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

Today's project: hitch reinforcement and trailer (almost) completion.

As noted previously, I installed a hitch that is basically sold everywhere as the design for the metal-bumper e30s. It bolts to the bottom of the bumper and to the bottom of the spare tire well. IDK.....I suppose it works fine, but would like a bit more reinforcement. So I added a piece of 1/2" steel vertically, which is the design that later e30 hitches use, bolting through the trunk vertically. Figured I'd combine the two to get a stronger/more stable hitch, just to be safe.

don't ask why it's not "pretty"......mostly because it won't be seen, so who cares.

heres the inside of the trunk. It bolts through and then angle bracket leftover from the trailer project as a backing plate.

here you can see up under the bumper where it bolts through. just enough room

I still need to do the trailer lighting wiring from the car. I need one of those little converters since the car has seperate brake/taillight/signal lights and of course the trailer doesn't....an annoying waste of $28. I may have to think of a workaround :)

so, back to the trailer. It was mostly done already, but I finished up the wood deck by coating it in truck bedliner, so it will be "weatherproof" and also have some grip to it. And of course needed it to be black :)

So here's the trailer as it is almost done. Still plan to add a few tie-downs up front once I decide what I want to carry up there, and fab up a mount for the spare (thinking of a few options here).

box bolted down. I left some room behind it in case I want to carry larger diameter tires in the future (I only mention it because someone brought it up over on dirtyimpreza).

irish44j wrote: yep, I sold it to one of the other rallycross guys. But check out www.motorsporthardware.com and tell him I referred you. His stuff is a good price and well worth it!

Good looking out, I will call them tomorrow. Thanks!

ok, one other little project tonight....else I'm stuck watching the Oscars with the wife :P

after a few events my trunk was full of dirt, coming in through the trunk vents. To fix that at the time I kind of wrapped them up with old filter material. That worked ok but stuff still got in and they tore every time something in the trunk contacted them. Since the car has other "holes" to release air pressure when the trunk is closed, time to block them off.

old vents removed

blanks cut out from old top to a rubbermaid storage bin

installed with some silicone

I know, very exciting. Did lose 1/2 a pound of weight though...and probably twice that in dirt :)

Some other trailer work, after doing more reading and research. Decided that since I'm not going to be carrying even half of the max load of this trailer, might as well soften it up a bit. So I removed the small leaf from the springs. Not sure how much, if any, difference it will make, but what the hell.

Also took some advice I saw posted elsewhere on main leaf spring bolt, which in stock form allows the spring to clang against the bolt when the trailer unloads over a bump or something. I cut a small piece of old coolant hose and ran the bolt through it in the housing. This snugs up the spring to the bolt, but still allows it to move, and should get rid of the the rebound noise.

yeah, now it's mad slammed yo...

exhaust should be here tomorrow, so I make take the afternoon off wednesday from work and put it all back together :)

Never mind went back and read it again.

Good work...

...troll

lol...

The OEM catback ( minus muffler) came in today. Got it basically for the price of shipping, but to keep that reasonable I had him cut it in half. I wanted this to get the OEM resonator back, since it fits well into the driveshaft/heatshield tunnel there, and the OEM resonator with the Dynomax muffler should sound excellent.

IDK why he also cut off the hanger mount....so now I have to cut it off my other one (which I just welded on) to put on this, lol....lots of welding practice!

and some more, putting the two pipes back together. Next to the "other" exhaust I got, which doesn't follow the "tunnel" well and hangs too low :P

Will try to deal with this later this week and get the car back on the road.

Also got an envelope from Mike Caldwell out in Cali, who rallycrosses an e30 and swapped me for a couple of our team stickers :)

got the exhaust back together today with quite a bit of ghetto welding on my back under the car. Not enjoyable. But.....it fits well, tucks up into the "tunnel" much better than the old setup, and sounds considerably better and a bit quieter than the old setup without the resonator. Still have to finish a few details (like the front hanger), but all in all pretty pleased with how it came out.

