Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
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TheGraye28
- Posts: 549
- Joined: Apr 16, 2006 6:31 PM
- Location: Goshen, NY 10924
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
Congrats man! That looks like a HELL of a good time. Way to go!
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
Yesterday I got to participate in a half-day session at DirtFish Rally School. I've always wanted to try it; I had a feeling it would be the type of racing I'd really be able to commit to.
Don't mean to hijack your thread, but figured those interested in rally would appreciate these pics:
Our steads (they have 11 of these):
They also have 9 BRZs that they will be rolling out in the next few weeks.
The guy who owns the place has a big car collection. Four of his cars are on display including this car in which Colin crashed and broke his wrist.
I loved this:
Wow:
I can totally see why you are so into it. I have half a mind to jump in completely and turn Maytag into a rally car. Haha. Shit eating grins all day long:
Don't mean to hijack your thread, but figured those interested in rally would appreciate these pics:
Our steads (they have 11 of these):
They also have 9 BRZs that they will be rolling out in the next few weeks.
The guy who owns the place has a big car collection. Four of his cars are on display including this car in which Colin crashed and broke his wrist.
I loved this:
Wow:
I can totally see why you are so into it. I have half a mind to jump in completely and turn Maytag into a rally car. Haha. Shit eating grins all day long:
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
love this thread! looks like you're having at least 1 shit-ton of fun. maybe two.
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95maxrider
- Posts: 435
- Joined: Sep 25, 2012 2:50 PM
- Location: Herndon, VA
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
Thanks for all the compliments guys, there is plenty more in store! I'm definitely having at least one metric shit ton of fun doing this stuff.
cek- That looks incredible, thanks for posting up! I highly recommend you jump right in and get dirty, it's so much fun!
So a few weeks before the NE National Challenge in Frostburg, MD, a few of us DC folks headed up to Ohio for the Great Lakes National Challenge (Aug. 23-24). This event had a lot more competition in the MR class, including a few drivers/cars who had done very well at the national championship previously. Notable cars in my class included a turbo 1st gen Miata, a built/stripped 1st gen RX7 and a gutted 2nd gen RX7. Josh was generous enough to let me co-drive his car (E30 318i with M42 swap), since I wasn't comfortable driving my torture chamber 7 hours from home, given it's recent reliability issues. Turbo Josh also joined with his turbo ETA E30, and took the risk of driving his car to the event. Regular Josh towed his car to the event, and it's a damn good thing he did.
We arrived Friday night to find a pristine grass/dirt field, something unknown to us in the DC region. We've done clay before, and we're currently on gravel, but we've never really had much experience on plain old dirt.
When we come back in the morning to run, we found the grass covered in dew, making things very slippery. Josh had the bad luck of drawing a short straw and had to run in the 4th grid spot. Others in MR didn't have to run until something like grid spots 25-30, so they had a clear advantage in running in drier conditions after the wet grass had been torn up. I was somewhere in the middle. Josh had some bad luck on his first run and ended up spinning out, costing roughly 10-12 seconds. I did well enough, and for most of Saturday I was in first place. IIRC, the co-driver of the turbo Miata was on my ass all day, but he couldn't come on Sunday, so I wasn't concerned with him.
Sunday comes around and I think I lost a little bit of my mojo. I had a decent lead at the start, but it dwindled rapidly as the day progressed. On my second to last run I was passed by the 2nd gen RX7, then by Josh on my final run, ending the event in third by some 1.01 seconds, out of a total of about 1,500. Naturally, I was pretty frustrated that I let my lead slip away like that, and I was not in the best mood on the drive home. After some hard thinking, all I could figure out was that I got complacent with my lead, and didn't really push to 100% like I do when I'm behind. I realized that even if I have a lead, I really need to drive it like I stole it, and not get comfortable. I believe this is what helped me win the NE Divisional event, as I had a decent lead that started to slip away again on Sunday. Only after giving myself a pep talk did I summon up my skills to pull off a decisive win.
Anyway, I guess third place isn't too bad, and I like to think I learned a little something. I got a little consolation last weekend when two of the guys I beat in Ohio came in first and second at the National Championship, so, in a way, I can tell myself that I beat the National Champion.
Anyway, I alluded to it being a good thing that Josh brought his car up on a trailer. Well, Turbo Josh had a lot of problems with his car all weekend (broken motor mounts, bad idle, etc) and ended up having to put his car on the trailer and drive Josh's 318i home. So thank god I didn't bring my car up there, because it surely would have broken something, then we would have really been in trouble. Thanks again to Josh for letting me wail on his car all weekend!
cek- That looks incredible, thanks for posting up! I highly recommend you jump right in and get dirty, it's so much fun!
So a few weeks before the NE National Challenge in Frostburg, MD, a few of us DC folks headed up to Ohio for the Great Lakes National Challenge (Aug. 23-24). This event had a lot more competition in the MR class, including a few drivers/cars who had done very well at the national championship previously. Notable cars in my class included a turbo 1st gen Miata, a built/stripped 1st gen RX7 and a gutted 2nd gen RX7. Josh was generous enough to let me co-drive his car (E30 318i with M42 swap), since I wasn't comfortable driving my torture chamber 7 hours from home, given it's recent reliability issues. Turbo Josh also joined with his turbo ETA E30, and took the risk of driving his car to the event. Regular Josh towed his car to the event, and it's a damn good thing he did.
We arrived Friday night to find a pristine grass/dirt field, something unknown to us in the DC region. We've done clay before, and we're currently on gravel, but we've never really had much experience on plain old dirt.
When we come back in the morning to run, we found the grass covered in dew, making things very slippery. Josh had the bad luck of drawing a short straw and had to run in the 4th grid spot. Others in MR didn't have to run until something like grid spots 25-30, so they had a clear advantage in running in drier conditions after the wet grass had been torn up. I was somewhere in the middle. Josh had some bad luck on his first run and ended up spinning out, costing roughly 10-12 seconds. I did well enough, and for most of Saturday I was in first place. IIRC, the co-driver of the turbo Miata was on my ass all day, but he couldn't come on Sunday, so I wasn't concerned with him.
Sunday comes around and I think I lost a little bit of my mojo. I had a decent lead at the start, but it dwindled rapidly as the day progressed. On my second to last run I was passed by the 2nd gen RX7, then by Josh on my final run, ending the event in third by some 1.01 seconds, out of a total of about 1,500. Naturally, I was pretty frustrated that I let my lead slip away like that, and I was not in the best mood on the drive home. After some hard thinking, all I could figure out was that I got complacent with my lead, and didn't really push to 100% like I do when I'm behind. I realized that even if I have a lead, I really need to drive it like I stole it, and not get comfortable. I believe this is what helped me win the NE Divisional event, as I had a decent lead that started to slip away again on Sunday. Only after giving myself a pep talk did I summon up my skills to pull off a decisive win.
Anyway, I guess third place isn't too bad, and I like to think I learned a little something. I got a little consolation last weekend when two of the guys I beat in Ohio came in first and second at the National Championship, so, in a way, I can tell myself that I beat the National Champion.
Anyway, I alluded to it being a good thing that Josh brought his car up on a trailer. Well, Turbo Josh had a lot of problems with his car all weekend (broken motor mounts, bad idle, etc) and ended up having to put his car on the trailer and drive Josh's 318i home. So thank god I didn't bring my car up there, because it surely would have broken something, then we would have really been in trouble. Thanks again to Josh for letting me wail on his car all weekend!
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
Rally? I like rally.
I love your rallyx effort. Years ago (1999), my friend and I got the SCCA started with rallyx. We wrote the classes and rules that spread around the country. Too fun.
I drove to SnoDrift and back (500 mile round trip plus the 275 mile rally) and served as my own service crew for the rally.
I love your rallyx effort. Years ago (1999), my friend and I got the SCCA started with rallyx. We wrote the classes and rules that spread around the country. Too fun.
