1985 BMW 318 Stage Rally Build - 1988 Porsche 924S Street Build - Sequoia Build

The m42 powered cars had a radiator with a built in overflow tank. They are pretty cool.

Also, I have two AFMs and they are both crap. I'm trying to make a really simple AFM to hot wire MAF converter for my e30. You want to be a beta tester?

If it works, hell yes!

Will it interfere with any class regulations?

He is already in MR and the class rules there are pretty much does it still look mostly like the car it started out as?

A few little things today, as I continue my quest to make sure the vac system is leak-free and other minor things in the engine bay.

First I pulled all the injectors to see how they look. They look pretty good, but one of the two bolts holding the fuel rail on was missing and the rail was loose, so I'm thinking air may be getting past an injector seal, perhaps, if the rail was moving around. Fixed that. Also replaced one of the electrical connectors for an injector, as it was cracked and broken. Luckily have a whole spare harness sitiing around that had one (out of four) good connector.

Also looking at the FPR. Interesting the one on the car is part number 0280160226, which my searches show as the FPR for a Volvo 740. Bentley says that's the part number for the e30, but then I searched for the new FPR siting in my parts box, which is 0280160249 and it is listed online as for the e30 (all models). The new one didn't click in well (different shape seal?), so I just put the old one back on. Both are 3.0 bar and otherwise identical in fitament, so will have to investigate a bit more.

Also cleaned up some wiring - the main engine loom was pretty shoddy, random wires going everywhere. Nothing big, but want to have those wrapped up good.

going to hit the pick-n-pull next monday, so started making a list...

Taiden wrote: Will it interfere with any class regulations?

^^ what moxnix said.

classing concern is secondary for me - I don't expect to be competitive off the bat....this will be for fun until I get the car in better shape to be competitive someday, if ever! And yes, I'll be in MR.

irish44j wrote: . No idea what that black triangle thing on the deck is, but I put it back on just because it looks cool, lol

FYI, that little black clip is to put the buckle from the center passenger lap belt in when not in use. Not really needed in your case, but cool.

irish44j wrote:

The subbie is nice and all, but there's something about low-budget rally cars that has always done it for me. That thing is shaping up great.

two words: Star Spec

ppddppdd wrote: The subbie is nice and all, but there's something about low-budget rally cars that has always done it for me. That thing is shaping up great.

ditto. I love the Subie, but this will probably be more fun to play with. More raw, even if it's alot slower. Reminds me of driving the GT6, except alot safer, better-built, and reliable(ish)...

Taiden wrote: Darn! haha. I have a spare one of these I made today and was going to send it to you just for laughs. If you want it anyway just let me know.

I'm just gonna put this here: If you've got an extra one of those...I've got an E30 that would wear it PROUDLY!

In other good news, just fired up the car for a few minutes before the daughter goes to bed. Looks like the small things I did with hoses/wiring last night worked to some extent. Previously the car was firing up at like 3k rpm and then the idle was hanging in the low 2k range.

This time, with the engine cold, the engine fired up to about 1500rpm and within 10 seconds dropped down to about 1100, though it was wavering a bit between 1000 and 1300.

Still not where I want it, but that makes me pretty confident that I've taken care of at least some of the problems by sealing the injectors, cleaning the AFM and IACV, cleaning the AFM seals, and other things. A few other things I want to do, and I still have the issue of the AFM/MAF not necessarily reading correctly.

Also may try the spare idle control module that I have in the parts bin, and see if it affects anything (positively or negatively)

Spent some time in the cold garage tonight in misery, prepping and painting the last of the four Euroweaves. The wheels had a ton of baked-on super-thick brake dust and no type of solvent would get all of it off, especially as hard as it is to get into the little crevaces on these wheels. But I managed to get 95% of it off, do some prep sanding until I got frustrated/tired of it, and a few coats of paint. Tomorrow I'll do a final coat on all four wheels since it's supposed to be non-humid and around 60 degrees, and throw some clearcoat on.

