Tatty Old Bodged Racecar (2015-10-15) - Season End - 7th :(

[Altrezia]

Front brakes today - new discs and pads, and a quick checkover.
I went with EBC Bluestuff in the end after a couple of recommendations. If they don't feel right I'll chuck something else in as I've also been told Carbone Lorraine are supposed to be good.

Around the car I noticed a couple of things I want to replace, but nothing serious.

The pads I took out were the worst I have ever seen on a car. They had already crumbled away a lot, and they are made of dust, mostly. Amazing.

Anyway, obligitory pics.







What came out...

[Altrezia]

Just dropped it off for MOT attempt 1. I know it'll fail, but hopefully the list of failures will be simple things.

[M3Jim]

I run the Yellowstuff with Ebc grooved/drilled discs. I really rate them, best combo i've used so far. I've done 3 track days on them so far and they're still going strong. Didn't experience any fade at all.

Would love a dedicated track car though.....its looking good!

[Altrezia]

MOT passed

It needed a rear wheel cylinder, so I had the garage do both sides. They said the rust was bad, but not a fail - but it would be next year. Obviously I am going to get it sorted ASAP anyway, as it looks manky.

Anyway, it's now got T&T so I can sort out the rest of the issues, and get some track time booked!









-a.

[G-Bear]

Excellent. Did the doors go in alright?

[Altrezia]

Yes, fine thanks mate.

[SHeap]

Excellent news

[Altrezia]

Did some of the smaller jobs on the todo list today.

Replace brake fluid and bleed brakes
Checked oil and water
Set the seat height and position to how I like it
Added the wiring for the mandatory video camera
Fitted a battery to the lap timer
Added new roll cage covering
Checked the inlet and pipework for air leaks (none found)
Check what's making the rubbing noise at the rear - tyres on arch!

All went pretty well, except I still have a spongy brake pedal after bleeding. One of the front calipers' bleed screw has been rounded int he past and is totally round, so that caused a problem - I'll replace it out at some point but I ran out of time today.
Is there a knack to getting a hard pedal? I followed the wiki.

Few pics

Wiring ready for the series guys to add their gubbins to the end


Interior - still rough but you can see some of the new rollcage padding


Car as it is now


-a

[BHadley]

Inspiring to read, mines bagged up for winter still! No garage and cold winter ain't no fun. Looks like a fun project

[Altrezia]

Trying to discover what my rubbing/scraping noise was, I decided to fit my trackday wheels and tyres, as they're slightly smaller in the hope that if it was a tyre rubbing it'd stop and I could just replace my road tyres for some smaller ones.

It wasn't, it's a rear wheel bearing, but it was still fun to take the car for a blast with some sticky rubber fitted ;)
The car drives pretty well - feels pretty fast considering how low powered it is. Suspension is firm but not too harsh, and the brakes seem OK, despite the long pedal. I can't seem to get the sweet spot for my seat position, but I guess it's just something I need to get used to as it's so vastly different to my other cars (Elise and a classic Mini).

Also added a few more things to my to-do list which is less exciting.

Few pics from today - first non-manky-driveway photos I think?

















(this one really shows how bad the rear quarter has been hit.. ouch!)

[Altrezia]

Urgh.

Ever started a job and wish you hadn't?

I thought I could weld good enough to sort out the rusty 'not jacking points' on the front floorpans.. wish I had just paid someone to do it.

I painted some zinc anti rust primer paint stuff on both sides, then painted the outside with anti stonechip paint stuff, and the inside got a coat of hammerite which I'll then paint-over with the proper paint for the car at some point. The driver's side floor inside was scuffed and down to the primer (and metal in places) from feet, so I wanted to give it a hard base before painting it.

It's another one of those times where I've made the car worse than it was rather than better. Bugger. I'll crack on to the plan for now, but may book it in somewhere for new floor pans at some point as I'm not happy with them and I've noticed some more rust starting around the cage mounts, too.

Few pics:

[rix313]

How are the column spacers mate? Who do you insure the car with out of interest? Being a youth I'm not going to entertain the idea of trying to insure mine haha.

[Altrezia]

Haven't fitted the drop spacers yet, waiting to see how the driving position feels with the super-low wheel at the moment.

I went with Adrian Flux. Not my favorite company, but they were the cheapest. I only went for teh cheapest rather than 'best' because I won't really be using it on the road much and just wanted to be legal.