I drove to SnoDrift and back (500 mile round trip plus the 275 mile rally) and served as my own service crew for the rally.
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95maxrider
- Posts: 435
- Joined: Sep 25, 2012 2:50 PM
- Location: Herndon, VA
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
Remember that blown CSB I mentioned? Well we had to fix it before event #6, and while we were in there, it was a good time to refresh the shifter. So one Sunday we attempted to remove the exhaust and get started. Unfortunately, the previous owner who put the exhaust together decided to save a few bucks and not install a flange anywhere in the system, meaning it's one single enormous piece from the down pipe (after the manifolds) to the muffler tips. Yeah, it's quite unwieldy. To make matters worse, we had no luck removing the studs/nuts from the manifold, so we couldn't do a damn thing. We took it back to Meineke and paid far out the ass to have a 3" flange installed. While this made removing the exhaust easier, it caused other problems later on.
I have never done any drive shaft work before, so I bought a bearing puller set and c-clip pliers set to ease the process, and both were quite helpful. The exhaust came off with a bit of prying, but our first big problem was getting the drive shaft around the newly installed exhaust flange. It just happened to be right in the middle of the DS, and it being for a 3" exhaust, clearance was at a premium. After much wrangling and dirt in our eyes, we got the DS out.
Working...
Yeah, I think it's dead
The less said about the shifter work, the better. Between rusted bolts and an unreachable "bitch clip" on top of the trans, it took a few hours to get that damn thing back in the car and working. Surprisingly, nothing seemed too worn out or broken, and the improvement was pretty minor.
The metal that holds this to the car seemed like it wanted to snap off at any minute.
Before:
After:
The day before the race, I decided it would be a good idea to do a once-over of the whole car, and I found my DS motor mount missing it's lower bolt, so I got a new one from the hardware store:
The PS mount was pretty loose on both the top and bottom, but I didn't think too much of it. More on that later.
After it was all said and done, the car was feeling great. Between the new CSB and O2 sensor, the car was smooth and responsive, and I was feeling good about event #6. Unfortunately, with all the gear in the car, the rear tires rub the fenders like a mofo, and the 12mm spacers have fused themselves to the hub over the last 6 months. Thankfully, we were able to throw a bunch of gear in other people's cars on the drive to and from the event, thus saving the lives of our rear tires.
I have never done any drive shaft work before, so I bought a bearing puller set and c-clip pliers set to ease the process, and both were quite helpful. The exhaust came off with a bit of prying, but our first big problem was getting the drive shaft around the newly installed exhaust flange. It just happened to be right in the middle of the DS, and it being for a 3" exhaust, clearance was at a premium. After much wrangling and dirt in our eyes, we got the DS out.
Working...
Yeah, I think it's dead
The less said about the shifter work, the better. Between rusted bolts and an unreachable "bitch clip" on top of the trans, it took a few hours to get that damn thing back in the car and working. Surprisingly, nothing seemed too worn out or broken, and the improvement was pretty minor.
The metal that holds this to the car seemed like it wanted to snap off at any minute.
Before:
After:
The day before the race, I decided it would be a good idea to do a once-over of the whole car, and I found my DS motor mount missing it's lower bolt, so I got a new one from the hardware store:
The PS mount was pretty loose on both the top and bottom, but I didn't think too much of it. More on that later.
After it was all said and done, the car was feeling great. Between the new CSB and O2 sensor, the car was smooth and responsive, and I was feeling good about event #6. Unfortunately, with all the gear in the car, the rear tires rub the fenders like a mofo, and the 12mm spacers have fused themselves to the hub over the last 6 months. Thankfully, we were able to throw a bunch of gear in other people's cars on the drive to and from the event, thus saving the lives of our rear tires.
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95maxrider
- Posts: 435
- Joined: Sep 25, 2012 2:50 PM
- Location: Herndon, VA
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
Event #6!
Fresh off of getting the car back together, my co-driver and I headed up to Frostburg for event #6. It had been raining there all week prior to the event, and the ground was soaked. For possibly the first time ever, we had puddles large enough to remind us of a real rally stage, and they added a new element to the racing.
Turbo Josh jumped out to an early lead the first run, but I quickly came back, and by the end of the morning had an 11 second lead over regular Josh in his 318. I was running clean and fast, and was feeling pretty damn good. Then we went to Burger King for lunch, which prompted a run to the porta john upon return. It's way off on the far edge of the lot we race on, and is near a few greenhouses, and more importantly, some chickens. They apparently like classic Bavarian luxury cars.
Please excuse the camera phone pics. The lens is apparently made of the softest plastic ever, and gets scratched when sitting stationary in my pocket. It might have a self-scratching feature, I'm not sure.
In the afternoon the car felt good at the beginning, but seemed to get worse as the day went on. Both Bobby and I noticed something, but couldn't find anything wrong in the short time between our runs. More worryingly, Josh was catching at an alarming rate, and we just kept getting more and more runs. Normally we get about 7 runs, but this afternoon we got 11, giving Josh plenty of runs to make up time. I really made a push on my 10th run to go as fast as possible and kept a little buffer room, but Josh came back on the 11th run with a blazing time. Mercifully, that was the last run, and I walked away with a 1.6 second lead, keeping myself in first place. Had we done one more run, I'm sure Josh would have won. In some weird retribution for the Ohio championship, my lead would have evaporated if I had hit a single cone, which thankfully I didn't do. To refresh your memory, I lost the Ohio championship by 1.1 seconds. I hit one cone that whole weekend, and if I hadn't of hit it, I would have won by 0.9 seconds. That really stung. These tight finishes are nail biters!
Still giddy from holding onto first, I started packing the car back up and found the source of my slowness in the afternoon:
This is the second time the rear sway bar has come out of that end link this season!
Oh yeah, remember how I said it was wet out? Yeah....nasty.
Oh yeah, and after my final run we noticed the rain gutter trim piece on the passenger side had popped off on the front, so we just slapped it back in place and forgot about it. That was a mistake.
Here's a video of my best AM and PM runs. Somehow I forgot the mic and magnetic numbers at home, so you'll mostly hear wind noise. I recommend turning your speakers down....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcvXOou ... D7LGc5McKA
WTF is up with embedding youtube videos??
Pics!
About an hour into our drive home, the trim piece decided it had enough of our car, and tried valiantly to separate itself while going 70 mph in the dark. For once, I was glad to have a co-driver. With my painters tape in hand, Bobby made an emergency repair to the trim by holding it against the car with his foot and trying to find a surface clean enough for the tape to stick to. After about 10 minutes and much tape, it was kind of held in place. Getting home, the car looked like this:
If I say so myself, I think the car looked excellent with this mud scheme going. I kind of wanted to thrown some clear coat on top and keep it looking like this.
Oh, and the belts for the motor were really loose, and made the car feel like the PS was cutting in and out. Thankfully the alternator was able to maintain a charge on the battery, but we had some work to do before event #7.....
Fresh off of getting the car back together, my co-driver and I headed up to Frostburg for event #6. It had been raining there all week prior to the event, and the ground was soaked. For possibly the first time ever, we had puddles large enough to remind us of a real rally stage, and they added a new element to the racing.
Turbo Josh jumped out to an early lead the first run, but I quickly came back, and by the end of the morning had an 11 second lead over regular Josh in his 318. I was running clean and fast, and was feeling pretty damn good. Then we went to Burger King for lunch, which prompted a run to the porta john upon return. It's way off on the far edge of the lot we race on, and is near a few greenhouses, and more importantly, some chickens. They apparently like classic Bavarian luxury cars.
Please excuse the camera phone pics. The lens is apparently made of the softest plastic ever, and gets scratched when sitting stationary in my pocket. It might have a self-scratching feature, I'm not sure.
