Shawn's track car project (e36 M52 325i) - Page 4

MBrown · 03-22-2011, 12:18 AM

wow shows how similar Laguna and Boston are, AGREE on the santa hat part... don't forget santa has to hand out gifts...

bmwconnect · 03-22-2011, 12:20 AM

Hey Santa, drop a e30 in my lane way right meow!!

everlast · 03-22-2011, 01:51 AM

SB doles out liberal amounts of whoop-ass at autox every week he's there from what I've seen.

bmwconnect · 03-22-2011, 02:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by everlast

SB doles out liberal amounts of whoop-ass at autox every week he's there from what I've seen.

Thank god he put in a racing seat for the ride a long's... GOD DAMN! I hope I fit hahaha

sb_600 · 03-22-2011, 08:20 AM

haha Bear we already gave you a motor - it's up to you to find the car

The competition is going to be tough this year - Chris phoned me last night and gave me *bad* news - apparently he's coming to party in B-class with us... and he's going to have a sweet suspension setup :S. And then there's Jamie... and then last year's AutoX champ, some S2000s.... it's gonna be fun

sb_600 · 03-28-2011, 09:18 AM

It was a busy weekend again!

I set out to stength test the brackets I welded for the 5-point harnesses. I figured if I could pick up the car by the brackets, they should be strong enough. I chained the engine crane to the brackets and lifted the car until two wheels were off the ground. They didn't move one bit

After that, Chris and I succeeded in pulling the M50 out. All that's left is to clean up the engine bay a bit, bolt stuff onto the new engine, and then it will be ready to drop in.

bmwconnect · 03-28-2011, 11:21 AM

HavocSteve · 03-28-2011, 11:27 AM

When do you think you'll be back out on the road? Before our spring cruise right?

sb_600 · 03-28-2011, 12:52 PM

Steve this car will never see the road

but the e46 is good to go (minus an exhaust leak that I need to take care of - just need to replace some hardware and the gaskets)

HavocSteve · 03-28-2011, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sb_600

Steve this car will never see the road

but the e46 is good to go (minus an exhaust leak that I need to take care of - just need to replace some hardware and the gaskets)

AWWW

I was hoping for some fun! I might see if I can try out the speed3 on the autoX track just once to see what I can do and what the Mazda brand can bring to the table.

MBrown · 03-29-2011, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HavocSteve

AWWW

I was hoping for some fun! I might see if I can try out the speed3 on the autoX track just once to see what I can do and what the Mazda brand can bring to the table.

I'm sure the speed3 would be a very capable autox car!

HavocSteve · 03-29-2011, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MBrown

I'm sure the speed3 would be a very capable autox car!

I dunno

It goes like stink and brake and corners pretty decent. If it was RWD, I'm sure it would be more capable because of the torque steer but you just need big pipes like myself and it doesn't really bother me.

sb_600 · 03-29-2011, 10:46 PM

I'm sure the speed3 would be sweet. Just put a big rear bar on it to get it to rotate and you'll do fine

HavocSteve · 03-29-2011, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sb_600

I'm sure the speed3 would be sweet. Just put a big rear bar on it to get it to rotate and you'll do fine

ROFL! also put those trolley wheels on so I can have people run behind it so it can turn on a dime!

sb_600 · 04-11-2011, 10:14 AM

I bit of progress was made this weekend, but not as much as I had hoped.

I had the day off work on friday and the plan was to get the engine back in the car. I had removed the front subframe earlier in the week, welded in engine mount reinforcement tabs, and repainted it. I then reinstalled it with new M3 control arms to increase the caster. I also took the opportunity to clean the steering rack and install new inner & outer tie rods (old ones were seized). My new solid AKG engine & transmission mounts had arrived last week as well and they were bolted on too.

The engine was pretty much ready for the flywheel/clutch/transmission. After installing the flywheel, thankfully I checked and noticed that the crankshaft didn't have a pilot bearing! It wasn't in stock at Otto's BMW so the engine work was stopped there for the weekend. I still got a few other things done though, and I helped Chris with his engine (my old M50NV) - you can see what we did (if you haven't already) in his build thread. That engine is in such better shape than my M52 was when I pulled it apart!

I NEED to have the engine running next weekend. The weekend after that is Easter, and the weekend after that is the test and tune at Picton! It's going to be close. I'll be spending evenings this week installing the engine, transmission and exhaust.