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

JohnyHachi6 wrote: ^Loving the OZ/Team Dynamics rally wheel look. Very nice.

Thanks! Team Dynamics is precisely what I had in mind when I thought that up

Hopefully next year I'll have some actual TD rally wheels :)

irish44j wrote: Although doing this cosmetic stuff, I often kind of feel like a dork, since few of the other cars out there seem to have much done to them cosmetically. I do it because it's fun to do the artsy stuff (and cheap), but I almost wonder if it's kind of silly when most of the other e30s out there are on faded original paint with few to no graphics or anything. Still remember my very first event when Scott Crowner (in the "original" local e30 that still runs these days) made fun of how clean and nice my car looked, and even filmed a video of him making fun of it. Scott's a good guy and I know he was just giving me some friendly ribbing, but I still feel kind of dorky doing so much cosmetics. The only thing I can think of is that the car isn't broken so I actually have time for this kind of stuff, so that's a plus.

I'd say it pays off for you. First off you car looks great so is photogenic, hence lots of coverage. That plus your great detailed write ups is probably what helps you get heavily discounted stuff from sponsors like Condor etc. Would you get that stuff is you were just another dirty 30?

Keep doing it.

I think those rims look sweet, it gives it a rally look without paying for rims. If I remember right a while back you painted some bottlecaps red with like VHT red nightshades? I really liked that color of red. But this matches your car, cant wait to see these mounted.

How do you like that vinyl cutter? And what is the good vinyl that you use?

In reply to irish44j:

Well (knock on wood), I may be scratching that itch with a 05 WRX (blown motor) that I am trying to make a deal on! Owner just contacted me and he is ready to deal on it.

mazdeuce wrote: How do you like that vinyl cutter? And what is the good vinyl that you use?

It's a Cameo vinyl cutter - seems to work well. Wife uses it for her craft business and cuts a lot of stuff. I mean, it's not commercial equipment, but has been trouble-free since I got it for her last winter.

I'm using Oracal 651. It's not the "ultimate" vinyl that one would use if doing a full wrap or anything, but it's a quality brand and 651 is rated for outdoor use. Plus it's a good thickness for this cutter. There are some higher-end and thicker types, but this stuff is head and shoulders above what you'd buy at the local crafts store or whatever.

NGTD wrote: In reply to irish44j: Well (knock on wood), I may be scratching that itch with a 05 WRX (blown motor) that I am trying to make a deal on! Owner just contacted me and he is ready to deal on it.

interesting.....as long as you remove the front axles and just use the rears

(in case you didn't notice, my daily driver is a WRX).

jhockey4 wrote: I think those rims look sweet, it gives it a rally look without paying for rims. If I remember right a while back you painted some bottlecaps red with like VHT red nightshades? I really liked that color of red. But this matches your car, cant wait to see these mounted.

Yeah, the nightshades looked cool initially (it was actually stuff I also used to color out the orange parts of the taillights), but it was dark enough that once it got dirty, it just looked kind of brown-purple and odd.

The red nightshades is really a tinted clearcoat, so it depends on what color your undercoat is to determine what color it will turn out. White undercoat will look a lot different than black.

In reply to irish44j:

Randy Zimmer tried that with his RS when MaxAttack was running. It didn't work out so well! It seems that the Subi rear diffs don't really like all the power going there. They like to share with the front.

The deal on the WRX was dead ages ago. The guy suddenly texted me out of the blue and asked me if I was still interested. I have been working on it over a year. Build thread to come.

I may fix it and sell it, I may part it, I may fix it and rally-X and hopefully move eventually into rallysprints!

Well I didn't go RWD. Pulled the trigger at noon today. 05 WRX blown motor. Build thread started.

