1984 BMW 318i Budget Rallycross Build

RKTFiST said:

Nice meeting you yesterday, and congrats on the win! I have the Miata that was pitted next to you.

was that you rolling home with Yoshi?

Some progress today. Went to the junkyard and got 2 good bottlecaps and ordered 2 more snow tires to go on them. After seeing a puncture this weekend I decided I would be prepared in case it happens to me.

Also looks like there are 2 styles of bottlecaps, the one on the left has different font and wider spokes. Still the same part number though.

Got a new tailight bulb holder thing, now both tails work

Decided that instead of buying vinyl numbers I'll buy $2 worth of spray paint and paint my numbers on. Im betting that 7 wont be taken. If it is black electrical tape opens up the options.

Scuffed

RKTFiST said:

Nice meeting you yesterday, and congrats on the win! I have the Miata that was pitted next to you.

Thank you, nice meeting you too. Are you going to the next event at Panthera?

Dan_G said:

RKTFiST said:

Nice meeting you yesterday, and congrats on the win! I have the Miata that was pitted next to you.

Thank you, nice meeting you too. Are you going to the next event at Panthera?

Definitely! I'm glad event prep for the Miata is so much less daunting than it is for my E30.

irish44j said:

RKTFiST said:

Nice meeting you yesterday, and congrats on the win! I have the Miata that was pitted next to you.

was that you rolling home with Yoshi?

Yes. 

Not totally related to the E30 but I just picked up a tow vehicle to trailer the E30 to events. Put a hitch on it yesterday

lol, hey you know my build thread is really about my e30, 924S, Sequoia, and trailer. So it's all related!

So hitch is on, I'll be borrowing a dolly some day this week.

I finally learned how to use the tire mounter and balancer at work so I mounted and balanced the 2 new tires. Looks like I can fit 4 tires in the trunk if I really try.

Went and picked up the e30 from storage where its kept with the rest of my German cars. 

First time theyve been together. Should be the start of something good.

you should be able to fit 5 tires in the trunk. I've done it plenty :) Though your snows may be bigger than my gravels. 

also, thought about just flat-towing instead of a dolly? Josh Sennett (bluej on here) flat-tows his e30 to every event with no issues, with an SUV. May want to inquire with him as to the setup needed.

I've given very little thought on the flat tow v dolly. My only real thought is that if I manage to mess up the front or rear suspension I'll still be able to get it home on the dolly v flat towing. Or if I kill the small case diff I can still get it home on a dolly. I actually killed the diff on my 944 just driving normal. I hope breaking isnt an issue but last event going between the fields I jumped a pretty good berm and the front definitely left the ground.

Im running 185/65-14 tires, may be looking into proper rally tires soon.

Hoping the weather holds and its dry this weekend.

Havent done much to the car. The Summit Point clay is still holding strong.

Last night I decided to wire brush the driver rear wheel and wheel hub since there was a ton of corrosion and that wheel loosened itself once.

Summit Point clay

And picked up a new toy, getting rid of a few

I'll be missing Saturday's rallyx but I'll be at Panthera Sunday

Had a blast at Panthera, Sunday's Am course was over 2 minutes long. Lots of uphill driving didnt help my little no torque 4cyl. Did very well for only going one day, car also broke. If it were only Sunday I probably would have finished 2nd in my class. The miata guy was having some heat issues and it was pulling his timing.

My first 2 runs went very well. May have caught some air on the 3rd one and started experiencing a weird driveline noise/vibration. Popped the hood and my motor mounts were both completely torn. Not letting that stop me I did one afternoon run, that killed the trans mounts. Engine can now be moved 4 inches left right front and back. I could hear the trans banging on the tunnel during the run. Radiator got small kiss from the fan but nothing bad. Pics to come of that. 

One thing I learned was to bring a dust mask next time. I was dying on Monday.

First picture is with special thanks to irish44j, I saw he was taking a picture so I clutch kicked it mid corner to look cool.

Got to try out my tow rig for the first time, did very well just never towed with a dolly before. I got some very good sway a few times when I wasnt minding my speed.

At the event and ready. Not shown about 5 other E30s

Dust

Day was perfect weather and the view is spectacular

Home

Great inspiration to turn my free E36 318i into a similar SR build. I work with a local organizer running a 240sx in SR class as well. Need to find myself a skid plate and some snow tires.

Motor mount, what motor mount? New mounts should be here tomorrow.

Unrelated update but a delay. My B5 S4 got stolen Friday night.

Finally fixed the motor mounts. Both motor mounts were completely seperated as were the trans mounts. Engine was only held in by gravity, the skid plate, and trans tunnel.

Should be at the next RallyX now that its fixed

Made it out to Summit Point for the rallycross Sunday. Great event and fairly long courses, between morning and afternoon got 11 minute long runs. Heard from the other guys that there were 17.