In the afternoon the car felt good at the beginning, but seemed to get worse as the day went on. Both Bobby and I noticed something, but couldn't find anything wrong in the short time between our runs. More worryingly, Josh was catching at an alarming rate, and we just kept getting more and more runs. Normally we get about 7 runs, but this afternoon we got 11, giving Josh plenty of runs to make up time. I really made a push on my 10th run to go as fast as possible and kept a little buffer room, but Josh came back on the 11th run with a blazing time. Mercifully, that was the last run, and I walked away with a 1.6 second lead, keeping myself in first place. Had we done one more run, I'm sure Josh would have won. In some weird retribution for the Ohio championship, my lead would have evaporated if I had hit a single cone, which thankfully I didn't do. To refresh your memory, I lost the Ohio championship by 1.1 seconds. I hit one cone that whole weekend, and if I hadn't of hit it, I would have won by 0.9 seconds. That really stung. These tight finishes are nail biters!
Still giddy from holding onto first, I started packing the car back up and found the source of my slowness in the afternoon:
This is the second time the rear sway bar has come out of that end link this season!
Oh yeah, remember how I said it was wet out? Yeah....nasty.
Oh yeah, and after my final run we noticed the rain gutter trim piece on the passenger side had popped off on the front, so we just slapped it back in place and forgot about it. That was a mistake.
Here's a video of my best AM and PM runs. Somehow I forgot the mic and magnetic numbers at home, so you'll mostly hear wind noise. I recommend turning your speakers down....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcvXOou ... D7LGc5McKA
WTF is up with embedding youtube videos??
Pics!
About an hour into our drive home, the trim piece decided it had enough of our car, and tried valiantly to separate itself while going 70 mph in the dark. For once, I was glad to have a co-driver. With my painters tape in hand, Bobby made an emergency repair to the trim by holding it against the car with his foot and trying to find a surface clean enough for the tape to stick to. After about 10 minutes and much tape, it was kind of held in place. Getting home, the car looked like this:
If I say so myself, I think the car looked excellent with this mud scheme going. I kind of wanted to thrown some clear coat on top and keep it looking like this.
Oh, and the belts for the motor were really loose, and made the car feel like the PS was cutting in and out. Thankfully the alternator was able to maintain a charge on the battery, but we had some work to do before event #7.....
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
100% subscribed. Love it.
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95maxrider
- Posts: 435
- Joined: Sep 25, 2012 2:50 PM
- Location: Herndon, VA
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
I'm a little behind, so bear with me here.
Before event #7, we had some maintenance to do. Our belts were loose and slipping, we had a new RSB end link to install, and some other minor stuff. I also wanted to clean up the intake system of the car, so I used some TB cleaner on the TB, MAF cleaner on the AFM, and some carb cleaner on the IACV.
I'm not sure if these little gouges were causing the RSB to come loose, but since I could buy them individually, I wanted to try a new one and see if they held any better.
Then, the day before event #7, I noticed the nuts on the motor mounts were all loose again. Why would that be? I took a closer look at the mount on the PS and saw some hairline cracks. Hmm, what's this? Oh look, another failing motor mount.
Luckily, we kept the mount we pulled from the car in the junkyard earlier this year, and thankfully it was an OEM piece instead of the random Germany crap we had to put on at the last minute. Hopefully it holds up better. Not too long after I finished up I found out the event had been postponed due to a lack of insurance. Oh well, that just gives me extra time to get some other things fixed up.
You have probably noticed the bulbous roof vent we installed a while ago. It clearly was the wrong style vent, and we needed one that would fit more flush with the roof, and we needed the bondo smoothed out and prepped for paint. We dropped the car off at my buddy's shop and let him get to work. I think the roof turned out great, now it just needs paint!
You may remember months ago I ordered SS clutch and brake lines from Ireland Engineering. They sent us the wrong clutch line and the wrong rear brake lines, then tried to tell us we didn't know what we were talking about. Well they finally sent me the correct parts, and I let Wayne finish up the rear SS brake lines (the clutch line was done long ago). Wayne had mentioned before that the brake hard lines were pitted and corroded towards the back of the car, but I didn't put much thought into it. Well after he installed these new ones, he took the car for a drive, and what do you know? One of the hard lines sprung a leak. Which of course meant we got new hard lines installed from the rear of the car up to about the driver's seat area! Here's a taste:
Unfortunately, I didn't notice any increase in braking performance. Oh well. At least I know my brakes are safe.
While he had the car on a lift I figured I would let him do the new diff gasket, as I was tired of new stains on my driveway and it's getting too cold out to do this on cold concrete. Woo hoo, no leaks!
Oh, and that pesky RSB end link? Well I took Josh's advice and had some cotter pins installed. They seem to be working so far!
Remember when the circlip failed in my PS rear Bilstein? Well that strut has been looking like this after I did an event after rebuilding it:
It made it through the final races of the season like this, but I can't say I have very much faith in it. I'm considering doing a Koni rear setup, but I'm not keen on the fabrication involved.
Before event #7, we had some maintenance to do. Our belts were loose and slipping, we had a new RSB end link to install, and some other minor stuff. I also wanted to clean up the intake system of the car, so I used some TB cleaner on the TB, MAF cleaner on the AFM, and some carb cleaner on the IACV.
I'm not sure if these little gouges were causing the RSB to come loose, but since I could buy them individually, I wanted to try a new one and see if they held any better.
Then, the day before event #7, I noticed the nuts on the motor mounts were all loose again. Why would that be? I took a closer look at the mount on the PS and saw some hairline cracks. Hmm, what's this? Oh look, another failing motor mount.
Luckily, we kept the mount we pulled from the car in the junkyard earlier this year, and thankfully it was an OEM piece instead of the random Germany crap we had to put on at the last minute. Hopefully it holds up better. Not too long after I finished up I found out the event had been postponed due to a lack of insurance. Oh well, that just gives me extra time to get some other things fixed up.
You have probably noticed the bulbous roof vent we installed a while ago. It clearly was the wrong style vent, and we needed one that would fit more flush with the roof, and we needed the bondo smoothed out and prepped for paint. We dropped the car off at my buddy's shop and let him get to work. I think the roof turned out great, now it just needs paint!
You may remember months ago I ordered SS clutch and brake lines from Ireland Engineering. They sent us the wrong clutch line and the wrong rear brake lines, then tried to tell us we didn't know what we were talking about. Well they finally sent me the correct parts, and I let Wayne finish up the rear SS brake lines (the clutch line was done long ago). Wayne had mentioned before that the brake hard lines were pitted and corroded towards the back of the car, but I didn't put much thought into it. Well after he installed these new ones, he took the car for a drive, and what do you know? One of the hard lines sprung a leak. Which of course meant we got new hard lines installed from the rear of the car up to about the driver's seat area! Here's a taste:
Unfortunately, I didn't notice any increase in braking performance. Oh well. At least I know my brakes are safe.
While he had the car on a lift I figured I would let him do the new diff gasket, as I was tired of new stains on my driveway and it's getting too cold out to do this on cold concrete. Woo hoo, no leaks!
Oh, and that pesky RSB end link? Well I took Josh's advice and had some cotter pins installed. They seem to be working so far!
Remember when the circlip failed in my PS rear Bilstein? Well that strut has been looking like this after I did an event after rebuilding it:
It made it through the final races of the season like this, but I can't say I have very much faith in it. I'm considering doing a Koni rear setup, but I'm not keen on the fabrication involved.
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95maxrider
- Posts: 435
- Joined: Sep 25, 2012 2:50 PM
- Location: Herndon, VA
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
As usual, I'm about a month behind in updating my thread, so let's see how many details I can remember from the final two races.
Due to a lapse in insurance for the venue, our final two events of the season were pushed into a back-to-back weekend. Coming into #7, I had to win one of the two final races to clinch first place for the season in the modified/unlimited RWD class. Josh (E30 318i M42) had to win both in order to be season champion. Turbojosh (hand-built turbo ETA E30) had laid down some very fast times throughout the season, but due to some missed events and car trouble, wasn't really in the running for the season championship.
