E46 Jaffster Build

[Steve J.]

mistake..... =(

Accusump is cheap insurance and our data shows it is needed in many track situations.

We'll find out...I did not need it on my 2.5L on my WC car, never had oil issues, even when it was raced in WC they had no issues.

[txse46m3]

uh...that motor went boom in a big, big way. head and block were both unrepairable, fyi.

[Steve J.]

uh...that motor went boom in a big, big way. head and block were both unrepairable, fyi.

And FYI do you know how many races and track days that motor had on it...more than a World Challenge "loose" build was designed for lol It lasted more than its life span. Once motec and the "race" maps were not being used, it was making a lot less power and was not being taken to extreme rpm's, so that helped its life span, but it was built to be rebuilt within a certain time period, and it expired, happens all the time. I don't think it was an oil starvation issue itself that caused the motor to "boom" as you say.

Obviously accusump/drysump helps, but I don't know if it is absolutely necassary.

I have the port available on the vac oil block for the accusump, and i have room in the passenger foot well area, so I might do it...its an easy retrofit if I need to do it.

With oil pan baffled well though, there should not be any major starvation issues.

Working on getting the wiring harness done now.

[Steve J.]

After waiting a week to get all the right heatshrink and wireshielding in, I started wiring last night and tonight.

So far I have the ignition modules wired (outputs to coils are not connected yet), injectors are fully wired, and i'm working today on getting the crank/cam andother engine sensors wired up so I can start testing each channel.

Alternator is still messing around so I'll prob have to grab another one...anyone have one around for an M52 i can take off your hands?

Update (no pics though): I got most of the harness done. TPS, Injectors, Vanos, Cam pos, Crank pos, Water temp, Air charge temp, boost solenoid, and most of the ignition (motec side is done to Bosch ignition modules). I am waiting for the MAP and o2 (lsu 4.9) sensor/connectors to come in, and other than that I just have to tie in the motec CAN to AIM, and tie in the wheel speed to Motec, and power/ground it.

I also started bolt checking everything, and made sure the engine was ready as i got some redline oil for it from MPT the other day (Thanks Mike!). I started painting bolt/nuts and I also threw it on the scales...a bit heavier than I hoped, but it has the stock hood, skinned stock trunk and skinned stock doors, so its not terrible at 2534#. I need to corner balance it though...maybe Monday night?

I still have to make some splitter mounts, finish some underbody work and look into a couple leaky fittings (I think i just need new crush washers), and then basically schedule dyno time with Geoff

[SA E30]

This has been a long time coming! Can't wait to see it running!

[Steve J.]

Got to work on the car a bit more tonight. All that's left is to connect CAN from Motec to AIM, and once the MAP and O2 sensor arrive i'll wire those in and it should be just about ready to dyno...after i finish a couple other things haha Still need to put the aerocatch hood pins on and mount the splitter.

[Gofast]

All that's left is to connect CAN from Motec to AIM, and once the MAP and O2 sensor arrive i'll wire those in and it should be just about ready to dyno..

You sound confident that it will start.

[5mall5nail5]

Confident is the only way to be. Well that and cautious.

[Steve J.]

HaHa, you're misinterpreting lack of confidence as merely being OCD I just want to make sure I did not forget any projects I wanted to get done. I'm confident the car will work, but i know it'll have bugs to be worked out.

Neel @ ApexSpeedTech as well as Mike Mccoy have helped me undrstand the wiring "stuff" and i'm doing pretty well for being a person that likes to do wiring, but hates electronics

Anyways, back to real work, need to make sure i can afford to actually run the car lol

[RacerX]

Also finished the ECU mount

So is the ECU isolated for vibration....it doesn't look like it. Did Apex offer any info on that or no?

Cheers.

[Steve J.]

So is the ECU isolated for vibration....it doesn't look like it. Did Apex offer any info on that or no?

Cheers.

I'd say its isolated enough from the higher frequency vibrations. Under that clamp is an absorbing foam/rubber stick, and between the ECU and mount there are two layers of plastic dual lock...I don't think it'll be a problem.

[Steve J.]

