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Thread: The uphill battle... aka e36 M3 STR build

  1. #51
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    duplicate
    Last edited by snakebit8; 11-08-2018 at 03:58 PM. Reason: duplicate

  2. #52
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    Quote Originally Posted by MINIz guy View Post
    Is your lot super slick? Cause your car still looks really pushy where I see your input but there's no change in direction.
    I'd wager that a lot of it is his camera's image stabilization. I've noticed that watching my raw GoPro vids vs. videos of friends with other cameras that try and stabilize the image. You don't see the actual turn-in on camera because the camera itself pans.

    The video you posted is definitely a GoPro, it has that signature GoPro terrible sound quality. Rewatch one of snakebit's videos and watch the passenger side rearview mirror - see how the camera pans the frame for each turn in? At first glance it seems like when he turns, the car doesn't respond because the camera frame stays steady, then when the camera reaches the edge of its stabilization window, you feel like the car is turning because the camera movement finally reflects that. Stabilization on autocross videos is a pet peeve of mine...

  3. #53
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    Quote Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
    I'd wager that a lot of it is his camera's image stabilization. I've noticed that watching my raw GoPro vids vs. videos of friends with other cameras that try and stabilize the image. You don't see the actual turn-in on camera because the camera itself pans.

    The video you posted is definitely a GoPro, it has that signature GoPro terrible sound quality. Rewatch one of snakebit's videos and watch the passenger side rearview mirror - see how the camera pans the frame for each turn in? At first glance it seems like when he turns, the car doesn't respond because the camera frame stays steady, then when the camera reaches the edge of its stabilization window, you feel like the car is turning because the camera movement finally reflects that. Stabilization on autocross videos is a pet peeve of mine...
    Interesting. Maybe I'll play with camera Settings to get a better video.

  4. #54
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    Aaaand this car just took 1st in STR at Grenada so I take back what I say. This car obviously works and amazing drives by the two drivers!

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    Quote Originally Posted by MINIz guy View Post
    Aaaand this car just took 1st in STR at Grenada so I take back what I say. This car obviously works and amazing drives by the two drivers!
    Woot woot!!

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    Well done!

    Would you mind sharing the spring rates you settled on? And have you had a chance to get weighed? I'm jealous of you coupe guys that seem to save a hundred or two pounds right of the bat vs. the sedan.

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    Quote Originally Posted by MINIz guy View Post
    Aaaand this car just took 1st in STR at Grenada so I take back what I say. This car obviously works and amazing drives by the two drivers!
    Thanks Man, I honestly really appreciate that.

    Guess I have not written an update in a long long time. Life has kinda gotten busy so updating this has unfortunately taken a back seat. I'll try to give a recap of the Pro solo which was bittersweet and give updates on the build progress.

    Grenada Pro Solo- Sooo Grenda was pretty cold and wet compared to what I was hoping for. We only brought our Dry tires (Rivals) and It seemed that all of the top NDs had rain wheels and tires so0 we kind of figured Saturday was going to be a lost cause. This ended up being correct as we were both quite a ways back from the top cars since we were just not able to put any power down and that is our only big advantage over the NDs. We finished our morning day soaking wet and way behind but actually in decent spirits. I managed to put down runs that were good enough to be quite close to the 3 cars right ahead of us which we did not expect so that was good. Note to self, even in street tire classes "rain tires" make a big difference. They ended up canceling the afternoon runs because of weather and we were able to call it an evening early and grab some warm showers and food/drinks.

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    Sunday started with very overcast skies and very windy. On the plus side it seemed much dryer. This of course was only temporary as it seemed to drizzle on and off lightly for most of the morning. The course was jumping between damp and less damp throughout the morning making conditions quite tricky to gauge if you would have tons of grip or not. Since I was ahead of my co driver on day 1 I became the first driver out for us instead of the 2nd driver which the higher number I ran dictated on Saturday. As I pulled up for my runs it started to sprinkle again but it was waaaay better than it was saturday so i was actually in pretty optimistic. I manges to go out there and put down some good runs and the car was handling much better than the day before since the tires were actually working. I only hit 1 cone the whole event (usually hit more if I'm honest) and it was on my last run on the left course which was a 1.1 second improvement on my second best time over there. I coned away 2nd place... oh well them's the breaks I guess.

