CLynn85 wrote: The progress on this has been inspiring, love reading through it and for an E30 newbie it's been very informative. I'm hoping to be there for the RallyX next weekend, come say Hi, will be in the leprosy-blue RallyProbe. Should probably go outside and make sure it still runs...
cool, defitinitely will. You running stock or prepared F?
Is 5 hrs too long to drive for a rallycross and to see other grm'ers cars? Haha.
BobOfTheFuture wrote: Is 5 hrs too long to drive for a rallycross and to see other grm'ers cars? Haha.
Nope. Hope to see you out there.
If we get 30 pre-registers, we apparently get to run the "big course".
27 right now, so Bob, sign up!
while driving today to get some functional wiper blades, some guy in a Nismo 370z behind me in traffic was taking a bunch of pics of the car. If only this thing was as hardcore as it apparently looks 
did yardwork today, and the car is more or less ready for the first event (except for a new throttle cable, which is on the way).
that said, it was a warm/dry day so did a bit of painting.
First, decided that the white wheels didn't come out very well, so repainted them in the same gunmetal my euroweaves are (so now I have 2 black, and 2 gunmetal wheels).
Strapped in with my "specially-designed" tiedown system, where they can't move at all, even in hard maneuvering (I checked :) )
Also, I hate amber lighting on the back of cars for some reason. So I had some VHT lens red paint stuff, and redded out the tails on the e30. I like much better now :)
irish44j wrote: ...some guy in a Nismo 370z behind me in traffic was taking a bunch of pics of the car. If only this thing was as hardcore as it apparently looks
I bet the average "enthusiast" thinks that you are that car they read about a year ago.
Bill Caswell http://jalopnik.com/5497042/how-a-500-craigslist-car-beat-400k-rally-racers
Everything is looking good on the e30. Please keep the updates coming.
You have done really awesome work here. I hope the first event goes well. Lord knows the car preperation is there. I'm willing to bet most guy's just throw some winter tires on whatever beater thave got laying around and have at it. I want to see some really good pictures from your first event and a video. Hire a professional videographer if you have to
jrw1621 wrote:irish44j wrote: ...some guy in a Nismo 370z behind me in traffic was taking a bunch of pics of the car. If only this thing was as hardcore as it apparently looksI bet the average "enthusiast" thinks that you are that car they read about a year ago. Bill Caswell http://jalopnik.com/5497042/how-a-500-craigslist-car-beat-400k-rally-racers Everything is looking good on the e30. Please keep the updates coming.
lol....that's a good point, though I'd like to thing a 20-something in a Nismo Z can recognize the differences !
nicksta43 wrote: You have done really awesome work here. I hope the first event goes well. Lord knows the car preperation is there. I'm willing to bet most guy's just throw some winter tires on whatever beater thave got laying around and have at it. I want to see some really good pictures from your first event and a video. Hire a professional videographer if you have to
Funny thing is, that was my original plan....buy the car, get some tires, and run. But I had it sitting there all winter, and I really enjoy working on the cars just as much as running them, and I couldn't resist making it "my own" setup - especially once I figured out that modding/fixing up an e30 is WAY cheaper than doing it on my WRX, lol. And in the end I wanted it to look reasonably cool, and be a fun street driver as well. And be safe.
I'll be running a GoPro in a few different mount locations on the car, and there is an e30 guy (non-rallycrosser) who says he's going to come out with his good camera and take some pics, but no promises.
irish44j wrote: lol....that's a good point, though I'd like to thing a 20-something in a Nismo Z can recognize the differences !
I would bet dollars to doughnuts that the "Nismo Z" has an automatic trans.
jrw1621 wrote:irish44j wrote: lol....that's a good point, though I'd like to thing a 20-something in a Nismo Z can recognize the differences !I would bet dollars to doughnuts that the "Nismo Z" has an automatic trans.
not that it matters, but it was definitely the 6MT. He was downshifting into every stoplight and his rev-matching was pretty sloppy, so it wasn't the computer-controlled paddle shifter revmatching. I don't much like new Z's, but it sounded damn nice. Especially compared to my e30 with its stock-ish Bosal can that makes little noise.....
It was one of te
In reply to irish44j:
SF, Was going to run M2 just so I could hop around later in the season from this to what should be the base of my rally build sometime in the near future, but they split M2 into MF and MR, so I just decided to stay in SF (running snows not rally tires). It'll be a miracle if this thing makes it through the whole season.
irish44j wrote: If we get 30 pre-registers, we apparently get to run the "big course". 27 right now, so Bob, sign up!
I used to be a huge fan of the "big course", but after how bad it got rutted last time I was there I kind of like the "gravel course" a bit better, maybe...
