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

mazdeuce wrote: Should dead pedals be even with The clutch height wise or just somewhere comfortable? Is there a 'proper' dead pedal setup?

not that I know of. I figure it should be about even with the gas pedal at 1/2 throttle, with both feet even while cruising. Makes sense, right?

That said, the original setup felt a bit too close to me so I took it out and cut the bracket about 1 1/2" and reinstalled it sitting further back (about halfway down the clutch pedal travel). Now it's much more comfortable position, and not far off where the dead pedal is on my WRX.

The dead pedal is over far enough that the only way I can hit it with my foot wearing wide shoes is if I am only on the very edge of the clutch pedal. So no uninentional interference, basically.

Today was the driver's school and test&tune at Summit. It was a long morning drive with no heater fan (and freeze warning in effect there)....luckily I was picking up a heater fan from Spencer at the event, so that solved that!

I figured I'd do the driver's school since I'm a noob to rallycross. It was a good setup, but I'm thinking it was more geared toward people that were maybe brand-new to motorsports in general, though I learned a few little things to keep in my head. In the afternoon we did a test&tune. Car ran well and I'm starting to get more comfortable with it. Dropped my tire pressures to about 28lbs which provided alot better traction than last time out at 35lbs. The rally tires are so stiff you really feel no difference in sidewall flex.

Also rode along with Shawn, the fastest driver in my class, in his RX-7. He clearly pushes his car harder than I do mine, and really stays on it hard much deeper into corners than I do. I worked on that in my later runs and though it will take some getting used to I think I probably was faster. His RX7 clearly has more power throughout the range than the 318 does, so to get closer to him I'll need to make up for it in the corners (no small task).

Also drove a run in Adam Kimmet's AWD Prepared class-winning 2.5RS frankencar. Fun to drive and I was thinking the whole time "damn, Subarus are so much easier to do this rallycross stuff in".....in short, it was much easier to drive fast. Could be because I drive a WRX daily, lol.

Also rode with Katie in her n/a impreza. She drives like Shawn (her husband) with alot of sideways, alot of countersteer, and a ton of aggressive. I tried to copy when she rode with me later :)

All in all the weather was cool and cloudy, but the rain held off until moments before I left the venue, and washed everything off on the way home.

One other little note: my rear control arm poly bushings are squeaky as hell!

Some pics:

The e30 trifecta

Grassroots in the Grass

The SR/PR champs from the last 2 years

uh...yeah

Spencer

1.8L vs. 1.8L

The ETA guys had a problem: their lower rad hose rubbed against the alternator pulley and sliced a hole in it. THe fix: 2 hoses spliced together with a 16mm socket inside and hose clamps outside. They ran the whole afternoon like this. I would expect nothing less from guys who also do ChumpCar/LeMons

best photo I took. Subies always look great in a powerslide

the top dog in my class

dirty scirocco

the ETA guys

over on the Main Circuit paddock

irish44j wrote: boost wouldn't be all that useful for rallycross I don't think....

The results are in, a properly sized turbo is immensely useful for rallycross.

Let me rephrase: the benefits of boost would be less in rallycross than in autocross or big-track work. We could argue about it all day I'm sure, and in the end it's irrelevant to me as I'm not going FI with mine.

That said, at last weekend's event, of the 10 fastest Subarus there I think only 2 of them were WRX/STi's. Most were GC 2.5RS's and GD Imprezas. For what it's worth, which is nothing.

Event #2 is in the books!

So some good and some bad. First the bad: 1. during the morning session, I was getting a horrible clunking from the front right. Everything seemed to perform fine, but it was loud and annoying. After much investigating between sessions I finally found that the collar at the top of the strut housing had loosened itself. And then I remembered that when I put the front suspension together I couldn't find my loctite and was a bit worried about the collar loosening. And it did. Duh. Managed to tighten it between the spring coils using a big channel-lock. Will do a full tighten before the next event.

1. Halfway through the afternoon session in the middle of the run the car started making a terrible hissing sound and lost a ton of power. It was hard to locate the sound. Checked every vac line, the TB elbow, etc with no luck. Eventually figured out that I must have an exhaust leak at the bottom of the manifold where it bolts to the exhaust. Maybe the gasket blew out or something. That explains the loud/annoying noise and the fact that it only happens under higher loads (if you drive like gramma, it's fine). Also would explain the power loss, since that is before the primary 02 sensor. Will pull the exhaust in re-do all that stuff this weekend.

