After deciding to start a fresh race car build, I began my search for a new E46 BMW M3 shell. Friends were quick to send links for ones for sale.
A few people offered up their already-built race cars for sale. Ultimately, I decided to build another Hi-Speed Motorsports car from scratch with shop owner Hugh Stewart.
There …
Huge thanks to AKG Motorsport for their support in this new build. AKG Motorsport has been a sponsor of my racing since the very beginning. I'm a big believer of their products having outfitted most of their catalog on my E36 prior to them becoming a sponsor. They are a great family owned business that make some of the best BMW parts in the business right here in the USA.
We're doing to same after writing off our K20 crx endurance car the last race of the yr.
Replaced it with a free EG civic hatch,yes we're very budget limited
Watching this whole process was seriously impressive. I've never been good at sourcing good/non-overpriced shells which makes this almost seem like a miracle!
In reply to christinaylam (Forum Supporter) :
Folks over at AKG are awesome. I stumbled upon them a few years ago while I was building my street E36, made a mistake on ordering parts, they were super helpful in helping me find the right parts and took the time to explain why's. Really different tone as opposed to other stores that just try to sell you the most expensive bits.
My son, Mark, and I have been racing our 70 Ford Cortina since 1971, so 49 years for me and 32 years for Mark. The Cortina has been through 2 series accidents. The 1st in the Moosehead GP in Halifax, NS in 1991. Very Hard wall hit which did quite the number on the front subframe- made up our own guide rack taken from the factory Ford manual, reinforced the frame with 3/16" plate. It was now strong enough to mount our engines direct to the frame. Since 1993 have been using a full race 2.3 Pinto motor- Esslinger/Race Engineering. But that's another story.
The 2nd incident was in 2003, a broken rear brake caliper jambed up the rotor and put the Cortina left rear 1/4 panel into the wall, she then switched around to the left front fender. Quite the mess. The Cortina arrived back on the back of a two truck before my son was released from his medical checkup and when he got out of the ambulance , looked at the damage. Quote" Sorry Dad, but I think I wrote her off this time" . By then I had a good look at all the carnage and replied" I don't think so. I can rebuild her. A year later she was back on the track with all new fiberglass 1/4 panels, rear valance, and roll cage extended all the way back.
After destroying a newly built 2.3 SOHC Pinto motor last May, we came to the decision to switch to a new Mustang 2.3 EcoBoost and everything it entails. The T5 transmission will need mods for moly or G- Force gears to meet the HP/Torque of the EcoBoost . Have already purchased a QuickTime bell housing and the differential already meets the new requirements. It's a Winters Mini Quick Change.
One of our local Ford dealerships was throwing out a Fusion 2.3 EcoBoost as scrap, but fortunately as my crew chief works in their shop and convinced them to give it to us as a mock-up . As a result all the engine and transmission work is completed and the next step will be to by an EcoBoost motor. Once our suppliers open back up , then we will get busy ordering the engine , provided our funding is all in place.
See our Website. Www.elliottracingatlantic.com
Congratulations on getting back up on that horse.
Gerald Elliott. Enfield, Nova Scotia
A bonus to building a new chassis is you get to update and/or fix any little issues. Tune up any ergonomics and make it easier to work on. That bar you bang your knee or elbow on, that knob you can't quite reach, that gauge that is hard to see.
Especially the electrical, don't hide stuff and make the cluster removable or hinged so you can easily get to it. Nothing worse than having to stand on your head to service something. Between rounds this becomes even more important time wise and reduces stress levels when there are problems.
I've learned a lot living with stuff others have put together and having to work on it at the track. Especially something that is long in the tooth and has been reworked a time or two. Starting over can be such a blessing.
People ask me how long does it take to build a race car; I usually tell them plan on 18-24 months for a regular guy doing it in their garage. Professional shop or not doing it in 57 days is damn impressive.
Christina, what will you save from the wreck?
In reply to bentwrench :
We did make some updates to the new car mostly to make it faster. This one that got wrecked was a mere 10 weeks old so not much of a blessing there. The work we did on the first one was very diligently planned out from the start and based on Hugh's T1 car at the shop.
I love AKG Motorsport! I have a few of their bits on my E36.
I plan to hit up their catalog later this year for upgrades.
In reply to christinaylam (Forum Supporter) :
Thanks for doing this series/blog!
Tom1200 said:People ask me how long does it take to build a race car; I usually tell them plan on 18-24 months for a regular guy doing it in their garage. Professional shop or not doing it in 57 days is damn impressive.
Thanks to alot of friends and sponsors, we were able to pull off this unreal deadline. To be honest, I don't think I realized the magnitude of the task at the time, I just stubbornly got to work with a plan to get to the race.
Jerry From LA said:Christina, what will you save from the wreck?
A huge amount of stuff was destroyed on the car even though the passenger side looks somewhat intact. I was able to salvage the two wheels from the passenger side, those two shocks, and the brakes from the passenger side. Literally everything else on the car was obliterated from the suspension, the C43 CBK brakes I was working with StopTech on, the ECU, the ABS control module, wiring, etc. All of the fancy things that made the car fast and reliable went straight into the trash. We were originally hoping more would be salvagable but I suppose thats what happens when you lose a fight with a 2 ton concrete wall.
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