The Cart Before the Horse: Spec 3 Build

[ScottyB]

looks good! i just realized i don't think i ever said congrats on this. super exciting to see you gearing up for track time.

[Deceus]

The rest of my parts came in last night and I had a 5 hour marathon until midnight to get the car back on the ground.

Jelly, I'm still waiting on my brake booster to do anything but I'm honestly looking forward to the marathon(s) that are going to go down once everything is here. I should probably get the engine back together before all that but nothing beats the motivation that comes with knowing your labor is the only thing holding you back from driving the car.

[Senor_Taylor]

looks good! i just realized i don't think i ever said congrats on this. super exciting to see you gearing up for track time.

Thanks! I'm very excited too. A lot nervous as well as I've got too high a percentage of my available money tied up in this, but excited to be doing it.

The rest of my parts came in last night and I had a 5 hour marathon until midnight to get the car back on the ground.

Jelly, I'm still waiting on my brake booster to do anything but I'm honestly looking forward to the marathon(s) that are going to go down once everything is here. I should probably get the engine back together before all that but nothing beats the motivation that comes with knowing your labor is the only thing holding you back from driving the car.

Yeah, it was really nice having the time to get everything off the car and have a plan while waiting for parts to arrive. It's also nice have the money to buy most of the parts I needed at once as opposed to doing everything piecemeal. I'll be happy once it is titled and passes inspection.

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[Senor_Taylor]

So... The car just failed inspection for a small coolant leak on to the power steering lines and the brake clips that are there to stop them from rattling. Somehow the leak is "contaminating the power steering belt" and the brake clips are a safety issue? Complete bullshit. I tried to argue but obviously I'm not going to just change their mind.

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[Sijray21]

So... The car just failed inspection for a small coolant leak on to the power steering lines and the brake clips that are there to stop them from rattling. Somehow the leak is "contaminating the power steering belt" and the brake clips are a safety issue? Complete bullshit. I tried to argue but obviously I'm not going to just change their mind.

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Wow, wtf... Go somewhere else. Bite the cost and never go there again. What is this place so we can all avoid them?

[Senor_Taylor]

So... The car just failed inspection for a small coolant leak on to the power steering lines and the brake clips that are there to stop them from rattling. Somehow the leak is "contaminating the power steering belt" and the brake clips are a safety issue? Complete bullshit. I tried to argue but obviously I'm not going to just change their mind.

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Wow, wtf... Go somewhere else. Bite the cost and never go there again. What is this place so we can all avoid them?

As far as inspections go: 

Great Fall Exxon @ the corner of Georgetown Pike and Walker Rd

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[Evan]

So... The car just failed inspection for a small coolant leak on to the power steering lines and the brake clips that are there to stop them from rattling. Somehow the leak is "contaminating the power steering belt" and the brake clips are a safety issue? Complete bullshit. I tried to argue but obviously I'm not going to just change their mind.

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http://www.vsp.virginia.gov/Safety.shtm

Unfortunately that could fall under "Worn, damaged or missing parts. "  But any inspector with his head out of his rear knows that's bullshit and not a safety issue.  
Inspections are big profit drivers for shops.  Most people say "just fix it" so that incentivizes them to do nitpicky inspections.

If its *truly* bullshit  (like the inspector that told me my factory steering wheel is illegal),  you can first ask them to show you the regulation in the code of virginia,  and if they still wont budge,  ask for a State Trooper to come review.

[Senor_Taylor]

Drove back home, tightened some hose clamps that were.... less than tight. Dried everything off and threw the brake clips back on.

Up next. Alignment and tires.

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[Sully]

I hate inspections. The last time I got failed... By the shop my dad has used for the last like 20 years for a bubble in the sidewall. They offered me a mismatched random tire for like $100 more than the tires I had cost. So I ordered the correct tire from tire rack and took the rim up to merchants who is a local tirerack installer (because I literally don't trust them to touch anything other than an already unmounted rim because they've stripped like 8 of my buddies lugs on like 3 different rims on 2 or 3 different occasions and also put a inspection sticker in my bike that expired the day they put it on because it was from the previous year) and then took it back to the first shop for my $1 reinspection.

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[Senor_Taylor]

Had to get numbers made, so I asked Ryan Green to do them for me. Figured if I was paying for shipping, might as well get him to make the other stickers I'll need eventually. Went ahead and put them all on except for "SPEC 3" which I'm not in yet, obviously.



Pushing the credit card further and further, but I bought some all seasons to mount on the Style 32s that I have and I got some stupid cheap R comps on Spec legal wheels, so I'm selling the ugly Style 6 wheels with the snow tires on the car now. Besides get those all mounted and balance, along with an alignment, there are only a few more things concerning me.