Now on to the event. The course was run on Summit Point's "Barn Course" which is new to me. It rained the night before, so the morning runs had a soft-packed clay surface that was pretty grippy actually. The course design was awesome and they actually had to change one part since people were getting a bit of air over a big bump apparently, lol. We got 5 morning runs. Morning course was very technical with at least 2 haripins that required many cars (icnluding me) to drop into 1st or really bog down. Dropping to first also helped me rotate through them. Also took a few detours through the grass after a few over-oversteer moments, haha...Nothing like plowing through windshield-high grass and hoping you're heading back onto the course and not into a gopher hole or something!

Afternoon they reversed and changed the course and by then it had fully dried out and gotten REALLY hard. Most of the course was essentially really bumpy asphalt by this point. The clay was hard enough that there were black tire marks at all the launch and braking zones. I kept hearing the rally tire guys lament that hey should have run with snow tires for better traction.

I felt very comfortable in the morning course and pretty sketch in the afternoon, personally. On rally tires too.

So also in the afternoon after my car had the exhaust issue/power loss I ran the last 3 runs (out of 6) in Spencer's 318is on snow tires. His car has a perma-reclined seat (I could hardly see over the dash, lol) and damn the stock steering is slow. HIs car clearly has alot more power than mine (M42 vs M10) but since he hasn't done much "fixing" on it it was alot looser and sloppier handling and with the stock big steering wheel and stock rack. I had trouble controlling it, honestly. My 3 runs with his car were 3-4 seconds slower than in my own, even with the higher power. The afternoon course defintely catered more to the cars with more power, whereas the morning runs were more technical.

Overall I drove well, at least in the morning. Was a bit too tentative in the afternoon, upon reflection.

Results are here: http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/UP2eT0eqW7SQIUeqwWaOLxje91_ZPeiexCYjGXs5ZoYAjF6OZWY1jREAq3ghKeIMJi_uYTV3t0kzoHBKO-jqtqU54Tymxg/2012%20WDCR%20RallyCross/Results/WDCR_RX%232_04-29-2012_prelim_results.htm

I took 2nd in RWD Modified, but only 10 seconds behind the class leader Shawn (about average of 1 second per run). He did have one DNF run that took the max, so if he hadn't had that I'd have been more like 30 seconds behind him overall (he had an ignition wire come loose). But then if I had my own car for the last 3 runs, I would have been back within 20 seconds. Also of my 4 cones on the day, 3 of them were running in SPencer's car since I couldn't control the damn thing! Whatever, in either case it was an improvement over how badly I got spanked in the first event.

Not that they really compare since the course conditions change constantly, but I felt like the conditions didn't change that much on this course since it was all hard-packed all day. Anyhow, of the 12 RWD cars/drivers entered I was 3rd fastest, behind Shawn (MR winner) and Roberto (PR winner), both in RX-7s. And within 15 second of both overall, which isn't too bad considering the gross times were in the 750-770 second time.

I was also fastest of the 6 e30 drivers overall, though not fastest on any particular runs. More consistent for sure. Granted I am in the highest class of the e30s, but I'm also way down on power compared to the others as well.

Scott (the ETA team captain) posted this up, just for fun:

[COLOR="Blue"]Fastest E30 single lap time, obviously afternoon:

66.356 Steven (PR) (Cut the course.) 66.473 James (SR) 67.103 Chris (PR) 67.318 Jay (MR) 67.375 Scot (SR) 68.023 Spencer (MR <-- why, come to SR)

E30 day totals, There will be surface differences, but who cares:

772.034 Jay (MR) (Must have cheated.) 776.290 Steven (PR) 790.331 Scot (SR) 792.298 Spencer (MR) 799.929 James (SR) 809.330 Chris (PR)

The E30 CONE Crazy (highest award):

14 James (SR) (Had the most fun of the day!) 10 Chris (PR) 6 Spencer (MR) 5 Scot (SR) 4 Jay (MR) 1 Steven (PR) (Paid some flag people.)[/COLOR]

So pretty pleased overall. More when I think of more!