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    So the real drama deals with my Co-driver Joel. After I made my six runs we pulled to the second driver grid and got the drivers switched over. It was actually sprinkling even harder as the second drivers pulled up to the grid but then it just stopped. The first rus were pretty darn slick but then the courses started to dry out and the times started to fall. Joel started jumping higher and higher in the standings as he was able to get some temp in his BFG rivals in the heavier E36 unlike all the NDs who were unable to get their tires warmed up as easily. Was the the difference? I'm really not sure but he put down some real flyers. The M was really starting to dance now and it looked very comfortable out on course. Going into his final run on the Left course he was in 2nd place and the course was even drier than it was before. This is where the drama occured. Both course had very quick finished with stop walls very close to their finishes. In the rain both Joel and I finished all our runs sideways trying to get stopped in time. Lots of cars were actually braking before the finish lights to try and stop in time. One Joel's last run he went straight through the wall after the lights without hitting any cones. He just proceeded to drive away after doing so since he was trying to get out of the way of the next car. This choice was apparently the wrong one since the course worker called him on a DNF. Apparently he should have circled around and came back into the stop box in front of oncoming cars to keep his run. Plenty of cars went through this was and I don't believe they were all given DNFs so I'm a little upset it came out that way but I guess that's how it goes. I'm debating writing a letter to get clarification but that is what was decided currently so he had the win taken away from him for being safety conscious. Oh well I guess. In my eyes he won the event and the E36 has a notch in the win Column!

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    Overall a fun weekend. The car is handling great and just flies when you get in the zone. Its fighting for top PAX honors each locally in a very challenging region so I feel happy with how it is working. We now feel we can hang with the NDs in tough conditions and really surprised some folks in our 20 year old car. The announcer was very pleased with the underdog mixing things up. This car is still not done yet and we have more improvements to make. The stock exhaust is still on it and I still need to get on the dyno for custom tuning. Balance feels really good right now, It still lift the front inside tire in quick transitions but not near as bad as most stiff E36s so i'm pleased with that and the overall balance. I have not weighed the car yet, I most likely will after the exhaust is done. Spring rates are 650/800 and its really dances when it is on the limit and the driver is ahead of the course.

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    Thanks to everyone for keeping up with the car and we will be running more National events this year to make sure this showing was not a fluke. Its been fun reading lots of people excited that the platform is still viable and I hope to keep that optimism going with more good drives from Joel and myself. Thanks for reading.

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    Ah now I get why official results bumped you guys back down. BFG's, rain and an underdog car, so it had to be a nice feeling being on the podium. Got some tires out of that too, right?

    Also, can I PM you about car setup in case you don't want to disclose everything on here? I'm really struggling with my JRZ's and the NJ Pro is in 3 weeks. My car is driving slower than last year on "eh" coilovers.

  9. #59
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    Quote Originally Posted by MINIz guy View Post
    Ah now I get why official results bumped you guys back down. BFG's, rain and an underdog car, so it had to be a nice feeling being on the podium. Got some tires out of that too, right?

    Also, can I PM you about car setup in case you don't want to disclose everything on here? I'm really struggling with my JRZ's and the NJ Pro is in 3 weeks. My car is driving slower than last year on "eh" coilovers.
    Yeah We were both happy to be in the ballpark but equally bummed that we did not do as well as we were capable. Him with the Garbage DNF and me with my cone. Oh Well. We did earn some tires as well as some Hawk contingency but me being absent minded forgot to complete my application that needed to be filled out ahead of time so we are technically eligible. Honestly didn't think it would come up at our first event in it but I guess I was wrong. I will have it all sorted before our next big event.