Also killed off the last 10% of a spraycan of matte white on the top of my gear box. Figure the white will keep it cooler inside sitting in the sun all day. Plus it matches my trunk :)

I'm actually considering doing my entire roof white as well, to keep the car cooler sitting out there all day. Probably won't do that for a few months ....wait until it warms up.

Really the only significant thing left to do before event #1 (March 23rd) is to set up the car-side wiring and 4-pin connector for the trailer. Other than that, I'm hopefully good to go. Now that I have the exhaust on, I do plan to do some extended hard driving to make sure no issues come up, so fingers crossed.

Got the new skid in today, made by (username) Red46 on R3vlimited. It's 11-gauge stainless steel and very beefy. As is it attaches at the rear using the M10 steering rack bolts, and in front on the radiator support using a steel backing plate (with welded backing bolts). My intention is to do some reinforcement on several areas, but for the moment I just put it on, since I'm not sure if I'll have time to do that work before the first event.

The plan is to add a crossbeam down near the bend, attached to the frame rails, as well as to reinforce the radiator support. Probably will also add some steel brackets coming off the front subframe to reinforce the steering rack mount.

In any case, the plate is a perfect fit in every way, which is saying a lot. Plus the cost shipped of the plate was just a bit more than a blank sheet of 11-ga stainless would cost me at the local steel supply place. But this one is laser-cut and press-bent to the right shape already. Usually I like to make things myself, but in this case for a bit more money it's worth it to have someone with the right machines/tools do it :)

I'll also add some "side spats" made of more cut-out rubbermaid bin tops, to keep mud/rocks from entering through the sides and spraying the engine....

pics:

clearance on the pan

rear mount. I am going to have to get some longer bolts at Fastenal tomorrow. These are just barely long enough. I flipped them to drop from the top to make installation easier than trying to fish the nut up there like on the old skid.

It's narrower than my old giant beast of a skid...now my front valence cutout looks pretty stupid. oh well.

eh, why not one more quick update late-night.

worked for an hour setting up the trailer wiring. For this had to use a converter kit. Got it all wired up. Taillights work. Nothing else works. No signals, no brakes. Tested the wire splices and I'm getting power on the correct wires to the converter box, but not beyond that. Directly jumped the lights on the trailer from the harness and they work that way, so the trailer wiring is fine. Looks like the component is bad. Dammit. Will return it tomorrow and get another one.

Also, now that I have the engine running well, went ahead and took out the stock engine mounts and put the Condor Speed Shop (silence) solid UHMV mounts back on the car :)

nothing photo-worthy, but wrapped up a few little projects today.

Finished all the trailer wiring on the trailer-side, with dedicated grounds, etc. The car-side is prepped, but I'm waiting for a signal converter from e-trailers, which is a powered converter. I found that running on the car's stock wiring and relays the lights on the trailer were very dim and "confused" and just didn't work all that well. Plus with the lights on when signaling the flasher relay wasn't cutting it....just buzzing not flashing.

Did a few other little things on the car, and then went for a drive in the hilly/woody roads nearby. Car performed well, engine was strong and ran fine. At one point I ground gears downshifting to 2nd, and then again immediately after. But IDK what the deal was....before and after that it didn't happen again. Wonder if a synchro got stuck or something, IDK.

One thing I'll say is that it's still loud as hell in the car. Even with the stock resonator and a muffler not known to be too loud, it really drones inside with no interior and no soundproofing. I may add back a bit of soundproofing on the firewall/tranny tunnel, and trunk. The 5lb penalty will probably be worth it, lol. I want to get someone else to drive the car while I stand outside, to see if it's real loud outside, and not just my "hollow" interior causing a lot of echoes and resonance.

Oh, also.....registered for an autocross next weekend nearby with Autocrossers, Inc (a SCCA-sanctioned club). Might as well...it's a half-day event and only a half-hour drive. Will be a good chance to test the engine out wide-open, and a good way to see how far over a car can lean, haha. By my reading of the rules I'm in E Prepared.....I will get destroyed!