In the meantime, here are some vids of the courses (good quality, and sound isn't too terrible:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edjRGsdiOjw&list=UUZDzORFSilgFFHMqcT8uyIA&index=1&feature=plcp

And some random pics from the day:

Spencer

Crowner's croo

Other randoms

Sexy Peugeot 505 that ran

That really looks like so much fun... Now I really wish I hadn't bought such a nice car... that isn't lowered... and doesn't seem to be broken all the time...

irish44j wrote: Let me rephrase: the benefits of boost would be less in rallycross than in autocross or big-track work. We could argue about it all day I'm sure, and in the end it's irrelevant to me as I'm not going FI with mine. That said, at last weekend's event, of the 10 fastest Subarus there I think only 2 of them were WRX/STi's. Most were GC 2.5RS's and GD Imprezas. For what it's worth, which is nothing.

A GC 2.5 is lighter (especially in the 2.5RS 2-door) than a GD and the 2.5 has more bottom end power. If the course is tight then yes they will be very good.

If the course has some room to slide, a good driver in a WRX can stay in the power and really haul.

Best solution - WRX or STi motor in GC 2.5 RS body!

I suppose it also helps that I went from 1.6L to 1.8L and the turbo has no discernible lag so it is seamless power. It is nice to be able to accelerate out of corners though .

EvanB wrote: I suppose it also helps that I went from 1.6L to 1.8L and the turbo has no discernible lag so it is seamless power. It is nice to be able to accelerate out of corners though .

I think yeah, maybe a smaller turbo that can spool very quickly. I think about my 09 WRX and how much work it is to stay in boost on an autocross course with the big slowish-spooling VF52. And then I think that I could never keep it in boost sufficiently on a constantly-changing rallycross course where so many throttle adjustments have to constantly be made.

In my case, I could put a small turbo on there and get 30-40 horses out of the M10, or I could just swap in an M42 and get that same power N/A without adding any displacement or much weight :)

(oh, and that's what the plan is for next winter, I'm dead-set on it after driving Spencer's 318is with that engine....so much more lively than the M10).

irish44j wrote: In the meantime, here are some vids of the courses (good quality, and sound isn't too terrible: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edjRGsdiOjw&list=UUZDzORFSilgFFHMqcT8uyIA&index=1&feature=plcp

Holy crap that looks fun. I've never done a rallycross, but now i really want too.

based on a design from the ETA guys, I'm going to get some silly stickers made for the e30 "team" here in WDCR...I have a local buddy who can make them who owes me a favor

post-event fixin' time. Knocked out a few projects today.

First switched in some later-model door panels that I got from Spencer (no pics right now), but that's not terribly exciting.

Second, swapped in a new (junkyard) blower fan that I got in some parts-swap action, to replace mine that squeals like a pig at any speeds and is really annoying. Not that I use it much, except when it's cold outside, but still worth fixin.

Then it was time to investigate my issues noted above regarding the exhaust. Decided to pull the entire exhaust and see what's happening.

Taking the skid off was a bit of a dirty job

After taking it all off it was clear that none of the flanges were leaking (at least not that I could see) or cracked. But as I picked up the primary pipe (from manifold to middle flange) I heard a "clunk" and it was clear what the problem was: The catalytic converter substrate had broken apart inside the cat, and under hard acceleration was sliding back and clogging the exhaust pipe (and opening up under braking, as I noticed).

Problem solved. Now I was going to just weld a test pipe (or flex pipe) in there, but don't have a welder here and don't want to deal with more clamps at the moment. So decided to gut the cat since it's right near the flange. Poked away at it with a long screwdriver for a few minutes and it all came out in pieces.

With that taken care of, and waiting for the mail to arrive with some new exhaust and manifold gaskets, time to take a look-see at the underside.

Yup, that's a rallycross car!

Gaskets finally got here later in the afternoon. The old ones looked OK, but since I have it all apart I might as well seal everything up good to avoid having to do it later.

Also took the time to get some matching nuts and bolts in stock sizes, since my current exhaust was all bolted together using a mix of whatever metric and/or SAE stuff I had sititng around the garage last winter. A PITA since it takes like 7 wrenches to get it off, lol.

