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The Invisible Touch E30 Track Car


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Bit of progress made :)

 

The original car has been stripped of seats, roll cage, fuel cell and most other bits. Not much left to take out of this

 

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So, engine time. The 1.6 has been removed

 

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The 2.5 has been removed

 

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And the 2.5 fitted into the new shell.

 

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The welding has also been started on this shell with the passenger footwell now looking in much better shape.

 

The E46 rack has also been fitted.

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Spent today:

 

removing the old wiring loom in the engine bay on the blue car

 

organising the new loom and the foam shields along the back of the bay as they were different

 

plumbing in the battery cables to run to the boot as it was originally at the front in this car, had to drill through the side of the engine bay into the dash area to fit the oem gromit as this shell didnt have that hole

 

moving over parts such as clutch resevoir etc which werent taken with the engine.

 

fitting a wiper motor and a couple of other bits that had been pinched while the car was previously sat around for ages.

 

started modifying the steering coupler for the E46 rack (although desperately need Dan's advice on this :) )

 

removing any other parts from the scrap shell before it gets taken away, just incase i realise i need them later

 

Next job is to get the subframes from the old shell and everything attached to them such as brakes and hubs (blue car has the smaller struts) ready for coilovers

 

Tomorrow i will also be collecting a 4.10 lsd, it was what i was after originally compare to the 3.64 i bought and this one has recently been rebuilt to

 

A quick pic from today, doesnt look like much done, but its getting tidier :)

 

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The plan is to get everything up and running correctly making sure nothing has been missed or any loom issues, then strip certain parts back to prepare for paint.

 

I am slightly considering the option of wrapping. Although i can paint the car myself, it is obviously very time consuming to do correctly and being a track car, there will no doubt be mishaps at times here and there :)

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With the subframes removed i stripped them down, cleaned them up and started painting them. New bushes will go in next

 

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I also purchased another lsd, this time with a ratio of 4.10 compared with the 3.64 originally purchased. This one has recently been rebuilt and is the 'holy grail' of diffs for these cars, a rare item and perfect for track use :) 3.64 is now on ebay

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Today i cleaned up and painted the other rear trailing arm, so all the rear end is now painted.

 

Removed the rear beam bushes and replaced with new Lemforder items.

 

Removed the 4 trailing arm bushes, these were fun! but some heat soon fixed that. Ordered powerflex for these which should be here early in the week.

 

Some Pagid rear discs arrived. I wont fit these until a later date as i dont want the car sitting around over the coming months

corroding them.

 

Stripped down the rear calipers, made sure the bleed nipples were free ready for when i install fresh brake fluid. Removed any rust on them and sprayed them with smooth black hammerite so it will match the WMS fronts.

 

Next on the cards is to obtain a 325 gearbox so i can then install the propshaft and these rear end items i have been working on, get the radiator fitted as i didnt want any risks of the fan catching it doing the gearbox, make some final loom checks and then i think it should be ready to turn the key :)

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Reads like you are making sterling progress but i have to reiterate you need to encompass the fact the chassis needs to be adjustable during this build geometrically. If not all you will have is a lowered pimped up road car, reads harsh but without adjustability how can we maintain or evolve the tyres contact slip angles or saturation limits within your intended field?

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Cheers mate :)

 

Tony, i've been doing some reading. I know the below is a long winded article, but is this the type of adjustment i would need fitting to the rear subframe

 

http://www.strictlyea.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3600

 

Would be really grateful to hear your thoughts as it makes perfect sense to tackle this issue with my subframe currently removed. The suspension setup will be in your hands once complete so i'd hate to turn up with something that you say doesnt help :)

 

Cheers mate

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Well the 325 gearbox will be arriving tomorrow. New Sachs clutch, powerflex trailing arm bushes and rear wheel bearings came today.

 

Hoping to get the box in Saturday so i can then finish off the minimal engine bay bits left. Looking forward to turning the key and making sure the loom is all good :)

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The subframe mod is the way to go, Pete@wim did this to his S12 Nissan and it evolved an excellent adjustment range.

 

Yeah I used a modified lexus kit with the same principals. It worked well, porbably the only thing that did TBH.

The offset bushes would be handy too as the eccentric bolts will run out of range but that depends how much money you want to throw at the thing.

 

Also I would (and did) stick with a seperate coil and dampner on the rear. I don't know how a 25yr old shell would take to coil forces on an are not designed for it but the mount on the S12 suspension arm in that area was just thin stamped steel.

I know of guys that have just put a coilover in that place but it just seemed too moody to me. Plus, honestly, where's the benefit of relocating the spring ?

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Bit more work on the car today.

 

The 325 gearbox was delivered, but unfortunately had 2 supports broken during transit. This was taken to an aluminium welder during the week and repaired. Came back looking great. So the old 1.8 box was removed and the 325 box installed. Along with a new Sachs clutch and the flywheel also being slightly lightened and skimmed.

 

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The rear subframe also had some camber and toe adjustable plates welded on. Hopefully these plates will allow enough changes to let Tony do his magic :)

 

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A few other bits and pieces were also done. Tomorrow i will be back to tackle some more....

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Thanks Tony, we took a lot of care getting the subframe and the plates flat using a spirit level. Hopefully they will do the trick :)

 

Bit more done today...

 

Radiator fitted.

Air intake fitted and sensors connected.

Header tank fitted along with relay box. Only taped to the side for now as brackets need to be spot welded on for them as they were different items in this chassis originally. They also need to be removed once i know its running to paint everything.

All fluids done.

Exhaust fitted. I was keen to see if the downpipe cleared the modified steering coupler, which it does. I wont be using the rear section of this exhaust as there are no silencers at all, but it makes things slightly quieter for starting it.

Passenger side hole in the floor is all welded up and sealed.

Rear calipers all painted.

E46 steering rack cleaned.

Front subframe painted. Not bothering with the front control arms as they are being replaced anyway with new ball joints and bushes. I'll paint the new ones.

Loom given a final check over.

Negative lead for battery attached to the chassis.

Fuel tank drained as this car has not been used for about 7 years. Fresh fuel put in.

 

So, it was time to fire it up. Although we had a spark there was no fuel. After investigation, the fuel pump is not working at all. It was removed and tested but its had it. Not really surprising after all that time sitting there. Will get one ordered asap.

 

Would have been nice to hear it running, but wont be long :)

 

Few pics from today

 

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