Author Topic: 9 Weeks to Build a E30 318IS Track Car - Nurburgring 12th April 09 (Read 17938 times)

e30guydownunder · « **Reply #30 on:** March 01, 2009, 07:57:33 PM »

wow you are moving much quicker than me! My cage is in and i got the rear suspension in....have started on painting the inside and the roof where i deleted the sunroof....its gonna be tight. Front struts to build an interior to fit out, the roof and then bolting it all together

finite · « **Reply #31 on:** March 02, 2009, 06:10:36 AM »

Sounds like you're getting there though mate! One thing I think I'll have to miss out on is suspension, funds are somewhat limited

By the way - painting the cage once it's in is a nightmare!

318ishonk · « **Reply #32 on:** March 02, 2009, 04:04:08 PM »

I find it pretty great that you put safety before "speed gadgets" like semi slicks or engine tuning

Well done!

Generally you can compensate a (rather soft) standard suspension and the lack of camber with low profile tyres like 215/40R16 (they have stiff side walls and won't wear off so quickly on the outer sides).

HaNasich · « **Reply #33 on:** March 04, 2009, 10:07:13 AM »

do you have any measure of the exhaust pipes that makes up the piping underneath ur car?
im planing on building one myself and i'd be happy to find measure and angles before i start my work

thanks

Ron.

e30guydownunder · « **Reply #34 on:** March 04, 2009, 02:44:57 PM »

Hehe been there done that with the cage...and wasn't happy with how it turned out, so have rubbed bits of it back and will be painting again :eek

hoping to drop the drivetrain in this weekend....so that will mean the rear suspension and drivetrain are nearly 100% then i just have painting the roof, fitting the interior out and the front struts left to build.

finite · « **Reply #35 on:** March 08, 2009, 05:38:04 PM »

Sounds like you've got as much work on your plate as me! annoyingly i'm stuck in staines (anyone from the uk will laugh at that!) for the next three days so work's at a halt.

Even more annoyinly I finally got all the inlet and coolant system back together over the weekend and hit a couple of stumbling blocks.

Filled her with some fuel and started to check the system. The fuel system seems to be all good, however the pump doesn't prime on ignition 2 but pumps fuel when you crank. I can't remember if it does prime or not, some cars I know don't as the fuel pump works from the alternator so would only be on during crank and engine running. I didn't get her to fire as I just wanted to check for leaks. Any input on the above?

Next thing I filled the water system. As this progressed water started gushing from the nipple on the head where I'd done the TB heater removal mod. Obviously not done this right!

It would seem the hose from the plastic pipe on the block is 16mm id (well I measured 14mm id but no one makes 14mm rubber coolant hose so it must be 16) and the nippled on the head is 8mm!!!!!?

So I now need some 8mm coolant hose and a 8mm to 16mm metal joiner. This is where I'm really struggling. I cannot for the life of me find anything even close!

So anyone who's done this mod... what was your experience?

finite · « **Reply #36 on:** March 15, 2009, 11:44:01 AM »

so......

after much wrangling with different bits of hose and connectors she's finally alive! few little niggles to sort out

1. slight leak from water pump, guess the bolts need a final torque
2. idle still a bit eratic, suspect ICV so going to order another also need to set idle stopper and MAF voltage with the wideband
3. exhaust is LOUD so may need to quieten that down
4. had to bypass heater matrix as the valve is knackered and leaking slightly so no heat for me on the road to germany and also gauage is still not hitting quite in the middle. guess there's still air in the system to bleed out.
5. tracking to be done
6. need some clips for the new inlet tract

Any advise on any of the above gladly welcomed!

4 weeks to go!

318ishonk · « **Reply #37 on:** March 15, 2009, 01:53:10 PM »

Quote from: finite;68339

so......

after much wrangling with different bits of hose and connectors she's finally alive! few little niggles to sort out

1. slight leak from water pump, guess the bolts need a final torque
2. idle still a bit eratic, suspect ICV so going to order another also need to set idle stopper and MAF voltage with the wideband
3. exhaust is LOUD so may need to quieten that down
4. had to bypass heater matrix as the valve is knackered and leaking slightly so no heat for me on the road to germany and also gauage is still not hitting quite in the middle. guess there's still air in the system to bleed out.
5. tracking to be done
6. need some clips for the new inlet tract

Any advise on any of the above gladly welcomed!

4 weeks to go!

Hi finite,

watch your exhaust to be not too loud. They make sound measuring when they notice a loud car at the gate of the nordschleife.
Did my first laps today this year and on the way to the Nurburgring my temp gauge didn't reach the middle as well. --> don't worry

I always have an oil temp gauge as a backup.

If your heater doesn't work you need a good fan in in the front in case your get in the jam after the end of the lap. I see often guys blowing their radiator on the last meters of a lap because they come with a hot car out of Galgenkopf and then get stuck in traffic.

Speaking of which - they've got new tarmac on the entry of Galgenkopf and it gives you a bump when you get on the old tarmac in the middle of that corner. You want to be bit slower there than last season).

Oh, and: yippie-yeah I felt so jumpy today :-)

romkasponka · « **Reply #38 on:** March 16, 2009, 05:42:18 AM »

very nice. What suspension setup?