CLynn85 wrote:irish44j wrote: If we get 30 pre-registers, we apparently get to run the "big course". 27 right now, so Bob, sign up!I used to be a huge fan of the "big course", but after how bad it got rutted last time I was there I kind of like the "gravel course" a bit better, maybe...
as a noob, I've been watching every youtube vid I can find from past events, and that gravel course looks pretty boring from all the ones I saw. Looks like it's great if I have my 300hp wrx and can drop the hammer, but looks as if it leans heavily toward the high-power cars, and the low-powered lightweight cars are at a disadvantage perhaps since it doesn't look all that technical.
Either way I'll have fun, but I'd kinda rather make long runs over 1-minute runs, since I'm trying to feel out how this car reacts to the different surfaces and terrain...
In the spirit of 1980s amateur motorsports, I bring you the 1980s-style Mr.T t-shirt seat cover.
Because sweaty back on black leather Porsche seats is unsatisfactory
a few days to go, and more or less wrapping up "stage 1" of this car: Stage 1 being "make sure it can get to the course, survive the day, and get me back home." We shall see.
In the meantime took a couple hours tonight to further read the excellent build thread for the Vorshlag $2010 Grassroots Motorsports challenge car. I feel like I've accomplished alot on this car in a short time, but when I read their thread its pretty humbling how much they did with about half the money in half the time with about 10x the performance, lol.
Also reinforces the fact that I WILL be taking a welding class in the near future and buying some welding gear. So much I could do if I could weld. Should have learned how to 20 years go........grr.
For those who haven't read the thread, I think it's on several forums - I've been reading the one on corner-carvers, which seems to be a well-informed forum of guys with alot of car knowledge.
http://forums.corner-carvers.com/showthread.php?t=42099&highlight=vorshlag
So, after my eyes got tired from their pics and text (which puts this thread to shame!), got to a few other little details on my own subtle build
The easy way would be to get a new hangar. But too late for that at the moment, since that odd design doesn't seem to be present in the local parts store, of course.
So filled the gap with a couple pieces of cut fuel injection hose, zip-tied in place. This keeps the exhaust from moving up. We'll see how long that solution lasts. I'll get the right hangar next week after the event, most likely.
Also noticed more German ingenuity - the butterfly/TB cable pull piece has a plastic insert. The cable end can be attached at the bottom or higher up on this insert, presumably to change the pedal effort on throttle. There's also a double cable hangar, allowing different angle approached for the cable as well (not sure what difference that would make though, really. Anyhow, I just used the standard locations, but something to tinker with at some point.
new vs. old - you can see the broken adjuster piece on the right
old vs. new - note cable kink/stretch at bottom
cable adjustment/attachment plate. It's a 2-piece thing, to allow the cable end to be removed. It snaps together and seems to be holding ok, but I wrapped it up with a piece of electrical tape just to make sure it all stays together ok. The p/o had it wrapped the same way
new cable, bushing, etc.
Now just starting to load up my stuff, make a list of things I want to bring, etc. I'm pretty happy about how huge this car's trunk is....it can hold about twice as much as the WRX, which is a much bigger car overall :)
But now, all is quiet tonight...
Packing up a bit, since I have other things to do tomorrow and don't want to be up all night before the event, especially on St.Paddy's. Damn I'm bringing alot of stuff, 3x as much as I'd bring for any autocross.....some spare hardware, tons of tools, electrical stuff, air tank, spare clothes/shoes, etc. Plus a cooler, set of wheels + spare, jack, piece of wood for under the jack, helmet, GoPro stuff, etc etc.
The more amazing part is that half this amount of stuff used to take every bit of space in the WRX for autocrosses - that car was packed to the gills when I wasn't bringing much at all other than wheels and a few basic things.
In the e30, damn there's alot of trunk space, even with the full-size spare in there. And still plenty of room that I'll need on the way home, since a buddy coming to the event is bringing me a box full of random e30 parts that he has sitting around his garage.
I was going to bring my pop-up shelter as well - there is plenty of room for it. But I forgot I loaned it to a buddy at the last autocross last season and don't think I got it back from him yet. doh.
Back end is really squatting at this point with these soft springs. I could probably stick my whole head into the front wheel gap at this point, haha..
in the box...
fully packed, except a cooler that will go up front
btw, repainted the two white wheels to a gunmetal. Because the black-and white thing did look pretty wierd as many remarked...
In terms of the car, it's pretty much ready to go I guess. Still getting a drip from the transmission rear seal and/or the shifter input rod seal, but shouldn't be an issue. Also a small leak from one side of the diff (the side that I didn't replace the seal of). And the fuel pump is humming a bit - not sure if it was doing it before and I just didn't notice, or if that's new. Just a low-volume hum, so hopefully will be ok for the time being - probably something worth replacing in the near future.
Have fun! I think you will. 
Good Luck!
packed and ready to go. 250lbs of wheels, tires, and other stuff in the trunk = saggy butt. Hope my alarm actually wakes me up at 5:30am...ugh.
Patiently waiting for an event report. 
