Nope can't slot them. Just too much out of spec. I'm running a 3.5" throttle body and larger intake piping and when that was installed the drivers side tower needed clearancing so it's got a nice size divot bent into it on the engine side.
My suspicion is that this pulled the top of that tower both in toward the engine and also down a bit which mostly accounts for my issues.
I may be able to re-mount the old bar and just keep my fingers crossed that the one cracked mounting ring holds. But all that has to now wait until I get the replacement camber plate mount for the passenger side installed before I can monkey around with it.
Did you try jacking up the front to see if it the chassis would flex enough to install it? I remember having to do that on an e30.
In reply to mrhappy :
I did indeed. Definitely got me closer but not close enough.
Race brace sold after only two days on FB Marketplace and I didn't take as much of a bath on it as I would have had I paid return shipping and restocking fee to Bimmerworld. Weird how that works out sometimes. Restocking fees really stink!
Looks like my Vorshlag camber plate replacement parts will be here by this weekend and I'm hoping I'll be able to get them installed in relatively short order and be back on the road soon.
While it's been up on jack stands I did have some time to potentially trace down a minor coolant leak. Both of the hose clamps on either side of the water pump were a bit loose and small amounts of coolant we're finding their way out. Tightened em down and hopefully don't see any further drops in my overflow tank level.
Did a once over on my belts as well and while they show some age I couldn't see any signs of cracking.
Fingers crossed that everything performs well during my upcoming track sprint event next weekend.
Track map released for my track sprint event next Saturday. I'm thrilled we will use the majority of the track and looking forward to trying to improve my times through turns 9 and 10 and drive the chicane at 3 for the first time.
Event has the track for an hour so I'm hoping for at least 6 runs but who knows as this will be my first event with SNJ SCCA.
My Vorshlag parts arrived and I also decided to grab a new pair of front brake rotors from FCP Euro. Despite the perfect temps to spend the evening in the garage I'm procrastinating because work has been kicking my ass lately.
Have to get everything installed and buttoned up tomorrow night and will probably rotate the tires as well if all goes well.
A quick wash on Friday and then cars and coffee Saturday morning and track sprint Saturday afternoon.
Best laid plans...
Got the camber plate fixed last night and the passenger side rotor installed but got too damn hot and sweaty in the garage and retreated back to the house for AC, beer and couch.
Got up early this morning and got the drivers side rotor installed and the car is back on the ground. Took a short drive around a local park to start bedding in the brakes. Will head out in an hour or two to finish bedding the brakes and ensure she is all buttoned up for NJMP tonight.
Got my GoPro setup inside the car for the first time. Some quick off track testing to make sure I could figure out how to mount and use the damn thing.
So far, so good. Looking forward to getting some video of my runs today so I can share my hamfisted driving technique with all of you.
No results posted yet so not sure which of my runs was fastest but here is my last run of the day.
Really enjoyed my first track sprint. The South Jersey SCCA organized a well run event and I felt lucky to be back on Thunderbolt for the second time this year.
All five runs in one video. Run 4 felt the best and was my fastest, but not by a large margin. Apparently a good lap time in a GTS2 E36 for the full course is 1:30 and my best time time on this part of the course (basically everything but the straight) was 1:45.3.
Both when driving the course and reviewing the video the areas I want to improve the most are:
- Stop coasting! - quite a few times where I should be on the gas and I'm not
- Line choice - when I force myself to look ahead I get better results, but need to be more consistent in my visual field
- Better braking - more brake effort in a shorter time on entry
Have a Track Night in America coming up on Tuesday and we've had pretty E36 M3 weather lately with lots of rain. Current forecast says 60% chance of rain all day on Tuesday so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the forecast takes a turn for the better.
Fingers crossed that the forecast holds. Got my pit box packed up with helmet, tools, oil, etc and loaded in the car.
Headed over to meet forum member tb in the morning and put together a plan of attack for the Challenge and then NJMP TNIA starts at 2.
Its going to be a great day!
I'll be there tomorrow with my E36 too! I'll stop by and say hi if theres time
In reply to MINIzguy :
Awesome! Looking forward to meeting you.
Track Night in America at NJMP Lightning was a really good time. I got to meet MINIzguy and learn about his E36 and I got three runs on Lightning for my first time on the track.
After two different events on Thunderbolt, my overall comfort/confidence level was much higher and while I still had butterflies waiting in grid, I was far more calm when finally on track.
Then this happened...
No harm to the car, and once I got the car restarted and back on track after letting traffic by I was surprised by how calm I still felt. Pitted for a quick chat with the beginner driving coach and look over the car and then got right back out there and finished up session 1.