    I don't mind talking shocks. I don't think my setting will help you since we have different weight, power, and spring rates but I can go over my approach to setting them up. Basically I started at full soft, bumped compression until the car didn't feel floaty any more then switched to rebound and added clicks until it quit being bouncy. I wanted the shocks set softer to deal with bumps and let the car take a nice set in the corner. It's so easy to over do the shock settings and get the car skittish. I ran into that problem and brought them back to a softer setting and the car just worked better. It is not super darty currently and honestly Ill take an ever so slightly slower transition for more overall grip. This of course is just my approach but that does not mean that its the only approach. Others have much more efficient approaches and I'm sure they have dialed in their stuff better than mine but this is how I attacked it. Hopefully that helps.

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    Welp, Managed to get through the Nationals registration Process. I guess we will see how we do in Lincoln. Hopefully on a new set of the Hot Yokohamas. Tire Rack says early August for arrival so we will give them a shot and compare them to the Rivals. Also going to have a separate set up Continentals for when it rains, not if haha. Looks like all Miatas and a Boxster so far, Club STR can hopefully give the NDs a hard time again. Kinda pumped now that its all in motion now.

    That is all, I know its a short update but i'm kinda excited.
    Last edited by snakebit8; 06-26-2019 at 07:12 AM.

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    Looks like Nationals is not going to happen. At an event yesterday the oil pump let go is my guess. Oil light came on and the engine stopped mid run which almost put me in a pole. Luckily I managed to not make contact but the engine is making all sorts of bad noises. Dropping the oil pan was planned for the offseason but apparently it couldn't wait. Now the hunt to figure out my next step. Very much a bummer but could have been much worse had it waited until Nebraska. If anyone has a line on a good s52 or any nice long blocks im on the hunt haha.

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  13. #63
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    Quote Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
    I have an idea.
    Oh yeah? Whats that?

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    I'm assuming you are implying a V8 swap I guess haha. Trust me Engine swaps have gone through my head. I've found a few S54 for good prices that I could make a competitive SM platform in terms of minimum weight as a function of displacement. That's if I just wanted to throw metric tons of money at it but I'm not in a place to do that. I believe that STR is where I want the car to stay and I'm thoroughly enjoying driving this car in this trim. As I've stated in this thread already, and especially now that the ND2 is in STR, I believe the proper home for the E36 M3 is in STX. It would be a good match for the twins and I don't feel there are that many non M cars it would displace. I do realize some cars would be displaced, including some forum members, and that would not be super fun for them but at least we wouldn't have all e36 chassis cars classed totally uncompetitively against newer platforms. Ok now that that side rant is done let’s get back to the build at hand.

    So the Engine Is making all sorts of bad noises, I believe oil pressure was lost and bearings most likely have been spun and all that fun business. I have not pulled the engine yet as I'm not near the car. Its just hanging out in my co-drivers garage until we figure out the next step. I'm very anxious to pull the engine out and get it apart to see how it looks inside but I'm the meantime I will be sourcing another engine to put in the car. I have looked at lots of options as far as my next step engine wise. Lots of S52s from parts yards available but with unknown pasts I would feel like I was in the same boat as this engine as far as not having faith in past owners be diligent on maintenance. Based on the stuff I have found while redoing this car I feel I have reasons to be concerned about her past care haha. Another option is a well serviced and apparently well built and maintained engine from a forum member. It would need some parts changed out to get it back to STR trim but i would hopefully be a solid base that I would not worry about. The last option is the most expensive but also potentially the one with the most piece of Mind. I have contacted Zack at 22RPD and gotten a quote for a fresh long block with upgraded oil pump and gaskets and hardware so that I could have a fresh no mileage bulletproof engine to beat the crap out of with no real worries. I've been super pleased with his tunes and help so far with the car so I have lots of trust that he would put together a super sturdy motor. This of course comes with the highest price tag at a time that I was not budgeting for this big of a racecar expenditure. I'm very torn on this decision actually, I’d be curious to hear the experiences of other forum members that have had to deal with a similar dilemma on their project cars.
    The next debate is what other items I take care of while the engine and transmission are out. I have a short list in my head on what else to take care of but If anyone has experienced other worthwhile projects that are significantly easier while the engine and trans are out I would love to hear that input as well.

