Will Frost's E30 Rally car build

[Rallyprep_UK]

So my friend Neil and I picked up an E30 and it arrived on a trailer today !

This will be a rally car build.

So the shell is a 1988, 2 door, non sunroof model which I am told had an M10 engine originally.

Upon first inspection the rear arches are in brilliant condition to my amazement !

The scuttle area, roof, engine bay, and boot is perfect. The only spots of bother are the osf wing (easy, replace it !), and the outer areas of the front footwells. The usual rear towing eye area has been repaired badly at some point and will need a tidy up.

























So, the shopping list initially is;

M42 Engine/loom/ecu (already sourced)
318is Gearbox (already sourced)

318is Radiator/hoses (already sourced)
Heater motor

51mm front struts/hubs/calipers (already sourced)
Disc rear axle (already sourced)
325 roll bars
LSD
4.4 ratio crown/pinion (already sourced)
318is Propshaft (already sourced)
325 Driveshafts

Smiley Headlights
OS wing

Tech 2 steering wheel - the mole grips arent f.i.a approved (already sourced)
Seats

[alan1272]

good stuff get yourself over here http://www.bmw-rallying.co.uk/

what form of rallying are you going to build it for, road or stage?

[Kos]

what animal owned that car before ?

the ski hatch will pop of easily, but oh no they had to hack it

[rix313]

Have you had it on the scales? See what it weights compared to the sunroof shell?

[Rallyprep_UK]

good stuff get yourself over here http://www.bmw-rallying.co.uk/

what form of rallying are you going to build it for, road or stage?

Cool yes, I have registered a while ago but not had a good rummage of the forum yet . I have the same username on there.

I am not 100% yet but expect it will be road rally car. A full plan will be put together before going too far. The first job is to sort any rust and paint the thing and by the time we have done that it's fate will be decided

what animal owned that car before ?

the ski hatch will pop of easily, but oh no they had to hack it

Yeah right, bloody animals and their subwoofers !!. I will have to tidy that up - maybe cut out a large square and put a new sheet in.

I also love the shopping list on the side of the car haha !

Have you had it on the scales? See what it weights compared to the sunroof shell?

No bud, It will be a while before I can weigh this car as it is at my workshop and the scales are at work. My grey E30 is road legal and can be driven to work to be weighed .

They are both non sunroof cars and I will weigh it at some point but it is not convenient for a while

I would like a set of those scales which you can put under each wheel for corner weights. Hmmmm I wonder how much they are !??....

Good idea !

Will

[rix313]

A grand for a basic wired kit, earn their money back though if you whore them out for setting up other peoples cars

[Rallyprep_UK]

The wheels seem to be rare, I cant find much on them but I really like them and think they deserve a refurb !







All of the centre caps are present too !

Anyway !

I have emptied all of the bits and bobs which came with the car and had a dig around. There are a couple of bits to weld but overall she is pretty solid.

I replaced the n/s/r lamp as it was smashed and refitted a heckspoiler to fill the holes.

Next up will be the cleaning and preperation of the engine bay.

Will

[Rallyprep_UK]

Some more progress today !

Steering is much easier with one of these


The front end has been stripped down, the fusebox unbolted, and the brake servo removed. There was a very little bit of accident damage to the front end which was only cosmetic (headlight, bonnet, front valance/bumper).




It is cleaning up really well with some G101 chemical and a brush/hose.




The holes in the bootlid have been filled with a standard spoiler !. There are still a few more where it looks like a GT wing was sat . Ah well thats better for now.


I also removed the badly painted rear bumper.

[rix313]

Front end of the shell certainly looks very tidy. Does the rear match?

[Rallyprep_UK]

There is a little damage to the osf which is very easily sorted. A small amount of rust sits behind the os headlight which I will photo later. the rear is of the same condition

There is a botched repair to the rear tow eye area (fibreglass !).

I am going to do some more in a mo

[Rallyprep_UK]

I spent some more time on the front end. The O/S/F corner had been knocked at some point which had ever so slightly bent the edges over on the lower and outer section. This was easily fixed with some grips, a hammer and block of wood.

Then we got to work with the drill/wire wheel. Once any surface rust had been ground back it was treated and neutralised with kurust (4 coats) and primed. We used a heat gun to help the primer as it was not the warmest of days.












The clio servo was given a clean up/kurust/satin black and test fitted. A replacement heater fan was sourced as the old one had siezed. I gave it some lube and fitted it.


The battery tray was left a little pitted after removal of the rust. A quick skim of filler may be required here...


The v.i.n plate will need removing to lay the red down.












The scuttle plastics were given some satin black.

[GeoffBob]

... it was not the warmest of days

Can see that, your hands look positively blue

Nice work, keep it up

[Rallyprep_UK]

lol - or its a workforce of smurfs

We cracked on again today, I got some more of the engine bay primed up while my buddy took the heat gun and showed the sound deadening who is boss ! (Cheers Adam ). Digging around in the o/s footwell revealed a dodgy repair !.



I removed the rear bumper and took it outside for its first wash. I was very happy how it scrubbed up and will let the pics do the talking. (please excuse the picture quality - taken on my mobile)
















I also started to thin out the loom, removing speaker wires, the rear ashtray light, stereo power wiring etc.


More bloody speaker holes uncovered




Henry hoover was a busy boy !