And installed my other exhaust manifold (stock also) that a P/O had powdercoated silver, since the one on the car was just ugly rusty.

So, it all seems to run well now. Still need to tighten the front strut collars just to be sure, and use some loctite this time. The family (minus me) is heading to the beach for a week, so I'll have plenty of time to drink, wrench, and generally make noise and mess for the next 7 days :)

My pixie

Been working on a couple other projects recently so no real updates in the last week or two. On the e30 I've done a few little projects but nothing much worth talking about - primarily maintenance-type stuff.

Until today. I picked up my e30 "project for next winter" (aka M42 swap).

Conveniently the seller was literally in the next neighborhood over, and I had some background on the engine. He pulled it out because he did an M20 swap (with plans to turbo it), and not because of engine problems. So a good start. For $250 I got the full engine, transmission, all the wiring harness, the ECU, driveshaft, and some accessories (alternator, PS pump).

The engine is pretty gunked up, and the oil pan did have a crack in it (fixed with JB weld). I'm taking it on faith that engine will run fine once swapped in, but I do plan to do at very least a mild refresh to include timing chain and/or tensioner, seals, water pump, and maybe the head gasket (we'll see).

Engine has a bad clutch fan, but I planned to remove that anyhow. Also already has AC delete.

Thing I will be working on accruing over the next 9 months or so: - radiator and plumbing - intake system (including MAF) - exhaust system (including header)

Anyhow, some quick pics of the dirty engine. It will probably sit under a workbench until the winter as I have limited time and very little car money available this summer..

Great engine! I've had a Z3 and an E30 318i ('91) with that engine. As such, I have some unused engine maintenance parts (as well some non-engine E30 stuff) hanging around the garage that I would send your way for not much dinero. I also have a E30 M42 DME/ECU out of a junkyard car that you might want as a backup. Lemme get into the garage this week and I'll let you know what I have.

P.S. I have a '76 Spitfire so maybe you have some stuff to trade

I always thought Pigpen was a rally guy.

Winston wrote: Great engine! I've had a Z3 and an E30 318i ('91) with that engine. As such, I have some unused engine maintenance parts (as well some non-engine E30 stuff) hanging around the garage that I would send your way for not much dinero. I also have a E30 M42 DME/ECU out of a junkyard car that you might want as a backup. Lemme get into the garage this week and I'll let you know what I have. P.S. I have a '76 Spitfire so maybe you have some stuff to trade

sounds good, and yes I have a good bit of spit/GT6 stuff sitting around, depending on what you want/need. Hit me up on email if you prefer.

btw, anyone with M42 knowledge ,feel free to tell me things I'm missing. Everything I got is in that picture except the shift console, clutch slave cylinder, driveshaft, and ECM.

Things I know I'll need on first observation: Full intake system/MAF (local guys have that for me) Radiator/hoses (local guys have the rad for me, not sure about hoses) Header/exhaust ....and we'll go from there!

Today we had event #3 at Summit. Perfect weather for rallycross and a great course setup on the "big course" with the runs bordering on about 90 seconds each. 10 total runs.

In the morning session I felt pretty fast and was handling the car well IMO. Times proved that out with me being only 10 seconds behind the class leader in total time for the morning session, and I did beat him 1 run where he picked up a couple cones. The goal has been to be consistent since Shawn is very consistent. My car is a bit down on power to his RX7 but overall I think they're a fairly even match all things considered. So to be within 10 seconds is good for me there. Averaging only 2 seconds behind per run, not bad for a 90-second course.

Morning course was dry (for our session) and fast. It really flowed and I'd say we were hitting 60mph or so on the straight which had only a mild slalom that could almost be straightlined. Course was mostly hardpack, softpack, grass, and some gravel areas. During our session no mud or wet stuff (though the first session had the slickness after the water truck).

Here's a vid of the course http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwvbuQfdjK0&feature=youtu.be

In the afternoon it was a reversed course with some different features, and the water truck came through first thing since alot of dust was going onto Summit Main where alot of pricey vintage racers were running. On the multiple parade laps (to help dry it out) the RWD cars were all over the place (actually alot of fun), and the first few timed runs were pretty slippery with alot of sidewayz yo.. Sadly my GoPro was left on for the entire lunchbreak (duh) so no vid of the afternoon.