Morning course felt a bit more technical and didnt flow well. My M10 couldnt quite do what it needed to do so it felt slow. Afternoon course was great, very fluid course that allowed good speed and allowed momentum to be carried. Managed to not hit a single cone my afternoon runs and although I wasnt the fastest car I was the cleaner than my faster competitor and won my class.

On the way to the event ran into one of the guys in a higher class

Made it, unloaded and ready to race

My main competitor, an S2000

Other competitor, a legit euro 1998 E46 320. Unfortunately his coolant tank kissed the rad fan and he was out after the morning runs

Lining up, the tach and speedo dont work

All loaded up and ready to head home. Irishj44 in the background

NIce running. Mike's S2000 issues apart, gotta finish to win in rallycross, and you outlasted him and ran clean. I took a ride in the s2k and I'm quite certain that in any dry conditions that car would spank almost any car in MR class, much less SR. That thing has absolutely instant acceleration and braking running the whole course in 1st. Doesn't help you that Jim is one of the best drivers out there, former 2-3 time SA champion. Just gotta hope for muddy stuff when running against him lol....

Impressive with no cones on that afternoon course, there were some tricky secitons. I think I picked up 9 and it cost me the win (Eric only had two and I lost by 3 seconds....)

Update, will hopefully have my new Rallycross car ready sometime next season.  I have a huge affinity for the 924/944 chassis and found one I've always wanted. Picked up this complete 1982 Porsche 931 today. Currently doesnt run, should be fun figuring out why. Will also be moving up in class if I can get the car sorted. Still need to learn how everything works in this car with the CIS fuel injection and 2.0 VW/Audi 2.0. Will prove to be fun. E30 will be staying as a backup once I have this one since I dont see an 80s turbo being super reliable.

Last RallyX of the season was today. Bitter cold out but a great course. Overall, the course had a mix of power and technical sections. The best part of the course was how variable it was. Temperatures ranged between 27-32 degrees, with the hard packed clay there were some spots with a ton of tracking and even some mud. The temperature combined with the moisture led to some sections having similar or more grip than tarmac, complete with 50ft+ skid marks. 

The day started with 1st place clinches to my competitor with the S2k and me 2 points behind second place. Had the most fun and most competitive event of the year today. I was consistently gaining time run over run and had a best run of 65.9 which would have made me decently competitive in a rally tire class. So far it looks like I tied for points in second place this year and won the tie since I finished 1st in every event I attended.
Looking forward to next year and hopefully my new car.

Arriving in a sea of BMWs

Nice parking spot waiting for the first run group to finish

View from my worker station can see the barn from the "barn" course

More parking and barn

Looks like more Lexus/Toyota V8 tow vehicles are showing up

This really cool cabover showed up

And with that I have a ton of work to do on the 924 over the winter. Will hopefully be competing soon.

Started working an examining the 924 closer today. First up was replacing the timing belt. Unfortunately I found out why the previous owner parked it. Timing belt is broken so the valves are most likely bent. With the condition of the car it doesnt make sense to repair it and getting it running. It will be getting parted out over the next few months. Not sure if I'm going to keep the nose panel and hood or sell them.

Next step it to find a running driving 931/924s/944 to replace this one. 

ah, bummer. but definitely keep the hood and nose panel for te next one :)

Found another 944, a 1983 944 a friend was selling that I've personally ridden in many times even at the track and autocross. Needs a clutch and belts but should hopefully be able to have it done before the first event. 

Currently parting out the 931 and keeping the hood and header panel to put onto my red 944.

Should be picking up the new 944 Sunday depending on weather. The clutch still works well enough to drive just not aggressively.  If anyone needs any 1982 931 parts or early 944 interior bits message me because the new one will be almost entirely  gutted. 

Also picked up a nice expire FIA seat from a fellow rallycrosser last week to put into the new car. Currently looking for a redline bolt in roll bar for the new 944.

^^ that seat has an awful lot of winning history in it. Possibly more than any other rally seat in the mid-Atlantic, honestly. 

I may be interested in a few interior bits, at very least as spares. I'll touch base with you offline. 

Finally picked up the "new" 944. Everything I need is in good condition and I couldnt get the clutch to slip on the 50 mile drive home. First order is doing the timing and balance shaft belts since they havent been done in about 5 years or more. The car is mechanically sound except for the clutch.

Need to get under the car and measure the disc wear to see if its actually bad or just a hydraulic issue. Previous owner said it only slipped on hot days.

After diving into the car and talking to my buddy who owned it, it has some nice parts already.

Upgraded coil, upgraded plug wires, offset camshaft key to move the torque curve lower, only944 shifter, and the best part that  never realize is its a sunroof delete car.

If anyone is selling a good harness or redline bolt in roll bar Im in the market.