E30 drift&track car project
So…. From spending a lot of time at drift events, practice days etc and helping out with building the cars with a few of the lads, I was getting back into competitive drifting very quickly again after a few years of being bored of watching it when we used have to pay the guts of 20-30 quid or more for a day out if I didn't want to get food poisoning there... or maybe 50 if I did :rolleyes:
So, there I was mad for skidding once more…
I was getting frustrated with not really having a go on track myself and the iS was getting all sorts of abuse when conditions allowed to get my fix :o
I needed my own drift car sooner than later......
Searching for a needle in rocking horse shit
Walton Smith had a lovely Zinnober red... Well Zinnober pink really non sunroof shell in the shape of an engineless & interiorless 316i that was 99% rust free other than altittle surface rust on the front cross member under than the rad which wouldn't be a problem.
That was the best option for a while and still something to keep in mind if I bend of the one I found later.
Only thing was, it was just a solid shell and thats all with nothing less useful or valuable which was fine considering its a solid car but made it alittle expensive for a student like myself :o
I'll probably still take this at some stage down along the line if I catch him drunk on some Redbull :p
Was offered a few free and cheap shells but each was more worthless with either being rotten or too bare than the one before it.
Then I found something else...
A 316i non-sunroof Zinnober red shell that was being restored by a 15 year-old to put on the road when he was 17.
His plan was 325i engine, Mixture of Sport and 325i touring running gear, black leather, XXR wheels, iS lip and a re-spray in a deep custom red which was more or less between Zinnober and Calyspo in BMW terms.
Had everything bought even down to the paint before he realised he didn't really have the money to finish painting it, getting the engine running and suspension sorted and possibly the biggest stumbling block...
It would be uninsureable:(
so all the leather, wheels, paint and few other bits for flogged on and car was half forgotten about until I heard about it from his older brother one evening.
Out I went, quick look at it and I had my shell
More or less ticked all the boxes.
- Solid but tatty in places,
- Most of the work done in stripping it for paint so my job was easy to bring it down more for prepping for the track.
- Had all the suspensions and brake basic parts I needed and even the back axle was just barely bolted on to get it rolling for paint before off again for new bushes etc so I didn't have to spend a day trying to pull the fooking subframe off the thing!!!
- Full shadowline trim and all the lights and almost everything to put it back together if it was a road car
- Leather door-cards that would be useful in the iS if I wanted (seats were sold)
- Brand new iS lip in primer :)
- Auto 325i engine and Sport box but alot of it had to be put back together and needed a serious service.
- 4.1 welded diff.... which would probably work well with the 2.8 and 15" XXR 002s I decided on
What to do with the thing now?
First thing to do was get the car home and make a start on stripping the rest of it and then start buying the fancy bits and maybe put the engine running to sell it on to help pay for the M52.
Then the iS breaking a gearbox, getting an Evo box and then looking for an E46 box threw a spanner in the works of the drift car with all the time running around and pulling gearboxes in and out of that thing:rolleyes:
And to add insult to injury... getting the iS running threw a mighty big spanner in the works of trying to keep it a competitive car but built on a budget...
This is the size of the Spanner...
http://www.fishing4fun.co.uk/wp-cont...6/spanner1.jpg
Or.... what it actually took the form of...
http://bmwmregistry.com/media/E46M3engine.jpg
Yeah... to get a good E46 M3 gearbox you have to buy a whole fooking E46 M3 engine, loom and gearbox to get anywhere near value for your money.
Imagine the frustration having to buy this lump of fecking metal and bits when all you want is a few cogs in good condition....
I swear I was deeply upset.........................
For about 2 seconds when handing over the money:D
So plans now were...
- Strip and prep the shell with a CustomCages cage that we have used a few of already,
- BC racing coilovers,
- Custom front suspension geometry for significantly increased lock and castor
- custom steering column and 2 turns lock to lock steering conversion, PAS cooler and extra lock spacers[*/*]
- Full polybush with Powerflex and AGK bushes
- Adjustable rear camber and toe conversion
- Hydraulic handbrake and possibly pedalbox
- S54 engine and DTA S100 ECU
- E36 M3 5 speed gearbox as engine was now gearboxless after the iS took its cut from the deal:p
- 3.73, 3.91, 4.1 and 4.27 welded diffs
- single mass flywheel and clutch of some sort.... really wanted a Exedy clutch and flywheel but didn't think I'd ever afford one of the b@st@rds:(
- Not over the top body styling... maybe some sort of euro-look as it might look cooler.......................... and it costs much less than fancy wide-arches and kits:o
- XXR 002 15" or 16" wheels with granite or black centers (haven't really decided yet as I keep changing my mind when new ones are in stock!) 15s have cheaper tyres and offer more lock but 16s look so much better and slightly more grip.
Current progress..... Ermmmmm.
Since acquiring the shell and engine I've got a 5 speed ZF box from Ben off a 328 or 3L M3 and Mike also gave me a Exedy Hyper single Flywheel and clutch kit... at a price that he basically owns all the sponsor and advertising space on the car when its finished!!!
So more than likely, that'll be about as far as the project will go until Next May when I finally finish college (wasn't sure if I was going to do the add on year or not but now its settled) as I didn't get as much done this summer due to having that fight with the lathe:o
Well it would if it wasn't for the old M50 lump I have in the garage that cracked a head getting a second chance in life...
Ben dropped a full perfect M50 head down to me when he was delivering the 328 engine for putting into a friends E30 abit back even though all I wanted were some cam trays for another mad little idea I have so I decided I may as well make us of it the other day.
So Once I have alittle bit more of the cheaper bits done to the shell and a few other projects finished I'll start rebuilding that if its not in complete shite but will be a complete and utter budget rebuild to stay going for a year or so as your not even at the races unless you have over 200bhp these days and then hopefully get back on the S54 :)