On that note, SCCA 2013 Solo2 rules are 342 pages long!!!!!! Now I remember another reason why RallyCross is awesome....our rules are probably 30 pages long, lol.

So it's finally freaking snowing here this winter. About time. Took tomorrow off work because the commute is going to be full of morons with SUVs on bald tires trying to go 70mph in the snow on the Beltway. Not trying to be in that mess.

Instead, I'll drive the other direction. We're supposed to get 6-9" here, but well over a foot about an hour to the northwest. So I think I'll go see if I can find some untracked country roads for a scenic drive.

Oh, and this will be in the WRX, not the e30....since the WRX has Wintersports on it and the e30s rally tires or Star Specs probably wouldn't get me up the street!

Anyhow...a few minor projects tonight.

First, got a bunch of stuff in from McMaster-Carr. I only needed a few things, but went ahead and got big bags of M8 and M10 stuff, because that'll fit most of my car stuff and you can never have too many standard-sized nuts, bolts, and washers.

I got 90mm steering rack bolts to replace the 82mm stock ones where the skid attaches, and allow me to put a second nut "above" the skidplate to hold the bolt so I can just take the skid on and off with one wrench from the bottom, rather than contorting to get a wrench on top as well.

So, got the skid installed how it's going to be initially:

Then got the metal snips out and cut up some old backing sheet steel from an old gas fireplace surround sitting out in my shed.

To create some "side spats" for the skid. This is less to prevent against hard hits than it is to keep rocks, mud, dirt, etc coming off the front wheels (especially in puddles and such) from ending up all over the bottom of the engine).

And of course for the mad tyte aero, yo! A few bends, a few rivets, and here we go. I'll take the grinder to the edge tomorrow to clean it up. Can't do noisy stuff late at night with the kids' rooms right above the garage.......

Ummm . . . yeah don't try to drive in the snow with rally tires. They look like they might work, but they turn to hockey pucks in the snow and cold.

irish44j wrote: Oh, also.....registered for an autocross next weekend nearby with Autocrossers, Inc (a SCCA-sanctioned club). Might as well...it's a half-day event and only a half-hour drive. Will be a good chance to test the engine out wide-open, and a good way to see how far over a car can lean, haha. By my reading of the rules I'm in E Prepared.....I will get destroyed! On that note, SCCA 2013 Solo2 rules are 342 pages long!!!!!! Now I remember another reason why RallyCross is awesome....our rules are probably 30 pages long, lol.

True... but SOLO autocross has been around a lot longer... I'd hazard a guess the rule book was much shorter when it was roughly the same age as rally-x. I remember stories from back in the day when autocross was a whopping three whole classes: Stock, Prepared, and Modified.

Add a few more bars and get a log book for Improved Touring. Then you can run in Street Prepared. I think the 318i runs in FSP.

Ian F wrote:

irish44j wrote: Oh, also.....registered for an autocross next weekend nearby with Autocrossers, Inc (a SCCA-sanctioned club). Might as well...it's a half-day event and only a half-hour drive. Will be a good chance to test the engine out wide-open, and a good way to see how far over a car can lean, haha. By my reading of the rules I'm in E Prepared.....I will get destroyed! On that note, SCCA 2013 Solo2 rules are 342 pages long!!!!!! Now I remember another reason why RallyCross is awesome....our rules are probably 30 pages long, lol.

True... but SOLO autocross has been around a lot longer... I'd hazard a guess the rule book was much shorter when it was roughly the same age as rally-x. I remember stories from back in the day when autocross was a whopping three whole classes: Stock, Prepared, and Modified. Add a few more bars and get a log book for Improved Touring. Then you can run in Street Prepared. I think the 318i runs in FSP.

The nice part with rallycross is that every year a few new rules are brought up, and almost all of them get axed. It was a major outcry when they split modified 2WD into FWD and RWD classes. I highly doubt we'll see any new rally-x classes in the next decade.

Then again, having 50 classes for rallycross would be pointless. You'd have a bunch of 1 and 2-car classes at each event, and it wouldn't matter anyhow.