All in all I'm not terribly impressed by my job on these (I've refinished 4 or 5 sets of wheels in the past that turned out much better), but they look ok from a couple feet away if you don't look too close, and that's good enough for a beater car in my book.

Also taking a closer look one of the wheels has a bent lip, but it doesn't look bad enough that it will affect anything other than appearance.

Friday I'll get the star specs mounted up :D

They look pretty good from here! What color is that - painting my track wheels is on my winter/spring list, and I like that color.

It's just the Dupli-Color wheel paint. I think the color is "gunmetal" but I'll double-check in a bit. If you get the Dupli-Color wheel paint clearcoat, it makes it sparkle alot more. Pretty good paint, it held up on a couple other sets of wheels over the years. 1 can will do 3 or 4 coats on a full set of wheels.

tires mounted and wheels on. Took it for a quick spin and even in 195s at 30 degrees out they grip like a mofo (and throw tons of gravel up at the car, which is magnified by my lack of carpeting/soundproofing/rear seats, lol).

This would look so hot if the car sat 3" lower, lol. Oh well.

and yes, I have alot of wheel gap. But not as bad as it looks since this is right after the car came off jackstands!~

Also sold my pair of front OEM comfort seats to some young local guys. Sold them cheap, but it's some extra cash for the pick-n-pull yard on Monday, and they're not taking up space in my garage, so that's good enough.

Those look pretty good! I'm so jealous of this build.

Took a nice drive this morning to feel everything out. Aside from the M10's lack of power, the car drives pretty nicely at this point, though it definitely needs a rear sway. Stopped at Home Depot and took the prime-time parking from the Benzes, lol..

Also fiddled around with the engine trying to correct my 2k idle. I tried to check the timing but through the tranny hole I just can't see the marks. Too coroded or something. I'm going to do the marks on the drive pulley so I can read it there, when I get around to it. Will address this stuff another day when it's over 35 degrees.....

Sanded and painted the sport lip spoiler and installed it as well. Turned out pretty decent I think.

Also did a little project, seeing as I have no console any longer I wanted to put something to hold my phone, drinks, etc. Used a seat-mount cupholder from the auto parts store, cut it down, and used the old console bracket to bolt it to the HVAC front bracket piece. Sits in a good spot - drinks are accessible, doesn't interfere with the shifter, and doesn't look like total crap, lol. And of course had to decorate it.

Test-fit of full set of tall rallycross wheels/tires. They fit, and my tiedown locations hold them securely. Excellent.

Also ordered so Rallyarmor basic mudflaps, but in the longer (SUV) size. Will cut to fit. Would love the urethane ones, but not dropping $150 on the at the moment..

And took some exterior shots with the new wheels/tires. 4X4 STANCE OWNS! lol... When I was out driving I didn't slow down for speedbumps, needless to say.

That thing is so sweet.

Just an FYI, if you need brake dust gone like, yesterday, this stuff works wonders. The only time I've ever had to use a brush was when some High-temp pads were used and then they got wet. Then they dried. THAT dust is a PITA to get off.

I shot up to Baltimore today to hit Crazy Ray's, one of the big local (ish) pick-n-pull yards. I had a list of parts to find for myself, and picked up a couple things for another e30 owner (who is doing a Ford 5.0 swap) to trade for some things he had for me. Overall a very productive trip.

And it was COLD....I was bundled up like a mofo..

I paid a grand total of $38 for: - 3 dash/gauge cluster trim pieces - a good-condition power brake vacuum hose (the reinforced kind) - a bottlecap center cap (missing one) - the "elephant trunk" drain piece in the engine bay that nobody seems to have - a pair of yellow glass pieces from a Benz (used for yellow headlight/foglight conversions on Subarus and other cars). These sell for about $30/pair on the forums, so I try to grab them anytime I'm at a junkyard. - the front left engine bay cowl piece (that covers the inside of the headlights and routes the "air scoop" - the cover for the fuel/evap hoses in the passenger wheel well.