Session two had its own lesson where after the first 15 minutes of the session, the car was exhibiting some very irregular power delivery, with some surging. When I looked at my gas gauge, I quickly realized the problem was all my fault as I was basically sitting on empty. Cornering loads were sloshing around what little remaining fuel I had in tank and causing issues. I exited the track and went to gas up only to find that the station at Lightning was shutdown so I made a quick trip over to Thunderbolt to fill up. Along the way I was so low on fuel that I wondered if I was going to make it.
Fueled up and got back for the third session without too much drama but the airflow in my car was causing some drama with my passenger side c-pillar and headliner....ugh. Peeled the flapping c-pillar trim off and stowed it and temporarily taped up the headliner to keep it from flapping and blocking visibility out of the rear window. A few more laps in after interior drama and my surging problem came back. Completely intermittent and seemingly not related to cornering forces or fuel demands/speed. Ended the session early and packed up the car to return home.
No more fueling drama on the hour drive home, but I was very careful to keep revs below 3k and ease into the accelerator very gently. My guess is that running the fuel level so low caused the fuel pump to suck up some garbage off the bottom of the tank and lead to a fuel filter clogging condition.
Haven't had time to check the fuel filter, but I foresee an FCP Euro order coming soon once I've had a chance to go over the car and assess the situation.
Bonus video - fastest lap of session 1 which ended up being fastest lap of the day given the comedy of errors that struck in sessions 2 and 3
I get fuel starve once the gauge shows just under 1/2 tank because I'm still on the stock fuel system with one pump. I don't have fuel spilling out when my tank is over 3/4 so I do that.
Here's a video I shot showing my headrest mount you asked about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq9H4NRZQ9g
In reply to MINIzguy :
Thanks for remembering my admiring your mount! Might make a fun project for one of my boys and I to work on soon.
Fuel filter and pump assembly now on order from FCP Euro. Won't get everything until next week but some quick price comparison between them and my local parts stores showed if I could wait I'd save over $150.
So what happened with the spin? Did you come out a bit hot, lift and loose it or was the back end already coming out over the rise? Just curious. Hopefully you can get the fuel situation fully sorted on the street before hitting the track again.
In reply to adam525i (Forum Supporter) :
I was too hot and on the wrong line. As I crested I tried to correct and then around we went.
I'm anxious to get back out to NJMP at least one more time before winter so the car will definitely get buttoned up as quickly as I can.
I've been planning on installing a roll bar and fixed back seats over the winter so when I pull the rear seats to replace the fuel pump I'll likely leave them out. I'm also tempted to take out the headliner and C pillar trim at the same time so I don't have to deal with that mess the next time around either.
I built a roll bar and went to fixed back seats in my car over last winter, the back seats really absorb/isolate a lot of sound so just be prepared to hear your diff, fuel pumps and every pebble your back tires pick up. The seats and the extra safety on track are worth it though, the connection to the car is so much better, you can really feel what each end is doing. If the car is pretty much for track/autocross it's go for it, if that stuff is secondary and the car gets driven a lot otherwise climbing in and out of the seats and all the extra noise can take away some of the fun on street.
Had some time in the garage today with older son and we set out to replace the fuel pump. Took the rear seat bottoms and backs out and immediately found a fun little (mostly audio) wiring mess that ended up taking over our time.
On the top of the picture you can just barely make out two body harnesses. Remember this is an engine swap car and the previous owner and his shop were not exactly the most circumspect when it came to wiring. Five wires in one of those harnesses are the antenna amplifier, and the speaker wires for the left and right rear speakers. The wiring diagrams in my Haynes manual proved helpful to trace those down. Pulling the (I hope) completely unused harness out of the trunk revealed all of those audio wires were cut and can be easily discarded. Once I trace down the rest of the harness, I believe the whole thing can be ripped out and thrown away.
However, the more pressing concern is shown at the bottom of the picture where the red speaker wire is completely cut behind the seat back and the splice at the speaker has failed on the top section of the cut red wire. We also found a pair of blue RCA plugs in the trunk and a single blue wire, all connected to absolutely nothing and just hanging loose in the trunk.
Before fixing the passenger rear speaker, we decided to trace the blue wires all the way back and rip them out. Fun little journey from the trunk, along the floor, kick panel, under the dash to behind the headunit. First time I ever removed a headunit, and after some YouTube research, we discovered that two butter knives work great for pulling it out. While it took us way too long, I'm glad we pulled the headunit, as we also found an aux-in we could remove and some horrifying splicing that needed cleaning up and insulating a few areas of exposed wiring.
Got back in the garage after a few hours and finally got the damn fuel pump in. Only one trip to the hammer store required since I didn't have any small hose clamps suitable for fuel line.
Also in the spirit of I never get anything right the first time, the picture above shows the fuel line fully clamped but the retaining ring for the pump assembly was still sitting on the floor uninstalled.
I guess doing something twice is better than not doing it at all ;)
