The Cart Before the Horse: Spec 3 Build

[Senor_Taylor]

did the weights fall off? that's happened to me before. as in, have the wheels ever felt balanced and then didn't for some reason?

Nope. Unbalanced every minute of their existence.

It's not the car either because running my nicer set of wheels felt perfect.

The two sets I got from an old spec 3 guy have been nothing but shit, including $400 for a set of RA1s that lasted 1 session before flying apart.

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[JPolen01]

Wait, the wheels were or were not balanced?

Or are you saying they were never balanced, but felt normal then went wonky?

[Senor_Taylor]

Wait, the wheels were or were not balanced?

Or are you saying they were never balanced, but felt normal then went wonky?

They were balanced when the tires were mounted. They shook the car from the very first session I used them. They shook with the tires that were on the wheels before as well.

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[Senor_Taylor]

Wow! First DE3 at Summit and I had a blast. Most fun driving weekend yet. Driving with round/balanced wheels is great. Picked up another 5 seconds or so for a new PB of 1:27.4. I'm really excited to see what kind of times I can record once I have the Spec 3 Suspension, Sways, drop another 100 lbs, and run the 225 RR instead of the 205s I ran this weekend. The car feels great, but still has a tendency to understeer, but the added camber, sway bar stiffness up front, and more tire pressure really helped to reduce the pushing from the last time I was there. Left foot braking is absolutely crucial at Summit and is VERY fun. Gave a lot of ride alongs, got a lot of compliments on my driving (even from Chris himself!), and escaped the weekend without incident. Thanks for Jon for having a spare brake light switch when mine failed! That would have cost me the weekend!

Oh, and I also won NASA MA worker of the year! WOWOWOWOW! On to Road Atlanta in a few weeks.

Check it out around 6 minutes to see me and Jack playing cat and mouse.

[rherold9]

Congrats on the PB. You'll continue to get faster even on old/tired equipment. Just keep driving

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[Jake]

Congrats on the uh, everything! As I said in the car, you're doing really well. Wish I was making RA with you but timing wasn't right this year

[Senor_Taylor]

I'm out for Road Atlanta. That $500 + gas + other stuff it'll take is better spent on getting the car finished. Waiting for my refund now.

Thanks, Jake. It really means a lot to hear that from you!

Update on the build. I've found the control arms, strut housings, sway bar kit, and the oil pan I need. Once the Miata is out the garage, the car goes under the knife.

[*insertusernamehere*]

Let me know when I'll bring an extra space heater, lawn chair, some beer and trash talk.

[Senor_Taylor]

[Senor_Taylor]

Next up to do:

1. Order Control Arm Bushings, AOil Pan Gasket, Oil Change Kit
2. Order Front Subframe reinforcements and shock bolts
3. Press new ball joins and bushings onto the M3 control arms I have
4. Drop my subframe
5. Install Oil Pump nut safety wire
6. Get my front subframe reinforcements welded in
7. Install baffled oil pan, new gasket
8. Reinstall subframe, new control arms
9. Install Brash Caliper Guide bushings
10. Drill my M3 strut housings and install shock inserts
11. Install my Eibach Sway Bar Kit
12. Install my second Fuel Pump (Need to source another fuel pump connector, wire up a relay for this other pump)
13. Replace my current puller fan with a bigger one (I had two fans, but one fell out at Summit. Should also consider some ducting)
14. Order my rear subframe reinforcements, rear bushings, rear ball joints, rear sway bar reinforcements
15. Tow the car to a shop and have them drop the rear subframe, weld in the reinforcements, and do the bushings/ball joints back there
16. Buy the Spec springs and Camber Plates, final assembly on new suspension, Install new suspension
17. Switch to a 71C thermostat and swap antifreeze for water wetter
18. Bimmerworld Race Studs
19. Spec Air Filter
20. Final check on wire thinning
21. Cage (!!!???!?!?!?)
22. Buy and install a fire system during or after
23. Purchase Fire retardant shoes, underwear, socks
24. Spec HeadLight Intake
25. Kill Switch
26. AeroCatches
27. Buy a transponder (If not already done)
28. New seat, window net, belts
30. Comp SCHOOL baby


Possible to do before the end of Summer? I think so. It'll be a tough, busy year, with lots of financial irresponsibility.