As usual, I left my house at 5:45 AM to meet up with the other E30 guys. It was a particularly cold weekend, and temps were around 20* on my drive out to the event. My car doesn't have any sort of heating system, so I was quite bundled up. Even so, after an hour of driving, my feet were numb and I was slightly worried about them falling off before I arrived. Thankfully I arrived with feet intact, and with temps hovering around 30*, I began to warm up a bit.
I started my AM runs with some fast and clean times, and built up a small lead over the two Joshes. By the end of the AM session I had about a 3 second lead over regular Josh, but then disaster struck (for him). A sizable berm began to develop at the start, and Josh's muffler got caught on it on his final run. How it didn't catch my recently-hung Borla is beyond me. The berm pulled the muffler/cat-back from its slip joint, and he only made it a short distance before he was red flagged because the exhaust was dragging on the ground. The rules for a red flag meant that Josh was saddled with the slowest time of our run group plus a 10 second penalty, which put him squarely in third, meaning his quest for the championship was pretty much over before lunch on the first day of a long weekend. I didn't want to win this way, but Josh didn't file a dispute with anyone over the huge berm, and he knew about the problematic slip joint during the season and neglected to properly fix it. We later learned that he probably could have appealed the red flag and gotten a proper rerun, but by then it was too late.
Even so, I didn't ease up my driving in the afternoon. I maintained a small lead over the two Joshes, and with two runs left we decided to switch cars and have some fun. The 318 was as easy to drive as usual, but I had some trouble with the turbo car. It bogged really hard off the line and seemed like it wanted to stall. I babied it around the course and was able to hold onto my lead for the day despite running about 10 seconds slower than usual. And with that, I had won my first rally-x season! Beers were drank.
Results here!
http://www.wdcr-scca.org/RallyCross/Res ... lt.aspx#MR
Looking at the results, it turns out I was again the fastest 2wd car at the event, besting the beautifully-driven FC RX7 in the prepared (middle) class! Who would have thought...
I put the mic for my GoPro inside the car to see if it sounded any better than its normal location on the trunk lid. It did not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKJbauz ... D7LGc5McKA
Due to a lapse in insurance for the venue, our final two events of the season were pushed into a back-to-back weekend. Coming into #7, I had to win one of the two final races to clinch first place for the season in the modified/unlimited RWD class. Josh (E30 318i M42) had to win both in order to be season champion. Turbojosh (hand-built turbo ETA E30) had laid down some very fast times throughout the season, but due to some missed events and car trouble, wasn't really in the running for the season championship.
As usual, I left my house at 5:45 AM to meet up with the other E30 guys. It was a particularly cold weekend, and temps were around 20* on my drive out to the event. My car doesn't have any sort of heating system, so I was quite bundled up. Even so, after an hour of driving, my feet were numb and I was slightly worried about them falling off before I arrived. Thankfully I arrived with feet intact, and with temps hovering around 30*, I began to warm up a bit.
I started my AM runs with some fast and clean times, and built up a small lead over the two Joshes. By the end of the AM session I had about a 3 second lead over regular Josh, but then disaster struck (for him). A sizable berm began to develop at the start, and Josh's muffler got caught on it on his final run. How it didn't catch my recently-hung Borla is beyond me. The berm pulled the muffler/cat-back from its slip joint, and he only made it a short distance before he was red flagged because the exhaust was dragging on the ground. The rules for a red flag meant that Josh was saddled with the slowest time of our run group plus a 10 second penalty, which put him squarely in third, meaning his quest for the championship was pretty much over before lunch on the first day of a long weekend. I didn't want to win this way, but Josh didn't file a dispute with anyone over the huge berm, and he knew about the problematic slip joint during the season and neglected to properly fix it. We later learned that he probably could have appealed the red flag and gotten a proper rerun, but by then it was too late.
Even so, I didn't ease up my driving in the afternoon. I maintained a small lead over the two Joshes, and with two runs left we decided to switch cars and have some fun. The 318 was as easy to drive as usual, but I had some trouble with the turbo car. It bogged really hard off the line and seemed like it wanted to stall. I babied it around the course and was able to hold onto my lead for the day despite running about 10 seconds slower than usual. And with that, I had won my first rally-x season! Beers were drank.
Results here!
http://www.wdcr-scca.org/RallyCross/Res ... lt.aspx#MR
Looking at the results, it turns out I was again the fastest 2wd car at the event, besting the beautifully-driven FC RX7 in the prepared (middle) class! Who would have thought...
I put the mic for my GoPro inside the car to see if it sounded any better than its normal location on the trunk lid. It did not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKJbauz ... D7LGc5McKA
Last edited by 95maxrider on Dec 22, 2014 4:31 PM, edited 1 time in total.
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95maxrider
- Posts: 435
- Joined: Sep 25, 2012 2:50 PM
- Location: Herndon, VA
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
The final event of the season began with Josh taking a lead on the first run. Unfortunately for him, he was driving too aggressively and spun on his second run, putting him some 6 seconds back. We went back and forth the rest of the AM, but he couldn't claw back much time from his mistake, and I had a decent lead at lunch time. Turbojosh decided to sit this one out, so when our PM runs came around Josh decided to do some hooning and see how much he could drift, since he didn't have much of a chance at winning. I pretty much just kept doing what I always do and laid down more fast times. In fact, I didn't hit a single cone all day, marking at least the second time this season where that happened, and was again the fastest 2wd car at the event!
And with that, I won 5 consecutive events and had a decisive season victory! There were times, specifically in the 2013 season, where I was really fed up with this car, and was kicking myself for not getting the default E30. But with some work and choice mods (bigger sway bars, proper rally tires, a working O2 sensor...) the car really came together and now I'm totally in love with it! I still want to mod it more, but it's really doing quite well, all things considered. But rest assured, there is more to come!
So I finally put on the proper windshield banner...
Oh, and to make the weekend even worse for Josh, his ramps decided to slip off when he was putting his car on his fancy rich-boy trailer. Naturally, I declined to help and instead took pictures while pointing and laughing.
Here's a pic of Jeremy's STi, aka the cone killer. And bumper killer. This was the first event where he didn't rip it off at some point. I think some sort of bet was involved.
Here's a pic of the previously mentioned FC RX7 driven by Shawn and Katie. It's pretty much stock, but damn does it seem to effortlessly connect corners and drift like it's a job. It's a complete POS (it requires bump start to start and can't hold an idle without a foot on the gas), but it's totally awesome and embodies rally-x spirit.
Here's Matt's constant-FTD Impreza with a EG33 3.3 F6 from an old SVX. This thing is just stupid fast, and sounds incredible. I will never be this fast.
Results!
http://www.wdcr-scca.org/RallyCross/Res ... lt.aspx#MR
And video! I missed recording my fastest time in the PM, but it doesn't really matter....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNMvfZY ... D7LGc5McKA
Thanks to everyone for the help with the car this season! Thanks to Josh for letting me co-drive his 318 when the E28 broke (coolant hose burst, rear spring perch broke)! I'm pretty sure with my win I have used up all goodwill, and if something breaks in the future I will be on my own. Thanks to Patrick for letting me store the car at his place while I waited on Bilstein to send me new circlips, and for helping out with getting the car back together!
And with that, I won 5 consecutive events and had a decisive season victory! There were times, specifically in the 2013 season, where I was really fed up with this car, and was kicking myself for not getting the default E30. But with some work and choice mods (bigger sway bars, proper rally tires, a working O2 sensor...) the car really came together and now I'm totally in love with it! I still want to mod it more, but it's really doing quite well, all things considered. But rest assured, there is more to come!
So I finally put on the proper windshield banner...
Oh, and to make the weekend even worse for Josh, his ramps decided to slip off when he was putting his car on his fancy rich-boy trailer. Naturally, I declined to help and instead took pictures while pointing and laughing.
Here's a pic of Jeremy's STi, aka the cone killer. And bumper killer. This was the first event where he didn't rip it off at some point. I think some sort of bet was involved.