[Rallyprep_UK]

I went to pick up a replacement front valance this evening !



More pieces of the puzzle are coming together now. I have a pair of wings and a front bumper.

I also have an FIA battery cut off switch.

[Rallyprep_UK]

Cleaned


And painted satin black


Rust in front of the drivers seat has been cut out along with the screws which hold the loom ties.

[Rallyprep_UK]

There is no gas in my welder at the moment so I have just tacked the plates in position ready to weld fully later on.

[alan1272]

good progress, seems to be coming along nicely.

quick word of warning though, you're very unlikely to be able to run that rear spoiler in any form of rallying; the MSA don't like non-homologated stuff.

[Rallyprep_UK]

Work has started on the seam welding.






The wheel refurb has begun (by a local/fellow E30 nut !) - Thanks Bubba...





I found some wipers on eBay with built in washer jets ! Perfect because my bonnet will be on pins. Also I think they will work better than the OEM ones.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200744042917? ... 1497.l2649

[DanThe]

I bought the same wipers for mine Will

[Rallyprep_UK]

I bought the same wipers for mine Will

Ha, good arent they ! Great minds think alike

[Rallyprep_UK]

more progress.

getting tired of heating/scraping. I may move onto a different job and come back to this before I go insane !!!













I have the material for the front windows



The wheels are coming along nicely !

[Rallyprep_UK]

Today I turned my attention to the front doors.

The glass was removed, then I stripped the regulators and cut the inner skin out.

The sound deadening was then scraped off.

I used the glass as a template which I marked onto the makrolon and cut with a jigsaw/fine blade.

I also cut the rust from the ns footwell and front af the nsf wheel housing.















I may put something around the sharp edges, maybe some rubber strip.

Will

[Rallyprep_UK]

The welding continues and the fun also begins !









An M3 came up for grabs and was bought/stripped for its heart ! Finally a real engine !...

[DanThe]

Nice, if you wanted to be a hero you could leave that donk attached to the E36 cross-member and modify the bulkhead to suit

[Cook318IS]

Loving this tbh! I think it could be worth popping down with my camera while you're building it tbh - for a ganders and a few snaps.

[Rallyprep_UK]

Dan, we would not be within the regs to modify the bulkhead but you are close - I do have a similar trick up my sleeve !!!

And yes ! that sounds good Paul - txt me so I have your number again !

More to come soon, I have been busy with other projects at the minute !

Will

[rix313]

Is she with Caged now mate?

[Rallyprep_UK]

No - unfortunately not much has happened for a while as you can probably tell, but...

The rust has all been taken care of now however - and all of the holes are patched and seam welded, its just about ready to go for a cage pending time/money of course !

I have been spending time getting rid of a lot of the E36 M3 bits which arent needed at the minute.

I am itching to crack on with this now though !

[Rallyprep_UK]

Just some engine cleaning and engine bay rust treatment/priming going on today.

Jeez that engine was THICK with oily sludge from years of spilt oil/road grime etc. Still - looking much more like it again.







Well, I am now fed and water'ed and going back to the workshop for more punishment

Will

[Rallyprep_UK]

Cleaned, wire wheeled, and rust treated.


This took ages !!


Cleaned and drying for some paint/a polish.

[Demlotcrew]

I would be tempted to get some oil down the bores and to crank it over a few times for piece of mind!

[Rallyprep_UK]

Good idea Andrew, thanks for the suggestion.


This was also leaking on this engine. Is this not the piece which needs to be changed to restrict oil to the top of the engine at constant high rpm ? Where would I find such a part if so ?!

Many thanks,
Will

[martinpallot]

s50's weap oil like mad, the cam cover and the vanos cover where it meets the timing chain cover are the worst culprits - once you've run it a few times your hard work will be very much unrewarded so if you want it clean i would suggest you change these

give the bogger a liberal coat of wd40 too, you would be surprised how much water will have gotten into it!

[Rallyprep_UK]

I think it must have been weeping from under the vanos too as you describe Martin. It was really minging all down the timing chain cover...

I was planning on replacing the;

Cam cover gasket - 11121404358 x1 / 11121317386 x2
Exhaust manifold studs - 07129908094 x 24
Exhaust manifold nuts - 11721437202 x24
Exhaust manifold gaskets - 11621317109 x6
Water pump - 11511406650 x1
Thermostat - 11531318274 x1
Aux belt - 11287636366 x1
Aux belt tensioner - 11287841228 x2
Oil filter - 11427833769 x1
Sump gasket - 11131437237 x1
Sump plug/washer
Spark plugs x6

And adding;

Arp Bolts - Mains or rods ???
LHD water pipe
South african air pump blanking plate - 11721402416 x1 (plate) / 11721318467 x1 (gasket)
E34 sump/pickup/dipstick with provision for the inlet oil drain.

This is the first time I have worked with an S50 engine - and any other advice for things to do (particularly while its on the floor) is very welcome.

Will

[Rallyprep_UK]

So...

Another day of engine related progress. I have inhaled/eaten quite an impressive quantity of sand . I wont be able to get back to this until monday now - a good job as I am getting tired of cleaning and need a break from it !

What a mess !


But the results are worth it.










Still loads to do on the intake side












The spare piece of manifold makes a great place to lift her from !