NGTD wrote: Well I didn't go RWD. Pulled the trigger at noon today. 05 WRX blown motor. Build thread started.

excellent :)

--

So here's the white ones as well. I'll probably do four white and the two spares red. I actually like the red better, but I have 3 cans of white paint here and no more red, and I'm cheap like that......I can always re-do later if I want to :)

Duuuude. Red is faster than white..

You racing in NH tomorrow?

No, I'll be in a dark garage in the bowels of Washington D.C. helping the guy who posted right above you put an M52 into his e30 so he can beat me throughout the coming rallycross season, lol...

I assume you're referring to the rallysprint at O'Neill? If so, kind of a moot point anyhow since my car isn't legal for rallysprint (no cage)...and that's way too far to drive just to spectate

I never would have thought bottle caps could look so good.

As the days meander toward the first event (2 weeks to go), took a day off of my own stuff to help out Josh S. with his M52 swap, in hopes he can get it all together by the first event (yeah, that sounds pretty counterproductive on my behalf, doesn't it?).

So early Sunday morning headed down to the bowels of Washington DC where he uses space in a buddy's garage (formerly an old stable and old car repair shop).

It's pretty tucked-away..

and has cool art all over it

Anyhow, down to business. He has a lot to do. I helped out where I could while he fabbed up some engine mounts (using the cut-in-half Condor solid mount that originally was one of my mounts, as you may recall from the Ohio Divisional event)

workin workin

Good thing there's cell signal there

Anyhow, we'll see if he can get it done in time. I may head out for another day or two to help out, but it's gonna be tight.

In other news.....got new summer tires for the WRX mounted :)

Also....a new signup for rallycross this year.....in SR class. Epic Win

Ian F wrote: I never would have thought bottle caps could look so good.

it's funny....the writing around the center helps to define the curvature, whereas without it they really just look flat. Happy with how they turned out. Hope they hold up :)

Umm, I think I would have wanted my WRX parked inside based on the looks of that neighbourhood.

Thanks again, Josh!!

NGTD wrote: Umm, I think I would have wanted my WRX parked inside based on the looks of that neighbourhood.

That area is totally gentrified. This is one of the few unfinished buildings left it seems that haven't been converted to million-dollar condos and rowhouses. But yeah, I said the same thing to Josh when I got there that I hoped my car didn't get tagged while I was parked there, lol.

Apparently the owner actually allows artists to paint on the building though. Nothing else in the alley has any graffiti on it. Pretty cool.

So it's looking like we are going to set a new record for BMWs at a rallycross here, at the rate we're going:

318i (me)

325i w/M52 (Josh Sennett)

325e (Stephen, Eric, and Chris all driving it)

318is e36 (Mike P.)

325i (Eric Eisele and Neil Cox)

325is (Alp and Ozgur, if they make it)

325ix (Phaedon)

528 e28 (Nick and Bobby)

525 e34 wagon (Jeff Holmes and Jeff Geier, guaranteeing that someone named Jeff will win SR class).

So that's 15 drivers in BMWs, and there may be 1 or 2 others added to that. This should be fun :)

In other news, I changed the oil on the car today, so it is officially ready for the season to start in 10 days. Now I can just slack off.

I currently see 15 AWD subaru's registered for the event. Can the BMW's beat the subaru's for the number of cars at the event?

Definitely not for number of cars, since at least 5 of the BMWs have multiple drivers. Not everyone is signed up on the site yet (we're gonna be working this weekend to get Josh's engine swap done, Alp and Ozgur are trying to finish their stage rally e30 in time for this weekend, etc etc etc). The usual.

The Volvo guys can't make it to this event but will be running for most of the season in a 740 wagon too.

Now, you need to get recruiting your Miatae group Shawn.....I'm doing my part to build attendance

Off chance another rotary may come with our group as well (much to my chagrin, lol)

I think our goal will be to beat the number of "blue" subarus though :)

I actually meant drivers but said cars.

I think the goal should be more RWD cars than AWD cars (Tell that ix to stay home )

I actually bumped the thread on miata.net tonight.