    Steering- I read in the Rallycross M3 build that he wished he had addressed his steering upgrades while the engine is out. I already ordered the steering column rebuild Kit from ECS since I have the crunchy steering that just drives me nuts. I’m now wondering if I should add the Lower joint assembly since this is the best time to do it If I ever do it. I will also be adding the chase bays power steering kit to hopefully once and for all stop my leaking power steering system. Has anyone that has bought this kit had an issue running it without the cooler? Looking to save weight and money if possible. The rack itself feels fin and does not seem to be leaking so I am not worried about that now since I have to retain the stock rack to stay class legal.

    Mounts- With the motor and trans coming out I have decided to upgrade to much stiffer mounts. I have a few options I am looking at but as always I’ll take input from other to help me decide what will fit best for me. Per class I cannot go to mounts that have a higher metal % than stock so no solid mounts. The car is rarely street driven since it is a dedicated autocross car so stiff is not an issue for me. This also plays towards my plan to upgrade the shifter since I just can’t stand how the shifter feels right now. It’s probably my least favorite feeling thing on the car right now.
    Options that I am looking at-
    Condor speed shop- people seem to like their mounts. I have no experience with them so I’m really not sure.
    Vorshlag- I have run their mounts before and liked them. I need to figure out if I want to do Poly or Nylon. How far is too far? Both options should be stiff enough for my needs so who knows.
    AKG- just have a good reputation, seem to typically be quality pieces.
    Id love feedback from people that have used multiple setups. This is race car so noise is not a deal breaker.

    Shifter-Like I mentioned above, I’m not happy with the shifter. The detents in the transmission are worn and the shifter and DSSR needs upgrading. Everything is stock right now with fresh bushings and still very disappointing. To replace all of this you start getting around the level of the fancy tower shifters so that is what I am looking at. CAE, RTD, Samosas, and IRP. I would like the revers lookout since I have caught that gate before while racing in downshifts so that piece of mind to not worry about it is tempting. Leaning towards a RTD with lockout. I’m really just curious how long it will take to adjust to the tall shifter. It should be interesting. I’m struggling with pulling the trigger on this since it is quite pricy considering the engine is getting replaced but It will be easier to install now so who know.

    Exhaust- One of the last things that I have had left to do for big weight drop and hopefully a performance gain. The Bimmerworld exhaust still looks like the easy button with a 100 Cell cat welded in to keep ST legal but I may have found a local welder that I can work with to put together a custom exhaust will of the bits and pieces I need to meet local sound limits and pass Tennessee inspection. V-bands everywhere and a single 3 inch back should hopefully be my lightest and simplest solution. I did see that Bimmerhaus at least at one point made full header back exhaust but I have never heard of anyone running them so I have no idea if they still do that. I really just want to put the old exhaust back up there again after the engine change so I feel like it’s time to check this off the list. This a fresh engine and rebuilt injectors should have this car ready to get some actual dyno tuning done with Zack at 22RPD.

    Gauges- Id love to figure a gauges that I trust for oil pressure and temp to avoid this situation happening again. I have lots of research to do on this topic. I have no experience with this whatsoever.
    That’s my update. I’m bummed to miss nationals but she will come back better, faster, and stronger. If anybody has any input on some of the things I’m looking at I would love to hear it. As always thanks for reading.
    Last edited by snakebit8; 08-24-2019 at 09:37 PM.