Here's a pic of the previously mentioned FC RX7 driven by Shawn and Katie. It's pretty much stock, but damn does it seem to effortlessly connect corners and drift like it's a job. It's a complete POS (it requires bump start to start and can't hold an idle without a foot on the gas), but it's totally awesome and embodies rally-x spirit.
Here's Matt's constant-FTD Impreza with a EG33 3.3 F6 from an old SVX. This thing is just stupid fast, and sounds incredible. I will never be this fast.
Results!
http://www.wdcr-scca.org/RallyCross/Res ... lt.aspx#MR
And video! I missed recording my fastest time in the PM, but it doesn't really matter....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNMvfZY ... D7LGc5McKA
Thanks to everyone for the help with the car this season! Thanks to Josh for letting me co-drive his 318 when the E28 broke (coolant hose burst, rear spring perch broke)! I'm pretty sure with my win I have used up all goodwill, and if something breaks in the future I will be on my own. Thanks to Patrick for letting me store the car at his place while I waited on Bilstein to send me new circlips, and for helping out with getting the car back together!
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95maxrider
- Posts: 435
- Joined: Sep 25, 2012 2:50 PM
- Location: Herndon, VA
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
On a quick side note, I bought this urethane steering coupler from Ireland Engineering a while ago, but when I went to install it, it looked like it was way too big to replace the stock part. I didn't actually pull off the stock part to verify however.
http://www.iemotorsport.com/bmw/E28-E24 ... upler.html
It's been too long for me to return it, but can anyone tell me if I'm just looking at this wrong? Their site says it fits all E28s, so I'm hoping my eyes were just deceiving me. Has anyone else here installed one?
http://www.iemotorsport.com/bmw/E28-E24 ... upler.html
It's been too long for me to return it, but can anyone tell me if I'm just looking at this wrong? Their site says it fits all E28s, so I'm hoping my eyes were just deceiving me. Has anyone else here installed one?
Last edited by 95maxrider on Dec 22, 2014 5:04 PM, edited 1 time in total.
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95maxrider
- Posts: 435
- Joined: Sep 25, 2012 2:50 PM
- Location: Herndon, VA
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
I know most people here are M30 guys, but does anyone know if this JB lightweight flywheel will work on my SETA car? It's listed for E30 ETAs with dual-mass flywheels, and I'm pretty sure the SETA E28s come with dual-mass units. I would really like to take ~18 pounds of rotating mass from my engine, but at $760, these puppies ain't cheap!
http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-3749- ... wheel.aspx
Oh, and I'm parking this here in case I forget: IE brass clutch pivot pin, $20
http://www.iemotorsport.com/bmw/E28-E24 ... otpin.html
http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-3749- ... wheel.aspx
Oh, and I'm parking this here in case I forget: IE brass clutch pivot pin, $20
http://www.iemotorsport.com/bmw/E28-E24 ... otpin.html
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95maxrider
- Posts: 435
- Joined: Sep 25, 2012 2:50 PM
- Location: Herndon, VA
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
Well I got lucky browsing Craigslist last week and got the deal of the century. $2400 worth of Hoosier A6 245/40/17 rubber for $300, barely used. Also, a brand new (but expired....don't care) and a used 6 point harness for $50! I've got rubber for the next 4 years! Even though it's for my other car, I couldn't help but post it up in here. The harnesses WILL be used on the E28 though. I'm tired of my old crappy style harness lock.
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95maxrider
- Posts: 435
- Joined: Sep 25, 2012 2:50 PM
- Location: Herndon, VA
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
With the 2015 season right around the corner, it's time to start furiously looking for parts to freshen this thing up and get it ready. The first thing to arrive was a used single mass M20B25 flywheel and clutch. There's no way we were going to spend $800+ on a lightweight aluminum flywheel/clutch combo, but with a 27.5 pound flywheel, something had to be done. After seeing rather high prices on the forums, I spent some time searching on car-parts.com and found one hell of a sweet deal. I found a junkyard that had pulled them out of a car and I was able to get them for only $85 (shipped)! From what I've seen, the "i" flywheel weighs about 18 pounds, which is rather substantial reduction from the stock dual mass unit.
It looks like it had been sitting around for a while, and there was some surface rust buildup on the flywheel and pressure plate. I cleaned them up a bit with a scotch brite pad, and I'm thinking they look good enough to throw in the car, but I'm no expert. Does anyone think I need to get the flywheel resurfaced, or need a new disk? Since it all came out of the same car, I figure there's no reason why I can't just slap it in mine and go. There appears to be enough material left on the disk. Let me know if you think otherwise!
Clutch disk:
Close-up of depth:
At least it's a Sachs!
Flywheel before:
And after:
Pressure plate before:
And after:
A big happy family
Obviously, I'm going to have to spend a fair amount of money on the little things:
-Throw out bearing
-"i" flywheel bolts
-Pilot bearing
-Brass pivot pin
-Clutch fork, spring
-Amsoil fluid
-Seals, Etc
I can reuse the bolts holding the pressure plate to the flywheel, right?
But even so, I'm hoping to get this installed for less than $200. I'm really hoping that shaving 10 pounds of rotating mass from the motor will really wake this thing up, but who knows.
More coming soon!
It looks like it had been sitting around for a while, and there was some surface rust buildup on the flywheel and pressure plate. I cleaned them up a bit with a scotch brite pad, and I'm thinking they look good enough to throw in the car, but I'm no expert. Does anyone think I need to get the flywheel resurfaced, or need a new disk? Since it all came out of the same car, I figure there's no reason why I can't just slap it in mine and go. There appears to be enough material left on the disk. Let me know if you think otherwise!
Clutch disk:
Close-up of depth:
At least it's a Sachs!
Flywheel before:
And after:
Pressure plate before:
And after:
A big happy family
Obviously, I'm going to have to spend a fair amount of money on the little things:
-Throw out bearing
-"i" flywheel bolts
-Pilot bearing
-Brass pivot pin
-Clutch fork, spring
-Amsoil fluid
-Seals, Etc
I can reuse the bolts holding the pressure plate to the flywheel, right?
But even so, I'm hoping to get this installed for less than $200. I'm really hoping that shaving 10 pounds of rotating mass from the motor will really wake this thing up, but who knows.
More coming soon!
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95maxrider
- Posts: 435
- Joined: Sep 25, 2012 2:50 PM
- Location: Herndon, VA
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
I've always been rather disappointed with the brakes on this car. Driving Josh's 318 really drove the point home, as his car seems to stop in about half the distance my car does, and without ABS. Granted, his car weighs 500+ pounds less than mine, but still, my brakes suck. But hey, the E28 was build with 14" wheels stock, so there isn't a ton of room in there for decent sized brakes. Well, the smallest wheels we have are 15s, which meant we could run the E34 brakes without a problem. I picked up a set of used calipers for $50, a pair of Brembo rotors for $50, and OEM Jurid pads for $50. So for about $150, I'm anticipating much improved braking! I went with the OEM pads because my requirements are to get maximum cold braking bite, with no regard for fade or dust. It sounds like the Hawk HPS that I think are on there now need a tad more heat in them before they bite, and we never build up any heat in the rotors during a run, so I figured OEM pads would be a good choice, but we shall see.
Oh, and I got new shoes for the e-brake to qualify for free shipping since I'm pretty sure mine are shot.
Obligatory pics:
Oh, and I got new shoes for the e-brake to qualify for free shipping since I'm pretty sure mine are shot.
Obligatory pics:
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
I just caught up on reading this thread (didn't click one of the notifications sometime last year and hadn't got any new ones since then), and it looks like you've been having some fun! Congrats!
I may have something for you in the way of a lightened flywheel if you're still in the market; PM incoming.
--
Dave
I may have something for you in the way of a lightened flywheel if you're still in the market; PM incoming.
