The Cart Before the Horse: Spec 3 Build

[Senor_Taylor]

Car is back together and I threw some new pads and brass caliper bushings on. Drove it around the neighborhood and it seems alright. Dropping it off at Mach V first weekend of February, so I'll be redoing some wiring in the mean time, I think.


Going to reassess finances and start looking into who can get my cage done after March VIR.

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[Deceus]

Nice I should really look into getting a cage for my POS too at some point but the Ralliart kinda takes priority at the moment and that's looking to be close to $6,000. Might just be a year of RallyX at this point. Good to see you're embracing the madness and taking things in stride.

[Senor_Taylor]

Nice I should really look into getting a cage for my POS too at some point but the Ralliart kinda takes priority at the moment and that's looking to be close to $6,000. Might just be a year of RallyX at this point. Good to see you're embracing the madness and taking things in stride.

Yeah. Overall I'm satisfied with how it all shook out, even though it did suck.

Things accomplished with this project:
Rear main seal
Rear main seal housing
Pilot Bearing/
Throw Out bearing
Pivot pin
Removed trans tunnel insulations that was falling down and crumbling, replaced with aluminum tape
New Guibo
Inspected clutch, flywheel, pressure plate
New oil pan gasket
Loctite and safety wired oil pan nut
reinforced oil pickup
baffled oil pan
cleaned trans, steering rack, oil pan, engine, subframe
reinforced subframe
brass caliper bushings
headlight intake installed
new 96-99 M3 control arms with new ball joints
new control arm bushings 
brand new eibach sway bar kit

[Senor_Taylor]

Did valve cover gasket and wired up a fuse block. It may look bad, but it really cleaned up the mess back there. Much better solution than running an individual ground and power to everything.

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[Senor_Taylor]

These cars have issues with fuel starve below a half tank on right hand turns. Running the car with a full tank isn't always the easiest when I'm working and driving, and having the option to start at a half tank or less for weight purposes would be very helpful.

Bimmerworld sells a kit that is pretty pricey, but I got a good deal on 2 used pre-95 fuel pumps for less than a third the price. The stock configuration on the 95+ e36s is a fuel pump on the passenger side that feeds the engine, and a sending unit on the driver side that takes the return from the fuel rail. Both have level sensors and are connected (kind of) by a siphon tube.

The new setup replaces both sides with older style pumps that have both a feed and a return on each. The driver side takes the return from the engine, then feeds the passenger side. The driver side then feeds the engine. The driver side pump is wired to a switch so I can choose to use it only when I'm low if I want.

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[Senor_Taylor]

Got the car back from Deren at Mach V. Stainless brake lines, subframe reinforcements, RTAB pocket reinforcements, sway bar reinforcements, AKG Poly diff and subframe bushings installed, new diff cover, Motul 75-140w gear oil, eibach sways, and had the exhaust leaks on this poorly made exhaust welded up. The difference in the car just loading it on the trailer is already apparent. Everything feels much tighter and there are a lot less noises when working the clutch. Also had my terrible alignment fixed. I need to scrounge up the money to finish my suspension and get those camber plates, but at the moment, the cage is more important, which is up next!

[Sijray21]

great progress! i like seeing this thing come together.

[Jake]

Yessss.

Which TT class do you fit in?

[Senor_Taylor]

great progress! i like seeing this thing come together.

Thanks!

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Yessss.

Which TT class do you fit in?

TT5, will be extremely uncompetitive. Smack dab in the middle of power to weight with a trash suspension and the wrong tires. I'm like 5-6 seconds off 3rd place currently.

[Senor_Taylor]

Much bigger and quieter mishimoto fan installed. Wasn't having any issues with cooling, but I figured it'd be a good upgrade. The new one isn't held in with zip ties either this time.

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[Senor_Taylor]

Alright, scheduled to get the cage done in April.

Basics:
1) 1.75 x 0.095 DOM tubing
2) 8-point cage (including foot protection)
3) Foot protection on both sides w/ foot rest for driver
4) Bent X doorbar on driver side w/ gusseting (get as close to the door as possible, or maybe even Nascar door bars for more room.
5) Straight X doorbar on passenger side w/ gusseting
6) Lower X bars in rear
7) Dashbar w/ tab for middle net restraint
8) Diagonal reinforcement across roof
9) Triangulation of main hoop and horizontal roof bar
10) Triangulation of A-pillar bar and horizontal windshield bar
11) New Windshield (if needed)
12) Install window net (Do I supply this or do you?)
13) Install eyebolts for 6-point belts on both sides
14) Install master kill switch (accessible to driver and from outside)
15) Jacking plates as described in Spec3 Rule 9.3.13.29
16) Weld in sunroof

How does that look? Basically copy pasted my requirements from another Spec3 guy.

[Kaan]

looks good to me... i might have a window net and/or right side net if you want it.

[Jake]

Sounds good to me. I don't have the thingy for a center net but could add it later. No center net needed if you have a halo seat. You will appreciate the jack points - guessing they are in the center of the car.

[rherold9]

Sounds solid. Will be following to see results/learnings for when I get mine done

[Senor_Taylor]

Jake gave me some left over diamond plate. I made a floor pan by cutting it, making an L bracket to support the left side, and screwing it down.

However... I'm an idiot and drilled a hole through my fuel filter. Whoops. I've been meaning to replace it anyway since I had one in the garage. The guy at advance even gave me the fuel hose for free!



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[JPolen01]

That looks nice. I think diamond plate gets really slick when wet? Maybe add some grip tape.

[Senor_Taylor]

That looks nice. I think diamond plate gets really slick when wet? Maybe add some grip tape.

I plan to. Nothing is more slick than the bare floor I've been working with.

[ScottyB]

looks really good!

[.RJ]

that wiring...

[Senor_Taylor]

that wiring...

You're welcome to come make it look better. BMW connectors are a PITA to depin, so it's really tough to clean up.

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