£350ish with all mods declared.

[rix313]

You seat looks really low (compared to mine any way) but then I'm not the talest person in the world haha.

Will have to weigh up getting mine OTR as don't have any other easy way of moving it.

[Altrezia]

Exactly - I don't have a trailer or tow car.

[Altrezia]

Small update - put the car back on it's wheels and fitted the bungs and cable-tied the wiring back in the foot-wells. Tomorrow should be front wheel bearings and maybe the rear screen demister fix, and then I will find a local garage to do the rear bearings (as they don't sound fun).

Also fitted a new rear view mirror, and realised the mounts I bought were way too long, so I'll be changing those. Ha ha.

Pics of the car as it is now:

[rix313]

Gotta say those mirror brackets made me chuckle the ones I've got are the 1/2 to 2 1/2 inch brackets




Best change the title of your thread mate not looking so tatty and bodged any more

[Altrezia]

Thanks Rich - it's bloody tatty up close though - I think the photos are very kind to it.

Today I replaced both front hubs (which obviously include the bearings). I decided against replacing the mirror mounts as they are £40, and just cut mine down instead. I also (with the help of my wife, Nicky) started to try and fix the rear demister - worth a shot before replacing the rear screen.

I think the only thing left to do before getting it out on track is the rear bearings.. =)

Forgot to take pics of the hubs, but here's the cut-down mirror mounts and a shot of Nicky's rear window fixing tools..

[Altrezia]

Had the rear bearings done at a local garage today. They're a place that does a nice mix of supercars, performance cars and classic german metal - interesting place to have a poke around, checking out a modified GT2 RS next to a 'euro' mk4 golf, and next to that an R8..

Anyway, the bearings are fine now - which is good, but they also told me that my rear diff is making some very weird noises and could do with being replaced. They've also given me some other things to sort too and laughed at my terrible suspension.. great.

I took a bit of time the other day and mounted my go-pro ready for the upcoming trackdays, and I'm pretty happy with the location, althoughI think it could do with being a smidge lower and more forward.



I also received a nice package from Trev (B7) with some parts that will hopefully help my stalling issue and a new master cylinder that might help my spongy brakes. I'll hopefully fit them over the weekend.





Really getting bored of the seemingly never ending list of parts that need replacing on this car.

[Gok]

Just read through this great work so far looking forward seeing some GoPro track day footage

Keep up the good work

[Altrezia]

I whipped the throttle body and attached bits off, to replace them with the newer parts. Everything looked OK, except the gasket for the throttle body was in terrible condition. Perhaps this was the cause of my dodgy running.

Anyway, I called BMW at 10:30 to get a replacement, and was told that the chap was just dealing with a customer and they took my number to call me right back.. I'd heard nothing by 1pm so called them and of course they were shut.. great. Worst thing about BMWs so far in this project is the parts supply. If only there was an equavalent of www.minispares.com or www.eliseparts.com for the E30 scene everything would be so much easier.

I then attacked the brake master cylinder and reservior, and replaced them with new ones, and replaced the brake fluid (again). I haven't taken the car for a drive yet due to not having the gasket for the throttle body, but nothing exciting to report so far.

I then re-fitted everything with the exception of the gasket, which I'll slip in when I get one and hopefully it'll sort a few of the car's issues.

[Altrezia]

Not much to report lately really.

I've replaced the rear diff with a good used one from Raw Motorsport.

I've bought a new rear screen, and am waiting for it to arrive so I can fit and hopefully get my rear demister working.

I have messed around more with the seating position as I am still not happy with it.

I painted some areas where the rollcage had been welded to the body, and left as exposed bare metal.

And today I removed the fire extinguisher so I can send it off for a service, and also painted a bit more red in the cabin to hide some of the scuffs and what-not.

Trackday next friday.

[Altrezia]

In prep for my first track outing with the car, I spent a bit of time yesterday checking it over and running through a final check list. I've done half of it.

I checked over the brakes, and I think I've solved the spongy brake pedal (for now, at least). It turned out that if you pushed the vacuum pipe that attaches the inlet manifold to the brake servo hard enough, a crack would appear and it would start hissing. I presume this must have been happening when using the brakes from the cabin, too. I also re-bled the brakes with Nicky's help rather than an easi-bleed and removed a few bubbles. Not using that kit again!