--
Dave
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95maxrider
- Posts: 435
- Joined: Sep 25, 2012 2:50 PM
- Location: Herndon, VA
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
According to my scale, the B25 flywheel weighs 18.8 pounds....
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95maxrider
- Posts: 435
- Joined: Sep 25, 2012 2:50 PM
- Location: Herndon, VA
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
In other news, my I30 made the front page of NICO!
http://www.nicoclub.com/
http://www.nicoclub.com/
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95maxrider
- Posts: 435
- Joined: Sep 25, 2012 2:50 PM
- Location: Herndon, VA
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
Spring 2015 update time!
In addition to the previously shown E30 325i clutch/flywheel and E34 front brakes, I got a bunch of things to go with them:
Throttle cable, e-brake cables, E34 rear strut mounts, flywheel bolts, fuel filter, etc.
Here are the new E34 mounts compared to the Moosehead Engineering mounts:
Beefy! E34 rear strut mounts are notoriously weak, and I needed some parts from them to get the E34 struts to bolt up the the E28.
The E34 rear Konis arrived like this:
But that was quickly resolved with a swift thwack from a hammer. Hooray for welded on spring perches!!
One of the bleeders on the E34 front calipers was seized, and the other broke sometime while it was on my concrete floor, so they had to be drilled out and we just used the ones that came out of the puny E28 calipers. That sucked.
Mmmmm, bigger brakes.
Here are the E34 Konis (with stock E34 rear springs) next to the E28 Bilsteins/springs. Not only are they some 1.5" taller, the body of the shock is significantly thicker. I'm hoping these things can take some abuse.
Boosh!
So I had sanded down the pressure plate, flywheel and clutch disk with some Scotchbrite pads to remove some of the surface rust that had built up from sitting around for so long. However, there were still raised sections of rust all over the place, so my mechanic buddy recommended we sand everything down properly, because he said that rust would tear the clutch material apart. Here's the end result:
I would just like to reiterate that I got this used clutch/flywheel combo for $80 shipped (thank you car-part.com!!). It's freaking unbelievable what some people on these forums want for a 25 year old flywheel.
Although it was going to add work to the project, I wanted to replace the rear main seal and input shaft seal while we had the trans out, and I'm glad I had ordered the parts. We found the rear main seal weeping a little oil onto the clutch disk. It looked like this had caused the clutch to slip and wear out prematurely, as one side was pretty much worn down all the way. I thought I had felt the clutch slip sometimes on hard shifts, but I could never be sure it wasn't something else fucking up in this old rust bucket. So although I replaced the flywheel with the sole intention of removing 10 pounds of rotating mass from the engine, it seemed like it was a necessary and needed repair. While we were in there we also got a new brass clutch pin (instead of the plastic ones that wear out), new throw out bearing, clutch fork/arm thing, springs, etc.
I had bought this red poly steering coupling bushing from IE 2 years ago, but never got around to installing it. I finally took a closer look at the steering column and realized I no longer needed the part:
It seems the previous owner of this car (6' 5" tall and built the car for Lemons racing) had spaced up the steering column inside the car with 1" square tubing so he could reach the wheel comfortably. I assume to relieve the stress from the angle, he replaced the stock rubber bushing with that u-joint. I'm going to assume that this thing flexes even less than the poly bushing, so we left it in the car. So my nice new IE steering bushing is no longer needed....shoot me a PM if you want it!
In addition to the previously shown E30 325i clutch/flywheel and E34 front brakes, I got a bunch of things to go with them:
Throttle cable, e-brake cables, E34 rear strut mounts, flywheel bolts, fuel filter, etc.
Here are the new E34 mounts compared to the Moosehead Engineering mounts:
Beefy! E34 rear strut mounts are notoriously weak, and I needed some parts from them to get the E34 struts to bolt up the the E28.
The E34 rear Konis arrived like this:
But that was quickly resolved with a swift thwack from a hammer. Hooray for welded on spring perches!!
One of the bleeders on the E34 front calipers was seized, and the other broke sometime while it was on my concrete floor, so they had to be drilled out and we just used the ones that came out of the puny E28 calipers. That sucked.
Mmmmm, bigger brakes.
Here are the E34 Konis (with stock E34 rear springs) next to the E28 Bilsteins/springs. Not only are they some 1.5" taller, the body of the shock is significantly thicker. I'm hoping these things can take some abuse.
Boosh!
So I had sanded down the pressure plate, flywheel and clutch disk with some Scotchbrite pads to remove some of the surface rust that had built up from sitting around for so long. However, there were still raised sections of rust all over the place, so my mechanic buddy recommended we sand everything down properly, because he said that rust would tear the clutch material apart. Here's the end result:
I would just like to reiterate that I got this used clutch/flywheel combo for $80 shipped (thank you car-part.com!!). It's freaking unbelievable what some people on these forums want for a 25 year old flywheel.
Although it was going to add work to the project, I wanted to replace the rear main seal and input shaft seal while we had the trans out, and I'm glad I had ordered the parts. We found the rear main seal weeping a little oil onto the clutch disk. It looked like this had caused the clutch to slip and wear out prematurely, as one side was pretty much worn down all the way. I thought I had felt the clutch slip sometimes on hard shifts, but I could never be sure it wasn't something else fucking up in this old rust bucket. So although I replaced the flywheel with the sole intention of removing 10 pounds of rotating mass from the engine, it seemed like it was a necessary and needed repair. While we were in there we also got a new brass clutch pin (instead of the plastic ones that wear out), new throw out bearing, clutch fork/arm thing, springs, etc.
I had bought this red poly steering coupling bushing from IE 2 years ago, but never got around to installing it. I finally took a closer look at the steering column and realized I no longer needed the part:
It seems the previous owner of this car (6' 5" tall and built the car for Lemons racing) had spaced up the steering column inside the car with 1" square tubing so he could reach the wheel comfortably. I assume to relieve the stress from the angle, he replaced the stock rubber bushing with that u-joint. I'm going to assume that this thing flexes even less than the poly bushing, so we left it in the car. So my nice new IE steering bushing is no longer needed....shoot me a PM if you want it!
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95maxrider
- Posts: 435
- Joined: Sep 25, 2012 2:50 PM
- Location: Herndon, VA
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
The following day I took the car to a local Solo test and tune event to make sure everything works as planned. You might remember that last spring we did the same thing, only to have the clutch line blow out after three runs. With the rally-x venue 2.5 hours away in the middle of nowhere, I learned it's important to shake things down close to home before the season gets going.
With the stiffer and taller E34 rear shocks/springs, the rear of the car sits even higher than before!
Mad tyte suspension travel.
The muffler of champions:
This year there is a new class for auto-x, Classic American Muscle. It's pretty awesome, as evidenced by some of the cars I was able to shoot:
And to think, the guys at tech were questioning whether the E28 would flip over since it's so high off the ground
Thankfully they stopped caring when they saw the roll cage.
I took it very easy on the launches on account of the "new" clutch, but the car felt great! The lighter flywheel is immediately evident, and makes the engine very peppy. I'm so happy we got this in the car, it finally feels like it's got all of its whopping 180 HP
The bigger brakes and OEM pads were also immediately evident, and greatly increased braking performance, long a E28 weak point. Even the E34 rear suspension made the car feel better! With the higher spring rates, the tail of the car wants to rotate a lot more, and understeer has been reduced. I'll probably set the adjustable FSB to its stiffest setting sometime soon to further reduce body roll.
When it was all said and done, the E28 had beaten many cars it had no business beating, and did it without a single hiccup. Hell, one of the auto-x veterans even commented that it was the most unique BMW he had ever seen. Between the vertical muffler and the milk crate glove box, he might not be far off. It was getting close to being ready for the first race, but I still needed to put more miles on the clutch. Well, a week later, the clutch is ready, the car is packed, and I'm ready to rock and roll tomorrow. Wish me and the car luck!
With the stiffer and taller E34 rear shocks/springs, the rear of the car sits even higher than before!