318ishonk · « **Reply #39 on:** March 16, 2009, 01:09:33 PM »

Quote from: romkasponka;68373

very nice. What suspension setup?

KW custom made, bound and rebound damping separately adjustable. Springs are quite soft (120N/mm front, unknown in the back) for a race car. A pain to drive in daily traffic though.
About -3 degrees camber, Bridgestone RE55S road legal tyres in 205/50R15. Because of the negative camber rims like 7x15 with offset 12 work nicely (drive my slicks with that).

romkasponka · « **Reply #40 on:** March 17, 2009, 04:01:11 AM »

Quote from: 318ishonk;68392

KW custom made, bound and rebound damping separately adjustable. Springs are quite soft (120N/mm front, unknown in the back) for a race car. A pain to drive in daily traffic though.
About -3 degrees camber, Bridgestone RE55S road legal tyres in 205/50R15. Because of the negative camber rims like 7x15 with offset 12 work nicely (drive my slicks with that).

I run softer springs, but our race track is not smooth. I am thinking about R17J9, because J7 is too narrow for my brakes :rolleyes:

finite · « **Reply #41 on:** March 17, 2009, 01:35:14 PM »

Hey Shonk thanks for the info again

I only made it round one lap as a passenger last year... very very long story but needless to say it was string's stag weekend and we were more focused on getting his car round the track than anything else! As we'd only just finished building it most of the weekend was spent sorting out the niggles... but not this year!!!! Any adivse on driving the ring would be gladly received!

I'm running the viscous fan on the rad, so hoping this will still provide enough air if I get into any hot temperature situations. Looks like the new water pump is leaking though

grrr that was my least favourite job. Looks like I'll have to pull it out and try and seal it again, any advise?

The exhaust was blowing badly from the mid section joint so I've redone the joint seal and will be driving her tomorrow to see if that's done the trick. It's a pretty free flowing exhaust, small mid box and small back box with very little in the way of bends so I am thinking two things:

1. It's may still be too loud.
2. It might not be providing enough back pressure hence not running very well

Will be putting it on the wideband tomorrow so should be able to see what the mixtures like.

Think that's about it

oh... couple of new pics:

finite · « **Reply #42 on:** March 17, 2009, 03:52:00 PM »

Just found a AC Schnitzer chip on ebay... what you guys think?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=130293365352

318ishonk · « **Reply #43 on:** March 18, 2009, 12:47:03 PM »

... Any adivse on driving the ring would be gladly received!

... Looks like I'll have to pull it out and try and seal it again, any advise?

...2. It might not be providing enough back pressure hence not running very well

1) Drive slowly, that's quicker and better for your car. On easter it'll be full as hell and there'll be lots of accidents. Main problem is how to get through the traffic jams without overheating the engine.

2) The O-Ring around the water pump might have been damaged while you were installing the pump (too much brute force). Use a new O-Ring, use a little bit of grease and gently remount the pump. When coolant comes out of the pump's bearings, then buy a new pump.

3) Don't worry about back pressure. Worry about overheating tyres, about oil, bikers or both behind a corner in the middle of the track (had that a couple o'times), worry about your safety.

finite · « **Reply #44 on:** March 18, 2009, 03:08:16 PM »

Quote from: 318ishonk;68517

... Any adivse on driving the ring would be gladly received!

... Looks like I'll have to pull it out and try and seal it again, any advise?

...2. It might not be providing enough back pressure hence not running very well

1) Drive slowly, that's quicker and better for your car. On easter it'll be full as hell and there'll be lots of accidents. Main problem is how to get through the traffic jams without overheating the engine.

2) The O-Ring around the water pump might have been damaged while you were installing the pump (too much brute force). Use a new O-Ring, use a little bit of grease and gently remount the pump. When coolant comes out of the pump's bearings, then buy a new pump.

3) Don't worry about back pressure. Worry about overheating tyres, about oil, bikers or both behind a corner in the middle of the track (had that a couple o'times), worry about your safety.

1. Couldn't agree more! I wont be going hell for leather, I want to have smooth safe fun!

2. I really blooming hope not! One thing I'm worried about is that when we took the old pump out it came out in multiple pieces, and had to be hammered/chissled out. Unfortunately in the process the block got a little scored. I've been in there with the emery paper and smoothed out what I can but it's possible the o-ring might not seal

When I put the new one in I greased the o-ring and the pump slid in fairly well. It did need to be tightened up to be seated so I did this progressively around each opposite bolt.

Well only one thing I can do! Pop it out and see what the situation is!

3. When we were going round last year the bikers did give me the bejezers! I'm a biker too and would definitely think twice about going round the ring. Bikes and Cars on a track at the same time is a little iffy IMHO!

On the exhaust.. I think the mid box is blown (it was old) so I'm off to get a new one and modify the exhaust tomorrow. May leave water pump till Friday

So a little more info on how she's running....

On idle the engine hunts, when cold it's impossible to get idle unless the throttle stopper screw is wound in some way. wide band reading is close to pure oxygen which i'm taking a guess is the result of the ICV playing up. Once hot it doesn't stall but still hunts for idle.

When running the exhaust noise is awful (which is the mid box being no good i think). She feels gutless under 6k rpm, feels like overfueling. We've only tried the wideband on stationary idle and when stationary reving which shows a lambda of 12 so overfuelling looks likely.