I've still got a few little jobs left for the trackday (mostly tyre pressures, gopro charging etc), and I need to fit the new rear window that I received, but I think it's ready to have a play in, now.

[Altrezia]

Today was my first outing in the BMW on track. Nicky and I took a short drive over to Abingdon, to the airfield for a trackday run by Motorsport Events. It's not far from us, and I've been there before in my Lotus so I thought it would make for a good shakedown.

We arrived to torrential rain. It was bloody freezing. On the drive to the venue my indicators packed up (the hazards still work, but left/right indication no longer functions). There were only 18 cars booked in for the day, and not all of those turned up. We had about 4 cars on track at a time.

Luckily, the indicators were the only thing that broke all day!

We took the car out on the track on my road wheels and tyres first and dodged puddles - the car seemed OK but I had no grip at all. The tyres are cheap off-brand rubbish, so I decided to take the plunge and go for the 888's after seeing an Integra race car being hooned around without any real issues on the same.

On the Toyos the car was much better - more exit grip and better turn in. The only downside I noticed was it seemed to drag the car into the puddles more as we drove over them, making the 100mph straight a bit hairy.

The brakes felt OK, and while I still find the pedal a bit long the car never failed to slow when I pushed on the pedal, and I experienced no fade or odd wear.

The car used no oil or water during the day, which is good.

That all said - I do now have a list of things that I need to find solutions for - some of which are a pain in the arse.

- Indicators (as mentioned above).
- Wipers (On intermittent they seem to slide for 6 inches then park at random).
- Gearbox (Really loud whining and crunches into 2nd and 3rd).
- High-ish pitch grinding (I think this may be the little back-plates on the front hub/bearings rubbing on the hub - I noticed they were crap when I fitted the front hubs).
- Knocking when braking hard and/or turning hard (suspension, or a bush I suppose?).
- Throttle response (when standing still and going to pull away the revs drop before rising like normal, causing a kangaroo effect).

Here's a few pics from the day:

[Altrezia]

Here's a few laps

[youtube][/youtube]

[blondboy84]

niiiiiiice ;)

[Altrezia]

As I'm waiting for parts before cracking on with the mechanicals of the car, I decided to try and fix something that had been bugging me for ages - the rear quarter. Now, I can't fix the dents as I am not talented in that sort of thing but I figured if I can at least make it the right colour.

This is the rear wing before I started: http://dorkish.com/albums/Cars/BMW%20E3 ... C03093.jpg
It has various different hammerite colours, and a huge area where the paint has come right off leaving primer behind.

The finish I now have isn't very good - but it's better than it was, and I'm pretty happy it'll do for now. It'll end up being covered in stickers anyhow.

Pics:

[Altrezia]

I actually cleaned the car today, and decided to take a few more pics. Nothing really exciting, but I like seeing the car in one piece despite its bumps and knocks..

[Altrezia]

No pics, but I've just replaced the prop, centre bearing, guibo doughnut thing and a few other bits and bobs.

Unfortunatley, I got a pattern part from an online shop for the centre bearing, and it wouldn't allow me to re-fit the dust shields, but as I have a trackday on Saturday I fitted everything without them anyway, and will order a new centre bearing and re-fit the lot next week. Urgh.

I also replaced the fuel filter and spark plugs.

[Altrezia]

Took the BMW for a trackday at Combe today. I've never driven the track before, but it's great - lots of fast straights and really quick chicanes.

The car was OK - but I need to alter the setup a bit. My issue there is that my front shocks aren't adjustable and the adjusters on the rear are seised.

Anyway, I didn't take many pics, but I did manage to get a video before the battery in the GoPro died (after just 15minutes..). Annoying as I got faster during my few sessions of the day - this was my first session and my first go in the car in the dry, so my lines are all over the place and I hadn't figured out the braking or anything like that.

[youtube][/youtube]

[LondonTom]

Saw this going round today - nice one for getting out there, was some quick cars taking part.

[Altrezia]

There were - Those M3's are brutal! One came past me and seemed to pull away quite quick - two corners later he was almost half a lap ahead. Amazing.

[G-Bear]

These vids make me want to get a track car....

[B7]

Looking good. Some hard work gone into this to get it on the track.

Al. I have a good 320i gearbox I need out the way if you're interested.

[Altrezia]

Thanks chaps. Trev - I certainly am! - Will PM.