Mad tyte suspension travel.
The muffler of champions:
This year there is a new class for auto-x, Classic American Muscle. It's pretty awesome, as evidenced by some of the cars I was able to shoot:
And to think, the guys at tech were questioning whether the E28 would flip over since it's so high off the ground
Thankfully they stopped caring when they saw the roll cage.I took it very easy on the launches on account of the "new" clutch, but the car felt great! The lighter flywheel is immediately evident, and makes the engine very peppy. I'm so happy we got this in the car, it finally feels like it's got all of its whopping 180 HP
The bigger brakes and OEM pads were also immediately evident, and greatly increased braking performance, long a E28 weak point. Even the E34 rear suspension made the car feel better! With the higher spring rates, the tail of the car wants to rotate a lot more, and understeer has been reduced. I'll probably set the adjustable FSB to its stiffest setting sometime soon to further reduce body roll.When it was all said and done, the E28 had beaten many cars it had no business beating, and did it without a single hiccup. Hell, one of the auto-x veterans even commented that it was the most unique BMW he had ever seen. Between the vertical muffler and the milk crate glove box, he might not be far off. It was getting close to being ready for the first race, but I still needed to put more miles on the clutch. Well, a week later, the clutch is ready, the car is packed, and I'm ready to rock and roll tomorrow. Wish me and the car luck!
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Jelmer538i
- Posts: 1222
- Joined: Feb 12, 2006 12:00 PM
- Location: Netherlands
- Contact:
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
Nice writeup as always!
Did you end up using E34 koni's like I suggested?
Did you end up using E34 koni's like I suggested?
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95maxrider
- Posts: 435
- Joined: Sep 25, 2012 2:50 PM
- Location: Herndon, VA
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
Well, I ended up getting new E34 rear Konis and used E34 springs, and put them together using the beefy Moosehead Engineering upgraded rear strut mounts (thanks Paul!!). The Koni's shock body is quite a bit thicker than the E28 Bilsteins, so I hope they can withstand some rally abuse. Thankfully, they have a welded on lower spring perch.
You can see how freaking high this thing sits.
Sure enough, they raised the rear end of the car about 2", which I thought would be a good thing. Boy was I wrong. At the first rally-x of the year this Sunday, the car was miserable to drive. It just would not go straight. I was fighting with it every turn to make sure it didn't spin out. Going through the slalom was a series of me reacting to the rear end stepping out. Before, one of the best aspects of the car was how recklessly you could drive it without really thinking about what it would do, because it was just so planted. That is now gone, and I need it back. I ended up in 2nd place for the day, some 6 seconds (out of about 600 total) from my main rival Josh in his M42 E30, who I had beaten the prior 5 races in a row.
I'm thinking the culprit is the raised ride height, and not the increased spring rate. Josh said that when he lowered the rear of his E30, it was much more planted and put power down much better. I'm thinking the same applies to me. Since coilovers are out of the question ($$$), and lowering springs are too (would require buying two sets- one E34 and one E28, also didn't work well when we had them on the car before), I'm pretty sure cutting coils on the stock springs is my best option. Due to weight reduction on the front (battery moved to trunk, no AC or heat, dash, etc) the car sits higher than stock in the front. The same is true for the rear, but it's due to the E34 rear suspension. It's for those reasons that I think I can lower the car about 1" without any of the negative effects of cut springs. I think I can cut two coils from the rear and one in the front, but I may start with half that and see how it works.
One problem that I'm already aware of is that putting lower/shorter springs on the rear E34 setup would require tender springs, as you don't need a spring compressor to assemble the rear suspension, as there is no real tension on the spring when the assembly is out of the car. If I cut rear coils, the spring could become unloaded at full drop, which is a bad thing if I want to go fast and make these struts last. I'm honestly not sure how E34s run lowering springs without the same problem, because it's not a result of E34 parts in an E28. I've read about plenty of E34 and E28 guys who cut front coils, but I don't recall if the front springs are heavily compressed at rest (out of the car but assembled), so I don't know if I'll need tender springs in the front as well. Can anyone advise or point out other things I need to be aware of? I found a great site with info about properly cutting springs, which I will be following:
http://www.eatondetroitspring.com/cutting-coil-springs/
Any advice would be appreciated!
You can see how freaking high this thing sits.
Sure enough, they raised the rear end of the car about 2", which I thought would be a good thing. Boy was I wrong. At the first rally-x of the year this Sunday, the car was miserable to drive. It just would not go straight. I was fighting with it every turn to make sure it didn't spin out. Going through the slalom was a series of me reacting to the rear end stepping out. Before, one of the best aspects of the car was how recklessly you could drive it without really thinking about what it would do, because it was just so planted. That is now gone, and I need it back. I ended up in 2nd place for the day, some 6 seconds (out of about 600 total) from my main rival Josh in his M42 E30, who I had beaten the prior 5 races in a row.
I'm thinking the culprit is the raised ride height, and not the increased spring rate. Josh said that when he lowered the rear of his E30, it was much more planted and put power down much better. I'm thinking the same applies to me. Since coilovers are out of the question ($$$), and lowering springs are too (would require buying two sets- one E34 and one E28, also didn't work well when we had them on the car before), I'm pretty sure cutting coils on the stock springs is my best option. Due to weight reduction on the front (battery moved to trunk, no AC or heat, dash, etc) the car sits higher than stock in the front. The same is true for the rear, but it's due to the E34 rear suspension. It's for those reasons that I think I can lower the car about 1" without any of the negative effects of cut springs. I think I can cut two coils from the rear and one in the front, but I may start with half that and see how it works.
One problem that I'm already aware of is that putting lower/shorter springs on the rear E34 setup would require tender springs, as you don't need a spring compressor to assemble the rear suspension, as there is no real tension on the spring when the assembly is out of the car. If I cut rear coils, the spring could become unloaded at full drop, which is a bad thing if I want to go fast and make these struts last. I'm honestly not sure how E34s run lowering springs without the same problem, because it's not a result of E34 parts in an E28. I've read about plenty of E34 and E28 guys who cut front coils, but I don't recall if the front springs are heavily compressed at rest (out of the car but assembled), so I don't know if I'll need tender springs in the front as well. Can anyone advise or point out other things I need to be aware of? I found a great site with info about properly cutting springs, which I will be following:
http://www.eatondetroitspring.com/cutting-coil-springs/
Any advice would be appreciated!
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Jelmer538i
- Posts: 1222
- Joined: Feb 12, 2006 12:00 PM
- Location: Netherlands
- Contact:
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
You may want to look into rear camber.
Rasing the rear will result in positive rear camber, like this: \ / and that is not good for grip when cornering.
Maybe a kit like these wil bring your camber back to specs:
http://www.iemotorsport.com/bmw/E28-E24 ... -lock.html
Rasing the rear will result in positive rear camber, like this: \ / and that is not good for grip when cornering.
Maybe a kit like these wil bring your camber back to specs:
http://www.iemotorsport.com/bmw/E28-E24 ... -lock.html
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Drew in NYC
- Posts: 1625
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- Location: New York
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
Pretty sure this is the most unique - and one of the cooler - E28s on MyE28.com 
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95maxrider
- Posts: 435
- Joined: Sep 25, 2012 2:50 PM
- Location: Herndon, VA
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
So my buddy on R3v posted up this in regards to spring length:
"Before you look into tender/helper springs, do a quick check of this: Put the e28 springs on, install them in the car. They'll hang loose initially. Now hook up the swaybar. See if that reduces the droop in the rear suspension sufficiently to keep the spring seated.
On the e30, my rears will practically fall out at full droop with the sway detached, but the sway limits the downward travel enough to keep them seated when attached. May be the same case on the e28."
I know E30s have vastly different suspension design than E28s, but it's an interesting idea none the less. Can anyone comment on this off the top of their head?