In the meantime, I was finally able to dig my e30 out of the back yard. The battery was deader than a door nail, but with a quick charge it started up easily enough.
It's now on the lift, a fresh set of star specs mounted, a getting ready for an oil change and new poly motor mounts.
Event #1 COMPLETE!
Today's event at Summit Point had a good turnout (about 50 cars), and the weather was perfect. Unfortunately, Stuart and Spencer (who have a 318is) couldn't get the car up there today due to lack of tags/trailer, so I let them co-drive mine (with trepidation!). Ironically, one of them got to do the first run in my car, not me, lol. All I asked of them is not to break it!
Anyhow, the course was alot of fun - water truck early, dried out late. Morning runs were around 60 seconds for the really fast guys (my best was about 69 seconds). At the lunchbreak we had 5 runs complete. I was about 30 seconds behind the class leader in an RX-7 (who won the class last year), and about 7 total seconds behind the 2nd place car (another RX-7). I was ahead of my co-drivers, and the co-drivers for both of the RX-7s.
Morning course was fairly soft and got rutted up later in the session, but overall was a nice setup, and aside from my complete lack of power killing me exiting a few slow transitions I thought the car handled pretty well. It was blanced with a slight nod toward oversteer, rotated well when I wanted it to, and overall felt very light on its feet.
I was running about 33psi cold on the rally tires, which is higher than the more experienced guys do. Wanted to be sure not to de-bead as I learned this car, but I think I'll drop a bit next time out. Traction really wasn't a major issue though, I feel like I had plenty of it.....the lack of power really killed me. I need to learn to carry more speed through slow transitions - hard to do since I'm a WRX/V6 guy who is used to power on-tap when I want it, lol.
In the afternoon the reversed the course and changed up alot of it. It was VERY hardpack, pretty rough, and very fast on a long downhill multi-slalom into a R-L-R sweeper. I was probably more tentative on the downhill than I should have been, and on the 2nd run I tried to adjust, carried too much speed, and LTO'd around (but managed to stay on course after a stop/drift backwards/go evolution).
We'll see how the times end up when they're posted.
A few things I learned about my driving: - need to work on carrying exit speed - need to work on using the rear end to line me up better - need a keep the car in its powerband better, though gearing is going to make that difficult.
A few things about the car: - car made it through with no damage or anything that I can tell, and the drive home was fine (though I might need to tweak the alignment). - I did get an occasional clunk from the right rear (as did my co-drivers), but couldn't pinpoint when or why it was happening specifically. Will inspect to make sure all the subframe stuff is fully tightened up, then check for other things. - I need to put this magnaflow on. Not being able to hear the exhaust over the rocks/gravel/wind noise sucks. And it's boring. - Steering wasn't as much of an issue as I thought it would be. I will still put the e36 rack on, but I didn't have any trouble with trying to make quick moves on steering, that I noticed. - Remember to seal up the trunk side-sill vents. My entire trunk had a 1/2" of dust inside it after the runs. doh. - Car height is good. Looks like my skid only contacted anything once, since there's a muddy smear on one side of it. I'd say only 4 or 5 other cars there had more overall ground clearance than I did.
All in all, had a great time and found that rallycross is SO much more fun than autocross (which I've loved for years). Even in a 100hp M10 e30, I enjoyed today's driving more than I've ever enjoyed a day of autocross (100+ events). Overall a well-setup event that ran on time, ran without a hitch (other than a few course adjustments and a subie that blew out a LCA/axle on his first run), and the weather was beautiful. Standing in a scenic field with barns and trees nearby is preferable than standing on a hot parking lot :)
Also I like how the course changes on every run. From runs 1 to 5, the course required TOTALLY different driving technique due to compacting, material relocation, rutting, etc. Keeps it interesting.
ok, so here's a couple vids of the course (am and pm sessions), and some random pics. There were a few REAL photographers there, so these are just a few snaps from my compact camera. The ones of my car are with one of the co-drivers running, obviously.
vid:
scenic Summit Point
kickin it
the 4-person ETA team, who ran strong (not sure if I beat them or not). They get a hell of alot of action out of a 4200-rpm redline. ONe of them said they had to go into 4th on occasion!!
through the trees
muddddded
the ETA guys had the radiator crack or something, just thought this was an epic pic
at lunch, swung through the main circuit paddock. It was apparently supercar day there....R8s, GT-Rs, Porches, and other things I can never afford were all over the place.
I did get a funny look from a SpecE30 racer (older gentleman) who drove by me the opposite direction in the paddock, lol.
yum
cruisin' home with the GC 2.5RS boys..two of the fastest cars of the day, I'm betting.
oops, here's the vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WINRjpC-xBY&feature=youtu.be
irish44j wrote: All in all, had a great time and found that rallycross is SO much more fun than autocross (which I've loved for years). Even in a 100hp M10 e30, I enjoyed today's driving more than I've ever enjoyed a day of autocross (100+ events).
+1
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