I hope to have 1-15 done before March VIR to be ready for my Time Trials check ride. Instructor clinic definitely before the end of the year. Everyone please let me know if you see anything out there that may assist in getting any of these done, or if you think I'm missing anything.

[Kaan]

you can get all that done before march...

[Senor_Taylor]

you can get all that done before march...

Money

[Senor_Taylor]

Front subframe dropped and is with Deren getting reinforcements welded in. Baffled oil pan installed with a safety wired oil pump but with loctite torqued to an ... amount.

Should get the subframe back in the next few days and will get that reinstalled, then pressing ball joints into my m3 control arms next weekend. Will get those installed and get the car back on the ground. Need to get tires on the trailer while all of this is happening, then dropping the car off at Mach V the day before the Super Bowl to have the rear subframe reinforcements welded in, stainless brake lines and subframe/diff bushings installed.

Also made a switch panel from some metal Jake left at my house.

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[Senor_Taylor]

Picked up my newly reinforced subframe. Filled the engine with oil and started bolting everything back together...

...and it leaks heavily from the bell housing. There's no access panel, so it seems like I'm dropping the pan again.

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[Senor_Taylor]

Dropped the pan again and discovered this the rear main seal holder is cracked. Likely from me being an idiot and putting the wrong bolt in.

So now I'm working on dropping the trans.

At the moment the driveshaft and exhaust are unhooked. Need to finish unclipping the shifter, unbolt the slave cylinder and starter, then work on the bell housing bolts. Calling BMW Fairfax tomorrow to snag a kit for the parts I need since the only ones available are OE parts. Will get new flywheel bolts as well. We will see if I end up replacing anything else like clutch, flywheel, and bearings. Logic says I should be replacing the bearings, but I'm also very short on time and need the car to be back on the ground in two weeks. Once I finish this detour, it's back to the oil pan, then getting the front suspension back together.

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[Senor_Taylor]

Progress made. Decided to order throw out bearing, pivot pin, pilot bearing, input shaft seal, clutch alignment tool, and of course, the rear main seal and seal housing. Dropped the trans tonight and have it all ready for the parts that I got two day shipping on.

Clutch and flywheel look okay according to DJ and some others, so they're going back in to save me $1000.

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[ScottyB]

yeah...probably a good idea you took that off. your RMS is super borked! gonna be super fresh up in there soon though!

[Senor_Taylor]

Throwout bearing and pivot pin were pretty much dead. Replaced those, new clutch arm sprint as well. Got the rear main seal housing replaced with new seal, and fought the pilot bearing for like 30 minutes with a slide hammer that was too small, so I switched to the wet toilet paper method which was slow, but effective. New pilot bearing in, cleaned the flywheel and clutch and got those on (thank Tyler for holding the motor so I could torque them!) Then got my cheap clutch alignment tool stuck. Taking a break and sleeping on it before I put the trans back on in case I forgot something or messed something up.

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[ScottyB]

yeah i'd call that pin spent.

[Senor_Taylor]

Transmission is back in. (Thanks Tom!), Starter installed (possibly wired incorrectly), new guibo, drive shaft installed, exhaust installed.

This puts me back where I was a week ago, ready to install my oil pan... Again. I forgot to order a gasket for the reinforced oil pickup tube (standard on the z3) that I picked up, so I'm running to the parts store tomorrow to hopefully find something that will work. Need to drop off the trailer and entertain the GF tomorrow, but at some point in spec getting control arms with new E30 m3 ball joints from a fellow Spec3er, which will allow me to fully reinstall everything and get it on the ground. The goal is to drive it out of the garage by Sunday night. Very nervous I'll mess up the oil pan again.



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