I just did a quick search and tender springs are EXPENSIVE! I've read about so many people cutting springs with these cars, and never anything about using tender/helper springs, but still, it worries me that the spring won't be compressed at all if the assembly is out of the car. However, if the tension from the sway bars is enough when it's in the car, then I guess I would be okay with that. What am I missing here?
"Before you look into tender/helper springs, do a quick check of this: Put the e28 springs on, install them in the car. They'll hang loose initially. Now hook up the swaybar. See if that reduces the droop in the rear suspension sufficiently to keep the spring seated.
On the e30, my rears will practically fall out at full droop with the sway detached, but the sway limits the downward travel enough to keep them seated when attached. May be the same case on the e28."
I know E30s have vastly different suspension design than E28s, but it's an interesting idea none the less. Can anyone comment on this off the top of their head?
I just did a quick search and tender springs are EXPENSIVE! I've read about so many people cutting springs with these cars, and never anything about using tender/helper springs, but still, it worries me that the spring won't be compressed at all if the assembly is out of the car. However, if the tension from the sway bars is enough when it's in the car, then I guess I would be okay with that. What am I missing here?
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95maxrider
- Posts: 435
- Joined: Sep 25, 2012 2:50 PM
- Location: Herndon, VA
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
Can anyone else comment on cutting springs? In my other thread, someone said: "I think if you cut the front spring you're going to have to bend the last 1/2 coil back flat again otherwise the spring will not seat right."
I can only assume the only way to bend a spring back is to heat it up, which does not sound like a great idea. Does anyone know if this applies to the rear springs as well?
Thanks!
I can only assume the only way to bend a spring back is to heat it up, which does not sound like a great idea. Does anyone know if this applies to the rear springs as well?
Thanks!
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
I should really just stop giving you advice. After all, I like winning 
But since I lurk on here on occasion, figured I'd actually register and add to what we discussed on the phone:
A couple quick things:
- looking at the e34 stock rear springs, they don't really appear to flatten out much, so cutting shouldn't be an issue in terms of them seating correctly. The real issue is whether or not they stay seated at full droop with the sways hooked up. Only one real way to check that and that's to jack the rear of the car up (both sides) and measure the distance from the lower perch to the upper perch with everything hooked up. Then that length, compare it to the length of the e34 spring, cut and uncut.
- if it falls out of the perch, best option is tender springs. They shouldn't be all that expensive. I think mine were $50/pair from Eibach (via Ireland Engineering), and they should come with a rubber piece that goes between them and the main spring, to keep it all together.
Looking at e28 fronts, I would not cut those unless you're going to be able to heat them to flatten them out. Could convceivably flip the spring and put the cut end on the bottom perch, that may help (but may not). I still think you just need to get the rear down and leave the front. You had the front at that height last year, right? That seemed to work pretty well for you.
Side note: remember, my car is not the same as it was last year - it's 50-75lbs lighter now with completely different spring rates and height - so comparing results to my car last year is probably not an accurate measure in terms of actual time. Plus I have more red, which adds like 100whp by itself.
Will let you know about Sunday, but for the moment it looks like a go.
But since I lurk on here on occasion, figured I'd actually register and add to what we discussed on the phone:A couple quick things:
- looking at the e34 stock rear springs, they don't really appear to flatten out much, so cutting shouldn't be an issue in terms of them seating correctly. The real issue is whether or not they stay seated at full droop with the sways hooked up. Only one real way to check that and that's to jack the rear of the car up (both sides) and measure the distance from the lower perch to the upper perch with everything hooked up. Then that length, compare it to the length of the e34 spring, cut and uncut.
- if it falls out of the perch, best option is tender springs. They shouldn't be all that expensive. I think mine were $50/pair from Eibach (via Ireland Engineering), and they should come with a rubber piece that goes between them and the main spring, to keep it all together.
Looking at e28 fronts, I would not cut those unless you're going to be able to heat them to flatten them out. Could convceivably flip the spring and put the cut end on the bottom perch, that may help (but may not). I still think you just need to get the rear down and leave the front. You had the front at that height last year, right? That seemed to work pretty well for you.
Side note: remember, my car is not the same as it was last year - it's 50-75lbs lighter now with completely different spring rates and height - so comparing results to my car last year is probably not an accurate measure in terms of actual time. Plus I have more red, which adds like 100whp by itself.
Will let you know about Sunday, but for the moment it looks like a go.
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95maxrider
- Posts: 435
- Joined: Sep 25, 2012 2:50 PM
- Location: Herndon, VA
Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
I figured I would do a quick recap of the first event to add to my earlier post.
Ignoring the poor handling that resulted from the new/higher rear suspension, the car felt great at the first event! Well, aside from the battery terminals coming off again, and staying off for four runs until I thought to check them, since the car was stumbling a bit. I don't know how the car ran so long off just the alternator, but it's a trooper!
The M20B25 18 pound single mass flywheel is a godsend compared to the old dual mass 28 pound unit! The pedal is lighter, the non-oily clutch grabs better, and my god does the lighter flywheel help get the engine rev quicker! Waiting for the revs to climb coming out of a slow corner is gone; the motor is much more responsive, and I never feel like it's sleeping on the job. I have also yet to feel like the motor is more likely to stall coming away from a stop, so considering the $200 in costs, the flywheel conversion was a huge success!
The E34 brakes were also very nice to have. Initial bite is better than before, and the car seems to stop quicker as well. I have a feeling I was braking too early in one section, so I need to remember to try to brake a little later.
Here it is in action. Thanks for the awesome pic Ed!
We haven't gotten around to painting the roof yet....ugh.
Anyway, back at the first race, I was hitting cones left and right due to the sloppy suspension. I ended up with 5 for the day, equal to Josh, who was 6 seconds ahead of me (out of ~700 seconds/13 runs). Little Eric, who is 18 and in his second year of rally-x, was 14 seconds behind me in his E30 ETA car on brand new tires. M52Josh was co-driving the E30 since his M52 swapped E30 wasn't quite ready, and was 8 seconds behind Big Eric, hitting about 20 cones in the process. Things will be very different next race when M52Josh has his car together. Hopefully our car will be sorted out and driving the way I want it to by then!
Ignoring the poor handling that resulted from the new/higher rear suspension, the car felt great at the first event! Well, aside from the battery terminals coming off again, and staying off for four runs until I thought to check them, since the car was stumbling a bit. I don't know how the car ran so long off just the alternator, but it's a trooper!
The M20B25 18 pound single mass flywheel is a godsend compared to the old dual mass 28 pound unit! The pedal is lighter, the non-oily clutch grabs better, and my god does the lighter flywheel help get the engine rev quicker! Waiting for the revs to climb coming out of a slow corner is gone; the motor is much more responsive, and I never feel like it's sleeping on the job. I have also yet to feel like the motor is more likely to stall coming away from a stop, so considering the $200 in costs, the flywheel conversion was a huge success!
The E34 brakes were also very nice to have. Initial bite is better than before, and the car seems to stop quicker as well. I have a feeling I was braking too early in one section, so I need to remember to try to brake a little later.
Here it is in action. Thanks for the awesome pic Ed!
We haven't gotten around to painting the roof yet....ugh.
Anyway, back at the first race, I was hitting cones left and right due to the sloppy suspension. I ended up with 5 for the day, equal to Josh, who was 6 seconds ahead of me (out of ~700 seconds/13 runs). Little Eric, who is 18 and in his second year of rally-x, was 14 seconds behind me in his E30 ETA car on brand new tires. M52Josh was co-driving the E30 since his M52 swapped E30 wasn't quite ready, and was 8 seconds behind Big Eric, hitting about 20 cones in the process. Things will be very different next race when M52Josh has his car together. Hopefully our car will be sorted out and driving the way I want it to by then!
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Jelmer538i
- Posts: 1222
- Joined: Feb 12, 2006 12:00 PM
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Re: Rally-x 528e build (caged, head swap, and more!)
You can clearly see in the last that your rear wheels are like this \ /!