E36 vert build N/A

[Darky]

Very clean look now. Nice! 

[Tgoode318]

Oil Leak:
I Don't know how I didn't notice this before when i rebuilt the alternator but the oil filter housing gasket was the source of my leaks (of course..) gushing all over the place!! Cleaned up the gunk and replaced with a new gasket.


Fixed BUMP STEER:
Upgraded Tie Rods to Ground Control. One of The most over looked things when dropping the E30/36 is the effect's to 
the cars roll center & bumpsteer. When the ride height is lowered the tie rods can't perform correctly. To correct this I contacted ground control, Turner doesn't offer this part and instead recommends stock bmw tie rod's? The install was not bad but it did require some slight modification to the spindle. My First impressions; All i can say is WOW, The effect this has had on the suspension is Huge! Any one who has dropped their car needs to run this set up the difference is like night and day.








Spark Plugs:

Replaced denso's with standard bosche plugs. The Denso's showed slight signs of blistering indicating the engine was running to hot
initially was going to blame the Fan mod Delete but then i remembered i was lazy and mixed the coolant by hand, so i drained a small amount of coolant from the radiator and replaced with distilled water/cap of water wetter. Now the engine is running at the proper temp.





Cowl:
Cleaned and repainted




Valve Cover:

Last minute decision on this color, I like how it turned out

[thebrelon]

nice!
out of curiosity how do you determine the correct spacer for the tie rods? I had a look at ground control website and they don't give much info...
and is it worth upgrading the tie rods for a small drop (less than an inch from E30 M-tech chassis) or only when going really low?

[Tgoode318]

Yes unfortunately ground controls website doesn't give much info, like the part where the spindle had to be modified slightly. I will say though that they were the nicest guys i have talked to on a sales call, talked for about 15 min about cars and the weather so im sure they would be more then happy to help out with any problems that arose.   

The tie rods themselves are adjusted via the spacer/shim.
What you want is Zero Bump.
First you Set up the car to race conditions i.e tire pressures camber, caster , toe, sway bar settings etc. make sure every things is torqued properly and the steering wheel is centered and locked. Then you measure from the ground to the ball joint write the number down. Disconnect the sway/springs and return the car to the proper height (the number you wrote down) Then with a bump steer gauge you basically jack the suspension through 2-3 inch of travel write down the results and then shim as needed. For instance if it toes in on compression and out on rebound then you need to adjust the outer tie rod.

To answer your question about do you need this setup its difficult to say, the only way to truly know is to get a bump steer gauge and do what i said above. Excessive bump over .050 will definitely slow you down and you will need to adjust this.

[thebrelon]

alright!
that's too race orientated for my little daily drive... but it's good to know!
thanks for your reply.

[Tgoode318]

My buddy brought me a new front plate back from germany  he said they had hundreds laying to waste in the junk yards! Shame on BMW N/A for selling these 50$ a pop (cant really blame them though).


Of course more suspension updates! NO i really wanted be done with the suspension but apparently my suspension dosn't care what i think/decides to eat rear tires for breakfast...


Long story short Due to dynamic Toe changes caused by F****D RTABS A order to Beamer world was in order. Even though ground controls & turners Solid RTAB is superior I cant handle any more nvh because i DD this car. Bimmerworld has a nice solution by having an internal solid spherical design/greasetrap limiting NVH compared to others on the market. While i haven't heard any noises (the main thing i wanted to avoid) There is a small amount of increased harshness but i can live with that.



About 60k ago when i replaced the originals with more oem (crap) rubber i did so with hand tools and a drill/chisel. Needless to say it took about 5 hours a side  (Total 10 hours ) I promised if i ever had to do it again i would get the tool and an air compressor/impact.
so here i am 2 hours later





Old Bushing came out in 5 seconds



Bimmerworld Solid In place; A Perfect Fit.




Flushed my power steering again and went with Royal purple ATF. RP fluids have been excellent to the 318 so I flushed my oem and went with this even though I flushed/replaced with oem fluid not long ago. My steering was feeling a tiny bit notchy and the RP made every thing smooth as silk!



Now that the suspension is done, I will be concentrating on The drivetrain and weight loss, no not me the car
M3 6speed is in the works with a light weight racing fly wheel and carbon fiber drive shaft. 

[Jaker]

If you're doing the CF driveshaft strictly for weight reduction, don't waste your money. The DSS CF driveshaft is the same or heavier than the 318 OEM shaft. OEM is just 20.37lbs with the guibo and center support bearing.

[Tgoode318]

Im going for better control out of the corners, the cf has a better torsional spring rate compared to ALU. Also the benefits of acceleration/weight loss and better durability to the trans and diff are nice too. Another benefit is it eliminates the need to build a loop for the stock shaft since the cf will basically disintegrate under hard impact/stress.

[Jaker]

Which CF driveshaft were you planning to purchase? The DSS product is advertised by them at 20lbs.

[Tgoode318]

Yah the DSS isnt that great but it is lighter then the stock m3. 
I was looking at getting a custom one made by BAC tech. They use superior technique/materials compared to DSS and should be able make one  lighter & stronger. The only problem is the pricing might be astronomical but i have yet to iron out any details with them so who knows.
http://www.bactechnologies.com/high-performance-racing-products/carbon-fiber-1350-driveshafts

[Darky]

Hi tgood318
What's your review of the vac underdrive setup?
How much does it change voltage at idle, much change in water pump gearing?
Feel better to drive?
Cheers Rohan

[Tgoode318]

Hey darky that's a good question. The voltage at idle has changed slightly but since I just rebuilt my alternator it isn't a problem. I could see someone with an old alternator (because they often don't charge at full capacity) or aftermarket stereo system having issues. There was also a change in water pump Gearing as you mentioned that combined with the Viscous fan delete forced me to compensate, fortunately it was as simple as changing my coolant ratio; I now run a 60% distilled water 39% Bmw Coolant & 1% water wetter in my setup as well as the lower temp themo and fan temp switch. Even on very hot days it runs without a hiccup.   As Far as craftsmanship goes they are beautiful! Hands down the nicest piece I have put onto the car only rivaled by ground controls tie rods. After seeing the craftsmanship of the piece I will definitely be looking at VAC when my engine build starts. I have some port & polish experience on old school American v8s but after this I might just go with vacs stage 3 P&P.
 
Performance: These definitely had a positive effect on the engine, in combination with the FMD the engine revs much more freely. The top end really responded well and got some extra grunt for the last couple hundred RPMS as well as the increase in wanting to rev faster from the middle to the top. All in all it's the best "bolt-on" mod I have done.  (Performance wires, K&n intake, FMD, silencer delete, underdrive pulleys)