Not positive of the PM times, but I felt fast again. Unfortunately picked up several cones on a couple runs in the tight finish area (grr....worst place to cone!).

The prelim results I saw had be 22 seconds back of Shawn and a couple seconds back of Gorka Arrieta in a different RX-7 maybe, but we'll see. Me and Gorka seem to go back and forth all the time, both of us with the goal of catching Shawn somehow (which has yet to happen, lol).

Didn't see their times yet, but I'm pretty confident that I'm getting much quicker in comparison to the 4-person team running the ETA e30 in stock and prepared classes. But then again they're in a stock car on snows and I'm on rally tires with alot less weight, so that doesn't mean much at all. More of a friendly competition than anything else, just to push us all I guess.

After packing up and changing tires at the end, the car wouldn't start. Thought it was because I had the radio on while packing, but a jumpstart did nothing. No crank. Dammit. The guys gave me a push down the hill and dropped the clutch to dump-start it. Ran fine all the way home, but for some reason I lost my turn signals, brake lights, speedometer, and radio. All fuses fine, WTF. Drove carefully 90 miles home in almost no traffic without getting pulled over, lol. Luckily only like 5 stoplights so wasn't an issue.

Turns out the ignition switch is probbably bad. I have another one, so will swap it out this week.

Anyhow, 2-day event in 3 weeks so have some minor tweaks to make before then.

Video from the afternoon course of my last run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qard8Z6W3bw

The finish area for us was not tight at all compared to the other group

moxnix wrote: Video from the afternoon course of my last run. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qard8Z6W3bw The finish area for us was not tight at all compared to the other group

yeah, I did the "other group" finish setup on the parade lap before they changed it and it was 1000% tighter for sure. That said, at least for me it probably would have helped me out in slowing down and not stupidly flying into the final gate! When I know it's tight I plan to do it slow and avoid coning. When it's not as tight, I get greedy and try to jump through it faster than I should.

Anyhow, hope I don't sound like I'm talking E36 M3 or anything Shawn - I always mention you because obviously you're the class champ so we all are comparing what we do to what you do :)

btw, I've noticed in both our vids alot of rattling in the GoPro. I though originally it was the mounts moving, but on second look I think it's actually the camera rattling around inside the waterproof case. For the next even I'm going to try to wedge some foam tape or something in there and see if I can't get rid of it. Because damn if that rattle isn't annoying as hell!

yeah, I did the "other group" finish setup on the parade lap before they changed it and it was 1000% tighter for sure. That said, at least for me it probably would have helped me out in slowing down and not stupidly flying into the final gate! When I know it's tight I plan to do it slow and avoid coning. When it's not as tight, I get greedy and try to jump through it faster than I should. Anyhow, hope I don't sound like I'm talking E36 M3 or anything Shawn - I always mention you because obviously you're the class champ so we all are comparing what we do to what you do :)

I'll always take the might hit cones by going fast over the so slow you need first gear finishes. I'll try to post some video late tonight of the other run group to show how bad it was for them.

Talking E36 M3? I thought that was what the internet was for? Personally I am still trying to beat SF :-(
Also remember the one big advantage I have in RallyX.

I don't worry about needing to drive my car home.

moxnix wrote:

yeah, I did the "other group" finish setup on the parade lap before they changed it and it was 1000% tighter for sure. That said, at least for me it probably would have helped me out in slowing down and not stupidly flying into the final gate! When I know it's tight I plan to do it slow and avoid coning. When it's not as tight, I get greedy and try to jump through it faster than I should. Anyhow, hope I don't sound like I'm talking E36 M3 or anything Shawn - I always mention you because obviously you're the class champ so we all are comparing what we do to what you do :)

Also remember the one big advantage I have in RallyX. I don't worry about needing to drive my car home.

lol.....truth. A buddy of mine asked about co-driving my car (even though he can easily afford to just buy his own beater, but he's too lazy). I said that some people do that, but most of them (like you) can trailer the car home when the co-driver messes it up haha.....

some photos other people took of the car at the event

also did a bit of horse-trading this week:

I traded a pair of chrome "bullet" mirrors from the Triumph for:

M42 DME M42 belt set (new, all three) New FAG rear wheel bearing Pairs of new hub nuts and lockrings