Real quick update before I pass out for the night. Wiring is DONE! Finished up the MAP connector and Lambda LSu 4.9 connectors. I still need to find an adapter for the intake manifold to go to the MAP, but that's just something i'll grab locally. I put oil in the motor today and tested the various circuits, kill switch, etc. Seems the Alternator is bad, need to go get it tested and see if it can be repaired or just grab another one.

I also need to get the radiator tube welded up...kind of forgot about that thing.

Tomorrow i'm hoping to get the hood/pins mounted, and finish up a couple other small projects.

First half of tonight was spent going over a new daily driver/beater my dad picked up. Needs a couple small things, but seems like a great deal. 05 GLI, 1.8t, 6spd, recaro's, all stock.



Hood pins are in (what a pain in the ass). Hopefully when I get the carbon hood it'll be easier to install them. Stock hood was just too thick with multiple layers of alum. Wiring is done (minus some last minute little things, move some pins on motec harness, add a resistor in for CAN, and motec USB UTC deal).

Filled it with oil, and pressed the starter button a couple times to move some oil and see if there are any leaks. Good so far!

I'm going to get a set of scrubs mounted on my second set of tires and prep forsome winter dyno time

Set the AIM up tonight, everything seems to be working, just need to get the CAN setup for motec to AIMso AIM can get all the motec channels. Fuel pump and its override switch work (motec controls it, or i can flip a switch to empty the tank).

Last things left are splitter (two aremade, just need to mount them, waiting for slip spoiler i got off ebay thats sitting at Sedacca's house) and some underbody cleaning up, diffuser maybe, we'll see.

[Steve J.]

Worked on the car for a couple hours tonight. Finished setting up the Fuel guage on the AIMsport, it works! Now my dash reads how many Gallons are left in my ATL Fuel cell!

I also corner balanced the car, and got 50.0% cross weight, and the ride heights I want to try first.

Next is securing some scrubs for shake down and I'll prob use these shot Yoks for dyno testing.

[B.Watts]

Worked on the car for a couple hours tonight. Finished setting up the Fuel guage on the AIMsport, it works! Now my dash reads how many Gallons are left in my ATL Fuel cell!

Cool. Wouldn't mind setting ours up like that rather than using the analog fuel gauge.

[snook...]

Worked on the car for a couple hours tonight. Finished setting up the Fuel guage on the AIMsport, it works! Now my dash reads how many Gallons are left in my ATL Fuel cell!

I also corner balanced the car, and got 50.0% cross weight, and the ride heights I want to try first.

Next is securing some scrubs for shake down and I'll prob use these shot Yoks for dyno testing.

sweet...anyway to make that work with stock tank and the mycron3?

[Steve J.]

Bryan, its VERY easy, and its fairly inexpensive too as long as you have the cover plate with the holes matched. I was fortunate to find the company that makes the gauges ATL offers and they offer pre-cut holes in the cover plates just for this gauge. Once I discovered the gauge needed 12V instead of the 5V ref from AIM it worked instantly. Now the gauge says "FuelL 0.0" and it will show Gallons remaining in 0.1 increments.

As far as working with Mychron 3, it'll work the exact same it does on mine. Connect it to an open channel and make a custom sensor setting for it.

And as far as using it with the stock tank, you will need to get a device that converts the resistance output from the stock tank to a 0-5V signal AIM can read...just so happens i found a device for that as well!

http://www.ironcanyonmotorsports.com...products_id=37

Also, on a side note, over the winter i'll be adding an accusump, its simple enough as I have an open port on the VAC oil block and I have room in the cockpit.

[snook...]

Bryan, its VERY easy, and its fairly inexpensive too as long as you have the cover plate with the holes matched. I was fortunate to find the company that makes the gauges ATL offers and they offer pre-cut holes in the cover plates just for this gauge. Once I discovered the gauge needed 12V instead of the 5V ref from AIM it worked instantly. Now the gauge says "FuelL 0.0" and it will show Gallons remaining in 0.1 increments.

As far as working with Mychron 3, it'll work the exact same it does on mine. Connect it to an open channel and make a custom sensor setting for it.

And as far as using it with the stock tank, you will need to get a device that converts the resistance output from the stock tank to a 0-5V signal AIM can read...just so happens i found a device for that as well!

http://www.ironcanyonmotorsports.com...products_id=37

Also, on a side note, over the winter i'll be adding an accusump, its simple enough as I have an open port on the VAC oil block and I have room in the cockpit.

thanks Steve

[Steve J.]