Also pulled a Mustang 5.0 distributor and an e30 main wiring connector for Stuart's V8 swap project - which I traded to him for: - a Magnaflow muffler with a nice tip (will have to get it welded on to my pipe, with a reducer. - a sport steering wheel sans horn (just a backup, since I have a Momo on the way). - a glovebox with working latch (my latch is broken/missing).

So that's a pretty good haul for $38 (and another $15 in gas) on a cold holiday morning!

The real prize was this piece, which nobody seems to have one of for sale, and most junked cars have it completely rusted to oblivion (like the one on mine). But on my third e30 of the day I found one in great shape, though it was quite an effort to get off the car with the rear wheel on and the car on the ground. Of course the two with rusted covers had the wheel off and up on blocks. figures.

installed, along with some undercoating on the wheel well where it was peeling off

power brake vac hose installed. Had to modify slightly since it was off a 6-cyl e30

also took a few pics of the firewall electrical distro block. I was going to pull it but didn't have the hex wrench I needed.....the only tool I needed that I forgot! In any case, may do a different kind of distro block anyhow, we'll see.

So all this stuff is installed (except the muffler and steering wheel) on the car now. Also spent some time adjusting the parking/ebrake. Which is a bit of a hassle now that I have studs for the wheels instead of the threaded lugs. I had to take one out on each wheel to access the adjuster (as shown in Bentley). Not much fun since I Red Loctite'd them good. Had to get out the torch to heat them up to free the loctite. Mental note

This week's project:

Dash revitalization (or ruin).

I plan to pull the dash, which is badly cracked. The plan is to sand it and bondo up the cracks (or something like that), and then FLOCK IT! Ordered up some flocking stuff from Don-Jur, in charcoal gray (black will get too dirty, too fast).

So, we'll see how this works out. Worst case it looks terrible and I go find another dash at a junkyard (or just ignore it). Best case it will look epic, and I will be the idol of all rallycrossers everywhere (lol)

Was at the office for 14 hours today unexpectedly, so I don't have much energy tonight to tackle some projects I wanted to work on, like pulling the dash. Sucks, because it's a rare balmy 60-degree evening here and we're back in the 30s again tomorrow....back to numb fingers....

So just one little one that has the dual purpose of clearing some junk off my workbench and taking care of one cosmetic issue that's been annoying me: the missing trim pieces behind the back door. I've been driving around with them off the car (since one fell off in my driveway), with black duct tape covering the holes. Totally unsat....

Not sure why BMW did it this way, but these trim pieces give the appearance of a vent or something behind the door, and they're attached with these odd-shaped hard rubber nubs with c-clips on them. Don't know why they're not just bolted or riveted to the car since there doesn't seem to be any reason to take them off the car anyhow.

So....no ordering stupid nubs that didn't hold them on well enough before, especially since this car is gonna be taking a pounding. Busted out the gel epoxy, filled up the holes (and the few remaining nubs), and put them back on the car permanently.

Yeah, I know....pretty exciting stuff.

More exciting are parts on the way, perhaps for a weekend project. 1. flocking stuff for the dash 2. Rally Armor basic mudflaps (SUV size) that will be cut and fitted.

Make sure your throttle plate isn't being held open by the stopper. Some people adjust it and it causes a high idle. The stopper's only function is to prevent the throttle from sticking. I adjusted mine to a 0.001" clearance and it cured my idle problems.

If that doesn't fix it, your throttle plate is out of round (like my current throttle plate, long story). What I did then is took a nickle (or a penny?) and drilled an 1/8" hole in it, and stuck that before the idle control valve.

It idles very low when just starting up cold, but after about 1 minute of driving it goes rock steady at about 700 rpm. About 900 once it's all warmed up.

Everytime you mention the cold I have to laugh. Here is what it looked like here today and tonight it is headed for -20 degrees C with wind chills in the -30 range. I cleaned the driveway and then took my Subie for a run.

The day you mentioned it was too cold to work in the garage. I was laying on the garage floor in -25 degrees C weather re-installing my skidplate.