Martin's rally car rebuild

[martinpallot]

Posted a some pictures in the zoner's track day cars forum a couple of weeks a go but thought I would start my own thread here. At a biit of a stand still at the moment due to lack of parts but will update provided there is enough interest. Will let the pictures do the talking.

[martinpallot]

[martinpallot]

[Coops90]

Intense

[Steve]

Wow you do mess about , what engine you putting in?

[maxfield]

Awesome.

[ImysE30]

Serious weapon

[Kemix]

Beast!

[bigredbmw]

monster ...... lookin forward to the updates

[Jhonno]

Wow you do mess about , what engine you putting in?

Iirc it is an S50, sat errrr.. Quite far back

Awesome build

[DanThe]

Wow you do mess about , what engine you putting in?

Iirc it is an S50, sat errrr.. Quite far back

Awesome build

Used to be RHD also I think

[270bhps14]

Wow very nice work

[e21Jason]

Nice job, very good details for the hand brake mount etc.

What the logic with the door bars not going to the bottom of the b post

Jason

[martinpallot]

Thnks guys, the car did indeeed used to be RHD and will be running the S50 that was in it previously, with the exception of the sequential gearbox which should have been here today (damn weather )
Here are a couple of clips of it in action before it was stripped down. Please ignore the 'locals' in the back ground




and here from a different angle at around 2:25



Jason, the door bars are like that to make it possible to get in an out with contracting into the feotal position every time, my knees are shot and I used to suffer with the prvious bolt so thought I should rectify it before I excacerbate the situation any more. The bar that runs across the sill goes to the B pillar, so they are in essence still 'double door bars so to speak, the x is more to act as a load path for the front triangulation. Early e36 touring cars ran the same set up but with a third bar running from the centre of the 'X' to the main hoop. I saw this as overkill considering the application so ommited it.

[E30BeemerLad]

Awesome work!

Do you have much rally action on the island or is this going to be Bouley Bay contender?

[martinpallot]

Thanks, the island does have quite a big rally scene, with the main event being the jersey rally, which attracts the top UK privateers with wrc cars etc and there are a lot of seriously fast escorts based here too.

the car is MSA logbooked as a rally car and has only ever done hillclimbs in the rally car class up until now, mainly because it cost so much money to build I was too skint to afford the entry fee and/or didnt have time to get it ready. Ironically, the one time we did enter a rally last year it got called off 2 hours before scrutineering due to a bush fire

[winx]

Epic
Some great attention to detail here, looking forward to watching the progress!

[tomson]

I wouldnt have thought all the fabrication did your knees any favours either !
Top work, how long has that lot actually taken so far ??

[martinpallot]

I did go to bed suffering pretty much every night, but it was worth it - No pain, no gain!

I started on the bodywork on september, took about 4 weeks to bare metal it, then gave it a long break until mid october when I sold the old rollcage so stripped the interior and took the engine out . That was when I made the bulkhead and floors. All in all its probably about 8 weeks work not counting the idle time inbetween jobs when I didnt have the enthusiasm.

[jwgmiller]

awsome build

can i pick your brain on the spec im about to build an e 30 rally car myself having rallyed subarus for years i want a change and after watching snijers on you tube its an e 30 for me all the way

id appreciate if you could email me engine specs suspension brakes etc etc

any info appreciated

if you dont want to post specs on forum id appreciate if yopu could email to me jwgmillerproperty@btinternet.com

[martinpallot]

Dont mind posting spec here. Brief list is as follows, if you have any questions just ask.

Engine is an 3.0 S50 with shrick cams out of a 1994 lhd M3, Copper cerramic paddle clutch and lightweight flywheel,

Gearbox will be a six speed elite sequential with elite bellhousing and centre push clutch slave cylinder.

Diff is a meduim case 4.4 ratio out of an e34 520i, lsd unit is a 3.0 m3 one with 30 degree ramp angles and 4 plate atlas conversion.

Steering rack is a 3.0 M3 (Not ideal as it is 3.0 turns) Z3 is slightly better but being LHD its hard to find them.

Rear suspension is group 4 escort bilstein coilovers with 375 lb springs. rear turrets raised 7 cm's, rear beam moved up 15mm to help roll centres and inner trailing arm mounts modified to give 0 camber , standard spring perches cut away from shell to avoid bottoming out.

Front suspension is is 51mm front struts with bilstein b8's converted to coilovers and wedged for extra strenth, fully rose jointed tubular bottom arms, excentric rose jointed top mounts, Front beam modified to raise suspension pick-ups by 45mm

then allsorts of random bits such as steel chassis mounted engine mounts and a removeable front end to make engine changes a bit easier, although in hindsight this isnt really necessary with the new gearbox as it has a seperate bellhousing making it much easier to split.

[Felix79]

Nice

[martinpallot]

Well, the single most expensive car part ive bought in my life arrived today, shame it will be a while until it proves its worth. Must say im very happy with the items they machined for it, the yoke and input shaft are spot on and appear more accurate than the standard stuff on the ZF box.

[Ollie_bwoii]

That's pretty impressive fabrication skills.

Who's is this chromie? More details?

[martinpallot]

The chromie was an engine-less 84 323i which was molested last week before the petrol tank was subjected to all my waste oil and it made its way to the scrap heap in the sky

Bit of better quality gearbox porn for those into that sort of stuff:

[nickso]

thats lovely....for a hunk of metal

always wanted a sequential box.....how much does one of those puppies cost?

[martinpallot]

It is rather nice and clean isnt it.......but so it should be at 6.5k + VAT with the oil pump gear indicator and bellhousing

Luckily im a Channel Island tax dodger and didnt have to pay the VAT

[martinpallot]

New crossmeber finished with much improved roll centres, the front has been moved upwards 45mm to negate the effect of lowering.

Please excuse the bent tie rods, the rack is off an accident damged car and I still havnt received the new ones.

[Jhonno]

[Royalratch]

[johnt0709]

Good vids - they go karts looked quick

[martinpallot]

Dummy fitted the engine and gearbox today, all went in rather nicely. As you can see I've used the rearmost lug from the old engine mounts to to position it for now. The offside can stay as it is with the old front mount becoming the rear if you get what i mean, but the nearside will need re-doing as the chassis legs taper towards the front of the car and so they are about 5mm out causing the motor to be twisted slightly, hence why the the gear stick is slightly off centre at the moment.

Have ordered some e30 trailing arm bushes which i will use to make a chassis mount style gearbox cradle. Once the gearbox mount is done I can do the engine mounts, then the prop-shaft and anti roll bar mounts, make up some brackets for the oil cooler, header tank and brake reservoirs, then its on to prepping for paint at last

[Dezzy]

Me likey!!!

Very nice work!

[DanThe]

Thats in about the same position in relation to the strut tops as an E36

[Dezzy]

Are you using the E36 sump?