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    Forgot I never posted the video from when the engine went. Car had just started a slight slide because I was a touch late on turn in. When I went to catch the car and use throttle to modulate the engine stopped which pitched the car into a slide. No throttle to be able to catch it with along with ABS going out unexpectedly lead to quite a close call.


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    Quote Originally Posted by snakebit8 View Post
    Steering- I read in the Rallycross M3 build that he wished he had addressed his steering upgrades while the engine is out. I already ordered the steering column rebuild Kit from ECS since I have the crunchy steering that just drives me nuts. I’m now wondering if I should add the Lower joint assembly since this is the best time to do it If I ever do it. I will also be adding the chase bays power steering kit to hopefully once and for all stop my leaking power steering system. Has anyone that has bought this kit had an issue running it without the cooler? Looking to save weight and money if possible. The rack itself feels fin and does not seem to be leaking so I am not worried about that now since I have to retain the stock rack to stay class legal.

    Gauges- Id love to figure a gauges that I trust for oil pressure and temp to avoid this situation happening again. I have lots of research to do on this topic. I have no experience with this whatsoever.
    That’s my update. I’m bummed to miss nationals but she will come back better, faster, and stronger. If anybody has any input on some of the things I’m looking at I would love to hear it. As always thanks for reading.
    Hey, that's me! Yes, as far as I can tell the only times you can replace the lower joint assembly are if the engine is out or is the entire column is dropped from the car. There was some play in my stock lower joint assembly, and I really wish I had done it when I had the motor out. Prices have gone up, they're about $250 now. But if you're trying to get your steering as tight and responsive as you can while still using the stock rack, I think it's a wise investment.

    Regarding oil pressure gauges, I have the Innovate Motorsport dual oil pressure/temperature gauge in my other car and I absolutely love it. It can be programmed to flash if oil pressure goes below a certain point, and the color temperature outer gauge can also be reconfigured to change the temperature range of each color (green, yellow, red). The two-in-one gauge design saves space as well, so I've been very pleased with it over the last 5 years. I think I have my yellow (or "good") temp range set to be from 180-220*. 220* and above is red (too hot), 180* and below is green (not safe for WOT). It's quite handy!

    Good luck with the motor hunt, it didn't take me as long as I thought it would. I got mine from a forum member here who seemed legit and so far (knocks on wood) it's been great. Shipping from halfway across the country was about $300 on freight, so not terrible.

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    Quote Originally Posted by 95maxrider View Post
    Hey, that's me! Yes, as far as I can tell the only times you can replace the lower joint assembly are if the engine is out or is the entire column is dropped from the car. There was some play in my stock lower joint assembly, and I really wish I had done it when I had the motor out. Prices have gone up, they're about $250 now. But if you're trying to get your steering as tight and responsive as you can while still using the stock rack, I think it's a wise investment.

    Regarding oil pressure gauges, I have the Innovate Motorsport dual oil pressure/temperature gauge in my other car and I absolutely love it. It can be programmed to flash if oil pressure goes below a certain point, and the color temperature outer gauge can also be reconfigured to change the temperature range of each color (green, yellow, red). The two-in-one gauge design saves space as well, so I've been very pleased with it over the last 5 years. I think I have my yellow (or "good") temp range set to be from 180-220*. 220* and above is red (too hot), 180* and below is green (not safe for WOT). It's quite handy!

    Good luck with the motor hunt, it didn't take me as long as I thought it would. I got mine from a forum member here who seemed legit and so far (knocks on wood) it's been great. Shipping from halfway across the country was about $300 on freight, so not terrible.
    Did your upper joint have noticeable play in it? I checked the one on my car and it seemed pretty tight on that one joint. Is there something else to be looked at?

    I will look into that gauge set. The engine I am looking at from another forum member had some of the senders at the engine already so I may just want a nice clean easy to read setup. Thanks so much for the input!

    Also have an update from the long labor day weekend.

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    Engine Is coming out. This was quite a long day but it needed to be done.

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    Just pulled the transmission and engine at the same time.

