Project E30

[Dave]

woowoooooo, go Boobies!!!

[Chris]

Great to see progress!

What the hell is the crossmember-type-thing that the front of the skidplate is bolted to?

thats the "main" skid plate I had my cage builder fabricate for me. It should take the main impact if I rolled over something, rather than ripping off the oil pan. this new part of the skid plate is just extra. I was a little bored and thought I'd give it a try.

[Chris]

Looks like you have a nice garage to work in as well. Good progress.

thanks, its the warehouse at my office. Its so nice being able to keep the car there, pull it inside when I want, store all my tools and track stuff, and hopefully soon be able to leave the car inside when we clear some space!

[Chris]

UPDATED


Since my rear axle boot is ripped and spraying grease all over I need to replace both rear axles. I thought I'd ask and see if anyone has done these (esp. on an E30). I can buy kits to replace the boots, but it seems easiest to replace the whole axle since I want to replace both the inner and outer boots.

It doesnt' seem too hard, but I haven't used a puller before to press the stub axle out of the wheel hub. I should be able to get one from an auto store. Any major problems I may encounter??


Also... I wanted to see if anyone would like to help me with my valve tap problem (also on the E30). I have no idea what to replace and how to go about it. Feel free to PM me if you have some time on a weekend

[BLINGMW]

It doesnt' seem too hard

It really isn't, I don't even remember using a puller, but I think you usually need to. Not a big deal. Up to you if you want new axles. If it still has a decent amount of grease, hasn't been ripped too long, and isn't making any noise, a DIY rebuild would certainly be cheaper. I rebuilt the ones on my silver 318, I think I had to make a little tool to get the CV joint off (I might still have that if you want it). And it took me a while. But once apart, you just clean 'em out, clamp the new boots on, fill with grease, and re-install. If you go with already rebuilt axles, it could be done in just a couple hours with no special tools, most of my time was spent dinking around with the joints.

For the valve tick, IIRC, one of the adjusters was too worn. I THINK they're pretty easy to replace, but I've never done it or looked it up.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Chris, I would suggest an axle puller, it makes life so easy plus its free to rent from parts stores. Give me a call, if I can find the axles for that car (ill check tomorow) ill give you the axles for 39.99 each. New boots are typically 14-20 bucks so another 20-25 bucks for new axles or rebuilt isnt too bad. Let me know! Just trying to help!

[ziich]

definitely seems like a lot less work to replace the entire axle than just the boots. I'm having the same dilemma

[.RJ]

another 20-25 bucks for new axles or rebuilt isnt too bad.

Definately worth the $$ for new axles - A lot of reman axles fail very quick on track because they "rebuild" axles with torn boots and failing CV's with just new grease/boots.

[Maengelito]

does raxles make axles for E30s? i got a set of raxles for my integra back in the day. their customer service was top notch

[Chris]

thanks for the advice. I went ahead with the rebuild kits to save some money. I've got to get these replaced before Summit and I only have next Friday afternoon to do it...

Maeng, I called raxles and you're right- awesome customer service and advice. Although he didn't have parts for my car, he said I should be fine replacing just the boots because I caught it early.

If anyone needs axles, I'd call Raxles- very helpful place.

[Chris]

F auto parts warehouse! I think I'm done ordering from these large parts stores. I'm giving business to the small companies from now on. They only sent me 1 of the 4 boot kits I ordered so now I might not get to it by next weekend. I may stay after work some this week once the parts come in, but I'm not sure. I'll probably just have to tape up the boot and drive it as is.

[Andy]

F auto parts warehouse! I think I'm done ordering from these large parts stores. I'm giving business to the small companies from now on. They only sent me 1 of the 4 boot kits I ordered so now I might not get to it by next weekend. I may stay after work some this week once the parts come in, but I'm not sure. I'll probably just have to tape up the boot and drive it as is.

Advance/Napa/Autozone's don't carry boot kits for your car? Autopartswarehouse/partsbin are pretty worthless. I've had really bad luck with them too.

[Chris]

Question...

I checked my rear brake pads today when I got to the track and the left rear pads were really low- almost to the backing plates. The right rear pads had plenty of pad left. Both sides were installed the same, all bolts were tight, and they have been on the same amount of time.

I just don't get it... any ideas?

[Andy]

Question...

I checked my rear brake pads today when I got to the track and the left rear pads were really low- almost to the backing plates. The right rear pads had plenty of pad left. Both sides were installed the same, all bolts were tight, and they have been on the same amount of time.

I just don't get it... any ideas?

Sticking calipers. Did you check the caliper slides? I'm also assuming your pile doesn't have some sort of brake based traction control.


Also check the ebrake cables. The left side cable could be binding.

[Chris]

ok cool. I'll grease the slides tomorrow. How do I know if the parking brake is binding?

[Chris]

parking brake on my car has a separate drum brake inside the hub, so I don't think it would have anything to do with the pads wearing uneven. I greased the slides and I'll keep an eye on the wear from now on.

[Chris]

Updates:

Finally got a couple things taken care of for this weekend at Shenandoah. I spent 10 f'in hours on Sunday replacing two of the axle boots on one side. One of them had ripped back in August at VIR and I've just kept it taped up. I couldn't tap the inner part of the axle joint off the end of the axle until I tried a heat gun to loosen it up. Finally got it off and then re-assembled everything :evil: Now I have the other axle boots to replace, but it should be easier the 2nd time around.

Here are the brake ducts I added a few weeks ago. Hopefully they hold up to some abuse, unlike Mike's!





View from under car:




I took the back seat speaker grill from my convertible parts car and used that as the round vent opening you see. This replaces my broken fog lights and allows more air to enter the wheel well. I took the stock brake duct opening and routed the tubing to the rotors.

[ScottyB]

nice work man, i like your ingenuity :lol:

[WRXtranceformed]

Nice work!! Zip ties ftw!

[Dave]

go Boobies!
Glad you were able to figure out the axles, definitely don't try that side until after the upcoming track weekend :-). Nice use of the front bumper holes too!