First off is the clutch fan. It's stuck "on" which is really annoying and makes me worry about the stress it puts on the water pump bearing at 6000 RPM, so I'm looking for an E- Fan kit. Lots of people claim to run with just the aux fan in front of the radiator (Deleting the clutch fan) and being completely fine. Has anyone here had similar experiences? I have a CSF aluminum radiator and all new cooling system including sensors, so I feel like if there's anyone that could run without the clutch fan, it'd be me.

Second is the whine it makes. Simon says he replaced the idler pulleys, but there is still a high pitch whine that sounds like a supercharger when the engine revs. I have reason to suspect it's the alternator, which was replaced a few years ago. I guess I'll pull off belts one by one and run the motor to narrow it down. My thought of the alternator being bad is also backed up by the battery dying every 3 days.

I have the wheels, exhaust, front seats, alarm system, and various other bits that I wish would sell sooner rather than later. If anyone knows of anyone with an E36 that's look for those things, please let me know.

[Jake]

I'd still throw an electric fan on it. You'll need it anyway when you pull the A/C components off.

+1 to suspecting the alternator. How old is that battery?

[Senor_Taylor]

I'd still throw an electric fan on it. You'll need it anyway when you pull the A/C components off.

+1 to suspecting the alternator. How old is that battery?

I'm officially out of money. I'll try to get an e fan before my first event, but I'm speaking about for now. I'm trying to drive the car to find any gremlins before driving it to VIR.

The battery is newish but spent most of its life flat.

Something is definitely loose in the suspension somewhere and I need to find that now.

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[BLINGMW]

Remove the clutch fan immediately for a track car. When it's locked like that it WILL detonate at high RPMs and take radiator and hoses with it. The electric fan will do just fine if the 190(?) deg sensor is working, though many wire it to stay on constantly (that's what I usually did) or to a manual switch.

[Kaan]

I'm picking up a better fan set up for my car... i'll have a thin SPAL fan you can have to throw on a switch if you want. I can even throw in an inline fuse setup if you want.

I trust Channing... if he says remove it, do it asap. car is home, i'll pull the fan this weekend (and maybe the belts lol)

[Senor_Taylor]

I'm picking up a better fan set up for my car... i'll have a thin SPAL fan you can have to throw on a switch if you want. I can even throw in an inline fuse setup if you want.

I trust Channing... if he says remove it, do it asap. car is home, i'll pull the fan this weekend (and maybe the belts lol)

Yeah, I'd be interested! 

Are these switches in track cars ran directly through the switches or do they use relays?

[Sully]

I'd use a relay unless it's a high current switch meant to handle loads. But relay is cheap easy insurance. And then you can use whatever switch you want. You can buy them for like $1 a piece or something probably.

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[Kaan]

I run a relay on my fan setup BUT... its really for automatic fan setups. I don't see it doing anything pre switch, except it holds a fuse in it. so if you run an inline fuse to a toggle switch... its basically the same thing.

[Senor_Taylor]

Does anyone have an example of how they wired up their fan?

I could either
1. Wire it up to a switch (relay optional, but smart)
2. Wire it up to turn on with the aux fan
3. Buy the Bimmerworld wiring kit for it, but have to put a bung on my radiator for the temp switch.

Are they other options? I honestly don't suspect the car will ever get too hot with the aux fan and the robust cooling system, so I figure I can wire it to a switch and just flip it on if I ever see temps creep. It'd be nice to be able to leave the fan running after coming off track and having the car off.

[Jake]

Mine has power being pulled off the battery wiring under-hood (where you'd hook up to jump it) and ground from... wherever. I am using a relay so the switch isn't hard wired to the fan itself.

From my M3 thread (this is why I wrote it all down):

or my own later reference...

Relay:
30: +12V from car
85: Ground
86: To in-car switch
87: Positive wire from fan
87a: Ignore

I grounded the relay and the fan both to a common point that is used near the battery jump point, and ran the +12V for the relay and fan off of the battery jump point "distribution box" thing.

The relay itself is an Amazon special and is something like this (although mine may be considered waterproof, I dunno):

https://www.amazon.com/Pack-EPAuto-Relay...G7SHRFPRA5

[Sully]

Correct me if I'm wrong but if the car is off, the only thing you're cooling is the fluid in the radiator which isn't helping you in any way.

I feel like an electric fan pulls enough current where I wouldn't want a little cheap toggle switch having to handle the load. Yeah they make 30a switches but most are pretty low under 10a I feel like. Especially if you get into led or random cheap switches vs something you'd buy in a racecar switch panel.

A relay basically isolates the switch so the switch has minimal current going through it and the relay does all the heavy lifting with the current. It's a switch for a switch. Now they can also be used for other things. Most relays are 5 pin which means one pin gives you bypass power when your switch is off.

I don't see the benefit of not adding one for anything over 10 amps

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