter, dssr and shifter joint. Much better!

thumbnail_69179771557__BA31CCA7-EA10-41E2-BB65-6BE722D944E8 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

thumbnail_69182408928__C80E3CA2-C424-46EB-AD6C-FFA9A8E59984 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

At some point in December I decided I'm doing a track weekend in August of 2023. So for Christmas my wife and son got me an NRG short hub, quick release and steering wheel and a rogue engineering front strut brace.

thumbnail_69406594648__665BC294-494D-4C9D-8C79-DAAADC8B5B04 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_4499 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

The quick release may not be the nicest most expensive piece out there but it feels super solid with no play at all.

The next thing was to refresh the cooling system as the thermostat and water pump were in unknown condition and mileage to me. Stewart high flow water pump, new thermostat and housing. Also added water temp, oil pressure and oil temp gauges while I was in there.

thumbnail_IMG_4467 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

thumbnail_69475200497__2FAAD9C7-067A-47FE-959F-D29E9E837ED1 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_4473 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

This was all completed just after new years.

This past week/weekend I finally got sick of looking at white unpainted fenders on a black car. There is a local automotive paint supply store that will color match paint for you. I went by last Thursday to get a quote for everything I would need to paint the fenders myself. I dont want to spend $1500-2000 for someone else to paint them. Well it was $275 for primer, color matched paint and clear coat and they had me out the door in 15 minutes. Another $225 and I had a spray gun and all the supplies needed to make a paint booth in my garage.

$600 is way better than $2000.

I got to work on Friday!

thumbnail_IMG_4491 (1) by Brad Harris, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_4492 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_4493 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_4494 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

The end result turned out pretty damn good for my first attempt at painting. Yes there are blemishes and no its not a professional job. But from 5' away it looks awesome.

thumbnail_IMG_4495 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_4496 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_4497 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

There will be quite a few more updates coming in the next couple of months.

Thanks for following along.

[bjh102]

More updates to the car coming in the next week or two. But really proud dad moment I wanted to share. Son wants to be a race car driver so the only way to do it is race go karts. He had his first race this past weekend and it was one hell of a learning experience. Worst conditions possible as it rained all weekend long. Long story short. Saturday practice was great, ran the same times as the fast kids his first time driving in the rain. Sunday went bad from the first lap of practice with a big crash, DQ after qualifying due to failing the fuel test. Bad heat races and then an engine that stalled 4 times during the main event. Either way I'm proud of him for racing his first one and we both know what we need to do to get better. He survived and placed 5th out of 7 even with the engine issues.

Here are some pics and a video from Saturday practice.

IMG_4635 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

IMG_4636 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

IMG_4652 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

IMG_4657 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

IMG_4646 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

Next race is in a few weeks which gives us enough time to get everything sorted out and some more practice in.

[bjh102]

Update time for the car. Got a few safety things taken care of recently. Coolant overflow catch can and fire extinguisher mounted up. The benefit to having summit 20 minutes from me is I can pick most things up same day!

thumbnail_IMG_4520 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_4522 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_4523 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_4593 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

Thought I was losing coolant prior to coolant system rebuild. Did a pressure test and it held steady at 25psi for 30 minutes. Guess I'm all good to go.

thumbnail_IMG_4615 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

I had a few side jobs pop up which paid for a new seat, mounting brackets and floor plates! Big fan of sparco seats for my body build.

thumbnail_IMG_4684 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_4685 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

thumbnail_IMG_4707 by Brad Harris, on Flickr

Next up is getting is realigned and corner balanced!

On the funny side, my wife did ask me the other day what is still original in the engine bay since I bought the car. I pointed to the brake booster and fuse box. She shook her head and walked back out of the garage. I'm sure I should be nervous.