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    Looks so empty haha. This is an awesome opportunity to do steering and random hoses and lines.

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    There seems to be an oil pump nut missing. Just as I feared and expected. No oil pump nut means no oil pressure. Definitely time to source a new S52.

    usHu0wN.jpg

    Now she is off to my friends place to have all of the side projects get worked on while not on the lift. Storage space for a project that may sit for a bit is always a challenge. This has been quite a step back from how well she was running but I will be making lots of improvements while she is apart to hopefully make her even better and faster. I guess a race car is never done. As always thanks for reading.

  18. #68
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    Quote Originally Posted by snakebit8 View Post
    Did your upper joint have noticeable play in it? I checked the one on my car and it seemed pretty tight on that one joint. Is there something else to be looked at?

    I will look into that gauge set. The engine I am looking at from another forum member had some of the senders at the engine already so I may just want a nice clean easy to read setup. Thanks so much for the input!
    Yeah, comparing the brand new one to my original one there was definite play in the old one. I've got about 230,000 on my car, and it's lived a hard life, so yours may not be as bad as mine. I didn't think it was unsafe or anything, but if you've gone this far on the car, might as well do this too!

  19. #69
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    Quote Originally Posted by 95maxrider View Post
    Yeah, comparing the brand new one to my original one there was definite play in the old one. I've got about 230,000 on my car, and it's lived a hard life, so yours may not be as bad as mine. I didn't think it was unsafe or anything, but if you've gone this far on the car, might as well do this too!
    Mine has no wiggle at all so maybe I leave it... but like you said I'm in there. Just gotta decide if its worth adding on if it feels tight still hmmm. Thanks for your input! I really appreciate it!

  20. #70
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    It’s been a chaotic month and a half since my last update on this project. My head and my wallet have both been hurting as I source all the bits and pieces to finish the new to me engine install and handle all the bits and pieces that are way easier to work on while the engine is out. My off season to do list for the car was not even close to this comprehensive and my planned budget reflects that. Oh well do it while it’s easy to get to. I have ordered lots of random hoses and bolts and gaskets and seals and flanges and all that kind of stuff with the hopes that this will be a reset button for all of these things and basically make it like a new car with no fiddley maintence items left which require pulling apart the engine bay to get to. Heater core hoses, vacuum lines, braided Vanos line, Chase Bays power steering line kit, braided clutch line, clutch slave cylinder (hard to not put the clutch in automatically even with the transmission out), sensors, rebuild steering column (god help me), rebuild steering pump, transmission seals, clutch and flywheel, all the weird little clutch parts, Vorshlag motor and trans mounts, center support bearing, all new header and exhaust gaskets (more on that later) and just a myriad of other little random projects.

    This is also the time to clean, clean, clean. I’ve found that finding and diagnosing mechanical issues is much easier when the car is cleaner. I hope to have a nice clean baseline to build off of for this car moving forward. The engine bay was super greasy from just years of use and this was the time to clean it up. Also nice to get the transmission and other items such as that as clean as possible.


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    Shoutout to my friend Michelle. This rag started out completely White! She made my transmission look new.


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    I've got a bit more as far as updates that I will put up in the next few days to try and catch up. Just kinda slammed at the moment.
    Last edited by snakebit8; 10-25-2019 at 07:03 AM.

  21. #71
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    Love the quick jacks! Is that the little set? It looks like it doesn't reach both jacking points.

  22. #72
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    Quote Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
    Love the quick jacks! Is that the little set? It looks like it doesn't reach both jacking points.
    Not sure which ones they are. They don't hit the front and rear jack points so I guess that makes them the small ones? All i know is that we have to have a jack under the rear with it lifted like this since we pulled so much off of the front. She started tipping when I pulled the front suspension out.


    I finally got into the engine and started breaking stuff down. Needed to see what was still good and what was bad. I have a few pieces I hoped to move over to the new engine. The biggest thing for me was that my new engine came with aftermarket cams. I needed to see if my factory cams were salvageable so that I could swap them over to stay class legal. Also debating which PS pump to rebuild as well as which Vanos unit to use.