Worked on the car a bit more tonight...its getting close! Mounted the crankcase breather (just need the hose), also finished vacuum lines.

I have the radiator tube being welded up...and i'm scheduling my dyno tuner to come over and configure motec and do a system check, make sure it runs ok, and then dyno time will be scheduled.

I also sourced some Dunlop scrubs to shake the car down with, could only find this one set that 280/660/18, hopefully they won't be too tall in the front...I did cut the wheel wellliner a bit extra though so it should not rub.

[Steve J.]

Buttoning up the last few bits on the car as I wait for my tuner to get some free time to come over and set the motec up.

Added an extra fastener to the front bumper, as the OEM Snaps are strong but I need some extra safety factor.

Splitter is a bit too small as I did not anticipate using this spoiler lip that extends so far. I might still use this splitter for now, but down the road i'll make another one.

I might be putting together a very quick E46 ITR build, which should basically go together in a couple weeks...I just need to strip it, 6+2 cage it, swap shocks and some mounts and slap some tires on it. Going to be my ride in TeamDI Pro IT Series for 2010.

Note: Splitter is sitting on a milkcrate and is not straight/aligned. Remember the maximum extension is 4" past farthest point of bumper (not the add on lip) so it actually can;t extend too far past the lip.

[RSchuster]

TWO RACE CARS you lucky man!

[RSchuster]

Well, the E46 is MINE, the Sedan would be my pops that I (and my girl) would use. We have several father/son race teams around here (and some family teams in TeamDI Pro IT) and its a great way to stay close with the fam (my fam is very close as it is). So two race cars, yes, but mostly just one fam. My pops has some other cars he tracks and another race car (but it never really gets used these days).

The real plan is to have two sister E46 ITR cars to race...but I think I need to marry her before that happens - HA!

Why are lots of people doing ITR rather than ITS

[dmwhite]

ITS cars re running quicker then JP cars.

they are?

they must be some poorly prepared and/or poorly driven JP cars if ITS cars are beating them...even a fully built ITR car is no match for a fully built JP car (assuming both are driven well)

[dmwhite]

remember when Clay/Battle had those E36 ITs cars in the southeast...they were basically as quick as World Challenge Touring cars at the time.

wasnt that when world challenge was running on street tires (toyo t1-s)? regardless, not sure how that is relevant when comparing ITS/ITR cars to JP cars...

At NJMP Autotechnic guys were running 1:16's and JP was running 1:17's.
At LimeRock Autotechnic guys were running minute flat, JP runs 1:01's.

which JP cars and drivers? also, i didnt think bmw cr has run at lime rock since it has been repaved, surely that would affect lap times or are you referring to the lap times that the autotechnic guys were running on the old surface?


a quick look at some lap records...
VIR: ITR - 2:13.5, ITS - 2:14.2, JP - 2:08.3
Road Atl: ITR - 1:39.1, ITS - 1:39.5, JP - 1:36.5
Summit Pt (may not be current): ITR - 1:24.4, JP - 1:23.0
mid ohio (club course): ITR - 1:43.3, ITS - 1:42.5, JP - 1:38.0

just a small sample (and yes i know it's hard to compare lap times from different events) but it seems to show a trend that JP cars are (or at least should be) faster than ITS/ITR cars...

[dmwhite]

Maybe we can make another thread comparing the classes?

don't really see the point...from my experience with with JP and ITS/ITR cars, it's pretty obvious which is faster and race results/lap records seem to reinforce this...

I think there is a lot of speed potential from the E46 ITS/ITR cars

agreed and i guess we'll find out as they are developed but i can't imagine scca will let e46's be a dominant car...so i dont really see them being that much faster than current ITS/ITR cars (for long at least)...

but obviously JP can have quite a bit more horsepower.

along with aero and much better brakes than ITS/ITR cars...only downside is that JP cars have to carry more weight and can't use spherical bearings everywhere...

[Rob.ITS.BMW.323]

I might be putting together a very quick E46 ITR build, which should basically go together in a couple weeks...I just need to strip it, 6+2 cage it, swap shocks and some mounts and slap some tires on it. Going to be my ride in TeamDI Pro IT Series for 2010.

That is quick!