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Thread: Sketchy E36 Truck

  1. #1
    mslevin's Avatar
    mslevin is offline Have you checked RealOEM? BMW CCA Member
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    Sketchy E36 Truck

    Whats up everyone,

    I'm usually really bad at build threads but I thought I'd give it another shot

    Some of you may know me from my Jagermeister E36:




    I've been meaning to get into drifting for a while, mostly to learn better car control and improve my hand speed, but also to smash shit and get weird. So....I bought this:




    This is a 1997 E36 328is, 230k something miles, 5spd, super mint!!!!!!!! It was "built" as a Gambler 500 car, although I don't think it ever actually participated. I got it for $500 from a buddy of mine.

    The interior is dirty but is actually pretty good. Drivers seat doesn't move and is stuck all the way up and halfway back. Wasn't fun to drive home as I'm 6'6".




    The back was unceremoniously hacked off, and some reinforcements were welded in place. The welds are decent, the engineering is not.




    The plan for this car is to clean it up a little, make it safe and reliable, and then just thrash on it. I *think* it has an LSD, as both wheels seem to make loud noises and give off smoke if I dump the clutch with the throttle pinned and my left foot on the brake. Weird.

    It'll need a proper roll bar put in, probably a welded diff, and general clean-up of the "truck bed". Probably going to put a bunch of eBay shit on this car (my track car gets nice parts, and my E46 Touring gets the really nice stuff).

    I'll try to keep this thread updated as best I can. Looking forward to everyone's feedback and advice

  2. #2
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    yasssss!!!!! i love these kind of builds. keep us posted

  3. #3
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    Looks like a fun project, love your orange car especially the custom seat bracket, may steal some pictures and try to replicate something similar here soon

  4. #4
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    The e36 truck game is real. Wish I had space and knew how to weld, I'd try to make one out of an e46!
    Looks awesome dude, looking forward to your updates.
    Keep it simple: half gutted '01 330i, welded diff, BC coils, SLR Super kit

  5. #5
    mslevin's Avatar
    mslevin is offline Have you checked RealOEM? BMW CCA Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by RandomHero27 View Post
    yasssss!!!!! i love these kind of builds. keep us posted
    Quote Originally Posted by awp235 View Post
    The e36 truck game is real. Wish I had space and knew how to weld, I'd try to make one out of an e46!
    Looks awesome dude, looking forward to your updates.
    Thanks guys! Probably won't be much progress in the next week or two. Too much else going on, but I'll update ASAP!

    Quote Originally Posted by cody2130 View Post
    Looks like a fun project, love your orange car especially the custom seat bracket, may steal some pictures and try to replicate something similar here soon
    Thanks man! Let me know if I can help at all.

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    I'm hoping that doing a torsion test of the frame/body is the kind of thing that's up your alley, because I'd be interested in seeing the results of even a simple test. I'd bet that you lose quite a bit of chassis rigidity after chopping off half of the roof
    Popular engine swap weights & stock engine weights
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    http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...60-m42-1jz-2jz

  7. #7
    mslevin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jalopi View Post
    I'm hoping that doing a torsion test of the frame/body is the kind of thing that's up your alley, because I'd be interested in seeing the results of even a simple test. I'd bet that you lose quite a bit of chassis rigidity after chopping off half of the roof
    Not really sure how I’d test it, if it’s simple enough I could do rollbar coupe vs rollbar truck.

    I’m not massively concerned with this being perfectly rigid as it’s just a learner and thrash car. That being said, I’ll definitely be looking into adiditional bracing for the rear, maybe tying the rear shock towers into the subframe.

  8. #8
    mslevin's Avatar
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    Spent some time cleaning up the car yesterday. Got all the random sharpie stuff off the car, and attacked the spray paint on the roof. Got most of it off with quick detailer and 2000 grit sandpaper. Probably damaged the paint a little, oh well.

    The drivers seat doesn't move up or down and its stuck all the way up, also preventing it from going all the way back. Found a broken gear in it when I took it apart, replacement should be here Friday. Also got new hood shocks because the current ones do literally nothing.

    We got the head unit working by reattaching a random ground in the rear seat area. No sound from the speakers tho- this is a HK car and the PO took the amp out (for his other E36 lol). Is there an easy way to get the front speakers working? Some music would be nice to compete with the wind noise.

    Will post some more pics later tonight.

  9. #9
    mslevin's Avatar
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    Progress!

    Spent 5 minutes polishing the headlights, made a pretty big difference. Probably going to spend a little more time on it to make it even better.




    I was trying to find a welded diff for sale somewhere, but my friends convinced me that we should just do it ourselves. I was hesitant because I don't have a good source of 220v in my garage, so we had to use 110v.

    Preheating the center section




    Wheel bearing grease on the ring so we don't get any splatter on it. Was a little annoying to clean out but totally worth it.




    BZZZZZZ




    Done. We used like half a spool of wire, and didn't have enough to fill in that gap on the left spider gear. YOLO. There's a shit ton of metal in there, I'm not worried about this thing breaking.





    Got a super high quality $30 rear strut tower bar from eBay. Fits pretty well, needs washers in the hinges. Can't hurt and for $30 I'm not worried about it being super effective.





    And.....coilovers!!!!

    Got these MAXPEEDINGRODS for $150. They were a returned set and I made an offer on and got them hella cheap. They're shit but who cares.




    Will post more about the install later on. The rear shocks seemed super short, I had to jack up the trailing arm and compress the spring a bunch just to install them. The rear has basically zero travel lol.

    Before and after the install. This is as low as they go front and rear, without removing any perches or lock rings. Will fix that ASAP.




    Its stiff as hell but she slides pretty nicely now. Still need to get more wheels and tires, the front is currently on one 17x8 DS2 and one 16x?? spare.

  10. #10
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    Wish you were local, I have a set of Style 42's that would look great on there

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    that's an interesting way to weld a diff, but she looks like she'll hold!

  12. #12
    mslevin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Novablue454 View Post
    that's an interesting way to weld a diff, but she looks like she'll hold!
    We welded the side gears to the spider gears, and then the side gears to the carrier. Can't do anything but make it stronger! Worst case it blows up and I have to weld another one, thankfully diffs are cheap

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