    1VQKLMy.jpg

    8pYH60x.jpg

    Welp a picture is worth 1000 words. Dare say I’ll need to find an alternative source of my cams. I also believe I may have found what was making all that racket when I moved the car around real quick a few times. The exhaust cam is toast… cam tray is toast and possibly the valve cover is toast. Guess oil pressure is kinda important. Luckily when I went further into the head everything seems to be in pretty good shape beyond that, well not the two lifters right there, but everything else. I have not broken down the bottom end yet but for some reason I’m cautiously optimistic it may be the start of a fun build that can be my backup engine. Time and budget will tell.

    2sjQO5M.jpg

    mMV0njx.jpg

    32th3HE.jpg

    I still have a bit more to update on. I'll try to sit down and get it pulled together.

  23. #73
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Des Moines, IA
    Posts
    1,051
    My Cars
    '97 M3/4/5.0
    Is the underside of the valve cover all melty? That's what happened to mine when it lost oil pressure. Eventually the cam just snapped in half.

  24. #74
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Huntsville AL
    Posts
    356
    My Cars
    1997 M3
    Quote Originally Posted by Laminar View Post
    Is the underside of the valve cover all melty? That's what happened to mine when it lost oil pressure. Eventually the cam just snapped in half.
    mN12LdM.jpg

    Definitely melty.

  25. #75
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Huntsville AL
    Posts
    356
    My Cars
    1997 M3
    I am taking this opportunity to upgrade the oil pump and associated parts in an effort to prevent a repeat of my failure. I ended up going to Achilles Motorsports for their upgraded oil pump, reinforced oil pickup tube and oil pan baffles. Hopefully with this setup I won’t have to worry about all the time at high RPMs or hopefully deal with quite as much ticking as I had before. They were super easy to work with and had a quick turnaround so so far so good.

    e30OYtV.jpg

    I also sent out my injectors to get flow tested and serviced while they were out. My plans are to get Zack at 22RPD to do a full dyno tune on the car after the car gets back together so I wanted to make sure all of the key tuning variables are accounted for. I’ve been in contact with them discussing some more tuning options for when its time and can’t speak highly enough about how good those guys are. Wish I could have just bought a fully built long block from him and be done but for an unplanned overhaul the money just wasn’t there. Those guys have built a new shop and are doing some super cool stuff. For the record I went to Deatschwerks for the injector service, again very professional group and were quick with the service and had a great report on the injector health of all my injectors. I actually request a full rebuild but they reported back to me that all of them were in good shape and only charged me for a flow test.

    Next stuff on the list will obviously be switching over the cams and oil system then starting to put everything back together. I also have a local welder I’m working with to put together a custom header back exhaust. All v-bands, 100 cell race cat, and just enough muffling to reach our local site sound limits (96db). I started with an AA track pipe section A to hopefully take care of the tricky merge and just build on from there. Its been discussed that we may cut the flanges off of the headers and this front section and do all the connections as v-bands to make dropping it that much easier. I don't really see a reason not to do it except it could be harder to sell later. I’m excited to see how much weight we can get off the car and how the new exhaust will affect the dyno tune we put on it later.

    4nZ0S3s.jpg

    In the meantime I'm Still trying to keep running events while the car is down. Always enjoyed car hopping so It's been kinda fun needing to find rides. A few weekends ago we had a big two day event that we do once a year. I was lucky enough to get to play in a new M2 comp. Very different animal to the M3. Power for days but not quite as much grip. I guess that's to be expected with a bone stock car. Either way it just makes me want to get mine back together again, which is good because motivation can be tough sometimes when you have a project this big going over this long of a time.

    e2WYLr8.jpg

    Z06_3993.jpg

    As always thanks for reading along. Hopefully I will have lots of positive updates soon.

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