When i add more bars it will be for a rally cage. No interest in making this car good at autocross or trackdays. I already got tired of running the WRX. I'll do this one event, and likely no other autocrosses this season.

irish44j wrote: When i add more bars it will be for a rally cage. No interest in making this car good at autocross or trackdays. I already got tired of running the WRX. I'll do this one event, and likely no other autocrosses this season.

What are the dimensions and material of your current bar? Rally cages need to be larger diameter and or thicker plus DOM compared to track bars, you might find it better to sell the bar and get a proper cage made when it comes time for htat.

In reply to irish44j:

I was being silly more than anything else. Hopefully rally-x will be able to maintain their simple rules for as long as they can.

Adrian_Thompson wrote:

irish44j wrote: When i add more bars it will be for a rally cage. No interest in making this car good at autocross or trackdays. I already got tired of running the WRX. I'll do this one event, and likely no other autocrosses this season.

What are the dimensions and material of your current bar? Rally cages need to be larger diameter and or thicker plus DOM compared to track bars, you might find it better to sell the bar and get a proper cage made when it comes time for htat.

Oh, if I put a rally cage in I won't use the current bar. It's a bolt-in so I'll just take it out and sell it to offset the cost of the new cage. But that's a while down the road :)

Ian F wrote: In reply to irish44j: I was being silly more than anything else. Hopefully rally-x will be able to maintain their simple rules for as long as they can.

figured as much.....I just like talking

here's the other side....because of the angle-cut on the skid, this one had to have a few more bends. Apologies for the sloppy running spray paint. I had some issues with a stuck nozzle, lol.

and from inside the engine bay

Also stole an idea from WDCR Rallycross chair Adam Kimmett after seeing it set up in his GC Impreza....."helmet net" over the back seat deck. I just happened to have an old cargo net from an Infiniti G35 (of all things) sitting around the garage. So rigged it up. This could come in handy for a few things.

today's plan for car-related projects (on several cars) was interrupted by the motor on my washing machine catching fire and smoking up the house. Awesome. Went and picked up a "spare" washer from the in-laws' house. The big trailer was loaded up with about 500lbs of stuff, so I just took the little one. Lol..

So after installing that and tearing apart the old washer (lots 'o nice sheet metal there, and saves me a trip to the dump), back to car stuff.

First order of business was to put a down-turn exhaust tip on the car, to keep it quiet. The car still sounds VERY loud inside, but I think it's because it's totaly empty and getting resonance. I had my wife drive it up the street and it didn't sound loud at all on the outside. She says it's actually quieter than the WRX, which is fairly quiet with the SPT-option exhaust on it.

Whatever, here's the tip. exciting.

A shot of the front end with skid on.

Then the mail came with my wiring resistor/converter from etrailers.com. Hookup was a snap and it works great. This one gets power from the battery (conveniently located in the trunk) and acts as a relay, so it doesn't stress the factory wiring or relays with too much load. All hooked up, and did a quick test-trip with the trailer around the neighborhood. Not loaded with the tires, but it doesn't feel like it's there with the cargo box full of stuff. I'm happy I did the box the height I did....makes it visible when backing. But with this short neck, it's still pretty lousy to back up a driveway off a curve, lol.

the kit

install - it comes with 3M tape on the back, so it just sticks right to the inside of the trunk.

stealth wiring, through a grommet behind the bumper :)

I can pull it into the trunk so the plug sits behind the bumper when not in use

and some shots of the car with the trailer :)

I wish I had a racecar :( Instead I've got a non-running Pontiac.

Love the helmet net idea! I may have to steal that one myself, once my project is done. And the skidplate side wings idea was smart.

Your E30 certainly looks like a proper rally car. You've done a great job on it.

Winston wrote: Love the helmet net idea! I may have to steal that one myself, once my project is done. And the skidplate side wings idea was smart. Your E30 certainly looks like a proper rally car. You've done a great job on it.

thanks, the details and look are what happens when the car itself was basically "ready" a month ago and now I'm just trying to find cheap/free/easy little projects to do to kill time until the season starts in 13 days :)